I asked my husband, “Ever heard of Dorothy Gale?” “Nope. The only ‘Dorothy’ I know was in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’” I said, “Well that’s no help.” Nice Wednesday. Fell together in quite a smooth way. Themers were oddly easy to get with a few letters. 👍
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I’ve seen the behind the scenes photos from Midnight Cowboy and it is clearly a set up with the same cab driver over a number of takes. John Schlesinger told me the line was in the script as well. It’s in my 1995 documentary Midnight Cowboy Revisited. Anyway it’s still a great moment in an A movie. 🍿
@Peter Fitzgerald Funny, I was wondering how that cab driver would have felt about seeing himself on the big screen not only without having been paid for it, but also portrayed in a bad light for getting chewed out. Now I feel better knowing he was a paid extra who got to gloat for being in that scene.
Puzzles like this remind me why I am in awe of constructors - to be able to do come up with fresh, clever themes that also can fit in a crossword grid. Truly a pleasure to solve.
I was definitely not on Rebecca's wavelength, doubled my average solve time. Nothing came easy. On to Thursday.
@Deb This was really a Thursday, as I needed nine cheats. Maybe on Thursday, we get the missing Wednesday?
I'M solvIN HERE! First time ever I was able to fill in the revealer and the theme answers right off the bat. They are so iconic. Not to worry. Was done in by many typos elsewhere. Here's the Nilsson song from the soundtrack. <a href="https://youtu.be/yaIalO-gRTI?si=-ECUXbjs5jyK2ZvF" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/yaIalO-gRTI?si=-ECUXbjs5jyK2ZvF</a> Thank you, Rebecca.
Record time for me, too! It helped that the revealer was one of my favorite movie lines from one of my favorite movies, and once I got that, the rest fell into place. My learning moment of the night was an introduction to spectacled bears. I imagined a pack of professorial bears in wire-rimmed glasses, and enjoyed learning through the crosses (followed by a trip to Google) that these are a real thing! Minus the wires, sadly. And the elbow patches. But they still look damn cute. Fun puzzle!
Great puzzle. Embarrassingly held up at the end by an imaginary airline USA II, A bird called a STILL, and for some reason, the idea that eight QUAILS made a peck. 🤦♂️
@Michael I had made the exact same mistakes! Took me an extra 10 minutes or so to sort that out.
Rebecca, just popping in to let you know I laughed out loud while solving this. I'M SOLVING HERE! Thanks for the giggles, friend!
Rachel! Nice to see you. Say hi to your mom. emu
@Barry Ancona Rachel forwarded your note. Sending my best regards to you and other wordplay folks and hoping that you’re staying cool and enjoying summer. Today’s puzzle also made me laugh though it took a tad longer for me to finish with a bit of help from google.
"How many times have you seen 'The Wizard of Oz'?" "A few. About Toto three." ("People pun and go so quickly here!")
@Mike I envision you surrounded by puzzlers, who take deep breaths, and "Way, hey, BLOW the man down!"
What a fabulous theme and brilliant revealer. One of my favorites in recent memory. You can always depend on Rebecca Goldstein to step up the game!
I love everything about this puzzle, NADA to complain about. Plus, there's BONDS in this puzzle: Barry Bonds, for instance, holds the record for most walks in major league history (2,558), so if the clue was [Barry Bonds] the answer would be TRIP TO FIRST BASE. Actually, we hated him in Pittsburgh and were all secretly not sorry to see him to off to the Giants, he was self absorbed, never a team player, including sitting out the last game of the season to preserve his .300 average. He was a real stilt in Pittsburgh compared to how he looked in SF, probably after receiving some SET SHOTS out there. Oof. Also, and I got this straight from Dave A. in Rochester MI (aka "Mr. Shortypants") as early as 1987, that Neil Armstrong said, "One small step for a man..." - and NOT "one small step for man." Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense, man and mankind being basically the same. Dave A. used to go around correcting people whenever they got it wrong, and it became a bit of a problem...(he also measured anything advertised as being a foot long -- hot dogs, subs -- in order to insure he wasn't being victimized). Turns out Dave A. was right all along: <a href="https://lsc.org/news-and-social/news/did-neil-armstrong-really-say-thats-one-small-step-for-man#:~:text=Or" target="_blank">https://lsc.org/news-and-social/news/did-neil-armstrong-really-say-thats-one-small-step-for-man#:~:text=Or</a>%20does%20it%3F,not%20discernible%20in%20the%20audio. Also, spectacled bears, native to South Africa, are really crazy cute. But y'all find your own links!
@john ezra I think you meant South America, not Africa.... but yes, they are cute! "One small step for a man" was absolutely what Armstrong was supposed to say, and some thought that he forgot the "a", but the consensus now is that he DID say it, but a blip in communications made it inaudible (there is a small gap in the audio).
I’d never heard of spectacled bears before, they sound like they must be Paddington’s aunties and uncles.
@Spelling Marauder Paddington is a stowaway from Peru...
Two of the triathletes who go to my gym have vanity plates that include Kona, so that's what I immediately put in at 1A. AVI quickly sorted that out. This was a typically wonderful Rebecca Goldstein puzzle. I love imagining each of the 3 characters saying I'M WALKIN' HERE in a New York accent.
That was a lot of fun. Wasn't getting anywhere until I had enough down crosses to remember the quote in the reveal and then everything fell together pretty smoothly. Thought there were some other cute clue/answer combinations too. Just a very enjoyable Wednesday. ...
One of the funnier themes I can remember. Now I'm imagining Jesus turning to St. Peter as he sinks beneath the waves and annoyingly saying "Hey, I'm walkin here!!"
Love that movie line, and it was fun imagining each person saying it in their respective situations. 😄 What a great theme for a crossword, and cleverly put together.
Didn't need the revealer to figure out the theme. It had me wondering after getting the first themer; but getting the second made it pretty clear and made the third easy. I'm starting to anticipate a great puzzling experience with I see Rebecca's name listed. Fun one! Thanks, Rebecca.
@JayTee Rebecca Goldstein made one of my favorite puzzles of the last few years for AVCX. It’s called “Fake Meat.” I don’t know if you can buy individual puzzles from AVCX (I subscribed), but it is worth looking for.
What a witty theme, and how nice to have the themers play off a classic line from a classic sixties movie. My 14 year old self and a friend finagled our way into the theater somehow for a showing of Midnight Cowboy, which we found much less titillating than we’d expected based on all the surrounding publicity. For a time, between Midnight Cowboy and the Graduate, it seemed like the formula for cinematic success in that era was to plot a way to get Dustin Hoffman on a bus for the film’s denouement. As a birder I was happy to see a STILT clued as an elegant shorebird. The black-necked stilt certainly fits that description and gives the impression of wearing a tuxedo.
I snorted when I got the theme. Absolutely hilarious situations to picture! Extremely smooth solve too. Loved [PC hook up spot], fresh take on EPI, and learning where spectacled bears live. Thank you, Rebecca!
I enjoyed Rebecca Goldstein’s Wednesday puzzle. Inexplicably, I got the theme answer at 52A with only a couple of crosses — the last two Es — although I had never heard about the controversy over whether the line was in fact an ad-lib by Dustin Hoffman: <a href="https://www.cbr.com/midnight-cowbody-im-walkin-here" target="_blank">https://www.cbr.com/midnight-cowbody-im-walkin-here</a>/ As for “Gale” being Dorothy’s never-mentioned last name in the “Wizard of Oz” movie, I do recall it being Uncle Henry’s last name, having been used by Miss Gulch when she arrives at the farm to take Toto away: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjHHTWalnvw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjHHTWalnvw</a>
@Strudel Dad According to IMDb: “Glinda: Are you a good witch, or a bad witch? Dorothy: Who me? I'm not a witch at all. I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas.”
Working on a new song: "Im goin where the crosswords suit my prose." We liked it exclaims ko "the all knowing." We had tabla for the drum and lord knows who RIRI is :) Thank you Rebecca
"You are not THE Dorothy Gale of Kansas?" mocks The Nome King in the wildly entertaining sequel to our great cinematic treasure. After all, "what puts the APE in apricot?" The three intrepid heroes cited would certainly know (as would Sam, clever as always). Beautifully done on every level. My highest encomium to Rebecca and the puzzle team for this gem, and thanks so much for the fun. We are fortunate to have you provide these daily delights.
Fun! And for extra entertainment: imagine Ratso schmoozing with the disciples, then with the scarecrow and tin man, then with Buzz Aldrin.
Ratso apparently preferred the company of emus, where they’ve been yukking it up since I made this comment last night.
I’m always happy when the birds show up, and stilts are one of my favorites. Thanks for a fun Wednesday.
This was hard won for me! It took me about 10 minutes over my average, which hasn't happened in a long time, but I haven't seen Midnight Cowboy—nor am I familiar with that ad libbed line. I got the first two themers without it, and that helped me a bit with the revealer. And I finished without any look-ups or help, which the early days of my average would have included. Wasn't anything specifically hard, but I had a lot of things I had to remove and rework a few times. Like UNfold before UNSEAL, Scream before SHRIEK, and soSO for ORSO. But it all worked out in time. I also had a hard time accepting SMOOSHING as an answer but I see that dictionary is good with it so who am I to argue? Of course, the hardest one for me was figuring out, "You woke me." My first several guesses included some variation of, "UGH, turn off the $%#* light—my meeting isn't till 10!!" Or, "...it's Saturday, for the love of Pete!!" Too bad none of my answers fit. 😉 Hashtag: not a morning person! 😴
Yeah, this one definitely did not do it for me. Usually I enjoy trying to figure it out, this one just annoyed me...to the point I just gave up and said not worth it...I'm out.
31D DIANE Warren doesn’t have an Oscar, despite this clue’s wishful thinking. She’s been nominated fifteen times and never won. If she did have an Oscar, maybe she’d stop. Those of us who watch all the nominated films every year have a term, “a Diane Warren movie,” for one that is nominated for her song and for nothing else, and we dread having to watch them!
@Elaine Wilson I think her Honorary Oscar counts.
@Elaine Wilson They gave her a statuette, which means she is “with” one, even if she didn’t “win” it.
@Elaine Wilson hers was merely a lifetime achievement, honorary award. It is a misleading clue, in my opinion.
Fun puzzle. But had to look up “bespectacled bears” after as I was clueless (pun intended). So here you go, in case you were wondering: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_bear" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_bear</a>
Super fun one. I completed in record time (for me)!
@Tracy K Good for you! I checked my stats, I had "record time", but the other way. This was more time consuming than any other Wednesday puzzle has been for me. It would have made a great Thursday puzzle. But then you'd be complaining "too easy"????
Glad I read the article, because i read the theme as 'I'm walk in here' and was totally confused. Enjoyable puzzle, thanks!
My crossword nous short-circuited today when faced with a place-name _A_U and went for Baku
Such a fun and easy puzzle. Did it in record (for me) time. Would have been even faster if I'd been wearing my glasses and not read 58 across as "Flattering, informally".
I think this is the first time I solved a Wednesday in one go--across hints, down hints, and done! And after an early morning Wordle/Spelling Bee session that had me worried about my mental acuity, too.
For what it's worth, and I'm sure it's not much, but this puzzle is a perfect example of the insanity and inanity of rating a puzzle too easy or too hard. If you are a big Dustin Hoffman fan, like myself, who's seen Midnight Cowboy at least a dozen times, the IMWALKINHERE jumps right out, and is only tricky in the sense that the "g" of "walking" isn't included. That one makes other long entries fairly easy. But without that, they would be much more difficult.
I had to use your article for the answers to themed clues, but after that it was fairly easy for me. I don't have a good feel for celebrities and pop culture, but I'm getting better. The biggest obstacle for me was CPAS. I just couldn't figure it out. Of course, I'm a right-brain person, so accounting makes me... sorry, I drifted off. Have a good day. Tell your family and friends you love them, even your in-laws.
Soaring Dragon is not a nickname of 16-A. It was an official name (Thăng Long) of that world capital in the past, just like Edo was a former name of Tokyo.
@Remy How Hanoing that they could make such a mistake. (perhaps they deserve capital punishment?) The clue definitely had no Seoul. I could go on...but it would only get worse.
@Remy A nickname is an additional or familiar name for something. Since the city is now known as Hanoi, Soaring Dragon (which is an English phrase) can correctly be called a nickname. (Cheshire cat voice: “We’re all pedants here…”) . . . Emu
Late puzzle find - quite amazing. A Thursday from June 21, 2018 by Milo Beckman and David Steinberg. Pretty hard to describe it. Will just note that six across lines each had background colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. And... as one example the theme answers on the purple line were: PROSE, HEARTS and RAIN. Have just never seen anything like that before. Here's the Xword Info link. Worth checking out: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/21/2018&g=34&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/21/2018&g=34&d=A</a> ..
@Rich in Atlanta thank you! I was working through the June 2018 puzzles but got off track a couple days ago. I only read part of your comment before starting but it let me know to go back and look at it after the Congrats splash screen popped up when I did that puzzle just now. And it was enough to give me a leg up (although I started to see the trick rather quickly)
I love it when a theme is fairly clear but the revealer is a complete surprise. I'm not sure why, but this seemed like a tougher than usual puzzle. Normally on a Wednesday I feel like Miss Congeniality: "Hey, I'm gliding here!". That certainly was no ad lib.
Very fun puzzle. Harder for me than a typical Wednesday but it sounds like most found it on the easier side. Do people actually wear kilts in prep school in 2024? That seems odd.
@Cyndie Not all prep schools are in the US...
@Cyndie I also found this a hard puzzle. I needed NINE cheats! This was definitely a Thursday, and a hard Thursday at that. For instance, the clue for OMAHA, why not the city? That's a Saturday level clue.
@Mean Old Lady I didn’t say they were, in fact the one that came to mind is Eton. I just can’t think of any where they wear kilts. Not that my knowledge of prep school uniforms is particularly robust.
That felt pretty tough. I liked the theme. Didn't realize Dorothy's last name was Gale
@Steven M. - Yeah, same here.. I weirdly was slow yesterday and today. I didn't know the revealer and struggled to make progress... then all it once it came together, but it was well over my usual time. Fun puzzle with a few mildly tricky spots for a Wednesday.
@Steven M. "Gale" - wind - tornado - get it? 😀
I really enjoyed this one and liked the crossing of WENTWILD and TRANQUILITYBASE. Am I the only one who finds Rihanna’s nickname to be kind of awkward? Thanks Rebecca for yet another fun puzzle! Love the commute story LOL
@Ann I don’t find it awkward, but I wonder if her real name should have been in the clue. Why not “Popular singer’s nickname”? !?!?! !?!?!
Lovely variety of places where someone walked. I didn’t know the memorable “ad lib”, so that slowed me down a bit at the end, but a fun solve, just right for Wednesday.
Happy to be reminded of Midnight Cowboy and that wonderful ad lib.
Loved this one! It came together easily with lots of fun cluing - some of it was new to me like EIGHT IN A PECK, which took me an embarrassingly long time. Always happy to see the birds! As a very new player, in my FIRSTYEAR, you might say - can someone explain the (*)'s to me in the theme clues? Was it just to indicate that they're themers? Please don't SCOLD me for my grammar, lest I SMOOSH you.
@Bee "can someone explain the (*)'s to me in the theme clues? Was it just to indicate that they're themers?" You nailed it.
Yes, @Bee, the asterisks are there simply to let solvers to know that this is one of the themers. And mostly when you see a "*" in front of the clue that's what it means. But every once in a great while, there's an exception. I would call your attention to David Kwong's marvelous puzzle of 4/18/24. It uses the "*" in the most devious and original way I've ever seen and it's tops in my running list for this year's Puzzle of the Year. It's quite recent and I'm wondering if you did it. Or at least tried to.
That was an ad-lib?? Who knew? Dorothy's full name.... ha ha, GALE was very cute, L. Frank Baum.... So, we have a real person having a fictional WALK, Then a fictional individual taking a fictional WALK, And finally a real person taking a real WALK (but one that we barely imagined.) I did get the line from the movie (UGH, awful and upsetting movie) just from -KINHE- when the R dropped into place. The clue for 10D is weirdly specific and not a metaphor I've ever seen or conceived. Maelstrom, mayhap, or 'ticking time bomb,' but oh well. And then there is the 19A dance, which I've only seen as RHUMBA. After completing the puzzle, I googled this to find that there are Cuban RUMBA dances which differ from the (presumably Anglo) rhumba dances... Getting mighty hair-splittingly-specific, here!
Wikipedia tells me that the Mad magazine satire of “Midnight Cowboy” was “Midnight Wowboy.” Though I’m sure I read it despite being too young to see the movie, I don’t remember how it parodied the iconic I’M WALKIN’ HERE scene. Fun theme. Thanks, Ms Goldstein!
@Eric Hougland Thanks for the nod to Mad Magazine. It brought back a flood of memories. I loved when they did one cover to look like our old black & white composition books. The cartoons, the puns and satires served as a wonderful foundation for looking at the world and appreciating the value of good humor (not the ice cream). This Boomer is most grateful.
I love gently smooshing (hugging) the adult rescue Boston Terrier my daughter recently adopted... and my daughter too! Lol! Enjoyable crossword.
I had no idea of the themer but my husband is a big fan of Midnight Cowboy and knew it with no crosses. He's usually no help except for baseball stadiums and names of airlines.
This was just brilliant! It seemed impossible after the first past and then turned into my PB by the end. Never saw Midnight Cowboy but the scene looks hilarious on YouTube. . . the only X-rated movie to ever when Best Picture! That’s not walking on water, but it’s close.