Hey Deb, great tie- in photo today.
1
Had “Bucks” (Pittsburgh Pirates) instead of Phils for 29A at first, which made for a weirdly apt but risqué BJs instead of PJs for the thing that goes with a nightcap in 29D
1
Unfortunately, the clue for 50A "Org. seeking clean skies" EPA, isn't entirely accurate under the current Administration. These days, they're more interested in helping polluters save money.
18
Sorry, but 50A is incorrect.
As of the 2016 election, EPA is no longer an “organization seeking clean skies.”
It is now an organization seeking campaign contributions for Trump in exchange for ruining the skies, the water and the earth.
34
@Mr. Mark
I would say "Ha!" but it's so sad.
3
This comment is not appropriate here. Focus on the puzzle
1
How was talking about clue 50 across not focused on the puzzle? My apologies if you work for the EPA. It’s the boss’s fault, not yours.
6
Loved this puzzle! I picked up on the theme pretty early even though I didn't recognize all the actors right away. This was one of the few mid-week I have managed to get through with zero external help. My only snag was the NW where I had BASK at D13 for the longest while.
The puzzle leaned heavily on pop culture so I can see why some people wouldn't like it. That said all the main actors are pretty mainstream which makes them fair game. Even if you didn't know them, there were enough gimmes going down to facilitate good guesses.
2
Great puzzle! My aha moment was when i got January and then was able to see Jones at the front of the line. And yes this Mets fan absolutely knows that the 'Phils' is a thing!
1
So I didn't know any of these people (well, BOB HOPE, but only after the fact. Was able to solve on the crosses, and some guesses. And I liked it!
1
Limos for LABOR caused contractions, carped Tom churlishly.
Thanks Jeremy
5
I was born and raised in Philadelphia and not only have I never heard the Phillies referred to as the Phils, I never even heard Philadelphia the city referred to as Philly, but, then, I led a sheltered life. Are you, by any chance, a Yanks fan?
1
@Jennene Colky
I thought your name would be Shirley. Because Shirley, you jest.
6
@Steve L "Airplane," right? My kind of humor.
@Jennene Colky
I’m not even American, have never been to Philadelphia, and yet I have heard the city referred ro as Philly, and have heard the Phillies referred to as PHILS. Go figure!
5
Fun puzzle!
Stuck trying to fit turret and dreams.
It's not cheating to look something up, just disappointing your own IDEALS.
Memes and GIF are off my cultural radar, but I'm proud I got BFF quickly since my best friends were rarely forever and we had to pick up the rotary phone to communicate, or OMG pick up a pen and paper (the return letters are still in my attic in a box marked SENTIMENTAL, whereas my txts are gone with the wind.
Two poker clues, got the checkers one guessing. Serif? I thought it was a font, again crosswords + intuition.
I had no idea someone's name was JANUARY. Again with crosswords and distrusted it until I looked it up. It's much more fun to do the puzzle when you're not beating up yourself, the puzzle constructor or the editor(s) with IDEALS.
4
@Barbara Katz Fonts can be SERIF or Sans (SERIF), based on, well, whether or not the letters themselves have SERIFs.
1
I had turret for tank top at first. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward once I figured out the theme and looked up the actors. The K in Bake and Bank in the upper right did throw me for a bit, though.
5
Since about half the population is male and many women do not have kids, most should be changed to some. Even with that it's still a lousy clue!
2
well, if all men do not go into labor and few women go into labor more than once a year, then it is something that most people don't do once a year. It's a tricky clue, but a valid one.
21
Love love this puzzle. At the risk of being tagged Grammar Police, shouldn't 36 A be "Wants an actress from Mad Men" instead of "Want an actress from Mad Men". The tense isn't quite right for the answer.
1
@Desi ette
Put "Do you" in front of all of the theme clues..
3
@Desi ette I can be a stickler for grammar sometimes, but I have been caught calling out someone on a grammar issue (I'm probably doing it now) and making a grammar error in the process. "Want" and "wants" are both present tense, so this is really a question of point of view, i.e. first person, second person, etc. All the theme answers seem to be consistently using the same implied POV, either first or second person. I/you want an actress from Mad Men. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors I may have made in calling out a grammatical error.
4
@Desi ette
I think your confusion stems from the fact that "jones" is the same type of verb form as "hope", "long" and "pine" in the other examples; in other words, present tense, and not third person singular.
So just as "Want an actress..." goes with LONG (not LONGS) for NIA, here it goes with JONES. Or put another way, I JONES for her, you JONES for her, he **JONESES** for her.
And of course, the issue is person and number, not tense.
2
Too much entertainment to look up -- not my wheelhouse. I pass on this one.
8
Loved this puzzle! I agree with many others that the ire toward proper nouns is maybe a little... overblown. Seems a little bit traditionalist to me, and I'm always into innovation in puzzles. I had a great time with everything but YENFORDONNIE - I guess my disdain for Rogue One finally came around to bite me today.
Thanks for the great time, Mr. Newton! Come back soon!
8
I liked this puzzle - nice mix of straightforward and challenging clues. I don’t understand all the negativity toward the proper names! Got the theme immediately from PINE FOR CHRIS and then the others were a process of guessing what other celebrities have “wanting” synonym last names. I was stuck on JONES FOR FELICITY for a long time for the Rogue One clue, until I noticed it was actor, not actress.
I wish the CHRIS PINE answer had been clued, “Want a fresh start with Captain Kirk?” in order to have a Star Trek and Star Wars reference in the same puzzle and make my nerdy heart happy.
9
I’m facing a crisis only the terminal OCD’s among us would sympathize with. I’m on an extended tour of national parks, hoping to extend my list of those visited to 51 (of 62.) But that’s not the particular OCD focus of my angst. We are about to descend upon Baker, NV, (closest to Great Basin,) where my sources tell me they only got electricity in 1975. If there is wi-fi there, it may not be sufficient to download the NYT crossword, or upload any success I’m liable to have. My PR string of solves may be broken. Anybody know anything about Baker? Having a great time so far, with my spouse and Best Boy Niles, the labradoodle.
@Doggydoc
Of course, I know nothing about Baker, NV. But I will say, the puzzles are literally a text file. I can't imagine a download of the puzzle (on the app) would take more than 10 seconds even on a 3G network.
First world problems. Good luck on extended on that streak, though!
2
@Doggydoc Can't help you on internet in Baker, sorry, but I feel your pain. I broke my previous streak vacationing w/o wi-fi in Yellowstone last year.
A couple nice side effects were: 1) I was thoroughly enjoying myself and didn't even realize I'd forgotten to do the puzzle one day, and 2) No more stressing about getting the crossword done to preserve a long streak.
Have fun on your trip!
6
@Newbie, thanks, see my reply to Bob, below.
Nice balance of easy and challenging clues, with some very funny misdirections. My favorites were “Tank top?” and “Single’s bars?” Very clever! Got the theme early on, with Nia Long and Chris Pine both familiar, but I had a hard time with Yen being used as a verb. I’ve never heard or seen it that way, but indeed it is attested, so I’ll accept it. I did have to look some of the unfamiliar movies, and although I knew Rogue One well, I hadn’t noticed the actor Donnie Yen. I had DORMS for “Univ. units” for some time, which slowed me down in that area. Still, I had a shorter than average solve time and enjoyed the ride. However, while I might yearn for a good puzzle challenge, I will never yen for one. 🤨
3
Proper nouns. Abandoned after five minutes. What a waste.
3
To quote the source for the HopeforBob answer, "I wanna tell ya" that was a great puzzle for a Wednesday. Took me longer than normal and I like that. Thank you Mr. Newton.
6
Three minutes over my average today. The hardest part of this puzzle were all the proper names that are nowhere near household names (with the possible exception of BOB HOPE, though certainly not the way he was clued). The only of these movies/shows I've seen was Rogue One, a film without any A-listers and where YEN was fourth-billed (per IMDB).
That said, I REALLY liked the idea of the theme...I perhaps would have enjoyed it more if the names were a little more well-known.
I had quite a few missteps that slowed me down...soda before COLA (didn't know the Spanish wine, and a pond sounded like a good summer hangout to me), bask before BAKE, Irani before IRAQI.
I STRONGLY disliked the buck stops here clue - there are so many meanings of buck (dollar? deer? the verb? slang term for a man?) as well as its strong association with Truman/the Oval Office, that it seemed needlessly difficult clue for a Wednesday and the fill, especially in a part of the grid that was already (for me, at least) so difficult.
I LOVED the toque/bake crossing and the double entendre involved there. I also enjoyed the freshness of the clues for OLA, ONO, and POKER.
All in all, a pretty good Wednesday with a lot to like, albeit not without its difficulties.
5
@Ryan - there's a good example of how the meanings of words evolve, sometimes where the earlier and later meanings both remain valid:
"To stop" (verb) originally meant to end forward motion; or to cause such an end. The origins of the word are disputable, but the meaning was well-established by the 15th century.
"To stop" (verb) meaning to stay in a place over a period of time (as in "a stopover"; we "stopped at the shore for a week") is a later additional sense of the same word, in use since the late 17th century.
Truman's desk sign used the first sense; I believe the clue relied on the later sense, though, as you note, it relies on ambiguity to be tricky for solvers.
"The carriage stopped in London" can mean equally well: we ended the trip in London OR we held off travelling for a while in London before going on.
1
@Ryan I too had BASK for "lie in the sun," and was so confident of it that it completely hung up an otherwise smooth Wednesday solve.
I thought Nia Long, Chris Pine, and January Jones were pretty well known, but then again I'm of a generation that is only peripherally aware of Bob Hope, so clearly "well-known" varies by user.
5
I was on a real roll with this one and figured out the theme with the “crossworldly” famous Nia Long early on. Couldn’t get all the proper names without Google, though, and spent an inordinate amount of time devoted to BASK, which, of course, made no sense. (Was thinking there could be some obscure variation of the hat.) I also had YEN(S) and even WEN(s) FOR SONNIE and RONNIE before the caffeine kicked in. Otherwise, most of the clues clicked for me in a Wednesday-like way.
1
Had to cheat more than once on this one. Like many others, II confidently started with turret and bask.
I have a chef's hat that I wore to more than one Halloween party. I never know what what it was called until I started doing crossword puzzles again. Nobody ever said "I like your toque."
4
Some restaurant guides give Toques instead of stars in their reviews.
3
the abundance of “want an actor/actress” clues was gross, and i abandoned before even getting half way through the across clues. let’s stop treating people as things to want. here’s hoping tomorrow’s puzzle is less objectifying and creepy.
2
@walrus it might help to think of it from the professional point of view of a director or casting agent.
9
@walrus
You're asking to end the existence of human emotion? Is your name really Spock?
1
Like others I only knew BOB HOPE. NIA rang a bell. I did manage to get the FORS and caught on to the HOPE synonyms made some guesses and did lots of checking.
Quite a clever idea for a theme and some good clueing.
5
54A -- "What is it about OHIO that makes people want to leave the planet?"
31
@Adina Hilarious! Thanks for the laugh!
2
Why did I ever leave?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JljT7EP_LVE
4
@Adina
There are some jokes told in OHIO about the state to the north that would answer your question, but it's unlikely any comment citing one would be approved.
I fall in the meh camp. Negative: Too many proper names from shows I've never seen -- but of course, that's my choice to tune out on much of t.v. pop culture. Positive: The gimmick made it doable never the less, which is what we ask of crossings. And my PHILS were referenced.
Here's hoping for a better year for the Phils. Fun Fact: the Reading AA team affiliate name is the "Fightin Phils."
This was really hard for me. The only “celebrity” I got was January Jones. I of course had heard of Bob Hope but couldn’t figure out how the theme gimmick worked so I didn’t fill in anything for him either. I did think the clues for “aria” and “labor” were clever. This is one of the few puzzles I was not able to finish. Now that I know how the theme works I will fill those in and see if I can complete this puzzle.
1
@Jaime
[sigh]
One of my few unfinished also, mainly because I was so married to RAISE THE BAR that I could adapt only as far as RAISE A BAR but not as far as RAISE A BET. Unsurprising, as I aren't familiar with the lingo.
Also because medicinal quantities are invariably given in TSPS rather than TBSP. To the best of my patchy but wide-ranging knowledge, dosing in TBSP is limited to herbal and home-remedies (which may work, but don't qualify as exactly' medicinal', to split a hair)
2
Baseball fan here, but I always referred to Philadelphia team as “Phillies.” But, I don’t live there.
3
I didn't come close to solving this one. Although almost all of the names were familiar I couldn't have connected any of them with the clue, not even Bob Hope. As others have mentioned I would have needed a "Road to... " film to make that connection. A number of other things in this that I either didn't know or just wasn't tuning in to. Couldn't really get a good foothold anywhere.
I didn't enjoy this one, but I stress that that is a purely subjective opinion - not a judgment.
5
Really enjoyed this one. The theme was challenging but fun. As a baseball fan, I can confirm that it's perfectly normal to refer to the Phillies as the PHILS
5
Have to agree the puzzle was fair, despite knowing only Chris Pine among the thesps. The crosses were the help I needed. I do have to admit I was going to check the internet for Donnie Yen vs. Donnie Wen until Deb saved me the trouble.
2
@twoberry Stupid me. "Wen" is not a verb meaning "want." As for implying I didn't know Nia Long, that's another goof in my comment, even though it's true I had no idea she was in "Soul Food." Interestingly, when I filled in LONGFORNIA, I was still wondering if the other theme answers weren't going to be ....FORNIA or ...CONSIN or ..LABAMA or other plays on states' names. Then I noticed Nia Long's name and the light dawned.
3
This really wasn’t for me. Far too many partials, and a barrage of puns. GAS CAP was okay. I’m sure other people have already complained about ARIA. But the puzzle as a whole just felt very much on one note, and a rather grinding one.
I just looked back to see if there were any words that I felt were really intrinsically pleasing and there aren’t. That’s a dealbreaker for me.
Also, this is becoming an annoyance for me, if you BAKE in the sun, it usually connotes an unpleasant feeling. To lie in the sun implies you have a choice. Possibly the clue could be changed to another pun. I mean, even I can think of one.
9
Think about tea leaves or tobacco leaves baking in the sun, does that work better?
1
@Frances ,
My cat BAKEs his old bones in the sun every chance he gets. Which isn't often in wet Oregon winters. We both want to go to Costa Rica to BAKE in the sun!
2
@David Connell
I consider that curing. Tobacco leaves I’m pretty sure don’t sit in the sun. I live in tobacco farming country and they have barns to dry them in. Maybe they sit out for a bit?
I grew up in a tea farming area where the idea of drying leaves in the sun is unthinkable. Maybe black tea is dried that way.
@ Adina
I consider that basking. All the cats I’ve known go and sit in dappled shade when they get too hot.
2
I enjoyed this immensely despite the pop culture theme, maybe even because of it. I had to focus on the other clues and question some of my answers that seemed obvious. I nearly gave up and used check puzzle when I got 'singles bars' (great clue!), realized one could bake as well as bask, and the name Nia Long rung a bell. Super fun puzzle!
5
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Best today:
C - M (8), M - W (6)
YESTERDAY:
WOMBS SCANTIER (13)
WEBCAM MONITORS
WAR RECOMBINANTS
2
@Mari I got C-M, M-W too, this time without looking for your hint first!
1
@Mari got the exact same.... 🙂
SPELLING BEE GRID
Jan 29th MMXX
A B D H I R T
WORDS: 45, POINTS: 162, PANGRAMS: 1
Starting Letters-Frequencies:
A x 6
B x 11
D x 4
H x 8
R x 8
T x 8
Word Lengths -Frequencies:
4L x 21
5L x 16
6L x 3
7L x 4
8L x 1
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 Tot
A 2 3 - 1 - 6
B 8 2 - - 1 11
D 4 - - - - 4
H 4 2 - 2 - 8
R 1 5 1 1 - 8
T 2 4 2 - - 8
Tot 21 16 3 4 1 45
(Y-Axis: Starting Letters, X-Axis: Word Lengths, X/Y Co-ordinates: Frequency/Number of Words for that letter and length)
59
@Mari Still missing 1 R5, have cleric, diseased, scanner, circle plural.
9
@Kevin Davis it’s a South Asian condiment!
7
@Kevin Davis That was my last one too! Another Bee favorite - a yogurt-based sauce to accompany a curry.
2
SPELLING BEE
I'm missing 10 points and have run out of ideas. I have 43 words 152 points. I have the obscure A7, 2 compound words including a pangram, a sound, and a Medieval garment.
3
@Kevin Davis found 1 on my own (yoga), & 2nd with help from@Sarah & Marie.
1
I'm stuck on that obscure A7. Any hints? It isn't the meteorological term I thought sure it would be.
@Pat see above thread for more clues. It’s similar to an I7 not on the list, meaning to hinder, restrain, or prevent. Substitute the 1st letter with A, obviously. Then you have 7 letters to choose from for the 2nd letter.
I had to cheat on one of the actors - I had heard of Bob Hope but was that Donnie or Ronnie or Lonnie or Nonnie or Bonnie Yen?
And was "Univ. units" asking about University (TERMS maybe?) orUniverse (PSECS?). Some of the clues were, for me - because I was brought up on cryptics - wonderful. Single's bars? Vow to get even? Lovely.
3
Two camps so far today:
1. Those who would not BEG FOR [star of “Ghost”]. (I know, that doesn’t exactly meet the theme, but best I could do).
2. Those who really wanted TURRET.
Oh yeah, there’s a third camp. Those who, like me, thought this one was a GIFt.
7
@Puzzlemucker
DEmi Moore de Merrier.
2
@Puzzlemucker
I thought of another.
Wants an actor/director from The Brothers McMullen.
1
@vaer
Nice! (Have not seen him in a while. I think he also directed that movie)
“Want an actor from Kiss of the Spiderwoman?”
Also, slightly off but close: “Want an actress from A Star is Born?”
Awful. I managed to finish it without cheating, but don't ask me how. Pure stubbornness, I guess. Don't know all these folks or what they acted in. Don't remotely care. And the one time I did know, I couldn't remember her first name. I was a real "Mad Men" devotee and my absolute favorite character was the redhead. That's right -- "J" something-or-other JONES. Not JANICE. Not JANET. Not JENNIFER. Not JESSICA. What the bleep was it? Finally, finally, it came in.
And as if there weren't already enough PPP in the themers for three puzzles, the constructor piled on even more in the non-theme answers. Maybe eight or ten more.
There is a type of solver who loves this kind of puzzle. I am not that type of solver. But you already knew that.
9
@Nancy , LOL I thought of you while solving, knowing how much you'd hate it. And your post didn't disappoint!
4
@Johanna -- Thanks so much for thinking of me while solving. I'm gratified and touched by your empathetic concern and most relieved that I didn't disappoint you. To disappoint a thoughtful, empathetic person such as you -- they don't grow on trees, after all --would be such a bummer:)
1
@Nancy - just in defense of two different actresses - January Jones is not the redhead you're looking for...*
Joan Harris (played by Christina Hendricks) was the redhead to take all redheads on the show;
January Jones (who played Don Draper's first wife Betty) was a blonde (on the show, most of the time).
*pop culture Easter egg...
6
I had heard of most of the actors in the theme answers. But I had not heard of these actors in the films. It was a hard Wednesday puzzle. People seem to be angry on the fact that they don’t know the answers. This is almost always the case on a half a dozen answers on the hard puzzles but I still manage to solve them successfully. My issue with today’s puzzle is that I did not get the ikea/ore cross. Certainly I had heard of ikea, but it did not seem correct given the danish coins clue.
1
This was a fun and clever puzzle. The theme clues filled in without me knowing anything about them. Yen as a verb threw me, but it can be used as one.
2
@Mark D yes, fun and clever puzzle, too. Not mad at anything perhaps because I always start with Across clues, followed by Down, while skipping the long entries. Then I sit back and go "Ah" (but as usual, don't get the theme TIL I read Wordplay. Loved it! PS No one answered me yet... What does TIL mean here in Wordplay? Thanks!
@childishgrambina - apparently it means "Today I Learned" though I initially took it to mean "This I Learned", which doesn't always work.
LOL - lots of love...
2
@childishgrambina TIL means "today I learned"
My lofty ambitions were "drEAmS" before they became IDEALS. Otherwise a very smooth Wednesday, although I have to confess that the only themer I had ever heard of before was that last one.
Earlier in my academic career, I kept up with pop culture: it helped me relate to students. But now I'm old enough to be their grandfather, and when I don't get some pop culture reference, they seem to find that charming. So perhaps there is HOPEFORBOB and hope for me.
10
Had a good deal of trouble finishing this, mainly because of the pop culture theme. Never even heard of three of the shows (or are they movies?), and recognize the names only of Bob Hope and Nia Long. Could understand why "Increase the stakes" might be raise bets (plural), but don't see raise a bet (singular). Not my kind of puzzle.
4
Most of my own struggles have been already discussed in the comments. This was not in my wheelhouse as actors and movies are not my strong suit. I will disclose my boomer-ness by saying that BOB HOPE was the only one I knew, and it took me until the lower corner to see what was going on with the theme.
I was trying to think of what the top of an army tank was called, but couldn't come up with TURRET. GAS CAP was my default answer and that held up nicely. LONGFORNIA filled in from the crosses, and my first thought was that there must have been an actress by the name of CALI LONG, so I moved on. I had no knowledge of the term JONES in the puzzle's context, so that did not help me grasp the theme.
I had IRANI and BASK for 11 and 13D respectively. That gave me TONUK for the chef hat, and was the last corner to sort out. The only Hill I could think of for 45D was ANITA, which made me wonder if she had gone into the news business since the Clarence Thomas days.
Overall, a more challenging Wednesday than usual for me.
2
@Andrew TURRET slowed me down for awhile. Had to remove it when the crosses made it clear it had to be wrong. At least I figured out GASCAP without Deb's help.
1
Same here. I felt very clever when I filled in TURRET on my first pass, too. Luckily, I’m a fan of ALI Wong so I was able to recover.
1
I'm not alone then..Ali Wong rocks
Nope - nope - nope!! Did NOT enjoy this one - and it was a frustrating “completion” (not even a capital ‘c’).
I knew BOB HOPE, of course - - and seem to remember NIA LONG from a not-too-distant puzzle - - but the other three were complete no-knows - completed only with obvious letter patterns from the crosses. The theme pattern of verbs meaning “want” became clear - but the first names? - not so much.
I particularly did NOT like the clue for ARIA!
But I DID like the one for LABOR.
What the heck is BYA?? It’s supposed to be words (plural) and, I can’t even see one word there - - - IF it’s a word.
And - in 77 years and two months - I’ve never heard/seen JONES used as a verb. It should have been clued as slang - - - somehow.
This was a Friday puzzle - - in a Wednesday wrapping. I’m actually looking forward to Thursday.
4
@PeterW
BY is a word. As is A.
6
@Andrew
AAAAARGH!! - as a certain toon with the name of Brown was wont to say.
SO obvious - in hindsight.
2
@Peter W. - don't forget...
it _is_ 2020.
4
I was so sure that "Tank top?" was TURRET
4
yup. I had TURRET at first, too. However, 6D (stroke on a letter SERIF) quickly redirected me. As did those Animated GIF memes.
2
I was able to solve even though I didn't realize until BOB HOPE that the first word was the last name of the last word's first name
1
I think California should be renamed 17-A, LONGFORNIA.
6
@Patrick Merrell
I thought that was somehow going to be the kernel of the theme. Oh man, what a miscons-too-good-to-be-true!!
2
@Patrick Merrell, I thought the same thing! While it doesn't have the ring of CALI it describes the state's shape.
1
Between the misdirects and the fact that I almost never remember actors' names, this one solved like a Friday for me. I still liked it, a lot.
6
not my IDEAL puzzle. Had to guess most of the names! only knew NIA LONG and BOB HOPE!
1
Can't fault a puzzle with a fun theme based on a great idea, with overcome-able resistance (for me, in the south), and certainly can't fault a puzzle with high IDEALS. And oh, we had I AM SO / OHIO / HAS A GO / ARGO / ONO / FIDO. All in all, a most enjoyable FOR JANUARY outing, and thank you, Jeremy!
8
This is the second puzzle this month to reference Nia Long, and I am LIVING for it! :-)
This was a great puzzle with a fun theme! On more than one occasion I have found myself doing 23A. I’ve also Evansed, Hemsworthed, and Pratted for Chris, but those wouldn’t have worked as well in this puzzle.
Not sure how I feel about the cluing for 41A. Something about it felt off... maybe because I was really hoping the answer to be COMAY, which would have impressed and delighted me to no end! But overall, this was a really fun, satisfying solve!
5
Solvable but only with sort of guessing because I don't watch
TV or most movies. I hate puzzles that rely heavily on popular names. This puzzle reminded me of LA Times puzzles.
9
Clever and well-executed theme.
Too many puns.
2
I worried that TOQUE was wrong, as I wanted bask for lie in the sun, but it all worked out.
8
I was on top of a TURRET only to realise I was missing a GASCAP.
3
Loved the puzzle. Nice work, Mr. constructor. Favorites were PINEFORCHRIS and JONESFORJANUARY. Didn’t know YENFORDONNIE but got there. Thanks for throwing in Bob Hope. GASCAP gave me a huge problem and in 17A, with a G-OR-IA, I was sure it was GEORGIA. Obviously, some problems surfaced. PJS was cute. Unlikely to use COLA as a mixer in my nightcap, though. And, Go PHILS!
5
I really enjoyed this one. The theme was elegant with such perfectly parallel answers, and the fill mostly seemed very clean and with some clever cluing. As someone who was once in LABOR with two babies for three months in a row, I laughed out loud at 10d.
I thought starting with NIA LONG was an especially nice touch, since she starred in the film "Love Jones", which introduced the term JONES meaning "addictive longing" to mainstream conversation. I never noticed before that her surname is sort-of synonymous with the term.
That entry primed me for JANUARY JONES, which was basically a gimme. Incidentally, JONES is both the noun and the verb; "jonesing" is the present participle of the verb. So "I am [currently] jonesing for January" (except that currently I am actually jonesing for May), but "I jones [on a regular basis] for word game fun."
The other themers were much harder to get. I knew Wonder Woman had to be one of those hot white blockbuster movie actors with piercing blue eyes named CHRIS, but I can't remember any of their surnames so I had to wait for crosses and synonymy to figure out PINE. I don't think I've ever heard of DONNIE YEN, but once Donnie seemed likely Yen was the obvious surname. And BOB HOPE just wasn't coming to me—I've certainly heard of him, but I think the only movies I can name that I know he was in are all titled Road to ___, and I can't even fill in any of those blanks.
5
@m - here's a clip of Tig Notaro relating to your Chris comment:
https://youtu.be/dLlsE8rudTs?t=456
2
@m
I'm not sure how mainstream the conversation would have been with "Love Jones"--a movie I missed completely! (Different wheelhouses, I guess). I've known the term since Cheech and Chong's 1973 "Basketball Jones." (Again, different wheelhouses).
1
This must’ve been payback for Tuesday’s being so easy.
Major suckage.
14
Add me to the turret people! Fun theme. Yes, Deb, PHILS is legit.
5
@Pat Agreed. While Phillies is more common, PHILS is definitely legit.
1
Every once in a while editor Will Shortz throws a curve ball that asks a simple question whether I know anything about crossword puzzles. This puzzle is testament of that.
2
Clever enough idea for the theme. Didn't think I would solve, as I don't know much entertainment, but figured it out when I got January Jones.
I kept trying to figure out how to fit Gal Gadot (crazy fine - I am jonzin' for her) into 23 Across.
Many clever clues, but I really don't understand 60Across, even though I filled it in. Is EFS supposed to mean Es and Fs or the phonetic spelling for the letter F (which should be EFF?)..?
4
@Newbie I initially wanted to get Gal Gadot in as well but then noticed that the clues were gendered so of course it had to be Chris Pine. Was happy to see Donnie Yen in the puzzle as well, he absolutely stole the show in Rogue One!
EF is the phonetic spelling of the letter F, not EFF. Since the clue mentioned marks it was EFS. Phonetic letters are strange, for me the oddest is aitch.
2
@Newbie I initially wanted to get Gal Gadot in as well but then noticed that the clues were gendered so of course it had to be Chris Pine. Was happy to see Donnie Yen in the puzzle as well, he absolutely stole the show in Rogue One!
EF is the phonetic spelling of the letter F, not EFF. Since the clue mentioned marks it was EFS. Phonetic letters are strange, for me the oddest is aitch.
@Amber C apologies for my serial double posts. I swear it is the app and not me, I never actually submit twice. It's very embarrassing.
I am very surprised at the amount of hate this puzzle is getting. I got the theme with PINE FOR CHRIS, and he was the only actor I could onfidently place in this puzzle, but I was still able to complete it (my trickiest spot was the NE corner with its clever clues.) Nia Long, January Jones and Donnie Yen were all new to me but I could get them by the crossings. Well-constructed puzzle, Jeremy, don't listen to all the haters!
31
@Ian Carrillo Well said! I completely agree. While I knew the names of all those actors (tv and film are my forte), I didn’t immediately recognize some of the movies (or associate the actor with the work immediately). But once I got the theme from LONG FOR NIA, the rest were almost immediate filled once I had part of the first or last name solved. Again, I grant this theme was well in my wheelhouse, and everyone is entitled to their feelings, but I don’t think it’s fair to call this a bad puzzle. Hard if this isn’t one’s area of expertise? Sure. But it was cleverly constructed and nothing felt forced, so that doesn’t sound like a bad puzzle to me.
13
Cute puzzle.
Except for Bob Hope, who are these people and what shows are these? They wouldn't have been less familiar to me if they were the Colombian telenovelas I watched in Cali a while back.
I'll trade Cali for Nia.
13
@Laszlo
I'm no entertainment junkie, but MadMen was critically acclaimed for many, many years in the US.
And Rogue One is part of this small-time franchise called StarWars. Certainly don't expect you to know the actors though.
Feel me AMIGA? (amigo?)
6
Didn't finish fair. Had to research Wonder Woman to fill in C__IS, but that corner still bad because I had written IRAnI and BAsk, and I finally needed to ask Deb to fill in LA__R for me.
Otherwise a fairly easy fun puzzle, even if BOB HOPE was the only actor I knew.
1
and Elke
Was sure that "Tank top " had to be DUKAKIS...
When i was not to be , it left no HOPE FOR BOB :))
8
It seemed unsolvable to me, at first, but I did solve without lookups. January Jones and Chris Pine are in my wheelhouse. I don’t like the theme — just seems too forced. Some clever clues, but I really did not enjoy this puzzle.
5
@Christine
Your city seems like it belongs in a Saturday puzzle...
I’ve read like 10 times and pronounce it differently every time.
2
@Newbie
Uh-kah-nuh-muh-wok
4
@Calli
Now I just have to guess which syllable gets the emphasis. I’d bet on second or third.
2
Wow. I think of myself as a pretty average solver and I solved this just a hair under my Wednesday average. I also think my impressions are generally in line with the average posts on Wordplay. I’m a little surprised at the strong reactions to this puzzle, though. Certainly Nia Long finds herself often enough in these puzzles and I’d like to think Bob Hope is still in the zeitgeist. Moreover a puzzle without a curveball or two is hardly a puzzle.
10
I’ve solved well over 3000 NYT crosswords, and this is the first puzzle ever that I just plain hated. Hate, hate, hate. I haven’t seen any of those movies or know who those actors are. I made a lot of good guesses on the crossings, and almost had it finished, but then I had HEH for HUH, and...another movie I’ve never seen or cared about.
—Grumpy Old Man
42
@Alan Young
Dude. 3000 puzzles and this is the first you hate? Come on...You got a bad memory or a very very very very very specific hate trigger.
It’s your opinion, I get it, but you sayin’ this the worst puzzle in “3000”...? Lol
30
@Alan Young
I didn’t care for the puzzle (theme and heavy reliance on actor names mostly) - - - but “hate”??
It IS only a crossword puzzle.
5
There's really no place for hate in crossword puzzling. Just varying levels of joy. I'll just re-interpret your comment: your joy level was rather low here. All good.
13
I surprised myself by finishing just a smidge over my Wed. average, because I actually had heard of some of the actors and some of the shows/movies—but not necessarily associating them with their particular works.
Given my poor knowledge of movies and TV shows, I was sorely tempted to resort to IMDB for answers, but I resisted and soldiered on. Got the idea with LONG FOR NIA; but Chris Pine I got mostly on crosses, and the same for Donnie Yen. Took fewer crosses for JONESing, and it took forever for me to guess that "Here Come the Girls" was a Bob Hope movie (I was just starting school when that one came out).
Other than the themers, I had a few wrong entries that interfered with things a bit: BAsk before BAKE, DOSE before TBSP, turret before GAS CAP. Liked the clues for LABOR and IOU.
3
All you Turret people must have watched way more war movies than me, and not have checked the downs before entering. :)
4D had to be GIF and 9D PSA.
4
@vaer
Well, when you start with the acrosses, sometimes you enter words you have to change when the downs don't fit. 😀
3
@JayTee
I'm really just impressed that you all knew what the top of a tank is called.
4
@vaer Me too! My car's gas cap was the only thing that came to mind for that clue.
My favorite part of today's puzzle/column is the photo of the Met Opera musicians playing poker during an intermission. Perhaps a few others do crosswords as well? I'd like to think so, anyway.
10
@RichardZ
I think you can bet on it.
3
@Andrew - take that as confirmed.
Depending on the show, crosswords may appear in the pit just as well as on the Senate floor.
Cue the Beethoven's Ninth pun....
@David Connell
I think that OboeSteph has confessed to solving during her tacet bars...
2
60a. Bad marks are dees. Efs are unacceptable, even in an uneducated society.
8
@Queenie - Unacceptable marks are still bad marks, right? There is no degree of badness indicated.
8
@Queenie I resisted that answer for a long time, too. In my everyday discussion of grades dees are "bad"; effs (that spelling in my head) are "reeeeallllly bad" or just "failing".
1
@Queenie
I loathe answers which are phonetic spellings of letters in any context!
5
I thought the puzzle was fine, though I had a hard time with it.
The theme gimmick idea was good. But the specific people in the theme and the clues to go with them...were a little hard. I doubt that most people knew all of the movies and all of the actors.
We know NIA LONG, of course - she of one of three NIAs (Vardalos and Peeples being the other two), having see her a few times here. But I have no idea of the shows she had been in. I had no idea who CHRIS PINE is. JANUARY JONES I'd heard of but no idea for what. And DONNIE YEN I knew from the many movies I'd seen him in, but Rogue One was not...one...of them.
I had AMES before OHIO for too long. Also TURRETS for GAS CAP. DUH before HUH.
I liked the clues for GAS CAP, ARIA, and I.O.U. Was IN A FOG for too long. It felt a little GUMMIER than usual, but I think it was mostly fair except, to make a FINE POINT, I think the theme entries were a slight bit unfair, but not a big MINUS.
9
@Wen - I forgot to add - I don't think I've ever seen medicinal doses specified in TBSPs. Only ever in CC's and TSPS. Anybody? Is it usually for things like Pepto Bismol, Maalox, etc? Or have I just been getting the wrong drugs?
18
@Wen
I don't think I've ever given anyone TBSPs of anything. CCs (or milliliters) most commonly; Ounces (30 ml) occasionally; but I probably have given someone 15 ml (1 Tbsp) of something at one point or another, but never labeled as spoons of any type.
@ Wen Don't forget that "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down". I figure that was where the TBSP was used. 🙂
4
Realized that tank top was a misdirect but fooled myself by writing TURRET. Made sense for a while. Also did not realize that JONES can mean to want something. Interesting term. BOB HOPE and NIA LONG were the only names I truly knew, but the others worked themselves out. Fun puzzle.
2
@Robert Kern before I saw the FOR pattern, I had Jonesing January. I think Jonesing is used more than Jones for.
1
@Robert Kern Apparently Jonesing is the verb and Jones is the noun. You say "I am Jonesing for Nia." Or I have a Jones for Nia. It's not "I Jones for Nia." Oh well, improper grammatical use of drug addict slang!
1
NE corner did me in. I had IRAnI and BAsk for the longest time which led to some very strange chef hats!
16
I was stuck here as well in the same way... that's for the tip!
"I am one with the Force and the Force is with me." Yeah. Like you get *that* from Sudoku...
4
I had no idea who NIALONG was two weeks ago and I still have no idea now. And yet I'll never forget her.
Had to look up DONNIEYEN. Never heard of YEN as a synonym for PINE/LONG/HOPE/JONES so it feels like a bit of a stretch even with some straightforward crosses to assist. Also never seen Rogue One. Happy I could piece together most of the pop film/TV references even though I only have experience of the first few seasons of Mad Men personally.
I enjoyed the puzzle overall but some clues felt obtuse. Why is it that most people don't go into labour more than twice a year and not most women? Have men ever been known to go into labour? The clue is ostensibly referencing pregnancy, but I'm scratching my head as if there's some sort of play on the Labour Day holiday or some sort of workforce pun I'm not getting. Similar gripe for ARIA. Like I suppose it works but it doesn't feel as gratifying as I get the impression it was meant to. Or maybe I'm the one who's being obtuse...
5
@Andrew - for one thing, I think adding all men to most women would qualify as "most people"!
3
@Andrew
Concerning the labour issue, (the clue was once a year, which is plenty), men have not been known to go into labour, which means they have not been known to go into labour more than once a year either. By restricting the clue to women, some of the challenge of the misdirect would have been taken away.
For the "Single's bars?" clue, the positioning of the apostrophe was key to solving that one for me.
@Andrew of Ontario is talking to himself again...
(^_^:)
1
I never heard of any of these people or shows but I finished very fast for me. Turns out I know Nia Long solely from doing crossword puzzles. I enjoyed it. I'm improving at the tricky clues. I loved the one for Labor. That corner I did last - it was all blanks after 2 run throughs. I enjoyed it. My longest streak now, 4 days!
13
I was so proud of guessing the Wonder Woman clue right out of the gate: WAITFORGADOT, but it didn't take long to figure out I was mistaken.
35
@Dave
Like your thinking...
1
Longer than usual. The fill felt really clean for jamming five theme entries - it made me think and go slower. I was only familiar with Nia Long and Bob Hope so themes were a challenge. Maybe a tad bit obscure? Great idea and construction.
2
Very labored construction, in my opinion.
14
Really fun clues! A fresh Wednesday. My family has a good number of Irish twins, but I'll agree that the clue for LABOR is certainly true for "most people."
10
Loved this one! After figuring out the theme, being able to fill “FOR” in the other themed answers helped out. Vaguely recognized Nia Long and Donnie Yen as I got the letters for them, but I had no idea what “Here Come The Girls” was. Luckily, Bob Hope is such a recognizable name that I could guess it without too much trouble.
Before I got the theme, I kept trying to wedge “Gal Gadot” in 23A somehow. The crosses got me enough to see how “Chris” would fit which led to figuring out the whole theme!
Some puzzles have so much knowledge from before my time that there’s no way I could even hazard a guess at some answers, so thanks Jeremy Newton for this puzzle and finding a way to include “ULTRON” as an answer!
9
This septuagenarian never heard of the first four. Thankfully Bob Hope came through in the end. But this puzzle had some extremely clever cluing, like the one for ARIA. Unlike Ethan, I loved it.
16
@Wags
NIA LONG was in that "add NI" puzzle just two weeks ago.
3
@Steve L
More likely remembered as the "take a knee" puzzle, that is.
3
@Steve L
Thank you. I knew we'd had her recently, but couldn't recall exactly where.
1
The theme answers sounded a little bit strange to my ear at first, although by the time I'd filled in three of them, they started sounding more normal. Maybe because LONGFORNIA made me think it was some kind of play on CALIFORNIA that didn't make any sense. Once I figured it out, it was okay.
I tried WAHOO before YAHOO; never heard of DONNIE YEN. I also didn't know that IKEA sold bathroom sinks.
3
@Liz B
I saw California, too, but held off to see what else transpired.
3
@Liz B
I had the same desire to see "california", having gotten FORNIA with 4 blanks in front of it, but then I got GFORNIA and had to rethink it. Thank goodness for Chris Pines, whose name I'm aware of -- that made the theme visible. Even if I didn't know who they each were, there was going to be a FOR in the middle.
1
@Liz B
Maybe LONGFORNIA is a DOOK.
Is a Wednesday the right day to task us with knowing the immortal Donnie Yen and a 67-year-old movie?
5
@John Kroll
You don't have to know the movie (I didn't) once you understand what you're looking for. That's why there are themes, and that's also why they're easier than themelesses.
28
Sparkling cluing, very clever theme, and an Asian-American leading actor! Great Wednesday in my book.
Heard this NPR interview over weekend with Charles Yu about his new comic novel, “Interior Chinatown,” about an Asian-American actor whose goal is move up from “Asian guy in background unloading a van” to “Asian guy in foreground doing performing martial arts” in a TV police procedural show called Black and White.
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799340952/interior-chinatown-puts-that-guy-in-the-background-front-and-center
16
@Puzzlemucker
Not to mention ALI Wong in the puzzle, too. I knew her, but did not know him. Possibly because I fell asleep while watching Rogue One.
5
@vaer
I didn’t know him either and I have not yet watched ALI Wong. YEN is apparently a superstar in Asian cinema and credited with popularizing the Wing Chun martial art form (started by a woman) in China. Here’s his Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnie_Yen
3
150% of my average, pretty tough for a Wednesday. But satisfying, except for maybe the SW corner.
9
Had turret before GASCAP. Preferred it....
Absolutely hated this "puzzle", loaded with unknowns.
16
@Kathy
Me too for TURRET, and also for preferring it.
But I didn't hate the puzzle; the crosses were fair for the names you might not know. (I recognized all the names except Donnie Yen.)
6
@Steve L It wasn't just that I didn't know Ali
Wong, Chris Pine, January Jones, Donnie Yen and ULTRON (HUH?). I didn't know the movies either. But to me the real problem is basing an entire puzzle on names. I should go back to doing cryptics...
5
@Kathy
But they weren't random names. There was a pattern based on synonyms that would get you the first third; FOR was a gimme after the pattern emerged, and the last part depended on your knowledge or the crosses. I didn't know Donnie Yen, but I didn't have any problem filling in the entry; I didn't know Bob Hope's movie, but by the time I got to the last themer, I knew what the pattern was.
But of course, if it just rubbed you the wrong way, then I guess explanations don't matter. Sometimes I don't like a puzzle either.
2
"I had always called the Philadelphia Phillies “the Phillies” for short (or informally), but hadn’t heard of them referred to as “the PHILS.” Baseball fans, what say you?"
Yes, for 50 years, or more. And only 50-ish because I wasn't around for their early existence.
Definitely.
14
Yah... "Phillies" isn't short for anything, it's their name. "Phils" is definitely legit.
Is one member of the team a Phil? (A Cub or a Pirate - sure. A Red Sock or a White Sock... hmmm...)
8
@Steve L
Fightin' Phils! It's definitely a thing.
10
@Michael
Yes, one Phil. Also, the city is Philly, but a player is a Phillie.
One Red Sock or one White Sock is what's left over after you fold your laundry. Although after departing the team, Kevin Youkilis said "I'll always be a Red Sock."
What about when the team name is already singular? Can one be a Utah Jazz? A Miami Heat? An Orlando Magic? And why is basketball particularly enamored of this construction?
5
"Singles Bars"=ARIA. Yeah, I get it, but no, just no. Groan city.
5
@Ethan
OK, then what did you think of "Tank top"=GAS CAP?
1
@Steve L
I had TURRET for the longest time until I realized my error.
7
@Brian
Yeah, I tried TURRET at first, too.
3