What a fun theme! I’m always amazed by the clever ideas constructors come up with. Congratulations, Barbara. When an AXMAN performs does he wear rock bottoms?
@Anita I laughed out loud at your last sentence. Thanks for brightening my day!
@Anita Note to Mike in Munster: You have competition! (You GO, girl!)
@Anita Did I have a pair of black-and-red spandex pants in the '80s? Yes I did.
"You're wearing Levi's? But your parents don't." "Must be recessive jeans." ("Seams reasonable.")
Mike, Once again it seems you’ve dungareesonable job. (I’m not being disrespectful - but you truly managed to flippants.)
@Mike Yes, must be heredity. There's no reason to condenim.
I will admit, when I saw the clue about “bottoms decorated with characters from ‘The Odyssey’”, I had an image of two drunken English professors entering a tattoo shop. Bottoms up!
Just a package of lovely today. Clever never-done-before theme that brought me from neutral to that filled-with-smiles feeling. That is a gift. Great care in cluing. • Misdirects: [Warning sound] for GROWL, which got me picturing things like alarms and sirens; [Small part] for CAMEO, which got me thinking about physical things; [Love, for Rafael Nadal] because “love” has meanings in both tennis and feelings. • TILs – that ants communicate with pheromones, and even that Doritos have MSG. • Wordplay: [Hard core exercise] for PLANK, [Going rate?] for MPH, and the magnificent [Place for grape nuts?] for NAPA. • Riddles, such as [Body part that may be green] for IRIS, that had me taking a thorough mental body inventory, and still not get it until the crosses came. Sweet extras: Three palindromes (WOW, OHO, ANNA) and fetching answers ORACLE, GLEAN, CRUET, and CAMEO. Barbara, you are on a roll. This is your third puzzle in three months, and it’s easy to see why, as you infuse your puzzles with quality. Today’s shimmered with wit, beauty, humor, and skill. Thank you for making it!
Administrative note: I will be away tomorrow and maybe Thursday, due to a very full plate. I look forward to rejoining! Et tu, emu.
@Lewis Thank you, Lewis, and thanks to all the commenters. The best part of publishing a puzzle is getting to read the comments from puzzlers who enjoyed my puzzle.
Possible cure for your addiction to buying Levis? JEANS THERAPY Your favorite underwear? TOP DRAWERS Where to find the latest in high-cut pants. AISLE OF CAPRIS A delight to solve. Car antenna and big cheese, quirky cluing. Everything we could wish for in a Tuesday puzzle. Now that we've done bottoms, what's next? END UP ON TOPS of course!
@john ezra -- [Chef's kiss!] Et tu, emu.
This was one of the toughest Tuesdays for me, and I don't really know why. It wasn't because of the themers – once I got one, I got all. It was because of the rest of the fill, a lot of which I was blanking out on. But I'm not complaining. A bit of a challenge on a Tuesday is a great thing, making for a fun solve. I loved the theme and the puzzle as well. Thank you, Ms. Lin. for a very lively puzzle!
@sotto voce I inexplicably had to jump around like it was a Friday or Saturday. I think because the clues were plainly written and the answers were also plain (not boring, just plain!) I had to think more about both.
[Rod on the road] was worth the price of admission. The puns were fun but that was inspired. I wracked my brain trying to remember TV programs that follow some guy around while he talks about the scenery and local color, until the crosses finally gave me his "name." [Well, duh!] Barbara Lin, you gave us a delightful puzzle, nice and chewy for a Tuesday, and full of giggles. Thank you. We're all congratulating you, too.
@dutchiris I was wondering if there was a [Rod] Stewart song that somehow was a shoe-in for this clue. A verse from Maggie Mae, perhaps? But then that's not officially a *Rod Stewart* release, since it was when he was with The Faces. I had it almost entirely filled in from crosses when it clicked. Lovely!
I was a little slow on figuring out why NAPA was a place for grape nuts. D'oh! (I probably shouldn't admit that.) Cute theme.
@Norman That’s two mentions of Napa this month. And Grape Nuts is my favorite cereal. It’s all working out for me. Excellent theme today. I had the promising LONGBOARDSHORTS in there for too long—I guess I didn’t like The Odessey as much as some?
Not only do the themes provide punny delights, there are so many "make me smile" answers such as NAPA for place for grape nuts (as an oenophile, I especially loved that one), PLANK for hard core exercise, and PANE. Also some great 80s and 90s references with final frontier (raise your hand if you read this clue in JL Picard/Patrick Stewart's voice) and etch a sketch (I wonder how many new solvers have no idea what this is)? An 8 minute joy of a puzzle that made my evening.
@DocP I think the 60s got there first... Or has Shatner been cancelled for some reason?
@DocP As a 2005 baby, I can confirm that kids do indeed still use etch-a-sketches (at least I did).
Any puzzle touting TATERTOTs is okay by me. Another terrific Toughened Up Tuesday offering. Fun themers. Thanks, Barbara
@Vaer I am blessed (cursed?) to have great TATER TOTS nearby. Maybe a little too close for my cardiovascular health! Haha. Freddie's Bar makes them perfectly crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside... (Also an eponymous version that's like loaded potato skins and total overkill.) But my fave are at the local ramen place, South Slope Ramen. They give them the takoyaki treatment with okonomayaki sauce and bonito flakes. And yes, I really enjoyed that entry in the puzzle! 😋
@G I grew up with them (late 70’s, early 80’s) because my mother the french fry connoisseur preferred them to frozen fries. Very popular on "Dad's out of town and I don't feel like cooking" night. Now I want a Manwich and tots.
(I find myself again being OT for the current puzzle, just trying to post about puzzle from over the weekend. Emufied as usual.) The [Half of LV] clue, that ended up being the Las half of Las Vegas, got many people thinking about how to represent [Half of 55] in Roman numerals. Of course the Romans could represent incredibly fine fractions, but with an interesting twist: while the numbers for integers are in a tens-based system (IVXLCDM), fractions were based on a twelve-part division. S was the letter used for semi(s), 1/2, but it actually meant 6/12. So half of LV would be XXVIIS. The sign • was used for the twelfth part of a unit, called uncia. Uncia has come down to our language in two paths: an “ounce” is the twelfth part of a pound (originally), and an “inch” is the twelfth part of a foot. It also survives in the name of the pattern ⁙, “quincunx”, which represented 5/12. The pattern is used in laying out orchards, and on dice and cards, and lots of other ways today. Quinque + uncia became the portmanteau quincunx. For practical reasons, they later added a sign for 1/24, Σ, meaning half of a twelfth, which allowed for the sign Σ•, meaning three-halves of a twelfth, to give the fraction 1/8. When in Rome…
@David Connell The emus were upholding the promise of no math.
@David Connell, Thank you for this. So much interesting information here. Others might mistake it for trivia. (“From the Latin word *trivium*, which means "crossroads" or "a place where three roads meet")
@David Connell This was super interesting. Thank you forvthe explanation. (But please don't test me on it, lol!) I know my Roman numerals but am now so grateful the teachers didn't go into fractions as well. I assumed that the half of LV would be written out, so when it was obviously not three letters long, I was thrown for a loop. I got the LAS from crosses and still could not figure it out until the comments clarified it. I'm in the camp of those who claim Vegas has never been referred to as LV...
Another excellent Barbara Lin puzzle. She can do any day of the week justice. [Place for grape nuts?] for NAPA gave me a laugh.
@Nancy J. I spent far too long on that clue trying to imagine the right term for where to put the now almost defunct cereal “Grape Nuts” - ie the bin
Such a fun puzzle! I spelled ‘Macao’ as ‘Macau’ though, which appears to be another acceptable spelling, and caused me no small amount of confusion and wondering what ‘uks’ are!
@NMarie Actually, the Chinese want us to call it Aomen, which is the historic name for the island, i.e., before it was a Portuguese colony. I'm not holding my breath for that one.
@NMarie Same for me! I’ve been scrolling through the comments to see if anyone else was stumped by that. Took me a good 10 minutes at the end. Glad it wasn’t only me!!!
I like everything about this puzzle -- from the cute and imaginative theme...to the smooth and junk-free grid...to the lively cluing featuring the occasional offbeat clue like the ones for IRIS and LEMONS. And much better to have four nifty themers than three themers and a tepid revealer. This is the sort of themed puzzle that no AI bot will ever dream up. It's much too quirky and idiosyncratically human. Very nice job, Barbara.
@Nancy I totally agree, fun and breezy! Can you help me (a non native english speaker but lover of english crosswords) to explain what LEMONS and car owners have in common? That one stumped me. Or is language not the problem, but my total lack of knowledge of car models maybe.
Interesting to read that a constructor as talented as Barbara Lin was expecting "another rejection". I mean, I suppose everyone has an off day (or an off puzzle), but since we don't get to see the rejects, hard to believe she's ever gotten that dreaded email. Now that I've gotten my Barbara Lin fix, I need a little Kameron Austin Collins. It's been too long!
@Pezhead Please do NOT poke that bear!!
Hi Sam, The trickier thing about tricky clue 52A is that the correct answer has two spellings, so one must really wait for the crosses. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ocher" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ocher</a>
@Barry Ancona I agree. It seems Sam was thinking of [Earth] as the planet when it is, in fact, soil. Earth tones is an expression commonly used in oil painting. Amongst them are ochre, burnt sienna, raw umber, and Venetian red, to name a few. Olive is not an earth tone, though it is an Earth tone.
@Barry Ancona I usually plug in the answer and leave the questionable letters blank but I forgot this time. Thankfully the odds were in my favor!
Can't remember the last time I saw a car with a visible antenna
@Bill in Yokohama Yep, a typical modern car has about ten antennas, and none of them are rods.
@Bill in Yokohama 2001 Nissan Sentras have them. I drove mine for 18 years.
@Bill in Yokohama My Jeep has a whip antenna. Never called it a ROD, though, but I might be channeling my father, the wave propagation guru.
My only gripe about a lovely Barbara Lin Tuesday, or any fun early week puzzle is that it’s over so doggone fast. Archives, here I come! Happy Tuesday all!
Fun theme. Lovely solve. Thanks Barbara. OT: there’s an article on flooding in the USA in today’s NYT that links to a companion article based on a system set up in my neck of the woods as a way of alleviating flooding in lived in areas. Some years ago farmland was returned to its original salt marsh origins, in a bid to stop the river Parrott from flooding nearby villages. The Steart marshes are now an amazing wetland full of bird and insect life. I live on the inland stretch of the Parrott; the marshes now absorb most of the potential flood water and provide homes for birds. What’s not to love? Hope all those affected by flooding in the recent hurricanes are recovering.
@Helen Wright I am In Asheville, NC, where hurricane Helene caused the most damage. Recovery here is going to be a very long haul. Thanks for caring!
I found this puzzle to be very daffy in the best possible way! Great job, Barbara Lin!
You had me at "grape nuts." I really needed the smiles today and this entertaining puzzle provided plenty of them. Thank you.
@Min I read your comment and had to look at my finished puzzle again, as I couldn’t immediately remember any grape nuts. 🤦🏼♀️ So thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite clues ever.
The puns that weren’t part of the clothing theme were better than the real groaners that were, like NAPA, PANE, etc. Also liked the misdirection with Nadal making me think of LOVE in terms of tennis. Appreciated some of the educational clues.
Today's puzzle reminds me of when we got a substitute teacher for the day and what was expected to be the same old routine suddenly became a fun and attention grabbing class. Drop in any time, Ms. Lin! Brava!
WOW, great Tuesday puzzle with a fun theme and nice variety of entries in addition to the clever theme. Nice comment from Barbara as well and I look forward to more from her.
That was fun. Good long workout for me, of course, but catching on to the trick was the big turning point and that's always a nice touch. One of my favorite constructors. Had to go back and look at some of her previous puzzles. Just as an example her debut from January 23, 2020. Four theme answers: ROCKSTHEBOWTIE GIMMEASINAI THEGOODWIFI FREEVERSAILLES I'm done. ..
Who'da thought there would be a puzzle about bottoms? Apparel, that is. I only have one criticism, though. For 17A, I might have clued it with "War and Peace" rather than the "Odyssey". I get it, the latter is a story about a long trip, but that's different from a long story. The "Odyssey" wasn't an especially long story, as stories go, while "War and Peace," at approximately 1200 pages, is known for its length as much as for its content.
@Steve L Although the clue references the specific story, the definition of the word odyssey begins “a long…” which one could argue makes it a good choice for a Tuesday clue.
Well done! Clever, amusing, rather satisfying. Kudos!
A lovely, breezy Tuesday puzzle! I hope to see more puzzles from Barbara Lin!
[Go commando?] I adored this theme! (I know my attempt at a themer doesn't quite work, but it's fun to try) Dear Sam, Mike Myers was the "I" in "So I Married an Axe Murderer". Nancy Travis(love her!) was the suspected AM. It's 2024. Women can be presidents, axe murderers, or anything else! KICK BOXERS
Cute puzzle that got us going bottoms up. Lots of fun figuring things out. Thanks, Barbara Lin!
Purchase for a window shopper made me groan in that happy way. Do the kids still play with Etch-a-sketches that have knobs? Or has some digital app replaced them? Overall, I really enjoyed solving this one. Amee Keene, NH
@Amee My niece-in-law and siblings lived in Keene for many years! (She coached at the college, too.) Beautiful town! Beautiful family, giant hearts! Loved our time in Keene!
Cute theme for a Tuesday. I liked SLEEPTIGHTS and BILLIEJEANS, although I haven’t made up my mind about Ms. Eilish’s music yet.
About the column: I don't think of fancy restaurants when I see the word CRUET. I think about the supermarket brand Good Seasons salad dressing mix, which, when it first appeared in my younger days, could be purchased for under a buck, CRUET included. And so called. Also, to piggyback Barry's comment about OCHRE, your alternative "olive" has never appeared in its 291 times as an entry with a clue mentioning "earth tones". OCHRE, however, has appeared 165 times, with 47 clues including the word "earth(y)": earth tone, earthy color, earthy hue, etc. OCHER has appeared 127 times, with 33 "earth(y)" clues. I think Barry hit it on the head in saying that the choice was most likely between the two spellings of OCHRE/ER.
Any Catholic altar servers will be familiar with the word and the vessels used in liturgies. Often cut crystal. Add the “wait for the crossing” on Macao/Macau.
What a very clever theme! Probably my favorite ever.
One who only drives the *best* Swedish cars, maybe? <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/p61q91c3BfvRp3Ug9" target="_blank">https://images.app.goo.gl/p61q91c3BfvRp3Ug9</a>
@Justin Now that's funny! there's a fellow in town who drives a metallic green 900 Turbo, with the license plate WASAABI.
Sparkling puzzle, clever laugh-out-loud cluing! Barbara, you made my day. And kudos to Sam, for your particularly punchy (punny?) column!
Very enjoyable puzzle. Nice challenge for a Tuesday, for me. I enjoyed the theme quite a bit
What a terrific, hilarious theme! Thanks for bringing joy to my Tuesday, Barbara Lin! Please keep those puzzles coming. Also loved your comments, Sam, as always. Happy Tuesday everyone 😊
Yesterday was fast; today was fast too—I enjoyed this but its already over! Nice all around. 🙂
I loved the aha moment when I figured out the theme! I didn't use any helps for today's puzzle. I know that's not like getting the Friday/Saturday puzzles without help, but it makes me very happy to have grappled with this and come out on top! Have a great day!
Clueing was jean-ius today! Thanks to Barbara and eds!
This was a great grid that I enjoyed alot. Constructors never fail to bedazzle me with amazing themes and clever clues. Great job!
Good one, Barbara! Your sense of humor worked for me this morning.
14A reminded me of OMNI magazine. As a teenager, much of my allowance went to OMNI, Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, etc.
This was one of my favorites in the past few months - very enjoyable. Thank you!
southwest corner was a nightmare for me, i filled in TMI instead of IMO, cut me MORE slack instead of SOME, but most embarrassing was mixing up RUTH bader ginsberg with RUBE goldberg...
Very fun puzzle today! I loved the theme entries! I desperately wanted love for Nadal to solve to CERO so that held me up a bit but otherwise smooth sailing!