Gigs are jobs. They are never dates.
@B. As a musician gigs and dates are synonymous.
Worst Friday in a long time.
Perhaps it is related to the fact that I just got out of surgery. Hope so.
None of that is a complaint. The puzzle has all the things I like - some cleverness, some obscurity, some misdirection. All mixed up with just enough guidance to help one pick away at it.
Looking forward to more!
1
Hoo, boy. Not my best Friday. "Moonlight" before LOVESIMON (the former was a 2016 hit movie featuring a gay teen romance, not a 2018, as I learned), the spelling "Cockrell" before COCKEREL, "Mormon" before UTAHAN (it seems "Utahn" is the official demonym, btw), which led me to fill in "Olympia" (a capital of about 50,000 as I later learned) before AUGUSTA. A VERY slow-going Friday for me.
Perhaps worth note that between TWERKS, (OVEN)RACKS, AND ASSES(S), there's potential for some NASTINESS in that SE corner. I'm sure Brigham Young would not approve.
2
@Ryan I had BOOKSMART in there originally. But that might have been 2019, in hindsight. Whoops.
When I saw 24a "You Bethcha!" and 32a Royal Name of Norway, I figured that my move from New Jersey to Minnesota was going to help me solve this puzzle. But alas, in Minnesota Olav is Olaf and I've most often heard "You Betcha!" used instead of "You're Welcome" rather than as a "yah!"
Also, for 15a I immediately went for Moonlight. I see now that Moonlight came out in 2016, but it seemed so right when I started on the puzzle.
I was NOT 38a with 9d plus a couple of other clues. The author must have composed this puzzle on a 61a to Natick.
What is vac short for?
@pmb Vacuum, which is a "sucker" up of dirt, grime, etc.
@Ryan Thanks! It’s funny how one’s mind gets fixed in one definition sometimes. I kept trying to fit “sap” and convince myself that “piao” could somehow be a word :)
as i filled in 32A, very early on, i muttered to myself, oh great, which one is it, OLAF or OLAV? whatever i put, i bet i’ll be wrong. (i could swear i’ve seen both as answers to similar clues). i put OLAF, went on about the puzzle, and eventually forgot about it.
so then i finish but something’s wrong, and i was so convinced ENNEAD is not a word (and that YAH could not be the answer to 24A, i mean... that’s some meh fill in my book) that i wasted a good 5+ minutes futzing about in that area before giving up, flipping through the rest of the answers, seeing king OLAF and doing a metaphorical headslap.
but i finished! and right around my friday average, so i guess there’s that. the puzzle had more tricky wordplay (LOL) than i tend to like — my brain can be frustratingly literal — but i eventually got most of it, so it wasn’t so challenging as to be impossible.
4
This was me exactly. Olaf/ Olaf. Pretty happy to learn new word ENNEAD. WHO KNEW?
1
I’m from Utah, and we’ve always spelled it Utahn.
35A: thought this was a Balancing ACT. Anyone else?
Most of it fell into place ... took a bit to shift from F to V in OLAV.
Hope you come back with more.
2
Bartender to a regular: "You've got ale!"
(Grin and beer it.)
3
That was such fun! I liked how it yielded to persistence and thought. And the funniest thing was Deb's remark about the proximity of TWERKS and ASSESS! I LOLed at that.
5
Yes, a terrific debut, and quite challenging, as Fridays should be. Proud that I got some of Deb’s “Tricky clues” on my own (that starts happening when one does the puzzle regularly). I got ELS for the volleyball clue, and the 8 MAIDS. I have been known to darn something (I even own a wooden darning egg), so I got MENDED right away, and TWERKING once a few of the crosses were in, and ditto for COCKEREL and MOODY. Totally missed NEOPETS though, as well as the misdirection in 35A, as I had “gym” there for awhile. That was a question-marked clue, so I should have known better. My mistake with 35A made the SW corner my last holdout, and I had to look at the column for help. Hope to see more of your puzzles, Scott Earl. Thanks for the workout 🏋️♀️!
4
17A brought back nice memories of reading Beckett’s Unnamable many years ago. “You must go on. I can’t go on. I’ll go on.”
Looking up this quote brought me across another of my favorites of his, the opening line of Murphy: “The sun shone, having no alternative, on nothing new.”
10
@Tom Downing - that's a flavor of the Irish right there!
Today's clues and answers sparkled. I really, really enjoyed it. TWERKS is probably my favorite answer of 2020 so far. BLANKET HOG makes my top ten of the year. I look forward to more puzzles by Scott Earl.
3
Awesome debut! So clever.... my fave clues were for VAC & TWERKING (& love Debs comment) & YESDEAR & ATM. I see I’m not the only one who tried ViC & acned before VAC & MOODY .... I haven’t seen a lot of movies so it will be a treat to find LOVE SIMON. The only (I thought) ‘gimme’ for me was MAMAMIA & like others I had never noticed it had an extra M. I had a feeling the Supreme Court clue had something to do w 9, & w a few crosses I deduced it from my knowledge of ENNEAgram!
Very fun Friday.
Thanks for bringing up Queer Crosswords which was also linked previously in the column: cool puzzles to support a variety of good causes.
5
I too was helped at 35D by my past acquaintance with the Enneagram!
Great puzzle! Although I don't understand how yards are divisions in the NFL?
And I can't say I've ever seen an affirmation spelled "Yah".
Also, does the clue not need to indicate in some way when an answer is in a foreign language (ciao)?
Volleyball quartet was an awesome clue!
Cecil,
1. Divisions of the football field.
2. Scroll down for "Fargo" citation.
3. The clue is in quotes, meaning the answer will also be something said. We in the U.S. do say CIAO.
4. I agree; Deb didn't seem impressed.
“Yah, you betcha” is considered a Wisconsin expression, or was when I lived in Illinois.
3
Having read other comments, and being reminded of the movie Fargo, I realize I shouldn’t have restricted “Yah you betcha” to Wisconsin. Guess it’s more of a middle northern thing? (Is there another way to refer that Wisconsin/Minnesota/North Dakota region?)
Two thumbs up for a Friday debut for Scott Earl.
So many cherce entries. Favs are the misdirections. I tried to fit "sew toes" into 4D until, ever so slowly, MENDED revealed itself. The real hang up was 64A where I felt so sure it had to be a sly reference to the travel site and the answer just had to be "open rooms." But try as I might I could find no variation for SHIVA so I finally had to give up until the face palm moment when both my hubris and OVEN WIRES came into view.
1
this puzzle made me happy on a grey Minnesota day
6
I'm a bit of a newbie, and I found this puzzle substantially easier than the usual Friday offerings. A lot of the longer answers (LOVE SIMON, BLANKET HOG, MAMMA MIA, BLAME GAME, etc) were clear in the first pass which was quite gratifying. Plus I liked the wordplay on clues like SIA. It did take me some time, and it was really fun! Well done.
6
@Norah SIA was great wordplay (although I only know the singer from XWPs). I also enjoyed YES, DEAR.
I saw a local production of MAMMA MIA last week but was so certain I saw Mama Mia that I couldn't come up with the answer. Needed a clue that referred to the "three M" MAMMA.
6
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Scott Earl gave to me:
Twelve SIMONS LOVING
Eleven GENTS a-BLAMING
Ten UTAHANS ROILING
Nine Judges SUING
Eight MAIDS a-MENDING
Seven KITS a-WEANING
Six ASSESS TWERKING
(NO DOGS Subwoofing)
Five BLANKET HOGS
Four Volleyballs
Three ALE KEGS
Two MAMMA MIAS
And a COCKEREL in HAVARTI.
34
@Andrew, lolz!
C'est bien joli, M. Andre, but what else would you HAVARTI do?
(You know M. ARTI does his best with the COCKEREL he was dealt. 'Coop'eration is key, dontcha think?)
2
@Andrew WOW! 😍
2
@Leapfinger
Couldn’t find a fruit tree in the grid. (Arbre de CITRON peut-être?) so surely cheese is the next best gift?
I wanted so badly “Three French clues” but I could only see two, and I didn’t want to rile (ROIL?) the critics.
3
I haven't finished the puzzle yet, but I just wanted to say I love the new dark mode in the app. I suffer from migraines, and they've become worse and more frequent lately. I become very light sensitive during my almost daily migraine attacks, so dark mode makes it easier to look at my screen. Granted, it can still be difficult to concentrate during an attack, but I just get so bored of lying around in the darkness waiting out the pain.
Dark mode is also good in an orchestra pit during a string of tacet movements, and in bed while trying not to disturb one's spouse (children, pet, etc.)
15
@OboeSteph
I also enjoy the dark mode for when solving at night in bed, (I know... the sign of a real crossword nerd). I also love the thought of you getting in a few extra crossword entries during your tacets! Wasn't there a Senator doing something similar during the hearings the other day?!
I have to wonder though whether, in your case, playing the oboe doesn't make things much worse for you. All that extra pressure? I've been lucky not to suffer from migraines, but I know people who have, and I feel for you!
5
@Andrew Thanks, Andrew. Fortunately, playing the oboe doesn't seem to make the migraine pain any worse than it already is for me. However, when my sinuses are congested, the pressure from playing the favorite instrument of the crossword puzzle really aggravates that.
What is excruciating is having the drum set right next to me. This is in a regular orchestra setup, not a crowded pit. Not something I ever anticipated having to suffer through as an oboist. I bemoaned the situation to a friend, and he empathized, "Mötley Crüe is not that bright, but even they know the drums go in the back." I do wear ear plugs during rehearsals and concerts. I hope to avoid hearing loss!
5
@OboeSteph - wait, what? in an on-stage full orchestra there's a drum kit right next to the oboist? You should have some flutes and clarinets between you at the very least. I'm trying to picture this layout...
Humbert L. played in Chicago and in Florida. I wondered if you studied with him in Florida or up north? I used to accompany lessons taught by de Lancie and Louie Rosenblatt (they were like night and day, in that order - Rosenblatt was the nicest man, Mr. Rogers disguised as an English horn player; I got nothin' to say about John beyond that the character Q played by his son on Star Trek TNG was an embodiment of him).
Any chance you're in Naples?
1
Overall, a good Friday crossword, esp. for a newbie constructor but I thought OVEN RACKS was more contrived than clever and I've never heard an armed conflict referred to as NASTINESS. I did like the horizontal placement of YES DEAR and DON'T CRY.
5
I really enjoyed this puzzle, though I'm really surprised I actually was able to solve it without outside assistance. I had never heard of the word ENNEAD and thought "surely this can't be right" but I typed in that A and got the happy piano.
The NEOPET site has apparently been around since the 20th century and it managed to escape my notice. If I have a gripe about today's puzzle, it's the crossings of this clue and the proper nouns OLAV and RAE.
Otherwise, a very solid and enjoyable debut.
7
@E.W. Swan I also added ENNEAD to my vocabulary today. I hesitated for a long time before entering that last letter because I couldn't figure it out. Sadly it probably won't show up again as an answer for a decade or two, and by then I won't remember it.
1
Thank you for an enjoyable puzzle. Just a comment or two: I am pretty sure that residents of Utah insist they are Utahns, not Utahans. Also, Augusta put me in mind of a bit of doggerel from my mother:
A gust of wind from Augusta Maine
Blew up the street and down again.
So I never thought of Georgia!
3
Nice puzzle. Bottom half fell pretty quickly but I couldn’t decide between “maid”s and “lord”s at 19 until “blimey” bloomed.
1
@Paladin
I don't think that Lords do much in the way of work somehow! Leaping is probably as rough as it gets for them...
9
@Andrew
Remembered this old 'enlisted vs. officers' saw from the army days… A private approached a sergeant, and started off, "Excuse me, sir…" and was promptly interrupted. "Don't 'sir' me," the sergeant exclaimed, "I work for a living!"
(Doesn't apply to basic training, though.)
1
Congrats Scott!
I liked this puzzle because it had a lot of answers that weren’t obvious on the first pass (at least to me) but then they just popped into my head when I came back from a break. It still amazes me how our minds are working even when we think we’re resting.
And Deb made me laugh out loud with her comment about the TWERKING-ASSESS cross.
9
@TxMary I am so grateful to Deb for pointing out the TWERKING ASSESS proximity. I did not catch that, and it is hilarious!
Wow! If the debuts keep coming at this rate we'll have to build a new wing onto the constructors' stable. Wouldn't that be wonderful.
Scott's notes reminded me that some while back, at Deb's suggestion, I went to Queer Crosswords and made the charitable contribution and got the puzzle collection. At QC's urging, I also went to the similar women's site and did the same. Then I got a new computer installed by the Geek Squad, and both puzzle collections got disappeared before I'd done them. I have to save up some more money to replace the puzzles.
My only real problem with this puzzle was NO DOGS, just because it's such a terrible thought. Never heard of NEOPETS, and had GEOPETS (ecology?) for a while. Also had MINDED before MENDED and LOCATE before LOCALE. So my Oscar MC was ETLEG for a while (don't watch the ceremony).
Didn't know "LOVE, SIMON" and was surprised (and somewhat appalled) to learn that there was actually a sequel to "MAMMA MIA." Also the only ARMIE I've ever heard of was Archard.
Loved the puzzle and the clever clues, especially for OVEN RACKS and ATM.
Welcome, Scott, and hurry back.
5
@Deadline
If you don't mind donating again, that 's fine, but if you have to log into the sites in order to download the puzzles, the sites probably have a record of you doing that and you may be able to just sign in and re-download the puzzles.
2
TIL ”ENNEAD” and “VAC.” Can’t say I feel the better for it. I guess a Friday “meh!” Is better than a Friday “oh, for...!”
1
I was wondering what the appeal is of themeless puzzles? Is it that it is harder because you don't have a theme to help you get assistance from?
1
@CALPURNIA For me, yes. It's free from constraints of a theme. The constructor can go anywhere and clue in any way.
3
I don't do Friday puzzles, just don't have the time. (Wish there was a Monday-like option every day, as I've said before.)
This is the only place for me to comment that the mini was great today. I always love it when it's a true 5X5.
5
Scott ,
On the app there's a tab that says PACKS (between FEATURED and ARCHIVE). They are collections of puzzle that you can purchase. If you scroll down they have a number of Monday and Tuesday packs. Since you say you've done all the Mon-Tues puzzles in the archives, maybe these will be of interest.
2
@Scott Yates -- Day in and day out Joel Fagliano creates the minis, so often with world class clues, and often with themes. Despite their tiny size, despite their early-in-the-week solving level, these minis come across as fresh and witty, and they add a spark to any day. I know I'm not alone in being grateful for the astonishing output of Mr. Mini.
8
@Scott Yates .... today’s constructor Scott Earl mentions in his notes that he initially got a puzzle published in Queer crosswords....those puzzles are geared to be Mon/Tues level. It’s a cool org who asks that you make a donation to any LGBTQ-supporting charity then you can download the puzzles. I think for the most recent edition there’s a way to solve online but I haven’t figured that out yet. I like the variety of levels through the week & the column & comments available through NYT crosswords ...& Q Crosswords is awesome also, IMHO.
1
Deb, I feel weird making this comment because I don’t know a lot about volleyball other than playing a little in high school and watching the anime Haikyuu, but what’s going on in your picture is the opposing team is attacking, the person at the right is jumping to block, and the other two are preparing to receive the ball if it gets past the block. Serving is just like tennis, where it starts the rally. Obviously, pithier explanations would be preferable in a caption.
3
@Frances
Oops didn’t wade through the previous comments first.
2
Even when I was a noobie, I never had as few fills as I did in this one. Although I am not sure what it says about an 80 year old who got TWERKING right away
18
Don’t feel bad. I only three fills without help.
2
@coloradoz
Are you saying that after finishing the puzzle you got TWERKING right away? I am impressed! :-)
1
One more thing that struck me. Talk about your "euphemisms" -- who on earth uses NASTINESS to describe an armed conflict? "Remember the NASTINESS that went on in Europe between 1914 and 1918? Such a terrible NASTINESS, it was!"
Anyone who would use such a euphemism deserves to have the ghosts of all the tens of millions of soldiers senselessly slaughtered in the above-mentioned NASTINESS arise from their graves and drag the offender right down into the trenches with them. Just saying.
6
@Nancy - yes, I think that "opportunity for enrichment" would cover most wars much more accurately and honestly. Sorry, I meant all wars.
3
Nancy,
While I can't cite a film or novel example, I associate this use with the real or fictional understatement of British military officers actually engaged in said NASTINESS.
5
What an entertaining Friday puzzle! Even my struggling was fun.
The cluing was exceptional, especially for TWERKS and OVENRACKS. For a moment I considered OVEN mittS.then I realized that if they had metal wires inside, they'd burn your hands off!
The MIMETIC/NEOPET cross was the trickiest part for me, but the "virtual animal" had to be a PET.
Congratulations, Scott Earl! I look forward to your next!
4
You betcha! is YAH????
2
@Mr. Mark
Yeah.
1
@Mr. Mark - Haven't seen "Fargo" then, have ya?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta-L5u-42u0
4
Blimey, that was a great debut. In addition to all the cute clues and fills already mentioned I liked YES DEAR at 36A.
7
@suejean
So glad you are back! DHubby did well w/ surgery today, but once the nerve block wears off, I think we're in for a rough night. Happily, only partial knee replacement was needed. Won't be very visible the next few wks, but hope to keep up with the puzzles... and games...
3
I wish more constructors (or editors) would put cross reference clues in themeless grids. It's almost like a mini-theme, and can make an otherwise dull solve a bit more engaging. Not that today was a dull solve by any means. I liked many of the theme entries and I thought the phrases in the stacks were all fun. Loved the clue for TWERKS (especially with Deb's observation that it was right next to ASSESS. I wonder if that was intentional?
Congrats on the debut, Scott! Looking forward to more from you.
Have a great weekend everyone!!
3
@Steve Faiella
Oh, no, please! Not more cross references!
All that jumping around makes me crazy, and when there's a lot of iot I have more than once just put the puzzle down.
6
@Deadline
Yikes! OK.. I rescind my request.. 🙂
2
@Steve Faiella
I like cross-references. But, I like Deadline more.
One of the many wonderful things about crosswords (which I really only discovered through Wordplay) is that for nearly everything that some solvers despise, there are other solvers who love those things — anagrams, rebuses, punny clues/entries, silly clues/entries, foreign language clues/entries, archaic clues/entries, “trivia questions,” repeated clues or entries in temporally proximate puzzles, semordnilap, grid art, idiomatic and slangy clues/entries, pirate talk (my personal bête noire, Argh!) . . .
2
Very enjoyable and not that easy for me. Lots of stuff to puzzle out, as opposed to stuff you have to know -- always a good thing in my book.
Did you know that TSK TSKING (finger pointing activity) has the same number of letters as BLAME GAME? Since I always check crosses, it's a trap I didn't fall into. Instead, I fell into the shAME GAME trap. But only briefly. I didn't think that sLIMEY sounded like something a Brit would say instead of "My word."
I also had TRAIL RUN instead of TRIAL RUN for "this is a test". Which really futzed me up in the SW. Don't ask me why. I don't even run trails, so I hardly need to test them.
I found this lively, breezy and a great deal of fun.
4
@Nancy
I toyed with FRAME GAME for a while.
1
Wonderful debut! And now I know about John RAE!
5
@Ann and now people vacation there. Sorta like the Nat Geo program of Roosevelt's gr grandson descending the River of Doubt in a couple of days using today's equipment. To me an interesting juxtaposition.
Unable to fight in the NHL? CANTGOON.
4
Steven,
Nice one. They can't DOOK it out.
4
@Barry Ancona
Sometimes they can’t DEKE it out.
(Ah oui, la bas, mes Canadiens!!)
4
@Steven
Are you really from Natick?? :-)
I love CANT GOON. It gets my theme juices going... LOL
2
Cock of the walk, clucked Tom contentedly.
ENNEAD took some time and as I was unfamiliar with LOVESIMON it took more time. So I guessed.
While not a BLANKETHOG I sleep like the highway dividing line, unmoving and down the middle. TMI?
Thanks Scott
2
The top half of this puzzle managed to get filled so fast that I hoped for a Saturday record, but the bottom half was another story entirely. Stay and stop before stow, 37D ended with IA so for the longest time it looked to be a place name instead of Mamma Mia!, vic for way too long instead of vac, making pleased ungettable, couldn't think of citron without lots of crossings, etc. Finally, trial run broke the logjam. Don't know about the interview called AMA but expect to find out soon. Very nice puzzle with plenty of resistance below the fold.
1
"Don't know about the interview called AMA but expect to find out soon."
polymath,
Not to worry; that part of the column is still there.
Barry, I'd rather first post my raw impressions of the puzzle instead of reading other posts on the page first.
polymath,
I understand, and it's fine with me. My comment was prompted by being told here a few days ago that posting before reading the comments was understandable but posting before reading the column was not.
Totally absorbing, stop the clock, what day is it anyway, wonderful puzzle. Consistently challenging, even though I had only two writeovers: EjeCT/ EVICT and ROusED/ROILED.
PS: The beneficiary of my life insurance policy accuses me of being a BLANKETHOG. But if it only happens when we're asleep, is it really our fault??
5
@archaeoprof - hmmm, "we are not amused"...
2
Ennead was new to me. Solved from the crosses but then had to look it up. Ditto for Utahan—solved it but saw Uta-han and just couldn’t parse it! (First entry was Mormon, which kept that corner empty for awhile.) Enjoyable puzzle and medium difficulty for me.
3
Wow, this sparkles! The fill is strong, and the long entries are chewy but accessible. It really clicked for me, and I finally did it: a no-research, no-help Friday! Woohoo!
15
I didn't come close on this one. Early on I had THOREAU, HANOI, NODOGS and OLAV (or OLAF) - actually got the mis-directions for ELS and ODES, but... not a whole else. Oh, and I knew what 9d was going for but couldn't remember the term. Managed to get a few more things from that but never enough to really get going. Just one of those days.
Thought it was an odd choice of clue for NASTINESS. I don't recall ever hearing that usage. I think the most common somewhat euphemistic term for 'armed conflict' that I can recall would be 'contact.'
I used to solve Fridays and Saturdays at least sometimes, but it's been a while.
2
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, and the only movie set on a Greek island that I could think of was not a musical, but it did have one memorable piece of music. I checked Xword Info to see if by any chance 'sirtaki' had ever been in a puzzle, but... nope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QskFT7AaKH0
..
1
@Rich in Atlanta - the gentlelady who led us on a tour of Middleton Place called the War between the States "the late unpleasantness."
4
@Rich in Atlanta
Love that link in spite of its graininess. "Zorba the Greek" is a dive into the human psyche and demands re-viewing about once a decade.
1
It went pretty smoothly for a Friday puzzle. Unfortunately I got one letter wrong. Had OLAF instead of OLAV. I had not heard of FAC, but I had not heard of AMA either, so I did not give any thought that it might be wrong.
Amazing! I counted at least six significant entries for which I first placed a very plausible and, If I do say so myself, clever, but erroneous, answer. Also I learned a new word ENNEAD, a set of nine wow! This constructor has a unique flair.
7
Reading the column and comments this morning, I see Deb went back to history class for state capitals in the column, but hasn't returned to PE for volleyball terminology in the caption. You need that credit too, Deb.
I was more than PLEASED with Scott Earl's debut puzzle: this was hardly a TRIAL RUN. This GENT provided enjoyably clued longer entries, reasonably fun fill (more ATM than ADM), a few RYE twists, and NO DOGS. Top DRAWER. I also liked the generational balance of "popular culture" entries from last year to last decade to last century and further.
Nice to to Ernie and Chicago get a rest for ELS.
No dupe complaints yet for sidetRACKS and ovenRACKS.
CIAO.
5
@Barry Ancona - (I was really just about to add a "why hasn't BA commented on the volleyball foofaraw?" comment!)
David,
No den or study or rec room here; my "home office" is a few square feet of our bedroom. I shut the 'puter down -- after printing the puzzle at 10 p.m. -- so the volleyball coach could get some sleep (after dinner out with her soccer team) before teaching PE classes this morning. I solved with our younger one when she came in a few minutes later; among her gimmes were LOVESIMON, AMA, SIS, ARMIE and RIDESHARE. Generational?
3
Great puzzle, Scott I enjoyed the whole thing. Thanks for your hard work!
3
Not easy for me.
I'm calling this a brinkmanship puzzle, as, again and again, it took me to the brink of throwing in the towel and turning to foreign aid, i.e., research. And each time my personal Jiminy Cricket implored me, "Hold off! Just a little longer!" Then, just at breaking point, a penny fell. And on and on to that glorious place where only a few squares remain and you know you're going to fill them in -- crossword nirvana.
Thus, this was not only an extraordinary solving experience, it was a character builder, due to intelligent answer choices by the constructor, and superb tough cluing -- by a first-timer!
I loved this, Scott, and thank you. You have the knack, you know. Please continue to use it!
17
Perfect Friday outing. Congratulations Scott Earl! Keep 'em coming.
In other news, like many of my fellow commenters I am happily working my way through the archives (and thanks to Rich in ATL will start on xwordinfo when I'm done with the ones available here) and yesterday came across a truly magnificent feat of construction which I'm sure I did 7 years ago when it first came out but did not recall. Thursday, July 25, 2013. I am still in awe and it's been a couple of days.
6
@AudreyLM - I read your post and thought, hmmm, must be a Patrick Blindauer puzzle...and then opened the archive and saw that it was indeed a PB.
The thing is - puzzles by Patrick Blindauer have occasioned more controversy in these comment pages than perhaps any other - because they are brilliant, there is a good number of comments saying, "I am still in awe..." And there are five times as many comments a la "too clever by half..." "sack the editors for allowing this kind of nonsense..." "I threw the paper across the room..." "I pay for this?" etc.
I'm looking forward to again tackling that day's puzzle - but I'm also interested to see what the comments were!
4
@David Connell - Ha, the puzzle is wonderful, but the comments don't appear with that day's Wordplay [0 comments / comments are closed].
Oh, to see a new Blindauer puzzle in the NYT!
2
@David Connell
Sept.10, 2014 PB “Change of Heart” Thursday puzzle. The most dislike/hate toward any puzzle I’ve seen in old Wordplays. He gamely responded to many of the comments.
https://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/change-of-heart/?rref=XWordInfo
1
Beautiful Friday. I cheated once, and I wish I hadn't - I could have gotten OLA(f)V/(f)VAC if I'd given it more thought.
5
After yesterday's discussion of old-fashioned names, what should appear today but my grandmother Veronica's middle name, Augusta!
1A gave me a chuckle. The Chinese/Korean/Japanese word for a (music) conductor is "finger-pointing professional-person"
指挥(揮)家 / 지휘자. I was so distracted by seeing that, it took this conductor a while to point elsewhere.
I had been all set to post Debussy's "Chansons de Bilitis" as a wry response to this morning's Spelling Bee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hkHDU09NFs
(do the bee and you'll understand the joke, if you know that Bilitis is pronounced "-bility"), and then came this puzzle with so many points of references to the queer community!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughters_of_Bilitis
Refresher course: monad, dyad/duad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, heptad, octad, ennead, decad(e). (from Greek)
solo/unit, duet, trio/tercet/triplet, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, octet, nonet, dectet. (from Latin)
lonesome, twosome, threesome, foursome (from Old English)
Congratulations on the puzzle debut!
13
@David Connell
I tried noNEAD, from the Gratin, briefly.
2
@vaer
Wonderful!! You know I love most anything 'au Gratin'!!
(That's a keeper!)
2
@David Connell
日: 指揮者
1
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Jan 24th 2020
F - G (8), G - K (9)
YESTERDAY:
ENWRAP PHILOSOPHY (NYT)
ENROLS SHIPWAY
WORSHIP PLENARY
4
@Mari also yesterday
WORSHIP PLAYPEN
3
SPELLING BEE GRID
Jan 24th 2020
L A B I T X Y
WORDS: 39, POINTS: 164, PANGRAMS: 1
Starting Letters-Frequencies:
A x 10
B x 10
I x 1
L x 9
T x 9
Word Lengths -Frequencies:
4L x 16
5L x 11
6L x 5
7L x 3
8L x 2
9L x 1
10L x 1
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tot
A 3 4 1 2 - - - 10
B 5 2 1 1 1 - - 10
I 1 - - - - - - 1
L 2 3 2 - 1 1 - 9
T 5 2 1 - - - 1 9
Tot 16 11 5 3 2 1 1 39
(Y-Axis: Starting Letters, X-Axis: Word Lengths, X/Y Co-ordinates: Frequency/Number of Words for that letter and length)
57
@Mari got the last word thanks to your grid. It will take a while to write the hints as there are many obscure words to look up.
1
@Mari
2 words with A added to the start
16 words ending in Y. Of those, 6 end in TY, 7 end in LY
Unusual words:
Skillfully
Excuse (for a crime)
Landed on
Put at rest (a fear)
Cockeyed
3 adjectives concerning an imaginary line (it’s in Mari’s grid explanation above), 1 of which describes 2 lines
A similar word, the medical term for armpit
A Polish roll
3 words from the Latin for lip, 1 of which concerns 2 lips
A similar word I never heard of which means constantly changing. It’s also an A7 with a letter added to the start.
Non-priests
Adjective & adverb meaning non-strict
What insurance covers for damage to others
Rising & falling voice
Indian drum similar-sounding to the furniture you eat on
Pangram adjective concerning whether you owe the government
Adjective for a leg bone
22
@Mari I left out some hints.
A goat or male name (famous pirate or rocker Idol)
Verb & adjective for spilling secrets
A Batman sound or to make a goat sound
Sickly
Plural of ankle bone (sounds like a T5 sum)
9
SPELLING BEE
Have 38 words 163 points no QB yet. Probably missing 1 short word.
1
Is Augusta going to be today’s Tirana?
Delete! Deb fixed it, sorry Deb!
2
@Margaret Thank you for your kindness, Margaret.
3
it's always nice to see a debut puzzle and an entire new way of perceiving words and their meanings. great job constructor and congrats!
5
I got a little hung up on 23D because I was sure that the answer was LOLCAT.
4
Another delightful debut! I really enjoyed the cleverness of the ambiguous clues. I'll look forward to more of Scott's puzzles.
Nice puzzle ... 40A - the clue could have been golf-related, too.
1
Wouldn't a better clue for PLEASED be "contented," rather than "content?" Oh but I guess then you'd lose the ambiguity - noun or adj. It's Friday after all.
2
@Ethan - I think by ambiguity - noun or adj. you are referring to "CON-tent" vs. "con-TENT"? but remember that there is a different ambiguity between "con-TENT" adj. and "con-TENT" verb, which I believe is at play.
I'm pleased with the dinner. I'm content. (adj.)
The dinner pleased me. The dinner contented me. (verb)
2
That's the second time recently I have done a Friday in <25 minutes with no cheating so either I am getting smarter as I get older or the puzzles are getting easier. I know which of those alternatives I prefer. I still don't understand the AMA at 51A.
6
@Andrew
Ooh, I know that one: Ask Me Anything
Not ME me, of course. I just hear things.
11
@Andrew I feel the same way. This one, in particular, went super smoothly, with somewhat tricky answers coming to me with little-to-no effort. I'm also *very* close to surpassing my current streak record, so I'm hopeful it's me and not the puzzles :)
2
@Andrew
As Sam explained, it stands for Ask Me Anything. AMAs are really fun! They are done on the web site "Reddit", which is kind of a "lets talk about what is going on on the internet today (or any day really). For the AMAs, they engage a well known person from almost any field (music, film, cosmology, computers, chicken fat) and the people who log in for the hour or so that it lasts can literally ask this famous person *anything* that may be on their minds. The candor of the interviewee is usually pretty amazing. Check one out (or the record of one that has already ended). It's pretty cool!
3
I would be having trouble filling half the puzzle without the blog, let alone finishing it: But that is okay, its Friday's puzzle.
8
Given the clue for SIA, the cross with CIAO was a nice touch.
8
@john
Had to do an alphabet run to get the S, since I never heard of whoever SIA is. (I didn't have PLEASED yet, since I had filled in VIC before VAC as the sucker. Clever misdirection that.)
2
I’m sorry, am I the only one who saw a five letter word ending in y for “stereotypical teenager” and came up with “horny”?
27
@Sheldon Polonsky
It didn't enter my mind. Are you a teenager by any chance? ;-)
5
@Sheldon Polonsky Ha! My first thought was MESSY. Guess I haven't been a teenager in a while.
3
I thought it would be ACNED haha
3
I never get through a Friday puzzle on Thursday evening, but what do you know! Today went super quickly (of course it is all relative), and now here I am hanging out with the real professionals!
I made a point of learning all of the state capitals in high school. My first guess for 46A was JUNEAU, but when that didn't fit, my second guess was AUGUSTA (Maine), and Lo and Behold...!
If any would-be constructors out there are considering a phonetic DOOK theme, (ugh!...), then I nominate CAN'T GOON as a "Mexican resort?" Hmm. Maybe I'll keep that idea for my seed entry and work a puzzle around it...
Actually, before I CAN'T GO ON at 17A, I had IT'S NO GOOD. That gave me __DEAD for "Supreme Court justices, e.g.", and I have to say that I worked on that angle for quite some time...
I always considered "My Word!" to be a British expression to begin with, so I didn't quite get the 1D clue. "My word!" I imagine to be spoken by an older woman in a drawing room over a cup of tea, while "Blimey!" elicits more the Cockney working class man on the street. Such stereotypes...
10
@Andrew
BLAMin’you could have given you uNdEAD justices and it wouldn’t be creepy at all. As for uOODY teenagers that would yield — why not? They’re versatile creatures.
1
@Sam Lyons etc.
Hand up for IT'S NO GOOD.
The thought of "undead" Justices brings conjures unpleasant and shameful recent memories of when there were only eight of them for an extended period because the nominee couldn't even get a hearing in the Senate.
6
@Andrew I'm a Brit and I don't think I've ever heard anyone say Blimey! (except Dick van Dyke of course).
2
46A. TIL that AUGUSTA, Ga., is not as populated as I thought. According to this clue, it has fewer than 20,000 residents.
I thought it was Augusta, Maine? Maybe I need to relearn my state capitals...
4
@Grace Gartel
It is Maine! Atlanta is the capital of Georgia!
8
@Grace Gartel 🤦♀️
Easy for a Friday. Loved it.
I was absolutely certain that Scott cleverly placed NEOPET for 23D and NOPETS for 30D.
ENNEAD => Something old
AMA => Something new
RIDESHARE => Something borrowed
DONTCRY => Something blue
17
Oven racks are NOT wired to heat up. The coils under or over are.
2
@Mitchell Ross
But they are wires themselves (wire racks) and they do get hot so they are hot and wired
9
Aha ... the engineer in me got in the way of clever wording.
7
A nice Friday, overall. NE went quickly for me; I too had "UTAHN" in my vocabulary as the demonym so wrote "MORMON" until crosses put me right. I could have sworn it was spelled WEENING, giving me some trouble in the SE.
I love use/mention wordplay so of course I dug (get it?) the volleyball clue.
3
Is not the capital of GA Atlanta ?
1
Indeed! As mentioned by others below, the capital of Maine is much more logical as one with relatively few residents.
3
It solved like a Monday for me. Just one of those days when everything just rolls off the tongue, or rather thumb, for no apparent reason. I read the first clue and *knew* the answer was BLAME GAME without a single cross.
Now, I hate to do this because Scott is from Austin and such and the clue is definitely not incorrect, but... no UTAHN has ever referred to him/herself as a UTAHAN. So if you ever visit the Beehive State, folks (and you should because it’s breathtakingly beautiful), know your demonyms. This was the only clue that tripped me up, in fact, as I couldn’t think of what 6-letter appellation the vaunted NYT wanted to tar good ole Brigham Young with.
Signed,
Displaced But Unrepentant UTAHN
9
@Sam Lyons
Kudos! I was over my Friday average, mainly due to the NW. Ashamed to say that UTAHAN was a gimme. I thought you might have pointed out that ENNEAD was also an epic poem by Virgil, which explains why there were 9 rings of hell in Dante’s Inferno. ;-)
5
@Puzzlemucker
Heavens, no. The old me may have been tempted to toy with an unsuspecting Wordplayer thus, but I have MENDED my ways. Honest. What with a birthday earlier this year ushering me into (mostly) AUGUST middle age.
Shame on you indeed. I’m having a T-shirt printed for you: Honorary UTAHAN :)
3
@Sam Lyons
Thank you - It was obvious that UTAHAN was the right answer but it was one of those where I'm thinking - whaaat? I have never heard THAT one before! Another fit the fill fit the bill perhaps?
And a new word for my vocabulary - ENNEAD. never heard of that one before but I looked it and it's a real word! The one tough one in a quite doable puzzle for a Friday.
3
This was my fastest Friday solve ever, and a few clues and answers made me literally laugh out loud. Nice job, Scott!
3
Why is the answer to “Supreme Court justices” ENNEAD??? What does that even stand for?
1
@JRRBABAR
It means a group of nine.
11
Interestingly, AUGUSTA, Georgia has a pop. of 200,000, or more than 10x its Maine namesake.
This puzzle announced itself with flair (BLAME GAME, LOVE SIMON, I CAN’T GO ON) and kept the UNICYCLE pedal to the metal. Each section had colorful long entries (COCKEREL I’m looking at you). That it began with BLAME GAME and ended with NASTINESS captures the zeitgeist of the 2010s. But that was so last decade. I’m sure that this one will be filled with LOVE, SOLACE, divine transformation (SHIVA), and lots of HAVARTI on RYE.
Another smashing debut. Bravo, Scott!
10
@Puzzlemucker
Maybe my memory is faulty, but I think of SHIVA as the Destroyer of Worlds.
Some transformation. Unless it's just metaphorical ;-).
1
An 80s twofer:
The Cure’s “Boys DON’T CRY”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q460cEwJgCI
The Smiths’ MOODY “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjPhzgxe3L0
2
@Puzzlemucker
You’re not including The Smiths’ “Meat Is Not HAVARTI on RYE?”
5
Nice puzzle. Managed to get it all. But ENNEAD? VAC? BLIMEY!
2
The August in the Puzzle is Augusta, MAINE. The capital of Georgia is Atlanta.
3
@jerseyjude I know we don't all have the time or the desire to read all of the comments before posting, but if you're going to correct something and you're not the very first commenter, it's probably already been mentioned before. You could at least skim through and check. It gets rather tiresome to read the same correction over and over.
1
OboeSteph,
Didn't somebody post very recently that it was inexcusable to not read the column but it was understandable to not read all the comments?
Very number-oriented.
0 - NO DOGS
1 - UNICYCLES
2- There's, in the clue for DON'T CRY
4 - ELS in Volleyball
9 - Justices making up the ENNEAD
12 - MAIDs-a-milking
20,000 People in AUGUSTA, ME.
and....ok, I CAN'T GO ON.
13
@Wen
Teeny correction: There are 8 MAIDs a-milking. (The 12 are drummers drumming.)
4
@Alan J - ah, thanks for that. I never get those 12 days items right (except the partridge, turtle doves, and of course, golden rings). That works out even better as the first 5 are all powers of 2...
2
@Wen
Except it's not "golden" rings. The rings are gold. Go-old.
2
Very nice! I was going to gripe that Webkin was not the singular form of Webkinz, until I remembered NEOPETs. I think I enjoyed Neopets at least as much as my kids did.
I thought this a teensy bit too easy for a Friday ... very little gnashing-of-teeth required. Cheers.
8
@Roger Wheelock
It hit me like a themeless Thursday. Quick solve with no Naticks.
1
@Roger Wheelock I found it to be Friday-level challenging. Further proof that we each have our own point of view on difficulty. It must be quite a task for the editors to categorize something so subjective.
2
Let us not forget those twelve drummers drumming and eleven pipers piping. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the clue, just that it's easy to overlook the musicians, who also belong to the working class, and hopefully are working for pay. That makes 31 workers altogether, along with 19 nobles, plus 23 avian creatures, five pieces of jewelry, and a tree.
20
@Alan J
The pipes and drums could be military or constabulary, I suppose,
based on many of the parades and tattoos I've seen.
1
@Alan J Thanks for including drummers as musicians, Alan. For this former drummer it helps counterbalance the old joke, “What do you call someone who hangs out with musicians?”
7
@Alan J
But Piper and Drummer don't fit into a 4 square slot... ;-)
2
Nicely challenging for a Friday! For a while I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish it. I was glad to see CHER and MAMMA MIA, since they helped me out in those corners. I don't remember the film LOVE, SIMON, so I'm glad I was able to work the crosses there.
Weird coincidence: earlier this evening I was watching an old travel program on TV and learned the legend of the Barcelos COCKEREL, a national symbol of Portugal. Also called the Barcelos rooster. So that word was fresh in my mind.
3
Just right! Nice and crunchy.
But I always thought that the proper form of address for a drag queen was DAHLING.

12
Definitely Augusta, Maine.
6
Since Art Shapiro beat me to mentioning the Maine/Georgia business, I'll comment about the picture:
I thought to myself, isn't Carli Lloyd soccer? I was sure she was in the parade on Broadway with the rest of them. So I looked up, and lo and behold, there's a different Carli Lloyd in volleyball. With the same unusual spelling of Carli.
But truly, it doesn't appear that she's waiting to serve the ball. It looks like the team is in the middle of a point.
Also, I left replies about TREXES to Leapfinger and RAH on the previous puzzle's board just about when this puzzle was coming on...so if you want answers, they're there.
3
@Steve L
If anything, Carli is preparing to SET the ball for someone to spike.
3
@JayTee
The way I learned the routine was: Bump, Set, Spike.
I'd say she's executing the bump, controlling the opponent's serve.
3
@Al in Pittsburgh
The player at the net (#25) is jumping to block an oncoming spike from the other team. Carli is in position to dig the spike if it comes her way.
Carli is not waiting to serve, nor is she executing a bump.
https://www.liveabout.com/how-to-make-a-volleyball-dig-3428902
3
PLEASED with this Top DRAWER puzzle! No SNAGS!
3
Totally in phase. Wheelhouse.
1
Deb, I think that's Augusta MAINE...the capital of Georgia is Atlanta.
26