I was NOT prepared for VHS tapes to be considered vintage.
@logical They really should have given a warning on the title/info page about that one! The trauma is real!! !!
@logical Nor was I prepared to be told that at age 65, it's time to FINISH THE JOB.
@logical The day when my three-year-old niece picked up a CD and asked, "What this?" Horror...
If you study at college, you'll be grad you did. (Make sure to exam in this pun.)
@Mike Better matric-you late than never. Academic fever rises by degrees.
@Mike Classy pun. I think you could be trying to campus. 📚📚📚📚📚📚 The book stops here, Emu.
Age 75: FAILTHEPUZZLE Actually surprised to see that so many found this one easy. None of the theme answers were going to dawn on me from the clues and just couldn't work them all out. Five day losing streak for me - don't think that's ever happened before. Maybe time to return to my home planet. ...
@Rich in Atlanta I think I've finally gotten an entire puzzle at last, after a series of humiliations, epic Fails, and bottomings out.... I fell for every trap and snare (BALL GAME, PUSH UP BRA, YECCH, USO,)... I was helped by knowing BOUCHE (one's emBOUCHure is important for clarinet mastery) and SOPHISTRY...SOPHISM seemed questionable, but worked otherwise, for the finish. Don't take it to heart that you're having a bad spell; you haven't forgotten how to type, punctuate, and express the frustrations attendant upon our pursuit of puzzles!
@Rich in Atlanta Never stop working the puzzles, and don't assume anything about age standing in the way of finishing them. Hang loose, my friend, and don't be intimidated by clues that are baffling. They are supposed to be that way. If you don't know something, look it up. It's your solve and you can do it any way you want. It's more important to keep the wheels in your brain turning than to adhere to someone else's standard of the right way to do a puzzle. And anyway, 75 isn't old. Wait until you get to be my age.
@Rich in Atlanta Noooo, we like and appreciate you far too much on this planet for you to go back to some other planet, Rich! I am sorry that it was a rough puzzle week though. A new week is upon us and I'm rooting for you that it'll be a better one! ☺️
What I especially liked about this theme was that it had more depth than the usual (and wonderful) wordplay-only theme. This theme, involving the arc of our lives, elicited images, at least for me, from the movie reel of my own life, from my experiences and from observing others. AMATEUR STANDING brought funny images of the little ones that have crossed my path. DRIVING CRAZY whooshed me right back to high school days. CENTENNIAL STATE got me to thinking about the few people I’ve known or seen who have made it to that age. And so on. So, this was a solve that sandwiched in memories, crosswords as photo album; a rich experience. The wordplay in the theme answers was lovely as well, each phrase suggesting the life stage, but normally used in a completely different context. I especially liked the play of AMATEUR STANDING, BAR ADMISSION, FINISH THE JOB, and CENTENNIAL STATE. Two other reactions. One, my brain greatly enjoyed overcoming the barrier of not knowing seven proper names among the answers. And two, BOUCHE – oh, how beautiful French looks and sounds; this word, if it were American, would be spelled BOOSH. Thank you, Meghan, for evoking smiles from the reminiscences and play – this was a splendid solve!
This November is not the time for a PROTESTVOTE
@Hugh ....or ever, really. Keep your eyes on the prize, the Supreme Court. A protest vote may feel good for a second, but can be followed by a lifetime of regret when you see your rights being chipped away.
Tomorrow I'm interviewing for my dream job (an appellate public defender!), so what fun and fortuitous timing to open the puzzle today and see that the clever creator holds that job! I felt it was a harbinger of good luck, especially as a fellow mom to a young child who can very much relate to Ms. Morris's Worlde woes. I will take all the good vibes I can get!
Thank you, Meghan, for a gentle romp through the years. I felt my life passing before me. Whip it, emus Whip it good
The name DEVO for a whippet is hilarious. Especially, one could argue, because of the devolution from wolf to whippet. Proud to boast that today was my fastest time ever for a Sunday. 23m!! Yay! (I am finally in league with my grandmother who could regularly finish Sundays in under 30m.)
@Jesse my first whippet was named Devo! We thought we were being clever, but it turns out there's A LOT of whippets named Devo. Of course, mine was the best. (Don't tell Baxter and Morgan, my current whippets!)
A mix of old and new language (AD SLOGAN, SUCKY), something for everyone, with theme fills that were right on and funny. Jumping around was the way to go for me this time, and sometimes late in the puzzle I ran across clues I'd completely missed—even a couple of gimmes that put me back on track. Thank you, Meghan, for a puzzle that was a charmer. We'll be looking forward to your third. Note re Wordle: I never use the same starting word twice, just whatever comes into my head, and sometimes I even out-Wordle the Wordlebot. I had to start over when I (blush) forgot to do one, but now my streak is back up to 50. Good for you that your twins love it, too. I'm convinced that there are no magic starting words.
@dutchiris Yes on the puzzle, and yes on Wordle. I too never use the same starting word - my goal being to elicit a comment from "the bot" of "No one in our sample of 1,777,956 completed Wordles faced this scenario!" Otherwise it would become too formulaic for me.
@dutchiris Ditto on the puzzle, I played zone the entire time. One of these days the WORDLE answer will be Will’s starting word of choice, AROSE. Almost certainly it will be the day after I decide to stop using it.
P.S. Are llamas in a power struggle to oust emus as the mascots of the crossword world? No actual stats, but my sense is they’ve been in a lot of photos and answers lately. (if true, the emus must be spitting mad)
@JohnWM I think they are in cahoots. And will be meeting up in OSLO to plan their next move. ********************** **********************
I haven't thought of or listened to, to my recollection, Devo in ages but that didn't stop me from WHIPpin' it right in there on my first go round. Amazing how music seeps into your brain and takes up a permanent rent-free existence... But it's always there for you when you need it! Nice, smooth puzzle! Excellent time for me for a Sunday. Would have been faster but I chose to solve on my phone so I could enjoy our garden balcony every last chance I get before we have to take it down. No regrets there... even though it made flyspecking for my error a little tougher. Seems I changed LATOYA to LATOsA when I filled in SUCKs. I frequently say the words WHAT IF but in a unworried way. Like the time in high school when I wondered to my dear friend, "What if we put chocolate chips on this Tombstone pizza?" I'll save you the time of wondering, don't do it! It was SUCKY! Sometimes two great tastes do not taste great together! But at least we GaVE IT THE OL COLLEGE TRY!
@HeathieJ As a life-long guru of pessimism I got 1D right away. I finished the puzzle with exactly your cross: LATOYA/SUCKY. Not sure how Latoya feels about it. Wasn't she the one that caught all the recriminations yover that Super Bowl halftime, the one which Timberlake got through by merely smirking about "wardrobe malfunctions"?
I don't know why I didn't think of 16D when I was a young man trying to bulk up.
@Francis Thanks so very much for the smile. Padded bras have stayed popular for so many reasons. Have a wonderful Sunday and please keep sharing your wonderful sense of humor.
Was sooo attached to Pushup BRA that it took me ages to finish the NE. One of those that I refused to let go of no matter how many crosses were telling me I needed to. It’s always the ones where I think I’m clever that I refuse to give up. Fun puzzle. Thanks, Meghan Morris.
Sad to say that this one has brought my streak to an end. I like to think I’m up with US terminology, but there were too many examples here that I hadn’t come across before. MATHLETES, WHAPS, INRE, GIVEITTHEOLCOLLEGETRY and COPAPLEA were my undoing. Back to 1 tomorrow…
@Richard I wish we had the option to react, rather than just "recommend". Sorry - that's a bummer.
@Richard INRE shows up pretty frequently so you might want to try to remember that one in relation to anything memo related. It's for "in regard (to)." And for whatever it's worth, WHAP did not come easily for me. I have not known it to be spelled with an H in it. Sorry to hear about your streak!
@Amy @HeathieJ Thank guys. A streak end shared is a streak end halved… 🤗
Haven't commented in ages, but I have to detail what did me in on this one. My answers seem logical, so flyspecking did not help: BARE for Unvarnished BATH for Way to go (Bathroom; go. Makes sense to me, but I suppose that would have been clued: Way to go?) AGH for "Good grief!" (That didn't look right, bur I discovered that AGH is a word. According to Wiktionary: An exclamation of mild horror, disgust or frustration. That sort of fits, doesn't it?) I think I should get credit for this solution 😉 And maybe I will return to the forum and rejoin the rest of you lovely folks
@Chuck H. I came to say exactly the same thing. BATH was my favourite answer in the puzzle. I interpreted “go” as “end one’s life”, for which the bath is a fairly stereotypical location.
@Chuck H. Same here!!! Would have been a PB easily for me if that had been the answer set. Alas, 9 minutes of flyspecking later…
After whizzing through the first ten minutes I thought it was an oddly easy Sunday puzzle. But then it dragged! As others noted "ol " without the e was a stretch. But generally enjoyable. Anytime I get done with Sunday in under an hour with no help is a win!
Whaps? What's a whap? It is anything like a whack, a whop, a wallop or a whomp? I suppose I could whap a mole, but would I really want to? Of course I wouldn't whack, whop, wallop or whomp one either, but I'm just saying. (Smiley face) Happy Days everybody!
@Lar In central NY, there was a whap in the 70s, along with those other ones you listed.
Personal best for me today at 34 minutes. Fun puzzle but I don't like GIVEITTHEOLCOLLGETRY. IMHO, the OL should be OLE. Just feels better than way.
Allen, I like the way you express your opinions about the puzzle, positive and negative, as just that: your personal opinion. It is refreshing! I will now hijack your comment for the rest of my reply. I predict that the next commentor will express their opinions of the puzzle more as absolute statements of fact, regarding the supposed moral qualities or skillfullness it displays, and the work ethic of the puzzle constructor (about which, I would guess, they likely have zero awareness). They may even suggest its clues overstep objective standards for obscurity and the quantity of such supposedly obscure clues, as if such standards exist apart from personal opinion. I hope I am wrong, and that future poster instead uses your pattern of expressing opinions. Not that it really matters, just my personal predictions and hopes.
A pleasant and gentle Sunday for those who need to recover from Saturday. I got the theme instantly at 24A with with Age 1, and I would have known Age 100 at 110A even if it hadn't been given away in the editor's note. I was amused -- but had no trouble -- with some of the intervening themers, since 37A for me was 4, 66A was 16, and 48A and 83A (in my home state) were 18. YMMV.
@Barry Ancona Strangely enough, the last two Saturdays were much easier for me than today's puzzle. It's quite interesting how different the experiences of different solvers are. I am not always thwarted by being a foreigner but today I certainly was (not a complaint, simply a fact). Finish the comment.
Fun one, with a cute theme. But boy did I feel old for a second when I spent the entire time thinking about what could be be part of a "vintage" movie collection, only to round out the puzzle by realizing it was VHS tapes. C'mon, the '80s and '90s weren't *that* long ago...were they? :v
This was weirdly hard for me - much tougher than yesterday's grid. I needed to enable autocheck to finish. The area with the mysterious BYOB (which I now know means "bring your own beer/bottle/booze") was full of Americanisms and Americana which was obviously fine in a NYT crossword, but it thwarted my efforts to solve on my own. Other places held me up, too. Is GIVE IT THE OL COLLEGE TRY something one actually says or was it just an (awkward?) attempt to give us a spanner? I found _L crossing with DEV_ there really nasty, and UGH (like any language, English has so many ways to say "Good grief" that I never know which one is meant without crosses) and RAE (never heard of the person) were also there, which did not help.
@Andrzej “Give it the old college try,” often shortened to GIVE IT THE OL’ COLLEGE TRY, is a reasonably common expression, though it might be slightly dated. (I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone my age or younger actually use it, though I did get my bachelor’s degree in Canada and my master’s degree in Japan.) The fact that people from the U.S. usually refer to post-secondary educational institutions generically as “colleges,” even if the actual names of those institutions usually include the word “University,” almost certainly makes it an Americanism, as per your second paragraph.
@Andrzej I hear it used often enough, usually in a somewhat facetious manner
@Andrzej it’s definitely an expression that exists, but probably doesn’t get much use anymore. I thought it was kind of a hack to remove the D from “old”, turning it into ol’ in order for it to fit as a spanner. .:.:.:.:.:. .:.:.;.:. .:.:.:.
How, exactly, have shopping channels like QVC and HSN survived in the age of Amazon? I would have thought they'd have gone the way of VHS TAPES. Who is still watching/buying from them? I have a hard time imagining someone who says to themselves, "I want to buy something today, but I'm not sure what."
Grant, The malls are full of such people every day. I am blood-related to some of them. But I am like you. (Llama overheard in the Andes: “I want to do a crossword puzzle today, but which one? Maybe this one?… No, too many proper nouns… Maybe that one…”)
Grant, The shopping channels still exist for the same reason they first came into existence. Apparently there were and still are plenty of people who say to themselves what you can't imagine them saying to themselves.
@Grant I think they keep lonely people company. The hosts are talking to eachother, but also to the viewers, which is different from most TV.
I was at the Minneapolis Institute of Art one day, in the African section, near a big metal lobster. A man walked up with his young son, who pointed at the lobster. "Es una LLAMA?" "No, es... uh..." The father struggled to think of the Spanish for lobster, gave up, and just said "lobster." It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
@Katie Interesting. It looks like Spanish is one of the few European languages, along with English, that doesn’t seem to use a derivation of the Latin genus name 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘴. Apparently, it’s either “bogavante,” most properly for true lobsters, or “langosta,” most properly for spiny/rock lobsters that do not actually belong to that genus.
There's no way I can compete with these great themers. But there's no way I can't try. [Age 2] [Age 969] "Gah! My baseball glove doesn't fit!" "OTOH." THE GIFT OF GAB. BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS.
As usual I didn’t find it especially easy, but very clever and a lot of fun. My favorite was the age 18 one at 66 A. I’m always impressed by a good spanner. I tried to leave a response to someone who wrote a complaint about the EMUs and not printing comments straight away if they are too short and the emus aren’t added in a line or two. I’ve noticed that mine are always printed immediately no mater how short.
@sue I wonder if it's really the brevity itself that causes the delay. It might be that a short reply to a comment might require viewing the original comment in ordér to see the context and judge whether any lines have been crossed, so it gets put aside for a while. I've posted extremely short comments that were published almost immediately, and I wasn't even wearing my lucky red socks.
@suejean They play favorites. You are one o MY favorites, too!
@suejean The emus work in mysterious ways! In this comment section alone for today's puzzle, I have had four comments disappear forever into the ether. Or maybe they'll show up around 2:00 a.m. tomorrow, who knows!? It's rather irksome!
Fun puzzle today. Good to beat my Sunday average after just about doubling my Saturday average yesterday. I enjoyed the very meta OSLO clue. Not happy with the deletion of the D from GIVEITTHEOLDCOLLEGETRY. I've only ever seen or heard it fully spelled out. Congratulations to comrade-in-arms* Meghan Morris for her second publication here! *Lifelong Legal Aid lawyer here, also doing commitment hearings for criminal defendants.
Some of the theme answers were a stretch. The inclusion of LLAMA always brings to mind the famous Ogden Nash poem. Thought at first we were dealing with a rebus when the “e” or “d” was missing from …COLLEGETRY. The inclusion of BERET as PhD headgear reminded me of a professor from my alma mater who always looked so dashing at commencement in his brightly colored jaunty beret worn due to his European academic background. Overall I felt the puzzle was fair for a Sunday. VHSTAPES made me feel very old.
@Ken S BERET wasn't the PhD headgear. It was a three letter answer :)
Nice easy ride today after the beast that was yesterday for me. I'm not familiar with Devo's music, but for some weird reason the answer just popped into my head as soon as I saw the clue. Maybe it's been in other puzzles a bunch of times? Emu? Llama? Or both?
@Times Rita DEVO has appeared over 40 times, often clued related to “whip it” or their funny red plastic hats called “energy domes”. When I was a first year med student I had my “lucky” Devo tee-shirt which I regularly wore to in-class exams. This band has always been a gimme for me. Seems you can still buy these shirts, “Duty now for the future”. See: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/5xzsmzum" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/5xzsmzum</a>
My main Comment was delivered in response to Rich in Atlanta (below) but I just want to point out that 99D was NOT *yabber*. Or *jabber, babble, gabble, burble, yammer*.... There was a tiny wince at OL (instead of OLE, in the absence of an apostrophe, to preserve decorum.) And of course most children are IN CLASS (of a sort) much sooner than age 5. But even in the early 80's I had to search long and hard for a nursery school that was about play and exploration instead of learning the alphabet and sitting still. Sheesh Oh, and while I've seen various forms of academic headgear, a TAM is far from common for an American doctoral graduate...just the mortarboard. My sister's PhD garb (from a Canadian university) was a bright red gown, academic "hood," and beret.
@Mean Old Lady FWIW, per wiki, “A graduation tam is an headware item of academic regalia in some institutions. They take the place of a mortarboard and are made of black velvet with a soft top…. Graduation tams are prescribed for those who have graduated with a masters or doctoral degree, and can have four, six, or eight sides, depending on the degree.” I remember tams commonly on some faculty members at my graduations.
Loads of three-letter junk in today's puzzle. Not a fan.
Re 44A: [Animal whose name is pronounced with a "y" sound by many Spanish speakers] Many, but not all. In the Andean highlands, where the llamas run free, the opening consonant is closer to the "s" of "pleasure"--ʒama, or zhama. I suspect this might be a pronunciation inherited from Quechua or the like. Any native speakers, feel free to correct me.
@Bill I heard a similar pronunciation in Spain in the early 80s. I think it was a regional thing, maybe more from the south. I spent most of my time in Madrid.
As a Gen Xer, reading that VHSTAPES were only around for about 30 years makes me feel old. Especially as my family preferred Betamax, the superior format that was Edseled-out. On a totally unrelated note, that lead LLAMA photo would make a great album cover.
Is a centennial state a thing? Did i parse it wrong? Am I missing something? Seems like 2 random words put together to fit a square peg in a round home.
@Paul Yes, you're missing something. Here's what: Colorado's nickname is the CENTENNIAL STATE because it was admitted in 1876. As metioned in the article, the constructor lives in Denver.
@Paul The state of Colorado has the sobriquet “Centennial State” because it was admitted to the Union in 1876. All states have nicknames, like “The Empire State” for New York, or “The Nutmeg State” for Connecticut, or “The Gem State” for Idaho. Or “The Equality State” for Wyoming, which was the first state to allow women to vote. We could also talk about “The Land of Enchantment,” “The Land of 10,000 Lakes,” or “The Last Frontier,” but I’ll stop the lesson for today.
@David O Selznick All the theme answers were creative twists on idioms. That was the theme idea!
A bit hard for a Sunday. But the theme really did not need benefit of the puzzle title; it was quite obvious from each clue. Whatever. My only real difficulty was the need to "flyspeck" for a errant Q I had instead of an O. A reasonable workout. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade
Really nice puzzle. As with this week's Friday and Saturday puzzles, it hit a good balance between challenging and doable -- on the one hand there was a time when I wasn't sure I would finish, and on the other there was no time when an obscure, unknown answer was rendered impossible by an equally obscure crossing. Everything was figure-out-able. The theme was also a good one. And none of the themed answers was a gimme (which is no fun), but several, once you get them, were a big help for their tricky crossings. Good work today on both the design and editing.
Bad puzzle. Lazy effort on the clues. Theme was barely a theme that had no real connection to the puzzle. And waaaaay too many obscure answers. “Any of the six in footballs “new years six” BOWLGAME. What about all the other BOWL games. The clue was implying something significant about these 6 which starting this year are PLAYOFF GAMES but there are MANY bowl games through December and early January.
@Darren I think whenever you're writing "the clue is implying" you're on quite shaky ground.
@Darren Au contraire - this was a great puzzle. It just took some noodling. Keep noodling.
This one went strictly by the numbers. cc: emu handler
Devolution (from where DEVO comes) is more or less how the world looks to me these days. Maybe all old people lean that way. But I did get an energy hat. Also feels right these days.
@sonnel Mark Mothersbaugh was on the Kent State campus on the day of the massacre, and it convinced him that his theory of deevolution was correct. Like many people, my first exposure to them was when they were on SNL (in crossword-speak), and my reaction was, "What in the name of god is this?" Here's what they played, from about that time. <a href="https://youtu.be/mEPQXz-CkKQ?si=vMoBiO58u_QGWDKA" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/mEPQXz-CkKQ?si=vMoBiO58u_QGWDKA</a>
I use texting shorthand alot and I have never seen the abbreviation OTOH ever. Might just be a me thing but IDK. (Yes it was intentional I used IDK at the end of that)
@Harry In case you haven't figured it out yet, OTOH is on the other hand. I don't use it all that much, but I do see it frequently.
@Harry Very common IME.
Yep, good one. I love Sunday mornings.
Smooth solve with no hints or look-ups, although the crossing between ICEMAN, CORFU and BOWLGAME was the last to fall as Top Gun, distant isles and football are all subjects that tend to be "Greek" to me. 16D gave a bit of trouble as well, going from wonderBRA to PushupBRA until finally PADDEDBRA fell into place. The themed clues were my favorites. Looking forward to 98A down the line...
This was lovely except that I got stuck in the southeast corner and had to rework it several times. It did not help that I could not figure out the spelling of the between yoga poses and finally had FINISH THE JOT instead of JOB. Had to read through the entire puzzle to catch that. Loved DRIVING CRAZY!
I have aged 100 years while solving the puzzle. Wasn’t prepared for that on a lazy Sunday. I always misspells to amatueure. What an amateur. It seems chest exercises are overrated.
@Andy K Here's an oldie for you. Well, maybe not for you: "We must, we must, we must improve our bust. It's better, better, better if you wanna wear a sweater with a high school letter."
One last comment on Thirteen Ways of Looking , , , II I was of three minds, Like a tree In which there are three blackbirds. Could be that there are three separate realities. It could be that the poet has planted "three minds" to suggest Freud's concept of id, ego, and superego as ONE way of looking at the reality of human experience. (Freud made a trip to the USA in 1909 and there was much interest in the following years.) The author relies on the historical allusion and the reader's imagination to catch the 'innuendo". The whole poem deals with the role of imagination in the ways reality is perceived and art is created.
@Al in Pittsburgh Ooh, or maybe the birds are 3 spaceships, intended to prompt our reflection on our place in the universe. Or maybe they're the 3 wise men, stirring a deep interaction with biblical precepts. Or maybe they represent 3 pieces of finely turned French toast. Fascinating. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade
I had a vague understanding of the theme but thought I was clearly missing some additional nuance, so I was looking forward to the blog helping me understand it more. But no, it turns out the tenuous connections I made in my head between the theme clues and answers are really all that's there. At least AMATEUR STANDING humorously implies that its corollary must exist, ie PROFESSIONAL STANDING.
Gold Star: Nuff said. Thank you Meghan
Paul MuNi before DANO, DRIVING ClAss before CRAZY, and INEz gave me trouble in the east. But overall, the puzzle was pretty breezy.
@Vaer Also, bravo to Wyna for the clue in the mini: Nato alphabet letter that's eight past Juliet.
Other than the adorable AMATEUR STANDING, nothing here especially wowed me, but I nonetheless found it a very pleasant puzzle to solve -- quick and easy and, well, relaxing. One clue I did find peculiar: I have no idea why an IPAD is anything at all like a cash till. Can you put money in an IPAD? But other than that, no problems anywhere. The puzzle went down quickly -- like a scoop of ice cream on a hot day.
@Nancy Ever since the world reopened post Covid here it’s been normal to pay by contactless card over an iPad or similar device, from the smallest coffee stand up to the biggest chains, thereby getting rid of physical cash tills. So much so there’s now a fight back to reclaim cash use for those who don’t/can’t use the cards. Not so simple when all our banks are closing all but main city branches. My nearest ATM is now 15 miles and three towns away. Not an issue for me, with a car, but the older generation are struggling.
Nancy, An IPAD is a "Modern-day alternative to a cash till" because tapping a credit card or a phone on that device is an alternative to cash going into a till when you're paying your bill. Or at least it has been for me when I've paid the bill.
@Nancy iPads have replaced cash registers in many stores these days as most people pay with cards instead of cash.
Hi y'all Much better than last Sunday which did me in for a week. I finally finished it with lots of help yesterday and completed the weeks puzzles including Saturday. They were all just fine. So on to today with a great deal of initial trepidation. But I shouldn't have worried. This one was enjoyable and doable in one sitting. My brain didn't melt down. There were some tricky clues. The "gives it the ol college try" was one that I struggled with. It was the last of my solves and found it a shoehorn to get the crosses in. I'm sure all constructors have to do that from time to time, but it diminishes the puzzle for me. "ole or old", but "ol?" It's a puzzle. It's a gorgeous day here in Central Texas. We had a cool front that blew all the humidity further south. So Cheers for a lovely day wherever you are. Thank you Meghan Morris for a great start to the day with your lovely puzzle. So happy to 🐝 here!
A fun, easy solve. Great job, Meghan! I'm old enough to remember VHS tapes but didn't know Devo. Ha! Got stuck momentarily thinking 83A somehow ended in MISSION but BARAD MISSION didn't make sense. Kind of like mixing up the syllabification of words like BED RAGGLED or DO WAGER...
@GD. DOOK, is the term used here for this phenomenon. .. emu