Why do we need Deb? Her function is to laud the authors, and...?
I have just heard the news that soprano Jessye Norman died today. Words cannot begin to describe the phenomenal artistry of this woman. She was truly a unique talent in the world of music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9680zhMmIqM
2
@Andrew - anybody who worked with her knew her as a force to be reckoned with. She was a one of a kind!
1
@David Connell
I was studying piano in France in the mid 70s and attended an intimate recital in a small outdoor courtyard in Aix-en-Provence. Schumann and Mahler Lieder sung by an unknown-to-me Jessye Norman and pianist Irwin Gage. It remains the single most electrifying musical experience of my life!
2
So I followed your link to the 1996 puzzle.
What is CLINTOE?
@Philip
The entry can be solved to read either CLINTON or BOBDOLE
8:11 without Down clues or outside help. A personal best.
2
44A reminds me of this one: A man goes to a psychiatrist and says "Doc, I keep having this recurring dream that my face is on a 20 dollar bill. It's driving me crazy. What's wrong with me?" The doctor replies: "It's very simple. You're two tens."
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@Dr W
The way I heard it was that he says to the doctor, "I keep having crazy dreams. Sometimes I dream I'm a teepee. Other times, I dream I'm a wigwam."
The doctor, of course, replies, "It's simple. You're two tents."
4
@Steve L
Yep -- that one's an oldie. One version I heard involved a yurt.
2
@Dr W
I scored the mother of all groans thanks to you. A friend called shortly after I read this and in the course of the conversation mentioned having a sore back today he couldn’t account for. I managed both to ask whether he’d been dreaming of having his face on a $20 bill and then to deliver my differential diagnosis 100% deadpan.
You made my day.
3
Enjoyable Monday puzzle.
But I have a general question: When folks include a link to a related article or video in their comments, I am never able to click and go to it. It appears in blue and looks clickable but never works. I usually just let it go but would have liked to read the article on twentytwowords.com referenced today, about the puzzle from the Clinton/Dole election. Any advice?
@Shari Coats
My guess is that you are reading the column on the NYT app. Not only can you not click on links, but you also can only see the first three replies to a post.
My advice is to go to Safari or Google and read the column from this site:
https://www.nytimes.com/column/wordplay
(Sorry if you can't click on it, but you can copy and paste.)
Hope that helps.
3
@Shari Coats
I deleted my iOS app (NYT, not the XWD one) about a month ago and placed two shortcuts on my home screen instead: one to the main NYT page and the WP one Andrew pastes above. I haven’t missed having the app; not once.
1
Thank you so much for that advice. I will try it. And yes, I am reading the comments in the NYT app.
@Deb
Thanks for the link to the 11/5/1996 puzzle. It made my day!
4
@Jim I’m so glad you liked it! I think it’s one of the best in the archive.
1
Sunday was homophones, and I am wondering if there is a term to describe Monday's theme? To read a common phrase and redefine it is so clever.
Such a good puzzle! Exactly easy enough for Monday.
4
@Mary - parsing, or re-parsing, would be the term. Most information on parsing nowadays is computer oriented, but it is an ancient problem.
In the oldest scripts, there was no spacing between letters or words or even sentences, and usually no mark of any of those, so parsing has been an important exercise for thousands of years.
Here in crossworld, the word DOOK is used for one example of parsing troubles: "Do O.K." is easy to read, but in the crossword it turns into something completely different.
1
Maybe a portmanteau cook?
portmanteau DOOK, not cook😳
1
I worked on this slam-dunk easy puzzle with my mind elsewhere and got exactly what I deserved: an extremely careless DNF. Was wondering why I couldn't reconcile the "H" of mOoLAh (26A!) with what should have been RBI but instead was hBI (27D). Never questioned CmROM (21D) and never even saw AoDEN (23D; don't ask!) That'll teach me to underestimate Monday puzzles!
Before I realized I had a DNF, I was kicking myself for finding the puzzle quite dull, even though it had a clever theme and was well-executed. I wanted to like it more than I did. So the DNF serves me right. Glad I wasn't competing for the $100,000 first prize.
2
If Monday puzzles are the gateway drug for our hobby, then Lynn Lempel is a big-time dealer. I am hooked.
14
a. CROCS go on feet
b. GAITERS/GATORS goon ankles
c. For a brief moment, I thought it would be REPTILEs all the way up
Despite this being a Monday, at no time did La Lempel imply we should Bash the involuntary holding of someone's head under water.
Another winner, but No SLAM DUNK.
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@Leapfinger
I’m glad. It’s not even 9am Mountain time on this beautiful Monday morning and I’ve already longed to involuntarily hold underwater the heads of at least 2 people. I’d hate to be bashed.
Mondays are a CROC, their invention a veritable actionable misdeed.
3
@Leapfinger
Re c: Not possible, because it's turtles all the way down.
4
@vaer
I can see I didn’t fool you for a moment. That happens to be one of my all time favourite jokes.
(I’m also fond of the GAITERS that would keep the snow out of my big old climbing boots)
3
My five favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Union busters? (7)(6)
2. In which you might see an exchange of bishops (5)
3. MIX, for one (4)
4. Package deliverers of the present day (8)
5. Quickly go through the seasons, say (5)
DIVORCE PAPERS
SYNOD
YEAR
REINDEER
BINGE
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@Lewis. I always look forward to your clues of the week!
Personally, I didn't care much for MIX, but I found the other four very clever.
1
Have to put this where the relevant person will find it.
After a late review of the yestercomments, @David Connell wins prize for putting the Chary on a Sunday.
Bravo
2
@Leapfinger - speak of the divvel...
I couldn't parse Chary on a Sunday for the life of me
yet
when I visited your post, Chary on the Sunday made perfect sense to me.
What a difference an article makes,
24 little hours (later).
2
The Orioles do not play at Camden Yards. They play at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
No one calls it Oriole Park. It's just Camden Yards to locals.
5
@David
That's like saying Duke doesn't play in Cameron Indoor Stadium. They play on Coach K Court in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Right.
1
@David
The Metropolitan Opera performs at Lincoln Center. They specifically perform at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, but the first statement is nevertheless true.
The New York Giants and New York Jets play at the Meadowlands. They both specifically play at Met Life Stadium at the Meadowlands, but they nonetheless play at “the Meadowlands” as well.
The Denver Broncos play at a stadium described thusly by Wikipedia:
Empower Field at Mile High, previously known as Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Invesco Field at Mile High and Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and commonly known as Mile High, New Mile High or Mile High Stadium, is an American football stadium in Denver, Colorado, named Mile High due to the city's elevation of 5,280 feet (1,610 m).
I think the Orioles’ home fíeld can be rightly called Camden Yards.
Now whether what they do there could rightly be called playing baseball is another story altogether.
5
CDROM is antiquated!
@Tricia
Don't tell that to all of the software vendors who still distribute applications that way! While it's true that many laptops have eschewed including optical drives built in to the machines, external USB drives still sell, and people still have CD ROM discs chock full of photos and data.
Although certainly on the decline, the reports of the death of the CD ROM are greatly exaggerated... 😀
3
@Steve Faiella - Amen! thank goodness for my external CD drive! Now how to convince Apple not to remove the USB ports from future models...
5
@David Connell - wish again. All the USB ports are now newfangled USB-C. You will need an adapter for your legacy gear.
In the Mini, what's with "the uh sound in America: schwa?
@Bob
In phonetics, "schwa" is the name of the sound of certain vowels in some words, like the /a/ in "about."
For some reason, my 5th grade nun gave this lesson a lot of air time, and it stuck.
7
@Ann
I also remember the SCHWA from my early school days. I think it stayed with me all of these years because I just love the sound of the word... SCHWA!! It sounds like a magic spell word... 😆
2
@Steve Faiella
From deepest Africa— it’s called SCHWA Healing...
3
There's a lot of clippy joy in rapid-tapping in answer after answer, especially when the clues are fun and the themes take a little thought. PUT DOWN ROOTS! After a weekend of fall-transition gardening, I will give that one an OLE! Loved that my poor 100+ loss column Orioles made it in (or one of them; let's say it was Trey Mancini). And "bagels & newlyweds" gave me a smile. La shana tova to those who celebrate!
5
I love puns!! :-)
Very enjoyable grid today from Lynn! I loved all of the theme answers, and the fill was great! My faves were RIP TIDE and BLAST OFF. As I cruise into my golden years, I find that I have less patience for things than I once did, and can definitely see myself TRASH(ing) PICKUPS and PAN(ning) PIPES. Still wouldn't PUT DOWN ROOTS though... it was a milestone of the late 70s that, even though it only ran for a week, captured a nation and moved the needle on civil rights issues one step closer to where we (still) need to be.
Thanks for a great opening to our solving week, Lynn, Will, et. al!
13
I come to praise Lynn for her penchant for making puzzles that are just right for new solvers, showing these solvers what themes are all about while keeping answers gettable but not insultingly easy, all the while exuding spark with the stamp of quality.
Granted, I'm not a curmudgeon, not one to knock knees, roast beef or hammer toes. But if I were, I'd still be hard pressed to bash this beauty. Thank you, Lynn!
32
Smooth solve and very entertaining theme answers - everything I've come to expect from Ms. Lempel.
This morning, for the first time, I went and looked at her history on Xword Info. Started with a big surprise. Her first two puzzles were Sundays - in 1979 and 1981 (very clever 'Lempelish' theme answers in both of those, by the way). And then... her next puzzle was a Sunday in... 2002? I have to wonder what the story is behind that.
Anyway - I already looked at the 2002 Sunday puzzle, but I think I'm going to spend some of the rest of my morning solving a string of her Mondays and Tuesdays that followed that. Maybe I'll try to get through all of her puzzles eventually. I expect it will be an entertaining venture.
7
@Rich in Atlanta In case anyone else is interested, here is an interview with Ms. Lempel from 2008, when Jim Horne was writing the wordplay blog:
https://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/going/?rref=XWordInfo
..
3
@Rich in Atlanta
Great interview. Thanks for posting, Rich.
(she said she did several Sunday puzzles for Eugene Maleska but there are only the two under her name on Xwordinfo. Hmm?)
2
@Puzzlemucker
Perhaps she used a Nom De Grid...
2
SPELLING BEE
Y E H N O P T
Words: 32, Points: 177, Pangrams: 3
E x 2
H x 7
N x 2
P x 12
T x 7
Y x 2
4L x 7
5L x 13
6L x 6
7L x 1
8L x 4
9L x 1
4 5 6 7 8 9 Tot
E - - - - 2 - 2
H 2 3 1 - 1 - 7
N - 1 - - 1 - 2
P 1 7 3 - - 1 12
T 4 1 1 1 - - 7
Y - 1 1 - - - 2
Tot 7 13 6 1 4 1 32
45
@Mari missing y6
1
@Mari lots of new words today. One Yiddish word I’ve always seen ending in A had an E ending here. Another word whose only definition I could find said Geordie (Northern English) slang for bathroom. A better clue would be an adjective for what you use to catch butterflies. A couple slang exclamations, a pangram that Pooh would love, and a specialized genetics term.
5
Nevermind found it got Queen Bee. I remembered the chocolate drink we had a couple weeks ago.
3
Another week off to a good start with a puzzle that manages to be both challenging and fair for Monday. I also liked PUT DOWN ROOTS best.
4
LETTER BOXED
P-T(7), T-L(6).
Fast and efficient today.
2
@Andrew
Ditto. I plan to work with both those words today, outside and in the kitchen. A savory kugel, perhaps?
Shana Tova!
@Andrew and Liane
Me too. I am visiting SW Texas so the first was on my mind.
@Andrew
Same . An easy Monday start.
Now I feel the need to bash this new Zellweger biopic: JUDGE JUDY.
You know you're getting around when you recognize the byline: I was like, "Aaah, she's the Queen of the Mondays!"
A great way to start the week. :)
6
@Mike
LOL!!
That film looks amazing though! Rene looks and acts so much like Judy G. that you'd think it was old footage of her. I haven't seen it yet, but plan to give it a look while it's still in the theaters...
2
@Steve Faiella
Whoops!! I left off an "E" and turned Ms. Zellweger into a French male. Apologies! :-)
2
@Steve Faiella
That’s how Rene Russo spells and I don’t think anyone has yet asked her to Homme a few bars.
2
I didn't have to look up a single clue! I did have to change my guess of uptick to UPTURN when it didn't work with the across answers. I appreciated the puns but was worried that PAN should be BAN in 16A, but I was pretty certain of 1D.
4
@Deb Amlen. Thanks for the recommendation of the November 5, 1996 puzzle. What a neat trick at 39A!
4
@Deb
At your suggestion, I went back and solved November 5 1996 but could not understand what made this a big deal. Supposedly the most popular crossword of all time. I had to turn to Google to figure out what the big deal was.
https://twentytwowords.com/the-crossword-puzzle-that-predicted-the-future-with-complete-confidence/
Wow, that really was genius!
10
@Babs. How fun! Of course, the true genius is revealed 23 years later when a solver does the puzzle on their phone, mouth agape. Sitting on Roosevelt Bridge in traffic on a rainy DC Monday, thinking back to 1996 and the things I would love to do all over again! Have a great day.
2
I found the negativity in today's puzzle positively delightful. Ms Lempel Mack's another homer.
3
@Mike R
A few [L]IONS never hurt anyone.
Oh wait.
:)
2
Well, that one went by so quickly tonight that I thought I would try to sharpen my poetic chops and offer my latest opus. With apologies to everyone...
Ever since that sad day that Jimbo 57
Abandoned these pages for crosswordese heaven
It’s caused me to wonder if anonymous friends
Have given up solving - or met with their ends.
I’ve noticed perpetual coming and going
of posters whose status I’ve no way of knowing.
For a start where, oh where is HALinNY?
He sure was one HAL of a HAL-larious guy!
And what has become of that boy named Su?
Is he so busy lawyering, he’s no longer chez nous?
And our short-lived friend, yes dear Will from college,
With his youthful (though some would say quite youth-less) knowledge.
And Tensace who showed such emotional trauma
Whenever the puzzle included OBAMA.
From the Holy Land someone should please TELL (A) VIV
to confirm to us that she and Amitai live!
I'm sure there are more but I really won't tarry.
(Though it's been a few days that I haven't seen Barry...)
36
[wipes tears from eyes]
That was awesome, Andrew.
6
@Andrew
Genius!
6
@Andrew
Big smile here, Andrew.
5
Very clever Lynn Lempel puzzle (as usual). Not too easy, but quite a bit of fun uncovering the puns. Loved PUT DOWN ROOTS especially, but BLAST OFF was a close second.
😀
2
The app shows that it took me more than an hour and 5 minutes to do today’s puzzle. It took me 5 minutes and change. I don’t know why it added an hour but this is going to ruin my Monday average.
@Mr. Mark. That's a bummer! Maybe if you email tech support they can help with that.
@Mr. Mark
A year or so ago the app logged a 13 hour and 45 minute time for a Friday puzzle for me. As a result, my Friday average is still about 20 minutes higher than my untainted Saturday average.
@Mr. Mark A few years ago, a consultant was convicted for fraud for inflating invoices with a so-called « gooser » program that would automatically add time to billed hours. Maybe you were goosed.
3
MORTON SALT -- When It Rains It Pours. Such a great slogan.
The theme answers were so simple, yet so clever.
This was the 600th puzzle I've solved since I signed up for the online puzzles back in December and still having fun. And the wordplay community is a big part of that.
21
@vaer. I always have one of those MORTON containers in my cabinet, but somehow I typed in nORTON, until I couldn't make sense of OniTS. Doh! 🤦♀️
4
@vaer
Nice milestone!
I love that little Morton salt girl with her rain gear. I go for more frou-frou salts nowadays. Blame cooking shows.
I agree, wordplay comments are all part of the enjoyment!
4
@vaer
Congrats on 600! Seems appropriate to send this back to you:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DmivtDdL-Fo
3
I got Letterboxed in two words. The first word used all but one of the letters! S-R, with a three-letter word to cover the last letter.
2
@Adina
Makes me think of Zorro
@ColoradoZ
Don't you mean Thoreau?
(Sorry I have a lisp...)
7
Cute puzzle, nice puns, great LL Monday!
3
Lynn Lempel rarely disappoints. Today was clever and pleasing Monday fare, quickly polished off with glee.
7
Fun puzzle, but for me the hardest ever mini. Never heard of SCHWA, and probably never will again.
2
@George - Actually, it shows up fairly often in crosswords.
1
@Michael Dover
And shows up hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times in a dictionary
7
@George I'm with you! 2:28 to finish!
Lynn’s themers were NO KNOCK ENTRIES (“Monday crossword puns beyond reproach?”).
4
Mating game? would have been great for CHESS, but probably too clever for a Monday.
3
Such a punny puzzle! Lots of fun. I always smile when I see Lynn Lempel's name on the byline. Easy Monday puzzles can still be enjoyable!
I laughed at TOASTED for "Like some bagels and newlyweds." I wonder if it will make Lewis's list. Also, I wonder if the TOASTED newlyweds ELOPEd?
7
@Stephanie
I believe newlyweds only ELOPE if they’re in fear of a wedding where they maybe rOASTED.
5
Nice puzzle that would have been faster than my normal Monday but it took me a couple of minutes to note that peacocks have SPOTS, not ScOTS
4
@ColoradoZ
The exact same one held me up.
I was checking my acrosses and they all looked good, yet no happy music. I hate rereading the down clues. I blame my occidental mind and having never studied languages with vertical scripts.
4
@ColoradoZ. Yes, cUT DOWN would have worked, too.
1
This puzzle was so cute! I love 57 across. Thank you for a good start to the week!
8