Bad (inaccurate) clue for VAMP. This should have been re-clued.
Otherwise it was a clever (and pleasantly musical) puzzle.
3
It has been two days now (since Mon.) but those of us who do not subscribe to the crossword puzzle but have access to it because we subscribe to the print edition of the NYT, well, we haven't had access since Mon. What happened?!
E.L. Yu,
I hope you scrolled down five threads for the answer.
P.S. My access has just been restored.
OT
Here in Ottawa, celebrations are going on in honour of Willie O'Ree, who was the first black professional hockey player. He played for the Boston Bruins in the 1950s.
This caused me to realize that if only he were a more familiar sports figure, he could very well have become an absolutely legendary crossword entry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O'Ree
4
Have to admit my mind was going overtime. OK - there's the theme down there. SEX ORGANS. HORNS and TRIANGLES. Yup, OK. FLUTES - not heard that one but I've obviously led a sheltered life and I can see where we are going with it. RECORDERS - well, analogous to flutes I suppose but this is beginning to seem a little risqué for a Tuesday. Think of the children!
I'm better now. Thanks for asking.
6
Neat puzzle with some risque elements that have been commented elsewhere and (darn) earlier.
Let me point out that 39A (yes not a typo) is another instrument. So is 42D.
On the slightly silly side I once thought 32D was a hen coop.
Also, I'd no idea about 46D.
6
@Dr W
"I'd no idea" Brilliant!
4
What the Perfesser said.
But that 32D sounds like a place where the Sheiks roost, rather than the CHICkens...
1
A quick tuesday for me with no help. 10 minutes! Enjoyed it.
Starting today there seems to be no option to print the crossword puzzle anymore. The "PRINT" button has morphed into a "SUBSCRIBE" button. What is going on?
C Folkman,
I asked about that last night; haven't heard back yet.
Update:
So sorry about the interim loss of the ability to print. We've become aware of an issue where our systems are inaccurately identifying some of our subscriber's subscription privileges. You can move forward with full confidence knowing that we are actively tracking and working to remedy the issue as quickly as we can.
Fun theme! I liked CHICANERY and OK I'LL BITE.
1
@OboeSteph
What? No OBOE in the puzzle?!!
2
Oh, I forgot, I have a story to tell about Diana Ross: Back when I lived in NYC I was shopping in the shoe department at Henri Bendel's when I saw this tiny, plain looking young woman who looked really familiar. I said to her, "You know, you look a lot like Diana Ross." And she replied in a very dramatic voice, "That's because I AM Diana Ross!" Without hair and makeup it was hard to tell!
7
@Johanna
PS: You'd have to hear my first post to make any sense of why I posted this!
1
Had a good bit of fun wrestling with the words. Thank you to the inventors. I want to do it again.
1
Occam’s Razor may be a beneficial strategy when theorizing though not necessarily for solving crosswords. “When thinking of the sound of hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” But when thinking of animals in herds, think gnus, not cows.
13
@Cherry Britton
Should I mention I never gnu that?
4
@Dr W
You mean you never herd it before?
2
I guess Occam's razor doesn't apply in Africa.
Thank you Queena and Alex! Thanks to you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcylDkRw7dg
3
Off topic but today's M-W words-at-play brang me a couple of laughs
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-of-brang-vs-brung-vs-brought?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wotd&utm_content=peoplearereading-upperleft
5
I also was a PINSETTER at 12 years of age (1949). My memory of this is trying to avoid being struck by the flying bowling pins. A job benefit,
In addition to 15 cents per lane, was free lane-time at the end of the evening. Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle and a trip down memory lane.
5
@epsdocf - who sets up the pins when the pinsetters are playing those free games?
town with two barbers
5
Needless to say, the “free time“ was limited by the lack of cooperation from some of the older pinsetters. We could also play Bocce Ball on the roof court, weather permitting.
5
@epsdocf
Did you set the pins closer together (or maybe remove a pin or two) for your friends, and farther apart for your enemies?
1
Pedantically, as a former PIN SETTER, the process was as follows:
You would sit between two lanes above the pit where the pins landed. You would then jump into the pit to pick up the pins and put them in the rack. While you were working one lane, another bowler would throw on the other lane and the process would repeat on the other lane.
In a league with 5 players each on 2 teams, 3 games each, you wouls jump (literally) between the two pits between 200-300 times in 2 1/2 hours. The number of times varied depending on the number of strikes vs spares
5
@coloradoz
If my math serves me well, and going by your earlier post, that comes to about a penny a jump!
2
@Andrew
Exactly!
2
@coloradoz
Perhaps this should be obvious, but -- do you need earplugs for that?
1
I’m with those who think this was more of a Monday puzzle than yesterday’s was. But that’s OK with me. I’ll take an unqualified “Solve” any way and any day I can get it.
I can remember a real person at the end of the bowling alley putting pins in the rack.
I can remember when they changed to a machine doing the same job.
I can remember when I used to be able to bowl. (It would be more of a challenge today - - with two “fake” knees and arthritic thumbs.)
re: The alternate themes (and body parts) discussed.
SOME of you people have “dirty minds”!!😜 You know who you are.
7
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Feb 4th 2020
B - P (8), P - E (6)
YESTERDAY:
FUMIGANTS SAROD
FOUNDS SMARTING
FUMIGANT TORNADOS
TURFING GOURMANDS
1
@Mari
T-P(8), P-E(8)
Yesterday FOISTING GUARDSMAN
2
I prefer a confusion of Gnu, rather than herd. Harped Tom, heatedly.
Off to Maine this May, where dining on exoskeletons is a frequent treat. Shout out to Quoddy Lobster in Eastport, Karen’s Korner Pub in Calais and The Grand Lake Stream Store.
Speedy solve. LOL moment was sex ed reference. Back in the day boys and girls had to leave the room when the other’s organs were diagramed. The cafeteria was were we shared notes and diagrams, jointly encouraging some show and tell. Those were the days.
Thank you Queena and Alex
6
@dk: “exoskeletons”:
Whoa! I know some folks like the tomalley, but eating the shell is really hardcore!
2
@dk Wow! You get to the "real" Maine! Those of us who live beyond the Kennebec know where you go!
1
On the other hand, I learned this trick not too long ago...
when you make a shrimp dish, buy the unpeeled shrimp, so you can put all the peels into a little pot of water to simmer down and strain into broth, great flavor for soups, or just for the base of a sauce for the shrimp dish.
6
In today's grid, I loved the word CHICANERY, as well as the casualness of all the first names - TINA, BEN, LUKE, ALF, ANDRE, CRAIG (yes, it's a last name here, but still). I liked the echo to yesterday's theme with The RAM's HORN. I also liked imagining the sound of a horn, triangle, flute, recorder, and organ quintet.
And I enjoyed the little tale the puzzle tripped off in me, involving the ORKIN man and the ANT, with the latter saying OK I'LL BITE, and who consequently will never be able to become OBESE on GUAC.
So, not only a pleasing enough solve, but a jog of the imagination. Thank you, Q&A!
8
Rubik’s enthusiasts are called CUBERs? I thought a better clue would be “Island south of Florida, according to Kennedy?”
18
@Steve L
Is that island anywhere near Arubik?
4
This felt kind of tough early on, but then everything filled in smoothly from the crosses and I actually finished a bit faster than an average Tuesday. Probably the toughest moment was being baffled by SOMANY when I had just SOMA in place from the crosses.
Was surprised that almost all of the theme answers were debuts - SHOEHORNS the only one that wasn't and that has only appeared once before . Even more surprised that even in the singular form, only LOVETRIANGLE (7 times) and SHOEHORN (5 times) had appeared more than two times. TAPERECORDER just twice, and neither CHAMPAGNEFLUTE nor SEXORGAN has ever been in a puzzle.
Besides the theme answers: Wasn't terribly surprised that CUBER and OKILLBITE were both appearing for only the second time, but a bit surprised that the same was true for CHICANERY.
Don't know if all that info is TMI for most readers. If so, I guess I'll have to learn to bite my mousy tongue.
12
I find it interesting and am too lazy to research it myself.
7
@Rich in Atlanta - along with suejean, I am a fan of your dives into the database. Keep them coming!
6
Me three! Love the statistics.
2
For me, a combination of very easy and more complete unknowns than usual on a Tuesday, so it balanced out.
The fun theme definitely helped.
5
Cute puzzle (except for that SCOPE clue). The original idea would have been really fun, though.
My dad was a pin SETTER in the 40's. He had some funny stories about that gig.
4
I wonder who chose that clue for scope.
3
@suejean &Ann
It's been clued similarly only 3 times in 82 previous appearances - 'Rifle attachment' (twice) and 'Aim improver' and never prior to the Shortz era, when it was almost always 'Extent' or 'Range' or something similar.
We'll see what the reaction is today. I guess that will be our own little SCOPEs trial.
7
@Rich in Atlanta Perhaps “halitosis’ worst nightmare” would have been better
6
We really have to band together to solve this one.
(But the theme was sound.)
16
@Mike
I solved alone, so I guess that makes me a one-man band.
9
@Andrew
a puzzle called lone?
2
@Mike
Group sax?
4
SPELLING BEE GRID
Feb 4th MMXX
P A D I R T Y
WORDS: 40, POINTS: 170, PANGRAMS: 1
Starting Letters-Frequencies:
A x 4
D x 3
P x 20
R x 4
T x 8
Y x 1
Word Lengths -Frequencies:
4L x 14
5L x 13
6L x 8
7L x 4
8L x 1
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 Tot
A - 2 1 1 - 4
D 1 1 1 - - 3
P 8 6 4 2 - 20
R 1 1 - 1 1 4
T 4 2 2 - - 8
Y - 1 - - - 1
Tot 14 13 8 4 1 40
(Y-Axis: Starting Letters, X-Axis: Word Lengths, X/Y Co-ordinates: Frequency/Number of Words for that letter and length)
54
@Mari Lots of Y endings, some of words already on list.
Obscure word hints:
Beehive collection
Soviet admin system, usually seen with -chik
Foolish adj.
Prone to leak
Rice field
S Amer. fruit
2 father nicknames
Egyptian writing sheets, plural
Equality
Ward off with a countermove
Musical suite
Salary time or candy bar
ground-dwelling brown songbird
Falafel wrapper
A sound like quick taps, often your heart
UK idiot or fool, or type of fall
Adj. & noun (pangram), speedy
Fascinated
Device to catch yesterday’s tail rodent
Singular Spanish small plate
Cross between hog & anteater in looks
Unsteady or liable to leave gratuities
Containing snares adj.
What LSD makes you, adj.
Small dog sound adj.
27
@Mari
First two letters:
AD-1, AP-3
DI-1, DR-2
PA-14, PI-4, PR-2
RA-4
TA-3, TI-1, TR-4
YA-1
Also counted 7 -PY adjectives among the group. A couple of which I've never heard in vernacular use or otherwise.
21
@Mari and Kevin, thanks. I thought I had hit PAYDIRT for a second pangram, but alas, two words.
36
SPELLING BEE
40 words, 170 points, 1 pangram. Working on hints now.
5
@Kevin Davis See Mari's thread above for hints. This thread is now closed.
Minor nit here. The clue for 25 Down is not accurate. "Vamp" in jazz is to play a repeated harmonic figure (usually one chord, or a short sequence) in advance of the entrance of the main melodic line. Its closest to "ostinato" in classical music. The more common terms for improvising in jazz is "riff" or "blow" or more, rarely (and usually reserved for vocalists), "scat."
16
I was also a bit irked by that clue. As a musician myself, I’ve only known “vamp” in this limited context when the timing of a transition is uncertain, and a bar or set of bars is looped until a cue is given to move on. It might incidentally contain bits of improvisation, but I’ve never heard it as a synonym for “improvise.” Although someone out there must use it that way.
6
@Mark Williams - no, as Crystal and earlier posters have written, "vamp" is never used to mean improvise in jazz or by any musicians.
But "vamp" can mean "improvise" in non-musical settings - a bunch of people who are trying to accomplish something that depends on a time that hasn't yet arrived will vamp to fill the waiting time, they will improvise. A bunch of bank robbers waiting to see the getaway car before a holdup might improvise = vamp to fill the time. But the clue saying "in jazz" made the clue inaccurate.
6
I came up with “riff” also and am not a musician. I would have accepted “scat” but agree the cluing should have been tweaked if “scat” was the right answer.
“Vamp” only came to me from the crosses, and I wasn’t happy when I “got it.”
Fans of Monty Python (and foes of Brexit) might enjoy this illustration from frequent New Yorker cover artist Barry Blitt:
- https://condenaststore.com/featured/silly-walk-off-a-cliff-barry-blitt.html
5
@RichardZ
Don’t be fooled. The brief cases contain concealed personal flotation devices.
Stiff upper lip old chap!!
3
I found today's Mini tough. Never heard of disc golf or putting sauce on pasta and didn't know what a "spin class" is, so only had DIP for first letters and HAN for last letters for the down clues. Well over a minute.
With the main puzzle ACRE and CUT cost me many precious seconds; only after the MUSIC did I recognize the resultant GUAC. And all the things I used to know so well but that hide in my mind now, like where to find minotaurs. But delighted to not only beat my Tuesday average, and increasingly rare event, but by six minutes! Only four minutes slower than my best.
1
@kilaueabart
What do you put on pasta?
4
kilaueabart, I haven't heard of "disc golf or putting sauce," either. My, how the game of golf has changed!
3
@polymath
"putting sauce" - GROAN!
2
I was a PIN SETTER on week ends during my high school days. Ten cents per game - leagues consisted of 5 bowlers per team, 3 games each. A total of 30 games in 2 1/2 hours.
$3.00!. Big money!
15
@coloradoz Wow! Great story. Another job lost to high tech!
5
and Elke
Here's my -ANGLE on this puzzle.
As others have already noted: we have SO MANY sexual allusions- TORCH , LOVETRIANGLES, CHAMPAGNEFLUTES , BRA, -RECORDERS, SEXORGANS e.g. PENI() , HORNS and BTW. I
t reminded me that BANFF National Park * may be thought of as the Western Honeymoon destination-(Niagara Falls being the Eastern one).
That marriage may have started with an AMI and then an EVITE and MUSIC ,but hopefully does not end with a BREXIT , even if there are TAPERECORDS and a SPY.
The glaciers in BANFF are melting fast- so go before they are totally gone:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_National_Park
I GNU this would be fun.
7
@Robert
Did a BIKE ride (pedal, not Harleys) from BANFF to Jasper three different times. Was surprised how much the glaciers receded in 23 years
4
Telemann (contemporary of J.S. Bach) wrote several beautiful pieces that use both the flute and the recorder together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT9O_T_D8WI
Beethoven is largely responsible for adding triangle, cymbals and bass drum to the classical orchestra which previously used only timpani, due to the influence of his 9th Symphony with its "Turkish March":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT9O_T_D8WI
Horns and organ go together, too. Josef Rheinberger wrote his first concerto for Organ solo with 3 horns and string orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr4SnjXBONI
9
@David Connell - that Beethoven link should have been:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zhk1OnaYJg
@David Connell - and, for something completely different, here are two of the world's top cubers doing their thing, Feliks Zemdegs and Mats Valk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFey6mzCF0E
5
@David Connell
Amazing speed. I was able to complete the puzzle one time only in approximately 20 minutes
1
TIL it’s ORKIN not orcon. I had rings before TORCH. Other than that, I zipped right through. The theme helped after a couple entries. My first was triangles, which could have been many things.
3
Did anyone else catch the BEN NEVIS Easter egg in the middle of the puzzle?
6
How is Ben Nevis an Easter egg?
3
Zoe Baker, an "Easter egg" in a video game or video is an unannounced little bonus picture or something that you can see if you know where to look. (Ben Nevis, I just learned, is a mountain in Scotland.)
1
I found the theme to be instrumental in solving today's puzzle.
19
I often try to spot answers that may be debuts. Tonight it was SEX ORGANS, and I was right; and BREXIT, a resounding no, it's the 4th appearance.
2
After reading the Constructor Notes, I thought perhaps another change made to the puzzle by the editors was to change the letter at the intersection of 56A and 44D (and their associated clues). The words I have in mind would definitely have made for an amusing crossing.
5
@RichardZ
Both words have been used before. PEN IS only once, clued "The _____ mightier..." BRISES probably will pass the emu filter, but it was clued both times as "... ballet movements." I didn't know those mohels were so agile.
4
@RichardZ & Kiki Rijkstra
Caught that one too but didn't think the emus would allow it.
“Org. with encoded sculpture on its grounds” would have been a topical clue for CIA:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/29/climate/kryptos-sculpture-final-clue.html
I think I would have preferred the themer clues that Queena and Alex submitted, but they would have made for a thorny Tuesday and I’m not sure the rest of the puzzle was difficult enough for a Wednesday. Maybe with some tweaking of the cluing. (SOMANY sounds like a sleep medication). Loved CHICANERY and the themers had sax appeal.
6
@Puzzlemucker
Or a "horny" Tuesday. I must have been on the constructors wavelength - trying to figure out how all those ending related to SEX ORGANS... Or else I'm still recovering from the Super Bowl halftime show.
5
The music clues helped me forget 9A, and the fact that things exist to aid snipers.
I thought PENIN was a little too close to SEX ORGANS.
The Boris Johnson clue was a little past its best before date.
Enjoyable nonetheless.
6
Boris Johnson is a little past his best before date
20
I would have preferred a different clue for SCOPE.
2
@suejean
Yes, there are many better options.
2
Definitely felt more like a Monday than a Tues to me. Smooth solve didn’t really make for any aha moments but still enjoyable!
1
More like a Monday than a Tuesday time.
Happy belated Brexit Day, by the way.
3
SEXORGANS and BRAS, oh my...
"Breezy"
My only, minor quip: IDNO. Didn't like that abbreviation. PCP, on the other hand, yes please...
2
Are you sure "quip" is the word you're looking for? And PCP is ok for you? Angel dust isn't exactly a pleasant stuff - it's pretty dangerous - not just for the people who take them.
re: SEXORGANS and BRAS...There is also VAMP and LOVE TRIANGLES. Don't forget a certain womanizing SPY played by a certain Mr. CRAIG.
3
@Wen
You got me wordnerd. I thought quip meant minor complaint.
And was definitely joking on the PCP (an unfunny quip)
1
@Newbie
Perhaps that's "quibble"?
6
Yikes, had Sex Orgies instead of Organs for a second and wondered how classes have REALLY changed over the years..
36
The clue for 25D is just wrong. In jazz, the VAMP is a pattern repeated over and over to set the stage for the free-style playing. it’s often the only part that is *not* improvised.
36
@Alan Young - you got here before me, but this needs to be underlined! "Vamp till ready" means exactly the opposite of improvising!
17
Nice one! Not too hard or too easy. It’s a shame it didn’t stick with the original intent, but I enjoyed solving it anyway! :)
3
Tape recorder? You can’t even buy tapes anymore.
2
@Paul - but you can certainly still buy recorders.
5
You didn’t play hot crossed buns in school?
3
@Paul
Yes you can!! I’ve got several cases full of cassette recordings that I haven’t gotten around to tossing. I’ll make you one heck of a deal if you’re interested.
First I had some 45’s.
Then I had some LP’s.
Then I had 1/4” reel to reel tapes.
Then I had Phillips cassettes.
Then I had CD’s.
NOW I just have my iPhone, the Cloud and some WiFi speakers.
What’s next?? Vulcan mind melds with a space-based neural network that just “knows” what I want to listen to???
5