Am I the only one who had STEWART for "Rod on Reels"? Back in the day, music was recorded on reels too.
This was a very tough Thursday. Being a Thursday, I was on the look for something tricky, but still felt helpless. I even got the revealer (OFFSIDES) pretty early, but had no idea where it applied. My suggestion for improvement would have been to star (or highlight on the online version) the theme clues.
I was thinking the clues would run off the sides of the puzzle, and when I finally gave up and googled a bunch of stuff, the fact that the extra letters or the full words (UPEARLY, SOTHERE, etc.) had no meaning at all made it pretty unsatisfying. It was a cool idea, but I feel like it either could've been presented better or saved for a Saturday.
4
Didn’t have much time to devote to this today but cheated like hell in google to finish. Tough one, and wish there was some more complete gratification with the theme entries...
Hard puzzle. Scout leader?? Too much of a stress. Others too. I said before, if you make the clues too vague or stretchy any silly puzzle can be tough.
1
This was a tough Thursday! I too wanted the “offsides” letters to have meaning, or to be deducible in some organic way, ideally through a theme related to the new words.
And I thought “Scout leader” was a very big stretch.
But otherwise—fun!
Mike
1
Though I don’t wear a tie anymore, I was still glad to learn that TIEATIE is the #1 how-to search ... tradition can be comforting. I remember teaching a new hire on his first day of work at IBM how to tie a tie over 30 years ago. I also offered instruction in changing a tire, doing an oil change and completing a 1040 but he was willing to pay someone else to do that stuff. Can pay someone to tie a tie though.
1
Lewis, I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. I caught on fairly quickly. I FORGET where exactly, but it might have been there. I hope you are not discouraged by the occasional negative outburst. I've seen plenty of those in my time. Any successful puzzle that is about mid-way between my best and my average is a good puzzle in my books. Looking forward to lots more!
6
I was late getting to this puzzle because real life interfered, but when I did, after mild confusion, thing I was missing something "I Forget" what I ploughed ahead and all of a sudden I began to Ketch er catch on, and when I got to the offside answer it occurred to me it might be more interesting to see solvers responses that the solving was. I was not disappointed. I having been using the NYT puzzle as my Alzheimer Mediciine, and today helped.
8
In the words of Greta Garbo, "I want to be BALONEY." In the words of Rita Hayworth, "I want to be SALOME".
6
I knew there was a theme. I knew which answers were themed. I even had some blank spaces in some of them (like FORGE) that I knew I had right and didn’t know what to do with the bleeping blank spaces. And I even filled in the revealer cold, and I am *so* not a football fan.
But I was totally at sea with this puzzle. It was really clever and just didn’t speak to me.
6
Challenging theme and well-clued. My favorite was “verses vs. verses events” as poetry slams are popular here in Modesto, home of The Ill List! Solid Thursday puzzle!
5
Really liked the clever clues for SLAMS, TIE A TIE, YEAR, SARI, ALTER EGO, ANTS, STEIGER, TONTO, and MUTT.
Also liked the fresh fill of MANIACAL, ALTER EGO, and RODE HERD.
No-knows were SLAMS (who knew poetry had competitions? Not I.), MCTEER, and ABU. Fortunately LENA was a gimme from Game of Thrones, so no Natick with LENA and MCTEER.
Stumbled on FICTION before FANTASY and MINI before SARI.
Figured out the gimmick from bALONEy, sKETCHy, and iFORGEt, so wasn’t surprised by tANGELo, uPEARLy, and sOTHERe.
Only disappointment was expecting the chopped-off letters to have meaning on their own. Tried to make something of them and gave up, expecting a big Aha! moment from Deb’s column. Alas, not to be.
Ultimately, a fast and fun puzzle. Finished in the same time as Wednesday’s puzzle, about 60% of my average Thursday time. Would have liked a few more tricky clues, but I suppose I should enjoy a fast Thursday solve without complaint.
2
LOVE. That's all. Just love.
3
Lots of comments on the difficulty of 10D. Here is my Canadian clue for those of you old enough and Canadian enough to remember.
10D Maureen Who? (Hint: wife of Joe Who?)
2
@Andrew
And LENA Horne would have been preferable to LENA Headey (who?).
2
@Andrew PM Clark?
@Patrick
Right you are. Maureen McTeer is Joe Clark's wife. She is a lawyer and was a prominent feminist in the 1970s. Interestingly, she is probably the only first lady in Canada who never took her husband's family name.
I dunno. Puzzle kinda stunk... really disappointed in some of the clues. Reserves?? Scout leader?? Etc, etc. I got the theme early on, but those were not the challenging clues because they were clued better.
2
@Josh
"Reserves" has been discussed the several times it has appeared, to refer to re-serving in tennis. The more you solve, the more you'll see this kind of clue.
Tonto lead Scout (his horse) in adventures with the Lone Ranger (many episodes of which are available on YouTube, it seems). Look for clues with Silver, too.
Cluing is in the pen of the besolver. Be happy!
7
I was really disappointed to find out that 62 across was not about me.
5
@Todd
Well, at least 23D was!
3
@Todd
Ha!!!
:-c)€
@Todd
i think it was?!
1
Lewis, I always thought you were a kind person, but this puzzle, sheesh. I was so frustrated by your trickiness I had to step away from the puzzle. For example, anything nautical is usually a gimme, but _ketch_? Say what?? I was stumped.
However, all is forgiven. Once I realized what you were up to the answers fell quickly. The best part of this puzzle is your wordplay. My 5 favorite clues are for:
sari- refreshing and funny clue for what is usually dull fill
ant- ditto
year- ditto
slams- you found poetry in violence
Steiger- nice misdirect
4
I started off pretty well, but then fell into a trap because I didn't get the joke, or the theme. I had to turn AutoCheck on, otherwise my hair would be in a big pile on the floor (off with their ends?). Once on, I could navigate pretty well. Some days you get it, some days you don't. I love puns but today I just fell by the wayside. Still fun though. I was hoping to complete without Autocheck but alas, it wasn't to be.
2
I spent so much time convincing myself that a SKETCHY is a two-masted vessel, that I'm afraid it will be the only thing I remember from this puzzle, and it will come back to embarrass me in the future.
11
@FrankieHeck
Mine was thinking an IFORGET was an actual blacksmith shop
6
I think this still was a stretch. If the letters that you had to take off had some sort of theme to them, then that would have been something (for example, in BALONEY, the removed letters spelled BY; in IFORGET, they spelled IT). If the six two letter words had some sort of pattern or made a sentence, particularly one related to football, then this would have seemed more complete. As it stands, the extra letters just sit there for no particular reason (other than they are needed for the down clues). Another way to make this better would have been to have two clues, one for the full word (BALONEY), and one for the “onsides” word (ALONE). Otherwise, in the across dimension, those letters are random and unclued.
27
Are the 12 "extra" letters a wacky anagram that refers to the #1 how-to search in 17D?
ITSY BOUY TYES
3
@Mr. Mark I agree - really a stretch. I got the right answers, but there was no consistent hook. Fun, but frustrating.
3
"Otherwise, in the across dimension, those letters are random and unclued."
Some found them SKETCHY, but I say BALONEY. You had to be UPEARLY to do this puzzle, and maybe have a TANGELO for energy. SO THERE. (Did I FORGET that somebody made a similar comment earlier?)
6
Before I caught the theme and the other 5 theme related clues, I had IFORGET and actually Googled to see if an IFORGET was an actual place where a blacksmith works.
6
@ColoradoZ
maybe in france?
2
@Laura Rodrigues in London
Maybe not, but Guy FORGET (ghee for-ZHAY) s a retired tennis pro from France.
If there’s anyone who has a talent for finding something interesting, humorous or lovely tucked hiding inside something else, it’ll be our Lewis.
At first it was sort of KETCH as KETCH can, but since I was UP EARLY* I soon saw the PEARL EAR ring. Won’t say I ever felt RODE HERD and put up wet, but I did have to do two alphabet runs to realize the M made UTT be MUTT, recognizable as a rescue. (Headbonk)
Hope no ANGEL was harmed eating a TANGELO, but maybe some ANGER disappeared with eating TANGERINEs. So nice to read SHEL Silverstein again and to see HE is in there
Next time I see our Lewis maybe I’ll LOB a GLOBE at him, maybe ask what he thinks of THE OTHER SOTHERE and the SKETCHY KETCH ETC. I have to do something to get even for making me look at language like sets of Matryoshka dolls, and I wouldn’t BET ON the European Theatre of Operations
Nonetheless, I need to thank @Lewis for his STEIGER STEIGER burning bright, for his HARBINGER of Spring, and for his consummate SKILLET constructing loveable Xword puzzles
14
A bit of a stretch if you ask me.
5
Interesting, challenging, rewarding!
Just the other night we watched "In the Heat of the Night," with Rod STEIGER in the role for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor.
3
@archaeoprof
I totally agree - Interesting, challenging, rewarding!
When I filled in 12A, I thought "what the heck?" and then remembered it was Thursday, so held out hope that it would become clear - and it did!
I loved that the six answers were not starred.
7
@Mary ugh I did NOT enjoy that the theme answers were not started! I hope the editors don't make a habit of that. It was a Thursday enough puzzle already!
1
@Stephanie, the themers were placed symmetrically, and (as it happens were all 7 letters long,
In the absence of starred clues or circled/shaded boxes, you'll have to hunt for other indicators; if the gods are kind, there'll be *some*thing!!
2
A tough but ultimately solvable Thursday puzzle -- I needed the OFFSIDES answer to make sense of BALONEY and TANGELO. I do have a question: why the question mark after Scout leader but not after Rod on reels?
1
Tony,
I don't think Will Shortz will respond to your question about question marks, but I'd offer that since "Rod on reels" doesn't really mean anything other than the entry,* there wasn't actually a misdirection.
*"Rod on reel" or "Rods on reels" mean something
3
@Barry Ancona Thanks. I guessed that "rod on reels" had something to do with fishing but I guessed wrong. I can see why there wouldn't be any question mark.
2
@Tony Santucci I actually did get the joke that Rod on Reels would be from the movies so that was good (because I didn't come close to getting the puzzle theme). I just figured out Tonto from the crosses. I guess no question mark because it's not so much of a pun as just a fact that Tonto was the rider (or leader) of a horse named Scout. At least that's what I got from the Wordplay explanation, anyway.
There is some joy and some disappointment in Mudville today, and I hope that those with the latter found enough of the former to be entertained and for the overall solve to have been good, even if flawed. I am also pleased as punch that this puzzle brought unalloyed smiles so some as well.
There is a constructor who I emulate, who has had a great many NYT puzzles published. Several years back, I was amazed at the ability of this person to consistently come up with good themes, to construct quality grids, and to fill them with varied and interesting entries. But I believed this constructor had an Achilles heel in cluing, which was almost always direct, and devoid of wordplay. In these last few years, I have watched this person’s cluing evolve, to where it now matches those sterling qualities that were always there (and which have grown even better).
I am inspired by this person, and hope to have my constructing arc rise in the same way, with weaknesses catching up to the strengths -- and everybody's honest comments today – yays and nays – are so helpful. Thank you all!
46
@Lewis
My comment is a Yay. I like your use of the words STERLING here as it was my entry before STEIGER.
3
@ColoradoZ
Conflating SERLING and STEIGER?
2
@Andrew
Aha! 👌
Anyone for Sterling Hayden?
3
Letter Boxed Thread
My solution today is quite long, but a deeply thoughtful and ever so true phrase. P-R (13) R-T (6).
Yesterday, I had the given solution as well as the equal length FOE ENCEPHALOGRAM and the superlong (24!) PERFORMANCE ENCEPHALOGRAM.
VAGUE HINT for my solution today: Out of the mouths of the well-educated.
2
@Liane
Concerning yesterday's solution, I think that if an image were made of our brain patterns, they would appear awfully similar. As for today I kept finding myself one letter short of a two word solution. Back to the drawing board!
@Liane
I had FORE and your E-M yesterday and have P-R (7) and R-S (10) today. I understand my P-R is regarded as "obsolete"...hmmmm
@liane
Hard one for me today.
I have S-S(8),S-T(9).
Hint:
Focus on neurological disfunction.
As a language maven, I encourage all of those who have a problem with "offsides" vis-a-vis "offside" to visit Etymology 3
of the suffixive -s at wiktionary:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-s#English
and think about how the English language allows an offside offense to be offsides in the same way that forward movement is forwards.
3
@David Connell
It seems to me, announcers often use "offsides".
As to language maven, a replacement column for William Safire's "On Language" is long overdue
4
@ColoradoZ
And I nominate David Connell to be the author!
9
@David Connell - (since the offside/s wars seem to be ongoing - the word is not a plural noun or adjective, but an adverbial form...compare:
beside the point...
with
besides...
it was an offside offense...
it was offsides...)
3
A very satisfying solve: the toughest Thursday in a long while, with some fine clues along the way. But there was a letdown at the end, when I realized there was no connection among the "offsides" letter pairs, as if the puzzle had been salted with unrelated rebuses.
3
@speede I agree. I was struggling to find another theme element other than just lopping off the first and last letters, such as some relation among the un-shortened words, or among the letters that were added to the clued entries, or some shape of the added letters. Mildly disappointed that there wasn't more, but otherwise a nice puzzle.
2
This is the first Thursday in a long time that I struggled to finish. McTeer was new to me, Headley was not. Even though I glommed onto the trick, I still worked ponderously to the end. A good workout, Lewis, thanks!
4
@Liane
That’s probably the highest praise that Lewis could ever get: a “that was a struggle” from the speedy, unflappable Liane.
2
SPELLING BEE
Lafinty
60 words, 281 points, 3 pangrams (1 perfect)
A x 7, F x 25, I x 6, L x 9, N x 5, T x 8, Y x 0
4L x 22, 5L x 15, 6L x 8, 7L x 9, 8L x 4, 9L x 1, 11L x 1
4 5 6 7 8 9 11 Tot
A 3 2 1 1 - - - 7
F 7 7 4 4 3 - - 25
I 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 6
L 5 3 1 - - - - 9
N 1 1 - 2 1 - - 5
T 5 1 1 1 - - - 8
Y - - - - - - - 0
Tot 22 15 8 9 4 1 1 60
30
@Ron O.
Glad you got this up before I started to tally. I lost track of the total number of pangrams along the way.
Another day of annoying omissions, the same ones typically missing from this letter set. I will only carp about LIANA. Just because . . . .
8
@Ron O. --
Thanks so much for doing this!
I'm about to throw in the towel for now. Only found one pangram, not even at Genius -- and I'm still missing 4-letter words!
I could go on forever -- but that's (almost) an anti-pangram.
2
@Madeline Gunther One of the pangrams is the I-11 and it is pretty ugly.
Letter sets containing i-l-t-y get to looking pretty ugly pretty quickly. Part of this comes from not knowing which ty and ly words will be accepted. Part from guessing about spelling (is that two l's, two t's, etc.). I don't try to slog through to the end any more. I do come and check to see if I have gotten all the longish (7 letters or more) words and pangrams. Turns out I was missing two N-7 words which I got pretty quickly and a T-7 I am not interested in chasing.
I hear good things about the crossword, so off I go...
6
Why would SPLIT ENDS be any stretchier than OFFSIDES?
3
@Too Old To Care
I would have preferred OFFENDS
3
Re: Spelling Bee. It seems to me that a lot of the puzzles lately are repeats. Please, no more. You take the fun out of it. :(
4
Boy, you’d have to get UP EARLY in the morning to outsmart our very clever Lewis! He probably constructed this with one hand tied behind his back while juggling a TANGELO or two. Nothing SKETCHY about this puzzle. And that’s NO BALONEY! I think his last puzzle was just as clever. I FORGET.
Anyway, watching Lewis grow and publish has been a joy. He’s now one of my favorite constructors. SO THERE.
8
Loved this puzzle. Especially loved the clues for YEAR and ANTS. Especially loved finding out that the #1 Google search is for how to TIE A TIE.
I wrote a quite long comment over on the Rexblog and then forgot to cut and paste it. So when I pressed Ctrl/V here, nothing happened.
I'm sorry, Lewis. But I'm too lazy to try to duplicate it here in its entirety. For anyone who cares, you can read me over there. Or not. But great job, Lewis! Thanks for a fun Thursday.
4
@Nancy
Well, I always love reading your posts so I guess a trip to Rexland is in order...
Well, I'm safely back and loved reading your post as usual. Your progress from AMANAS to ABETTING made me think that if I were ABETTING AMANA...
As a woman you were intrigued that the #1 Google search was how to TIE A TIE. Would you have preferred it to be "How to unhook a BRA?"
My major disappointment with Rex was that he chose to link Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now" rather than the original (Canadian) Joni Mitchell.
Have you considered posting here first and then copying and pasting to Rex? Just wondering...
Hi everyone! I just wanted to pop into the comments to let you know that the online Spelling Bee is one year old today. Happy Bee-day, everyone!
31
@Deb Amlen I love the Bee--not least because it brought me to Wordplay, which in turn has greatly enriched my life. Thanks Sam and Deb! So this means we must be approaching the first anniversary of that day that shall live in infamy: THE CLOTBUR MASSACRE.
16
@Deb Amlen Thanks for the reminder. Given the finite time in the day, the bee has diverted me from other pursuits, including the acrostic and the xword.
It’s remarkable how quickly skills erode. As I’ve gotten better at the bee, I’ve grown weaker at the xword. Oh well, nature giveth and taketh. I suppose in time my affair with the bee will wane and I will return more fully to my first love. I am sure I will be welcomed back.
3
@AudreyLM. THE CLOTBUR MASSACRE is hilarious. Brava!
5
Great puzzle, Lewis!
Very tricky satisfying Thursday solve. New there was something fishy going on when I got FORGE from the downs. SKETCHY showed me the light and I was on my way.
Bravo!
2
For me, it’s a weak clue when I have the answer and still don’t get it. Such was the case with LETS today. Removing the hyphen makes it a different word entirely. Along with the cross of McTeer and Lena, both unknown to me, I labored a long time in that space. Those are nits—otherwise an enjoyable puzzle today.
Kris,
Removing the hyphen makes it a misdirection; that's a *strong* (late in the week) clue.
2
@Kris I believe that's what they call "wordplay." (Regarding removing the hyphen) The ? was the indicator.
1
@Stephanie, @Barry
I agree and see David Connell’s reply late in the thread begun by PaulSFO re the only reason that a hyphen is typically used in re-serve (in tennis, etc.) is to distinguish it from the other uses of reserve, and that the hyphen is not mandatory. That doesn’t do justice to what David wrote but hopefully captures its essence. You both likely knew that already, and I suppose I did too, but David’s comment is worth the read.
ADAM'S RIB before ALTEREGO as "second person". (had recently watched the movie, maybe that's why it popped in?)
Several candidates for Lewis' list. Scout leader, for instance.
Took way too long to de-DOOK ATONOF.
Didn't know McTeer or Mochi or Lena but the crosses were kind.
A good "all around" Thursday.
3
@Robert Michael Panoff
If you didn't know MCTEER or LENA, then the crosses weren't entirely kind. That pesky E!
2
Yay for Lewis! This was measurably what a Thursday should be - it took me right up to my Thursday average, with 9 seconds to spare. As others have said, I had difficulty at the NxN of McT?er and L?na, where I could easily envision an A, E, or I. I seem to remember L?na from Game of Thrones appeared in a recent puzzle, but didn't remember the name.
Tie a tie brought a poignant memory, which the photo in the column reinforced. Although I had worn a tie with my school uniform through 12 years of Catholic school, I had always tied it with a cheap Catholic-school-boy knot: three wraps around and down. When I was 25, an older couple who sang in my chuch choir took me out to dinner, and the husband noticed my poorly tied tie. Ed took me to the men's room and proceeded to teach me a proper knot. Every time I've tied my tie since, I remember Ed and Grace.
13
@David Connell
My mom's solution to not knowing how to TIE A TIE was to buy clip-on ties, including bow ties. The nuns thought the bow ties were cute-the other kids, not so much.
(SO THERE, SO THEN, SO MUCH---SO SO Many xword possibilities with SO)
1
@David Connell
According to Oscar Wilde, “A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.” It's great you remember the person who initiated you into the mysteries of adult seriousness!
@Paul Frommer - I hesitated to add the end of the story - not long at all after that evening, he came down with serious symptoms of rapidly advancing Alzheimer's - not a year later, he didn't know his wife of many long years, though maybe he still knew how to tie a tie; his personality changed completely. Years after that, when he died, I offered condolences to Grace, and I'll never forget that she said, "Oh, my Ed was gone long ago." That's why I think of both of them when I tie my ties!
2
Back when Google was Barney’s last name, my father showed me the ropes. The school insignia emblazoned mid-length, you needed your TIE to get in class; right off the bat in 1st grade...I naticked on sq.54, clinked, clunked or CLUNKED blinded my vision of the canine nature of the crossing rescue clue. And I had no inkling of the rice cake. Gluten schmootin, I’m a glutton for punishment with these enigmas. I’m going back to the jigsaws. Of course, I kid...The Band wasn’t foolin’ around when they included “Last Of The Blacksmiths” on the ‘71 release, Cahoots. Anyone who has ever held a horse for a farrier will identify with this ballad. And listen up at 2:00 when 27d gets a shout out from Richard Manuel.
https://youtu.be/ZSrJpAtJBKI
AS YOU Like It,
Bru
2
typo: the machinery rattler, clinked, clanked, CLUNKED. My b.
2
@brutus
I didn't know Barney was still around. Searched Google on Google
https://www.google.com/search?q=barney+google+and+snuffy+smith&oq=barney+google&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l3.14215j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=g_FRb80IU99NSM:
1
@ Brutus
For an offbeat, loaded with historic details tour treat, stop at Frye’s Measure Mill outside Wilton, New Hampshire. At the close of the tour they played an original recording of Barney Google. Somehow, it fit into the story.
If I were to pick a nit today it would not be with the puzzle but with one of its critics.
Jeff Chen has noted: "KETCH and TANGELO do not register as real words to me ... as quickly as (some other words)." What in the heck kind of puzzle quality test is that? If a word I don't recognize is actually a word, then it's a learning opportunity for me. I expect this to happen, especially in late week puzzles. So this criticism seems a bit arrogant to me.
I do recognize Jeff as one of the Masters, and I expect a bit more objectivity from his critiques, especially of unseasoned solvers.
As for Lewis, great job today. I thoroughly enjoyed your puzzle.
19
@Mike R
I meant "Unseasoned constructors".
Mike R,
Well said.
As other commenters have said, I also thought that the leftover letters “meant” something. Only long after I had solved did I see that the full answer with the ends was also a word or phrase that could stand on its own, and that made me appreciate the puzzle more.
2
This puzzle made me smile as soon as I saw 7A “Verses versus verses events” (SLAMS) and I kept on smiling to the end, although I was a wee tad disappointed with the revealer—partly because I don’t know squat about football, and partly because I wanted the extra letters (the “offsides”) in this puzzle to do something besides just go away. But given what I expect was a challenge just to come up with six good entries that meet the theme criterion, perhaps asking for them to do a second magic trick (besides disappearing) is asking a bit much.
I only know what LETS means in tennis because of crossword puzzles, but thanks to dozens of appearances, I was able to get, and smile at, 24A (“Calls for reserves?”). 5A ANTS was cute and most definitely my favorite clue, laugh out loud funny, was 52A (“A light one goes a long way”… YEAR… HA!!!). That one was worth the price of admission!
For me, the very thoughtful and original clues were the star of this puzzle. Thanks, Mr Rothlein!
Happy Thor’s Day, Everyone!
6
I greased right through this one - - once again not picking up on the theme - - with a couple of real hangups.
I was sure that FOUNDRY was the correct answer for 26A, had no idea what a MOCHI is, and have never purchased nor consumed BASS ALE. (And I had CLANKED for 57A - which made 54D “difficult”.
Once again, I cry FOUL on the cluing for 24A. It’s inaccurate and it’s STALE! One would not say, “You may RESERVE.”, when the ball ticks the net. One would say, “You may RE-SERVE.” Wtihout the hyphen, both meaning and pronunciation are different and leaving out the hyphen isn’t ‘cute’ - - - It’s just annoying.
And “Built up” is a pretty thin clue for URBAN. I understand - but I didn’t fine any dictionary listing that used this context in a definition.
In spite of my gripes, I both admired and enjoyed the constructor’s efforts. I think I’m complaining about the editting on this one!!
1
Lewis is a star in my book no matter which end of the puzzle he is on. I just went with the flow and didn't actually KETCH on until I saw the PEARL within 59A's clam shell. I must admit that I was trying in vain to make some sense out of the discarded side letters, but alas ... And I knew instantly it was TIE A TIE. Even my own son learned by googling, notwithstanding the fact that I tried to teach him A TON OF times. This is a prime example of why Thursday is my favorite day of the week.
5
Started the puzzle last night but was too tired to think clearly. Re-started this morning. Really liked the puzzle. I like the puzzle where the trick is not overt, and you have to work a bit to find it - similar to rebus - and probably why people often don't like rebuses.
Took a while to figure out the theme gimmick. Had U_E__L_ for 30th anniversary gift. Only word I can think of ukelele. Of course, this can't be right, not just because I doubted it could be right for the clue, but also because 51D - DON HO - had ukelele in the clue. I ended up with UPEARLS without realizing the end also needed to be lopped off. Wasn't until TANGELO a couple of passes later that I got that you needed to remove both ends.
Some wonderful entries and fabulous cluing. I liked HARBINGER, ALTER EGO, RODE HERD (TIL, I never heard of it before), STEIGER.
I sort of disagree with clue for DIES - "goes pfft!" is, in my mind, something that someone does with the mouth as in with disdain or dismissively (I originally put DISS here, which made it a difficult RODSHERD, having never heard of RODE HERD). But maybe I'm wrong.
My favorite clues from this puzzle:
1. Verses versus verses event
2. Scout leader?
3. Ironically, they live on every continent except Antactica
4. Rod on reels
5. Calls for reserves
1. SLAMS
2. TONTO
3. ANTS
4. STEIGER
5. LETS
Thank you Lewis. Very enjoyable.
19
@Wen
About the same for me, although my favorite of all was:
52A A light one goes a long way (YEAR)
Ha!!!!
:-c)€
7
@Floyd, @Wen
Great list, Wen. Like Floyd, I’d get YEAR on there. Maybe lose TONTO or, since it’s Lewis, make it the Top 6!
2
@Wen,
I'm glad you made this list because I know Lewis is too scrupulous to put any of his own clues in his weekly top five.
2
Nice puzzle. Best clue of the day IMO "a light one goes a long way". Having a science background that put a smile on my face. Had no problem finding the answers inside answers but I needed Deb's explanation to understand it.
7
Thanks Deb now I get the theme, bellyached Tom biliously.
Well it is a Thursday so what may one expect.
Thanks Lewis.
3
I liked this one a lot. I thought it played very nicely with expectations about standard answers for standard clues, especially as I filled in the themed entries and kept thinking "that's got to be ALONE, or KETCH, or FORGE, etc., but it doesn't fit, damn it...." Finally hunted down and solved the reveal with about half the puzzle to go. Very nice, Henry!
1
I meant Lewis, of course. Insert standard plea for an edit function.
7
Puzzledog,
I will at least say "hi" back!
(I too wish there were an edit function.)
2
Loved it, Lewis!! Another gem. The bafflement stage gave way around the time I hit FORGE and KETCH at which point delight set in. Wonderful wordplay (of course, it's Lewis after all). Best of all, I could avert some near Naticks with the quite reasonable crosses so could learn something new AND still get to spray a tiny bit of atomized smug on my wrists before heading out to work. Bravo.
5
Like Deb, I love Thursdays, but I was quite slow to get to my AHA today.
I had the NW filled in very quickly but pretty much ignored BALONEY as probably yet another absurd new slang word.
I kind of wanted FORGE at 26A, so just kept that in mind.
I was positive of PEARL and also had enough letters to get ANGEL, so it was kind of a gradual aha, and I also thought the extra letters might be part of the theme.
I like a puzzle that holds my interest the whole way through as this did. It was fun to go back and see that "Unassisted" was actually ALONE.
Well done, Lewis
6
Do you know why polar bears don’t eat penguins? Yep, I kept trying bear for ants.
5
@Laura Rodrigues In London:
I think polar bears don't eat penguins because there ANT any polar bears in ANTarctica either.
1
Hi Lewis thank you for this and your weekly top five clues.
What a learning experience this was for me! Knowledge acquired today: AMANAS ( I would like the cycle tour), KETCH( two masts but many sails! ), TAR ( I only knew sea dogs as Elizabeth I pirates, plundering Spanish vessels and trafficking slaved persons), RODE HERD (Visually strong. I wish I knew this expression when I was riding herds) , that other sports also have the OFFSIDE rule, and DON HO music.
LETS: another way in which it is calling the reserves is letting (out) clothes. Letting out a dress means that you are going to make it bigger by using fabric from the seam, letting it out from the seam.
And I confess I still don’t get rod on reels being STEIGER. I know it refers to Rod Steiger but why on reels? Oh!! Reels of film!
Nice hONEy!
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@Laura Rodrigues In London
With your hONEy sign-off, I see you still have “bear” on your mind. To try to answer your bear-penguin question from your other post (unassisted by Google): Because they are so darned cute!
1
@ Puzzlemucker
They are cute! They also live poles appart....
2
@Laura Rodrigues in London
Nice! Will you accept that I was merely demonstrating what happens when I try to answer anything "unassisted" - BALONEY
2
So based on the many comments starting off with some form of Hi, Lewis, our constructor is Lewis who brings us his 5 favorite clues of the week. NOICE! As was the puzzle.
6
Thank you Lewis! This was a lot of fun with great cluing--some that should make your weekly list.
2
Once I read these hints, it was fairly easy to solve. Thanks.
3
Thursday bloody Thursday
13
Still not sure about those six OFFSIDES answers, but thanks for a Thursday puzzle that made me laugh heartily at 1) the word ANTS and 2) Rod on reels. Delightful wordplay! Never mind that a lot of the words today made little sense (I speak only for myself here). It's Thursday.
1
Pre-theme, I had Rod SERLING written as STERLING.
Driving the getaway car seemed too risky, and I'm not an ABETTING man.
Now I wonder if there are AUKS in Auckland.
5
I am really SARI I got UP EARLY last Saturday and made a BET ON Maximum Security. I FORGET the exact amount but it was A TON OF money.
14
Ooh it burns!
CLANKED before CLUNKED, LANA before LENA ... and “reserved” makes that hard “S” sound into a seating arrangement, maybe “re-serve” would have been kinder and gentler.
Otherwise, I liked the clever central clue, and the duality of the themed clues.
HEATED, YESNO, DONHO and TIEATIE were some favorites; I never heard of RODEHERD.
SNAIL, SKILLET and STEIGER took awhile but ithey led to the third theme entry, which helped.
Cheers!
1
@Michael
Why do you think they call an old car a CLUNKER?
1
@Michael
Your mistakes were my mistakes. I struggled with LENA and CLUNKED and RODEHERD and STEIGER. I ended up losing my streak because of CLUNKED. I had settled on CLINKED over CLANKED because MITT seemed to make some type of sense (perhaps "rescue" is a baseball term?) and CLUNKED never crossed my mind.
1
I thought that LENA crossing MCTEER was a nactick, since I had no idea of either one. Is one of these names familiar to most people?
6
@Robert. I just asked a question and you answered like a word I can't say on this blog. Sounds like *you* belong on Rex Parker. ;)
18
@PaulSFO
Certainly familiar to many people: Lena Heady plays a leading character (Cersei Lannister) in Game of Thrones.
3
@Mike Kent ah, ok. thanks. I don't know the names of any of the actors, even though I've watched the show.
If your meanderings take you through Iowa, a drive through the AMANAS (Amana Colonies) is well worth it, particularly if you want a family style German meal. A number of places to eat (IMHO, Ronneburg is best).
The Colonies were established in the 1800s as a commune and remained a commune until the 1930s. It consists of 7 villages spread over thousands of acres.
For golfers, Main Amana has a great golf course. For bikers (pedalers and motorized), the ride between villages is beautiful.
The Old Creamery is an excellent community theater
The AMANAS are listed as a National Historic Landmark.
( This is an unpaid commercial)
7
N.B. Getting back to the clue, in addition to farming communally, the Amana Society owned a variety of businesses, including Amana Refrigeration. After the society disbanded, the company had several owners. Whirlpool now owns the Amana brand (and another Iowa brand, Maytag). The Amana plant is still there (in Middle Amana); Maytags are no longer made in Newton.
P. S. The Ox Yoke Inn is my favorite, and when passing through town from the airport I am required to stop at the Chocolate Haus to pick up fudge for my daughters.
3
@ColoradoZ @Barry
I made several business trips to Iowa City, (where all ACT tests were scored), in the '80s. A vist to the Amanas was always on the agenda.
Three lingering memories:
A majestic grandfather clock at the top of the stairs in an Amana restaurant.
My first and last taste of rhubarb wine.
Hardened cyclone shelters at the four corners of the office building.
3
@Al in Pittsburgh
SO THERE, I should have mentioned to pass up the opportunity to try rhubarb wine!
(Personal aside--did you ever meet Frank Malone at ACT?)
and Elke
Am about to reveal my profound ignorance of football.
Seems that one needs to know the position of the b*ll.
Yesterday, it was the BACKSPIN SERVE and today it is OFFSIDES.
What will we get tomorrow ?
Great clues- never thought about no ANTS on Antarctica, and that a lightYEAR goes a long way.
Also thought that ENTITLE was a theme answer with more letters OFF....
Lewis- fun puzzle- no CLUNKEr.
2
Good one, Lewis, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As for the clues, "Verses versus verses" was fun, but "Rod on reels" wins the day.
As a bonus, I also learned what a KETCH was. With this newly acquired knowledge I can now face my seafaring future with increased courage and confidence.
I'll trot the GLOBE with AL TEREGO, meet TARS crying TIERS of joy, I'll SEL SNAIL SHELs by the seashore, drive a race car with the Unsers, pluck a uke or two with DONHO, eat some MOCHI in NAGANO, and pick some as yet UNPICKED nits.
But it's late and I must be UP EARLY in the morn. AS YOU were.
19
@Laszlo mygod Laszlo, that was outstanding. Made my whole day which is already over, laughing out loud at one am.
6
I liked the puzzle a lot. Especially the most searched How To on Google and the Antarctica clue. I just kept filling the the answers and figured it would all become clear. And it did.
6
Fun puzzle, the Antarctica clue was a real joy! Thank you :)
8
I really wanted to make "lots" work. Auctions have reserves and lots, don't they? Then the actress would be Janet McTior, which has a rustic highlands sound to it. Doesn't it?
3
I thought the clueing was stellar and pure Lewis. ALTER EGO, ANTS, SLAMS, LETS, HARBINGER, YEAR — all great clues. I also thought the revealer clue was devious, as I kept trying to think of an 8-letter (American) football offensive formation. Could only come up with “Wishbone” and that clearly didn’t work. Then I thought perhaps there was a rebus at play. I like OFFSIDES. That’s how most people say the American football infraction, even if it’s technically OFFSIDE, and it fits the theme IMO. Plus, as someone else noted, OFFSIDES is used in “football” (soccer) outside of the U.S.
6
@Puzzlemucker
It drives me pedantically crazy how many announcers coaches and players get it wrong. Players can only be on or off one side - one “S”. It’s OFFSIDE in soccer, hockey, American football etc. One of the fine things we learn in referee training. I was relieved to hear the term correctly used on a hockey playoff broadcast this week.
2
@sloop
I hate to out-pedant a pedant but if you refer to the IIHF rule book, it’s “offsides”.
Niall,
Pedantry aside (or offside), the clue refers to football. I concur with Sloop and contest your earlier assertion that FIFA uses a plural. You could look it up:
https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/law_11_offside_en_47383.pdf
1
Good puzzle, but what's up with "Many a rescue" being a clue for "MUTT"?
3
@Tom Devine
My MUTT is a rescue dog!
6
@SLO Paul, thanks! I get that, but I'd think the clue should be "Many a rescuer" in that case...!
3
@Tom Devine It's quite common in my neck of the woods to refer to such a dog as "a rescue". My somewhat damaged Bernese, with bad knees and ditzy brain, but very sweet, is also a rescue. Anyhow, the "rescuer" would be the person, not the mutt.
4
Nice to see your work again, Lewis! I discovered the trick about halfway through the puzzle, which led to getting the revealer as soon as I encountered it. I liked the fact that the themers were containers, and yet complete thoughts as well.
3
Thanks. Good puzzle.
1
Lewis, as for the revealer, SPLIT ENDS doesn't call to mind the right image for me (I immediately think of what happens to some people's long hair). LOOSE ENDS might work better, IMHO, because it implies that the ends of the themers are loose enough to fall off, thereby revealing the clued entries.
Better yet, L(OO)SE ENDS could feature the double O's as a rebus so that the reveal could alternately be read as LOSE ENDS, as in lose the ends of the themers to revealed the clued entries.... Nah, too stretchy. Or is it SKETCHY?
6
did okay. reveal was helpful. somewhat AT ODDS here -- would have liked it better if the throw-away letters were more than just-throw-away.
5
@judy d
I was a little perturbed about just throwing away the extra letters, too. In three of the answers they do form words, BY, TO, IT, but I couldn't do anything with that. And it turns out there was nothing to do. Oh, well. Still a very enjoyable puzzle.
2
Lewis,
I thought you were a friend . . .
Nothing else to say at this point because I’m out of breath.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
PM
p.s. Loved it in the end, and not just because it was you. You helped me grow a few new brain cells.
11
This one gets the highest THS (Theme Helped Solve) rating from me. Wouldn't have done very well without it.
5
@Al in Pittsburgh
Agreed. Also a high AHA! rating.
Official TST ratings:
THS: 99%
AHA!: 98% (but perhaps not a completely “clean” AHA! for many solvers, as they may be thinking they missed something even when finished, e.g. did the extra side letters relate to the true “entry”? That’s not a knock, just an observation, which may or not have any validity. And there was definitely a strong AHA! factor. For me, it took a long time to get there but it felt good once it arrived).
1
@Puzzlemucker/Al
Unusually for me on a Thursday, I was able to start solving in the North without having to look at all the clues in the puzzle. Once I sort of figured out what was going on, I went looking for the theme clue and couldn't find it. Pretty sneaky putting OFFSIDES off to the side and in a Down answer like that (in a good way). People who don't solve using the app may not realize you don't get an overview of all the clues. You only see one at a time.
Anyway, this is just a roundabout way to say the theme did not help me until the very end. I had to muddle through without it. Not sure what that does to your statistics. :)
1
@vaer
Confirms them, of course! ;-)
Any help is “help” — the THS is a blunt instrument.
What Jeff Chen said.
But I liked it.
1
@Wags
I was also wondering if the side letters would lead to something. I enjoyed the puzzle so you won't KETCH me KvETCHing.
3
Not quite done yet, but I have a quibble, a pet peeve. It’s “offside”, not OFFSIDES. Carry on.
10
@Geoff Offermann
I agree, but am willing to give the constructor a break. Using the S alerts solvers to deal with both ends of the word.
7
@Al in Pittsburgh
Concur. Very enjoyable puzzle. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.
1
Unless he’s referring to European football (soccer to you) where offsides is a thing.
2
This was a really neat idea, Lewis. But like Jeff, I kept looking for something special about the letters that are being lopped off from each themer (e.g., BY from BALONEY) and resigned myself to letting Deb fill me in if I missed something here.
Like Barry, I seemed to be on your wavelength with this puzzle, as evidenced by my entries of AMANA, SLAMS, RODE HERD, TONTO, ALTER EGO, and HARBINGER on a first pass. And I remembered the cluing for LETS from last month.
Bravo on a fun and suitably tricky Thursday puzzle.
14
Hi all.
I have missed you all. I've been crazy busy and my social media took the hit. The last two weeks have been pretty solid ikebana (Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival gig, visiting professor from Japan classes) and then Monday we had the water company Annual Meeting at our house. I have no idea where I found time to work before I retired.
Anyway, I'll try to stick my head in here a bit more regularly.
15
Martin,
It's nice to hear from you! I hope it's been a lovely spring out there for you.
1
@Martin
I was tracking down Kewpie Mayonnaise the other day and it dawned on me that I hadn't seen a post from you lately. I enjoy your posts very much.
"I have no idea where I found time to work before I retired." is a common complaint from many. In my case I think I have slowed down. I no longer can accomplish 12 things in a day. I'm down to 5 or 6.
2
and Elke
Martin- we all missed you too.
Any ikebana pictures to share? Never heard of MOCHI- any favourite , easy recipe ?
1
Hi, Lewis! Nice change for a Thursday. Instead of having to squish multiple letters into single squares, we get to throw letters way -- but only in one direction. (Whether wheelhouse or wavelength, I made short work of this one, but no penalty will be assessed.)
6