Mewl? Really? On a Monday.
And am so tired of Lord of the Rings clues.
Years later and playing from the archives. Just wanted to say ELROND / ALDA was an awful cross. Two obscure pop culture references. Didn't know either of them and had to sit there brute forcing it letter by letter at the end.
@P Yep. Agree 100 percent. Not everybody is a low-intellect Lord of Rings junkie.
I don't usually expect much in the way of TIL content on a Monday, but then along comes SOL to keep me humble.
With that in mind, I have to rate this puzzle only SO-SEW.
3
This felt like a tough Monday puzzle. Just a quick comment regarding the statement "I don’t even recognize the actor who played [Elrond] in the movies." I believe that was Hugo Weaving (at least in Peter Jackson's adaptations), who is recognizable to most folks as Agent Smith from The Matrix Trilogy and to some as Tick Belrose from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for his amazing portrayal as Eddie Rodney Fleming in The Interview.
I was an adult before I ever heard of a DREIDEL, and that song, and I'm still not sure I understand it. But no matter.
Like others, saw that the circled squares contained rearrangements of the same letters, but didn't settle on DREIDEL until I saw the revealer.
(Excuse: I've had a rough couple of days with my electricity. It seems that my old microwave's death throes triggered a heretofore unknown (but welcome) fail-safe that kicked in right away, but without tripping the circuit breaker. Only it wouldn't let the outlet be used with the new microwave. I actually had to call the building engineer to get it fixed. The shame!)
Anyway, I didn't seem to have most of the problems that some others did -- except I never heard of ELROND. But that's okay. I know better.
Pleasant Monday.
Happy Hanukkah to all who observe. And also to those who don't.
1
Deadline,
Sounds like the GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) tripped. That is indeed a good thing to have on your kitchen (and bathroom) circuits. Glad you're cooking -- or nuking -- again!
Fun puzzle, enjoyed solving it. Thanks!
If I may be allowed to nitpick : 19A I don't think the Bible says he captained the ship. We only know he built it. Maybe one of his sons was the captain.
1
@LSR
I was wondering why the ark was called a "boat."
I've heard so many people get all exercised when "boat" is used to mean a "ship," and I'd think that big old ark would command the same respect.
Isn’t it “fa-SO-la” not “fa-SOL-la” for 46 across ?
5
Michael,
SOL is correct. Scroll down for brief lessons from our resident music department.
1
TOP of the morning to all in the WordPlay Family!!!!! What a fun surprise, nothing like a pastime which lets you pry pennies and chocolate money from the sticky hands of small children.
Have already gone to one Snack and DREIDEL Exchange party, where everyone took turns Secret Santa style. I guess it would be Secret Maccabee party in this case. Anyway, the package I picked had a majolica DREIDEL shaped like a half of a lime, nice enough that it was 'traded' out from under me the very next turn. I felt bad about that, but feel good about my first ECO-conscious Hanukkah since this year we have a solar-powered Menorah.
Generally, I don't believe in mixing religion and politics, but consider there might be some merit in aiming for an energy policy where input yielded eight times the expected output. Unsure who would have to partner with for that.
Timothy Polin put all kinds of little twisty surprises in this MonPuzz, but my favourite was of my own making: in the SW corner, I had PET--I filled in, and without hardly a thought, I filled it with PETOFI. Within a moment, that was corrected, but I remembered we just passed the anniversary of when the son of Sándor Petőfi, Hungary's national poet, was born. Which date also commemorates the birth-date of WordPlay's Eminence Hongroise. So... Happy Belated Birthday, Laszlo baci, and don't be a stranger in the coming year, O PAL o'mine!
Thanks for a fine Hanukkah intro, and hope that everyone's holiday is colouRED DELICIOUS!
8
Thanks for this puzzle, it brought a smile to my face this Monday morning!
3
Shouldn’t 56D, “Hawkeye’s player on M*A*S*H,” have been answered by “Alan” (first name), not “Alda” (last name)? The appropriate clue for “Alda” would be, “Pierce’s player... .”
4
@ZZXZMSN good point.
@ZZXZMSN that’s what I thought, too. I typed AL and hesitated, looked at the crossover clues, and realized it was not to be.
@ZZXZMSN Hawkeye was a nickname, not a given name (the character's given name was Benjamin), so it's kind of a toss-up whether either name of the actor makes sense for the clue. Maybe "The Sensitive Male"?
1
I thought this was a delight, and laughed when I completed the revealer and understood the reason behind the circled groups of letters. It probably took a fair amount of research to find answers with the letters D R E I D E L together. And a bonus to see Elrond-I solved that area mostly with down answers, and didn't notice him until I finished the puzzle.
2
This was a hard spun Monday, OUI?...I was slowed by two tiny forks in the road on this festive Monday grid from Mr. Polin: MAE/Mac and UPDOS/perms...More problematic was MAYANS/Aztecs, a deeper speed bump that detoured my usual solving approach. Shifting from a square 1 start, I needed to rotate the solve clockwise and in a South to North direction...I don’t think Don McLean scored a TOP TEN HIT with this ditty but I know he at least managed to SPIN THE “DREIDEL” into the top 25 on Billboard’s charts in ‘73.
https://youtu.be/N8wWsncWFSg
In 1969 Mr. & Mrs. Croce spun not a top, but a duet, addressing the scourge of addiction. This tune was light years ahead of its’ time.
https://youtu.be/tHK_mkoCW8g
Keep Those Baseball Clues A Comin’,
Bru
3
@brutus, good to see you back, and practicing your trade-marked degree of verbal leger-de-main.
1
What a fun Monday puzzle. Thanks for it.
5
Found this very simple except for a couple of glitches. Stubbornly clung to SLEDDING ... except that I realized it needed an R. So, in went SLEDRIDE and suddenly all was well. Also, forgot it was XENA, not ZENA... that quadrant snapped into place. But the theme came immediately, had no trouble with the rest of it. A delicious Monday, and Chag Sameach to the tribe! (And happy holidays to all!)
3
Happy Hanukkah, with thanks for not adding that or Chanukah to the puzzle. How many spellings are there anyway? Clever and fun puzzle!
7
I don't know if this is in an earlier comment or not, but it's an oversimplification to say that ELROND is "an elf." Elrond is, of course, 9/16 elf, 6/16 human, and 1/16 Maia, which is why he is sometimes called Elrond Halfelven. (Presumably, Elrond Nine Sixteenths Elven didn't have much of a ring to it.) (Pun intended.)
He was given the choice between elven and human fates, and chose the former.
Also, the "Council of Elrond" references in the movie, "The Martian" are used to establish the geekiness of the NASA officials.
Great puzzle, by the way!
6
"Popular apple variety?" Only if you have no taste buds, know nothing about what an apple should taste like, or fall for looks over content. RED DELICIOUS, the flavor-free variety!
Over all too soon. I was seeing RIDDLE, like others.
20
Mealy as well as tasteless. I keep trying new ones, but so far NOTHING beats honeycrisp!
4
@Mean Old Lady ,
Funny thing about RED DELICIOUS apples: the ones in the grocery stores are not the original variety. Essentially the name has been...appropriated...for a related variety, one more marketable and shippable. I've had the original Red Delicious and it was red and delicious just like its name--nothing like the modern travesty! It was also smaller, lighter red, and slightly streaky.
@Mean Old Lady
Minority report, and I have learned over the decades not to apologize for it: I *like* RED DELICIOUS apples.
I like lots of different kinds of apples, for lots of different kinds of uses and on lots of different kinds of occasions.
But I refused to be shamed because I can also enjoy the much-derided RED DELICIOUS.
I went through this at mach 6. Maybe mach 6 and a half.
3
@ad absurdum
Monday xwps are not usually rocket science ....
6
@ad absurdum
Are you sure it wasn't Mach 8?
ad absurdum,
You're from Chicago and it took 23 minutes? Oh; maybe you weren't solving all the way to L.A.
2
It looked for all the world as though it would be some sort of mixed-up RIDDLE -- but there was that hard-to-explain extra "E". Oh, well, I thought, I'll worry about it when I get there.
I got there. "Aha," I said. "Not RIDDLE. DREIDEL".
Considering that this is both a Monday and a Hanukkah tribute puzzle, it has some interest. It made me do some thinking and I actually had a write-over: DOMAIN before DOT COM.
Just one query on "You hate to see it" (43D). The answer is SAD???? SAD what? SAD FACE? SAD ENDING? SAD SITUATION? "I really hate to see that SAD," said no one ever.
But other than that, a quite pleasant puzzle.
3
Re. 43D. The clue is in quotes... think twitter rant perhaps?
3
@Nancy
I think because the clue “You hate to see it” is in quotes, so too is “Sad,” as in Pat Boone’s Tutti Frutti sold more records than the original by Little Richard. “Sad.”
5
Re: Dec 23. Answer to "Hawkeye player on M*A*S*H should be 'Alan' (his first name) instead of the correct 'Alda' (his last name). Or the clue should be "Pierce player on M*A*S*H."
3
Carrick,
As answered by others earlier -- No: "Hawkeye" is his nickname, not his first name.
3
N.B. Benjamin Franklin Pierce.
3
@Barry Ancona It’s a nickname, not a single name. He was “Hawkeye Pierce,” not just “Hawkeye.” I’m (still) with Carrick.
Timothy Polin puts a delightful spin on this charming Hanukkah puzzle!
If you squint the black squares in the middle from top to bottom resemble a DREIDEL.
This fun puzzle makes me want celebrate and I'm not even Jewish!
5
"If you squint the black squares in the middle from top to bottom resemble a DREIDEL."
Johanna,
You and I are among the few who've seen it.
2
@Barry Ancona and Johanna
Stranger images have appeared in stranger places...
https://capebreton.lokol.me/1998-image-of-jesus-appears-at-bras-dor-tim-hortons-video
2
A definite “Solve” - - but a strange one.
I got most of the way down the possible with my usual starting run at the ACROSS answers - - - and had only 5or 6 answers filled in - and those were all 3 or 4 letters long. I said to myself, “This doesn’t look like a MONDAY puzzle!!”
Then, I started on the DOWN answers and the puzzle rolled over on its back and let me scratch its belly! Seemed very normal and I wound up with a time between ‘best’ and ‘average’.
The theme was completely opaque until 57A filled in and, then, only when I asked something like “Why aren’t THESE letters circled too?” D`OH!!
For a “relatively simple” puzzle, I’ll bet this one was a BEAR to conceive and construct. Nice job Mr. Polin!!
2
Interesting - didn’t realize it was 14 vs 15 across until I read this - and have been doing these for a few years. I wonder how often a Monday is 14 across?
My five favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Without which earth is just "eh"? (3)
2. Inspirational passage? (7)
3. Things that bakeries make but don't sell (6)
4. 1/2 vis-a-vis 1/3, say (3)
5. He is one (5)(3)
ART
TRACHEA
AROMAS
EVE
INERT GAS
8
A very enjoyable reveal.
but there are SO many better clues for SOL than the one given today.
Remember: 8 days of latkes + 8 pieces of chocolate gelt = 357 days of dieting
4
@RAH Make that 346 days of fasting. The last day of Hanukkah this year is 12/30; the first day of 2020 is 12/10. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar.
@Fact Boy
Anything that equals 11 less days of dieting is a big win in my book!! Thanks for noting!!
3
Not to spoil the Hanukkah party, but isn't the answer to 46A SEW (a needle pulling thread).
Between latkes and homemade Christmas cookies my brain is running on empty so I'm all AGOG an explanation to hear.
1
@mae
Rogers and Hammerstein took some liberties with the standard Solfège syllables in the song. For example, the note "RE" is sung as "RAY, A Drop of Golden Sun". Likewise, the syllable SO (although it is officially SOL) has been re-written as SEW.
Cue David Connell for any corrections to my layman's explanation... :)
2
@Steve Faiella
Plus, SEW wouldn't work with the crosses.
2
@Steve L
Well, yes, there's that... :)
2
Very nice puzzle. Always enjoy it when I have absolutely no idea where the theme is headed until I work most of it out. Felt a little on the hard side as I worked it, but actually ended up with a typical Monday time.
Answer history search today: Kind of a roundabout path, but I eventually happened on this puzzle:
https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=6/13/1982&g=25&d=A
I am completely baffled. Could somebody explain this one?
@Rich in Atlanta
The title is "Some Two-Steps", and as best as I can tell, the theme involves two steps to get the answer. The actual answer in the grid is another clue (A straight definition clue). So, for 126A ("U.S. anthropologist: 1901–78") the answer is HONEY DRINK, which is a clue for MEAD (Margaret MEAD, the anthropologist). For 44D ("
"Essay on Man" author") the answer VICAR OF CHRIST is a clue for the POPE (Alexander Pope, author of "Essay on Man") and so on. Clever theme! :)
2
...and THEDELICIOUS, which was highlighted when I opened the link, is a Big Apple.
2
@Rich in Atlanta ,
The one I noticed was 128 A Vodka drink :.English Queen, Bloody Mary.
2
Cute!
2
LETTER BOXED THREAD
G-E (9) E-T (11).
Go long or go home? Suspect there is shorter second word to go with first but that is the saving grace of my time limit.
Yesterday, I had the given solution but I look forward to seeing your improvements here. Long travel day yesterday with no chance to see column. But yummy latkes were made.
2
@Liane
Just 1 letter better:
G - E (9), E - T (10)
YESTERDAY:
HUMIDIFIES STARK
1
@Liane
Despite a few nice long words, I have not come up with any two-worders, and have gone way past my self-imposed time limit.
@Mari
G-E(9), E-T(11) haven’t gotten the E-T(10) yet
I am new to solving and had thought that the circled squares represented where a rebus needed to be entered. How does a new solver differentiate this type structure from a standard rebus or shaded squares? Thanks!
1
Very carefully.
Just kidding. Rebus squares usually are not marked. That’s one of the annoying things about them.
3
Karleigh,
But seriously with the "very carefully." Test. Circles in the puzzle can mean quite a few things, but if you find answers fitting with only one letter in a circle, in that puzzle they do not signify rebus squares.
@Karleigh sometimes rebuts squares are marked, but often they're not. Typically, a circle just means that the letter is being highlighted for some significance related to the puzzle's theme. A circled square *can* be a rebus square, though.
There is an art to Monday cluing, making the clues easy but not embarrassingly obvious. Lynn Lempel is a master, and Timothy showed today he can do it with the best of them. Also, a lovely concept -- Unlike @puzzlemucker, I couldn't figure out the theme before getting the revealer -- as well as original, as some cursory research indicates this theme has never been done before.
I never learned the rules of playing dreidel, but I always loved spinning it upside down. And Wikipedia tells me that astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman spun a dreidel for an hour in outer space. So there's that.
The puzzle has an echo from yesterday, as a dreidel is a TOP TYPE, and of the day before, with NOAH, plus some long-i endings (WIFI /DOI/ ELI / LEVI) and schwa-backs (YODA / XENA /SIESTA /EUROPA /MARA / ALDA). And, because it is only 14 squares wide, the grid stands tall as a spinning dreidel should, and as an example of an exemplary Monday offering.
3
SPELLING BEE GRID
Dec 23rd 2019
H C G I L T Y
WORDS: 24, POINTS: 119, PANGRAMS: 1 (Perfect)
C x 7
G x 2
H x 7
I x 2
L x 3
T x 3
4L x 6
5L x 8
6L x 6
7L x 3
9L x 1
4 5 6 7 9 Tot
C 2 2 3 - - 7
G - - 1 1 - 2
H 3 2 1 - 1 7
I 1 1 - - - 2
L - 1 1 1 - 3
T - 2 - 1 - 3
Tot 6 8 6 3 1 24
53
@Mari thanks, yours looks so much better than mine. I was composing my grid as you were posting yours, in case you were taking the night off.
2
@Kevin Davis Thanks Kevin - I did sleep late this morning, after a late-night viewing of the latest Star Wars movie. So your efforts are much appreciated!
2
@Mari (or Kevin)
I have it all but the L6. What am I not seeing? Any hints, please?
4
SPELLING BEE
14 minutes 24 words 119 points
4
@Kevin Davis 7C 2G 7H 2I 3L 3T
@Kevin Davis 1 pangram. No tricky words, a lot of valid words disallowed.
1
@Kevin Davis CH-7 GL-2 HI-7 IT-2 LI-3 TH-1 TI-2
5
I had pretty well decided that the extra E in what seemed to be a riddle anagram was going to be e-riddle somehow, and I wasn't impressed, so the reveal was a very pleasant surprise. What a great theme for the 2nd day of Hanukkah.
4
suejean, I get mixed up with this also, but Hanukkah started Sunday evening Dec 22 (about when the puzzle came out), so Monday is the first day, and the 2nd day starts Monday evening.
Some holidays have an extra day or a day less in Israel, and I'm not sure whether Brexit changed some applications in the UK
2
not sure how Lord of the Rings is arcane. It started the entire fantasy genre.
5
@Jeremy
You’re right. Without J.R.R. Tolkien, we wouldn’t have had J.R.R. What’shisname - - - the one that couldn’t get off his fat ascend enough to finish LOTR and had to let “TV” do it for him.
@Jeremy agree. Orc seems to be in every other puzzle
@PeterW
Assume you intended G.R.R. and GOT. Freudian slip?
Hello!
Hugo Weaving, the actor that plays Elrond in the LOTR movies, has some legit geek cred, having also played Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy (“Mis-ter Anderson”). And the relationship between Yoda and Baby Yoda is as of yet undetermined. But I digress... Great column as always, love reading your and Deb’s take every day.
Happy holidays!
5
I was rereading LOTR for the gazillionth time earlier today--or parts, really, because it's so familiar. ELROND was about as difficult for me as "First US president ______ Washington" would be for normal people. 😊
I'm a woodworker, so HIGHSPEEDDRILL was pretty easy, even though my drill isn't high-speed. Metalworkers use faster drills because they don't have to worry about burning the metal--wood can scorch if the drill is too fast.
Quick Monday for me in general.
4
@Adina
Metalworkers drill at slower speeds, with a lubricant, so as not to heat bit and dull it.
2
@justsomeone
Depends on the drill bit material. Specialty drills have carbides and nitrides mixed in for sustained bit travel during which the bit edges hold up. Chips can come off hot enough to burn paper and cloth.
and Elke
Found this : T'was Hanukkah time and the little village in Hungary was afraid they would have no latkes because they had run out of flour. So, Rudi, the Rabbi was consulted and he said ,"Don't worry, you can substitute matzameal for the flour, the latkes will be just as DELICIOUS".
Sarah looked at her husband," Mendel, you think this will work ?".
"Of course", he answered," Everybody knows that Rudolph, the Reb knows grain, Dear ".
18
@Robert
OFFICER!! ARREST that man!!
5
Elke,
Still in the little village in Hungary and already they're speaking English? I'm impressed!
5
I've been practicing Mondays via the archive. Mewl has been used quite a bit. Guess I go back to 2018, until next week. Unless Tuesday gives me a 2 day streak.
And, yes, started with Aztecs, then checked 1 Down.
3
Ahh, NPR names. Mara Liasson is rather tame, I think. But woe betide us when Doualy Xaykaothao appears in a puzzle!
3
@Irene
Hopefully, the crosses will be fair.
1
@Irene
Right number for n extended weekday grid.
and Elke
Can't LIE , did EAT too many latkes AT DUSK, so :
What did the car say to the DREIDEL ? Want to go for a SPIN ?
and
What's the difference between Hanukkah and a dragon ? One lasts for eight nights, the other sometimes ate knights.
Chag sameach.
18
Had no trouble with the first name of the NPR correspondent (12D). Her last name would have given me fits, though. Oddly enough, the only other MARA instance I recall is as a last name - the actresses Rooney and Kate Mara.
1
@RichardZ
There's also an actress named Mary MARA.
Since he was Hawkeye Pierce, shouldn’t the clue for 56D have been ”Pierce” (or the answer “Alan”)?
2
No, since Hawkeye is a nickname not a first name.
3
"Meme" was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book The selfish gene (1976). He started with Greek mimema (something imitated), but wanted something that sounded like "gene," and "meme" was the result. Fifteen years later, he coined another term as a synonym: "mind virus." All viruses do is make copies of themselves, using raw material supplied by hosts. Dawkins had a particular axe to grind: he came up with these terms to describe the mechanism by which religion persists and propagates itself. In a letter to Nature published in the mid-nineties, he described chain letters (remember those?) as a variety of mind virus.
10
@Fact Boy, yes. I’ve always felt Dawkins’ term as explained in the book has far more to it than a photo of Gene Wilder with a dumb caption.
1
@Fact Boy this is a particular bugaboo of mine, and a battle that I had to concede years ago. I was first introduced to the term through Dan Dennet, who credited Dawkins, and I always thought it was such a useful term. It would be as if, in the early days of microbiology, the useful term "virus" had come to mean one very specific virus, like the common cold, leaving scientists to come up with a replacement for what had been a useful term. I know language changes, but still...
1
@Adam You mean like "conspiracy theory" being used to denote something other than a conspiracy, and then "conspiracy theory" being replaced by "conspiracy" —as in "the DNC server conspiracy"?
3
I solved today's puzzle with a little clay matter.
(This is certainly spun for the ages.)
9
@Mike
Many may try, but none can top you.
(The clay matter inside your temple?)
4
@Mike
Another top-notch pun from the dreided Munster Mike.
2
Caitlin, Elrond was played by Hugo Weaving, also of the Matrix movies.
1
@K Barrett
...yes as Agent Smith in the Matrix movies, as V in V for Vendetta, as Tick/Mitzi in Adventures of Priscilla - Queen of the Desert and loads of other great roles. One of my favorite character actors.
2
I didn't see the theme until I got to the reveal, but that didn't slow me down. It's interesting how our background knowledge can be so different. I immediately knew MARA Liasson, MAYANS (because of MEME), and ELROND, but only got XENA and STAMOS from the crosses. I noted that 18A and 19A are directly related across 12 generations.
Overall it was a very easy Monday puzzle with no errors to undo.
I have a little dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then, dreidel I shall play.
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then, dreidel I will play.
20
@Queenie I have a little dreidel
I made it out of chocolate
Though it is quite sturdy
Don't put it on your pocket
17
I’m a little latke round and flat
Cook me in a skillet with a little bit of fat...
5
@Tim Erickson - that's way too schmaltzy for me...
2
Hi Caitlin,
The other thing somewhat different about today's grid is that it is a DREIDEL.
2
Ahem,
Am I the only person who sees -- or imagines seeing -- that the grid art *is* a DREIDEL?
2
@Barry Ancona - Jeff Chen saw half a dreidel.
I can see that, but then I think a gimel, he, shin, or nun in the grid art would seal the deal. Nun would probably even have been possible without breaking the rules other than symmetry.
3
David,
Maybe in a Sunday grid...
Since 43D appears in his tweets so frequently, I'm glad to see the word was clued without any reference to the Very Stable Genius.
6
Fun, timely theme. I decided to stop mid-solve to try to figure out the theme before reaching the revealer. At first, I thought the embedded anagram was RIDDLER, but there was one too few Rs and one too many Es for that to work. A nice aha! when I saw DREIDEL.
(AT DUSK was a sweet bit of foreshadowing).
5
@Puzzlemucker - I suppose the person who gets asked a riddling question would be the RIDDLEE. Spelling Bee word...
3
@David Connell
Deed
Deer
Died
Dire
Dreidel
Eerie
Elder
Idee (not accepted)
Idle
Leer
Lied
Riddle
Riddlee
Riddler
Ride
Rile
. . .
Bee fever!
3
I thought the theme was e-riddle until the reveal.
Which makes a lot more sense than e-riddle...
1
Elrond! "The dome of the starry skies" is the meaning of his name (the Circumpolar Stars). His twin brother Elros was "star foam" (the Milky Way). They shared a lineage descended from Maia (immortal spirit), Elf, and Man, so were called Halfelven. The brothers were given to choose their fate, whether the doom of Elves or that of Men. Elrond chose to be an Elf; his twin brother chose to be a Man. The daughter of Elrond (Arwen) married the many-times-grandson of Elros (Aragorn), reuniting the lines and their fates. I held off posting about Elrond and Elros when the Gemini puzzle appeared. Now, here he is and I am obliged to tell his story.
24
@DavidC, nothing to do with ELROND Hubbard, in that case?
4
4:25, my fastest Monday yet
3
Me too
My fastest Monday also... but at nearly half your speed :(
Love the Hanuakkah theme! Cute!
8