I rarely disagree with you Will shortz because you have a great line of defense when I have, but you missed this one absolutely. The first thing you learn in umpiring school if that an Umpire never yells fair ; only foul.
Etonic?! Really?
š
15
why is vertex recycling puzzles?
1
@slightlycrazy
They fixed a problem that some of us were having that caused us to have to repeat the intro puzzles every day. To do that, they reset things, so you'll have to do the intro puzzles one more time, then it should work normally.
@JayTee - I had stopped playing vertex due to this problem. After a few days of letting them fix the problem, I came back to it, and was stuck back at the beginning again. I decided to just power through the opening puzzles -- and after too many of them, I just threw in the towel. Done with vertex.
1
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. Very fun Monday!
3
Ice ax? Not ice axe?
And Etonic is not a big name in athletic shoes.
I didnāt like ad fee either. Who calls it that?
19
Loved the theme, enjoyed most of the fill. Two Naticks for me, one that probably wasn't for anybody else, mattress company meets wrap company, neither of which is particularly known outside of the USA.
I also never heard of Alec Waugh, which is on me. Still, if there ever was a good time to get the eldest Baldwin into a puzzle, it's on a Monday crossing with a shoe company that doesn't seem that well known even in the USA.
4
The recently closed MONET exhibit in Denver was spectacular.120 paintings, including several of London, which I had not known of previously
3
Terrible Monday puzzle, full of glue, full of dated clues/answers and a boring theme to boot.
Also, ALEC/ETONIC is the worst Natick I've seen in this puzzle in a long time. Never heard of ALEC Waugh or ETONIC shoes. Not great on the editing front.
19
@Caitlin, here's something indirect for you to hang your ALEC Waugh hat on. Can't think of a better intro than a bit of vintage Belafonte.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwfCFBnDjvs
1
@Leapfinger Thanks for that LITTLE EXTRA! Belafonte warmed my HEART in that one
2
Is the crossword selling sponsorships clues? Because the only reason I can think of Etonic being called "a big name in athletic shoes" is if they paid to be called that.
Because they have absolutely got to be the least known name in athletic shoes. As in, my whole office just learned they even exist after we were baffled by the answer to that clue.
8
Here you go
https://outsons.com/history-of-etonic/
2
Have to agree that it was a harder than usual Monday. I was a few minutes over my usual Monday time when I hit the dreaded So Close! popup. It took me another 20 minutes to identify that it was ALEC/ETONIC no X!
3
Edgy clues. Alex Waugh is an author and Etonix is a clothing brand.
1
Speede: x ā> c
and Elke
What a coincidence-- the day after a puzzle with impossible (to me) to read emojis, we have a puzzle designed by an ophthalmologist. Dr. Haight- if there are any optometrists in your practice, can they use the Sunday puzzle as a new fun test ?
5
In the original Neil Simon script, the name was "Felix Ungar." Not sure if or when it got changed to "Unger."
4
@LP Stevenson
Apparently, it was UNGAR in the play, but UNGER in the TV show. Since the TV show had a much longer run than the play, UNGER is the more commonly used spelling.
But I guess if they needed an A, they would have used UNGAR.
5
I wouldnāt say it was too hard for a Monday at all, but it did have a little extra challenge. I was familiar with MOIL, (from The Cremation of Sam McGee), so that helped. I liked the movie puns. šš¬ Especially right after the Oscars.
4
Moil is familiar to me because of the Robert Service poem 'The Cremation of Sam McGee.'
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold.....
As a former teacher, I taught the poem annually.
10
Thatās where I knew it from too! My mother loved those poems and I memorized Cremation of Sam McGee when I was young.
2
Sylvia and Shari,
If you scroll down to the earliest comments, you will find a highly recommended recitation...
@Barry Ancona The problem is reading the previous 260+ clues. I usually try to scan them so as not to be repetitive, but I'm not always successful.
Didnāt post yesterday.
TGIM
ššā¤ļø
1
Submitted 7:00 pm Sunday
Appeared 11:00 am Monday
š
1
Andrew,
I'll bet the emus were suspicious of that four-letter reference to the day of the week.
š
this sign is in Andrew's initial post.
It is very rude in parts of the world.
That's probably what it was -
though, no, wait, emojis are so direct and unambiguous, that couldn't have been it!
Could it?
shrug shrug
2
I am getting a little tired of seeing the same clues (and answers) appear across the mini, daily and Sunday puzzles, sometimes on consecutive days. Lazy editing! Your only job is to take the work of others and make it better. Why not summon the energy to not make it a lot like the other puzzles? Iām sure many constructors have had their submissions rejected for lack of originality. Same rule should apply to the editorial staff.
2
@Xwordgirl I think the Monday's and Tuesday's clues are often repetitive because they are geared to teach the most common clues to neophytes. They are not the most exciting days of the week, but others probably dread the end of the week.
9
@Xwordgirl
[whew!] I'm willing to have you try to 'summon the energy' to feel less tired, and maybe that will help you take some of the harsh out of your words.
I not sure you appreciate what it involves to have your 'only job' be to 'take the work of others and make it better' or [more to the point] to guide them into making it better.
Myself, I often wonder why this universe wasn't created more to my liking.
1
For anybody who chose an X over the C at the ALEC/ETONIC cross, I've got a sound effect for you: Waugh Waugh.
I like that Bruce's puzzles always look on the BRIGHT SIDE. Maybe it's because of his profession (optometrist). He has a good outlook on everything!
Thank you, Bruce!
15
Thanks to the font used for this site, every time I saw MOIL mentioned, I thought I was being addressed....
DHubby is improving, but things are still time-intensive. I'm doing the puzzles, but seldom get to visit for more than a brief time. Missing out, but resigned to that for now.
12
Everyone seems to think this Monday was a little harder than average, but for me it was a smooth solve. Although COUNTNOSES was a new phrase for me (thought initially it would be COUNTheads). And ETONIC was also completely unknown to me. I can also confirm that, among my fellow millennials, we use the term CAB IT "on the reg."
1
CREWCUT reelly gave me a buzz!!
(Good thing I had on a filmy negligee)
4
@Leapfinger OH MY!
1
@Leapfinger
Good choice. I opted for the KEG and got wasted.
2
I read the clue again when I had A LITTLE E -- and nothing came to me. When A LITTLE EXTRA came in, I said "Aha!" and actually chuckled. Nice. I'm wondering if that was the first impulse towards coming up with the theme? I must go read Bruce and find out.
I found the other theme answers bland and uninspired. But this was a bit harder than the usual Monday and I liked that aspect of the puzzle.
MOIL for "drudgery in older usage"? It must be very, very, very, very old usage. Like maybe back in the 14th Century. When did MOIL morph into TOIL, I'm wondering?
@Nancy - moil and toil have totally different origins - moil has a common root with the beloved word "moist" = wettish. In the case of moil, it always means working to the point of sweating, getting wet from labor.
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=moil
Moil peaked in the 1630s and was nearly gone by the 1830s, so folks who don't read literature from those years might not have ever seen it:
https://tinyurl.com/sjdv829
Most people would agree about not liking "oi" words: moil, toil, moist, foist. Most people avoid them woids.
13
David,
They're the woist!
13
@Nancy
Glad to see you've made your way back here! I couldn't bring myself to read the hundreds of posts yesterday, as I didn't have a lot of good things to say, and figured that everything would have been said many times over. I did take a trip over to RP expressly to read your post, and was most surprised to see that you gave it a rave! Hope you stay here so I don't have to go to that other place!
1. No one in Chicago calls it "Chi-town".
2. Midi skirts hit at mid-calf, not "just below the knee".
5
@JoanP
Yes, as with 'Cincy' and 'Frisco'....only people who don't really know the city would say that. Or they just don't know how to spell 'Cincinnati.'
2
@Mean Old Lady - this inevitable talk I knew would arise as soon as Chi-town appeared always, always brings me back to this bit from Music Man:
https://youtu.be/xV7ZcVFSWWU?t=87
"We say it now and then, but we don't like anybody else to."
Amen, sister.
1
1. No one in Chicago calls it "Chi-town".
JoanP,
I don't think the constructor or editors are in Chicago.
2
My five favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Daily run, for short? (5)
2. Racketeer's org.? (4)
3. Where a batter eventually goes to the plate? (4)
4. Sty inhabitants (5)
5. Looked over slides at home, say (5)
MTWTF
USTA
IHOP
SLOBS
UMPED
10
A fun puzzle that slowed me down a bit as I figured out the theme entries. Nice to learn the phrase "cab it" and to encounter the unusual and interesting word "moil" (though am a bit surprised to see it on Monday). (Also a bit surprised that an umpire would call a ball "fair" ā though "Ump's call" could also mean "Ump's decision," which seems more likely.)
Moil, according to Merriam-Webster*, is an intransitive verb meaning "to work hard" or "to be in continuous agitation, to churn or swirl" and is also a noun meaning "hard work, drudgery" or "confusion, turmoil." In case you were interested.
* For some reason my go-to dictionary, American Heritage, has been triggering security warnings on my computer lately, so I can't consult it online.
Terrible time for me as I didnt know the shoe company in SW had toil before MOIL and all in all this was very time consuming for a Monday for me. This is a Tuesday puzzle for sure.
2
Iāll join the chorus of ātough Monday.ā Much slower solve than usual for me, too. Fills like ETONIC and MOIL also JABBED at me, making me think the constructor wanted to SETTLEASCORE that Monday puzzles could be HARSH. He won. However, it was the type of Monday Iād like again sometime.
2
TIL "moil". TIW (today I wondered), "Is 'moil' a Monday word?"
Figuring it out from the crosses was not drudgery, so I guess it's ok for a Monday. :-) All the movie references were nice today.
2
@dlr - MOIL is a Monday TIL word. š
3
That was a challenging and amusing puzzle! I liked that every answer could be filled in by crosses, so that AIWA and ALEC held me up but didn't defeat me.
Such a perfect theme for the day after the Oscars!
5
I can't download the puzzle to across lite today
Hmmmph!! Iāll have to downgrade to a āsolveā. (No capital āSā.)
For some weird reason, I just refused to believe that ICE AX could possibly be correct. (I wanted ICE AXE instead.)
And I wanted a ābig nameā in Japanese consumer electronics. Hence AIWA did not emerge from the depths.
So I used ONELOOK.COM to find that AX is OK - after which the NW fell into place.
And the clue for CREW CUT was just āstrangeā!!
That whole process took me over my average for Monday.
Complaint Department:
If I NEVER see a reference to a certain female supporting undergarment in my puzzles again, it will be TOO SOON!
We never see references to a certain male supporting undergarment - - and itās got to be at least as interesting from the standpoint of construction. 3 out of 4 good Scrabble-point letters.
5
@PeterW - I guess this is as good a place as any to say that, for those in the audio business (musicians who need microphones, tape cassettes and speakers), AIWA is a huge name, that carried for decades a big part of that industry. Yes, it was bought by Sony (the point of capitalism is to put good people out of work, n'est-ce-pas?) and later destroyed by it (see above parenthetical). But in the biz, Aiwa is no obscurity.
@PeterW
You had me running to Jeff Chen's site, looking for undergarments. Here are some interesting facts:
All references (6) to BRIEFS in the Shortz Era refer to undergarments.
All references (12) to BRIEFS in the Pre-Shortz puzzles refer to lawyers.
All references (1) to BOXERS in the Shortz Era refer to undergarments.
All references (4) to BOXERS in the Pre-Shortz puzzles refer to dogs or to grown men punching each other.
I find that interesting on multiple levels. BRIEFS or BOXERS? Shortz prefers shorts.
BRA has appeared 309 times, almost always as either a bikini, swimsuit, or undergarment. My favourite clue: "Unmentionable" in the Victorian Era.
The times, they are a-changin'...
2
@Andrew
Yeah! But the genesis for this conversation still BUGS me!
Spending the winter in Iowa to help my 97 year old MIL. She was pleased to see her name, IONA, in the puzzle. She works the daily crossword in the Waterloo newspaper
10
coloradoz,
Does her paper come by courier?
(That question won't register with most people.)
2
@Barry Ancona šš
Possibly it comes thru Fort Dodge by a messenger guarded by a sentinel from Maquoketa. Or a herald from Grinnell
2
coloradoz,
In 1969, before I was drafted, I was the editor of The Times.
The Cedar Valley Daily Times
4
Letterbox: J-S (7) S-Z (6)
4
@Amy
Not sure I would have gotten that without your hint. Thanks Amy.
Yesterday:
BANQUET TOUCHIER
Letter Boxed answer:
ABORT TECHNIQUE
2
@Amy
I had the same. Quite sure thatās the only two-worder!
@Lou
I find the NYT solution the TOUCHIER of the two.
1
What happened to the emoji clues?? š
š
š
Aaah, there they are... š
Happy to be back in CT after a week on beautiful Tybee Island GA. The weather was in the 70s and sunny most of the week. Anyone looking for a nice house in CT? LOL
The grid was fun today, and topical of course due to the Academy Awards last night. I did have a slight issue in the SW (I've never heard of ETONIC shoes, but their website claims that they have been around since 1876!) and crossing that with ALEC Waugh (interesting cluing that name with an author who is best described as being Evelyn's older brother). Aside from that though, it was a smooth solve completed in my customary Monday time frame.
Kudos Bruce, Will and Team, and Deb for your usual friendly guidance!
1
:A little extra": is my favorite.
Is this the first time for Usain Bolt? such a great name for crossword setters
1
@Jim in Forest Hills This is the 9th appearance of USAIN. USAINBOLT has appeared 3 times.
@Jim in Forest Hills
Bolt is a great name for a runner also.
I liked the First Name mini theme: FERN, JACK, TONY, ABE, ALEC, ANN, and the rarer ESAU and LURCH. I'm also guessing I'm not the only one who had TOIL before MOIL. And I liked having TONY (as in Randall) in the same puzzle with UNGER.
All in all, a most pleasing puzzle, IMO, on the BRIGHT SIDE.
10
On the tough side for a Monday. There was a point where I thought I actually might not complete it but, like suejean, my guesses were correct.
Last week was my worst week ever - ended it with a five day losing streak (by my rules - I don't allow look-ups on Wednesday). Not a real promising start to this week, but we'll see.
5
This was cute and I enjoyed a bit more puzzling on a Monday. But.
Sorry to be cranky about this but a midi skirt does not reach to just below the knee. It's meant to reach mid-calf (or mid-shin if measured from the front), hence the name. Mid-calf on my rather short legs is about 15 cm/6 in below my knee--not what can accurately be called "just below the knee."
I had no trouble with the answer but it did give me that sinking feeling I get when a clue is more than misdirection, it's flat-out incorrect. Play fair, gentlemen.
6
@Leslie A quick Google shows a consensus that a midi skirt can be anything that hits between the knee and the ankle. This would make a skirt that hits just below the knee a midi, but not all midis hit just below the knee.
3
@Leslie
Iām no fashionista - - but I think I recall that, first we had the āMiniā. Then, what used to be called a ālong skirtā became a āMaxiā. THEN, somebody decided to make something that was in the MIDDLE of these two lengths (exact length unspecified). Hence, the āMaxiā.
What I donāt understand is why we have mensā pants that are mid-calf - - - or WHY anyone would actually WEAR them.
1
@PeterW
Apparently the Pirate Kings found the mid-calf, full-cut trousers worked well...
Agreed with others that the theme answers were fun but this was a rather challenging Monday, and MOIL was at best a Wednesday word. But remember what the Mamas and the Papas said: "Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day...."
9
Along with being movie-themed, it seems today's puzzle was also brand-themed! There was a rat control brand crossed with a clothing brand, which also crossed with a electronics brand. And a kitchen wrap brand crossed with a mattress brand. And they weren't connected, but throw in a shoe brand, a TV station and the branding of the US government's PreCheck program too!
Also difficult for an international audience: A small city crossed with a cup size where any letter would work. Whew!
12
@Aarglefarg
There are only a FEW letters that āworkā in front of CUP - - - thank God!!
I mean - - - can you imagine a Q CUP?!?!?!
@PeterW
No, but I can imagine a Q-TIP...or a K-CUP:
https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Variety-Sampler-Brewers-Selection/dp/B00K2RY8GI
1
@Steve L
After extensive "research", I learned that K-CUP is not exclusively a coffee-related term.
@PeterW
Don't look it up. I'm afraid that you may never recover.
1
SPELLING BEE GRID
Feb 10th MMXX
KĀ BĀ CĀ IĀ OĀ RĀ W
WORDS:Ā 23, POINTS:Ā 79, PANGRAMS: 1
Starting Letters-Frequencies:
B x 6
C x 7
K x 3
R x 3
W x 4
Word Lengths -Frequencies:
4L x 14
5L x 5
8L x 3
9L x 1
Grid:
4 5 8 9 Tot
B 2 2 1 1 6
C 3 3 1 - 7
K 3 - - - 3
R 3 - - - 3
W 3 - 1 - 4
Tot 14 5 3 1 23
(Y-Axis: Starting Letters, X-Axis: Word Lengths, X/Y Co-ordinates: Frequency/Number of Words for that letter and length)
NOTE: Apologies to all for being 'AWOL' at the weekend from my usual early grid-posting. I was in hospital due to an illness which came on suddenly.
Because of the illness, and the treatment which will follow over the next months, I will have different priorities for the next while, and can't commit to reliably posting the grid every morning (GMT) as I have done for the past 6 months or so.
Therefore this will be my last early grid-posting for now. I will look in on the 'Hive' from time to time, as I will miss the online camaraderie of this lovely group. For now- 'au revoir' and happy Bee-ing!
121
@Mari I'm so sorry to hear about your illness. I missed you these last days and had hoped it wasn't something like that. Best wishes for your treatment and your rapid return to health and the hive!
56
@Mari Feel better! :)
BO -3 BR-3
CO-4 CR-3
KI-2 KO-1
RI-1 RO-2
WI-1 WO-2
Lots of compounds!
17
@Jodie Futornick
Actually. WI-2 WO-2
6
As noted by most, a bit tougher than usual for a Monday, but all my guesses were correct and I managed to start my streak. All the theme answers made me smile.
My post never got in yesterday so Iāll try again:
Although not my cup of tea āļø, I think itās fun to try different things occasionally.
3
Hi suejean,
Your post yesterday *did* get in:
https://nyti.ms/2OJhy3w#permid=105116113
2
Thank, Barry
@suejean
I think it's fun to try different things occasionally as well.
That's why yesterday I had a Pinot Noir instead of my usual Cabernet Sauvignon. ;-)
SPELLING BEE
23 words 79 points 1 pangram
2
@Kevin Iām one short!
@Kevin Davis I'll leave it to someone else to make the grid and 2-letter starts as it's too much effort for me and I want to leave something for others to contribute. I'll work on my clues now, and if you don't want to read them before less specific hints, you should be able to scroll past them without seeing anything.
4
SPELLING BEE GRID
K B C I K O R W
WORDS: 23, POINTS: 79, PANGRAMS: 1
First character frequency:
B x 6
C x 7
K x 3
R x 3
W x 4
Word length frequency:
4L: 14
5L: 5
8L: 3
9L: 1
Grid:
4 5 8 9 TOT
R: 3 - - - 3
C: 3 3 1 - 7
B: 2 2 1 1 6
K: 3 - - - 3
W: 3 - 1 - 4
TOT: 14 5 3 1 23
Two letter list:
RI-1 RO-2
CO-4 CR-3
BO-3 BR-3
KI-2 KO-1
WI-2 WO-2
7
IONA degree I don't use.
(Did I waste my MONET?)
25
@Mike
ITS OK. You shouldn't be so HARSH on yourself! Look at the BRIGHT SIDE! I think it's WORTH A SHOT to look for a job that takes advantage of your degree, and if you give A LITTLE EXTRA, you're sure to be in the MONET in no time! So get yourself a CREW CUT, and when you walk into the interview they will do a DOUBLE TAKE. You'll EXHALE with relief when they COUNT NOSES and you're among the happily employed at the ETONIC front office!
4
@Mike
A little late but I think your Doctor of Punology degree was well worth it.
2
A little tougher than a usual Monday, but still very GETtable. I liked the puns in the themers, and the only answers I wasn't exactly sure about until confirmed by crossings were ALEC and MOIL.
A fun crossword to go with the Oscars. I felt it was just a hair more difficult than the average Monday. In fact, it took 1 minute 40 seconds longer than my Monday average.
i thought this was hard for a monday. in fact it felt about as hard to me as yesterdayās sunday (which yes, was an easier sunday). i was curious to compare ā so i went back and counted the total number of entries in each, and found that todayās has just over half as many as yesterdayās, 78 vs. 145, and my time was just slightly over half my time yesterday, 10.45m vs 19.25m (my new best time on that latter one, to be clear ā iām not usually that quick with a sunday). and since i went this far, i calculated my time per clue in seconds ā math nerd here ā turns out i was actually very slightly slower today than yesterday!
1
Math nerd here as well, so thanks for this extra bit of fun. Unfortunately not a word nerd, so yesterday took me almost 5 times as long as today, even though it was my fastest Sunday ever, and my first Sunday without peeking at the answer key (although a few proper name googles I couldnāt ascertain from crosses). Thanks for the extra analytic idea (I think š¤š)
When I didn't get the music, I decided MARSHY sounded better than tARSHY. There were a lot of answers that a year or so ago I would have had instantly. Today I needed crosses. USAIN, SARAN, AIWA, DECON, etc. I think CABIT was the only new thing.
Part of the reason it now seems so long to do these things is that using a pen is so much faster than scrolling and clicking with a mouse. I keep writing in the wrong places!
3
Well, looking at my comment I found another new one. DECON for DCON! :-)
Just a little tough for a Monday, and I like it. Thank you, Bruce!
10
Maybe it was just us, but we thought the āmovie munchkinā clue for āa little extraā lacked sensitivity.
8
@Wendi Miller
Munchkin was not capitalized in the clue, so it didn't refer to specific movie roles. I've used the term a lot in the past to refer to young children, and because they tend to put a lot of stuff in their mouths, the term is apt.
9
@WendyMiller
Yes, it was
I continually rail about disability sensitivity in these crosswords.
This even more so if you read about the treatment and exploitation of the actors who played the Munchkins in the movie
3
I'm missing the insensitivity. Last I checked, "little person" is one of the accepted terms, so whether the clue refers to children or Oz characters, what's the problem?
(I don't think the clue and answer should be kept out of the puzzle because it reminds some solvers that the actors who played the Munchkins were poorly treated.)
2
How many competitors does HBO have? Last week it was TMC (I originally entered SHO). This week its SHO (I entered TMC!!)
11
Sunday's was frustrating. Icons were too small to see on my laptop; I can't imagine trying it on an iPhone. I wonder if others struggled with that aspect as well.
2
K. C.,
You might want to read the Sunday comments...
2
@K. C. Yes and I have an iPad!
1
@Barry Ancona Also possible that K.C. Doesnāt want to read the Sunday comments and may even have better things to do.
Speaking only for myself, but I often just have time enough to drop in quickly...
1
There were some punny clues that I enjoyed today. It was slightly slower than my average Monday. I had to change ken to GET, and without crosses I never would have gotten AIWA, ETONIC, MIDI, or MOIL.
1
Something in this puzzle is especially cool:
Five adjoining letters in SETTLE A SCORE anagram to OSCAR!
17
@Lewis
Nice!
5
Hi Bruce,
Given the theme, I was surprised SARAN wasn't clued as "That's a wrap!"
8
CREdits instead of CREWCUT really messed me up in tbe center for a while. Thought maybe this Monday puzzle was leaning toward Tuesdayish, but thought the themers clever.
6
@vaer
CREWCUT was my favourite answer in this puzzle, not least because the workers listed seldom get the credit they deserve.
Annoying puzzle. Over my usual Monday time by a factor of three. Swampy for MARSHY didn't help, and the SW corner was a little nasty.
2
@Blue Moon I had swampy before MARSHY at first, but I quickly corrected it once I filled in ARREST.
@OboeSteph
I put down MARSHY and then immediately thought, "Oh, it's probably SWAMPY instead," but I left it there. Usually I have it wrong, but this time I guessed the right one!
Good timing with the oscars going live
44D. Had no idea Etonic sneakers was still around. Does anyone wear them?
1
Yes-my wife does on recommendation of her podiatrist.
I have to ask: what is the deal with EKE ing *by*? Google Ngram confirms my intuition that this is a much rarer construction in print than EKE *out*āso much rarer that I'm tempted to call it an error, conflating the phrases "eke out" and "squeak by". I've shrugged it off in past puzzles as a slight misdirection, but that excuse fails on Monday, when clues are typically straightforward. Is this just a Will Shortz quirk, or a venerable crossword tradition, or maybe a modern internetism that has thus far eluded me?
4
M,
I see "out" more frequently too, but M-W shows "by" and "past" as examples.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eke
@Barry Ancona It's not that I don't believe anyone uses it (it does appear in Google Books, after all, and I'm enough of a descriptivist to think it should therefore be in M-W). It's just that I think the usage is rare enough that it's a weird choice for the go-to clue, especially on a Monday when I'd expect something more straightforward like "barely acquires, with 'out'." I'm just wondering if there's an explanation.
2
@m completely agree with you, have noticed it in the past, and noticed it today since as you mentioned itās a monday and thereās no reason it couldnāt have been clued ā...with āoutāā, the far more common construction.
1
I did an archived Thursday puzzle today by Joe Krozel (6/4/15) that was a āfake Schrodinger puzzleā because it seemed as though some of the entries had two possible correct answers, though it turned out that only one was correct. One of the āfake Shrodingerā entries was TOIL/MOIL, clued by āWork hard.ā Only vaguely recalled seeing MOIL before, but now there it is again.
Upper right corner could be the Neil Simon corner with āBILOXI Bluesā and Felix UNGER. Jordan Peeleās two films, GET OUT and US(AIN) are nearby. And Spike, or Ang, LEE sort of appears in ALITT(LEE)XTRA.
6
@Puzzlemucker
I'm going glom onto your comment to say go with Spike. His production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is kind of over there in the west.
1
@vaer
That works for me. Looked for a female director but couldnāt find one. (Just like the Oscars).
3
@Puzzlemucker
To repeat from one of my posts yesterday, there was one in Sunday's puzzle. Penny Marshall.
Since there were over 400(!) comments on the Sunday puzzle by the time I completed it, Iāll just say here that it was enjoyable, clever, and different.
The Monday puzzle is quite crunchy and a nice nod to movie making. Funniest fill to me was the TV SET, an appliance with a screen and remote. I canāt remember when we quit adding āSETā to TVs, but it happened. We have added screens and remotes to everything from vehicles to refrigerators, though.
What a magical world...
š
21
@Just Carol I didn't have time to read the comments on Sunday's puzzle, but I'm guessing bu the high quantity there was a lot of complaining. I liked it!
4
@Just Carol ,
My first reaction to 6D was "Screen and a remote? Isn't that everything?" Meanwhile many of us watch "TV" on a computer or phone, the one thing without a remote!
3
@Adina The use of appliance confused me. I never considereda television to be an appliance. Who still refers to their television as "tv set"?
1
Fun and appropriate for the day, but it felt a little chewier than most Mondays.
I've always loved this Tom Rush cover of a Jesse Winchester song: https://youtu.be/fZoZJM_IDFw
9
@Liz B
Thatās a great song. Ted Hawkins also did a nice cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciHIzjIvsnE
1
@LizB
That was lovely.
2
Another movie puzzle ... but not one emoji in sight.
3
@Barry Ancona Did yours not render either?!
1
@Barry Ancona 42D ā
3
Took a while to get how BRIGHT SIDE was an Optometrist's view. Although my optometrist seems to have an optimist's view. And maybe I need spectacles to read the clues correctly
6
@coloradoz I'm solving on the Android app and it says "Optimist's perspective." Where do you see "Optometrist's view?"
OboeSteph,
I believe he initially misread the clue...
3
@OboeSteph
See Barry's explanation
6
From North by Northwest, the cafeteria scene at Mt. Rushmore. At about 1:40 into the clip, there is A LITTLE EXTRA wearing a blue shirt (behind Eve Marie Saint) who performs A LITTLE EXTRA action which seems to imply that this scene had been retaken a few times, and he's grown tired of the loud noise that comes next.
https://youtu.be/L7YVcnBbeeI
11
My post was not accepted for reasons I canāt fathom.
Todayās puzzle was a pleasant (early) start to the week. Thanks, Bruce.
3
@Andrew
Sometimes if you give the Emus the side eye, they will eat your post instead of publishing it...
1
@Andrew
I have recently found on a few occasions that my comment would not publish, despite no obvious cause for alarum that I could identify.
If I chopped up the comment, trying to localize the ānaughty bitā, all the cut-up parts would come through without delay. I could never understand why that made a difference because I had always stayed within the character limit.
Maybe the Emus sometimes just want their food cut up for them.
Better than average Monday.
3
Under "Tricky Clues" I would also add 45D (which sounds like a homophone of the person who performs a circumcision).
6
Pretty rough for a Monday. There were plenty of gettable bits for new folks, but MOIL? AIWA? Even the clue for LURCH is obscure.
5
From a childhood memory, from poet Robert W. Service: The Cremation of Sam McGeeā
There are strange things done in the midnight sun,
by the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
...
20
Nice, fun monday puzzle!
5
Lots of Naticks here IMO
7
Ron,
Really? Where are they?
3
@Barry Ancona
The one that stymied me was mattress brand crossed with kitchen wrap. Non-USA solver. I expect it. š¤·āāļø
9
Bml,
Understood. I wouldn't know Australian mattress or kitchen wrap brands. But I both brands are available in Seattle and, I'd guess, wherever else Ron's reco's came from. Some folks may be using Natick to mean a hard word; I didn't think there were any hard words crossed with other hard words (i.e., a Natick) for people in or familiar with the U.S.A.
2
Sunday movie theme. Monday movie theme. Oscars tonight.
Sensing a pattern here?
4
@Steve L
Tuesday will be the "Oscar Wrap Up" theme highlighting the winners!
1
@Steve Faiella
Is that SARAN Wrap Up?
1