Clever theme; some difficulty with SW corner.
Great solve! Love the mythology creativity.
Spelling Bee misses again.
What's wrong with "barratry?"
Tell Sam Ezersky to get a real dictionary.
Notice that the word WEB appears in the center of the puzzle. Lots of games throughout.
If HADES is a god, then I submit my thematic plea to America:
ThRow the bUM out, People!
4
What a fun solve!
A Greek god, a Roman god, and a Norse god walk into a bar...
6
@Steve L đ I'd like to hear the punchline of that!
1
Clever theme idea! I enjoyed the puzzle.
2
I enjoyed seeing HERMETIC placed at right angles to LOVECONQUERSALL (VENUS) and DEATHAND TAXES (HADES). Brushing up on my mythology, I learned again that Hermes was a communications god, his main function being that of psychoPOMP or mediator between the mortal and divine worlds and conductor of souls to the afterlife. He was also a fertility god (transmission again), and as such often graced Greek doorways in a state of permanent arousal: rigor mortis, you might say. Love and death/war are symmetrically paired in 17A and 54A. Latin AMO fittingly hangs at right angles to WARTOENDALLWARS (ARES), harking back to 17A while hinting slyly at AMM)O.
3
Thank you, Fidelio. I noticed the HERMETIC, but that's as far as I went. I appreciate your extension of the opening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLARIBfcL0
@Leapfinger
Leapy:
Thanks so much for the link. A rare treat.
@Fidelio
Not only that, but we can be quietly proud of Nicky as one of our home-grown. He was at CFS with my daughter.
Letter Boxed finally a new one!
B-H (8), H-E (6)
3
@Lou
Ditto.
1
@Lou
At last !
B - S (7), S - H (6) 2nd word is a herb
A - S (6), S - E (8)
1
@Lou
B-H(8), H-R(7)
1
Just adding my name to the (I'm sure long) list of folks who have pointed out that Thor was not a Greek or Roman god but a Norse god -- and also of Flushing.
1
@Michael
I follow you, but I bet there are a lot of people scratching their heads, reading that.
@Steve L
Or tossing their locks.
1
So, I'm looking at 17A and decided to do a quick check: the actual Latin is OMNIA VINCIT AMOR -- and -- count the letters! Right. That could have made for a more interesting fill....
Fun puzzle. Too bad we can't achieve peace through warts.....
1
I had GAPE for GAZE. I could not figure out why an egg carton would say ONEDOPEN in it. I kept reading it as ONE D OPEN. After a minute I realized and the puzzle was done.
1
@Mr. Mark I made the same mistake and being unfamiliar with BATGUANO, I wondered if OK'ED OPEN was a phrase on my egg carton I'd somehow missed. Thankfully, logic prevailed (although is ONE DOZEN really a phrase?)
NOO(!)DGE
1
@Nathan I know! But you have to give a little leeway for Anglicized words.
@Nathan
NOODGE, NOODGE! Wink, wink!!
1
I LOVED seeing the gods nested into their related phrases. After I got Thor, I was able to fill in the others even though it was fairly early on in the puzzle. What an absolute delight.
My only minor quibble is the word NOODGE, which I'd never seen before. I was so surprised to get the "Congratulations" message when I finally got it based on crosses.
8
@kat
I had typo-ed SSNn and was then left assumming NOODGE was wrong as it was my last fill and couldn't make sense of it. Frustrating.
1
@kat
Did anyone think to add:
lovEaRrOwS?
3
Two quibbles: yesterday's Letter Boxed is still up; no new puzzle today. And I typed in "oryx" in the Spelling Bee yesterday and it was not accepted. Why not?
3
@stephanie hainsfurther The vagaries of words accepted and rejected in the Spelling Bee are legion. Of course oryx is a wordâas are lantana, canna, and many others that are rejected. On the other end of the spectrum, the Bee gladly takes âwordsâ such as gonna and dunno. You just have to grin and bear it.
7
56D: Any others who want to draw the line here, chip in. I think a monogram is that three letter combo, first initial of the last name is in the middle. So the answer I had was ROE. (I knew Ransom, looked up the rest). REO are "initials" not monograms. And for that stubborness, with other factors, I'm on a -3 day streak. *sigh*
1
Lon,
There are practices, but the definition doesn't specify an order, and I have a monogram even though I don't have a middle name or initial.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monogram
2
@Lon
Yes, REO is the monogram. A monogram may be rendered many ways, including small R large O small E, but REO in the same size letters is used at least as often.
Somebody asked if there might be other themers. I may be duplicating answers that I didn't see, but thought of a couple.
From the Norse, the GOD of Mischief:
LOve and KIsses
From the Incan, the Head Dude
INTImate
Both suitable for a Valentine's warmup
The Mayan and Aztec GODs would be more challenging to hide:
VIRACOCHA
MAMAQUILLA
QUETZALCOATL
TEZCATLIPOCA
Although I have a feeling some twisted Magyar mind in Queens County NY would find a way to imply that CorTEZ once designed an OCArina suitably modified to be played by a musically-adapted feline
5
@Leapfinger
So sorry. I was just hiding the GOD's name in a phrase, not tying in with an attribute, except perhaps very peripherally.
Alas, I MEANT well.
3
@Leapfinger
I had come up with: lovEaRrOwS as a 1st and 2nd word reference
1
Yes, I just saw that now, and was impressed. I've said it before and I'll say it again: You're a better man than I am, Gunga Bob!
Pretty quick solve for me, with just enough ambiguity to make it feel like a Wednesday. I thought the theme was very clever. As for the discussion about circled letters, I donât purposely ignore the circles when I solve, but for this one I didnât really think about them much until I got to the revealer at 62A. Then it was a nice aha moment. But I believe David Connell may be right, that taking them into consideration during the solve might be enlightening.
I'm hungry for Thai food. Let's take a wok.
(I'm going stir-fry crazy.)
10
Granted Iâm not as up on slang as I used to be, but Iâve never heard THE OLDS before and if thatâs a real slang term, I weep for the future.
4
Rebecca,
Oh, please! What did your parents or grandparents have to say about the slang terms of your youth?
11
@Barry Ancona
I much prefer The Olds to the elderly.
3
@vaer
Agree. And if tots are littles, "olds" is better than "the bigs."
3
Like Deadline I think of Lincoln on February 12.
2
@suejean - I think of Lincoln every time I look at a Republican.
And then I shake my head.
10
@David Connell A few months ago I saw a bumper sticker with a picture of Lincoln and the caption:
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.
12
@David Connell
And who would JFK endorse in that clown car?
Iâm new enough at this that Iâm very pleased I didnât look anything up today. It sure looked grim for awhile. A scrape might cause a ârashâ and I sensed I was wrong... I think that was my last. Very fun. I need to read Riordanâs book. I donât know mythology too well!
3
@Sophia Leahy
Congrats on the solve.
Riordan, that dude is my daughterâs idol right now. I wonder if I can get a poster of him with his shirt off for her wall...
I do thank him for making that Percy Jackson series. My kiddo canât stop reading it. Which is more than Harry Potter could do.
1
Note to self: Itâs Lorena Och*o*a and Jacob had twelve s*o*ns not s*i*ns
2
@pmb, what's really sad is hearing 'Lorena' and automatically thinking 'Bobbitt'.
Of course, I was working with replantation surgeons at the time...
6
Ditto! This was the error in the completed puzzle that I could not find.
What with us all creeping up on Feb 14 as we are, when I saw VENUS emerging from the foam, I was expecting more EROS than ARES to follow. Not sure how much it would have taken to change, but having AMOR in place of THOR would have been one more for the Lovers over the Fighters.
It may have been a calculated myth take to have Roman, Greek and Norse GODs all hobnobbing in a common HEAVEN. Myself, I just couldn't be sure if the roadsigns read Valympus or Olymphalla, y'know. In a way, some might consider this a WART On the KNOWs of the grid, but DOGgone, I sure loved seeing Strangelove's BAT GUANO in the grid!!
Any nice mid-week puzzle should lead us not into temp station, but maybe Proulx've did Leda's swan step closer.
Enjoyed it, even though I thought today was Thursday.
6
@Leapfinger
Since Ares was Venus (Aphrodite)âs lover maybe it still works.
@Frances, I believe that you're bending over backwards for AMOR to be vinciting, but nothing wrong with that.
[smiley]
1
What with us all creeping up on Feb 14 as we are, when I saw VENUS emerging from the foam, I was expecting more EROS than ARES to follow. Not sure how much it would have taken to change, but having AMOR in place of THOR would have been one more for the Lovers over the Fighters.
It may have been a calculated myth take to have Roman, Greek and Norse GODs all hobnobbing in a common HEAVEN. Myself, I just couldn't be sure if the roadsigns read Valympus or Olymphalla, y'know. In a way, some might consider this a WART On the KNOWs of the grid, but DOGgone, I sure loved seeing Strangelove's BAT GUANO in the grid!!
Any nice mid-week puzzle should lead us not into temp station, but maybe Proulx've did Leda's swan step closer.
Enjoyed it, even though I thought today was Thursday.
2
I don't understand. I had an error message saying my comment couldn't be copied, pls copy, refresh and re-submit. Then come to find out that it not only copied, but it also reproduced itself.
The world becomes more incomprehensible and less trustworthy with every passing day.
1
@Leapfinger - that was the intention, it seems...
Mitch, you you.
1
@Leapfinger
rEpROducing poSt?
1
Donât get THUNDESTORMS. Arenât showers and storms different? Itâs a storm or a shower, right?
Can you have a storm during a shower? It sounds odd to me. I get having thunder during a shower, but a storm?
Maybe just me...
@Newbie
Thunderstorms and (rain) showers can and do occur alone as well as in combination, i.e., rain without lighting, lighting without rain, and both together. Soâto channel my inner Spockâthe query is logical (to channel my inner Spock.
@Carl
Iâm just not feeling it.
âThere was a thunderstorm during the rain showerâ
Maybe I donât know what a thunderstorm is. I thought storm meant internse rain. And thunder is that noise, you know, the BOOM sound...
Not trying to detract from the cleverness of the puzzle theme. Just trying to make sense of this particular clue/answer
1
@Newbie
As a kid I learned from this song that it never rains in California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmq4WIjQxp0
In places where it does rain, a shower generally means rain falling from the sky. This is sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightning, so the clue works fine for me. YMMV.
1
Did anyone else have ___TSHOW for circus and think, ...really???
17
@lpr
I only had ____TS_OW. And thought the same...lol
@Newbie - LET IT SNOW?!
@lpr I had gongSHOW right till the end
1
Well done to the constructor for finding 4 phrases of the exact same length containing the name of the god associated with the first word! Has anyone been able to find any others?
My only raised eyebrow moment was with the cluing for thunderstorms..."they make loud noises during showers"? Is a thunderstorm something that occurs during a shower? To me, showers are part of the storm.
1
I've always been rather intrigued by -- although far from well-versed in -- various mythologies, so this was particularly fun for me.
Intrigued also by some of the tangents in the Comments. I must confess, though, that I was totally confused by the first thread posted in today's group, where Puzzlemucker attracted a whole bunch of Replies that seemingly had nothing to do with his original Comment. I can only assume that something, for some reason, got deleted. Or maybe this was a continuation of some discussion from yesterday or the day before, when I hadn't been able to come to Wordplay.
Anyone else remember when today used to be ABE's birthday?
Thanks to all for an entertaining puzzle. Looking forward to a nice tricky Thursday.
2
@Deadline - they're talking about the little pixtures next to the names of the commenters. For a long time, we have had just the little subway line circles with letters in them. Now people are all excited about putting their pixtures in there, especially if they can make the pixtures too small to see. I think it's the new green check.
@David Connell
How very odd. My panda never disappeared.
I somehow must have missed this whole discussion, since I've only been able to get to Wordplay sporadically. So the thread was confusing because it started for me in the middle of a conversation I'd missed entirely.
Thanks for (sorta) clearing up my confusion.
1
Deadline,
It still is ABE's birthday.
And, not that it matters to you or me, alternate side parking rules are suspended today because it still is his birthday!
4
On this date in 1994: Regarding 1D (âWhere Edvard Munchâs âThe Screamâ is displayed), from the WSJ archive (sorry!):
âFeb. 12, 1994
Thieves Steal Munchâs âThe Screamâ
A version of Edvard Munchâs masterpiece was stolen by thieves from Norwayâs National Gallery in Oslo on the day of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Police caught the thieves in an undercover sting operation months later and the painting was returned to the gallery virtually undamaged.â
2
@David Eisner
OK.. am I the only one imagining the thief running down the street with the painting facing out?
1
Just a technicallity... Thor is not a Greek or Roman god.
2
@Pam Came here to say this, but I wouldn't have hedged it as a "technicality", it's a flat-out error.
1
@ Andrea
True. However, the constructor notes say: âIn developing theme entries, I tried to select gods from different mythos and whose realms of influence were well known to most.â
1
@Ms. Cat
I believe Andre is responding to Deb's claim (which is inaccurate, as Thor is neither Greek nor Roman) not to the constructor's.
1
Surely most soldiers are paid? I understand not terribly well but still. Iâm going to go look up the situation in countries with national conscription. I mean, calling soldiers mercenaries because theyâre getting paid for service seems impolite.
2
@Frances
An early week clue might have read "soldiers for hire" but we're getting a little later in the week so clues will be a little more obtuse and/or misleading. You are generally correct that all soldiers get paid, and mercenaries are those who hire themselves out individually.
@JayTee
Hmmm...yes it is obtuse. Not misleading, as it sounds like no one had trouble with it, including myself. Just struck the wrong tone with me. I hasten to add Iâm not personally affected in any way.
1
Frances,
One of my fellow veterans noted earlier here that it, as you say, struck the wrong tone.
1
Surely most soldiers are paid? I understand not terribly well but still. Iâm going to go look up the situation in countries with national conscription. I mean, calling soldiers mercenaries because theyâre getting paid for service seems impolite.
1
@Frances (lovely name! My mother was named Frances),
Mercenaries were common in the Middle Ages as paid warriors who had no other connection to the side on which they were fighting. The term doesnât imply disrespect in that case - it was just a statement of fact, because they were mercenarily fighting for whoever was paying them. They were just in it for the money, or the loot, and didnât care whose side they were on.
The term shouldnât be applied to anyone in our Armed Forces these days. I agree with you that any disrespect to our soldiers or to our first responders is out of line. Thanks :)
Best,
~Lynn
1
I really liked this clever theme! After getting BATGUANO, I looked hard at the clue, "Circus," and said, "I KNOW that can't be S * * TSHOW!"
14
When faced with ___T SHOW at 6D for "Circus", my mind turned to politics and I could only see one possible entry. But that would have been a dupe with BAT GUANO.
Entering GAPE instead of GAZE held me up forever at the end. I was trying to fill in ONE _ OPEN for the phrase on an egg carton, and never thought of the obvious ONE DOZEN. Funnily, if the clue for 51D had been "Stare intently", I would likely have thought GAZE, but "Stare intensely" made me think GAPE. Funny how that little difference changed everything.
4
@Andrew
Great minds...
1
@Andrew
I admit I typed it in and didn't change it until late in the game!!!
2
This must have been a real "Eureka" moment for the constructor -- finding wonderfully strong and important phrases like LOVE CONQUERS ALL, DEATH AND TAXES and WAR TO END ALL WARS into which the GODS of the first word could all be embedded. (THUNDERSTORMS, not so much. Maybe he even said RATS to that one.)
Unfortunately, this is another example of a puzzle in which the constructor's "Eureka" moment doesn't necessarily translate into the solver's "Aha" moment. Randomly placed tiny little circles embedded in long answers have never much interested me. They're both arbitrary and oh-so-easy to ignore completely. I paid them no mind until after I'd finished solving.
Once I had finished solving I did, like @Lewis, admire the clever relationship between the first word and the embedded GOD. But while I was solving, I regret to say that that construction feat did nothing for me at all.
7
@Nancy - You're on record as one of the "ignore the circles" people, but can you imagine that, if you had paid attention to the circled items, then the theme might have been part of your solve and enjoyment? I mean the question sincerely.
Other posters have said as much, and that was my experience, too.
1
@David Connell
I ignore the circles too. I just look for the things that interest me like BAT GUANO during the Sunday through Thursday puzzles. Sometimes the central conceit is good but I donât look for it.
Nancy I think has more nuanced point of view than mine.
@Frances - do you ignore the "no parking" signs? The "one way street" signs? Why is ignoring signs seen as a good thing in this platform? I have to confess, I've always been mystified by the assertion of "I ignore information given to me to achieve success" - which is found here, and is rampant at Rex Parker's place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3WtvzmKCQQ
Yellow light, go very fast...
1
Note to self: Jacob had twelve sons not twelve sins
6
@pmb
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
6
My own personal sin:son ratio is rather disturbing.
9
@Chief Quahog
Comment of the month. Lol
1
The only clue I took issue with was âstare intenselyâ for GAZE. There are many circumstances in which a gaze is appropriate, while an intense stare is decidedly not.
Example: I am currently gazing at a stranger beside me at Starbucks, awaiting a much needed caffeine hit to cure my Wednesday nitpickery.
3
@Elizabeth
That gaze might not feel so appropriate to your stranger!
6
@Ann
Maybe they are exchanging glasses....
@Elizabeth
I'm with you. As I posted, I had GAPE until the very end. If the clue had been "stare intently", I think I would have had GAZE.
3
I enjoyed this puzzle very much, even though I, too, stuck with GAS instead of GPS for too long. Before seeing the revealer, I also thought of planets after getting VENUS. Nice change of pace clue for SNL. BATGUANO immediately brought to mind Dr Strangelove and the many scenes referenced by other contributors. Sadly, recent events call to mind those scary days of the 50s and the threat of nuclear annihilation. Not a fond bunch of memories from my childhood, thinking of fallout shelters and take cover drills. I may have missed it, but I don't think anyone has mentioned that in the novel Dr No the villain met his demise in a huge pile of the aforementioned dung.
Very nice Wednesday offering Rich.
3
@ ken s
Sadly, bat guano reminds me of something even more current â the coronavirus â since one of the leading theories is that it came from bats.
Sigh.
3
@Ms. Cat
How right you are.
For all the good bats do, they are acknowledged as reservoirs and vectors of some very scary viruses, possibly the current coronavirus.
1
Bats may be exonerated in this case. The word I heard just a couple of hours ago is that now they suspect pangolins.
Thank you. Everything a Wednesday should be.
5
Another Supremely-Satisfying âSolveâ! Bested my average considerably and came within a minute of my best Wednesday time this year.
The theme was unique - and clever - but useless for completing the puzzle - - primarily because I had it mostly filled in before I got to the revealer. The crosses and obvious letter patterns let me complete all of the theme answers without seeing 62A.
I canât find anything to complain about in this one - - - and nobody listens anyway.
Has anyone noticed that we have actors named UTA Hagen and UMA Thurman? Can that be coincidence??
@PeterW
Yes, that is a coincidence.
6
@PeterW
UNA coincidenza!
I came up with a possible themer: jUsTice leagUe.
Everyone's familiar with Utu, the Sumerian god of justice, right?
7
Donât be absurd
3
Will you sue?
3
@ad absurdum Given an appropriately obscure crossing for U or T or U, this could have become a Natick of epic proportions! (For me. YMMV.)
1
Fabulous theme, divine execution.
How appropriate for "Omnia vincit amor" to appear on the eve-eve of Valentine's Day. As for Venus and myself, HER/ME TIC like a well-oiled Swiss watch.
Here is "Rondo ALLA Turca", a ray of sunshine to start our day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKlRJJKRuto
Happy Wednesday.
4
@Laszlo Loved the link. I had always assumed that Brubeck's 'Blue Rondo a la Turk' was derived from or inspired by that piece. So today I went and looked it up.
Nope. No connection whatsoever.
@Rich in Atlanta
Having met his sons, Dan and Chris, last week, Brubeck had traveled to Turkey and heard sounds that inspired the song. Dave HIT the KEYS with that song!
1
Hi, @Laszlo!
Tell me that you aren't a little intrigued by TEZCATLIPOCA...
1
Wednesday is my favorite puzzle day. Not too hard, not too soft, just right. Jabbered Tom, judiciously.
And, Greek Gods as well.
Thanks Rich
6
Really sweet, thanks. Clever!
3
Very enjoyable puzzle and a mostly smooth solve. Should have gotten at least a couple of the answers just from the clues, but as usual had to wait for a couple of crosses to jog my memory. Did get hung up briefly in a couple of places but managed to work them out without too much trouble.
My only issue was with 25d. Phonetically it doesn't make any sense as a short form of 'mercenaries' and I had certainly never heard it used that way. But, an internet search suggests that does have that usage. More than that was the clue. Most soldiers are 'paid.' I think I made almost $190 a month including combat pay; oh, and didn't have to pay taxes on it - just had the other half of that saying. But we definitely weren't mercenaries.
Lastly, the other reference to BATGUANO has been mentioned in a couple of previous posts. I couldn't help but notice it crossing WARTOENDALLWARS and that reminded me of life back in the 50's and 60's - SAC and the DEW line - when most of us believed that a nuclear war was likely if not inevitable. And so I'll end with this favorite scene from the above referenced film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpTE-aHEZ0
..
2
@Rich in Atlanta I would venture to guess that the person who made the puzzle is a fan of comics, as many are. "The merc (meaning mercenary) with the mouth" is a nickname for the marvel character Deadpool. So that might be where he got it.
2
@Rich in Atlanta - you did what you were paid to do, didn't you? No matter what, yes?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/us/politics/border-security-troops-trump.html
What isn't mercenary about that?
@RiA, I'm curious how many people realized that the bombardier in Strangelove was played by a very young James Earl Jones? You don't seen much of im, but the voice is unmistakable.
3
What an enjoyable puzzle and a clever theme! A smooth solve with one pleasant surprise after another. Most impressive, to hide the names of ancient gods in well-known words and phrases. An apt metaphor for our "secular" society, in which the old gods are not dead, but merely obscured.
Re: EPIPEN. We never go up to our dig site without one, and every staff member (not just the nurse) knows how to use it.
6
Oh. My. GOD!
At first glance, this seemed like a mediocre theme... interesting, well known phrases that contain the names of gods indicated by circles. Nice, but Wednesday? The theme is kind of lacking a....
WOAH! Re-read that revealer, dummy! I haven't done any research on this, but I'd be willing to bet that there aren't many phrases that begin with the word that describes a god's purview *and* contains that god's name.
Brilliant, and such a great A-HA!
Great Wednesday grid with a really cool theme that doesn't jump right out at you and spoil the surprise.
Wonderful!
22
Loved it. The baby streak continues. Only held up on ApOINTS. So briefly had SNOCapES which seemed plausible (must learn more about golf). Really impressed with the theme. HEAVENly.
3
Simple, brilliant, never-before-done theme, to continue what has been a terrific theme week, with Monday's movie puns, and yesterday's flying color circus.
Embedding the god's name in a phrase or term whose opening is that god's domain? Wow.
Today, Rich, to me, you are both a backward KNOW (2D) and RATS (33D).
17
Perfect Wednesday puzzle. I got LOVE CONQUERS ALL straight away, and was thinking planets. I didnât get another phrase until 54A, but what a great AHA moment, and what fun to go back and look at the remaining theme answers in a new light.
Definitely looking forward to more from Rich.
7
LETTER BOXED
!!! Puzzle has not been updated - still showing yesterday's (Feb 11) puzzle !!!
3
@EskieF
Have feedback? Email us at
[email protected].
@EskieF
Send an email. I did, but the more, the better.
Yesterday:
WHEREVER REPACKING
@Lou Already did, hours ago!
very clever! LOVE the association of the GOD with the theme phase!
2
Cute how Hermes was included in Hermetic.
11
Spelling bee:
Has the puzzle updated?
I think I am seeing yesterday's.
All the other puzzles are up to date.
@Shelly On my iPhone itâs a new puzzle.
1
@Shelly Refresh your page
It was fun, uncovering the ancient gods, no myth-take about it. And it wasn't too hard. Not to be a THOR winner ...
10
SPELLING BEE
55 words 1 pangram 222 points
16
@Kevin Davis My last word was an O4. The William Shunn site that @A posted about yesterday told me there was one, and playing around a bit quickly got me the food adjective that we've had before.
I'll work on hints, and let others post the grid & 2-letter starts.
5
My words keep disappearing when I move away from the QB screen.
@Kevin Davis I've made it to genius but still 9 words and a lot of points short of QB.
@Doug - click off to the side of the QB screen, or close/reopen SB?
2
A fun puzzle. I know what others mean now when they say it was a smooth solve. I didnât fill in everything in one swoop, but got the phrases before I got to the reveal. Admired his cleverness afterwards. Smiled as the BATGUANO came into view and appreciated the shoutout to the SIXERS. Probably the golfer and NOODGE were the only ones I had to trust the crosses for. Enjoyed it. Look forward to more.
5
An alternative clue for 36D could have been: Keenan Wynn's character in "Dr. Strangelove."
3
@BW
One of my all time favorite films! When Slim Pickens is riding the bomb down to earth, whooping and waving his Stetson to the strains of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" is pure genius!
BTW, Vera is still with us, and is 102 years old!! We'll Meet Again, indeed!
1
BW,
See the thread that started four hours before your post.
@Barry Ancona I looked to see if anyone else mentioned it, but I guess I didn't go back far enough.
And after successfully completing this fun puzzle, my 31 day streak ends because I wonât be able to pay for another month subscription until Friday. Anyway, loved the puzzle!
1
Amused by the God and Dog crossing.
Saw the link immediately with Love and Venus but thought the rest would be a Valentines theme!
Love to all
8
@L.A. Sunshine That reminds me of the dyslexic atheist who doesn't believe there's a dog.
The Nova TV series has an episode about caves in "The Planet Earth" . 5 million bats can produce more than A TAD of BAT GUANO. The epilogue to the show highlights the difficulties of filming in that environment
2
Thanks @Margaret & @Puzzlemucker for the tip on a photo icon.
My question concerns the NY Times crossword subscription. Does it include this column, or do you have to be a NY Times subscriber to read it and post? I have both, but was wondering about those who only have the Xword.
@Kevin Davis
I only subscribe to the crosswords, and have access to the crossword, the puzzles, and Wordplay. My wife has an educator subscription and does not have access to anything but the minis.
3
@JayTee Thanks. This is my most frequently-read and commented column. I have to decide if the op-eds, weekly News Quiz, & occasional article are worth the considerable extra cost. I've already lost cooking recipes, as I'm unwilling to pay extra for something I'd look at but almost never use.
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@Kevin Davis If Iâm remembering correctly, Deb noted recently that this column is public and outside of the paid subscription area (pretty sure thereâs a specific term for that, but my brain wonât produce it at the moment!).
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My heart goes out to Rich Proulx. It's not easy being the dad of a 9 year old genius. Just glad his challenge led to this delightful Wednesday entry.
"Puzzles within puzzles" are not my favorites but I really liked this one. Maybe because I didn't have to rely on Deb to decipher it for me. I was impressed by the non-forcedness of the clues and answers.
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What a fun puzzle today! Struggled with NOODGE which I've not heard of, keeping me from what would otherwise have been a record-time Wednesday!
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@Bean Even though I know the word, NOODGE was a sticking point for me, too!
The puzzles have gotten progressively easier for me to solve this week. I got to this one late in the evening, so Iâm grateful for the fast solve. Fun theme.
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Two days in a row where I didnât have to look anything up, I either knew the answers or got them from the crosses. I finished a couple minutes quicker than average. The circled letters did help me this time. I donât usually get the theme till Iâm done.
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@Kevin Davis
Kevin, see Margaretâs (of Maine) explanation of how to add a photo next to your name at end of first thread. Much easier than I remembered.
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@Puzzlemucker Thanks, it worked!
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Wow, that doesn't happen very often. I'm done an hour before bedtime! Maybe the second hardest part was when I just _knew_ what that cave fertilizer was but it wouldn't come to me, largely because it was two words. I was trying to think of the second one, and it came automatically once I had BA at the beginning.
I guess the only thing I didn't know was Lorena OCHOA. Oh, oh, tomorrow brings Thursday's, and I'm off to Honolulu Thursday a.m.
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and Elke
What a HEAVENly theme.
Caught on with Virgil's maxim - thanks to the circles.
Was detained by the WART OEND ALL WARS. Actually, that's my only nit: would have been neat to hide ARES in a mythological war.
DEATH AND TAXES and SSNS reminds me it's tax filing season soon- to feed that mammon deity.
Recurrent theme: yesterday AGING and wrinkles; today THE OLDS. Not to be a NOODGE, liked the puzzle anyway.
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@Robert - now, then, are you saying the "war to end all wars" was not mythological?
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Do people seriously not remember "the war to end all wars" as a name and "justification" for the "great war", World War One? Seems so. Memory fades fast.
David,
I hope you're not equating failure to reco your comment with not recalling that WWI was touted as "the war to end all wars."
I agree with Deb that this was a nice prelude to the trickier (hopefully) puzzles to follow as we head towards the end of the week.
EVA (11D), the Me in the Oscar winning song, is Evita (Peron) from the 1996 movie starring Madonna. It was written especially for the movie, which is why I didn't recognize it from earlier cast recordings.
"Only songs that are'original and written specifically for the motion picture" are eligible for nomination, which why when musicals are moved from stage to screen new songs are often added.
And that's why Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote a new song for Rocketman, which won on Sunday.
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@vaer I had no idea that this clue was about Evita. I have the album from the Broadway show with Patti Lupone. I know all the songs by heart. I also saw Eva Peron's grave in Argentina. Funny that I was stumped by that clue. I never saw the movie.
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@Rigoletto
Me neither. I got the answer on the crosses, but that's why I had to look it up.
Patti Lupone is Evita as far as I'm concerned.
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@Rigoletto
The movie was *horrible*. Madonna can't sing the part of Evita without having all of the songs transposed way, way down because she can't hit the notes.
I've always thought that the part of Evita was written in the key it was written in to impart a slight bit of stridency to it, perhaps a statement on Eva herself. Madonna's singing at that lower register ruined the movie, IMO.
I happen to love Wednesday puzzles. They fall in that sweet spot between the not so challenging Monday and Tuesday puzzles and those later in the week that require more dedication to solve.
I enjoyed this one. My only quibble with this one is OKRA. In my experience it becomes less slimy when cooked longer.
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@Chris E fair point, if you really cook the heck out of it. But since raw okra has no slime factor, I think the statement (mostly) holds true.
This is Bat Guano:
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:DrS026.jpg
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@Barry Ancona I filled BATGUANO in when I had only the BA. I was hoping I was right because I had no crosses yet. Sometimes I know somethimg but the actual answers are some weird made up combination of words or convoluted phrase and not the actual thing that I first write. HALLELUJAH it wasn't BATDOODYS.
@Barry Ancona Perspective: "You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola company."
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@Barry Ancona
If politics were not off limits here, I would post a link to a photo of someone I think is BAT GUANO crazy
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I do not like the clue for 47A. In almost all cases, EpiPens are self-administered. A school nurse _might_ if there's one aroundâa lot have to cover multiple schools. At any medical facility, ampules of adrenalin (epinephrine) are available and a heck of a lot cheaper to use than a $600+ EpiPen, which hospitals and clinics and medical offices don't keep on hand.
Rant over.
Otherwise, puzzle was one the easy side for a Wednesday for me, and took me only a little over half my average. The major aha was when I got to the revealer and went back to realize what I hadn't paid any attention to. Overall, I liked this one.
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@JayTee shocking that a tiny drop of medicine inside an injecting needle cost $600. My niece carries one and I agree a nurse doesn't administer it.
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@Rigoletto
Given the cost of epinephrine, I'd almost say criminal, not shocking.
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@JayTee it's shocking that a drop of epinephrine costs that much then.
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Rich Proulx, my now-grown son read the same series and would be delighted to know immersing myself in his world of Greek mythology paid dividends today. I easily saw the pattern and got the revealer thanks to my indoctrination over a decade ago. Thanks for that blast from the past.
There were a few challenging clues (BATGUANO, SOX (I put cub đ), and inexplicably SNOCONES), but it was quite fun!
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Hi all -- I've been doing these puzzles for a little over a year. I look forward to 8:00 every evening because that's when the next day's puzzles are available here. I have two questions. 1) What does "natick" mean? 2) It seems that it takes a very long time for a puzzle to move from accepted to published. Why is that? Is there that much of a backlog? Is the NYT inundated with puzzle submissions? Anybody know the numbers? Thanks:)
And, while I have the comment window open, I'll throw in my two cents on a different subject. I don't care for all of the emphasis on pop culture. I would much rather have my vocabulary challenged. (I know this has been discussed before. Just registering my opinion.)
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@Margaret I just saw something on YouTube about Will Shortz and he claimed they get 75 to 100 puzzles submitted weekly.
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@Margaret The Natick Principle was coined by Rex Parker in his crossword blog. Read about it at https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2008/07/sunday-jul-6-2008-brendan-emmett.html
As a fellow Coloradoan, I share the same 8 pm anticipation as you!
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@Margaret
There was a good discussion/explanation of the term "natick" in yesterday's Wordplay comments. Wordplay for Tuesday's puzzle can be found here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2020-02-11.html
then go to the comments and search for "natick".
Pretty easy for a Wednesday. I knew that Virgil I translated almost sixty years ago would come in handy one day. Thank you, Mr. Croft. And I can still do it in Latin (I checked).
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Fools rush in.....
Found VENUS in the circled letters of 12A.
Assumed circled answers in the next three would be EARTH, MARS and PLUTO.
Saw the error in my ways soon enough to solve in less than my Wednesday average.
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Great puzzle, I love mythology. Anyone else get hung up on the SE corner? I had gape instead of gaze and gas instead of gps (both of which fit the clues) which tripped me up for a bit.
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@Sheldon Polonsky
I was stuck on GAS for some time as well, which made it really tedious to think of PREY.
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Back in the mid-'80's, someone in our company cafeteria thought it would be a good idea to serve "peas and OKRA" (boiled, I think, or possibly steamed; certainly not fried). The OKRA pods were cut into small chunks, mixed together with the garden peas, and cooked.
When anyone dragged a fork through this concoction and lifted it from the bowl, there trailed behind it about half a dozen streamers of slimy goo that so resembled a severe head cold, that I doubt anyone ate even the first taste of the stuff. I assume it all went into the garbage.
We never saw boiled peas and OKRA again.
Batter-fried OKRA, though, that's yummy, and not at all slimy.
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@Alan J
How about gumbo, preferably seafood gumbo, ok to add sausage to it, with the roux not too thick. This incarnation of okra is my favoriteâ€ïž
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@Tito And how about.. Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo.
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@Rich in Atlanta
Rich, how's bayou? It's not fillet, but filé gumbo. Fillet is a boneless piece of meat or fish; filé is ground sassafras leaves. I'd bet ol' Hank would know the difference.
I seem to remember that you're originally from up North, but as a long-establish Suv-ner, you should know the difference!
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This started out slow, but once I figured out the gods were related to the answers, all went well.
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It was a fairly easy solve, which I'm always happy about, but what's the deal with THUNDERSTORMS? Doesn't fit in with the other theme answers as far as I can tell ... they are all famous phrases and this is, well, it's weather. What am I missing?
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@Millie
THOR is the GOD of THUNDER.
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@Millie Thor is the God of thunder. But I can understand your confusion - I believe 'thunderstorm' is correct usage all as one word, rather than 'thunder storm'.
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I think Millie knows the connection between Thor and thunderstorms. I thought her issue was that the other three themers were "famous phrases," which thunderstorms clearly is not.
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Of course, Thor is neither Roman nor Greek. But you knew that.
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@Philly Carey The classicist in me died just a bit reading Deb's analysis of the puzzle. Nevertheless, she usually does a very good job and I love reading her columns!
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@Gillian et al.
Greek or Roman columns?
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@Andrew
Are you being Ionic?
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Pretty nifty. One nit is that two are Greek gods. #ThemeSoGreek. And 3 are sayings. One is just a thing. Wasn't easy to come up with the theme entries, I'm sure.
Other than those little details, I liked the puzzle very much. Also liked that DOG and GOD cross each other.
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@Wen - that is to say, either make them all Greek gods or make them gods from all different cultures. Having 2 Greek, one Norse, one Roman, feels a little unbalanced.
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@Wen
Not to nit your nit, but I think the last sentence in your first paragraph says it all. How many phrases or compound words contain the names of well known gods (from any tradition) where the hidden god was the god of the first word of the phrase or first part of the compound word? My guess is that the answer is exactly four.
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@Puzzlemucker, yeah. For themed puzzles, I sometimes amuse myself (usually unsuccessfully) by trying to come up with additional examples. So, wisdom...Athena... pithy phrase about wisdom...hmm what about Zeus...hmm...
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This was lively and entertaining; a good Wednesday puzzle. One Roman, two Greek, and one Norse--I don't know that there are any other ancient mythologies that are well-known enough (at least to Americans) to provide possible theme entries. And lots of other fun words--HERMETIC, SIDELONG. I'll have ONE DOZEN SNOCONES, please! (if only for the symmetry).
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A rare themed puzzle where I never saw the revealer clue/entry (GOD) because I had that entry from its crossings. Fitting for an agnostic, I guess. I did see the theme with VENUS and HADES as I zipped through this soothingly smooth puzzle. Some wonderful themers, especially LOVE CONQUERS ALL. We can only hope.
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@Puzzlemucker I thought your icon was the nib of a fountain pen, but now that you mention it, I can see a penguin :) I looked at my profile on my PC on Firefox, and on my iPhone & iPad Safari (logged into nytimes.com) and NY Times Crossword apps. No option but to change my email address. I couldn't find any other iOS NY Times apps besides Cooking, and looking for "Wordplay" found no NY Times results.
@Kevin Davis
I think I did it when I still had the General NYT app loaded on my iPad. Iâve deleted that app because when I opened Wordplay it would automatically take me there through the NYT app, where you canât see more than three replies. Tried to reload it earlier this morning to see if that was the case but I have a problem with the App Store because my credit card on file expired. ;-) Who is the god of technology? I need their help!
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@Puzzlemucker
It must be Loki.
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