On the heels of International Women’s Day, I couldn't help but cringe throughout this puzzle. I can appreciate "Comedy is at its best when poking fun at evil, in that it can serve to reduce horror’s mental power over us” but find it pretty oppressive the article brushed over the issue with such casualty and the puzzle’s clues weren’t "poking fun at evil” but recognizing these men for their accomplishments.
2
Fun puzzle! I enjoyed the theme. Also, thanks for sharing about the weather in San Diego. That is a *great* place to visit in the winter!
Please consider not including old gendered job titles (cameraman, in this puzzle’s case). A woman can operate a camera, yes?
14
I did our Lewis’ 7/13/17 (Thursday) puzzle from the archives and loved it! Highly recommend for any Thursday thrill seekers (who didn’t do it back then).
2
@Deb re Olaf/Olav, my mnemonic is that people LAF (laugh) at the Frozen snowman, and LAV (love) their patron saints and legendary kings. That second one is a serious stretch, pronunciation-wise, but the first is usually all I really need to recall.
6
Gotta complain about 25A. "Ose" is not a suffix of "sugar." "Sugarose?!" 😖 Better clue: "Suffix of many sugars."
2
@Ron seems like they've been using this sugar suffix for OSE clue since the beginning of the NYT puzzle. For son's. I don't quite understand it. I know about fructose, glucose, sucralose so possibly that is what OSE meaning sugar refers to.
1
@Ron
It's actually a good clue IMO.
sucrose...
lactose...
fructose...
7
Ron,
The clue is Sugar suffix," not "Suffix of sugar." It makes a difference; as written, it can refer to singular or plural.
9
Lyon, France does not have an a at the end. LYONS, KS does.
I think.
4
@Joseph The same with Marseilles which takes an S outside of France. I never understood that. But I’ve been told by veterans here that this is an English language puzzle, so the English spelling holds.
1
Tammy,
Most English language people use LYON too, hence the surprise about seeing LYONS expressed here by English language solvers.
1
@Joseph,
This is just another case of Will Shortz (or should I say Shorts?) phoning it in. Lyon in France is never spelled with an S (except for its namesakes in Kansas and New York state). Neither of those towns are in France. This is just a plain and simple error caused either by a bored editor, or by the realization that the entire section of the puzzle should have been redone or re-clued and there wasn't time. Please stop accepting lame excuses for poor puzzle-making and debugging. Aack!
1
The down home location of the reveal was a site for my sore solving eyes. I was off to a woefully sluggish start. Deciphering that clue was all it took to turn the tables and lead me along a Golden road toward the Promised Land...News from legal leanings of La La land; yesterday, the estate of the late Randy CALIFORNIA lost the latest battle over a claim of plagiarism against Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. An appeals group of 11 federal juristas in San FRANCISCO voted the decision yesterday...I needed to give a second thought to my ‘yours truly’ answer when some crosses suggested striking my ‘always’ out...Toussaintly components comprise our Tuesday twofer. First Allen’s “Yes We Can Can” then John’s “CALIFORNIA” from Mayall’s 1969 album, Turning Point.
https://youtu.be/xV7F-JwTx_U
https://youtu.be/wqcqZlFMUYQ
Off topic but on point, this is a direct quote via my 1936 edition of Webster’s 20th-Century Dictionary Unabridged. Tis listed as exemplar within the definition of the adjective virulent: “No sooner do they (the scientists) get one sort of germ under control than another assumes a virulent character and undoes almost all that science has done.”- Feb. 20, 1904.
AS EVER,
Bru
5
Considering Mama Cass was in the puzzle : https://youtu.be/dN3GbF9Bx6E
@brutus
Toussaintly for words!!
(An unconventional friend used to sign off EVER AS)
1
First thing I thought when I saw the “controversial” entry was my old Saturday Night Live cassette, that I listened to over and over again:
“This just in! Generalissimo Francisco Franco is STILL dead!”.
The absurdity of it lessens the historical context.
3
Deb/Community,
The Chairman (I mean MAO) was in last Friday's puzzle, at 31A, bold as brass, clued in a minorly jokey way as "____ suit", but MAO was the entry in the puzzle. Now, I get that having the Generalissimo in the puzzle may be considered troubling. But. Why. Not. MAO? Was everybody still too scarred from the NRA discussion of the previous day? Since it seems enough time has passed I am asking, where is the commentary on MAO? Why does that get a pass?
5
@Michael Brothers Crickets?! Hmmm...
What’s left of a dinosaur??
A fossil - to be sure - but is a sediment-formed footprint a fossil?
I think the picture was used just because it’s fun to say “Otjihaenamaparero”!😁
1
If there's a pair of dinosaurs and the dinosaur referred to in the clue is standing on the right, then the answer could be "another dinosaur."
1
@polymath
SEE ME
1
@Leapfinger
Is this just for a rap on the knuckles - - - or should I pack up my desk before I come?
Please don't bombard me; I am merely sharing a comment of a student who was just now looking over my shoulder, upon seeing the headline: WHAT'S LEFT OF A DINOSAUR
Student: Is Biden the dinosaur? Then Sanders is left of a dinosaur.
18
@Robert Michael Panoff Why would you be bombarded? That's funny right there.
1
@Michael Brothers
some folks don't like any political humor. . .
Nice puzzle. Some of the clues invite whimsy.
Re 29D, whats right of a dino...?
53A: is the word "new"needed?
60D: good description of that airport (way back when)
Quick query re 35A: is there any real difference between the singular and plural of the fill?
1
@Dr W
Yes.
The plural is the answer for the clue as given.
The singular refers to a piece of real estate.
(I over-simplify - but, certainly there are differences.)
@Deb asking: "I wrote in OLAF before OLAV. Is there a way to remember which spelling is used when?"
OLAF is the correct spelling for the Frozen snowman, the Count in Lemony Snickets, one of Snoopy's brothers, or the college in Minnesota, all of which have been clued in recent years. And given that F's are easier to use than V's in a CWP, we've had more OLAFs than OLAVs.
OLAF is also how Americans often spell OLAV, the patron saint and king(s) of Norway, but (with a few exceptions found in 2015-2017 per xwordinfo.com), when an answer is clued as king or saint, Shortz usually wants OLAV. *Usually.* A tolerance for ambiguity in that fourth square is needed. Think TSAR/CZAR. It's usually the former, but every once in a while the latter is the answer.
5
@Clutch Cargo
If it helps the NorVegians style their royal OlaVs with a V, beatified royals included.
The Latin transcription of St. Olav in his lifetime was (most commonly but not exclusively) Olafr.
2
This 1971 song https://youtu.be/2acfBLyZXDU remind me of Hare Krishna,
2
Great puzzle! @deb, you might enjoy looking up _The Rest Of The Story_ on that bit about Franco still being dead.
In the days of that skit, the Today show aired live for two hours in the East, and in Chicago they aired the second hour live, and then rebroadcast the first hour.
Franco was "gravely ill" in the first hour in New York, and then died in the second hour. In Chicago, it got reversed. So, they had to cut in live and explain: "Francisco Franco is still dead."
9
Thanks. I remember the SNL skit, but not that background story.
3
@Scott Yates, I didn’t hear that version of the origin at the time, and it’s not included in either SNL history. According to Barbara Matusow’s book, The Evening Stars, NBC’s anchor, John Chancellor, led the NBC Nightly News five nights in a row with the story that Franco was dying. It became such a joke at NBC that SNL picked up on it. When questioned about giving so much play to the story, Chancellor said, “But that’s all anybody’s talking about, isn’t it?”
2
@Robert Here's a source on that. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco Could be that both stories are true?
Got stuck for a while cause I had PINTO for Ford failure and couldn't think of anything. Otherwise, went fine! Enjoyed the theme today.
None of these names gave me any trouble; must go back and see if they gave any of you trouble. I can imagine disliking the puzzle if I didn't know any of them, but since I did know them, I found the puzzle pleasant enough-- pleasanter than most puzzles based on proper names. An pretty unusual idea for a puzzle theme -- unusual enough that I'm wondering if Kahn is a CALIFORNIAn. Maybe I'll go check that out, too.
2
I am not a television reporter, not have I ever played one in TV, but the clue for 19A seems off.
In my mind, a "remote reporter" is one who is not in the studio, but reporting out in the field. Or, one who is ON SCENE.
So I think 19A would have been better clued as "Remote, as a TV reporter."
Any actual reporters out there have any insight?
2
@Chief Quahog
Methinks a remote rep is not in the studio but at some out of the way location.
Chief,
I trust you have by now scrolled down to find the report filed two hours earlier.
(As we used to hear in the old days, "Film at 11.")
@CQ --
On a second reading this caught my eye (again) :
"Any actual reporters out there have any insight?"
This thing certainly has ins and outs ...
And I can’t imagine what other 15-letter entry Mr. Kahn could have used, given his theme.
Francisco de Goya
4
I was born in CALIFORNIA. At different times in my life I've lived in San FRANCISCO (where I visited friends in San JOSE), Mill Valley very near to San RAFAEL and lastly, San DIEGO.
So I thank you, David Kahn, for a trip down memory lane!
6
Wondered all the way through, "What is the theme here?" and so the reveal at 58A came as a nice Aha! moment. Along the way I smiled at 24D ("fix a clog?" = RESOLE) and 50A ("Shell's shell" = LOGO). All in all, a very fine Tuesday.
7
Tiny celebration over here: today's puzzle was no. 366 in my current streak (this being a leap year, I thought I'd give it an extra day just to make sure).
It's been an eventful year. As a self-employed translator, I tend to take on way too much work, and on most days all I can spare for the puzzle is a 10-minute break, but then that break is really refreshing and fun. Keeping that streak going, even on days when it was nearly impossible, felt like a way to hang on to my sanity and still feel in control of my life. In recent months, co-solving the weekend puzzles with my girlfriend Ilse, after finally converting her to the joys of the crossword, has been bliss.
The past ten days, however, have been particularly grizzly, with an as yet unidentified virus making me sicker than I have ever felt in my life. 102 degree fevers for more than a week, splitting headaches, pain all over my body and nothing happening the way I'd expect a little "flu" to come and go... Again, finding that one window of clarity during the day in which I could manage to solve the puzzle felt like my tether to normal life, to things eventually turning out fine, at moments when I just didn't know anymore.
I'm still not out of the woods (the fever isn't entirely gone, my test result for corona is due in tomorrow) but I feel a little better today, and I'm hopeful that the new meds are working. I don't see anything breaking this streak now. See you in another year.
32
@Robrecht -- My thoughts and my prayers are with you!
4
@Robrecht hope you’re better soon!
3
Congratulations! And I hope you get some answers — and some relief! — soon.
5
LETTER BOXED
Best I could find today was A-C(7), C-Y(11).
With a little help from Andrew from Louisville, I also found:
R-E(5), E-Y(12).
1
I got the R-E, E-Y solve, too. Wonder what your is... I'll have to try it later.
@Andrew
I have 2 shorter:
(1) C - E (8), E - E (7)
(2) B - E (7), E - R (7)
@EskieF
Yesterday:
JOYS SPRINGTIME (NYT)
1
I think I found a typo! In the last clue of the “tricky clues” section, you write 59A instead of 59D. Just pointing it out!
What's Left of a Dinosaur?
I guess the answer could be BERNIE SANDERS.
But only if the Dinosaur is a Republican.
10
ELECTABILITY works in today's Letterbox. Just sayin'.
@Andrew
ERECTABILITY doesn't work however. Just sayin'.
3
As someone who has worked in the broadcast news industry for over 30 years I can tell you that “not remote” means in the studio or on set. If you are not in the studio then you are remote, no matter where you are. ON SCENE is a synonym for remote.
15
@Adam
That was my thought as well, and my first thought was IN STUDIO or ON SET, but neither would work by length or crosses.
1
@Adam Thank! I posted the same issue a few hours after you did, because I missed your posting. Thanks for the confirmation.
Hah! This little TuesPuzz had my SALA very glands flowing, but I must state I could not name the theme until the revealer surfaced. Too bad there wasn't room for PR Pirates' treasure Roberto CLEMENTE. I bet STAN M would enjoy the company
Continuing the yesterpuzz theme of Weights and Measures, I kinda sorta (hi DavidC!) wondered whether we were being handed ONE GALLON of Green Paint. I fully comprehend that not everyone may see the pint of this. On a quarterly basis, anyway.
Back on the Musial front, I'm betting many on board would think of Mr MOJO Risin, but in the current climate, I'm on board with 'Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, HERE I AM, Stuck in the middle with you'. Anyone else notice how changing 'middle' to 'WH' still scans nicely?
ALOE there, DavidK! Thanks so much, I thought this was COOL and a MICE bit of constructioneering. This old FOSSIL digs seeing you chOOZE to be IN IT to wIN IT.
9
I never in my long life expected to see Franco and Diego Rivera in the same crossword puzzle. Actually the Franco entry did give me the creeps. Some things are never funny.
Nit pick: the app reset my streak count on Sunday. when I solved today it said I had a 2 day streak but when I log in to my stats page it says 23. is this a known issue?
lpr,
It is now that you've told us, but that's not what you meant. Since another poster just yesterday reported a streak discrepancy, I'd say it is generally recognized condition. I'm sure others can help with treatment.
2
@lpr -- This has happened to me many times, and the Crossword Tech Support person is AMAZING. [email protected]. I believe it has been the same person each time, and John even helped me on a Sunday while I was on vacation.
2
@Juliette thank you!!!
I could wax poetic about Diego Rivera, but I won’t because everyone knows who he is. So here’s a shout-out to my favorite Mexican artist instead, Rufino Tamayo.
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Mujer-con-rebozo--Woman-with-a-Shawl-/E399876AC3D6C9FC
There’s no San Rufino or San Tamayo in California so, yes, this is completely gratuitous, yet justifiable. Because — art.
3
@Sam Lyons
I was hoping you might wade in to the LYON - LYONS discussion!
3
Ah! I see that you have. You are excused!
1
But of course I have an opinion on Lyon/Lyons, Andrew.
You are correct that the French never refer to the city as Lyons, except to say that the English exonym for it was, inexplicably, Lyons until just recently. As far as I can tell, the name went from the Celtic Lug Dunon, or the Hill of Lugus, to the Latin Lugdunum, so by the time it was gallicized, the “s” was already gone.
But — BUT — further up NW of Lyons, in Normandy, we have Lyons-la-Forêt, where Henry I of England famously erected the Château de Lyons-la-Fôret in the early 1100’s, only to infamously perish there in that whole “surfeit of lampreys" unpleasantness. I’d say given the notoriety of that mishap in English history books vs. a do-we-really-care-about-French-silk-in-this-climate?? attitude of the British Isles inhabitants, it’s no wonder that anglophones took to spelling anything that sounded like Lyons as Lyons. It’s not our fault the French pronounce Lyon and Lyons the same way.
End of conjecture by Sam HERE I AM LYONS
6
Nice puzzle and an enjoyable solve. This was another one of those "gee, Rich, you have a terrible memory" experiences, though there was some odd variety on that front. Got JOSEFERRER with just a couple of down crosses. Knew FRANCO but couldn't recall his first name without some crosses (duh). Filled in EMILY right away but couldn't recall EDSEL without crosses.
But the one that really bugged me was 43a. Absolute, 100% gimme and I just couldn't remember it. Spent a while just staring at the screen for that one before I gave up and worked some down crosses.
A couple of shorter answers/crosses that took some pondering, most notable ASEVER - especially with the OLAV/OLAF ambiguity. The little LAX/LUXE area was another example.
In the end I'm especially grateful for 43a reminding me of one of my all-time favorite films. So tonight after I've looked at 100+ movie channels and found absolutely nothing good on, I can go and see if I can find it on demand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTCMHLpNi4k
(sorry to give away the ending).
4
Chairman MAO appeared in this puzzle not long ago (clued as ___ jacket) and nobody batted an eye. But FRANCISCO FRANCO appears in a grid and pearls are clutched! Guess which dictator killed more of his own citizens? CHE and PERON were also recent entries, and ATTILA makes frequent appearances. Yes, these were not good people, but they are important historical figures, and those who forget the lessons of history...
Anyway, fun puzzle for a Tuesday; didn't get the theme until the revealer.
23
@Grant
Agree absolutely about Franco - the clue was matter of fact and made no attempt to play down his life and legacy.
We cannot remove such people from history. But we can learn and hopefully, avoid their actions being repeated.
20
@Grant Wish I had read further down before posting almost this exact same thing. Well said, better than mine.
1
@Grant
I don’t see any pearl clutching happening. Nor any defense of MAO. I would also note that MAO ZEDONG as a themer is a bit different than MAO [suit] as glue. But you had a point to make and you made it.
Terrific theme idea, one I've never seen before, consistent from top to bottom, and well executed. The puzzle, IMO, has just the right resistance level for a new-solver-friendly Tuesday, with even a bit of wordplay, such as [Fix a clog?] for RESOLE and the ALCOA clue @deb mentioned. I did like CALIFORNIA crossing LEFT, which works in two senses.
Solid. Work of a pro. A puzzle that has no guile, that says HERE I AM and lets its quality do the talking. Thank you for this, David!
8
I enjoyed the puzzle. Can't think of a reasonable replacement for Francisco, but the attempt sent me down an engaging historical rabbit-hole that took me through Franciscan monasteries and all the way to Portugal by way of Mozambique and into San Antonio (Salazar), Texas and San Marcello (Caetano), Italy. See what crossword puzzles can do? Almost time to celebrate the Carnation Revolution in Portugal - 25 Abril!
No luck finding an Olaf/Olav rule.
5
I’m astonished that there wasn’t a chorus of “too easy” today. I couldn’t tap in the letters quickly enough and forgot to do my usual pause to try and guess the theme, so was delighted to see the California cities theme, two of which I’ve lived in.
I think Will’s repeat entry today was LADLES, not as exciting as the SALT entry yesterday.
6
@suejean
I have a little LADLE
I carved it out of wood
I found when it was finished
It didn't scoop too good.
12
To add to the F4 (Francisco Franco Fun Facts)...
Spanish national anthem has no lyrics to it. In parts of the country what is sung along the tune is:
Franco, Franco,
Tenía el culo blanco
Porque su mujer
Lo lava con Ariel
(Franco had a white butt because his wife washed it with Ariel (detergent))
4
SPELLING BEE GRID
L D I Q T U Y
WORDS: 25, POINTS: 112, PANGRAMS: 2
First character frequency:
D x 6
I x 6
L x 7
Q x 2
T x 3
U x 1
Word length frequency:
4L: 12
5L: 5
6L: 3
7L: 1
8L: 2
9L: 1
11L: 1
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 9 11 TOT
D: 3 2 1 - - - - 6
I: 3 1 - - 1 - 1 6
L: 4 - 1 - 1 1 - 7
Q: - 2 - - - - - 2
T: 2 - 1 - - - - 3
U: - - - 1 - - - 1
TOT:12 5 3 1 2 1 1 25
Two letter list:
DI-3 DU-3
ID-3 IL-3
LI-5 LU-2
QU-2
TI-3
UT-1
58
@Doug @Kevin Davis
QB with grid only this morning! Thank you both.
Unless there are posts elsewhere, the thread seems quieter than usual. Perhaps everyone is distracted by the LYONS vs LYON debate elicited by the crossword puzzle!!
8
@RAH
I was going to post that I liked the letter set and couldn’t recall QU appearing since I started doing the Bee, though I’m sure it has. But was fearful that someone would point out that QU was in the letter set three days ago. ;-)
Thanks Doug for the grid and list!
3
@Puzzlemucker
According to Bill Shunn's site, the pangram (and by extension, the letter set) is new.
I've been tracking the solutions since Mid-October, 2019. No prior appearance of a QU word in those letter sets.
2
I had a hot date last night. The warm apricots were better.
(I don't give a fig about these puns.)
23
@Mike
Just as long as you didn't go bananas.
7
@Mike
Time to prune back the punishment, is it.
Reminds me of a few years ago when the Grandboy was about 12 yo and in his "I want to be a chef" phase. For a simple treat, I got the ingredients together and we had a good time making chocolate-dipped dried apricots. Then he began snacking on the undipped ones: "Hey, these are Go-oo-od!!"
In short order, he discovered why it's advisable to eat only a few, and had to retire for an inordinate length of time to the BATCAVE.
5
**S P E L L I N G B E E H I N T S**
25 words, 112 points, 2 pangrams
8
Hints: Five words related to fluids, including 2 negatives starting with IL- & 2 nouns ending in -ITY. A bunch of adjectives & adverbs ending in -Y.
Other hints:
Thing of no value, slang
Excellent example, or a spice adj. (not really)
Boring, noun & adj. (2 words)
Properly
Lazily
Peaceful utopia (2 spellings)
Not easily spendable, adj. & noun (1 a pangram)
Sickly
Sing-song accent
Fluid, 2 nouns & 1 adv. (1 a pangram)
Doozy
Feather pen
Blanket
Neatly
Batman’s belt
39
@Kevin Davis Some cute hints here!
1
@Kevin Davis
Second day I didn't need your clues but I still love reading them for the sheer pleasure of it.
2
We don’t pronounce the names of three of the cities the way we pronounce the names of the men. San Jose, San Rafael, San Francisco.
We say san-AZAY, san-ra-FELL, and sanfrun-SIS-co.
Carl Nolte, the San Francisco Chronicle journalist, wrote a famous column explaining how you can tell a San Franciscan from the way he pronounces certain words. One of them is “San Francisco.” We don’t say san-FRAN-sis-co.
1
"We don’t say san-FRAN-sis-co."
Jack,
Who -- according to you or Carl Nolte -- does?
2
@Jack Abad Down the road from me is the town of Havre de Grace, MD. The locals ignore the French pronunciation, and say it "Harver duh Grace."
3
I always tried to pronounce the name of a place the way natives do. I just thought it was respectful to use the locally “correct” pronunciation.
Geneva took me down. There are (at least) three official languages, in which the name is pronounced entirely differently. Sigh.
and Elke
how neat that when some of us observe the Festival of Purim aka " LOTS", that word is in the puzzle. Listened to the whole megillah, of how Haman * tried to do away with Jews, but Esther had a plan and saved the Jews and then we have a feast. Yes, Hamantaschen are on the menu.
*whenever that name is mentioned one tries to drown it out with various noisemakers aka "graggers". Mine is an old Swiss cowbell.
Chag Sameach !
7
@R/Elke, I would surely love to hear your story about that old Swiss cow.
and Elke
Sorry, Leapy- nothing very amoosing about that acquisition (that I can think of right now).
1
@R/Elke
I know ewe wouldn't steer me wrong, not for a whole stein of de-caf.
[As an aside, please go back to the yester-thread about Sederim goodies with Lawrence of Bessarabia. I'm serious about trying to plan for a California East Meets West next year. Who said you can never meet Mark Twain?)
1
after a wonderful week of women puzzle creators, i’m disappointed and not at all surprised the puzzle abruptly reverted to many men (including a dictator and a controversial cartoon character) and a professional -MAN with only a couple women as entertainers.
24
I thought the same thing. Especially at “cameraman.” Last week was delightful. Be the change, NYT!
21
@walrus
Lots of woman saint cities left off the list . . . doesn't have to be all one or the other, try a mix (Monica Seles, Rosa Parks, Ana Banana :)
tried to fit "CAMERAHUPERCHILD"
(Man -->
HuMAN-->
HuPERSON-->
huperCHILD).
Doesn't Hollywood now just refer to first and second cameras, not cameramen?
Straightforward
4
Bob,
Yes. Or camera operator.
2
Struggled with the western part, as the FARO-SARDI crossing was a Natick for me and I had Pinto instead of EDSEL for the longest time. ALCOA seemed like strange fill, too - is this a company most people are actually familiar with?
All in all, though, a nice theme, and a well-constructed Tuesday. Kudos!
6
Twenty-three down made me smile. :)
2
@Christine
Do you know where Bruce Way goes to, uh... wash up?
The Bat room.
2
@Rich in Atlanta
Along the beaches of Nags Head, NC, there are signs to indicate where you can go to relieve yourself, rinse off and change. The signs read:
BATHOUSE.
3
@Steve L
Oughtn't be funnin' yerself at the expense of the fine folk of Nagshed.
Gotta admit that BATHHOUSE looks over-aitched.
1
Anybody else filled in “spot” for hot and blind?
10
The main puzzle went fairly smoothly although there was one big scare. Never before would I have needed a cross or two for Ford failure! Should have been instantaneous. I held off on the skirt type. Three possibilities for M__I, and still two for MI I. And I had OLAf before I needed the V. And I almost got APo on my first try (right now I can't even remember the name of the program!)
The mini a bit harder for its size. Had it not been for Madrid and Loch ____, I might never have finished it. What is "Rock on!" all about?
2
@kilaueabart
The “devil horns” as I’m familiar with them are always in the air at a rockin’ metal concert. Also in the crowd of orange and white at a Texas game, “hook’em horns!”
1
@kilaueabart
🤘
Another scary one! How could I even for a moment forget Bart Simpson, one of the few other Barts I have known in my life!
I finished this Tuesday puzzle with just one mistake: I wrote mini for midi. Now how do I get back to Monday, which I haven't done yet?
1
@Larry
Click on the "archive" button.
1
Larry,
Pull the paper out of the recycle pile?
4
@Larry
Aside from @Barry's suggestion, the easiest way is just to scroll down a weebit from the Mini and today's Crossword, and the next row down offers you the Monthly Bonus and each of the past seven daily puzzles.
Enjoy!
1
Interesting puzzle; a little tougher than the usual Tuesday.
In reading the controversy over LYON vs LYONS; the latter is mentioned as an older, not modern spelling.
The other interesting thing I discovered, is that Lyons, WI is 18 miles from Paris, WI; and I believe I've driven through both of them (Paris frequently, Lyons once).
5
There’s a Lyons, Illinois!
1
TIL that Lyons is not what everyone calls that French city. Good puzzle, I’d have tried to use Francisco Jimenez from Santa Clara instead of Franco.
1
Hi Deb - somewhat obscure but Cleveland Indian shortstop Francisco Lindor would be a 15 letter answer
4
@coloradoz
Nice suggestion! He's been an all-star all four full seasons he's played, has won two gold gloves and two silver sluggers, and played in one of the most famous world series ever (2016) - I'd say he's fair game!
5
Filled it out, have checked it over and over again, not getting my music. :-(
Oops. 😭
7
17 letters in Otjihaenamaparero (column photo). 18 in Nahasapeemapetilon, APU’s last name, which per Wikipedia is “a morphophonological blend of the name "Pahasadee Napetilon,’ the full name of a schoolmate of Simpsons writer Jeff Martin.” Wonder what Mr. Napetilon makes of the character.
I thought the theme was a nice misdirect. Distracted as I solved and I got hung up in the SW corner when I was sure that the “Blind or hot” entry was TAKE (“blind take” seemed like a real thing). Was also sure that “Agreeable (to)” was KEEN rather than OPEN. Kind of fun to feel discombobulated (15 letters) on a Tuesday.
Nice column, Deb, and nod to Chevy Chase and SNL’s early irreverent humor.
5
The French city famous for silk making is NOT Lyons; it is Lyon!!!! Seriously, NYT!
16
I was also upset, but this alternative spelling is on the Wikipedia page, so maybe it’s ok?
2
@Frances Rigberg Baker
I suspect there will be a lot of roaring about that. Should have been clued “Inimitable Wordplayer Sam __.”
(It seems as though LYON is also called LYONS. TIL).
7
LYONS is not the standard spelling by any means.
1
I usually do the puzzle in the afternoon, so any comments I make here are lost among the hundreds. Tonight I am early--and have nothing to say. Except that I enjoyed the puzzle and the names checked.
14
Fun puzzle.
Part of my heart is still in California and I loved the tribute to its wonderful cities.
Thanks!
5
I was a bit disappointed that notable natives of Spain, Mexico and Puerto Rico ended up themed as California cities...
2
@Barry Ancona
Because they should have been themed as...? (Franco has been dishonored? I don't understand.)
3
By the time I filled in JOSE, RAFAEL, and FRANCISCO, I had figured out what was going on. So I spent some time trying to think of other California cities that would be the name of a famous person and be a well-known enough city to work in an early-week puzzle. Not many came to mind! San Fernando? Gabriel? Pablo? None of them are very big in terms of population. Maybe female saints? Barbara, Clara, Maria, Monica, Rosa? Anyway, these four were definitely the best of the (male) bunch.
4
@Liz B
Just off the top of my head:
Barbara Walters, Clara Barton, Maria Shriver, Monica Seles, Rosa Parks.
8
@vaer, @Liz
I guess during “men’s week” we get FRANCISCO FRANCO. It does seem a bit unfair to link Franco with the best city in the world, imo.
4
@Liz B
We could also toss in Santas Ana and Anita;
Ana de Armas and Anita Hill.
5
LYONS??
Could someone please explain?
6
@Andrew
Just what the clue states:
Lyons is a city in France long known for its silk weaving.
What was the confusion?
1
(I don’t know if this is an alternate spelling of LYON, but I’ve certainly never seen it.)
6
@BLB
The city in question is LYON I believe. I’ve never seen it spelled like that.
8
Alas, our chance (in SoCal) to see Rafa and most of the top-ranked men and women on the tour is gone, now that the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells is cancelled. (I believe Federer wasn't scheduled to play due to an injury). No doubt the cancellation was the prudent thing to do under the circumstances, but tennis fans will greatly miss the event.
4
@RichardZ How disappointing!
I was thinking the theme was just well-known Spanish-named persons -- didn't see the connection to CALIFORNIA until I got down to the reveal, and then realized how cleverly those Spanish names had been selected. Very nice.
1
I will add that seeing Francisco Franco's name all across the grid gave me pause too. I was briefly in Spain in the 1960's, and even as a protected American, being in a police state was very creepy. I don't know about humor making that okay.
5
@Millie
I was in Spain in the sixties, too!
While I agree with you that a police state was not okay, I believe the humor arises from the real happiness that it's over.
It took such a long drawn out time for the world to be sure giving Chevy Chase his funny line.
4
Hi Deb,
Agreed about Francisco Franco.
I'm Barry Ancona ... and you're not.
11
But are you still dead?
1
Peter,
This just in: you'd better review the routine.
Easy peasy. Fun theme.
1