This is my favorite puzzle ever!!! Very fun and clever. Loved it.
Foofaraw? Really? The 19th century called and wants this back. Please retire this along with other obsolete answers, such as. DSL and AOL.
1
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Jan 21st 2020
Z - M (9), M - Y(7)
YESTERDAY:
PATHOLOGIC CLEWS
WHILES SCAPEGOAT (NYT)
4
@Mari
I had your second word (I assume) among many others. Still could not get a first word to go with it, despite multiple attempts at random Z-M words of a metallic nature. Don't know how you do it!
1
@Andrew think... fake jewels.
1
(i also got the ZM-9 and MY-7)
1
SPELLING BEE
Missing probably 1 word 5 or 6 letters, have 39 words,128 points. Have 1 pangram, an obscure word to fight whose2nd half is a word on this list meaning small stream.
French candy, Batman word meaning hit over the head, Prince Charles adjective, similar shorter word meaning thin, tube adjective that’s a derogatory word for TV or slang for breast, childish word for wound, a bird with a silly name, a benefit, a rude person, a radioactive element whose symbol is its 1st letter, to worry or sit on eggs or young birds or an animal used to mate, giver, room opening and its handle, a social misfit and the adjective for it, small boat or fish or main character in Finding Nemo, a dial and a related adjective, crazy or eccentric person and its adjective, plural of Swedish money, not any person, newbie, e-reader or recess, musical piece with repeated theme similar to an adjective for circle, chess piece also called castle, shortening of word meaning ‘over there.’
7
@Kevin Davis
That Batman reference was all I needed for QB today.
Thanks and a big kapow to you!
2
When you start with a 1A clue that I absolutely love -- the wonderful clue for SNOB, and I actually know someone like that! -- you put me in a mood to love the puzzle. And then I realize later on that I don't love the puzzle. Because I sort of think that you can't have "C"s that are circled when you also have "C"s that aren't circled. It's arbitrary and it annoyed me.
And, while I had no attention of connecting any circled letters -- not in a punny way, not in any way since I don't/won't do grid art -- I was so focused on this as the "trick" that I completely failed to notice CARIBBEAN, CORAL, ADRIATIC, BALTIC, et al until the entire puzzle was filled in. The fact that they're clued in such an oblique way that you don't notice -- or at least someone as unobservant as I didn't -- is definitely a plus. So a mixed bag for me. If the constructor had managed to get rid of all the uncircled "C"s, it would have been a much better puzzle.
As for difficulty: Very easy except for my one write-over section, where I had garMENT instead of RAIMENT. This slowed me down a lot in the SE -- especially since it was next to the outstanding TEN PIN clue which I couldn't initially figure out.
@Nancy I think you’re commenting on the wrong puzzle?
I'm not altogether certain, but I suspect a large part of my FOOFARAW exposure might have been courtesy of Walt Kelly on the immortal pages of Pogo.
It do sound on-natcherl lak' Howland Owl or Churchy La Femme
1
Congratulations, Mr. Larson, on your retirement and crossword publication. The puzzle was a lively way to start my Tuesday so many hours ago. Good night, Wordplay!
1
What's with fooforaw over 36D? Great puzzle!
Never fails to amaze me how many folks object to a word they have simply never come across by saying, “ ———-, that’s not a word!” Wouldn’t they at least check one dictionary before making that bold statement?
5
Shari,
Actually, some do check a dictionary first ... and post that they don't care if it's in a dictionary, it isn't a word.
2
@BarryA
Given that there *are* things in a dictionary that are not words, those assertions have at least a spindly leg to stand on.
2
Leapfinger,
Could you clarify what you mean by things that are not words being in dictionaries? Just trying to understand.
Even dictionary.com is in on the theme, as, when I looked up FOOFARAW for more info (a word I've heard but never seen in print), there was an option to show IPA.
4
(Cue for David Connell.)
1
Having lived and swilled suds within the ambit of three of the country's best beer cities - Portlands Oregon and Maine and Asheville, NC - it's tempting to poo-poo the brands in this puzzle. But sometimes the circumstances and the company outweigh the stuff in the six-pack.
In other words, there's no place that I'd rather be than right here...
https://youtu.be/4N3iVHxP8FQ
4
I had no idea there were so many SIXPACKable BEER names. Rolling Rock and Old Peculier aren't two of them, but if you can pick out the 'right' letters to spell ST PAULI GIRL, you will find some Verry Interesting grid art.
Will just point out that some OLd pEOpLE may be pabst their prime, but still aren't FOOled into seeing double FAR FAR AWay.
'Tiny sound' clue for INLET wins King of the Groaners title: I heart it, and the grand clue for BURR a swell. Had to get more physical with LONGSFOR, and wasn't quite sure what to make of LUSTS_FOR MR_BIG.
Interesting that the grid makes a subtle reference to a certain posh FilmMakers' Costume Gala, held with typical True Grit in Fargo, ND. Inexplicably, Joel and Ethan's name tags were messed up, but they still nabbed honours coming dressed as Jules Caesar and Ettu Brutus in their CONE'S TOGAS
Congratulations on your debut, Carl "Not Gary" Larson. You sound like a stout-hearted man and I think you've tapped into a regular gold-mine here. Thanks for painting us a pitcher of how you worked through earlier drafts. I'm sure we're all hoppy with the results, as solving it was a regular brew-haha.
Thank you all
9
FOOFARAW???? Come on. It may be in the dictionary but that’s not a Tuesday word. I’ve never heard that word in the wild.
11
@Mark Josephson aw, and here I was all excited to finally utilize my knowledge of the word FOOFARAW.
(It was my second choice; KERFUFFLE didn't fit.)
8
@Mark Josephson
In the wild it would be FOO FAR AWay.
1
@Dr W, you're scaring me.
[See my C-in-C, para 2]
Can someone explain BRS as a real estate abbreviation? Cost me my streak, alas. Research yields Brotherhood of Retired Signalmen. A venerable organization, no doubt, but ...
1
Bedrooms. 2BRs and so forth. Far more common without the S, though.
2
In a real estate ad BRS is an abbreviation for bedrooms.
Example: 2 BRS / 2 BTHS
(2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms)
1
@The Duffer
BRS bedrooms, bathrooms
I have to say I am greatly impressed by the symmetry of the grid construction and fill -- with the circles, their placement and the directionality of their contents. Beery good.
4
Couple of quibbles:
46A doesn't compute -- with most devices showing a keybaord the pinkie is behind the device.
@Dr W (continued -- hit sibmit key prematurely)
and 2D cluing doesn't correspond to the device -- the participants go up and down.
@Dr W
I see your point on 2D, but I'm see-sawing on whether I agree with it or not...
3
@Dr W - on a computer keyboard, you use the TAB key with your left pinkie.
1
‘Tainer’ time used to be 10:00 pm back in the olden days.That’s when (Katie bar the coolers) all other packaged goods were longer available for sale as late night party purchases.Thirst driven LUSTS FOR cold ones left those imbibers with a sole option, 1 qt. portions of draught poured into cardboard containers. They had a short shelf life and it got messy, especially for the slow sippers...How does that old jingle go? 99 ‘trainers’ of beer on the wall......Carl Larson, were I still gulping down today’s themed/libation these days, I’d celebrate your arrival at WP with a Beer toast. Sadly, these days I have to avoid even ROOT BEER, (Stewart’s, I miss you) as my ‘sugar blues’ have stricken lotsa things from my personal libation list. So, I’ll have a glass of the fruit of the vine🍷 with lunch, maybe a second and proffer congratulatory praise in recognition of Carl’s 1st published puzzle to appear on Grey Lady newsprint...As for the nuts and bolts of my solving, there was no part or parcel that rose to a truly TESTY level. My steady, fluid solve evolved into an enjoyable excursion under and through the cruciverbal arbor...Have a cold one as you listen to Tom T. Hall then Hank Williams. The twin clips seem to almost croon the excess frothy head from the mug of their saloon slung and slidden suds with “I Like Beer” and “There’s A Tear In My Beer.”
https://youtu.be/KR31easm__c
https://youtu.be/Ns8_WxuPZig
It’s MILLER Time,
Bru
4
@brutus, I thought I knew every Hank Williams song ever recorded, from my early childhood exposure to "Western Swing" on CFCF600 on my after-school dial.
Apparently not, since '...Tear in My Beer' is a complete unknown to me. It did, however, remind me of that Homer & Jethro classic 'I've Got Tears in My Ears from Lying on My Back in My Bed As I Cry Over Yew'
Yay! Every now and then there's a puzzle that incorporates something I actually know about, like kids' breakfast cereals, or better yet, beer! I may live in a cave, but there's beer in my cave.
9
Good puzzle. Nice challenge. The theme was challenging but not onerous and not so obscure as to be frustrating. TAB got me, I had ESC. FOOFARAWS though? That’s not a word.
2
@Mike Per the American Heritage Dictionary:
foo·fa·raw (fo͞o′fə-rô′)
n.
1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation.
2. A fuss over a trifling matter.
Gotta love English. Unlike many languages, we freely steel from everyone. In this case from both Spanish and French.
1
@Mike
I had PEE before TAB.
A belated note to those who participated in the Wikipedia edit discussion with me on Monday: I remembered -- finally -- to catch up with the discussion thread, but not until today. I enjoyed and learned from all your comments and I left y'all a note at the end of the discussion saying so.
I'm notoriously absent-minded, so that while I'd love to say I'll never again forget to check what's happening in a Wordplay discussion I'm involved in, the truth is that I probably will.
4
A First for me, foofaraw can mean per Merriam Webster
ado, alarums and excursions, ballyhoo, blather, bluster, bobbery, bother, bustle, clatter, clutter [chiefly dialect], coil, commotion, corroboree [Australian], disturbance, do [chiefly dialect], fun, furor, furore, fuss, helter-skelter, hoo-ha (also hoo-hah), hoopla, hubble-bubble, hubbub, hullabaloo, hurly, hurly-burly, hurricane, hurry, hurry-scurry (or hurry-skurry), kerfuffle [chiefly British], moil, pandemonium, pother, row, ruckus, ruction, rumpus, shindy, splore [Scottish], squall, stew, stir, storm, to-do, tumult, turmoil, uproar, welter, whirl, williwaw, zoo
So may be it could become a common puzzle entry
5
@Skeptical1 - the important meaning-element for foofaraw, as for many of those synonyms, is that it is bigger than it is worth. That should ring a bell around here!
It isn't just a fight or disagreement, an uproar or a a struggle - "foofaraw" includes a judgment about the value of the disagreement - a "tempest in a teapot", that's the ticket.
Much ado about nothing, that's a foofaraw.
9
What an entertaining bunch of words. Thanks for sharing it.
1
Sometimes I wonder whether or not commenters would like to know that there are misspelled words in their posts. Of course, the prevailing etiquette advice is to not correct anyone unless they request it. But maybe that's different for crossword fans?
1
@polymath Yes, I see that I misspelled "note" . By the way, my printer corrected itself. So I am back in business.
lisa, I didn't really mean obvious typos, but rather misspellings that didn't seem to be slips of the fingers.
@polymath i find that most of my typos are autocorrect (or bona fide typos). 'to' instead of 'too,' or sometimes just weirdo words. usually I am reading and typing on my cell phone, and I don't always check the strange way the text came out.
1
I am having trouble printing today's puzzle. A not comes up saying that there is an error of some kind. Anyone else having this problem or is it peculiar to my printer?
If only all early week puzzles were clued with such BRIO. Lively, tricky or playful are the clues to CAMP, INLET, LSD, and especially FAMILY. FAMILY could have been clued in such boring ways and yet Carl Larson found this wonderful Seinfeld quote. I didn't know it, couldn't guess it, and needed crosses to get it.
The theme was adorable -- though totally irrelevant to solving. The construction is beautiful and the fill is sophisticated. And not at all slam-dunk easy, either. A lovely Tuesday.
11
SECS crossing SELF CARE. Good for the SEOUL.
11
Congratulations on your NYT debut, Carl! And more than that, on being retired at the age of 56. I sense you're smarter than the average bear.
Your puzzle is as fresh as the bubbles in a just poured beer.
I loved it! I look forward to your next!
17
Other than my contention that MILLER isn't actually BEER, I am happy with this puzzle. But who throws a party and buys one SIX PACK?
7
@Mean Old Lady
Maybe it's a BYO party, and each guest brings a SIX-PACK.
8
Off topic, and don’t want to creat too much of a foofaraw, but I have a question for anyone who knows or cares (of which I suspect that I’m not the only one). Occasionally, I can’t finish until after midnight. Then I don’t get to keep a streak alive. It would be nice if I could, as long as I don’t skip and then go back. Not the most important problem to be sure, but I do like that hit of dopamine when I beat my average or extend my streak or both!). Not possible this week due to a six pack of Heinek...(grr,8 letters), while watching the games.
3
@Jim
As long as we’re griping about life’s little problems, why do new crosswords populate at 10pm while the new Spelling Bee populates at 3am? Grrr.
6
@Linda Kirwan totally agree. Also would like to be able to play the bee on my phone.
1
@Linda Kirwan East coast problems. :-)
Even though I'm a night owl I would like to see the SB up at the same time as the crossword.
In my world, solving the NYT Xword every day is SELFCARE.
21
Congratulations on your debut, Carl, and welcome to the constructors' stable.
Smooth solve for me except along the west coast. I immediately entered ALL-told at 45A. That worked fine at 34D, where I entered WELL-CARE. And SFA sounded okay for an airport.
Not so much the ICE LONGS and the party purchase starting with WIX.
But quickly fixed.
Enjoyable puzzle. Thanks.
3
@Deadline
Hand up for doing exactly the same as you. (And I also echo your congrats to Carl.)
1
@Deadline
Me three.
Worst time ever for a mini. Somehow put in ABODE for "Overhead", which gave me "When DUDES cry." as the #1 Prince hit. Popular music is not my forte. Oh well, Big WHOOP!
3
Cheers to an excellent debut!
A little armchair constructing here: CAMP at the top could have been CASE for a bonus revealer.
1
a. a.,
SARK and EIT might have been much for a Tuesday...
@Barry Ancona
I was envisioning a few more letter changes. For example:
CASE
ARIA
PELT
ASTERISK
T
A
L
1
a. a.
Thank you for finishing the post!
Came for come chortled Tom childishly.
Quick solve except for the vowel malfunction.
Most soccer games I hear bola bola more often the ole ole.
Lastly, if invited I will bring an Italian red. Ripasso perhaps.
Nice debut. Thank you Carl.
3
You write "There are three groups of circled squares in his puzzle..." Huh? There are four groups.
1
Olivia,
Too much beer?
2
What a fun solve! Foofaraw is my word of the day.
3
Me too. Never heard it before. Fun word to say too. Can’t wait to drop it into a conversation.
2
Forgot to mention:
If you don’t gag at the thought of drinking beer and haven’t already tried a “flight of beers”, I think you’ll find it rewarding to do so. It can be an enjoyable “education” of one’s pallate.
Wine is my usual quaff - but, when I have lately encountered the option of a beer flight (with the right sort of food - NOT fillet of sole almandine, for example), it has been most enjoyable - - - mostly. There is WAY more variety available than comes out of cans - and you don’t have to drink 12 or 16 ounces just to try new beverages.
Beers have a “nose” and a “tongue” - just like wines - and the flavors Is surprising. Some are mild. Some are intensely bitter. I had one that - for all the world - tasted of blueberries. Who KNEW??
1
Now that someone mentioned “Gene Splicing,” (and reflecting on my objection to Sunday’s theme “gimmick”), this puzzle’s theme was also based on a “gimmick” - and one that has been used by the venerable Mr. Chen even. But, somehow, I didn’t mind this one. I think this is because this implementation didn’t generate “garbage” words in the grid, (HEDG, PLANTAG, ETS, ERATION, EITY, etc.). And it was possible to completely solve this puzzle without understanding or relying on the theme (I did.)
Today was a solid “Solve” but I SPEWed out HAMMER, METALS, KAYAK, TENSE, WELL CARE, OPERATOR and CAPITAL B during my somewhat hasty first passes and cleaning up that mess was a major contributor to not busting my newly-established (for 2020) average.
I’m encouraged to hear that a “first puzzle” can also come from someone over 50! I’ve been tempted to try my hand at constructing - at the tender age of 77 - and may yet do it - - - if I can get fully “retired” and not be so danged BUSY! (Sometimes I have to go back to the office - - just to get some rest!)
8
@PeterW
When you are REALLY retired, you can't figure out how you ever had time to work!
5
Clever theme and a nice 'aha' moment when I finally caught on. The solve was a bit on the tough side for a Tuesday for me, but that was mostly self-inflicted. I eventually knew I had some wrong crosses but it took me a while to figure out which ones.
Couldn't help but notice the proximity of USING ("On drugs"), NEAL Cassady and LSD in the NE corner. That led me on today's clue/answer history search. I wondered if any reference to 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' had ever appeared in a puzzle, so searched on the key words in that, but couldn't find any evidence that it had. Then did the same with 'PRANKSTER' and... aha! There was a 2011 puzzle where MERRYPRANKSTERS was the central answer and 'ELECTRIC, KOOLAID, ACID and TEST' were hidden in circled letters around the corners.
That puzzle appeared right around the time that I started doing these, so I clicked on the link to the Wordplay column for that day to see if I had done that puzzle, but the link doesn't work. Ah well.
4
I have never seen/heard FOOFARAW before. Even reading it I have no idea which syllable(s) if any have emphasis. The crosses made it solvable and it wasn't particularly a sticking point, just a head scratcher for me. Seeing STELLA in the NW and the revealer was a really gratifying connection and helped the other sections fall into place. Really dig the overall booze/drugs and SELFHELP juxtaposition.
I think this is my favourite, most memorable and most satisfying Tuesday. Narrow field since it's only my seventh or eighth, but it's a high mark for me.
2
@Andrew
The FOOFARAW over Brexit and Megit has been in all the papers
1
Andrew,
FOO fa raw (stress on first syllable).
@Andrew
I instinctively feel that FOOFARAW is somehow derived from FREE-FOR-ALL. It isn't, according to the brief research I just conducted, however the syllabic emphasis is the same for both words.
3
My eyes kept opening wider and wider at how fresh this puzzle felt. The great Seinfeld quote I'd never heard, the Hamilton song with the terrific title, a superb question mark clue for INLET [Tiny sound?], a misdirect clue I've never seen for BY FAR [Hands down]. Then there was mention of 23andMe, a lovely answer not seen in eight years (MALLET) and another not seen in 19 (FOOFARAW).
The freshness was what I took away from the puzzle, even more than the theme's lovely visual of the six-packs from above made by the circles. Thank you for perking up my day, Carl, and don't lose that freshness in your future -- and may here be more! -- puzzles, please. Auspicious debut!
15
Amen. Or, in this case, "another round."
6
No splicing of the GENE today
I had fun with this puzzle, but agree that it was tough for a Tuesday. The reveal really helped and I quickly recognised the beer brands.
It’s nice to be back. I’m sorry I couldn’t read the comments that Liz,Deb , and Deadline left, but fun to see my son making a comment.
10
@suejesn
So glad you've made it back!
2
@suejesn
Welcome back.
Did they make you do that to your name?
3
Deadline,
Once a copy editor...
3
Congratulations, Mr. Larson!
3
Jan 21st 2020
O B D K N R Y
WORDS: 40, POINTS: 134, PANGRAMS: 1, BINGO
Starting Letters-Frequencies:
B x 18
D x 8
K x 5
N x 4
O x 1
R x 3
Y x 1
Word Lengths -Frequencies:
4L x 22
5L x 9
6L x 7
8L x 1
10L x 1
Grid:
4 5 6 8 10 Tot
B 9 5 4 - - 18
D 4 2 - 1 1 8
K 2 1 2 - - 5
N 3 - 1 - - 4
O 1 - - - - 1
R 2 1 - - - 3
Y 1 - - - - 1
Tot 22 9 7 1 1 40
(Y-Axis: Starting Letters, X-Axis: Word Lengths, X/Y Co-ordinates: Frequency/Number of Words for that letter and length)
61
@Mari missing B6 not wound or candy
3
@Kevin Davis also not thoughtful
1
@Kevin Davis, one of the two primates known to frequent the Bee
14
This was a pretty pour debut.
(Of Coors it was.)
24
@Mike
I knew you’d hop right on this theme, even if you had to go through six drafts.
17
@Puzzlemucker You're all the (Bud)weiser.
Is it me or this one is really hard for tuesdays?
43
@Gulzar not just you!
5
A "high" five for working NEAL Cassady and LSD into the same puzzle.
11
Great, challenging Tuesday puzzle! As a beer snob, I found it quite enjoyable (i’m still desperately trying to get BARRELAGEDBEERS into a grid). Congrats on the debut!
1
New to solving Tuesdays. Glad to read it wasn't just hard for me (a NYT Crossword newbie).
4
@Concerned Citizen
Welcome. Every puzzle has its quirks. Sometimes we're in tune with the constructor and the solving just flows. Others are confusing or infuriating.
Fortunately, the more we do, the easier it gets. Wordplay column and comments can help, as you've already found. Have fun.
5
@Concerned Citizen
It's always hardest when you're looking at blank areas. Once some [correct] entries are in, each letter is an additional clue to every crossing word. I'm freuently amaed at how much difference even a single letter makes.
Granted I woke up a little fuzzy today, but I drew blanks on everything in the NW until I got to EWE. On a Tuesday? That was cause for desperation!! -- This really was a cut above.
I would have completed this much faster if (T)YSONS were in the vacuum business instead of the chicken business. Not that FEt made much sense for a government agent
2
Tough for a Tuesday, particularly the NE corner. Nice puzzle though.
12
I remembered to read the beer names at the last moment before going to the column. Never heard of the first two, but the third is fairly familiar and I have probably imbibed the last at some stage of my life.
I filled in that cell phone key fairly early because that had to be the word, but I don't know why a cell phone would have such a key. I don't see one on mine.
@kilaueabart
Often called the "star" key, it's on the left of the 0 key below the 7.
Stuck on the cell phone key for a while because I always want to spell it ASTERIX like the wonderful comics character
1
@JayTee
Thanks. I found it on the keypad after puzzling a while at how to get it on the screen. (Egads, it's not like I've never phoned anybody before!)
fun, but felt harder than a tuesday.
7
a very fun solve...great debut!
5
FOOFARAW and BRIO caused me trouble today but it’s been great since my husband started solving with me (though it takes substantially longer!). He gets a two or three, which is helpful. A lot of American terms still elude him. It’s been a great learning experience.
Good Tuesday.
6
please no more UNCLE please
3
Are you crying UNCLE about UNCLE?
11
@Pani Korunova
or BI CARB_UNCLE?
I can't say I'm not haha
and Elke
Nice cool debut for CARL. If you were not restricting yourself to SIX letters, you could have an URGE for a CARLsberg or even a CARLing Black Label...
UNCLE Bob really could go for a Jenny now, i.e. GENEsEE Cream Ale. BY FAR the favourite quaff for Western NY State residents (all the way to Cornell).
Some great clues, liked espec. 22A INLET for "tiny sound". Things flowed smoothly from EWE to SPEW.
For SELFCARE will think of USING (S)CEE'S chocolate.
Andrew -have not found anybody (yet) who has heard of "Lee's". Will continue to ROOT among our friends.
Carl- nice Ta(E)STY puzzle. Will file it for future reference on a hot day. Now how about a puzzle with hot chocolate ? l'M GAME.
7
@Robert I went to college at SUNY Albany and I drank a water tower full of Genny Cream back then.
5
At Syracuse (grad school, briefly), Rolling Rock was considered an import.
3
Elke,
My grandparents lived in West Point Grey so it was probably in that neighbourhood.
AHA! Just this minute Googled and came up with this 2006 article.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/chocolate-shop-began-with-sweet-inspiration/article965872/
1
Shall we say intoxicating? A fun puzzle that didn't get me tipsy, even though I got through all four six-packs. I would have really been irked if I hadn't gotten the only one of domestic origin, since it's brewed less than an hour's drive from home.
5
I thought it was much harder than last Tuesday's it took me almost 3x longer, and I'm getting faster in the archived puzzles. I've done 53 puzzles in about 10 days since I got the app. I had a few missteps with Bismol for Bicarb and metal for alloy which slowed me and I was stumped by a lot of clues.
I got the theme first but took time to figure out how to read the circled letters, they seem not to spell anything. One I got it I filled in MIL and COR and flew to the finish. It was fun, 2 day streak!
16
1988 Summer Olympics city was a gimme for Canadians. That was when Ben Johnson proved himself to be the fastest man alive, only to hear the official retort, “You are not!”
5
and Elke
Andrew- and it was because he was USING drugs...
3
@Robert and Elke,
Weren't they all?... ;-)
1
Nice debut. I finally caught on in time to enter MILREL (so to speak) all on my own.
TEC
ETA
with some lime wedges is nice for me.
otherwise, an eight-pack of
GUIN
SSEN
(and they do come in 8's!)
3
@David Connell
It's a new one for me, so...
Does TECATE rhyme with HECATE?
@Leapfinger - hmmm, that depends on yer accent I guesses.
Usually Hecate is "HECK-a-tee" (that's how Willow said it on Buffy), but I've also heard "HECK-ate" (which ain't nohow right) and "Heck-AH-tay" (which is, mmmm).
Tecate is definitely "Te-CAH-tay" and is my favorite non-dark Mexican brew, a lager. The same parent company makes Bohemia and Dos Equis. When I'm having my huevos con chorizo, a Tecate with a wedge of lime is a requisite.
Otherwise, it's a Negra Modelo for me.
1
No BEER ME yet?
Dear me!
11
@Barry Ancona
Don't encourage them!
2
@Barry Ancona
As the vendors yell at MILLER Park: "BEER here!"
2
Yankee Stadium: Ballentine*
Ebbets Field: Schaefer
Polo Grounds: Knickerbocker
...
Shea Stadium: Rheingold
Hey, get your cold beer,
hey, get your Ballentine!
Schaefer is the one beer to havew
when you're having more than one.
Have a Knick!
(Miss Rheingold)
3
34D “Healthy diet and regular exercise, say”.
I’m not sure that all that beer is a healthy diet, but regular exercise might help develop a six-pack.
11
Did I like it? You belcha.
8
Got the revealer with no problem, but had to read the blog to figure out the circled letters. Anyway, congratulations on the debut, and cheers!
1
Topic for other six-letter beer brands:
TECATE
LABATT
MOLSON
HEINIE?
What else?
4
MODELO
PERONI
RED DOG (do they even still make this?)
BUD ICE (they maybe shouldn’t still make this)
Unfortunately, my current favorite, Land Grant, is a few letters too long.
3
@Mr. Mark
Good job. I wasn't able to find much to add from major brands.
Internet search returned BRAHMA and HARBIN among 10 most popular (ie, top-selling), beer brands in the world. India and China, I presume.
MODELO (Mexico, but as common in US as CORONA)
A few less common but not totally obscure, (that means I've heard of them), Europeans:
TUBORG (Denmark)
PERONI (Italy)
CHIMAY (Belgium)
1
I couldn't believe my eyes the first time I saw a PERONI BEER. You'd expect it to be in a curving bottle.
3
Very nice debut, Carl Larson. I sure like the image of high school boys in the back of class making mischief by doing the Sunday puzzle together! I wasted my own youth on too many of the themers!
6
And hands up for those who entered METALS before ALLOYS
29
@RAH
I thought of both options immediately, but decided to wait for a few crossings before choosing between them and that worked out for me.
FOOFARAW???? Thank Heavens for solvable crosses!!
31
@RAH By total coincidence FOOFARAW appears (twice!) in a just-published profile of N.K. Jemisin in the New Yorker. Lucky for me, I did the puzzle first or I would not have known what it meant.
ACES, great debut. Liked the theme and six-pack concept. Pretty solid. Liked the clue for LSD and INLET. And how could you not like FOOFARAW in a puzzle, right?
Some small nits:
I don't ever hit the TAB key with my pinkie - I do it with my left ring finger. But then, I'm no touch typist. Are DEN and study really synonymous? I had a study before my kids grew older and had to give it up - I wouldn't have called it a den.
3
Wen,
Or, as my daughter said: "Study? Den? I grew up in an apartment!"
7
It might be regional. I’ve always used study and DEN interchangeably for a small office-like room.
2
@Wen
While I have no problem with today's equivalence, I've always thought of a STUDY as a place for scholarly or professional work, while a DEN suggests a place of refuge and recreational activity. The same furnishings can support both usages, I suppose.
A LIBRARY can serve both functions. The BBC image suggests brandy and cigars, not sixpacks, but has space for a billiard table.
2
Oh brother, another visual theme. I don't get them; they are useless to me. However, since this was an easy Tuesday puzzle, I finished it off without knowing what was going on with the circles.
Actually I think that one time I grasped the point of the circled letters in one puzzle, so I can't say they _never_ do anything for me. But I can say that 99% of the time they do nothing for me.
1
@Millie
I guess I'm the one that gets to say "never." I had to have the six-pack visuals explained to me.
2
My preferred clue for 34D (SELFCARE) would have been "The occasional pint of Häagen-Daz, say".
16
No QUARREL from Jeff Chen. Just a funny, self-deprecating appreciative column about this fun debut from Carl L.
Cool visual theme, even though my SELF-CARE includes keeping an amiable distance from the themers. Some nice fill to boot, including the missing fifth GENE from Sunday’s puzzle. (So that’s how you spell FOOFARAW!).
8
@Puzzlemucker, FOOFARAW was familiar because of complaints (? by Mean Old Lady and/or Madeline Gunther?) at its being omitted from a Spelling Bee. Thus do we learn other words besides Philhellene.
9
@Margaret
When “Greek lover” is used as a clue for an 11-letter entry in an Xword puzzle, a segment of us will be feeling quite smug.
8
@Puzzlemucker
I filled in FOOFARAh when I saw it started with FOO. Later I decided to change the last letter.
2
Liked it, pour me another !!
8
STEALL? AMSLET? Puzzlement here. Then I got SIX-PACK OF BEER and it made sense. I was glad I waited on CORED vs. PARED for the apples, since that made it obvious that it was CORONA. Nice debut, Carl!
7
We have four hidden six-packs, not three, yes? One in each quadrant.
Fun Tueday puzzle!
7
@Michael
I was trying to figure out which of the four brands Deb might not consider a beer. There is one that I don't like.
5
@Michael I would have thought there would be six beers instead of four, but as others have said, this puzzle was already a bit hard for a Tuesday.
2
@Scott Yates
You can make a case for four six-packs. Four six-packs make a case.
4
ULTRA cool theme, even if not six letters.
1
@Brian
Have a SIXPACK of ULTRAS, Brian!
1