Many thanks, Deb, for the serpentine clip from The In-Laws, one of the funniest movies ever made. And of course that scene is the one that makes me laugh the hardest. I needed a good laugh, as I live in one of the fire prone areas of California and have been without power for many days. I know it could be much worse, as it is for so many people who have lost their homes and businesses. Not sure what I would do without the daily crossword. It’s a great distraction from so many things. And today’s puzzle was very entertaining. Loved it!
4
@Shari Coats So sorry about the fires. Praying they will end soon.
@Shari Coats
Nevada City is a beautiful area. Wishing you and your neighbors safety through this awful fire season.
1
Oh whattheheck....
JOAN B and Bobby Z
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ST9TZBb9v8
Meet you back in 1975
3
Leapy,
It was sad then, it's sad now.
I'd rather meet in 1963.
2
@Leapfinger
This song. Thanks for posting.
1
@BarryA, there's always going to be sad along the way. Just think how sad had they never met. Now he's a Nobelist in Literature and she's a tiny white-haired lady who deserves the equivalent.
Don't know about 1963; I was still so unformed ... and then there was that late November...
@vaer, it still gets me every time. Something about the minor mode, I think. Definitely hazardous if driving.
Enjoyed that one - thanks Evan!
1
A 30 day streak AMOI! I finally picked up enough speed to make it through the Sunday puzzles before midnight and cruised through today with help from JOAN BAEZ.
Fun puzzle, thanks.
3
Way to go, @Ma AM!
1
@Deb Amlen No progress without your help, of course.
Today is National Cat Day. It's a good day to adopt a beloved new family member, not that there's ever a bad day. Adopt, don't shop!
The puzzle reminded me, yet again, of how little I'm in touch with popular culture. I know who JENNIFER LOPEZ is, of course, although more from constantly hearing about her marriages than from whatever she's been singing. But I've also read that she is excellent in "Hustlers."
And JOAN BAEZ. My generation, although I'm neither fan norr non-fan.
I think I've maybe heard of JOHN LOVITZ, although as the only living non-watcher of SNL (and "The Simpsons"), I first entered JOHN LOVELL, then LOVETZ.
I'm sure if I'd ever heard of JC CHASE Z, or however you parse it, I'd have remembered. I was aware that 'N Sync was (is?) a boy band, and I think it's where Justin Timberelake got his start, but that's about it. (He is still around, isn't he?)
JASON MRAZ, parsed only after reading the column, remains something of a mystery.
Not saying the puzzle NAUSEATEd me, because it was fun to figure out all that seriously unknown stuff. Also didn't know SUZIE Q as clued.
Gradually recuperating from my cold or bronchitis or whatever. The larygitis is getting better, and I may be able to make a long-delayed phone call tomorrow. Or the next day. Wish me luck.
Have a great week guys.
3
Deadline,
Good luck!
@Deadline, good luck with the phone call. A spoon of honey might help.
Don't know how to pronounce MRAZ, which gave me the chance to enjoy your MR AZ as a MYSTER Y.
Get well, and I'll consider a cat when the house is inhabitable again.
Three all time bests for the day in the last 5 days Thursday, Monday and now today, 7:40. No real concerns in the puzzle. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. :(
3
Ah, yes, Tommy Flanagan. Reminds me of the days when pathological lying was unusual.
9
@Ron
True that, Ron, but I remind everyone that Tommy Flanagan is also the name of one of greatest, most swinging jazz pianists ever.
2
@John Dietsch
Yes! I had forgotten that.
For those curious, I've asked my British friends, and no, they don't say Jay-Zed. Or Zed Zed Top. Or sit in La-Zed-Boy recliners. I was disappointed.
11
@Ryan
I'd never have thought of that! Good point!
1
This puzzle had it all, from J to Z.
(And that's a rap!)
6
It’s interesting that there are enough celebrities whose names begin with J and end in Z to create a theme. I guess it’s less interesting that only a couple were known to me.
😕
6
Nice puzzle!
One question -- not sure I understand 34D -- I've heard the phrase about getting one's kicks, but how does footwear come into this?
With the theme I expected a pangram -- nope -- just one letter missing.
1
@Dr W The kids today (get off my lawn!) call their sneakers "KICKS". YMMV
@Dr W
Origin murky, but several sites on the web include the phrase "feet wear shoes and also kick things". Over time "kick" became slang for "shoe."
Dr W,
Kicks is hardly new for shoes; it was used on Law & Order 15 years ago (and by Det. Ed Green, not by a kid).
(Episode: "C.O.D.")
3
Well! This puzzle was no picnic for me: at 19:49, WAY over my best of 10:03, although less than my 25:29 average!
And considering I set a new personal best of 7:25 for Monday, I was hoping to repeat for Tuesday.
“‘Ah, well,’ he sighed.”
However, the Todd Gross puzzle from your suggested archive, Thursday, January 2, 2014, and Deb’s great write-up about it was something! When you can’t get a puzzle’s theme, even after it’s completed, well, then you know the wor(l)d is really ENDING🤯!
2
Deb's reference to the "surprisingly dangerous" Caitlin Lovinger" calls for details. Now I have the "James Bond Theme" music (with the famous opening guitar riff) stuck in my brain. Hopefully, that earworm will go away in a few hours ;)
2
@Richard
AAAAUUGH! Now I have it too. Thanks for that. 🤨
(Joking of course 😉)
1
Wow, thank goodness for JOAN BAEZ and JENNIFER LOPEZ, without whom this solve would not have been possible. I have never heard of most of the people/groups (or even if I have, I don't know their names, real or imagined.)
Why the GRADE A egg(s)? What about a depiction of a Letter J or Z as designed and drafted by one of the famous creators of typesetting alphabets?
2
Jay Z and Jason Mraz I know from puzzles. I’ve seen Jennifer Lopez in a movie courtesy of Robert Redford (melt...) and Morgan Freeman (gape adoringly). Like others, however, I could not parse JCCHASEZ and was jenuinely zurprized when the happy music came on with that in place.
5
I knew of JENNIFER and JOAN - but the rest of those J-Z people were total “no knows”. JAYZ as the revealer, though, made for easy recognition of something resembling names for them.
The rest of the fill was appropriately Tuesday difficulty (or lack thereof) and made for a fairly easy “Solve” - lots closer to my Best than to my Average for the day.
I guess it’s time to go Carpe some Diem!
2
My wife, whom I met in college, did her undergraduate anthropology field work studying death rituals in Bali. When she came back she told me she found out that running AMOK means that an individual or even a full village, loses it, falls into a trance and goes on a murderous rampage.
7
@Ananda 😲
1
I hope the NYT has better circulation than that employee of the organic supermarket. The looks of that hand indicate there's compromised flow to the extremities. Chilblains, perhaps?
The J-to-Z theme outdoes Dorothy Parker's estimation of my avatar's acting range ("All the way from A to B"), but lags well behind Amanda Yesnowitz' capacity. The exact theme may have developed when Mr Mahnken decided which letter he might choose to start with: "Hmm. Oh...J...?"
I was going to go with "Backstabber", but this is a little more upbeat. Harks back to recent conversations about the Seventies and the promise of those times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vTKmVvyNRc
(Of course, JOAN BAEZ a prime example in another genre, but too early for "Diamonds and Rust" and the invariable associated teariness)
Thanks for your work, Mr Mahnken -- a Man of Letters. Any relation to H.L.?
6
@Leapfinger
I believe H.L's last name was Mencken... :-)
@Steve Faiella
Thanks, Steve. I'm realizing I need all the help I can get.
1
Leapy,
Good help is hard to find.
4
Very clever of Evan to take J and Z, two letters we rarely see in a puzzle, and plaster them all over the grid as the theme! Somehow seeing these letters tickled me. Plus he even threw in that usually elusive Q.
Thank you, Evan Mahnken, this was a scrabblely visual feast!
11
Funny that Deb used a clip from THE IN-LAWS, but not the one that connects (ok, only halfway) to the theme.
Maybe she didn't want to embarrass the Generalissimo?
https://youtu.be/ELy2ZOkxEHI
2
Who are these people and why should I know them?
6
@Nancy
LOL! After I finished the grid, I looked at JCCHASEZ and couldn't parse it into a name for the life of me... :)
2
@ Nancy
I’m sorry but how are you connecting J...Z people to President Obama? Genuinely curious. 🤔
7
@Pani Korunova
Odd how a comment that’s submitted in sequence can still be out of line
8
I tried hard to turn CHASEZ into CHAVEZ, as that name just looked wrong. But "Pretty AVA picture" just wouldn't cut it.
JON LOVITZ came immediately. I was surprised that FEY wasn't also clued to SNL. APPLE before IMACS, (I was on the right track), CIA before NSA, BIRCH before CEDAR. I had mistakenly entered Pico de GALLA, which gave me ARC, and it took me some time reviewing before I realized the error of my ways. I was also stuck for some time on _ONIC, as I have never heard of the restaurant.
So not as smooth as I am accustomed to on Tuesdays. I was quite bemused by the specificity of the caption to today's picture of two fingers and an egg which, for all intents and purposes could be anyone from anywhere!
1
@Andrew Pretty AVA picture would work fine with one of my granddaughters.
4
@Rich in Atlanta
Nice!
1
My initials are JZ. I guess my name isn't in the puzzle because my last name starts with Z rather than ending in Z
6
@ColoradoZ I had the same reaction.
6
@ColoradoZ
I suppose that is one of the reasons.
11
@ColoradoZ
You were robbed!! 😄
3
Thank goodness for JOAN BAEZ and the reveal; I could then at least put the Js and Zs in the other theme answers. Unfortunately I had wee @ 39D instead of FEY, which kept me from recognising JENNIFER LOPEZ for a while. The others were complete unknowns, but with the crosses I was able to get them all eventually, so ended up having more fun with this than I thought I would.
As Elke said, a puzzle with one of my all time favourites is OK with me. I might just try and get that link that K. Barrett suggested.
Nice follow up to the Monday puzzle.
5
@suejean
Actually I settled for finding Joan Baez and the cellist of Sarajevo, too blurry eyed to type more.
1
Speaking of theater organs, check out The Mighty Wurlitzer, back in action in the Cincinnati Music Hall after a $1.4 million restoration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVmRFHA2NRM
I remember thinking the instruments I was hearing were a remarkable kind of early synthesizer, until I was lucky enough to get a peek behind the screen and see how this incredible sound is created. 2000 pipes in 31 ranks plus percussion instruments and horns of every kind. Oh, and a 1925 Steinway grand piano operated from 3 manuals and pedals on the organ console.
(See https://friendsofmusichall.org/history/music-halls-organs/the-albee-mighty-wurlitzer-organ-in-music-hall/rebuild/ for the whole story.)
3
The family name of Jason Mraz makes a good example to cite for the contrast between palatized and unpalatized consonants in slavic languages. Mraz with a hard (unpalatized) z at the end features in west/south slavic languages as a noun meaning "frost", "rime", "cold." Mraz' with a soft (palatized) z at the end is Russian slang used to designate people that are looked down upon and despised by the speaker, "trash." The difference between the sounds is subtle and hard for English speakers to get right.
10
@David Connell
Interesting!
1
@David Connell
Mraz has some brilliant wordplay in many of his songs, including the self-titled album “MR. A-Z”. (Pronounced Mister A to Z!)
2
@David Connell
My husband is a Slovak who also speaks Polish, Czech, etc. There are some sounds he generates that set my teeth on edge 😬. Still, our home language is an odd mixture of English, Slavic languages and sprinkles of Spanish and French. Even our dogs are conversationally multilingual, lol. I know mraz but since we rarely see it here in the sunny south, often we’ll say “zima” when it gets below the 60s. (Oh, and African American vernacular English is also code switched by all of us, depending upon our audience).
6
Just about died when SHAQ came in, as I couldn't imagine a girl's name that ended in Q. Enjoyable Tuesday.
3
Deb, I wholeheartedly agree with your comment about answers such as AMIN. I would also like to see the elimination of words like MANIAC, crazy, or any other term that stigmatizes mental illness. As a person with a mental illness who lives a full and productive life, I feel that these types of words perpetuate the erroneous image of a dangerous or deranged person. I understand that this seems trivial to a "normal" person, but it is not trivial to those of us who live with these disorders.
19
@Sheri Agreed! I was disappointed when I realized that was the answer.
1
@Sheri
With all respect to the challenges you have met in life: ‘maniac’ as a synonym for ‘fiend’ has nothing to do with mental illness, just as ‘fiend’ as a synonym for ‘maniac’ does not imply evil. I can understand an individual’s sensitivity to a particular word, but calling for a wholesale elimination of its use from “allowable language” is not the answer. As with most things in life, however, education is. Puzzles provide education.
You also propose a ban on the word ‘crazy’ and other terms that, to you, stigmatize mental illness. With that logic, most synonyms for ‘crazy’ would meet that criterion. I’d like to put what you’re asking in context by pasting here a sample of such synonyms from an online thesaurus. This is just the 1st page due to the 1,500 char. limit.
absurd
bizarre
foolish
goofy
insane
irresponsible
ludicrous
odd
outrageous
preposterous
ridiculous
silly
strange
weird
eccentric
loony
wild
balmy
beyond all reason
cockeyed
derisory
fatuous
foolhardy
half-baked
harebrained
idiotic
ill-conceived
impracticable
imprudent
inane
inappropriate
nonsensical
out of all reason
peculiar
puerile
quixotic
senseless
short-sighted
unworkable
insane
kooky
mad
nuts
nutty
silly
wacky
ape
berserk
cuckoo
lunatic
potty
screwball
barmy
bats in the belfry
batty
bonkers
cracked
crazed
daft
delirious
demented
deranged
dingy
dippy
erratic
flaky
flipped
flipped out
freaked out
fruity
idiotic
maniacal
mental
moonstruck
screw loose
screwy
touched
unbalanced
unglued
unhinged
unzipped
1
Tough one for me. Early on I thought I might be (ENSIGN) Pulver-ized by this one. Thank goodness for ZINC, AMIN and YOGI, which was the only thing that led me to the reveal. At least some (but not all) of the other names were familiar, but the only theme answer I could possibly have gotten from just the clue was JOANBAEZ and even that didn't dawn on me immediately. Somehow managed to work it all out.
With all the proper names, I'm surprised that 42a wasn't clued as "___ Lo-Green" and 39d as "Tina."
Couldn't help but notice the connection of Jets and Sharks with Puerto RICAN.
And lastly, my first thought for 54d was AANDW. When I was a kid that that was the only national chain restaurant in my hometown and was a popular hangout. I looked up the clue history for that and found that it was the reveal for a similarly themed puzzled on October 5, 2016.
3
@Rich in Atlanta And... while I'm up - The clue for HAL made me wonder if any answer with PODBAYDOOR (or even just PODBAY) had ever appeared in a puzzle.
Nope.
@Rich in Atlanta
I seem to recall that AANDW-themed puzzle, which means I have been doing these for longer than I realized!
2
@Andrew
I remember my first taste of that root beer half a century ago -- it was served in frozen glass mugs at roadside stands.
1
I have trouble falling asleep, so I play word games to lull me to sleep. They always involve the alphabet, in one way or another. When the cares of the day distract me from my game, I force my mind back to it; before long I'm in slumberland. But I've been running out of ideas. Now, thanks to Evan Mahnken's clever puzzle, I'll be able to create a whole new set of games. Zzzzzzzzz.
6
I liked the inclusion of the related MAW and TRAP, and I especially liked the indirect animal references in the answers. So, yes, there was a SHEEP, a POUCH (with "kangaroo" in the clue), and NESTS (with "hornets" in the clue), which were direct, but then we had the one-L LAMA (which reminded me of Nash's 2-L llama), NINJA (turtle), TROJAN (horse), KICKS (donkey), and SONIC (hedgehog).
Man, I guess HAL's voice is deeply lodged in my subconscious. As soon as I read the clue, I could actually hear the voice, at once calming and creepy.
Clever idea to base a theme on JAYZ's name. I did think the puzzle was just the right difficulty level for a Tuesday, clearly a step up in resistance from yesterday's. I enjoyed the solve and thank you for making this, Evan.
8
50 years ago Sue (do not call me Suzie) hopped on the back of my Honda 305 and we headed to Woodstock....
Oddly upon completion of this puz I feel I need a nap.
Thanks Evan
8
@dk
Did you see Joan Baez?
2
LETTER BOXED
C-S(6) S-Z(7) ... 13!
Like the Bee, quick and simple today, as the 'W' and Z' did not leave many options.
2
@Mari
It was fairly quick and simple with your hint, but I don't think that I ever would have gotten the second word, even though it is certainly out there. What I found difficult was the Z without an E. I was looking particularly for words of Spanish origin.
1
@Mari
I can now see why the U in SB made someone think of Marilyn Monroe as a first hint for that word. I suppose S-Z brought her to mind, maybe.
1
@Mary 👍
SPELLING BEE
32 words 96 points 1 perfect pangram
The pangram blew me into the clouds. Only 1 new word, from the Soviet Union, usually seen with a -chik suffix.
A x 6, D x 6, F x 4, P x 4, R x 5, T x 6, U x 1.
6
@Kevin Davis Wow, quick today, Mari, X, and I posted solution simultaneously.
@Kevin Davis ... or with a 'us' suffix in English!
Apologies for the triple posting - as you say, quick and simple today.
2
@Kevin Davis not allowed dura and faff.
SPELLING BEE GRID
A D F P R T U
October 29th 2019
WORDS: 32 POINTS: 96, PANAGRAMS: 1, PERFECT: 1, BINGO
A x 6
D x 6
F x 4
P x 4
R x 5
T x 6
U x 1
4L x 20
5L x 7
6L x 1
7L x 4
4 5 6 7 Tot
A 2 3 - 1 6
D 5 1 - - 6
F 2 2 - - 4
P 4 - - - 4
R 2 1 - 2 5
T 5 - 1 - 6
U - - - 1 1
Tot 20 7 1 4 32
48
@Mari The Panagram brings to mind Marilyn Monroe over a ventilation grid. An unusual 'A'-word is from the Russian - the machinery of bureaucracy. DADA is still not allowed, but another fatherly word is. Two R-7 words are often seen in the Bee, as are a T6, R6 and F6 - in Bees where 'R' and 'A' appear.
10
@Mari Thank you, Mari. I never would have gotten that A without you.
2
@Mari Thanks for the grid and for the hint about the Russian A word. I would never have gotten it without the hint.
1
SPELLING BEE
32 words, 96 points, 1 pangram, bingo
4 5 6 7 Tot
A 2 3 - 1 5
D 5 1 - - 6
F 2 2 - - 4
P 4 - - - 4
R 2 1 - 2 5
T 5 - 1 - 6
U - - - 1 1
16
Sorry, 'A' total should be 6, not 5
4
cannot get that last A7 in the bee ~ past hints dropped are not helping me ~ will this be a “d’oh” moment when someone helps me?
One thing all the theme stars have in common? They have performed with the Muppetts.
27
Rules question
Was going through an older crossword and saw the clue “sign of theatrical success”. It was three letters and I thought SRO. But then I thought, that can’t be right. Abbreviations need abbreviations in the clue. What other lies have I been told? “The earth I round.” Pshaw...
@Newbie
An abbreviation only needs an abbreviation cue in the clue if it's not the generally used version of the word. For example, you might clue 18A (INIT) as "The "W" in Geo. W. Bush, e.g." (7/15/08) because INIT is not the standard way we write INITial, and we don't pronounce it "in it". (Abbreviations that do not have their specific pronunciation apart from the full word are more likely to be cued.)
However, SRO doesn't work that way because we say SRO as much as we say the full version, Standing Room Only, and we pronounce it "S-R-O". Some clues may still include an abbreviation cue, but it isn't required.
If a shortened version of a word becomes a word itself, like INTRO or STAT (statistic), it is never necessary to cue it.
Hope this helps!
5
@Steve L
Thanks brother. As I read your response from the website, not app. Lol
Wow, overall, I was impressed by the historical span of the thematic entries, et al. I would place CCR just before my major interest* in popular music, Baez a 20th century classic, JAYZ (and RAP in general) after, with JasonMRaz, however you parse it, totally unknown, all from crosses. So someone is bound to complain.
*In re CCR, their clued song somehow was mixed in my non-RAM hind-brain with SUZIE QUATRO, an (American) bassist/rocker, who was BIG in the UK in the early 70s (then later in the US :
(1973, UK top 10) "Can the Can"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoogY-UGio
But who is apparently still going strong, and has now sold more albums (or whatever they are now called) than CCR.
Look and listen to her 42 years on (2015):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhjAreMKfU
If I have a next life, I will seriously consider try to marry her.
2
@NICE CUPPA
"JasonMRaz, however you parse it"
I parse it Jason, Mr. Arizona.
3
@NICE CUPPA
We saw her perform last year in DC (right around the time of the Kavanaugh hearings; she treated us to some sharp zingers!). Mesmerizing!
1
Great Tuesday puzzle! I appreciated seeing so many new (to me) answers-NINJA, OZONE, ZINC. But I love 8D-KATZ-my favorite deli. When we visit our Long Island family, this is the routine: Land at LGA, pick up the rental car, drive to Katz's for pastrami on rye, stuffed derma & gravy, and kasha knishes. Oh, and an egg cream! We often have Katz's delivered to our home, but it feels like cheating without the wait and the ticket.
6
@MichelleB
I read your comment too quickly, and thought, "Does Katz deliver to Atlanta?...And would they stop by Durham on the way?"
4
@Alan J They deliver almost everywhere! Pro tip-pay the extra for overnight shipping and your food arrives in perfect condition.
3
I've seen JOANBAEZ on TV, I think, and certainly heard of JENNIFERLOPEZ, but not the other J...Z's. I stupidly messed up both spiritual guide/mystics. ALIVE cured guru for LAMA, and though I've never heard of SONIC, that felt better than SONaC when I finally tracked down my "at least one" YOGa.
1
Hi, I think you missed something in your Watchdog org. comments. It’s not the dogs that are watchdogs - it’s the org. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They are looking for animal cruelty and trying to prevent it.
7
Mostly pretty quick and smooth solve. I was a little hazy on the themers, so had to wait on the crosses before a couple of them became obvious. Heard a lot about J Lo and "Hustlers", so that was a gimme, and 12D was too short for Joey Fatone, but the JC… was enough for me to fill that in correctly, and get me through the rest of it fairly easily.
1
FEY is one of those words whose meaning I've never been able to put my finger on, but "elfin" is not what I would have picked as a clue. I looked it up and elfin is indeed one of the meanings I found. But "eccentric" and "otherworldly," were two others that match more of what I always considered the word's sense. Perhaps I have Morgan the Fay (spelled differently) in mind. Looking it up on Xword Info, the most frequently used clue word (other than those relating to Tina) seems to be "whimsical," for the 37 times the word has appeared in the Shortz Era.
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Finder?word=FEY
7
@Wags
I agree. The TOTALLY wrong FEY, shoulda been FAY - Elves, Faeries 'n' all !! Them thar immortals!!
A Shortzcomin', perchance?
FEY is derived from OE - "fated to die soon". À la Tolkien, that was mortal man (doomed to die), not the Elves, who slid away to Westerness after the One Ring was destroyed, to live out their immortality in peace.
2
This will forever be my favorite Jon Lovitz skit: https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-peoples-court/n9487
1
@Irene haha made my morning. wonder if she named her salon "The Devil Made Me 'Do' It"
and Elke
Dang, (or darn or DAD-blasted ). So many names of musicians (if that title is appropriate) that I did not know, but the crosses revealed enough.
But JOAN BAEZ makes up for all the unknowns. Will any of them last as long as she has and will they give as much pleasure as she has ?
I SEE that MANIAC starts at AMOK.
The SHEEP (counting) can lead to SNORES and I'M OUT.
7
@Robert I'd post a link to the pic of her outside Trump Tower with a single central digit extended but it wouldnt pass the emus.
14
Kind of interesting that 5 of the 6 J to Zs are in the music world.
JASON MRAZ's last name was in puzzles in June and April, but that did not help me today. Got him purely on the crosses. Then there was the former N'SYNC member. Also an unknown, which required the crosses and the theme reveal. But I could name Joey, Lance and Justin, which for a 60-something year old I consider not bad.
4
@vaer
Better than not bad! One of the many benefits I've received from working alongside people much younger is access to pop culture. Certainly enriching! And helpful with crossword-doing, for shizz!
2
@Ann
I say this with love.
It’s fo (not for), and I think more commonly “fo shizzle”. Run this by your peeps
😭😭😭
@vaer
Kudos to you for knowing the members of N’SYNC. I’m a GenXer myself, and waaay past my tweens by the time boy bands were popular, but still, how could you not remember J. C. Chasez?? He was the only other cute one besides J. T. (in my opinion of course)!
😝
I remember going to Katz deli on the lower east side when I lived in New York. The pastrami, the knishes, the sour pickles... I’m drooling on my iPad!
8
Mickey T,
The clue properly reads name ON, not name OF, a famous New York deli, since the business name is Katz's, not Katz.
Now you should eat:
https://katzsdelicatessen.com/
2
@Barry Ancona
That was going to be my quibble but you got in first -- yup, it's KATZ'S. The thing that made it memorable for me (ca. 1948 or so) was the kasha varnishkes -- no other food place in the city served it.
Dr W,
It wasn't a quibble with the puzzle; the clue is fine.
44A DAG NABBIT, not DAD NABBIT?
No? Yes?
4
@MJ
Sorry, I meant -BLASTED, not -NABBIT
2
@MJ
Yes on the "-nabbit", but DAD-blasted works for me.
6
@M J T
Tell that to Elmer Fudd.
So many people named J to the Z! I had no idea. Well, now I've got that Jason Mraz song in my head. No, not that one; this one:
https://youtu.be/ZrqF7yD10Bo
4
Loved the SPCA clue! Very cute. Some clues felt overly long and therefore a little condescending today. E.g. GALLO ORC and GANGS. Who was helped by (condiment) after pico de __? The theme was sorta fun but didn’t really give any great aha moments.
2
Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind” feat. Alicia Keys:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vz2fsJ0CyaU
A lot of flyspecking for a Tuesday. Worried about a Natick for some with MAIS / MRAZ. Not really worried worried. But a little worried. But I’ll try not run AMOK (I AM OK).
Liked seeing SNORES in a puzzle filled with ZZZs.
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Perfectly fine Tuesday offering, polished off on the quick side. I appreciate that the fill (aside from EEK) was pretty fresh.
Although I couldn't identify a JASON MRAZ song, I knew his name and that it fit. That said, I was oblivious to the theme on a conscious level until the very end of the puzzle. Long day?
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There's this: https://youtu.be/ABFtbYKW-QY
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Theres this: https://youtu.be/ABFtbYKW-QY
Regarding Idi AMIN: If you need the letters AMIN in your puzzle, you could either clue it as Idi, or go for a more obscure person, of which Wikipedia lists many. But solvers would probably not recognize any of them. (A clue like "one-time Syrian president al-Hafiz" for the probably least obscure other AMIN might make the answer inferable through crosses.)
If you clue it as Idi, you can clue it neutrally (as today), or you can be more descriptive ("Despot exiled in 1979" or "Bygone Ugandan tyrant" from previous puzzles). No puzzle has gone beyond "despot" or "tyrant" to say "genocidal murderer".
Some other choices, from back before Idi was famous, included the chemical prefix, and Gemayel of Lebanon, whoever he was.
The best solution may be the one from at Oct 18, 2014: "Wait ___!" ("Hold on there!") Or perhaps May 21, 1991's "C. Porter's "I ___ Love".
If you're cluing IDI and not AMIN, you can get cutesy, which Shortz allowed, or did himself, ten different times: "A mean Amin." That's where I draw the line.
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@Steve L
My mileage varied from Deb's. I'm fine with a strictly neutral clue, and AMINI was undeniably an historical figure. But I also draw the line at any cutesifying. Yech!
This started out with me feeling that the first few clues were just too easy for a Tuesday, but then I hit some of the theme entries and suddenly it got a whole lot more crunchy! I never heard of the 'N Sync guy, but the others all felt do-able, at least with the crosses. J C CHASEZ still just looks wrong to me. I wonder if there are any other J - Z names out there that Evan didn't use?
I tried BIRCH before CEDAR. That clue reminded me of Daniel James Brown's book _The Boys in the Boat_ about the American 8-man rowing team that went to the 1936 Olympics. It reads like a novel and is well worth the time.
8
Ditto on the book recommendation - excellent read. Equally enjoyable documentary of the crew in the American Experience series available on PBS Passport.
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@Liz B
The CEDAR clue reminded me of Hiawatha. "Give me of thy bark o birch tree" or something like that?
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@Liz B Ditto John McPhee's _Survival of the Bark Canoe_ (or anything by McPhee, for that matter).
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The first two I got were Jon Lovitt (sic) and Jennifer Lopez so I thought the theme was J... Lo...which seemed odd, since that's just Jennifer Lopez again.
It was one of those days where if I had looked for the theme reveal clue it would have made things go more smoothly.
It also served as a reminder that in any puzzle, especially one full of theme names, the theme squares are triply checked (the Z I needed for Katz and Lovitz was known to me only via the theme).
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@David Connell
KATZ's Deli. Where the lady at the next table said "I'll have what she's having."
21
@Steve L - I didn't know that was where that scene took place. I did know that Rob Reiner gave his mother that line to say, however.
I wouldn't be interested in a visit very much. The NYC contingent has made clear that calling itself "deli" means I can't have cheese on my sandwiches. A sandwich without cheese is not for me.
1
David,
You can have cheese with meat at most delis in NYC today; just not at the kosher or kosher-like ones. Mr. Katz was Jewish; Mr. Lenz, who started a deli where I grew up, was not.
http://www.lenzdelicatessennyc.com/
2
Same as yesterday: fast and a cute theme.
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Surprised there are so many celebrities who match this pattern.
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