When a doe writes a "Deer John" letter, that's just hartless. (She'll pass the buck.)
@Mike - so what? he just goes stag! …
@Mike I'm stag-gering after that one. Please, no more of that elk.
@Mike It behooves her to say that at least she'll remember him fawndly. 🦌🦌🦌
Woowie! Ezra in the NW, Jean in the SE: Represent!!! A classic Tuesday, would have offended the Thursday crowd as too lite, but devilish in areas and with off-kilter answers like AISLED -- and believe me, I think "aisled" is a silly and pretentious and seldom used word, but I kind of hate-love it -- and EGG TIMERS, my God it's like having Bertie Wooster over for breakfast to talk about the latest dalliances of Lady Emma and Dame Talia, or simply stay in bed, pretend to be ill, demand a SPICED RUM at near scalding temperature, that ought to do the trick -- don't get up til TEN. So glad to get a clue for ELSA that's not some frozen fish from Finding Nemo, only finding it after thinking Cost, Guat, Pana, Beli, Mexi, Nica, each of which I really wouldn't be surprised is a woman's name. Guat's that you say? I'm surprised the editors didn't demand you clue 58a REMIND as "JOGGLE the memory of" instead of "Jog the memory of" -- I now know, from its deployment in a puzzle, not 48 hours ago, that "JOGGLE" in a crossword puzzle can drive an otherwise sane person into paroxysms of rage which are applauded and approved by the masses, who shout ATTAWAY, friend, ATTAWAY! So funny, Pierce Brosnan up top, playing an ersatz James Bond in Remington Steele before putting in time as Bond himself (awful, IMHO, he seemed always with a sheen of sweat and a slightly pouty look), then Tesla a.k.a. Elon Musk, who's a cross of Dr. Evil and Dr. Strangelove, a parody of a Bond villain, then Dr. No!
@john ezra I’ve worked in a lot of performance venues so I just thought of AISLED as a slightly quirky, fun entry. Not sure I’d use that term in every day conversation, but it still surprised me that it is only the fourth time that word has been in a puzzle!
Oh, man, did I adore this theme. First of all, you have to come up with it in the first place. How did Victor do that? This is a theme that comes from the nether reaches of left field. Maybe he saw, say, LOVED ONE, in a book, his brain tapped him on the shoulder with LOVE DONE, and he thought, “Hmm…”. But then… How do you come up with more of these? And of specific lengths to meet the requirements of grid symmetry? AND have them be “Hah!”-worthy. There have been some stabs in the comments at more of these theme answers, but, IMO, none as good as the ones in this puzzle. Then there’s the revealer actually being a theme answer as well, with its own moved D! And with its marvelous bonzo clue. That's a mic drop of a finish -- perfecto! And CHIME DIN! CHIME DIN! What a sweet phrase and concept. I can actually hear actual lovely chime din in my head just from thinking of the phrase. In fact, I will be awash in a cloud of chime din at various points throughout the day today because of this answer. Standing O, Victor, on this sparkling theme. Your puzzle entertained and amazed me, and I’m ever so grateful to you for making it!
That annoying feeling when you can’t remember how a song goes? TUNE DOUBT (Yeah I know, Victor’s were all spelled right) Best clue ever for Idris!
For all the Ted Lasso fans out there… ____ Sam Obisanya's crushed hopes after finally meeting his Bantr match in person? DATEDOWNER
Mr. Barocas, in your notes you say: "I believe that the fundamental message of the puzzle should be 'Look how smart the solver is for figuring this puzzle out,' not 'Look how smart the constructor is for constructing this impressive puzzle.'” I appreciate your humility and your willingness to construct with the user experience in mind, but I personally don't see anything wrong with a constructor's brilliance shining bright for all to see and admire. Constructors are intrinsically much smarter than a solver needs to be. After all, as solvers, we need only decipher what your intelligence and inspiration has created, a much lesser job than coming up with a whole grid's layout, cluing, and theme when there is one. And so, please take a bow for this clever puzzle! Yes, I figured out what you did there -- just in time to stop short of wanting to MOVE London -- but the kudos is all yours. Really. Thank you for this terrific Tuesday!
@sotto voce Correction: ~what your intelligence and inspiration *have* created~ Don't want to make a mistake like that one on a forum like this one.
@sotto voce Great post, sotto! Thanks for saying so superbly what I was thinking. emu food more emu food
It occurs to me that - while I’ve only attempted, and never completed construction of a puzzle - it must be a unique challenge to make an early-week puzzle interesting. Thursday is a game, a puzzle, a trick, a riddle… Friday and Saturday are crunchy and chock full of misdirection… But to craft a fairly simple-to-solve puzzle that is clever and entertaining…well, that can’t be simple at all. Kudos Mr. Barocas. You nailed it.
Able is he and he is Elba might be my favorite clue ever.
I laughed out loud, and then quite unconnected I heard at the same time that the Appeals Court declared Trump not immune from prosecution. Oh! What a wonderful start to the day. I don’t have to give up hope!
Sorry, Victor, but I was definitely left marveling at how smart you are for constructing this puzzle. Nicely done!
"Recovered some yards" was worth the price of admission. ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏👏👏👏👏
@dutchiris So true. At first I thought it was a phrase a sports commentator would use…
This was a perfect Tuesday—cute theme, easy enough to move through, but still clues that gave me pause. Nice end to the evening.
The ultimate Tuesday puzzle! Clever, canny and cwick! My compliments to the cruciverbalist!
The theme reminded me of an early solving experience when I asked this community what a NAIL EDIT was. Someone suggested a mani-pedi.
Perfectly challenging for a Tuesday. Hard enough to keep me from speed solving but tricky enough to get me thinking in a few places. And, dig the theme! Good times - Thanks, Victor Barocas!
@Striker Don't be so silly. emu food stuff for Stiker also
This puzzle wins some sort of prize for the "Able is he, and he is Elba" clue. A nice touch for a Tuesday puzzle.
A welcome bit of Tuesday bite for me, especially up top. Just wasn’t getting the first themer, mainly because i wasn’t seeing MER for “lead-in to maid or man.” I less apt to move on when stymied with an early-week puzzle, because I feel like I should be getting it without much resistance. So, that bit of a tussle was great. Plus, it’s such a good wordplayey theme and the long fill was colorful. An excellent Tuesday.
@Puzzlemucker Yep, I had the ME- and was SURE that this was a rare Tuesday rebus, with TER in the third square.
@Puzzlemucker I could not see MER either. And I was trying to MAim instead of MAUL. And to add insult to injury, I was questioning EMMA because why would she be clued with a tv set as opposed to a movie screen? Doh. Stupid precaffeinated brain.
A palindromic clue to a (supposed) Napolean palindrome was a read misdirection!
Just chiming in to say this was one of my faves. Well done. It went from frustration to Aha! the way the best puzzles do.
AISLED thing, duh duh dah dah duh duh You make my heart sing…
@Kate Tani That's wild that AISLED made you think of that tune! Loved it! . . . . . Emus don't make everything groovy.
If Victor wouldn't let me have a SPICE RACK, I decided, I'll just go play somewhere else. So I did 56D, 55D, 54, and then Zipped up the Across clues...to reveal the clever trick! Our wind CHIME is out there gently playing tones...but the recent storms meant there was quite a DIN some of the time. (This CCRC retirement village has a lot of rules, including No Wind CHIMES. Hah! Practically every balcony in the apartment wings has them hanging, and ditto back patios in the 'garden homes' like ours.) Rules? We don't need no stinkin' rules! Oh, the puzzle. If it's a real match, is it a mere DALLIANCE? A whole DRUM...wow. Even a keg of SPICE is a bit too much.... AISLED???? A Dear John letter means, "It wasn't LOVE; it was a DALLIANCE." ....and for 29D I really did want ARMADILLOS. OH, WELL. Would you be surprised to know that snakes like earthworms? I had a garden buddy with a blunted tail who learned to hang around when I was weeding flowerbeds. 'Rupert' (yes, that was his real name) would alert as soon as I tossed him a worm, then grab and gulp it down. Afterward, he would wipe his lips on the bark mulch in a dainty manner--fastidious! He disappeared after about 3 years, but I remember him fondly.
@Mean Old Lady I loved your post ... all of it ... the SPICE RACK bit, the CHIMES (OMG!) and especially the story about your darling Rupert. What a wonderful woman! emu food more emu food
What could I possibly add to this chorus of praises for a wonderful puzzle!? I, like most of you, absolutely adored it! Or did I adore dit!? No, no, no, that doesn't work! I'll leave it to the constructor! The overall charmingness aside, anything that includes the ever able Idris Elba, is a good thing in my book!! Not to mention my very youthful very mad crush on Pierce Brosnan in Remington Steele, which I had never missed. I tried to watch a couple episodes a few years ago and it was a bit painful, to say the least. I'd prefer to cherish the memories than ruin them, so I stopped watching post haste.
@HeathieJ, I had the same cringe feeling when I watched a few episodes of Hill Street Blues a few years ago. It was awful!
@HeathieJ As soon as I read your comment, I was about to jump in with a reply... Then thought to scroll back to _my_ comment. And whaddya know, you replied! 👀👀 Same wavelength, for sure!! 👀👀 Do you remember the brouhaha when Pierce Brosnan wasn't allowed out of his Remington Steele contract to play Bond (and it went to Timothy Dalton instead)? I remember being *totally irate* -- in the way teenagers are -- because I thought he'd be a great Bond. When poor Pierce finally got to play 007, sadly it was not the best... But he was great in the Thomas Crowne Affair remake (IMHO). Ironically, despite there being rumors of Idris Elba getting the "Bond nod", that didn't come to pass, either! Ugh, he would have been great... Good thing I liked Daniel Craig in the role. 😁
That was not only.clevrr, but a lot of fun too. Plus a sprinkling of Zs, X's, Js and other interesting letters too. A good start to a Tuesday!
Even though Lewis is probably composing his morning encomium even as I type, let me say what an excellent puzzle I found this!: From the very start, it was great to see my dear niece Beli's name featured in the puzzle; I'll have to call and tell her! (She's in Seminary right now, doing epigraphical research into the O. T. Book of Boaz.) And who could forget Piece Brosnan's role as Remington Speele, with Palia Shire as his wife, in that sit-com about the First Gentleman and the Mayor of Natick, Mass.--I especially loved the episode where they vacationed in the Mediterranean, collecting stones on the beaches of Elba. And the revealer which could be parsed *three* ways! Now it's a very good thing that Ms. Holmes came on the scene, so we don't have to clue that five-letter string the *other* way, but it does mean that I don't get as many chances to link this favorite from the 80's: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47D7TUIJuzM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47D7TUIJuzM</a>
@Bill Now I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas--no carols before Thanksgiving for me! Advent is Advent, and Christmas is Christmas! But Dec. 15th is about the time I break down, and we decorate the tree (a ceiling-height Euphorbia Tirucalli potted in an old cinnamon drum), while listening to a favorite sister-act sing the one Latin Christmas song anyone knows: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6KVMsO3F_U" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6KVMsO3F_U</a> (O come, all ye emus, flightless and judgmental!)
"I believe that the fundamental message of the puzzle should be “Look how smart the solver is for figuring this puzzle out,” not “Look how smart the constructor is for constructing this impressive puzzle.” So I hope that solvers got a mini “Aha!” moment from the theme entries, and that they enjoyed solving the puzzle as much as I enjoyed making it." -- Constructor Victor Barokas Amen, Amen, Amen, Victor!! From your lips to God's ear, as they say. And, yes, I very much experienced both aspects of your last "I hope" sentence.
Loved this puzzle! Best Tuesday in years. So playful -- and with such funny and offbeat themers. They supplied a welcome level of puzzlement that I wasn't expecting so early in the week. I fell completely for the first themer, SPICE DRUM. "They make spice containers that big?" I wondered. "Gee, my spice containers are really small. Do I not have a SPICE DRUM because I'm not much of a cook? Or is it because my NYC apartment kitchen is too small to accommodate one?" I still hadn't completely figured out the gimmick at LOVE DONE for the gist of a "Dear John" level. "Gee, what an usual way to put it," I thought. "But I suppose, when you come to think about it..." The parsing aspect dawned on me at FORGE DALLIANCES/FORGED ALLIANCES. I went and re-parsed all my previous answers before moving on to complete my solve. MOVE DOVER!!!! What an inspired revealer and how wonderfully clued. And so funny. An enormously entertaining puzzle that has to have been FORGED by a wonderfully playful and inventive mind. Really nice work, Victor!
Some of the most sparkling clues I’ve ever seen. Idris Elba? Sod? Well done!
I don't have anything to say about the puzzle (other than I had to look up the cereal, and even though I am a gamer on various devices, I have never heard of CANDYLAND) - but for once I solved the puzzle right after it was released. Unfortunately only because a nasty cold woke me up at 4 AM where I am. . . . Book of Emu (I had to guess EZRA, I don't know all the titles, and especially the order, of the chapters of any religious text).
@Andrzej Candyland is a child's board game first published in 1949. Most of us in the US remember playing it as a small child. Hope you feel better soon!
@Andrzej Candyland is a board game for little kids, so I’m not surprised you wouldn’t necessarily have heard of it. I grew up with it and just looked up how old it is. TIL that the game was invented in the 1940s to help kids pass the time while they recuperated from polio: <a href="https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/candy-land" target="_blank">https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/candy-land</a>/ My mom had polio in the 50s. I’ll have to ask her if she played Candyland to help distract her from being sick.
@Andrzej Get better soon Andrzej! And: the denial of an apostle PETERE DOUBT That’s what i hope your illness does, or did. (I know i know the spelling is awful. But good enough for emus, I hope).
Liked this one, especially the twisty clues which tried to lead me astray. No real difficulty, but it kept me interested. Thanks, Victor!
Yes indeed, this was a perfect Tuesday for me with a delightful theme. I didn’t get it until I got MOVE DOVER, a LOL reveal for me, and such fun to go back through the puzzle to get all those other clever theme entries. Adding my thanks to Victor.
Wow, the construction of this clever crossword deserves a round of applause! When I filled in SPICE DRUM I thought it strange, never heard of it but shrugged it off. On my second pass the words SPICED RUM jumped out at me, and my growing delight as each theme answer was filled in made my day. I was further amazed when I realized 62A could be parsed 3 ways. I am so impressed at the mind that could come up with this theme, and execute it so perfectly! The clue for IDRIS (23A) was my favorite.
Today I learned a new word: DALLIANCE. This significantly slowed down my solve, but hey, now I know something new!
@Veronika the puzzle was great DALLIANCE for a relatively free day
I hope everyone believes me when I say that every one of the attempts to post the other comment--and perhaps this one will be the same--told me that there was an error and the comment could not go through. But I'm only going to send this one once.
@Steve L I believe you! And I see 8 total comments from you while the heading on the column tells me there are 5 comments so far. I will blame the internet gremlins rather than the emus.
@Steve L You may have set a record. Emu-assisted, but still . . . I’m calling Guinness.
@Steve L I believe you! Every time I get the error message, it tells me to copy and paste, but then it goes ahead and posts twice. Super glitched. But your specific comment posting this many times made me laugh out loud. It was so perfect for a comment that starts with "Once again..." Once again Once again Once again... Maybe emus have a sense if humor after all!
Too often I'm the resident curmudgeonette, railing against gimmickry, and by extension, constructors who try to outdo each other in the cleverness department. This puzzle is one that had me smiling at each theme entry, as they revealed themselves one after another, and then the double layer of the reveal made me almost chortle with delight. No gimmicks, no circles, no grid art. Just plain, brilliant fun. The most puzzle enjoyment I've had since the Alchemy (rebus?) theme of a few months ago. I know, I know, I'm a tough audience. Thank you, Victor!
Wonderful puzzle! The ambiguity of parsing multi-word answers in a crossword puzzle can be such a source of mystery, it is a real treat to have that leveraged as a fun gimmick.
Sweet to see our EZRA where he belongs, in the top tier. Et tu, emu.
I zoomed through this puzzle late last night, getting the gold star in about 2/3 my average Tuesday time. None of the themers made sense, in that "they're real words and vaguely plausible" way that's not that infrequent nor unfamiliar to me. Plus, I solve on my phone, so no amount of sleepy squinting was going to help me out in that department! Of course, a little daylight and a fair amount of caffeine this morning displayed the awesome cleverness in all its glory. LOVED this ONE! I adored the already oft-cited clue for IDRIS. Also the one for fellow actor EMMA. (Teenaged me was gaga over Remington STEELE, but that show did *not* age well -- like so much from that era. Feels like EONS ago!) Also "Lost steam", "Recovers some yards?" and the clue for SANTAS, among others. Very clever clueing yet Tuesday-appropriate: that's quite a feat! Congratulations on a terrific puzzle!!
@G I thought Remington was the absolute dreamiest dreamboat ever, back in the day!! I wrote in my comment, before seeing yours, a similar thing.. including that I rewatched a couple episodes a few years ago and yeah, it did not age well! Unlike the Tilt-a-Whirl, which never goes out of style!! 😉🍸
Such a lively puzzle! Rare for the fill to be as fun as the theme/revealer but this was a joy from start to finish
Once again, I will remind Mr. Shortz that in my Bible, the "Book after II Chronicles" is...nothing. (I know this doesn't make it wrong from a crossword cluing standpoint, but there are so many other ways to clue EZRA that don't require a pound of thought, why go with the Christocentric one?)
@Steve L To make matters thornier, the most famous EZRA (Pound) was an anti-Semite.
@Steve L I’m tempted to post my first reply to each copy of your comment, just to make people wonder what the heck happened. But I don’t think the subject matter lends itself to levity. “Pound,” of course, has been used many times to clue EZRA, but in addition to being a literary giant, he was a monstrous person (as in Hitler-supporting and Holocaust-supporting monstrous). Not to say he shouldn’t be used to clue EZRA, and not to say that the merit of artists and writers should be based on their personal virtues or lack thereof rather than their work, but he is almost as fraught a clue for EZRA as “Riefenstahl” is for LENI.
@Steve L And finally, I agree with your basic point.
Fun puzzle. I finally tumbled to the trick with MOVEDOVER and that was the big turning point; Ah! it's all in the clues! That's always a nice touch. A couple of remarkable puzzle finds today. First - a Sunday from September 20, 2009 by Michael Ashley with the title "Closing Bell." One clue/answer sample (my favorite): "Book on how to repair rodent damage?" OFMICEANDMENDING Some other theme answers: LONGTIMENOSEEDING AINTWEGOTFUNDING GENTLEBENDING Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/20/2009&g=23&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/20/2009&g=23&d=A</a> And, I'll put the other puzzle in a reply. ..
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Sunday from October 26, 1997 by Cathy Allis with the title "Sound logic." Four theme answers in that one: MOVERRHYMESWITHHOOVER ISGROVERHENCEAGROOVER DOLOVERSBECOMELOUVERS ILLHAVETOTHINKITOOVER And the clues were all just: "Start of a verse." "Part 2 of the verse." etc. Seems like it would have been quite a challenge to work that one out. Anyway - in the vicinity of dad jokes, so right up my alley. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/26/1997&g=23&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/26/1997&g=23&d=A</a> ..
That was a fun solve. Nice and light for a Tuesday! 🍊🍉🍈🍇🍍
While I solved the puzzle pretty quickly and figured out the basic revealer, I have to thank Sam for giving me the deeper understanding of MOVE D OVER. Awesome puzzle, funny, and interesting.
Back when I dealt craps for a living, a correspondent publicly asked me, "Are you a craps player, Herr Lipton?" My answer was "Nein, I deal." 44A reminded me of that incident. I think my answer was intended to be a homophone of "nine-eyed eel." That was a very long time ago.
Just delightful, from start to finish. A very pleasant surprise for a Tuesday puzzle. Thanks, Victor Barocas!
40D, POSED before DOSED was my only minor hangup in an otherwise speedy and fun solve.
Watching a Documentary on how bad Sofia Coppola was in GF3 when #16 came up. Is it common knowledge that she was actually in all 3 Godfather movies? I had never heard that. She was the baby at the christening in 1.
@JimmyG I knew Sofia Coppola played the baby in the first movie, but I don’t think I knew she was in Part II. Some of her line readings in Part III really are stilted.
@JimmyG I remember how bad she was in the movie, but really? There's a documentary about it? That's just mean. . . . . . Even emus aren't that mean.
Thank you, Victor. I did get mini “Aha!” momenst from the theme entries! Loved LOVEDONE! Great Tuesday fare. See you again soon?