I hope that in this case Mrs. Obama is not unduly sensitive about being in close proximity to a potbellied monkey.
1
@Backup
Times like this I kinda wish there was a thumbs down button.
13
Hoping the subtext there was inadvertent. If not, there's no place for that here.
4
@Hildy Johnson
Maybe Backup is referring to a different administration altogether.
3
The Friday and Saturday clues seem so personal and specific to the constructor and reveal so much of the person's thought process and essence. I do better with the rest of the week when the clues are more common and general.
1
I was thrown by the explanation of 19A. The word for for gift in Swahili is “zawadi”. ADIA may be a derivation of zawadi (and it’s a lovely name), but zawadi = gift.
Did anyone else feel strange where the clue for 42 Down crossed the answer to 55 Across? Was Ken Kesey on the constructor’s mind? Asking for a friend...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CrZHPhKY_hw
Maybe this is easy for a Saturday, but it does have some clever clues, unlike yesterday (fat burner, personal space, chemistry exam...)
I liked this puzzle and had little trouble with the fill. Had not heard of ALIBABA as clued, but somewhat logically ruling out Alabama as a Chinese e-commerce giant, guessed right.
Thanks to Erik and Paolo. Nice one!
:-)
2
Apparently everyone here is considerably smarter than I. I struggled massively on this one and had to bail on it. I still don’t get a lot of the clues.
ZEE?
SIS?
I don’t get the Dict abbr “OBS” either.
I’ve NEVER heard of slapping AT someone. You either slap someone or you don’t, surely?
1
Zee is the third letter of dozen
Sis boom bah: an interjection
@Chris Finlay
OBS is dictionary-ese for "obsolete".
@Chris Finlay
“Smacks” would be SLAPS. “Tries to smack” is SLAPS AT because one makes the attempt but does not necessarily succeed.
Why does the link for the solved puzzle go to one from May 2018?
Naomi,
I'd guess because somebody made a mistake. You can also find the key here: https://www.xwordinfo.com/
3
Nice, challenging, crunch, satisfying.
I know I've heard of KAVA KAVA somewhere, and must remember to Google. But I got the second KAVA based on that dim memory and the first one.
Loved seeing the sublime MICHELLE OBAMA front and center.
Also loved seeing MESOPOTAMIA. And some other stuff as well.
I was really, really happy until I read the column and notes and Googled "fanuke" only to be further stymied. Maybe someone will explain in regular English, if that is possible.
4
P.S. Just want to thank Rich in Atlanta for explaining how software can be used to construct Thursday's puzzle (backward entries on RHS), if indeed that occurred. Brilliant!
1
Will -- Did you accidentally exchange the Friday and Saturday puzzles? I finished this one in less than a *third* my Friday time. (Not that I was that fast today; I was just that *slow* yesterday!)
Caitlin -- Ditto “Alba” for BIEL and “tan” for MOW, but PTA was a gimme. I concur with Steve L that Jeannie C. Riley should be given credit for the latter.
1A, for me, is an example of crosswords as educational. The Mohs scale was unknown to me prior to Tuesday's (tough!) puzzle. I actually looked it up then (post-solve) and perused the table of hardnesses, where I noticed topaz at the hard end of the scale. (I should say, however, that I had the last letter Z today.) ;) IDEST was the trickiest entry for me (parsing).
I paused a bit on 28D: For some reason I think of workstations as Unix, Windows, etc. units, not Macs. ?
I'm ashamed that having the makings of ...SHOTS at 23D I briefly thought of an illicit drug. :0
Because this one fell in a reasonable time, I enjoyed it. Of course, I seem to always appreciate works of Mr. Agard et al.!
terrible!
1
@david g sutliff
In French slang, "terrible" means "absolutely terrific"!
I will happily assume that is what you meant!
4
When we at le chateau Brute’ lack the initiative and/or the raw materials to whip up a batch of fresh, as a last resort ORTEGA medium is our personal preference. ‘Tis a darn good option in a pinch...Deltas are also down in the mouth and it stone-walled me in the SW corner for an eternity...I went to the check button early and often, not an unexpected tactic for my Saturday cruciverbal soirées...I will digress to Ross Trudeau’s Thursday brain bender with a reflective ballad from Loudon Wainright III, “Four Mirrors.”
https://youtu.be/neL-tH8J28o
Hunkered Down For A Winter Storm,
Bru
2
Kind of embarrassed to admit that I started with JOHNMALKOVICH for the "Becoming" clue...
5
@Mid America
"Being John Malkovich"
"Becoming" (by) Michelle Obama
David Meyers,
M.A. did say "Kind of embarrassed..."
@Barry Ancona
That he did, but he still might think the movie is "Becoming...". (Or she.)
Not sure if 48A can be called a “musical”.
1
@MP it is a musical from around the early 2000s, by Elton John.
4
Oh ok, thank you Lizzy.
1
@MP
I interpreted the clue as simply the adjective "musical". Had no idea about the Elton John musical, but it has definitely piqued my interest.
My 8 year old daughter asked me to post the rare editing error in the saturday mini, repeating the answer in the clue at 5A. Unusual!
1
@Mini error - ? I see "They're visited by seniors" = "Schools" - where's the repeat?
1
@David Connell
On the iphone app, the clue is "They're visited by high school seniors".
@David Meyers - I guess that's another reason for me to be glad to be iPhone free...
(^_^)
3
This one went surprisingly fast for a Saturday -- a much-needed salve for my puzzle-solving pride after yesterday, when I couldn't finish without multiple checks. That wasn't quite a wipeout, but humbling all the same. What made the difference for me, I guess, was that Friday's offering was much heavier on popular culture, whereas today's had fewer proper nouns and in general depended less on knowledge of externals. You could say it was more intrinsically verbal, more self-contained.
Interiority seems, in fact, to be a virtual theme of this puzzle, built into the structure of Messrs. Agard and Pasco's creation. The emotionally contained MICHELLEOBAMA occupies the exact center of the grid, where she is directly preceded by (CASE)SENSITIVE and followed by PERSONALSPACE, with CASE and SPACE forming an enclosing rhyme. ALONETIME crosses all three central entries while PRIVY(TO) intersects with PERSONALSPACE.
In all, we have an icon of self-containment.
3
Easier than yesterday's.
1
I don’t get “Idest”.
1
@Numbsy
ID EST is Latin for “that is,” and is often seen as the abbreviation “i.e.”
@Numbsy
Two Latin words: Id est. We see them abbreviated all the time as “i.e.,” meaning “in other words.” As in, “That Latin clue was my undoing, i.e., I studied Greek.”
3
In almost seventy years of working word puzzles, I had never before run across "ID EST" as a clue or an answer. I left it in my iPad solution and was surprised to see the congratulatory message pop up.
I still don't understand "ZEE", but I'll wade through more comments and perhaps find an answer. I hope this is not one of those NYC-centric solutions (Tappan Zee?). Some constructors seem to forget that not everyone knows or cares about every little NYC trifle, as great as the city is.
But maybe I'll be embarrassed when I find the explanation.
A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle that looked tough for starters, but fell smoothly in time. YEAROFTHEMONKEY got me started, and I worked upwards from there, ending in that nasty NW. Able was I ere I saw Idris.
5
Mine fields is a new favorite clue. Hilarious, especially when you have little kids. They might actually describe personal space as "mine field".
3
@Dan
I particularly enjoyed the misdirections to the mini-theme of "Alone Time" and "Personal Space".
Wonderful Saturday, Messrs. Agard and Pasco!
Deb,
Thanks for your words of encouragement on Friday for those of us easily intimidated. Today marks my first six-day streak!
I didn't even need to finish reading the blog; after POTBELLIEDSTOVE, I was off to the races.
(Not sure how I needed help for that - I already had STOVE and parts of the rest, but no matter.)
6
@Tom Wild And Caitlin, great column. Didn't mean to dis ya.
Today and yesterday felt very similar to me, and I solved both in much the same way--a sparse network of answers that filled out first through the center vertically, and then spread through the rest of the grid.
What I find interesting is that I was quite slow yesterday, and quite quick (almost a best time) today. Yet the subjective experience of solving was almost the same.
I really enjoyed both puzzles, for what it is worth. Both were difficult enough for me to get lost in, which probably accounts for the subjective experience of solving being quite similar.
Old Boy Scout joke: what sound does an exploding sheep make? Sis Boom Baaah!
6
@Robert Michael Panoff
Good chance that Johnny Carson had been a Boy Scout as a youth, eh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76wzA2A2T1Q
3
I remember the joke from junior high. When I was older and more familiar with explosives, it no longer worked for me, since I understood the reality would be a not particularly funny Baa Sis Boom.
2
Got through this one bit by bit. Sardonic thanks to Caitlin for listing answers with no reference to clue numbers. That sent me on a backward search to find the clues that would give me the placement of these answers.
The grey matter just wasn't in prime form last night or this morning. I did figure out YEAR OF THE MONKEY with all but the last word when I noticed that the two dates were 12 years apart. I really enjoyed David Connell's link to the (unknown to me) Chinese Zodiac and its January/February shifting dates.
I was feeling quite proud of myself, breaking a string of slow days with a near personal best for Saturday. Felt that I was on the same wavelength as the constructors for once. Somewhat deflating to see that this has been a common experience here. Still a happy day and a great puzzle.
2
@Al in Pittsburgh
I found it quite difficult and clocked a very poor time - so you should feel proud of yourself! Nothing to be deflated about.
3
LETTER BOXED:
I didn't get a chance to do yesterday's. Today, I got C..A(9)-A..E(9). Getting the J and V together was useful.
I hadn't noticed before, but the second word shows the letters that were already used (lighter) vs. letters that hadn't been used (heavier) in previous words.
@Wen - yes and - for those who might not have noticed yet - the pattern of squiggles displayed after a solve is based on that particular solve. A nice touch.
What pattern of squiggles? Displayed where?
@HBL - in the Letter Boxed puzzle. The lines traced by going from letter to letter shows a specific pattern depicting the solution visually.
OOffff. MMA/ERMINES was the final entry for me.
Right away, with 1A (I'm always sorry when I look at that clue first, because when I'm flummoxed, it sets a bad precedent for the solve) I felt a weight settle on my head....
A lot of misdirection/multiple options!
MEH (and TSK in the margin) before NAH.
WRY before ODD.
I MEAN before ID EST.
EAR and LIP in the margin before a crossing saved me.
DEA before FAA.
That said, in the end it was a lot of long gimmes: MICHELLE OBAMA, PERSONAL SPACE CASE SENSITIVE, POT-BELLIED STOVE, YEAR OF THE ??
Seeing a lot of Idris ELBA, whose star seems to be rising; I recall when I was mystified (What is an 'idris?')...and I think we could do without quite so many Jessica people in the acting field...
Pretty cute to combine the two entries with the day's photo!!
Onward.
5
@Mean Old Lady
Started with MEH, then went to NAW, which is more familiar to me. But soon saw the error of my ways. I found the long answers to be fun, but definitely not gimmes. A little mental stress adds to the enjoyment!
@Mean Old Lady
I got confused by the Jessica clue -- no fault of my magnificent cat -- because all I could think of was a misspelled LANGE, then couldn't remember how to spell BIEL.
1
@Mean old lady
I was misdirected on the exact same examples you gave, in exactly the same ways! Tip of the hat from Brooklyn to Conway...
Hello Caitlin (also my daughter's name, given when it wasn't well known),
You probably never lived in Big Ten territory if ISU didn't come to mind. Having spent four years at MSU (that's Michigan, not Mississippi or Montana, State) I got to know all the colleges in that conference, even as a diehard non-football person.
UVULAE came easy to me as someone who used to have a snoring problem. And even though I never heard "Harper Valley PTA," it was so popular in its day that I couldn't avoid depositing it in my memory bank.
Anyone who thinks personal experience doesn't count in crosswords - think again!
2
I never knew MEH until a dozen years ago or so when a much younger colleague used it in a FB post about a movie; now I can barely get through a week of crosswording without seeing. I also tried it before realizing the "E" was in the way of solving the cross.
I lived in Minnesota for 13 years; does that count? I thought it must be a school in Iowa, but on the other hand I was sure that 35D was PARTYTO. Those few letters in the southwest section were the last for me, and I nearly gave up. "G.O.P. group" was A_C, "Bugs of a sort" was T_S? It made no sense until suddenlly it did.
I also had MEH before NAH. Seems like a better fit for the clue to me.
"You probably never lived in Big Ten territory if ISU didn't come to mind."
You probably don't live in *Crossword* territory if ISU didn't come to mind. AMES has appeared 141 times in the Shortz era, with [I estimate] more than 100 of the clues being the university (sorry Aldrich, NASA, Ed, Leon, etc.).
Favorite clue for ISU (3-1/2 years ago): "Sch. in Terre Haute, Ames or Pocatello."
1
KAVAKAVA, droned Tom, dreamily.
Former GF would drink cups of KAVAKAVA at night and wake up in a stupor the next morning. I am sure the sedative effects contributed to the tenure of our relationship.
2 Espresso puzzle.
Thanks Erik and Paolo
I spent some time in Fiji about fifteen years ago and had some kava there. My impression: worst recreational drug of all time. Tastes like dirt; it made me dumb without any associated pleasurable feeling. I have no idea why people would drink this stuff regularly.
So I always ask for tough cluing and this puzzle had it in spades, but was the cluing always fair? NAH, CROAKS I. The syntax of two long clues seemed really tortured in relation to their answers: MICHELLE OBAMA (34A) and PERSONAL SPACE (35A). And then you have POT BELLIED STOVE. Now I'm no cook and I've probably never even seen one, but does it really "burn fat" as opposed to melting fat? I doubt burned fat tastes very good, and, anyway, this can't be the primary thing a POT BELLIED STOVE does. If I knew what the darn thing was, and if I could cook, I think I'd use it to make stew.
LIEGE instead of PIECE for the "King or queen" (41D) and I MEAN instead of ID EST (43D) loused me up in the SE for the longest time.
A number of years ago, a tennis acquaintance came running up to me at the courts. "Have you gotten your ALI BABA yet?" she enthused. Then, shouting: "HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR ALI BABA YET???" I had no idea what on earth she was babbling about. Still don't.
Why does anyone run to see a movie with the tagline: "The nightmare isn't over"? I'd run all right -- in the exact opposite direction.
A very challenging puzzle -- sometimes fair, sometimes not so much. I liked it but didn't love it.
1
@Nancy - Fat burner - the "fat" refers to the shape, not what you put on it. It's called "POT BELLIED" for a reason. I've never used one, but I watched "Little House on the Prarie" when I was young, so that makes me an authority. :)
4
@Wen -- Thanks! That makes perfect sense. So a much better clue/answer than I thought at first.
1
@Nancy and @Wen,
Great cluing, IMHO. Same with "Mine Field."
I spent over a half hour scanning, double checking, agonizing, convincing myself that the automatic "correct puzzle" detection function wasn't working (it always does, BTW). I had "PartYTO" instead of PRIVYTO. I figured it out and preserved my streak, but reinforced a valuable lesson: If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't. Having party to gave me ANC, RSU, and TWS. With three letter words, I'm less likely to identify an issue because they often contain abbreviations or acronyms that I assume I'm just not familiar with. But in retrospect, what could TWS stand for as clued? And I even *knew* that Ames was in Iowa! Wasted time, but a good learning experience.
1
Great crunchy Saturday puzzle on the faster side, though it didn't feel like it at the time. Excellent misdirections on the long answers produced appropriate groans, moans and SIS boom bahs.
KAVAKAVA is new to me. Maybe I should grow some and check it out. Amongst the plants I grow that I don't dare process into other things, this one seems timid.
1
I've been doing the mini with the family - slowly indoctrinating them into the way of the crossword. But the full sized Saturday - that's my ALONE TIME - my PERSONAL SPACE. I completed on the iPad in bed, finished it and thought it was on the easy side, put the iPad down, and fell asleep.
I had some choice words I wanted to say about similarities between passwords on the Internet and Cohen being both CASE-SENSITIVE and some extended stuff using CIRCUS ACT and 2016 being the YEAR OF THE MONKEY, and TAKE THIS, but I'll spare everyone.
Are editorial workstations mostly MACS? Or is that just an NYT thing? Didn't know anything about Harper Valley Junior High, but appreciated the video.
I LIKED the K's and V's in the grid - very chewy - lots of CUD. Learned about KAVA KAVA. I don't memorize things on the Mohs scale except diamond (10) and talc (1). Didn't prevent me from getting TOPAZ though. And also learned about TACOMA. Thank you @David Connell re: SIS and "bah!" Didn't get that one at all. Also SHAH and chess.
Had AAA before FAA, meh before NAH, tan before MOW.
3
@Wen
The only downside of indoctrinating the family -- especially the younger ones -- into the crosswords is watching them outperform you in yet something else! Proud and jealous all at the same time.
3
@Liane - your post resonates with me so much. Graham Greene's little novel "The Power and the Glory" feature a little scene with a poor rural mother in conversation with the novel's protagonist, a dissolute priest. She goes on about how horrible rich people are, all the damage they cause to the world by their wealth and greed. "But," he asks, "aren't you doing everything you can to make your son into one of them?" "Absolutely!"
My father was a child of the Depression, forced to give up dreams of being a musician in favor of steadier income. When I graduated from college with a performance degree, I looked across the table and saw - really saw - pride and resentment written on one and the same face.
11
@Laine & @David Connell - so true. Mine are still pretty young, and I'm sometimes amazed at what they know and get, but when they get to that point, I'll know to appreciate that conflicted feeling.
1
Welcome to Cindy in Seattle ! This is a fun group - I usually only have time to read a lot of the comments on the weekend- but they can be fascinating .
My bent is always the medical and today I must say UVULAE ? So unless you have an anomaly called a bifid or split uvula no one has more than one uvula . They're down in the mouth ( one mouth I'm presuming ) could be tonsils , adenoids, molars , teeth , taste buds - but really not UVULAE - unless they are down in many mouths .
1
@Cathy P
I interpreted this to be simply asking for the plural of something "down in the mouth". Just as the clue "They're in the mouth" might give the entry TONGUES.
I do see your point of course, but for me the clue passed muster.
3
I got Becoming right away since I bought Michelle's book. For a Saturday puzzle it was about as easy as I have experienced.
I'll chalk it up to luck and aha moments that came quickly last night when I finished.
My gorging on self-satisfaction must be because 2019 is the Year of the Pig. Oink!
3
@Richard
How are you finding the book?
PhysicsDaughter gave me both of Hillary's books; maybe she will be similarly inspired when the next birthday rolls around!
I agree this was a bit easier than most Saturdays, though I still had to work hard to get through it. Just enough gimmes or guessables almost everywhere to get toeholds - MICHELLEOBAMA being the big one, of course, but little clusters of short answers elsewhere, like ELBA, TEE, and SHIA in the NW. Had a few write-overs (COUGHS before CROAKS, e.g.) but was tentative on things like that anyway. Also kind of bounced back and forth on ADIA/AIDA until the latter became evident.
And then I ended with an error. Turns out I made a MESs of POTAMIA, somehow entering that as PATAMIA. I'll write that one off to down-reading.
Lots of nice entries in this one. Kudos to the constructors.
1
@Rich in Atlanta
Next time, think HIPPOPOTAMUS (POTAMUS being 'river') and the MESO POTAM ia will spring to mind--the Fertile Crescent watered by three rivers...
Hand up for COUGHS before CROAKS...I really think the former is more accurate; RASPY was my first thought, but didn't fit.
3
@Mean Old Lady I know how to spell it. I had several crosses when that one finally dawned on me and I just went through filling in the other letters, including more than a couple vowels, without really trying to put it all together or verify it when I was done.
As I said - down reading. Had it been an across answer, I would have noticed my error right away.
@Rich in Atlanta
Hand up for COUGHS.
1
SPELLING BEE:
47/189, 1 pangram. No bingo.
Tot 4 5 6 7 8
Tot 47 18 16 9 2 2
A 9 3 3 3 - -
H 13 3 3 3 2 2
M 15 6 7 2 - -
N 2 2 - - - -
R 6 4 2 - - -
Y 2 - 1 1 - -
O - - - - - -
11
@Wen
Boy is this letter set familiar.
Of the omitted words today, the one that continues to stick in my craw is one of the five mother sauces in cooking MORNAY. Especially so given the acceptance of NAAN, BARBACOA and TAHINI etc. Just sayin'!
8
@Liane - I think that it takes only 4-5 letters for us to deem a set of letters as being familiar.
There were 4 previous puzzles that has 6 letters in common with today's, but there were 27 other puzzles that has 5 letters in common with today's.
I think we need to accept that the word list is just a bit quirky and not get too worked up about it.
There were only 3 words new to today's SB.
Yesterday's new words were: AITCH, ARCHAIC, ARMCHAIR, ARTHRITIC, CATARRH, CATHARTIC, CHAI, CHAIR, CHIA, CHICA, CHITCHAT, MARIACHI, MATRIARCH, RICH
I didn't get a chance to say yesterday, but @Chungclan did a good job with the grid.
2
Help please! I'm missing an 8 letter H word; I've got the one that is a musical term. Any hints?
That was just right: difficult but doable!
3
Loved, loved, loved this crossword! YEAR OF THE MONKEY was my favorite entry, as I am a "monkey" myself. (50th birthday next weekend!)
Several scars, including HUM(bug) for SIS (boom bah!) and TOKED for LIKED (42D “Was high on”). With TOKED crossing 42A (Spot for some piercings) I had TI? and snickered. (Sometimes I’m pretty sure Shortz and company set little traps like this so that when we get the correct entry they can say, “what were *you* thinking? Get your mind out of the gutter! Ha!)
Also one teleport today. New to this puzzling community, I’ve long had my own personal terms (like “scars”) for errors and whatnot. To me, a “teleport” is a word that connects remotely to another part of the puzzle so that you can confidently enter it in an empty pocket even without immediate crossings. Usually these are two-part phrases, but today’s was 19A (ADIA) and 48A (AIDA), elegantly mirroring one another.
Not a teleport, but another nice mirror pair that I think others here also appreciated: 8D and 47D (SHIA and SHAH).
What compelling entries! What rib-tickling clues! Thanks for a great puzzle, EA&PP!
Happy Saturday everyone!
:-c)€
10
@Floyd - Your post reminded me that I had meant to comment on "Year of the Monkey" clue.
Those of us born in January / early February have to check carefully before saying we're a _whatever_is_shown_for_that_year, because we're likely to be the _year_before_ in reality.
The chart here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac
shows the actual dates of change of year.
I grew up believing I was a Rat, and was in my twenties before I learned I was a Pig. Seems like you already did the math - next week 50 years ago was indeed Monkey time.
1
@David Connell,
Of course, the paper placemats in Chinese restaurants don't bother to draw out this point, thus sparking many a childhood argument at the dinner table about whether someone who is a Jan-Feb baby is a really a Monkey or a Goat ....
@David Connell
Likewise, I was in my 20’s when I learned I was a monkey & not a rooster.
:-c)€
Did no one stumble over ERMINES - given the clue?? I kept working on SCEPTERS, ORBS, CROWNS, TIARAS, etc. Nothing worked and I didn’t have enough crosses for a while. (I might have been OK had clue and answer not been plural.)
Also, COUGHS seemed like a dandy answer for 9A but it’s a wee bit problematic for the crosses.
And I thought 17A just HAD to be something starting with BIOFUELS (in some form) and ending with DIESEL. (Too clever for my own good!!)
I marvel at how the (i.e. MY) mind can snap onto YEAROFTHEMONKEY, MESOPOTAMIA, CASESENSITIVE and ACIDTEST - - and be boggled by ERMINES!!
I happily do “research” on many entries involving current stage/movie/tv actors’ names, their role titles and “musical” groups (and I use that word advisedly) - and offerings by the latter. The reason is, I’ve been ignoring same for something like thirty years - - and I do not intend to start paying attention at this stage. I find this position to be entirely satisfactory and do not feel my life will be short-changed by the practice.
1
PeterW,
A thought connecting your first and last paragraphs. I had no problem getting ERMINES despite having little personal interest in royalty and no interest at all in wearing fur. It was just something I knew from my general life experience; I didn't seek it. I am also not an avid follower of much of current popular culture, but between crosses and not covering my eyes and ears, I manage to complete crosswords without look-ups.
2
"Suits and such" are MENSWEAR? Nope, no more than socks or shoes are "menswear." Just, nope.
1
Elizabeth Connor,
I get what you're saying, but these are clues, not definitions, so if it *can* fit, it's legit. The entry for the same clue *could* have been WOMENSWEAR.
(See discussion of TACOMA, TAKOMA, TAHOMA.)
5
My “roommate” of the past 51 years now has more “suits” in HER closet than I have in mine (or ever had for that matter). A while ago, she told me she intends to work for another ten years - which will take her into her mid-80s. I had a two-word reply - - namely, “I DON’T!!”
4
@PeterW - if she really likes her work, why not? I'd love being able to do what I like and get paid for it until my mid-80's.
2
I don’t get why people pierce their LIP. What’s wrong with the ear? Guess I’m just not up with The Times.
1
Men and women have been piercing ears, noses and lips (and probably other tender places we can’t mention here) since time out of mind.
Why our “more advanced” society members ever started doing so is beyond me - although I can understand the convenience of piercing ear lobes to avoid the irritation of clip-ons.
I have the same sentiments about tatoos.
7
The clue for "sis" - (ends with bah) is a reference to the antique college cheer "sis-boom-bah", which had a peak in 1910-1920 and a steady decline since then. But the original cheer did not end in bah, it ended in "ah" - it is referenced in many stories from the late 19th c. as "sss-boom-ah!" and the reason becomes clear when you understand the cheer as a "rocket" - a fireworks rocket...
S-s-s-s (the rocket flies through the air)
Boom (the rocket bursts)
A-a-a-h (the crowd reacts to the spectacle)
The Tiger Rocket cheer began at Princeton University, but became more universal around the turn of the century due to the foundation of cheerleading as an organized activity. Once the midwesterners got ahold of it, it turned from "Rah (i.e., tiger roar), Tiger (Princeton's mascot), S-s-s-t! Boom! A-a-a-h!" (the rocket) into
Rah! Rah! Sis-Boom-Bah!
https://princetoniana.princeton.edu/traditions/current/cheers
While PU was imitating rocket sounds, Yale was imitating ancient Greek frogs: a performance of Aristophanes' "The Frogs" at Yale inspired the undergraduates to use the chorus of frogs at football games:
Brek-ek-ek-eks, Brek-ek-ek-eks,
Ko-ax! Ko-ax!
So there's that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dEBEC1RO84
17
@David Connell - my sis-boom-bah post, btw, I'd like to dedicate to the memory of Ben Cutler, Yale Class of 1926
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/15/arts/ben-cutler-96-whose-bands-entertained-the-society-set.html
who filled me in on quite a few of the details of college life at the beginning of the 20th century.
2
@David Connell,
I've never understood why CROAKing frogs would make for a good cheer at football games unless the fans' UVULAE were swollen. ;-) There's no historical evidence of such cheers being used at the Olympic games.
For me, SIS BOOM BAH instead recalls my college organic chemistry class where we studied the relative positions of substituted alkyl and hydroxyl groups (e.g., -CH3, -OH) on alkenes (C=C) and aromatic rings like benzene. Decades before people started using "cis" and "trans" in gender contexts, we referred to groups on the same side of an alkene as "cis" and groups on opposite sides as "trans" (the resulting hydrocarbons are stereoisomers). We used to have some fun with the nomenclature and draw BOOM and BAH groups coming off the same side of an alkene. Q: What do you call that? A: Cis Boom Bah.
Or MD groups in adjacent (1, 2) positions ("ortho") on a six-sided benzene ring. Q: What do you call that? A: Orthodox.
Opposing positions (1, 4) on a benzene ring are "para" so MD groups so placed would result in a paradox.
Okay, this probably would have been a lot funnier if I could have just drawn them.
7
Henry Su,
OMG!
Cis and trans again? In chemistry?
What's next: Roman history?
2
I struggled on Friday, but today was easier. I'm BECOMING better at these. I just finished reading the wonderful book by our former FLOTUS.
3
@Caitlin. Given that there have been only 20 commenters, including you, by 6:30 the morning after the puzzle’s release, with many regular early posters MIA, I am guessing that there are technical problems preventing many comments from posting. You may already know this or I may be off base, but I thought I’d let you know in case you didn’t and I’m not.
Or perhaps the dearth of posts is because it's the first morning of (for many) a three-day weekend...
@Barry Ancona. If no technical glitch, then I’m going with my original assumption that I and my fellow 18 or so early commenters are all geniuses (=/* (That’s a crude tongue-in-cheek emoji).
Puzzlemucker,
I almost always start -- and finish -- puzzles when they are released, but I use a large plugged-in device in my bedroom (no solving or commenting in transit), so whether I comment that evening or the next morning depends upon the work (and sleep) schedule of my "roommate."
2
A piece of beauty. Look at all those long words MESOPOTAMIA and HALLOWEENII pass through! Lovely clues for ALONE TIME, PERSONAL SPACE, and CIRCUS ACT, and pleasing answers in PRIVY TO, POTBELLIED STOVE, YEAR OF THE MONKEY, PERSONAL SPACE, and KAVAKAVA.
ALI BABA tripped off "Open sesame!" in my head, which made me think of tahini, and now I'm hungry. I loved the cross of PERSONAL SPACE and ALONE TIME, and I believe that will be my mantra for much of today.
2
I didn't find this as fast as others and was surprised to see I finished about ten minutes below my average Saturday time. I found a lot to like with 17A being my favorite.
Regarding 30A: Lincoln, when asked how he liked being President, replied as follows: “I feel like the man who was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. To the man who asked him how he liked it, he said: ‘If it wasn’t for the honor of the thing, I’d rather walk.’”
7
@PaulSFO
That reminds me of the old one-liner:
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"
2
@Steve L Too soon, Steve. Too soon.
3
@Michael Brothers,
Are we now talking about the party of Lincoln?
Seemed easier than usual for a Saturday.
I filled in MESOPOTAMIA with no crosses because I knew that (1) it was some old place and (2) it fit. :P
For anyone having problems with disappearing comments: I'm no expert, but I would suggest never trying to reply to a reply. And possibly even going so far as never doing a reply but rather just indicating, in your comment, who you are replying to.
1
@PaulSFO
I put in MESOPOTAMIA off of just the ME, because it fit and was an ancient place. I figured, how many ancient places could be 11 letters and begin with ME?
In order to get good at solving, you have to learn to trust your guesses, be prepared to remove your wrong guesses, and be good enough to make far more correct guesses than wrong ones. And knowing to put in only your most certain answers first so that guessing wrong is not as likely to cause an epic fail.
The above advice is especially important in the Acrostic, which is the variety puzzle this weekend. With that puzzle, one wrong guess can really mess you up. For those of you who don't know, there's a separate column for the variety puzzle every week (probably going live a little later today) and it's greatly underpopulated. For anyone who tried and gave up on the Acrostic back in the dead tree days, you should try again working it online. The difference between the online experience and the print versions of the Acrostic is much greater than that of the crossword, and for me, it was the difference between enjoying the Acrostic and not enjoying it.
4
@Steve L,
For me, MESOPOTAMIA and HALLOWEEN II were both educated guesses without the benefit of the crossings. Sometimes it pays not to overthink this stuff, even on a Saturday. I came loaded for bear with SUMERIA and AKKADIA and didn't need the bigger gauge.
1
@Steve L
Mesoamerica has Maya glyphs.
I'm usually a lurker on Wordplay although I have commented a few times. I've enjoyed listening to the perspectives that are shared here and have learned a lot from all of you. I particularly enjoy the side trips into your wheelhouses. You’re a fascinating group!
Today I finished a year streak! I have to admit that not all of this was without look-ups, although today's was. I allow myself limited look-ups when I'm really stymied - if that happens it’s usually on a Friday or Saturday. I never look at Wordplay until after I finish the puzzle. And, call me undiscriminating, but I enjoyed every last one of these puzzles. I am in awe of the constructors. My favorite of the year was the escape room puzzle on Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. Thursday puzzles are usually my favorite.
Back when I tried to start solving, about 40 years ago, Wordplay didn’t exist and I was unaware of the progression of difficulty through the week. Every once in a while, on a Friday or Saturday, as a reward for getting through a week of school and work, I'd try to relax with the puzzle. I usually couldn't get started and wondered just how dumb I was and just who was it that could solve these things. It was years before I tried puzzles from earlier in the week and got a foothold. I remember the first time I found Wordplay - by then, I was well into solving Saturday puzzles – and exclaiming “I’ve found my tribe!”
Thank you for posting. I enjoy dropping in even when I don’t post. Happy solving, everyone!
49
@Cindy in Seattle,
Welcome to the commentariat, and I hope you'll post more often.
We all have our personal rules about lookups; I'm like you, I'll use it on occasion if I'm just stymied by a Natick or a no-know. But don't worry about what others here do--it's your puzzle and you should solve it your way. All puzzles are meant to be solved ... some way, somehow!
As for being "undiscriminating," each and every puzzle invariably elicits a range of emotions from commenters here. Love it, hate it, MEH, NAH -- I for one view each puzzle as its constructor(s)' attempt to connect with us. Just like in art, politics, film, music, food, there will be varying degrees of success. The point here is that it's great that you've enjoyed them all but it's okay too to say if you didn't like a particular one. (Of course, we may ask you why.)
9
"Back when I tried to start solving, about 40 years ago, ... I was unaware of the progression of difficulty through the week."
Cindy,
That's not on you; forty years ago, the progression was much less pronounced. If I do a week from the archive, I often don't sense it at all.
3
@Cindy in Seattle
Thank you, Cindy, for your thoughtful and gracious comment.
Knew it would be a bit of a workout once I saw Erik's name, but managed to finish under my average. Miscues - north before ANODE, meh before NAH. Gimmes: ALIBABA, ISU (dad went there), MOW, PAY TO. A lot more filled in quickly with just one or two letters in place, and the rest I had to work at. Tough but fun.
2
hand up for meh before NAH and north before ANODE.
But I had TAN before MOW.
3
Got stuck in the SW for quite a while. As a Seattlite, I know that Rainier's original name is *Tahoma*, not Tacoma. Kept trying to figure out out what else that down could be before i realized what the issue was!
3
@Sasha
I'm with you that Tahoma was the original, not Tacoma. The link is the first I've seen the latter referenced.
2
@Sasha I started with Tahoma, too, neighbor!
2
@Cindy in Seattle Yep, TAHOMA. Incorrect cluing.
I'm still in San Francisco today and I solved this one on my cab ride to the airport. (Yes, for a change, it was not an Uber or a Lyft.)
Like others who have commented already, this one looked rather daunting at first and I was frantically darting around the grid looking for any gimmes to fill in and worrying that my streak might end today. Once I settled down in my ride and got my focus, however, I realized that a fair number of clues fell pretty easily, and all of a sudden I had plenty of little toeholds.
I finished just as the cab pulled up to my terminal. I looked at the timer and quite surprised at the result--only three minutes and change slower than my best and less than half my average. (In fact, this was faster than Thursday or Friday.)
Erik and Paolo, that was exhilarating!
3
@Henry Su. Great story. Friday evening traffic to SFO. If from downtown, I bet it took about 45 mins-hour. Very impressive that you could complete Friday Xword in a cab. I can barely read or send a text in a cab. There’s something about trying to read or write or type while moving that I find nearly impossible.
2
@Puzzlemucker, actually the traffic was not so bad and it was more like 30-45 minutes.
Although I've definitely gotten faster over the last 18 months since I got the app and the subscription, i think the more marked improvement has been my ability to solve in all sorts of settings (subway rides, security lines, noist restaurants waiting for a table) and in one unbroken session. I used to have to put many incomplete Saturdays and Sundays down and come back to them but that's quite rare these days. Hence many same-night posts because as a rule I don't post until I'm finished and have read the column.
3
@Henry Su. Kudos to you. Per the infamous “Cab Couch Crossword” formula whereby X = -(y)2/cab + (z)1/couch, 30-45 mins in a cab is equivalent 15-20 mins on a couch.
4
I got turned sideways because I thought the summer to-do list task was to “do the Dew.”
2
Thanks once again to Henry Su for planting the term “flyspecking” in my mind. I flyspecked instead of using “Check Puzzle” and found my error on my own - KAVAKEVA instead of KAVAKAVA. There is a long UVULES/UVULAE-related reason for my error but who cares about that sausage-making. The point is, thank you Henry. Streak saved.
I enjoyed my PERSONAL SPACE and ALONE TiME... now on to the comments for some PUBLIC SPACE and TOGETHER TIME.
5
@Puzzlemucker,
Thanks again for the credit. KAVAKAVA was no-know for me, solved through the crosses, and I made a mental pencil check to come back to it in case I didn't get the happy music. Fortunately it was correct!
1
@Henry Su. I get the sense that there are technical problems preventing comments from being posted tonight. Last time this happened I thought that I (and a few others) were geniuses for being able to solve and post, only to learn i was not seeing comments from others because of technical problems, ID EST I was deluded.
I hope the technical problems are resolved by morning because I really miss reading all of the same-night comments. A pun for the road; What did the swinging stoat say to the other swinging stoat: Yer place ERMINE?
1
@Puzzlemucker,
Thanks for that. And I hope the technical problems you're encountering are resolved soon; I have not experienced any difficulties.
typical Saturday puzzle. hard to get started -- but with enough of the downs entered, the long horizontals become evident. perhaps an ACID TEST of good puzzle making!
2
Another relatively quick solve for me. I did this one in less than half my Saturday average, and just about a minute and a half slower than my fastest Saturday. And that with a loss of about 45 seconds at the beginning to answer a text.
If I were a true speed solver, I'd have turned the clock off for the texting time, but I don't take my times that seriously, except to see how hard or easy a puzzle is for its day of the week.
Thanks for the Loretta Lynn rendition; however, I'd like to point out that the hit version was by Jeannie C. Riley, who had a number of Top Ten country hits in the late 60s and early 70s; Harper Valley PTA was her only crossover pop hit, and it hit number one on the pop charts in 1968.
Of course, Loretta has had dozens and dozens of number one and top ten country hits, but has never had a single on the pop top forty.
A quick note about the Chinese internet company: I believe they spell it ALIBABA, not ALI BABA. The 1001 Nights character does spell it as two words, but what do the Chinese know about Arabian Nights?
3
@Steve L
You're right about Ali Baba, I just read right over that -- closing it up now. Don't know why I used Loretta -- something just spoke to me.
Thank you --
@Caitlin
Not that she does it badly, but Jeannie C. had one song...just one song...
4
"Harper Valley PTA" makes me think of Dolly Parton belting it out, and the 1978 movie of that name starring ever-sexy, erstwhile-Jeannie, Barbara Eden.
2
TIL the word "fanute."
I did the acrosses first, as I tend to do online, and thought "Bye bye streak!" since there was not much filled in. Then I went to the downs, and things started slotting into place quickly. At least in the NW corner. The rest of the puzzle took more work. I knew TOPAZ because that's my birthstone. I wanted COUGHS before CROAKS, but guessed KAVAKAVA from the K in EKE. I was happy to get 31D with just the U in ISU in place. I always wait to see whether it's going to be ALBA or BIEL. AIDA seemed obvious, so that meant 19A had to be ADIA. I liked the clue for SHAH that wasn't "bygone despot". So: not as fearsome as it looked at first, but still a nice challenge.
2
@Liz B
The other day we had the looking glass; today we have a Humpty Dumpty "a word means what I choose it to mean" string of letters.
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
1
@Liz B - I had a good laugh when I saw you said "Bye bye streak!"
Last person I expected to see that from.
@Liz B
I Googled "fanute," but I still don't get it. I'm not going to Google all the people/terms that went into the purported explanation.
Looked tough, fell easily.
3