When I couldn't find my Tupperware, I flipped my lid. (I could hardly contain myself.)
@Mike That seals it! Some of your material belongs in cold storage. Emus freeze well, I'm told.
Love to see RUN-DMC and De La Soul in today's puzzle...although both are now sadly duos. RIP Jam Master Jay and Trugoy.
I grinned when I saw Alex’s name on a Tuesday puzzle because I knew it would be a delight! I waffled between Rubbermaid and TUPPERWARE at my first pass through. They both fit, but as soon as I peeped the theme, it was clear. Speaking of the theme (and adhering to Sam’s warning), it’s been a new experience phone banking for an organization that helps Americans who live abroad cast their ballots. I wanted to make calls in 2008 but I had a house full of noisy kids, dogs and cats. Now I just have cats (and a loudish hubby), so I can manage. It’s scary making the calls, but very important! Living in Europe, the word SOCIALIST doesn’t strike fear in people’s hearts as it does in the US. I guess people understand the definitions behind the scare tactics used in the US. Also, they aren’t limited by TWOPARTYSYSYEMS. The folks here are watching our election like hawks! Happy Tuesday!
@Pani Korunova Agree with your take on our, more nuanced understanding of SOCIALISM over here. Also how closely we’re all watching you guys coming up to November. Hard to watch, knowing we can’t join in, but that it will affect all of us significantly.
Pani Korunova, Your quick choice of Tupperware over its polymer rival made me wonder: is a “Rubbermaid party” a thing? And do I dare Google it to find out?
You know, for months now I've thought that the long, sometimes contentious discussions about the minutiae of this answer or that clue was something of a blight on the comment board. Now I realize that is the whole *point* of the comment board. Nothing like a debate about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin to get the old blood boiling, especially amongst us old coots, admit it, amirite? Same goes with whether or not OKRAS is an acceptable plural of okra (Spoiler: it is). I think the kind of human brain that is sniffling and clawing around enough to get interested in crossword puzzles is also interested in getting into the mental horn-locking, the "primate with the big brain" equivalent of rutting season in the elk. So, as far as I'm concerned, be a nit-picky and as pedantic as you please--it's as interesting a personality trait as any. And it has all the hallmarks of being fun.
@Francis [parisienne]
@Francis About those OKRAS: Just what someone living in Minnesota *would* think.... ....bless your heart.
@Francis It seems to me, especially after this weekend, that a lot of the comments lately have been complaints that the puzzle was bad because "I couldn't figure out the trick" or "the answers were all too obscure", i.e. the commenter wasn't up to the challenge of a really hard puzzle or a really confusing trick. Indeed, the real purpose of these comments is to figure things out: why this answer is what it is, whether this answer is a good one for the clue, whether this clue is a good one for the answer, etc. Criticism of the puzzle is a good thing when it's justified; often, you can tell a person hasn't had much crossword experience because they refer to the constructor as the "creator" or the "puzzle maker". When people with years, even decades, of experience criticize a clue or answer, their complaints may have somewhat more weight. And again, if you're really experienced and didn't like the trick or the entries, that's fine. But be able to back it up with a sound explanation!
This was a very pleasant solve! But I must object to the introduction: “Of the many desks that make up The New York Times, Games is one of the few that doesn’t cover politics in any form or fashion” I honestly don’t think anyone who regularly solves this puzzle believes this. They may be flattered that the crossword reflects their own politics, but it’s clearly not apolitical.
@NY Expat I agree for the most part. The puzzles do let politics in occasionally, for instance GAZA was clued as a "Mid-East place of conflict" back in February, Biden's and Obama's names turn up, as well as many other political figures, living or dead, but one would be hard pressed to assign a political leaning to either the editors or the constructors, much as one would think the demographic would be overwhelmingly blue. One can possibly spot some political leanings from absences (not a lot of Hitler, Nazis, fascists, autocrats, for example: most of the people whose names appear in the puzzles have made positive contributions), and in fact, "Trump" has never appeared with a clue about the former guy, whereas Biden has appeared a few times.
@NY Expat Being apolitical - which is the term you used - and "not covering politics" (the phrase in the column) are not the same thing. Rephrasing what somebody else said and then arguing with it hardly seems fair, eh? .
Sometimes these puzzles can be hard for someone who lives outside North America (and who’s under the age of 25) but I found this one charming! Although I struggled with 23A (Canadian provinces aren’t exactly my forte), I did get a bit excited when I got ALAMO and FEDERALIST - it’s the little things! Enjoyable solve :)
@Ella Haha! 🤣 I’m embarrassed to say that although I’m from the US, I am terrible at Canadian provinces and Mexican states (?). The good thing about crosswords is that we learn so much. The awesome news for you is that age 25 you have a good chance of actually retaining the information 😁!
There is no H in Dalai Lama There is no H in Dalai Lama There is no H in Dalai Lama Someday it will sink in for me
@Shelby Drink Your Juice Remember: The one-L lama, he's a priest. The two-L llama, he's a beast. And I will bet a silk pajama there isn't any three-L lllama.
@Shelby Drink Your Juice Were you thinking of DAHLIA--the flower? I can't figure out where you've been tucking the H.
@Mean Old Lady Oh, I’ve stuck it everywhere! Dhali. Dahli. Even Dalih out of desperation. My brain INSISTS it has to fit in.
Interesting how yer as an ending indicates a person practicing. In ASL we use a similar identifier. The sign for law which is the L hand touching the finger tips and then the base of the palm followed by palm in hands going from chest to hips on the side of the body as the indicator for a person. For lawyer. Interesting
Oh, now, these are some remarkable finds, these theme answers! Boy howdy – words that go with “party” that embed OTHER words that go with “party”? That’s hall-of-fame theme material right there, and I don’t care what nits I find, if any, in the rest of the grid – my thumbs are up, way up, on this one. A standard early-week theme fare is a set of answers that all go with a mysterious something, which, when discovered, hopefully bring a most lovely aha. But today’s extra level sets this theme apart, brings it somewhere into the stratosphere. When the double-layer aspect of the theme answers hit me, it brought a bona fide jawdrop, leaving aha in the dust. The wow from this one is going to stick with me for a long time. No exaggeration. Supporting cast includes the perfect revealer, that lovely jump-off-the-page clue for POPUPBOOK and [Student-run class?] for GYM, not to mention the PuzzPair© of TRIO and VIDI. Bravo and standing-O, Alex. This one lifted my mood for the whole day. Many, many thanks!
A classic Tuesday puzzle with a well put together theme. My only stumble was groks. I had the first E and the S, so I overconfidently filled in gEtS, without bothering to look at the crosses for the g and t, which of course made no sense. To my surprise I got the dreaded almost complete message and had to go back and check my work. With my mistake at the bottom of the puzzle, it took a minute to see but SEE it I did. I was happy to see my hometown NL East leading Phillies (sorry Steve L) get a shout out. It’s been their best regular season in quite some time and I’m hoping it bodes well for the post season. I’m sure the clue for that answer will vex some non Philadelphia area or non sports fan puzzlers - but cheer up, it should be easy to get via the crosses.
@Marshall Walthew Easy clue to figure out...which city's main symbol is a bell? If the Phillies go deep into the playoffs, you'd better hope the police department puts in a big order for grease. Only in Philly; only Philadelphians know what I'm talking about.
@Steve L For those not in the know, the grease would be to deter inebriated fans from celebrating a victory by climbing lamp posts and telephone poles.
@Steve L. One year back in the 1980s too many celebrants climbed the street poles in Madison WI. So the poles got greased in advance of the next. What was unforseen was that empty party cups and beer cans would stick to overly greased poles. It didn't take the crowds too long to figure this out. Looked pretty funny the next day.
Excellent Tuesday puzzle! I vote for Alex Eaton-Salners to make many more puzzles!
A fun Tuesday puzzle, despite the theme making me cringe a bit. I think the neverending US election campaign has made me too sensitive, you guys should cap it at two months like we do up here. :) My favorite clue was [student-run class] for GYM... that one made me laugh.
@Janine Someone should tell Justin, Pierre and Jagmeet that there's no election campaigning allowed right now.
@Janine Totally agree! Also, thanks for pointing out GYM... That is a good one! I filled it out on the crosses and never really noticed it.
Thanks Sam, you've answered a question that's been in the back of my mind for a long time. I now know what an EMU is. And thanks Alex for a nice, light Tuesday puzzle.
@Dave S I'm so glad! It's kind of a goofy convention, but convention nonetheless.
Begone, you tiny little circle! You add no intrigue where you lurkle. You're only there to vex and irkle. This style of puzzle doesn't workle.
@Nancy For everyone's benefit, please compare it to your black hat puzzle in painstaking detail.
I’ve made this point before, but that is not what GROK means.
@Wayne Harrison doesn’t it depend on the meaning of “see” in this case? I would say that “grok” matches definition 3a in the “transitive verb” section of the MW entry for see: “to grasp something mentally”. Do you disagree? <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/see" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/see</a> .:.:.:.:.;. .:.:.:.:.
@Wayne Harrison I agree, but I also believe the original definition in Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” should be how the word is used. Unfortunately, it has been co-opted and corrupted into popular parlance and no longer retains that meaning. I seem to have that problem with a lot of definitions. For example, the common phrase “to pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps” was a sarcastic phrase depicted in a political cartoon as something that would be impossible, but has become a desirable characteristic. And don’t get me started on the meaning of “eke.”
It was nice to see a Maritime Province as an answer in an NYT puzzle but it would be more accurate to say P.E.I. is east of New Brunswick and north of Nova Scotia.
@Ed Depends where you are in Nova Scotia! PEI is north of Halifax, but it’s due west of Cape Breton with New Brunswick on the other side. If you’re in Yarmouth, New Brunswick is north and PEI is on the other side to the east! Somewhat awkward clueing, but close enough for crossword work, I guess.
@Ed I'm withdrawing my comment. I was too fixated on the N.B.-N.S. border and missed the bigger picture of where P.E.I. sits in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a good clue.
Very quick and fun—just right for a Tuesday. It's been a while since a puzzle was almost done from the across fills, and I loved it. Thank you, Alex Eaton-Salners, for this stylish bit of construction. 👏👏👏👏👏 (Emu, its' the sound of 10 hands clapping)
In his notes, Alex says, "Several other theme entries ended up on the cutting room floor. My favorite was “launch” party, which would have “lunch” party in circled letters. That’s an 83 percent overlap!" For the life of me, though, the ONLY other example I can come up with is knoW-notHInG. Anyone know what others of the several theme entries might be? It seemed like an extremely narrow theme group, but it's late and I'm probably a little fuzzy.
@Pezhead Well, it would be interesting to see Mugwumps included.... Or Bull-moose. Whig. Pity.
A flotilla of frivolity! A lighthouse of levity! Are we on the HMS Pinafore here? All seriousness aside, AS TO 41D: Sawyer for me is Tom's last name (to pick one instance) and I have never heard anyone referred to as a sawyer. Nor have I ever known anyone to set up a saw practice. An upscale term for cabinet maker? So, agent nouns. Worker, driver, teacher, dealer, seller, buyer, baker, puzzle solver, there are a lot of them. As an expat I find when I go to a restaurant the waiter always has to practice his English with me. Since it is a restaurant naturally the conversation will often have something to do with the kitchen. Many times I have had to explain that the person who does the cooking is the cook, not the cooker. I tell them it's a common mistake, and a perfectly logical one, but alas, it's wrong. In Spanish nothing special happens with the cook. He's a cocinero. Or she's a cocinera. Does"ero" in Spanish agent nouns have anything to do with "er" in English ones? I don't know!
@Roberto This is so interesting! I wonder whether “cook” would still be considered an agent noun … and am now trying to think of other job nouns that are the same as the verb that describes doing them.
@Roberto mid-13c. sawer, sauere, "one whose occupation is the sawing of timber into planks, boards, etc." (as a surname from c. 1200), agent noun from saw (v.). Altered to the modern form after late 13c. by French and French-derived words in -ier (such as lawyer, bowyer, clothier). from etymonline
@Roberto Not sure if you were joking, but a sawyer indeed works in a sawmill (alas, not a saw firm).
The NYT might consider replacing the EMUs with Robotic Hate Erasure Assistants Nice puzzle. Clever and SWIFT Thank you.
@Ιασων hmmm or Digital Odium Deletion Operators
@Ιασων Interesting .... I submitted another alternative, but it got blocked! I guess the EMUs don't want THAT discussion to get out of hand!
An interesting grid, slightly chewy for a Tuesday I thought. The political allusions are tame enough for the emus, as long as we don’t mention a certain current candidate I expect. The theme reminded me of a conversation we had with a charming young waiter in Florida some years ago. He believed that the UK was a communist state. Once we’d stopped spluttering into our beverages we enlightened him, I hope politely and clearly. Sam; I haven’t seen the programme you mention but yes, HEN is what we here call a bridal shower. The male equivalent is stag. Both usually described in derogatory terms for the raucous, alcohol affected behaviour across city centres. Happy days. I’m struggling to write just now as I appear to be having a silent migraine, with a diamond flash where my left eye should be. Probably a result of the stress/lack of sleep the last week while organising a party. The joy of getting older; the brain isn’t as sharp for the crossword and the system doesn’t cope so well with partying. Boo.
@Helen Wright the US equivalent would be bachelor/bachelorette party. Bridal shower is a party just to give the bride-to-be gifts, and is usually tame!
@Helen Wright Hen party used to be a fairly common term here in the U.S. for a party that was just for women, but that was probably decades ago. Do Emus Like Hens? ? ?
I never time myself, but finished this puzzle quite a bit faster than usual for a Tuesday so was expecting a chorus of “ far too easy”. I certainly enjoyed it and hope Alex will return sooner this time.
Good puzzle. I was stuck on the PEI / ELIA crossing, but I suspect that may have been easier for the North American cruciverbalists.
@Reuben Elia Kazan was the director of several very well-known classic movies in the 40s and 50s so, while you may not be familiar with the name, it’s more likely because you’re not an old movie fan, not because you’re not from North America.
@Reuben With no disrespect to my neighbours to the south, many experiences throughout my life have led me to suspect that Canadian geography is not really included or stressed at all in US school curricula 😅 — so I doubt PEI was a gimme for them either! Side note: I always got a kick out of seeing Alex Trebec (the late, much-loved host of Jeopardy and a Canadian) react to the befuddlement caused by any questions involving Canadian geography.
Cute theme and an enjoyable solve. Didn't entirely catch on to what was going on until I was almost done, but that was a nice aha moment. Not a record time, but well under my Tuesday average. One puzzle find today was a Sunday from April 6, 1969 by Nancy Shuster with the title: "The gang's all here." Some theme answers in that one: BOSTONTEAPARTY GRANDOLDPARTY PARTYPOLITICS BEAPARTYTO SEARCHPARTY PARTYPOOPER PARTYLINES TWOPARTYSYSTEM Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/6/1969&g=105&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/6/1969&g=105&d=A</a> I'll put another puzzle find in a reply. ..
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Thursday from August 7, 2008 by Peter A. Collins and Joe Krozel. Don't recall seeing another quite like this before. One 'theme' clue and answer: "Co-star of the film whose title is hidden sequentially in 20-, 34-, 41- and 52-Across :" LEIGH And the other one: "Another co-star of the film hidden in this puzzle :" GABLE And then, 20, 34, 41 and 52 across. Would note that there were no circled letters in any of those answers: RUNNINGONEMPTY THROWITHOME TOOTHENAMEL CHOCTAWINDIANS Don't recall seeing another one quite like that. Seems like it would have taken quite a bit of work to figure it out. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/7/2008&g=20&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/7/2008&g=20&d=A</a> I'll shut up now. ..
Definitely a puzzle which was made all the better by saving 38A for the last entry to fill. Didn't see that one coming:-) Best to think of the theme entries as entireties: at the top, Marjorie Taylor Greene demonstrating how to burp one's lettuce keeper; at the bottom, Alexander Hamilton telling John Jay to "beer me." In between, the closing night revels of a production of *Mother Courage and her Children*, and a womyn-only witches' Sabbath.
Very clever! This puzzle gets my vote!
This was a clever concept, having types of parties, political and otherwise, making up both the theme entries and the circled kangaroo words within them. As to Sam's question about having a lawn to mow: It means weeding, fertilizing, patching, mowing, raking, and if you're into it, watering, about 2/3 of the year. It also means a great deal of expense to accomplish the above or even more if you'd rather have someone else do it. On the other hand, you have a place where your kids can play ball, you can pitch a tent for a large outdoor party, or just have some separation from your neighbors. It must be worth it to a lot of people, or there wouldn't be a lawn on practically every private home that isn't in a big city or Arizona.
Everyone's saying it was too easy - I was stuck on the PHILLIES / ANKHS crossing for ages! Maybe I'm still half-asleep.
This was a fast puzzle for me, though I did have to unravel a few areas (Rubbermaid, in particular) before getting the revealer and theme but nothing very problematic. It didn't delight me though because of my general feeling of nausea as we amble our way along to November. Of course, I shall say no more about that but it did overshadow a bit. I also always feel a bit sad when CUR shows up in a puzzle. I'm sure it's unreasonable and/or just too sensitive of me but I find it jarring and unpleasant to describe any dog as a CUR. I'm glad that dogs, to my knowledge, don't do crossword puzzles because I don't think any of them would appreciate it either. Now, onto the happier part of my comment. I finished an archived puzzle late yesterday that is still delighting me greatly! Sunday, May 29, 2011. There must not have been articles/comments back then but I hoped others love it like I did. I think someone here might have recommended it (@Rich in Atlanta, maybe???) because otherwise, I'm working through 2023 archives and don't typically go back further yet. In any case, I am very glad to have done it! So if you want a very fun and cute Sunday archive to work on, give it a whirl!
Such a shame that I was oblivious to HEN party and didn't remember TUPPERWARE party. Unfortunately, it dampened the full effect of the puzzle for me. That said, I really enjoyed the solve. The clueing was spot on, and made it easy to get the sports-related unknowns. [junkyard dog] gave me the soundtrack I needed (despite the presence of ABBA), with Jim Croce's "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" (...badder than a junkyard dog...). Here is Mr. Croce himself telling the backstory of the song as well as singing it live: <a href="https://youtu.be/yTrsS8SGwx4?feature=shared" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/yTrsS8SGwx4?feature=shared</a> Thank you, Mr. Eaton-Salners for a Terrific Tuesday!
@sotto voce I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the music of Jim Croce. He was the first artist that I really “discovered” on my own, as opposed to being introduced to by an older sibling. And it’s just good music.
To @David Connell, in reply to your post from yesterday, I'm copying and pasting my answer in case you missed it, in hopes that it will appease you in that, no, I don't say "chawklit" with a New Yawk accent: I grew up partially in New York, but I absolutely don't say "chawklit"! I also don't say "tawco". I speak Standard American English. I say chocolate with an open "o" (as in "saw") and taco with an open "a" (as in "star.") And *that* is why choco and taco don't rhyme for me. No need to be aghast. ;-)
“Parisian pal” is a careless and sloppy clue for AMIE. It’s not “wrong,” but pal means a male friend - as shown by the necessity of adding “gal” to mean a female friend.
@AJB Can't girls be pals then? I am a guy and certainly have girl pals. Emu pal.
@Andrzej It’s just not idiomatic or natural to use pal to refer to a female friend. “Gal pal” is a phrase, but it needs “gal” to make it work.
@AJB Your comment prompted me to look up the etymology of “pal.” What I learned was it comes from “Romani phral, phal, from Sanskrit bhrātā, bhrātr-, brother . . . .” The American Heritage Dictionary provides this Word History: “The word pal comes from the Indic language of the Romani people. First recorded in English in the second half of the 1700s, pal was borrowed from a Romani word meaning ‘brother, comrade.’”
I think I get it: the answers were broken into parts… so they were kind of two part-ish… or, two part-y. Some more light-hearted non-political party parts brought to you by some members of the Marx party: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/3aacpk5t" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/3aacpk5t</a>
I thought that "Play division" was something sports-related, and didn't know the Chinese clown, so with the one space left at their intersection I decided to run the alphabet. "A" and "B" looked unlikely, so my first attempt was "C." I was a little startled by the music...
@Bruce My first thought was Minor League Ball: AAA. But No. I think this was our Monday puzzle, and yesterday's was the Tuesday puzzle.
@Bruce I speak Chinese, and I didn't know CHOU. Chinese opera is...an acquired taste, for westerners, anyway.
@Bruce Same! I got so stuck on kids playing or team sports I lost two minutes of wasted time on a very easy and common answer. Sigh.
Is P.E.I. between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick?
Thumbs up/down for crosswords would be a quick, functional addition to providing input on the general opinion.
@Cindy As to that idea: 👎🏼 Now perhaps you’re wondering why.
@Cindy That's left off on purpose. The comments are meant to have a discussion. A binary hate / love contributes nothing and is uninteresting.
Joe Blow here, Sam. (Speaking as a non-expert!) I would consider that "mowed" emphasizes an action (mowing) that has been completed ("I mowed the lawn"), whereas "mown" tends to be used in its adjectival form ("That lawn looks well mown!") (even though "mown" is indeed an accepted past participle of the verb ("The lawn has been mown").
LEDGE crossing EDGE? Say it ain't so, Alex
@BK I'm not sure what the complaint is. The mere fact that two words rhyme or share letters isn't a reason not to use them, and close proximity has no special bearing on the choice of entries. Only words that have a common etymology, especially ones where such etymology is obvious, should not be used in the same puzzle, unless it's in the service of a theme.
After the first 2 themers was not sure where we were going but the reveal did it's job. Been a long time since I heard the term HEN party. Clever and fun and thanks. Gotta go - got signs to get out.
Time to start working grok into my daily vocabulary. Thanks for a fun puzzle Alex!
Off topic here -- a movie I highly recommend ... The movie is "Sing Sing". I found it to be moving, well-acted, uplifting, and powerful -- a real highlight among the movies I've seen in the past few years. FWIW!
I enjoyed the parallels between the theme sets this puzzle and last week's Wednesday puzzle in how they play with words within words (or within phrases)! Nicely done.
I was amused to see ELECT ELDER at the bottom of the grid. Larry Elder is a conservative talk show host who ran for the GOP nomination for President this year. I'm pretty sure the NYT was not endorsing him. I think my homeowners' association has a rule against political yard signs, because I never see them in my neighborhood. No such luck with the roadside signs which will be popping up a month from now. Oh, how I hate those! Is anyone's vote ever influenced by those things? I hope not.
Excellent puzzle. Lots of fun. Thank you.
Thank you for finally elucidating what all the fuss re: EMUs has been about!
Thanks for explaining the theme, Sam! I was never gonna get it. A very enjoyable puzzle. 🧩
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