I think this may be my favorite crossword puzzle ever! “Farewell to Arms”?! You guys are geniuses! Thank you!
Did a quick SCROLL and didn’t see anyone else post this, but Game of Thrones IS the title of the first book. A Song of Ice and Fire is the title of the series. So it still works with the theme
I WAS ready to jump all over the authors for using an extraordinarily archaic variant for AVIAN at 100D - - but, then SHEEP came to mind. So - - no objection here.
But the clue for 15D still distresses me. Why not “Raises the ramp” or “Increases the rate of rise” or “Makes the slide work faster”? I dunno! There have to be dozens of better clues than the one used.
All in all, though, I thought the puzzle to be challenging and I felt SO clever when I managed to suss out most of the themed answers - AFTER having discovered the theme! (This usually doesn’t happen for me.)
1
I’m stumped by 54D. Can someone please explain it...
@Linda
IMO is a common online abbreviation for “In my opinion.”
FYI: A Game of Thrones is the first book in the series, which is called “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
@Sarah T. I was going to make the same comment! Only people who haven't read the books would make this mistake. :D
I’m coming in late, I know, but I must comment on 4D. Loved that gimme!! Years ago, when I was researching wastewater treatment, I came across, purchased, and read with glee the book “Flushed With Pride, The Story of Thomas Crapper.” I just checked Amazon. The book is still available. What a great GAME OF THRONES it was.
2
Having no knowledge of who is who in the Star Wars franchise I was stuck for a long time on ANTOO and ICECONES, until a comment on this thread enlightened me. I don’t think many NYT puzzle solvers would be Star Wars fans, would they?
yes. yes, we are.
5
RHESUS twice in four days? (Where’s that site that gives word usage history in the puzzle?)
Also, as usual, LEST is misdefined. It introduces negative purpose clauses and means “so that X not Y...”, not “for fear that X Y...” and, lest you correct me, I will say that I know that’s what MW says, but it’s wrong. (And in that sentence, I very much mean “so that you don’t correct me.”)
1
@John - lest anyone be unduly influenced by your insistence, they might judge for themselves:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/lest
1
@David Connell I like the "negative particle of intention" bit from the OED.
@David Connell I like the "negative particle of intention" bit from the OED.
PS I have no influence. :-)
PPS On further thought, "for fear that" isn't too awful, but I'm not sure that its archaism doesn't convey the wrong sense. For example, "For fear that it might rain, I brought my umbrella." That doesn't work with "lest". (I'm frankly not sure it's a correct usage of "for fear that" either, since that phrase isn't in my vernacular.)
I wanted to love it, but unlike most commenters, I found the theme answers obvious and jejune (with some off the mark entirely) and the rest unexciting. Whizzing through a puzzle quickly is not the thrill to me that it is to many.
@Greater Metropolitan Area Yeah, this was two minutes off my best time.
PS it would be great if the iPad app gave you more stats, like std dev on times for each day.
i thought for sure that the answer to "'Girls' home" was a common crossword answer, "BRA".
2
@Carolina jessamine
Interesting! I had the same first answer for 107D: Bosom buddy.
1
An aside to @Andrew
I SRSLY could not believe your yestercomment about the crosses to TREF; if you are ever hung up for long again I recommend it be by your thumbs. I shouldn't be a bit surprised if the entire population of Toronto rose up as one and had you relocate to Calgary.
OTOH, your comment about POM may have saved your bacon, although I don't remember the Pride Of Montreal bakery perse. One memory is of a little no-name place a block from us on Sherbrooke in NDG, which made rumballs 3-4 inches in diameter, the like of which I may never meet again. Then there was Le Duc de Lorraine, around the corner from my mother's place and St Joseph's Oratory, which made the best almond horns, no stinting on he marzipan. Sadly, I heard they've closed.
Am keeping hope alive, however, what with a 10-best list that introduced me to Boutique Point G which specializes in a blinding array of macarons. They deliver locally, and I emailed them (en anglais) to see if I could nudge them into taking orders to mail. Hope salivates eternal.
1
@Leapfinger
Please accept my apology if, in my naivete, I responded to Steve L's ironic observation with an over the edge, inappropriate remark. I sometimes have trouble knowing where the line of fair play is drawn. (As a pianist however, hanging me by my thumbs would be cruel and unusual punishment.)
Do you really not remember the POM bakery? This was not a corner bakery, but a massive outfit that sold the staple white bread and other bakery items to supermarkets everywhere in Montreal. See if this jogs your memory.
https://www.pom.ca/en/product-categories/sliced-breads
The bakery was located at St. Catherine Street and Lansdowne, right beside the Glen. It has been since turned into a condo.
The Duc de Lorraine is still at Côte-des-Neiges and Queen Mary, and there was also one at Victoria and Sherbrooke for a while I believe.
https://ducdelorraine.ca/?lang=en
@Andrew, I feel terrible if, in your naivete, you did not feel your leg being pulled as you hung by your thumbs. In actual fact, I was laughing like a fool and admiring your, um, chutzpah for quite a long time. I thought you'd read that between my lines by my having you be sent specifically to Calgary. [Think about it.]
As far as PoM -- sorry, nope. We got our bread at Richman's. But bless you for letting me know Duc de Lorraine is alive and well. More Pavlovian salivating was elicited serious consideration is being given to a pilgrimage de cuisine.
1
I often solve a punny clue and I either chuckle or wince. I give those clues a thumbs up even though a bit of a stretch.
I occasionally find a clue that is for an incorrect answer (or is it an incorrect answer for a clue?). When this occurs, it is definite thumbs down.
In today's Sunday puzzle, there is an incorrect clue. 20D Major Argentine export clues the answer "beef".
I do associate Argentine with vaqueros and such which associates with cattle and the end product "beef". However, calling "beef" a major export is incorrect. Info from 2012 shows that "beef" is .89 of 1 percent. That is, beef is less than 1 percent of all Argentine exports.
Less than 1 percent of all exports does not make "beef" a "major" export (unless there is some pun in this clue that I missed).
In any case, I have a beef with clues that are wrong.
If I am wrong, please elucidate
1
@osomite
I didn't do a extensive search, so I can't confirm or deny the exact figures you quote. A final resort to Wiki found the broad statement that Argentina ranks among the top exporters of beef, which is not what the clue says, of course. It goes on to say later:
Cattle-raising is also a major industry, though mostly for domestic consumption; beef, leather and dairy were 5% of total exports.
Sounds asif your beef holds water.
2
A new personal best, closing in on 1 hour flat! (Please, veterans, do not scoff ...)
Sorry, but I didn't find this one very entertaining. Of course, I'm obsessed with tricks, like rebuses, direction changes, etc. Still, I'm impressed with Ms. Maymudes talent for such a youngster!
Favorite entry: FAREWELL TO ARMS. Least favorite: ARTOO.
Happy SP Day to all!
2
Congrats, Ron! Great work.
In my first pass through the clues, I entered NIKE as the Adidas competitor and later discovered that answer didn't go there but did go elsewhere in the puzzle in a totally different context.
Though I had enough trouble with crosses in all areas that it took me awhile to get the theme and start filling them in, once I got it, I enjoyed the theme very much, especially FAREWELL and THRONES. Well done, Jeff, Sophia, and Will.
1
I had GREASE monkey and TYSONS chicken, but finally managed to dislodge those frozen bolts. Enjoyable puzzle!
1
@Dag Ryen
'Sawright. I had PURDUE chicken
1
@Dag Ryen
I had POPEYE for the chicken one, at first
1
Fun theme!
Did it in 15:41, only 2 secs longer than my personal best. I might have beat my record if my dog hadn’t distracted me...
Bellevue Bob,
You could have used the Paws button...
Re: fast solve today... Perhaps you spotted clues and entries forming across Lake Washington?
4
OH NO
PSST, EGOS ARE POOP,
Soulless FINKS, not
ACMES, NIKE ADS for
Ourselves, NAY
Smokeless ECIG TIPS
Burning sad I DOS.
SOLO, my YENs
Paramount, BFFs
forGOTten, OH NO,
Not me.
2
I hope someone can help. Apparently, in spite of doing everything in the normal way, when I solved the puzzle last evening, I actually solved the Sunday puzzle, not the Saturday one. I truly didn't notice, although I did think it was odd that at 8PM EDT there were only 7 comments. I just assumed there was a commenting glitch.
I've lost my streak, 220+ days. *Sob* I was really proud of myself. That will teach me not to get too big for my britches.
I look at the comments daily, and enjoy reading the various takes on the puzzle. This is the first time I've ventured out of my safe little corner. Sorry to introduce myself by whinging!
Off to solve Saturday's puzzle and hope that the TPB show me some mercy.
3
@Tracey R. You should be able to find the Saturday puzzle and get your streak back on track. Pretty sure you have 48 hours to solve a day for it to "count." Something similar happened to me in January - I was offline when I solved the puzzle on my ipad, and i didn't realize it until a day or two later. I connected the ipad to wireless and the little elves behind the scenes resurrected my streak.
How you find the puzzle depends on what system you're using to solve it. In the iOS apps, the days scroll across the top. On the website, you can scroll down the page a bit and see links to "last 7 days". If you're using some other format, i can't help because those are all I know...
@Mid America You definitely don’t get extra time. Maybe since you solved yours offline within the time limit it worked—that’s just a syncing problem. I’ve lost many a streak at 00:00 or 00:01 (which is devastating!). Sorry for your loss, Tracy!
1
@Meredith huh, I thought for sure i read "within 48 hours" somewhere. Must've dreamt it.
Sorry Tracy! I would hate to lose a streak that way. But next time if you encounter the issue after 8 Eastern you'll have a sense of where to find the current puzzle...
Thoroughly enjoyed this (love literary fiction). Thanks for a Sunday puzzle that didn't disappoint.
2
I THOUGHT OF 'A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY' BEFORE 'THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP'. Owen Meany was one of the best John Irving books that I've read, but I'll admit freely to cringily cowering through pages and pages of Owen's shoutalogue.
Interesting to have one puzzle with both Elvis the King and Elvis the Costello. (ARE 2 Elvises Elv-es? or Elvopodes?)
Caitlin watches PUMP IT UP,
Sees NINE TIPS FOR twisting feet and ankles
And she says 'Jeez';
I watch it (partly)
And have to say what simply rankles
Is how that Elvis pumping will ERODE both ankles and kneez.
Wondering if NE corner on purpose?
Oh, wOTTO ROEG and peasant slave am I
Another excellent collaboration, thanks to all.
2
@Leapfinger
Elvii? I also enjoyed that both were in the puzzle and circling back to Wednesday's puzzle, Elvis the Costello performed at CBGB.
3
@Leapfinger
You have named two of my significant other’s favorite books (among hunfreds) today - A Prayer for Owen Meany and Cat’s Eye, which interestingly are not their authors’ best known works. I have not read anything by Margaret Atwood, other than some poetry. Not sure why. As for John Irving, only Garp.
I remember first seeing Elvis Costello on SNL (1977ish) and was enthralled. He started a song and then abruptly stopped the band, before starting up again (I want to say it was Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes but I’m flying searchless, so that could well be wrong). His look and vibe at the time (angry nerd?) was entirely unique, at least to me. The guy’s had remarkable staying power. He’s one of the most underrated, though well-known, singer-songwriter/musicians I can think of, and has now been on the scene for over 40 years. Who’d thunk it back then?
3
@Leapfinger
My first thought went to OWEN as well
1
Very fun puzzle. Enough difficulty to make it challenging but a nice reprieve from some trickier (for me) puzzles during the week.
Some fresh takes on familiar clues such as ETD instead of ETA.
Many chuckles completing the theme clues. More of an amused groan with GONE GIRL. But enough decades have passed to make this fair game.
Not immediately familiar with THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING (although vaguely recollected), but I was on alert because how could "king" not be part of the answer to that clue?
6
Loved the fun theme! I had trouble spelling ETOUFFEE...
4
This was a satisfying but sloooow solve for me. Maybe it was the pre-puzzle beers? Son was gone and not responding to my Snaps, except to say "Wow, that looks hard." Ended up googling for ROEG, when going through the alphabet didn't give me my happy music. Turns out I had ETAS instead of ETDS, and INAY is apparently not a Midwest capital. Spotted that quickly enough in the end. Enjoyed the theme and found it very helpful today. Ready for a Monday!
2
Midwest clue (Hi Rich),
I was disappointed -- but not surprised -- that 66A was not clued as "Erstwhile Carleton competitor."
1
@Barry Ancona Goood one, Barry; I have to confess that that never crossed my mind.
I'm quite sure that I saw games with both Coe and Carleton while I was at Lawrence. We lived right next to the football field (in the married student apartments).
Fact Ahoy Boy?
While it is fine for the puzzle to clue SKIFFS as "recreational sailboats," I wonder if our Puget Sound constructors ever used one to refer to the other. (In Seattle and elsewhere, I've only heard "recreational sailboats" referred to by type/class, and SKIFFS used for oared, not masted, small boats.)
3
Every so often I forget something I learned long go and the 34A fill niggled at me. So... these two excerpts from wikipedia:
The number π is a mathematical constant. Originally defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, it now has various equivalent definitions and appears in many formulas in all areas of mathematics and physics. It is approximately equal to 3.14159. It has been represented by the Greek letter "π" since the mid-18th century, though it is also sometimes spelled out as "pi". It is also called Archimedes' constant.
Ancient civilizations required fairly accurate computed values to approximate π for practical reasons, including the Egyptians and Babylonians. Around 250 BC the Greek mathematician Archimedes created an algorithm for calculating it.
4
Was all set to cry "foul" as I completed LORD OF THE with RINGS, since Willie only won one World Series ring, until I saw the "error" of my Mays.
19
The Say Hey Kid’s clue was the first answer of all the ‘nother stories I entered. That one STOOD OUT bec it’s so close to the A’s & M’s kick-starting the official season in Japan this week. Any baseball reference, more often than not, has me thinking GIMME; ALOU was no exception. 96d spurred more thoughts of baseball, perhaps clued ‘with distance, a rare accomplishment for starting pitchers nowadays.’...Next to a HOTLY and well seasoned scampi, I place 14d right up there on my BFF list; ;pboldly flavored foodstuff...HBO’s GOT was the last story that I entered as a flourishing BLARE signaled my success...With this AGE OLD ballad (40 odd yrs.) I will defer to Jessi Colter; sorry Elvis P. and Elvis C. but I have always had a YEN for “I’m Not LISA.”
https://youtu.be/UY4aLvpVDEo
Happy Saint Pat’s Day,
Bru
6
Enjoyable and fairly challenging. Until I got the trick, it was very challenging. And then, knowing the trick made the puzzle easier, without making it too easy. That's the best type of theme.
What I liked most about the puzzle was the familiarity to the theme titles. It's hard enough to attach an X clue to a Y answer. But if you've never heard of the Y answer... Here, every single title here is extremely well known, which makes the puzzle very fair and solvable.
I'm on my initial impulse kick again. I think I've spotted the clue/answer that was the impetus for the puzzle. A FAREWELL TO ARMS for the Venus de Milo. AMIRITE? In any event, it's very cute.
I may have to disappear from the blog for a very long while, except for weekends. A major renovation is going to begin this week right over my head. I don't yet know how many months. I was given 72 hours notice -- which is beyond outrageous. Getting out of the house very early will be challenge enough without adding commenting on the puzzle to my morning routine. I haven't slept in nights thinking about it. I'm a basket case. My feeling: You might as well send me to Guantanamo and torture me there. And the irony is: I got this news one day after my Thursday puzzle debut -- one of the happiest days of my life. It's a happiness that right now I can barely remember.
6
@Nancy
That really stinks! I don't suppose they are offering you any type of compensation for this, either. I was the victim of many overhead construction/renovation projects during my working years. Impossible to think straight while that's going on! We'll miss your weekday contributions!
1
"A major renovation is going to begin this week right over my head. I don't yet know how many months."
Nancy,
Been there, done that. Good news: demo -- the noisiest part -- only takes a couple of days. After that, nail guns now and then. You'll survive.
2
@Nancy,
So sorry to hear about your upstairs-renovation woes. I hope you get some good news about the time to completion, or at least the time when the noisiest work will be done. I trust you have a favorite quiet place or two to go to while all of this is happening.
We'll look for posts and updates from you on weekends at least.
Try as I might, couldn't find a St Patrick's reference in the puzzle today.
4
@Robert Michael Panoff
Yes!!!
@Robert Michael Panoff
But there was a reference of sorts to PI day, this past Thursday!
3
@Robert Michael Panoff
You have to squeeze out wee drop of St. Pat's from amongst the clues: 19A and 56D offer up just a hint of green, and if you can hang on to that thought while you 16D, then you're dressed for the day. Then give a thought to the namesake of 11D, an Irish-German-American and war hero of WWII.
Meanwhile enjoy a set of jigs by the Bothy Band, having nothing to do with today's puzzle.
https://youtu.be/XgXwIIHAmaw
So many good things about this puzzle! Right off the bat, the grid looked really cool. The theme, once it revealed itself, was a big help in the solve, and even though I have not read the book or seen the movie for *any* of the theme answers ( don't judge me!) they were all familiar and very gettable. Little garbage fill. A great, relaxing Sunday morning solve! Thanks Sophia and Jeff!
3
I too thought the fill was generally high quality
2
Neat, chewy puzzle. Needed four googles,tho.
Almost tripped up on 59D -- that one is two generations back! I don't know what it's currently called.
Two Elvises in one puzzle? Yikes. :-)
I was seriously considering BRA for 107D.
96A got me wondering if there ever was a crime boss selling electric blankets.
I'm looking forward to seeing more from this young lady.
4
Very fun puzzle, though a typo in 85 across made the NE corner quite a struggle till I noticed my mistake. I also felt ROEG was far too obscure, at least in relation to Cast Away, which I get was supposed to be a misdirection. But I looked up the film and it doesn't seem like one that would be well known just based on a cursory review of Wikipedia and RT. That along with TOG caused me to take much longer in that corner. But Overall great puzzle, and once I got the theme it was fun figuring out the punny clues/titles.
3
SPELLING BEE
Ahrtuwy
33 words, 125 points, 1 pangram
A x 8, H x 6, R x 2, T x 11, W x 6
4L x 16, 5L x 7, 6L x 2, 8L x 1, 9L x 1
4 5 6 7 8 9 Tot
A 4 3 1 - - - 8
H 2 2 2 - - - 6
R - 1 - 1 - - 2
T 5 2 2 - 1 1 11
W 4 2 - - - - 6
Tot 15 10 5 1 1 1 33
Tricky words include a type of guru, a kind of highway, and directions you might hear in a Three Stooges short. The guru word was the one which helped me attain Queen nirvana.
13
@mysterX
Thanks for posting. The A6 should be an A7 and the T9 should be a T7.
7
@Evan
You are correct. For the T's, I mistakenly counted the 7-letter as 8 and the 8 as 9. Switching the T9 to a T7 makes the grid correct.
Thanks for catching this.
1
@mysterX ---
Thanks for the grid, and @Evan, the corrections.
The guru clue was very helpful.
All but an A5 and a T5, and it's still morning!
3
Definitely my idea of a great Sunday puzzle. I had MARLEY AND ME early on, but didn't know it was the exact title of a book, so didn't completely get the theme much further on, and then had a wonderful time getting each one with as few letters as possible. So many good ones, but I think LORD OF THE FLIES wins for me. Like Peter, I had my reservations about GONE GIRL, but not enough to not be able to appreciate the clever theme.
7
@suejean
Agreed about GONE GIRL. My initial thought was "ooh, that's cold"... but I'm never truly bothered by anything I see in crossword puzzles, so I just moved on after that... :)
4
@suejean
My favorite was A FAREWELL TO ARMS, but it's so obvious it's probably been done before, not necessarily in an XWP but somewhere.
1
Viv,
It's so obvious that Rex called it a Dad Joke, so I guess it came from Jeff ... or Sophia's dad.
FYI, the title of the HBO series is “Game of Thrones.”
“A Game of Thrones” is the title of the first book in the series “A Song of Ice and Fire.”
6
@David Newcomb
That would make it valid, then, as the themers were either books, movies, or books that had been made into movies.
Steve Faiella,
David Newcomb did not suggest there was any invalidity in the puzzle. He did not offer any context for his comment. I assumed it was a random advisory (since nobody referred to the HBO series), but the second part corrects a mistake in the Wordplay column.
2
100 day streak on a very satisfying Sunday puzzle! Anyone else put PEE for 91A? Anyone, anyone?
7
@MJ
What a cool way to hit 100!
3
@MJ
That would have been hilarious paired with 9A!
1
@Michael O
"What a cool way to hit 100!"
With the verb suggested? Now there's an image!
For fun, I compiled a list of all the three-letter homophones for letters I could think of, using only common words, not proper names. Not all of them are verbs. The ones marked * are (or can be) verbs, so they could have been candidates for 91A as clued. "DEE" is borrowed from Scots English, as in "lay me doon and DEE." AYE appears twice, because it has two pronunciations that vary with meaning: AYE as I means "yes," AYE as A means "ever, continually." HEW and WHY may be exact or approximate homophones of their respective letters, depending on regional variations. If there are more than these, I didn't know/remember them.
AYE, BEE, SEA, SEE*, DEE*, GEE, AYE, EYE*, JAY, CAY, ELL, OWE*, PEE*, CUE*, ARE*, TEE*, HEW*, WHY
4
I've been missing Will FC lately. He does inject a good deal of controversy and drama to these pages. Perhaps when he comes to after the weekend...?
1
Andrew,
Will has not been commenting on Saturday and Sunday puzzles. I assume he socializes off-line on Friday and Saturday evenings.
5
A very enjoyable Sunday puzzle. Loved the clues at 3D and 88D. All the themers were great. And TODIL from one of Joel's minis what a juul is, and that helped immensely with 17A.
@twoberry
Surprised that you hadn't heard of JUUL. Here in the Northeast there have been numerous news reports of that company being a huge contributor to the teen vaping phenomenon, since their "flavors" are aimed squarely at that demographic.
2
@Steve Faiella -- I vaguely remember coming across the term previously, but had forgotten its meaning. Joel's puzzle reminded me of it a few days ago, coming in handy for solving today's puzzle.
1
Not relevant to the puzzle, but I think Marley was a golden retriever, not a Labrador.
1
Spoiler Alert:
...And Scrooge turned out to be a nice guy after all...
6
@Andrew
Oh, man!!
@Judith Yogman
Sometimes on a fine day such as this, a leprechaun named Marley is a golden retriever.
I just now read Caitlin's column and the constructors' notes and then headed over to xwordinfo for Will Shortz's notes, and Jeff Chen's. To say I'm impressed by Sophia is like saying that I'm impressed by Archimedes. Will Shortz:
Sophia Maymudes is a junior at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., studying computer science and math. She's been making crosswords since high school. For this one, her first Sunday puzzle, she teamed up with fellow Seattle resident Jeff Chen, who writes a daily crossword blog, XWordInfo.com. They jointly brainstormed theme examples. Jeff laid out the grid. Sophia did the fill. They each wrote half the clues. Sophia says, "The entire puzzle took nearly a hundred emails back and forth to create."
5
@PM
"The entire puzzle took nearly a hundred emails back and forth to create."
It's clear that the world has really changed when time is measured in terms of emails...
6
@Andrew,
Well, she was in Hungary at that time....
1
@Henry Su
Had this been a much earlier generation the air mail postage would have been something else entirely.
3
As far as the Rorschach, I see a Fire Flower from Super Mario Brothers..
4
I have to protest that though seafood is classic in an etouffee, poultry is common, and I know people who have made it with squirrel. To me the chicken etouffee that I make is the standard.
Frances,
It's interesting to see what different dictionaries have to say about the components:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/etouffee
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/etouffee
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/etouffee
@Frances
Squirrel étouffée... sounds like Boris and Natasha's fantasy meal...
4
Andrew,
No moose? (Canadian clue?)
3
@Caitlin, what I saw in the grid was a heart in the upper center.
I liked the plethora of F's in the SE quadrant (8), and I really liked the clue for ETDS [Gate expectations, briefly]. The themers brought me smiles, and some of the other answers could have doubled for themers:
FASTER -- Biography of Mahatma Ghandi
LOOPY -- Biography of the eighth Dwarf
STONER -- Biography of David
5
@Lewis
That’s what some drivers say when behind a slow-moving vehicle near a marijuana dispensary:
“FASTER, you LOOPY STONER!”
8
I have not been able to get this poem past the emus yet, so I’m trying UUs in place of OOs in the first line. If no go, then I give.
OH NO
PSST, EGOS ARE PUUP,
Soulless FINKS, not ACMES,
Mere NIKE ADS
FOR ourselves, NAY,
Smokeless ECIG TIPS
Burning endless I DOS.
SOLO, my YENS
Paramount, BFFS
ForGOTten, GONE,
OH NO, not me.
1
OH NO
PSST, EGOS ARE P00P,
Soulless FINKS, not ACMES,
Mere NIKE ADS
FOR ourselves, NAY,
Smokeless ECIG TIPS
Burning endless I DOS.
SOLO, my YENS
Paramount, BFFS
ForGOTten, GONE,
OH NO, not me.
@PM
I-ronic that my poem decrying the ego would appear twice. the emus are a mischievous bunch
1
Fun solve for the most part, with a couple of grimaces along the way. Started with MARLEYANDME (which I think is my favorite). Actually worked a solid swath from top to bottom down the middle, which left me with two separate puzzles on the left and right. Ended up in the NE corner, where I was sure I would recognize the director's name and was stuck for a long time. Turns out there was a different 'Castaway' film. Also had no idea about the gentleman in the clue for 4d and had to work that one out from the crosses.
Speaking of which, some theories would have made CASTAWAY a valid substitute for GONEGIRL (and it would have fit).
Strikes me as a bit odd that there is a note from Will Shortz about the constructor on Xword Info, but not here, since, you know, he works for the New York Times. Not surprised to find that our new constructor is a math major. Seems to be the primary skill required for construction.
@Rich in Atlanta - You triggered a David C auto-reply (hee hee) about Castaway (1986 film) versus Cast Away (2000 film).
Most people get the name of the latter, starring Tom Hanks, wrong, thinking since he spends most of the movie as a castaway on a desert island it is called "Castaway." Since I first saw the film, I've loved that it is entitled "Cast Away."
That two word phrase has two meanings:
- throw it out; let it go; trash heap. This meaning applies to the plotline of his fiancée giving up on him, him ultimately having to accept that, and the two of them together coming to the point of letting go.
- draw up anchor; set out to sea. This meaning applies to the last scenes in the film, especially when he has no idea what comes next and ends up looking four ways at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere.
Now I feel like watching it again!
4
@Rich in Atlanta,
Will's note about the constructor accompanies the print version of the Sunday puzzle in the NYT. Just not online.
Henry,
It is online in the PDF of the print version, but I continue to be surprised that -- apparently -- these now-weekly notes on the constructor(s) are not shown in online versions of the puzzle. Aren't "special puzzle" notes shown in all formats?
2
This puzzle was an enjoyable feather in the cap of a personal milestone (180 day streak). Loved its cleverness once I got enough fill to grok the theme, and found myself enjoying a couple of well placed clues. (Originally putting NYC down for the Girls home, before getting NYC a few clues later and returning with the appropriate fit. The Winged Goddess close to the Adidas competitor...) Simply delightful, and how lovely to mark this milestone from constructors who share a city with me - thanks Sophia and Jeff!
6
A note regarding 90-Down -- FAIR USE.
Here is 2 Live Crew's parody of "Pretty Woman," which the Supreme Court held to be fair use despite its commercial nature, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65GQ70Rf_8Y.
In that case, the Court explained why parody tends to receive more generous treatment under the fair use exception than satire, even though they both use humor to make a point: "Parody needs to mimic an original to make its point, and so has some claim to use the creation of its victim's (or collective victims') imagination, whereas satire can stand on its own two feet and so requires justification for the very act of borrowing."
Although the cluing is fine for this crossword, technically a parody can be sued for copyright infringement and it's up to the defendant to plead fair use as an affirmative defense and to prove that its parody qualifies as such. As the Court held, "[t]he fact that parody can claim legitimacy for some appropriation does not, of course, tell either parodist or judge much about where to draw the line. Like a book review quoting the copyrighted material criticized, parody may or may not be fair use, and petitioner's suggestion that any parodic use is presumptively fair has no more justification in law or fact than the equally hopeful claim that any use for news reporting should be presumed fair[.]"
6
@Henry Su, my sincere apologies, but speaking of 'parrot-y'...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZw35VUBdzo
@Leapfinger,
Loved it!
1
I loved the creative theme and the masterful gridwork. Kudos to Ms. Maymudes for coming up with this idea and pursuing it, and to Jeff for putting it into a Sunday puzzle.
None of the book titles came readily to me but no matter--it was enjoyable to see each of them gradually come into view as I worked the crossings. Like other commenters, I think A FAREWELL TO ARMS takes the prize; for me a close second would be OF MICE AND MEN.
While THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING is among of my favorite novels, I don't think it particularly describes Elvis Presley's life ... unless we're indulging in conspiracy theories about Elvis not being dead? (Not being a pedant here; I still enjoyed the entry but am explaining why it didn't take first prize.)
3
@Henry Su
I think the thought of a possible return was part of the answer's charm. Is the original a conspiracy theory?
Hic Jacet Arthurus Rex Quondam Rexque Futurus
Re my previous post about Amelia Earhart.
Is there, or should there be, a kind of statute of limitations in referring to people in a way they would not have been referred to at the time of their death? Not til they’re dead for 50, 75, 100 years or longer? What do you think?
2
@Peter Jackel, I asked that question about 3 weeks after I joined wordplay and didn't get many answers. In fact I can't really answer it but I am glad I'm not the only one who winced on getting that answer today.
4
For me, it is still to soon to be having fun with the death of Amelia Earhart.
8
@Peter Jackel
You don't know she's dead. (Other than the fact she'd be 121 by now.)
@Peter Jackel
She's gone, but how do you know she's dead?
@Peter Jackel
82 years is too soon?
Ok.
2
Didn’t have much time and this fit the bill. Fun, quick, great theme. Disney held me up the most, though it seems so obvious in retrospect.
If I had to guess, THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING was the genesis of this theme. They were all good, but that one stood out. There was even a nod to my preferred Elvis, Declan MacManus (aka Elvis Costello). He has written so many great songs. Here’s one of my favorites, Brilliant Mistake, which starts with the line, “He thought he was the King of America.”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rfTZl3eRW_g
8
@PM,
From the constructor's notes, it looks like the seed entry for Ms. Maymudes was MARLEY AND ME.
1
late to change my guess? Fortunately, unlike Nancy’s recent “all my nickels OOT OF ALL EVIL” bet, which she won, I risked nothing more than my pride. MARLEY AND ME struck me more as the title of a memoir than a biography, FWIW. It actually seemed a tad forced. But that just might be sour grapes talking.
BTW I guess ALITO (and Gorsuch in the clue) balances out the recent GINSBURG entry.
@PM
Editing issues . . . Add “Too” to the lead of the lede and R before OOT. *
*Barry, Hildy and others: I know I’ve taken liberties with “lede”. Forgive me, please.
I must be watching too much British TV since I stuck with CHEEKY monkey far too long.
Unlike yesterday, with exactly ONE 100% sure answer (MORANIS) on first pass, this one flew by. Fast and fun.
2
@Hildy Johnson
What do you recommend? Watching “No Offence” at the moment. Excellent female-driven police show. But there are only so many murders one can take, even when done as well as the Brits tend to do them.
Spaced!
@Ryan
Me too at times, but I'm looking for British TV show recommendations here, not self-criticism.
Oh wait, I see, "Spaced" IS a British TV show, and a comedy to boot. Brilliant, mate. Thank you!
A fast and fun Sunday puzzle. Enjoyed the themes, most of which came quickly, and humorously. Liked the clue for BODY SURF.
Also liked the fact that everyone had at least one GIMME.
3
I love punny puzzles, and this was a good one. Farewell to Arms made me laugh out loud. The cross of ROEG and TOG was the last square to fall, both unknown to me. Not too many gimmes or head-scratchers—just a steady, enjoyable solve.
4
@Kris me too. “Tog up”?
Happily, I got the direction of the theme early on with MARLEY AND ME, and so was able to try guessing at the others with just a few letters. Fastest to come for me was LORD OF THE FLIES, the Willie Mays bio, but A FAREWELL TO ARMS got the biggest laugh.
5
Fun, fun, fun! I really enjoyed this Sunday puzzle! It was not only clever but also had clues that were at times a bit tough but also, in the end, logical.
So, thanks for a challenging but delightful weekend crossword!
6
Saturday letter boxed:
J...D (8), D...L (5) - second best possible solution I think (9/4 being the best).
1
Why is 9/4 better than 8/5?
I went with
P-S(7), S-E(11).
Very much not minimal but topical somehow.
Hint
Drug components
@Mr Mark
Are we on the same day? Maybe you are referring to Saturday’s box?
Caitlin writes: An “oinker” could be a squealer, but a jailhouse FINK definitely is.
Jailhouse FINK sure, but I'm fairly sure company FINK comes first; M-W thinks so:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fink
(Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union...)
4
@Barry Ancona Huzzah for the Union Maid.
2
@Diana
In NC, Tim Buck is a Bar-B-Q Barbecue Sauce.
Long Island City was home to FINK Bakery, a commercial outlet that delivered HoJo’s daily bread. They shuttered the operation in ‘02. If you ever had a turkey club at Howard Johnson’s in or around NYC, the triple decker that you ATE was most likely made on FINK.
1
The actual biography of Thomas Crapper: Wallace Reyburn, Flushed with pride (Macdonald, 1969)
7
That'll be Day One for the Plumbers' Parade.
1
Having read the preceding several comments it is incumbent on me to be the first to say: A potentially clever idea but somehow, it just not did not come off for me. Perhaps I am in a less receptive mood than I might otherwise have been but dems the breaks, as day say.
I guess I was expecting something a little less serious, more punny.
@HALinNY, do you mean something like 'The history of Saran Wrap?' for THE ONCE AND FUTURE CLING -or- 'Ricky Martin's sunglasses collection?' for FIFTY SHADES OF GAY?
Or, you could just look next door at Fact Boy's comment...
2
@Leapfinger ... so nice to hear from you and I am guessing that your recovery is complete.
Yes, those entries would have changed my mood almost as quickly as seeing your comment here.
1
Interesting: it's 8:35 p.m. ET, and each of the 10 comments up says it was posted "1h ago."
Let's see what this one will say ... if it posts.
@Barry Ancona
It says "March 16"
1
@Barry Ancona
I think the time stamps operate by threshholds, so that, at 8:35, everything logged between 6:36 and 7:35 will be stamped "1h".
Similarly, I think that, at 12:01am 3/17, everything posted rolls over to 3/16.
At present, this is only suspicion, but I may set my alarm for 11:55 tonight for direct observation.
1
Leapy,
My surprise, 2:35 after comments should have gone live, was that "1h ago" on the 10 posts implied they all appeared in a 59-minute range. I know how the counting is supposed to work; I didn't think it was working. If it wasn't working then, it fixed itself later.
TIL how to spell AY2FAY.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING is one of my favorite books. I’ve read it a few times and now regret having lent it to a dinner guest a few decades ago only to forget which one. I may have to buy another copy. It had passages that made me laugh out loud. I’ve read quite a few tellings of the King Arthur story, and TOAFK is my fave.
I wanted Diner sign to be GOOD EATS.
6
@David Meyers,
Same here. I still treasure my copy of the 1958 Putnam hardcover, which I read in high school. Here is a funny exchange between Wart and Merlyn:
"What would you like to be?" asked Merlyn.
Wart looked out of the window, listening to the thrush's twice-done song of dew.
He said, "I have been a bird once, but it was only in the mews at night, and I never got a chance to fly. Even if one ought not to do one's education twice, do you think I could be a bird so as to learn about that?"
He had been bitten with the craze for birds which bites all sensible people in the spring, and which sometimes even leads to excesses like birds' nesting.
"I can see no reason why you should not," said the magician. "Why not try it at night?"
"But they will be asleep at night."
"All the better chance of seeing them, without their flying away. You could go with Archimedes this evening, and he would tell you about them."
2
@David Meyers, if you’re into Amazon ebooks, it was recently on sale for $1.99.
@David Meyers
Time was, I would lend favourite books that were never returned for one reason or another, which led me to pick up a copy of some missing favourite if I saw it at a yard sale or resale shop for mere pennies. Sorting through my books when I was packing up for my temporary move, I found 3 copies of Gardner's Sunlight Dialogues, 4 of Salinger's Nine Stories, 3 Phantom Tollbooths and 5 (count them - five!) of Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye.
PS: Am in agreement about TOAFK; there's a wonderfully memorable description of the maturing Guinevere.
1
In Saturday's puzzle, Andrew J. Ries has, once again, committed the linguistic crime of crossing 'n' ('opine, 35-across) with ñ ('el niño', 26-down). This is standard operating procedure for the NYT crossword (many puzzle constructors do it). It isn't deft or clever, but rather culturally tone deaf. Also just wrong. Much better would be to cross 'ñ' with 'NY' in a Thursday 'I love New York' puzzle.
4
@Zen ah so
3
Zen,
The crossword does not use diacritics from any language, including English, so while it may be literally tone deaf, it is not culturally tone deaf.
16
@PJM
No offense, but I just changed my screen name from Puzzlemucker to PM to lessen confusion with Puzzledog. The gods must be laughing, particularly since your comment is one that I would never leave for reasons recently discussed on here.
@Barry
"literally tone deaf" - brilliant.
Very much fun. Enjoyed all the themers. Lot's of boomer-friendly content, or so it seemed at the time.
Johnny OLSON may not be a household word nowadays, and in fact might not have been at the time. But among game show fans, his legendary reading of "COME ON DOWN!" has been a mainstay of The Price Is Right ever since, maintained by the subsequent Price Is Right announcers ever since. He was also the announcer for the '70's version of Match Game.
Here are two shortish clips featuring his "COME ON DOWN!" from The Price Is Right:
https://youtu.be/NmyV_dBZHU0
...and the opening of a Match Game '75 episode in which he filled in on the panel for missing Gary Burghoff when the latter failed to set his clock forward for Daylight Saving Time.
https://youtu.be/dbNf_cgy2II
If for any reason you want to see that whole Match Game episode, it's here:
https://youtu.be/gmBiy7g4RSM
(Yeah, I know, superficial. Not to mention dated attitudes. But fun in a '70's mindset sort of way.)
9
@Alan J
Johnny was the primary announcer for many Goodman-Todman game shows, and a lot of other ones as well. One that I didn't remember when reading his Wikipedia entry was The Jackie Gleason Show in the 60s. I can remember seeing the June Taylor dancers (back in the day) but not hearing Johnny's voice. Or maybe he was so ubiquitous then that it wasn't special.
2
Cute stuff in the themers. Lots and lots of names, both in the clues and the answers.
I was once invited to a home-cooked meal in Lake Charles, La., and the main dish was a wonderful crawfish étouffée starring fresh local catch. Unforgettable.
For 1A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mn9cEJjJZE
1
Same here!
2
Loved the book choices. Fun puzzle to end the week
2
A very fun though pretty fast Sunday. My favorite was A FAREWELL TO ARMS. But all of the theme entries were a lot of fun. The FAIR and CANNY USE of those titles really STOOD OUT, IMO.
4
Thoroughly enjoyed these cleverly re appropriated titles.
3
liked it a lot. very funny. MARLEY AND ME STOOD OUT!
1