Whenever I see ramped-up used incorrectly as to mean make stronger I would like to point out that we engineer's coined the phrase decades ago as amped up meaning to increase the amperage; the current flow now made stronger or more powerful. Recently it's become bastardized as ramped-up. When you think of it what does it mean to ramp up something? Nothing sensible, really just changing an angle of inclination but not really increasing any power. I'm glad to see that so far to my knowledge Will Shortz has not allowed ramped-up to mean increasing in effort or increasing power; the answer always seems to be amped up and I hope that does not change.
1
@Caitlin
Just noticed your caption for your opening photo. Very funny
Your snicker for the evening: for 12 Down, 1960s Cultural Phenomenon, I started off with the BR and had the N about halfway down. I confidently filled in "bra burning party", and was surprised when it quickly became apparent that it was not the correct answer. Oh, that *other* 1960s cultural phenomenon that starts with a BR.
This was a fun start to the weekend - thanks!
3
As a good little elder millennial (i.e. born in the 80s), not only do I know what a SITUATIONSHIP is, but I’ve had my fair share. Essentially it’s a romantic relationship that isn’t clearly defined.
Like the word or not, file it away friends. It’s only a matter of time before it shows up in an Erik Agard puzzle.
2
Yesterday I couldn't even solve the puzzle after 40 minutes of struggle, and today was a solve in a tick over my Wednesday average (under 20 minutes). I'll never understand you, NYT Crossword puzzle.
Loved all the long fill and the paired clues. Just an overall fun puzzle. Great job!
1
I know Goofus and Gallant! It was a running feature in the Highlights magazine we read as kids.
2
Loved OPENBAR, but then again, who doesn’t! Then, somehow, LAVERNE was my first thought at 16A, and I was off and running to a Friday PR.
That was OSO much fun!
4
(I can't bear any more of these puns.)
1
@Barry Ancona
Then take a paws fur a bit. . .
3
@Robert Michael Panoff
Retreating back to my den...
1
Fun, fun, fun. Yay!
1
Is everyone else getting the NYT popup to take a survey about our puzzle habits? Perhaps if we all request in the comments field that they return a link to the crossword from the home page nav bar they'll listen.
Power to the people!
4
@Hildy Johnson
I got that survey. What I mentioned is that LB is so much more fun when Mari comments.
2
At the risk of being over*bear*ing, the constructor missed an excellent opportunity for another "double clue".
33D could have been clued: Attraction at un zoo.
8
@Andrew ,
That would have been a fun clue.
1
@Andrew
Ok you francophiles, 'splain pleez.
@Robert Michael Panoff @Andrew @suejean
Doh. ça ne fait rien.
TIL that google translate can answer such questions.
40d: The official name is The Golden Raspberry Awards. 2019 winners include Holmes and Watson for worst picture, Melissa McCarthy for worst actress for both Happytime Murders and Life of the Party. Worst actor went to someone who appeared as himself in 2 documentaries - Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? and Fahrenheit 11/9. And the winner was (drumroll please) Donald Trump.
2
When I buy a Hershey's, it's pretty soon an OPENBAR.
(I was going to post an OVEN pun instead, but I'll put that one on the back burner.)
9
@Mike
You're kiln me.
10
@Mike
I'm getting tired of all these wrappers in the puzzle.
5
@Robert Michael Panoff
Where's @Bojan? He was here yesterday for the puns and today you fired off a hot one!
@Andrew
Speaking of wrappers (;-)), how about all the "pop culture" references, with both "Slice" and OUTS? Enough to make one SNIPpy!
Didn't skip a beat on "free spirits" with the OPEN BAR, afterward looking back rarely, trusting I was on the appropriate wavelength. Fun puzzle. Good time.
6
Taking out BPLUS until I PALEd and debating between TEA and TIN made me wonder about my history education. When I straightened it out, the puzzle was done.
Wow. Great Friday puzzle. Thanks Emily Carroll!
2
Enjoyed this puzzle a lot. *Really* enjoyed "Styles of music," five letters, in the mini. Laugh-out-loud cluing :-)
7
Had some trouble with this one! I do enjoy a late-week puzzle with sparkling and interesting long entries. It makes it worth the effort. Overall a very enjoyable puzzle!
I mistakenly thought "little thief" would be raccoon, but I should have noticed that "animals" was plural. I guessed wrongly that the Star Trek race would be Klingon before I had enough down answers to suss out ROMULAN. I got BRITISH INVASION with just a few crossings, which helped quite a bit on the east coast. I've been watching The Crown, so I suppose the British are on my mind. I was thinking of ads rather than baseball but "What most pop-ups are" doesn't have nearly enough letters for "annoyances," even if there was a rebus. OSO, really? Not only are we supposed to guess from all the possible zoo animals, but guess in Spanish? I enjoyed the clues for ACUPUNCTURE and PATES. I got SITUATIONSHIP from the crossings, but I've never heard of it before. All these crazy new relationship concepts and dating apps make me appreciate my marriage all the more! I was completely fooled by "slice." I was thinking golf or food, but not SODA POP. I was also STYMIEd by USB PORT. That was a clever one!
I appreciated Caitlin's link to the people who guest starred on Laverne and Shirley. Very interesting! I would not have recognized Mark Harmon.
1
SITUATIONSHIP? Really?
That word, and the other "romance"-related ones cited in Caitlin's paragraph on that entry, are the kind of thing that make me glad I'm not young. Also that I seldom have to converse with the young, and never on the subject of their love lives, or my own.
I don't think I ever saw the Toyota commercial. I do try to block out car commercials, except those for Subaru, with the dogs. Not that they make any sense, or would influence me in the unlikely event I ever wanted to buy a car, but still ... dogs.
A little thrown by the "good" part of the clue for DEMOLITION DERBY because I've never been able to fathom how anyone could enjoy watching, let alone participating in, such an activity.
Loved lots of the clue/entry combos: OPEN BAR, ACUPUNCTURE, CARSICK, USB PORTS, others.
Loved the original "Star Trek," but only managed to get through about ten minutes, once, of "LAVERNE and Shirley." I'm inferring that "Black Jeopardy!" is some sort of regular sketch on SNL?
Really enjoyed this puzzle, and thanks to all. I do wish, however, that the comments had contained fewer references to dentists. Okay, I don't hurt anymore, and I'm eating more or less normally (chewing on one side only), but my face is still lopsided from the swelling and I look silly.
Here's hoping for a terrific weekend, XWP- and otherwise. Have fun all.
4
Deadline,
You should feel and look much tomorrow, even if you're still not ready by then for a SITUATIONSHIP.
...much better tomorrow...
@Deadline
"Black Jeopardy" is a recurring sketch on SNL that packs more socio-economic insight into seven minutes than you would believe possible, and it's genuinely funny. The one with Tom Hanks as a MAGA-hatted contestant is must-see tv.
I'd link to it but my iPad is a finicky little snot and it'd take too long.
2
New PB for a Friday at 9:26.
I wish the app showed you what your prior PB was. I think it was under 10:00 but not by much. This one lopped off a lot.
Loved the clue for USBPORT!
4
LOVED this puzzle...so many fun clues and misdirections...reading Caitlin's article and getting the answer for 'situationship' allowed me to fill in the rest of my blanks and mistakes. Can't wait for this constructor's Saturday.
3
Easy (mostly) for Friday but fun nonetheless. I felt a bit of nostalgia with BRITISH INVASION, WARPed records, and 45 or 78 RPM.
4
I don’t really understand OUTS for pop-ups. I looked at it for a couple of minutes before I filled it in. I wasn’t a fan of the crossing clue for SEAS so I was uncertain. Maybe someone can explain it and also scold me for not reading all the former comments.
4
@Frances
It took me a while before I realized that it is baseball!
9
@Andrew
Oh, thanks! That totally makes sense.
3
@Frances
Same problem. I kept thinking of those annoying computer ads, until I suddenly remembered that when there's something weird it's usually sports.
6
Probably says something about me that SODAPOP took some time (in fact that quadrant was the last that I completed), but that I filled in OPENBAR immediately and almost without thinking....
Like others, I was led astray by GOOBER and KLINGON.
I was slightly irritated by 41A--One uses OVEN mitts to get into the oven (to put things in and take things out of the oven, more correctly), not to get on an oven.... If I was being really crabby, I'd point out that on the oven one generally (not always) finds a stove, where one might also use oven mitts, although again, I don't think I would use them on the stove either, unless I was trying to clean up some nasty spill that I didn't want burned onto the cooking surface. (That horse is now thoroughly whipped.)
I found lots to like with this puzzle though--a "bad trip" crossing a 60's cultural phenomenon, the appearance of STYMIES, the cluing in general ("Smashing good time" and "Mouse hole," to name just a couple). Initially thought "romantic gray area" might have something to do with the greatly feared "friend zone" (happily, I am of an age where I cherish friends), but thought SITUATIONSHIP was a nifty portmanteau.
I look forward to Ms. Carroll's next offering, and hope it will be a Saturday!
2
@Puzzledog - apparently you don't use cast iron pans on your stove top...
oven mitts, de rigueur...
2
@Puzzledog
For those who haven't seen the dialectical maps, here is one for who calls what where in the US:
https://www.businessinsider.com/soda-pop-coke-map-2018-10
4
@David Connell
David, I use cast iron pans all the time. And I use oven mitts (commonly called "hot pots" in my family vernacular, for some reason) to grasp and manipulate cast iron and other pots ON the stove. But that isn't the same as using oven mitts ON the oven.... There is a certain lack of precision in the language of the clue that bothers me. YMMV.
2
I think we've had the POP, SODA, SOFT DRINK, COLA discussion before, but I will admit that this was my past entry. Start from the bottom! You have nowhere to go but up!
4D gets 'cutest clue' today.
The solution list for last week's Big Bee excluded DRYAD, ARROYO, ROOKY, and DOORYARD. Even if you insist on ROOKIE, that still leaves 3 fairly common words! The new Big Bee is interesting!
Did anyone else get 'surveyed' about the Spelling Bee and Letterbox puzzles? I hope they do not make separate apps!!!
3
@Mean Old Lady
I was surveyed and used the opportunity to rail against the misuse of funds: they extort money out of us to get on-line access and fail to use the funds to provide a proportionately quality product, as evidenced by the awful software that runs this comment section. They asked so I answered!
1
I loved the puzzle but was concerned when I was cautioned that I only have 4 articles left when accessing Wordplay. Isn't this part of my subscription to the crossword puzzle?
2
If you are using an app to access the content (rather than a web browser), make sure you have the latest version installed. That seemed to fix the odd messages I saw earlier in the week.
3
@Mary
I get that threat a lot these days with varying numbers of articles left. I am already extorted enough that I just ignore them.
4
@Mary: I haven't experienced your particular delight but it reminds me of a TIRADE that's been building for a while in my mind. Of all the online publications and services for which I am a *paying subscriber,* by far the most annoying at making me prove repeatedly that I am not a freeloading content-thief is the NY Times.
Apparently NYT digital subscribers have to be smart enough to check off exactly which squares contain traffic lights (and does that include squares with traffic light posts, or just squares with red/yellow/green lenses??) to be eligible to read an article or do a different puzzle for which we already paid. It gets old. One thing I learned from my dad: don't trust anyone who doesn't trust you.
3
I noticed that hardly anyone said "too" easy ( perhaps no one) in a complaining way, so Emily was able to create a puzzle that held our interest and we found enjoyable, so we're fine with the fact that it was quite a smooth solve. That takes real talent I think.
Like others I was really stymied by 1A; I can probably count on one hand the number of SODA POPS I've had, and have certainly never heard I'd Slice, so that corner was the last to fall. I was reasonably satisfied with GENRE, and thought GOOFUS sounded OK. Definitely liked the idea of an OPEN BAR.
Fun Friday.
18
@suejean - great post! Paragraph one deserves attention.
I don't drink soda, and never call it soda pop (shudder), and have never tasted Slice - but I still filled 1A in without a second thought. Something about the culture, I guess...ditto on Open Bar!
4
@David Connell ,
Thanks, David
@suejean - here's a glass of St-Emilion Grand Cru, chin chin, you're one of my stars...
2
Excellent puzzle. You had me at OPEN BAR. Happy weekend to all. Tonight is opening night of my son’s show (high school drama, a romantic comedy this time, should be wonderful!).
7
So I didn't Natick in one place where I feared I would, and I did Natick in a different place where I feared I would -- but for a much more complicated reason. I'll explain.
Would it be OSO/ROMULAN or OSA/RAMULAN? I don't know any Star Trek characters and the Spanish bear is often spelled both ways in xwords, but I guessed "O" and guessed right.
Was it DINO/LORANIS or DINA/LARANIS? I didn't know either proper pop name. But I never questioned the fill around it: I had AIRSICK instead of CARSICK for the "having a bad trip", giving me AOL instead of COM for the "dot follower". Meaning the two proper pop names were actually DANO and MORANIS -- neither of which I knew or considered.
Though marred by what I consider unfair crosses, this puzzle had a lot of really superb clues and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite my 4-letter DNF. In this one, the long fill helped me out with the short fill -- which is most unusual. But I do wish those two areas had been cleaned up.
4
@Nancy Agreed. I did not know either Moranis or Dano even though I saw both those movies. Meranis and Dane seemed like perfectly good names to me. Sigh.
5
@TPB & Nancy - Paul Dano is worth knowing. Rick Moranis is worth knowing. Get going, you wouldn't be disappointed. If you got to know them. Somehow, I doubt you will.
Romulus and Remus, they founded Rome. Those twins' names are known. The planet system Romulus is named for one of them, Romulans are named for that. Cultural referents. Or not. It's your call.
6
@David Connell
Thanks! I always thought the founders of Rome were Romulus and Klingus.
(Off to my room...)
2
Pretty deep Star Trek dive here. I felt proud of myself when I remembered Klingon and it fit...
7
@Heroy I had the same experience. I think the Klingons become more friendly and the Romulans become the big baddies in The Next Generation....
2
Could have been worse. Jem'Hadar, e.g.
2
@Heroy By no means am I Trekkie, but I got ROMULAN with only the R from SUR. Romulans and Klingons have invaded the general culture, not just that of sci-fi buffs. It started a long time ago; I remember attending a Leonard Nimoy lecture in the 70's called "I am not Spock." He was attempting to launch a new persona but the large number of people in the audience wearing Spock ears or dressed as Klingons made sure that Nimoy would always be Spock and that the Trekkie cult would endure.
2
I notice that the BARRICADE separates the two sides of the puzzle? Now that song from Les Miz will be in my head all day: "Somewhere beyond the BARRICADE is there a world you long to see?"
It's going to be a good day.
6
@archaeoprof
Mind the BARRICADE!
2
@archaeoprof
My latest libretto re-write is for iWiz, as I have had those tunes swirling around too long. My brain changes the words and out pops a familiar sounding but different song.
Here's an excerpt:
Do you see the people sling?
Slinging a throng of angry birds?
It is the movement of the gamers
Who are more that just some nerds!
When the tapping of iPads
Echoes the tapping of iPhones
There is a game about to start
With vibrating tones!
3
@archaeoprof
Had a reply here with a comment, but it seems to have been screened. I'll wait to see if it posts. It was a fun post (or so I intended!)
2
Very nice puzzle with some lively entries, but for me the solve was SITUATION normal (afu). That's not uncommon for me on a Friday, but in retrospect it seems like I had enough good guesses here and there that I should have been able to work it out. Just was blanking on almost all of the longer answers.
I can think of lots of 60's cultural phenomena but BRITISHINVASION never crossed my mind. Did anyone else notice that BELLBOTTOMJEANS is also 15 letters? (and no I didn't actually fill that in - I had a couple of crosses to dissuade me).
I guess I'll just have to be happy that there's not a lot of PEER pressure here in terms of our solving skills.
8
@Rich in Atlanta
I had the end of INVASION filled in from crosses, and had pencilled in TELEVISION as the second word. Took me a while to sort out.
32A reminded me of a related word - umfriend - to describe someone who is more than a friend but less than a girlfriend or boyfriend. (Or as Urban Dictionary puts it, “a partner with whom you are in a physical, but not necessarily romantic, relationship.”) It comes, of course, from how you’d introduce such a person to others, as in “I’d like you to meet my, um, friend."
7
Loved this puzzle. Nearly every entry wasn’t in the realm I first thought of!!!
6
Great puzzle. Very clean. Great clueing. Fun answers.
7
Enjoyed doing the puzzle and contemplating SITUATIONSHIP, a pretty cool neologism whatever its meaning.
2
For OLDE folks like me, this was not too hard to FERRET out. It all starts with Star Trek, of course, and knowing that ROMULANS are related to Vulcans, and LAVERNE and Shirley was a spin-off of Happy Days (not the Beckett play). But I did learn that TIN is a big import of Myanmar and that SITUATIONSHIP is a thing (and, apparently, a word—though my spellcheck disagrees).
4
@PK As usual, clues are geared toward Boomers and Millennials. Poor Gen X, always neglected.
@Deb- I found the last bit of your column confusing. You asked who had eldest before OLDEST, but isn’t the answer ELDEST?
Maybe I’m mis-parsing it.
Fun puzzle with some interesting fill!
MJ,
Yes, she got the first reference reversed, but in the next sentence it's clear she knows ELDEST is correct. And "she" is Caitlin, not Deb, but we commenters often get that reversed.
4
@Barry Ancona Thanks- from the context of the second sentence I got that, but the first sentence is what made me doubt I was understanding her point.
I’m going to write “Caitlin” 100x on the blackboard now...
4
I loved the repeated clues Big ___ (1D and 22D) and the "bad thing on a record" (40A and 47A). Also the amusing parallel of pig PEN and big BEN.
Great puzzle!
6
Could not grasp "Summa Cum Laude spoiler" until I realized it was Big BEN, not Big TEN.
4
And what is the difference between a schlemiel and a schlemazel? A schlemiel goes through life spilling soup. The schlemazel is the person he spills it on.
15
@David
Took me a while to remember this was in the lyrics to the Laverne and Shirley theme song. . . .
1
I am in awe that Emily constructs without a word list! Computers and word lists have greatly improved the quality and ease of construction for XWPs. Not using a word list is kind of like baking a cake from scratch. Including growing the wheat for the flour and going out to the hen house to get the eggs. And just like a cake made from scratch is (usually) so much better than one made from a mix, Emily's puzzle is really great! Loved all of the lively entries and almost glue free. I'm definitely a fan, Emily! More puzzles please! :-)
30
Just like @AudreyLM below, my memories of Goofus and Gallant stem exclusively from the Highlights magazine at my childhood dentist. Unfortunately, I never seemed to get to it before someone else had already circled all the hidden pictures :-(
Regardless, I had DOOFUS there until almost the very end, even though my first thought for 38A was GENRE (but I didn't fill it in).
Still one of my better Friday times, 18 minutes below average, and a really fun puzzle. Unusually for a Friday, when I filled in the last letter I didn't have a single mistake anywhere. That was a pleasant surprise.
12
@Rob
Goofus & Gallant still appear in Highlights, a magazine with transcendent appeal to kids of all ages. Allow me to once again say that I've forever found Gallant insufferable.
4
I remember "Goofus and Gallant!" My grandmother belonged to a tiny, rural church in the Ozarks that had barely changed since its founding in 1889. I would visit her every couple of months, and the music in that church was one of the joys of my childhood. The sermons were made tolerable by going through all of the old Sunday School bulletins to read the "Goofus and Gallant" strips.
9
I quite enjoyed this puzzle, and it was certainly GOOFUS that threw me for a loop. (Am I too young or too old for that one? I had GOOBER; perhaps that gives it away.) It's usually only the themed puzzles that really inspire 'aha moments' for me, but USBPORT was a joy.
6
Fan as I am of the feint -- call me feint of heart -- this puzzle overjoyed me with its bounty of misdirects (clues for FANS, OPEN BAR, CAR SICK, SURER, OUTS, ELDEST, DEMOLITION DERBY, and ACUPUNCTURE). Add the zest of the five longest answers and I was hip-hopping with happiness. Truly, this puzzle was a buzz and a high and a hi-yo Silver for me. Brava and thank you, Emily!
19
GOOBER before GOOFUS. Goofus and Gallant were the sole redeeming virtue of dentist appointments, back in the Pleistocene Era when I was a child. Also the last page where you had to locate hidden items. Ugh, I'm having a tiny case of PTSD from those pre-flouride days. The Bazooka probably didn't help.
7
Letter Boxed thread
P-S (7) S-T(7)
Saw this immediately, so not going to look any further for a 13, although I would venture to say there is a 13
3
@ColoradoZ
My contribution:
C - K (11), K - P (3) ... 14
I remembered that the 3-letter word had been accepted in an earlier BOX!
3
@ColoradoZ
Same as you during fit of husband’s insomnia. Back to sleep instead of looking for perfection!
1
@ColoradoZ
and finally:
T - S (8), S - K (5) ... 13!
2
SPELLING BEE
24 words, 101 points, 1 pangram
4 5 6 7 8 Tot
I - 2 - - - 2
L 2 2 1 - - 5
M 4 1 1 - 1 7
P 3 1 2 1 - 7
T - 1 1 - - 2
Y - 1 - - - 1
46
@x
Just posting the other lists to complete:
SPELLING BEE GRID
Nov 22 2019
M I L P T U Y
WORDS: 24, POINTS: 101, PANAGRAMS: 1
I x 2
L x 5
M x 7
P x 7
T x 2
Y x 1
4L x 9
5L x 8
6L x 5
7L x 1
8L x 1
14
@x just missing a P6 not related to skin. I found an M6 tgzt I thought was an M4.
7
@Kevin Davis found it by random typing. Never heard of this adjective related to being fat.
9
If SUR is big, is SURER bigger?
Which reminds me of the prairie town of Biggar, Saskatchewan. Upon entering the town, there is a sign stating, “New York is big, but this is Biggar.” True story.
This was the smoothest Friday ever for me. I filled it all in with almost no obstacles, very unusual for a Friday!
I always found the word FASHIONISTA evoked “fascista” rather than “Sandinista”. I’ve never been a big FAN of the word.
Nice to see Canadian comedian Rick MORANIS, an SCTV alum, and half of the quintessential Canadian Corner Mackenzie brothers.
7
@Andrew
How can you trust road signs in Canada? I drove around hundreds of miles up there without seeing a single road sign with at least one bullet hole in it. Made me feel homesick.
5
I'm still proud of my 27 minute solve, even though previous posters had a short time as well. Congrats to the constructor on a puzzle that evoked so many memories. Star Trek! Bygone SODAPOP flavors! The Beatles and the Rolling Stones! Even thought about visits to my childhood dentist (or NUMBER), with GOOFUS and Gallant before and a choice of costume jewelry rings after.
2
and Elke
Not so much in my wheelhouse, besides LAVERNE and FASHIONISTA. Tried "skip" before WARP, and liked seeing ODE below OLDE , and SIRS and SUR.
Think I found parts of a theme :
If a DOOFUS overindulges at an OPEN BAR , and decides to drive FIAT's Maserati and does not USE CARE and becomes CAR SICK and at a police BARRICADE is cited for DUI, at least he did not cause a DEMOLITION DERBY on the road. Bottom line: If you need ONE TO GO, stick with SODA POP.
7
Sorry if this repeats.
I just noticed the clever caption to the opening photo. Although, I believe it’s called a BEARICADE...
8
@Newbie
I also thought Caitlin did an exceptional job with that photo and I found her caption suitably heartbreaking. Like your clever wordplay — bittersweet.
2
Very nice puzzle! I also worked on "Mouse hole?" for an embarrassingly long time before the "Oh THAT mouse" moment. Hadn't heard situationship, but it fills a need. (Sounds like something Ed Crankshaft would say.)
According to Wikipedia, "Slice is a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks originally manufactured by PepsiCo and introduced in 1984 but discontinued by PepsiCo in the United States in the late 2000s. Slice was reintroduced in the United States and Canada by New Slice Ventures LLC, who acquired the trademark rights in those countries". A quick visit to their web site shows that Slice is actually now a flavored seltzer and not a SODAPOP. I am clearly a literal brained person; I didn't guess it for the longest time because I knew that Slice had been discontinued.
3
Started off 1A as any golfer would - with BADSHOT, before getting it right.
Enjoyable, close enough to my best Friday time.
Softened us up for a tough Saturday?
2
Hi Caitlin - I left the clock running on a Saturday puzzle in the archive for days and days and now my Saturday average is 38 hours. :-0
What's the email for tech help to expunge my record?
Thanks!
3
@Hildy Johnson
In case you’re serious, [email protected].
In case you’re not, good one! (a 38-hour average must be a “record”)
4
Thanks! I'm afraid I am serious. That one puzzle clocked in at 4176 hours. That was one tenacious little timer to keep it up for five months.
The bar chart on my stats page now looks like the Sears Tower in a neighborhood of doublewides.
4
@Hildy Johnson
Not sure it’s worth giving up a spot in the Guinness Book. 4176 hours (174 days)! You must normally be very fast for your average to be only 38 hours.
1
I’m guessing this will be considered easy, as this noob only had to look up the Star Trek clue to complete a Friday. Of course getting the long entries early always helps exponentially.
I was really hoping the needlework entry referenced Botox, but close enough.
I’ve never heard of goofus, just doofus. And I haven’t heard that in like 25 years?
13down: “apply oil to” clue was amazingly clever
I’ve never heard of SITUATIONSHIP, but guessing it’s where one person asks the other “what are we?” Meaning, are we in a formal relationship or just hanging out a lot. On a related note, NETFLIXANDCHILL is 15 letters. Just sayin’
2
@Newbie
I believe we had NETFLIXANDCHILL in the last year or so. Had never heard it before that and, until now, had never heard it since.
3
@Newbie, @Andrew
I thought NETFLIXANDCHILL was otherwise known as MARRIAGE . . .
Ok, entering dangerous waters here, but one of my favorite “bad” jokes just popped into my mind:
Our marriage has gotten so much better ever since we started having date night. Hers is Tuesday and mine’s Thursday.
9
@Puzzlemucker
I consider myself an expert on marriage, as I am now on my third one.
5
38 a and d - When I was a kid we called a stupid person a doofus. But since horror is not a denre I figured that wasn’t the right.
49d - I also had some 78 records. By diameter they were bigger than 45’s but smaller than albums. They were heavy, made of some brittle material and if you dropped one, it could shatter. I had Hound Dog by Elvis Presley on a 78. Wish I still had it. It might be worth something.
2
@Queenie looks like the original Hound Dog LPs are selling for about $25-30 on eBay. That'd get you a nice casino buffet dinner (on a weekday). Not bad! Not great, but not bad.
@Queenie
My father had a number of 78s when I was young. All I remember is that to listen to one movement of a symphonic work, you had to change records at least four or five times!
5
@Queenie Since Fact Boy hasn't jumped in, I'll note that 78s were made of shellac.... which is very brittle.
2
Great puzzle! Many wonderful clues and answers.
6
Plenty of fun clues in this one, but DEMOLITION DERBY alone was worth the price of admission.
3
Super fun!! Clever flying.
3
DYAC! “cluing”
3
I liked flying
3
Another quick one, but very enjoyable. Liked the duplicate clues for big and bad things on records. 26A was a gimme since I was watching Thurs. Night Football and guess who was just on air?
Demo derbies can be fun to watch, and in the midwest you might find one starring combines at a county fair.
1
I did enjoy this puzzle though it was solved in Monday time; the first two acrosses filled in instantly and it was off and running from there. USB ports definitely took some effort to parse correctly and was the last to fill in, but it was barricades that caught me unawares, since I had "fins" making waves instead of "fans" for a while, and couldn't figure out what birrica--- might be!
But I loved seeing barricades, if only because it brought me to François Couperin and his lovely "Les baricades mistérieuses" (The mysterious barricades), here performed on the theorbo - give it a try, it's very soothing music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2mGjvrGbcE
10
@David Connell , thanks! Have always loved that piece.
2
@David Connell
Thanks for the link. I had forgotten the piece, and forgotten Couperin too.
It led me thru a musical revery. The 1960's at U ot T in Toronto, Sir Daniel Wilson residence with a number of rooms whose occupants might be playing classical music LP's, on record players; Angel records, budget Nonesuch records, DG records; Sam's and AA Record Stores with vast collections of classical LP's, pianists from the 20's, 30's 40's 50's. The Toronto Symphony at Massey Hall. It was a feast.
Not that there wasn't Dylan and Leonard Cohen and rock and roll. That was another feast.
Some rooms had one or the other, some had both.
In some ways I miss that as much as I miss the disappearance of various flora and fauna.
I'm old enough now, tho, to truly understand, and feel, that to everything there is a season.
7
@Peter Jackel - The deeper sentiment beneath your post will haunt me for a while. There are always faded modes of being, leaf falls, to employ my native Tolkienite language. There is always something there to remind us
(musical interlude)
of things that aren't what they once were.
The unavoidably shared physical spaces you describe are so familiar to my memory, too - though my college had no dorms. How sharp a contrast with the enforced non-sharing of physical spaces (let me put in my noise-cancelling earbuds while I peer at my own little you-cancelling screen) today. And the ecological parallel is both saddening and maddening. Thanks for your response to the Couperin, proving the power of evocative music once again.
The name Slice reminds me of another SODA POP brand from my teenage years called Wink, and of our favorite hometown restaurant called Harry's, run by a Lebanese immigrant who had adopted the name Harry when he came to the US. Harry was a big-hearted, outgoing fellow who called everybody "My friend." For a while, a favorite joke of his was to come over to the table and say, "My friend, you want Wink?" And then wink his eye. When he moved on, we used to add, "Good thing we didn't ask for a Kick." (Another SODA POP brand at the time.) Or, "I was going to tell him, 'Harry, bring me a hamburger, and step on it!', but maybe I won't."
A story went around town involving someone attempting to rob the place, at which point Harry pulled a gun from under the counter and told the man, "My friend, I shoot you dead!" Luckily, the would-be robber backed off and left.
After Harry retired, the place wasn't the same anymore. After a couple of changes of ownership, it closed down, but the memories linger on.
17
@Alan J
I remember Wink, (assuming it is the same as yours). It was grapefruit SODA made by Canada Dry, and I still remember the advertising jingle. “Wink - it’s the sassy one - from Canada Dry”.
4
Not surprised that SITUATIONSHIP was a debut entry, but was surprised that ACUPUNCTURE turned out to be one. They both
helped make this a lively and fun solve. Brava, Emily.
12
Brava indeed! I'm looking forward to Emily's Saturday at bat so she can hit for the cycle.
5
I loved reading Goofus and Gallant as a young kid. At 68, I no longer gravitate toward Highlights in waiting rooms. My guilty pleasure now is People.
For me, an easy Friday. Loved the long entries, especially ACUPUNCTURE. I’ve done just about every form of needlework, and scratched my head over which one begins _CUP. Then, the AHA moment.
6
@Christine Peterson
In my doctor's waiting room today, I had a choice between a 2012 issue of Motor Trend and a 2015 issue of People. Choosing People, TIL that Fergie has ACUPUNCTURE quite often. I also learned who Fergie is. A fulfilling day
9
@ColoradoZ
I sometimes read People magazine while waiting for my dentist. I usually find that my brain is number by the time I’m finished reading.
13
@Andrew
If your dentist was also a CPA, you could have two number guys for the price of one.
7
Oh yeah! Anyone else for “bad shot” before SODA POP (filled in on a whim)?
7
@Irene ,
I was also thinking golf for the longest time.
4
Great puzzle! Felt really smart by getting several of the long ones (BRITISH INVASION and FASHIONISTA) with only a clue crosses. Which was good, because I didn't get ACUPUNCTURE until the very end (the only thing after that was changing dOOFUS and dENRE) to the actual words :-)
2
Couple* crosses, rather. So much for feeling smart!
1
Fun, lively, and quick (exactly 3 minutes off my best, somehow).
Commenting both to register my surprise at FASHIONISTA being a debut and to thank Caitlin for the LAVERNE & Shirley clip. Even from the little snippets, that show really holds up!
1
Definitely had DOOFUS before GOOFUS, even though I had GENRE already. I was doubting myself, but with some of the terms, I thought GOOFUS was possible.
For the longest, I was NOT CLEAR what what SITAUTIONSHIP was. Even after reading Deb's description, still wasn't sure.
I wonder if those driving in a DEMOLITION DERBY get CAR SICK. You'd think so.
There were a few places where it could have gone one of two ways - LAVERNE or SHIRLEY, ROMULAN or KLINGON.
Had MINT before FAIR before FINE. AYES before YEAS before PROS. CUES before NODS. Had thought COM PORTS before USB PORTS because I'm old.
Some interesting pairings - OPEL and FIAT, BEN and SUR, OURS and NOTRE,
Loved the clue for PATES. Took a while after solving to figure that out.
10
@Wen
Had the same KLINGON - ROMULAN conflict. I had guessed SUR so went with the latter. On a related note, William Shatner was in town yesterday to receive the Order of Canada.
BEN and SUR, BIEN SÛR! Would that be SUR Paul or SUR Elton?
Oh, and oops! It’s Caitlin!
7
@Andrew - ah yes, thanks for correcting me - I didn't expect Caitlin to be stepping in.
@Wen - yes, no overt mention of the oddity of Caitlin on a Friday puzzle. Inquiring minds...
2
Quick for a Friday for me as well, but thoroughly engaging. Thanks for the L&S clip!
TGIF!
3
After finishing this puzzle, I briefly visited @AudreyLM’s cloud of smug, which usually is reserved for Saturdays. The cluing and fill were zingy and crunchy and chewy and POPped. ACUPUNCTURE and DEMOLITION DERBY were my favorites on both scores, but there were others that if I looked back at the puzzle might jump to the head of the class. Thanks Emily for a great Friday themeless with a distinct “voice.”
7
This wasn't extremely difficult but it was very entertaining. I missed the Toyota commercials so I'd never heard of SITUATIONSHIP. It filled in and I thought, Is that an actual thing? But I guess it is.
Years and years ago, when I still drank SODA POP, my favorite flavor was cherry cola Slice. Of course, they stopped making it.
Hand up for DOOFUS before GOOFUS, and yes, I remember GOOFUS and Gallant. SKIP before WARP, but I had enough letters not to fall for it again at 47A.
3
@Liz B Add cherry cola to the BRITISHINVASION and you've got a SITUATIONSHIP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsWS6fuVw1o
..
2
Flew through this puzzle, very easy for a Friday. But “situationship” seems bogus.
2
@John Ranta New a lot of us I suppose, but I wonder if it will eventually become stale enough to make it onto the banished words list.
Nice connection with the person behind the puzzle.
Glad you’re here. Or there.
2
I didn't have DOOFUS because I already had the GOO, but I gave some thought to GOOBER.
9
Hand up for “goober”!
3
@Irene ditto!
@Steve L I'm a goober too!
Enjoyed this Friday puzzle because it was relatively easy, and I was not in the mood for a challenge.
I enjoyed both demolition derbies and the British Invasion back in the 60s.
- Tom
2
I really like the clue and answer for 8 across; will it make the Lewis from Asheville too 5 ?
3
@Brian
That was one of my favourites too!
2
@Brian Yes, "Where to find free spirits" is a great way to clue OPEN BAR! Some very clever cluing in this puzzle.