Kickstarter contributors are (at least in theory) backers rather than donors, GoFundMe would be a better choice for 52A
@Joseph C Right, donor usually implies a gift without expectation of a return. Generally Kickstarter backers are essentially pre-ordering a product.
It was my last square, but DUSK for [Call it an early night?] is brilliant. Thanks for ending (for me) this Tuesday puzzle with a dose of wit and color!
Orchard workers have apple watches. (They've got great core processors.)
@Mike Thought apple watches were when they sat out waiting for them to fall. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Mike Once again, the fruit of your labor is a pear of peachy puns. I'm plum amazed. Orange ya gonna approve this, emus?
@Mike When Apple built their big round building in Cupertino as the new headquarters I thought they should call it the "Apple Core." I'm one of those old people who worked on computers that had core. Core was thousands of 1/16" little copper donuts. One for each bit. In 1975 I worked for Four Phase Systems, just a block or two from the new Apple Core. Four Phase made the first computers that had RAM instead of core! Computer only the size of desk, instead of taking up a whole room! It came in two models, with 96K or 128K of RAM. And removeable hard drives that were about 16" across and 3" tall.
I liked seeing: • All those scrabbly letters in the grid. • Two EAR anagrams abutting LOBE. • That beautiful NYT puzzle debut NOT ON MY WATCH, and the clever double entendre on it. • Four palindromes, including a rare-in-crosswords quint (NUN, DVD, ASA, MADAM). • Beauty in the upper middle, with DEFT, BUOY, and ELUDE. • DONEZO! I’ve never heard of you before, donezo, but I’m smitten. And I love the heartwarming fact that both of Greg’s NYT puzzles rose out of activities with his kids. Crosswords as therapy. I feel terrific after doing this. Thank you, Greg!
I got an absolutely kick out of the “Call after last Call?” clue, a very fun Tuesday puzzle
Nice to see a pangram once in a while
@Adam I never, ever, notice whether the puzzle is pangram, during or after the solve. And I doubt most other people do, either. Just curious to know, why does it matter to you?
@Steve L I noticed too! Halfway through I started to suspect it and although JAZZHANDS was a gimme for me, it was made slightly easier because I was anticipating a Z (and got two!).
@Steve L I do, and it’s because the difficult letters are thrilling!
@Steve L Something must be done about Adam. Apparently he has an interest that you don’t share. The nerve of the guy.
lol REAL MAN must've been confusing to younger solvers as we're so fortunate to live in a time when we've completely eradicated fragile masculinity (Don't you pink?)
@ad absurdum I have to ask...do you eat quiche?
@ad absurdum Ohhhhhhhh I got that through the crosses and thought I was parsing something wrong when I glanced back at it. I never considered REAL MAN.
When you're retired it's hard enough to remember what day of the week it is without a Monday puzzle like this one. You may think retirement is just one long vacation, but wait until you get there. You'll wonder how you ever had time to go to work. I'm not whining, I enjoyed the clues and preened at my fills, and there were no look-ups necessary, but it took me twice as long as a usual first day of the week puzzle. Greg, I am fascinated by your surname, but I will refrain from suggesting some tiresome clue (like "tiny tantrum"), and instead send you oceans of thanks, not only for your witty puzzle but also for the funny story about your WATCH parties.
@dutchiris I hope it comes as some form of relief that the puzzle that you're commenting on is in fact a Tuesday
@dutchiris Just so you don't feel bad, I thought it was Wednesday, and that this was awfully easy for a Wednesday
Serves me right for doing the crossword in front of the TV (which drives my partner crazy anyway), but I filled in NUTCAKE so very confidently that it took me way too long to realize what the problem was. Finally saw that I had NAKA and now will put my phone away. (Sorry, sweetheart!) Fun little puzzle! Enjoyed DONEZO, JAZZHANDS, and ZONKED, which I very much am now. G’night!
I've had an interesting experience with this puzzle. At first I thought it would defeat me: there seemed to be too many terms and proper nouns unfamiliar to me in either the clues or the answers. Whole quadrants of the grid were largely empty after my first pass. Some of my unknowns: ESPN Deportes, a musical that premiered 21 years before I was born and thousands of kilometers away (my dislike of musicals in general did not help, either), ___ Mix. Also, I may be a gamer but I've never played anything from Nintendo (I'm a PC and Playstation person, and Atari before that) so I had no idea about STAR. I did not know ONE UP, either. I thought I would need lookups or maybe even auto check to finish - which has happened on Tuesdays on occasion before. In the end though I managed to fill the grid relying on crosses and some creative guesses. My solve time was slightly long for this time in the week but not Wednesday-ish. The theme actually helped me, for once. To protect my privacy I don't use any "smart" devices (and I have all personalisation and surveillance switched off on my phone), but knowing watch parts helped get me more letters for crosses. Btw, Poland has been a tea-drinking country for some 200 years (coffee only became as popular as tea in the past few decades) so I'm quite passionate about my leafy brews. LIPTON makes really bad tea, nearly tasteless. Among the popular brands Dilmah is much better.
@Andrzej Weirdly, Lipton is a very old British business, whose tea is rarely ever seen in the UK. We only ever see it when we're on holiday (mainly in cheap hotels). (Though having just Googled it, I see it's now owned by Pepsi, so suddenly that all makes sense...)
Donezo: Have I ever used it? No. Have I ever heard it used? Not that I can recall. If I did hear someone use it, would I be able, from context, to figure out what it meant? Probably. Is it a "real word," valid to be a crossword entry? Who am I to argue otherwise? By filling in that entry, do I feel six squares less close to death, or at least cultural obsolescence? Yes, I do. Are there any other fans of the German Netflix series *Dark*? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMHLkcc9I9c" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMHLkcc9I9c</a> (The 1980's are so donezo!)
@Bill I haven't clicked your link but "Dark" was awsome - I like few modern series, but this was something else. The whole concept, the characters, all the mysteries - just wow! I watched it in German (which I am nearly conversational in) - with English subtitles to get all the details - for an additional level of immersion.
@Bill OMG, "Dark". I watched the first season and was completely lost. The same people across different temporal eras. So I watched the entire first season again, but this time I was ... still completely lost. I decided "Dark" was just too smart for me.
Warning: Possibly I’m just in a crotchety mood because I’ve got Covid. And let me tell you, this whole “you’re not really ill or in pain till you’ve lost a limb or have the bubonic plague” attitude Europeans have is the reason why the American expat community out here is so robust. Yes, we need people in our lives who fully understand why not having two well-stocked aisles of TheraFlu choices in the grocery store in order to self-medicate properly is like not having enough air to breathe. People who understand that the number of boxes and bottles of OTC flu-symptom relievers on our nightstand is inversely proportional to how serious our respiratory symptoms are. (I have lots of boxes and bottles here right now.) People who understand that when the doc tells us we’re not seriously ill, the uvular r in his “serious” makes it sound like he’s mocking us. And what the heck is paracetamol? Why would any country not avail itself of Tylenol? Oh yes, the puzzle. Well, I sped through it so clearly I’m not immune to pop culture, nor have I forgotten playing Mario Bros. as a kid in the 80s and wanting to look just like Meg Ryan. One thing occurred to me, though: Despite PTA being clued as [Scholastic book fair org], one could solve this entire grid having never read a single book. (No, the biblical clue doesn’t count.) The puzzle was fresh and spunky and such, but it left me with a feeling that we’re not a serious culture anymore. Maybe it’s just the Covid talking.
@Sam Lyons I don't get your European comment. In Poland doctors are very quick to give people time off work (if there is anything wrong with you, a week off is an absolute minimum) and I've never experienced not being treated seriously with any respiratory issues. If anything, doctors often chide me for coming too see them too late and my not treating my own symptoms seriously. Paracetamol is internationally recognized and effective pain and inflammation relief. What is Tylenol?
@Sam Lyons. I hope you feel better soon. They do have flu medicine (at least here in Switzerland - Neocitran). Paracetamol and acetaminophen (in Tylenol) are the same thing. But I sympathize as I always came back from the US with lots of cold medicine. Somehow when you’re sick you want the stuff from home. Hope you get rid of the COVID quickly!
@Sam Lyons Oh, Covid is sneaky indeed. Just when you stop thinking of it — whammo! And it can be downright nasty. I hope you’re going to make a quick recovery. I LOLed at your uvular r comment. 🤣🤣🤣 You ain’t heard rs until you’ve heard the Portuguese rr! The bemused looks I’ve experienced as an immigrant to Europe (no plans to return to the USA)! When I went for my first mammogram (fitting for 4D), the technicians were confused as to why I was asking for a paper robe. Doesn’t happen. Then, when I went for a GYN exam, the doctor remains in the room as you disrobe. She could not fathom my shame, especially given all that would occur next. Oh, it’s different here! Speedy recovery!
@Sam Lyons Ha ha! Yeah it's the Covid talking. That will get you in max curmudgeon mode. I can only assume that in general you find health care here to be a ton better than in the USA. I sure do. Getting the word paracetamol fixed in my head was a first step. One of my first steps on Day 1 of the Permanent Move ended with tripping and hurting my knee pretty badly, so paracetamol was needed! Plus 50€ for an urgent care visit (100% out of my pocket, so they apologized for the high cost). In the US that would have been $300? I hope you feel better soon. Pani, the nakedness in the doctor's office! "Just hold your shirt up to your chest and walk down this hallway." It's an adjustment. I assume you can identify the Americans in all medical offices, we're the bright red ones.
@Sam Lyons Wishing you a good recovery, Sam. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you, whatever state (State) you’re in. I hope you’ll be in Europe for a while: eager to see if you enjoy adapting or succumb to your homesickness. Adapting is a fascinating exercise, and it‘s funny to observe how many of the national stereotypes (which we should definitely not set store by) end up having a grain of truth. And lead to comical (or jarring) misunderstandings.
@Nora Ha, ha!! This strange old world (to us) is one surprise after another. I’ve read that being uncomfortable, trying new languages, customs and foods helps keep our brains sharp! As for the local folks knowing I’m American, it’s rare. I don’t turn red (I’m Black) and almost every person here assumes I’m from an African country. That’s even after I speak in my very American English 😁. One day soon I hope to be the first of my ancestors to step foot on the African continent for 400 years! Maybe I’ll find a doppelgänger!
“Donezo.” I’m out buh bye.
@Warren My introduction to, and favorite use of DONEZO in pop culture comes from Parks and Rec. <a href="https://youtu.be/acLp0S3K6mk" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/acLp0S3K6mk</a>
“Wrinkle-free.” Another sight from the before-times. (Clothes too, not just the skin.) Nice puzzle.
@JohnWM LOL In the days before there were a lot of knits (not to mention polyester) used in clothing manufacture, IRONing was a necessity. Recently one of our local quilters gave a class for some Arts-magnet high-school students; an unexpected stumbling block: none of them had ever used an IRON.
This might be one of my favorite puzzles in a while. So many of the entries made me smile Thanks, Greg!
It's so interesting to read which clues stumped solvers! (Usually referring to rap and video games.) I remember when I started doing NYT puzzles in the early 1970s and the clues that stopped me cold had to do with opera and boxing. I guess boxing isn't as popular as it once was - except for the occasional reference to Laila Ali. Opera has mostly dropped off the radar. Has anyone looked at the waxing and waning of certain topics over the years?
@renata2021 Try attending a Metropolitan Opera live broadcast at a theater near you. Our local theater sells out completely more often than not for those live broadcasts. Before the show begins we see the people finding their seats at the Met Opera House in Lincoln Center. It’s always packed. So, not on the radar for some, as it always has been. But very much still alive and well.
Loved!!! Easy, witty, and satisfying. The theme was fun and some of my favourite entries were DRUNKDIAL and DUSK. Thanks :)
@Sanjana Those were my favorite entries, too! Clever. I also liked the [brewing] misdirect* on 25D. (Was it a misdirect or am I just too familiar with the type of beverage that results in DRUNK DIALing? Lol.)
I, too, had never heard of DONEZO. I decided to look it up in Urban Dictionary and saw that the entry was created in 2004. So the term has been with us for over 20 years. Not a huge number of votes for it, though, with 387 on the first definition. Compare to, say "cray cray" with over 2700 votes. But still, I'd say it's a legit neologism for crossword purposes. ("Legit," btw, has just over 1,000 votes [and "btw" has over 5,000]).
Dave Munger, Interesting. I imagine some people responsible for analog word reference works might, at least in the past, have been heard to say: “Voting? Not on my dictionary.”
@Dave Munger This is so refreshing. Instead of coming to the comment section to vent in ignorance about a word you don’t know, you did some simple research and provided enlightenment. I love it. Thank you.
This was an enjoyable if easy puzzle overall, but I don’t think any of the theme answers match the revealer well, unless we’re *really* leaning into the “might claim” part: CRYSTAL - Per the link from the column: “A watch crystal is the clear piece of material that protects the watch dial. The crystal might be made of glass, plastic or sapphire, depending on the watch.” Even if a smart watch doesn’t have an analog dial, the display and other internals (i.e., what’s in the smart watch’s CASE) are still protected by this sort of crystal—some high-end smart watches even specifically use sapphire crystal displays. Additionally, virtually all digital computers, including smart watches, have internal clocks that are needed to keep the time for regulating the execution of instruction and other purposes. I looked it up, and these internal clocks usually use the same type of quartz crystal oscillators that are used in more traditional timepieces. (Plus, most smartwatches currently available use LCDs—liquid crystal displays—though e-ink displays aren’t unheard of.) DIAL - This one is a bit better, but as others have mentioned, many people set their smart watches to display a digital simulacrum of an analog dial, and some fancy smart watches do actually include analog dials, including physical HANDS and chronographs. Again, none of this affected my ability to solve the puzzle, nor the overall quality of the fill, at all, but I can’t say this theme was particularly well thought out.
Well... that was different. Pretty typical Tuesday workout for me. Some fell together pretty smoothly; some I had to work a lot of crosses for things to dawn on me. And then... must confess that I wasn't entirely grasping the theme until I was done and went back and pondered for a bit. I guess I get it now. Puzzle find today - a very unusual one. A Sunday from October 13, 1991 by Ernst Theimer with the title "Implanted numbers." There were several rebuses in that and each was just a number: e.g. 11, 2, 0, 4. But the implication was for the answers to use the spelled out version of the number. A couple of examples: Customer group reveres : CLIENTELEVENERATES Which actually appeared as: CLIENT(11)ERATES And the down cross was: NOV(11)TS (NOVELEVENTS) "Faith ___!" (words by Faber) OFOURFATHERS which actually was entered as: O(4)FATHERS And the down cross was: BAL(4) (BALFOUR) "Some boxing preliminaries" LIGHTWEIGHTEVENTS which appeared as: LIGHTW(8)EVENTS and the down cross was: FR(8)AGE (FREIGHTAGE) And there were more. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/13/1991&g=113&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/13/1991&g=113&d=A</a> I'm done. ....
Truly appreciate the wit and whimsy and just plain clever clueing. Made it/feel like a Tuesday-level Friday! Such fun! Thank you Greg!
@CCNY I’d gladly pay you Thursday for an edit comment button today… ( Maybe just a 30 second delay?) No? No…
Never been a fan of digital watches. My kids got me a Timex Weekender when I retired eons ago. No alarms, no little day/date window. Just a trusty timeteller. Ill be wearing it when I'm too far gone to know what it is 😁
@Ken Chronographs are wonderful things, often beautiful pieces of art.
@Ken I got a digital watch because it didn't set off the metal detector at work. I much prefer my analog Casio that looks like a Rolex Submariner, but didn't cost thousands.
I was just looking at my brother’s Apple Watch, which has an analog display for the time (and apparently, for the time being). I asked him about it, and he said he changes it as the mood hits him.
@Steve L I prefer to use an analog face with extras (or complications, as Apple calls them), so I basically have 9 things I can do or start from there without using the side buttons, including looking to see what time it is. I've used the same watch face for a long time now.
Question for the group: I thought it was a rule that the clue and the answer have no words in common. Is 1999 an exception just because it has numerals instead of words?
@DT That's my take. If you're typing, 9 is not nine. Speaking of which, I often see clues that are awkwardly worded, and that is a tip off that the word they are avoiding is in the answer. Not applicable here, though.
@DT I view it similar to the semifrequent clues that mention letters of a word (like for [Comedic duo?], the answer could be CEES). Apparently the components of a word (or number) are fair game.
@DT I view it as the rules as we know them aren't really rules at all.
Some very fun clues ("early night", "last call") in this sweet confection. Mr. Snitkin's debut (pronoun used confidently) a year ago also was inspired by interacting with his children (The Hokey Pokey). Hope they continue to be his muse. (Muses?) Well done and thanks.
It’s going to be one of those weeks. This was crunchier than I’m used to for the early week fill. Still very enjoyable, like yesterday. Maybe I’m losing more brain cells. The theme came slowly. I couldn’t remember the actor’s surname to start, but getting DRUNK DIAL lifted the fog. Of course, CRYSTAL. Never played any video games (are they still called that?) so 1A unknown, but the crosses were easy. I adore Ms Amos. Was a little confused by 4D, but read in the comments it was to do with an, unknown to me, ad campaign. Press before MADAM held me up for a while, as did ALL RED. Obvious once I managed the crosses, but I stared at A….D for ages with no clue. Ah, the Amalfi coast. A memorable bus ride from Naples to Minori in a thunderstorm. Even through the heavy rain the scenery was spectacular, the driver insane! It felt like we were going to plunge off the unguarded cliff side at any moment. Thrilling. I love the idea of a potty watch. Wish I’d been aware of the concept when going through it with my 3. Might have made life a little easier. Will be passing the concept on when grandkids start arriving.
@Helen Wright (and Greg Snitkin) You've never heard of Azrin and Foxx? If one wants an independent and reliable toilet-trained youngster, their method is excellent. I took several low-key days (instead of just one) with our hyperactive older child, but the other offspring needed only about 3 hours. I'm not kidding. (But then, I had toilet-trained a large number of youngsters with mental retardation early in my career, so our kids were not really a challenge....it was the one area of parenting in which I felt completely confident! LOL)
@Helen Wright - On a memorably scary bus ride in a hilly part of Tuscany a few years back I heard a great story from our tour guide: A priest and a bus driver arrive at the Pearly Gates simultaneously. St. Peter ushers the bus driver through the Gates and points the priest in the other direction down below. “There must be a mistake,” says the priest. “I’ve spent my life doing good.” “No mistake,” replies the saintly gatekeeper. “We watch very closely what happens on Earth. When you preached on Sunday, half your congregation was asleep, but every time the bus driver took a group down the Amalfi Coast every single passenger was praying very hard.”
Not sure why everyone is so mad at “donezo,” it’s emphasized as slang for a reason, and a decent amount of people say it. I almost immediately figured it out. I personally was more confused at the phrasing of DUSK’s clue. Overall fun tho! :)
I guess this really IS "The Next Generation," at least in CrossWorld, because entries like DONEZO and ONE UP (as clued) and even ALL RED just seem peculiar and contrived... and what is 'ESPN Deportes,' pray tell? Sounds ominous. I'm not even sure WATCHes have those particular parts nowadays. Disheartened by Captain Quahog's departure yesterday...but I guess it's one way to clear more time for other pursuits. Like waiting to see what essential agencies get the axe next...
@Mean Old Lady Deportes Tolima is a Columbian soccer league, so many who watch it on ESPN are likely to be Latinos.
@Mean Old Lady I can't speak for DONEZO, but ONE UP is common parlance in video games. The little green mushrooms in Super Mario Bros. give you ONE UP, and the STAR makes you invincible! "Deportes" just means sports.
@Mean Old Lady fear not, ESPN Deportes is simply the name of ESPN's Channel in Spanish. They've got a bunch of channels.
@Mean Old Lady ESPN Deportes shows a lot of futbol.
@Mean Old Lady I must have missed CQ’s post yesterday. Went back to find it, that’s just really too bad. I always considered him such a key contributor here. I was particularly tickled when he went down to my neck of the woods up north to photograph the cribstone bridge. I hope he reconsiders. I try hard not to let any negativity here ruin my day IRL….
@Mean Old Lady Really, he thinks this site's comments are toxic? I hope he doesn't read any comments on the op-ed pieces: Tom Friedman, David French, Maureen Dowd, Bret Stephens and Gail Collins, et al. I never read Ross (don't) Douthat, cannot stomach him, but I can imagine the comments.
@Mean Old Lady Yeah, I was really bummed by Captain Quahog bowing out. He was one of the first people to reply and make me feel welcome here. I'm really sorry to think that my reflections on the horrible state of things might have driven him away. I just can't bear to sit in silence. I succumb projectile commenting.
It was fun. Smiles for clues to 63A, 30A, 69A. Thank you for a good Tuesday puzzle. And I like donezo!
Super fun puzzle. Perfect for a Tuesday. The throw backs to Nena and MarioKart were right in my wheelhouse. Donezo was pretty easy to suss out and as a watch aficionado I totally enjoyed the theme.
Wait a sec. Smart watches don't have cases? Of course they do. Is the argument that the smart device in question isn't a smart watch but a phone app or a more exotic, minute little doodad? Nope, not buying it. I think this one was a poor answer, and it kind of ticks me off. Relatively speaking. It was otherwise a promising and timely theme. :( ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
Once again, I was sure I was doomed to fail. I had no idea what kind of JA__HANDS we were talking about. I've never heard of DONEZO (I'm really suspicious about how common that is) nor could I figure out which of any number of silly words that ZONKING turned out to be. Why not cONKING, or bONKING, or even wONKING, as with a policy debate. This reads like a criticism of the puzzle, and it probably is. I thought the double Natick was a little much, at least for me. Nevertheless, I got a kick out of solving it. And had I been stumped...I would have gotten over it. I think.
@Francis JAZZHANDS was a gimme for me and I was suspecting by then that this was a pangram and I was anticipating the Zs! I have heard donezo used although the spelling looked weird as I was filling it in from crosses. Enjoyed the puzzle and went faster for me than Monday (although tbf I was multitasking).
@Francis DONEZO looked very, *very* weird to me, but even though I did not understand the clue, JAZZ HANDS were a gimme once I had that JA_ in the beginning and some of the further letters. Strangely enough, I know the term from a description of a meme featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson... I didn't know ZONKED, either.
@Francis Do you not remember Zonker Harris from Doonesbury? Though he usually had a little helper to go from zoned out to zonked.
I didn't manage this Tuesday puzzle. I doubted that cONKED (out) would be right for "totally beat," but I was pretty sure of the last five letters. I had (and still have) no idea what a gesture with "razzle-dazzle" might be. So I Revealed the next to last letter of a totally new and strange slang expression for "Finished." Oh, well. I had already had to look up "let me entertain you" to fill in G__SY, a musical I don't remember hearing about. (I don't remember very much anymore--I'm sure I must have heard of that one in my younger days.)
@kilaueabart I suppose we should be glad that they didn’t mean “Razzle Dazzle” in the NOLA sense… 🫢
@kilaueabart It was quite a tough Tuesday for me, and I'm in my 40s, so cut yourself some slack 🙂.
@kilaueabart Once I got GYPSY from crosses, I recognized the musical, but I didn't know it off the bat. It was -- and is -- a very popular musical, made into a movie, and currently a revival is on Broadway here in NYC. A lot of other commenters had the same difficulty as you with those Z's in the grid. You're still doing very well, if your comments are any indication!
While playing "guess the revealer" today, I knew it was about a watch, but came up blank until I read the clue at 56 A. It made this intentional Luddite laugh.
Sam: Yeah, one day there will be a new parlor sport suitable for the vast population of couch potatoes. It will feature finding people at your party who can: 1. Tell the time when the clue is "The Big Hand points North, the little hand points East." 2. Draw the letters that go in each hole of a rotary dial telephone. 3. Use a pencil and paper to carry out long division, such as 6387/79. 4. Tell you what building on their college campus would have codes starting with "BF" or "QH" or "PN"? Today's puzzle was good, but a little boring. I call it a "STEM WINDER' --(look it up, noobs!)
@William Schrader And what do codes BF, QH, and PN mean?
@William Schrader I was with you until you got to number 4. Doesn’t every college have its own codes for its buildings? Mine were HU, SS, ED, FA, ES, CH, etc.
William Schrader, And was that one building on your college campus that had all three codes, or was that three buildings each having one of them?
@William Schrader I wonder when they will have to replace the "draw a clock showing ten past eleven" dementia-screening test and what they'll replace it with.
Just remember we have 25D. to thank for inventing the "flo-thru" tea bag. That might come in handy in a puzzle on day. I got tripped up with soccer powerhouse. Cheers!
@Call Me Al A friend had stubborn (and painful) infected styes in both eyes a while back--not responding to any of the standard treatments. A different (older) doc ordered her to use tea-bag poultices 8 times a day..... LIPTON to the rescue. Cured!
I confidently filled in DRiNK Down for 30A on the first pass, perhaps imagining that bartenders demand that drinks be downed (one way or another) after time is called the way proctors demand that pencils be downed after a test. I’ve been in enough bars at closing time to know better, so it didn’t hold me up for long. It goes to show how test anxiety haunts our minds no matter how old we get, perhaps with a slight nudge from recently seeing Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping music video.
@Paul Turner I distinctly remember in more than one venue, lights being turned up and the rent-a-cop bouncer telling everyone to down their drinks at closing time in Massachusetts, back in the day. I haven't stayed that late in a bar in MA since my 20's, but back then the "blue laws" meant closing time was much earlier than NY -- I seem to remember 1:30am... So you weren't entirely wrong! As for Tubthumping... Now I have an earworm hahaha.
the obvious music link, 99 Luftballoons <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY</a> Ah, the times, they are a' changing. Used to be, you looked for someone wearing a watch if you needed to know the time. Now you look for someone with a phone in hand. Does anybody really know what time it is? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FzCWLOHUes" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FzCWLOHUes</a> Fun puzzle, Greg.
@Linda Jo If you play "99 Luftballons" on a ukulele, is it NENE?
Fun solve but my mind just won’t let go that NENA is an artist or singer, not a band.
@JLP had the same reaction but I guess it could have been either <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nena_(band" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nena_(band</a>)
@JLP LOL some people have this issue with Sade as well. There was a NYTimes puzzle that caused a similar debate last year. Actually it was a bigger debate because it was clued as [Only African born headliner at London's Live Aid 1985.]
Fun fact: Sir Thomas LIPTON "competed for the America's Cup" five times over the course of thirty years, and lost every time. USA! So I was amused that those two entries abutted.
Really smooth and enjoyable, but I did have to think. Very nice!
Thank you, Sam, for linking to the article about analog clocks. It was a wonderful essay and reader comments about how much easier an analog clock is to use vs. a digital one were very insightful (how much longer until? how long has it been? easy learning of fractions).
I didn’t love the clue for ELUDE or the fill ALLRED. Fair bit of stuff that I got but is well outside the wheelhouse of somebody my age (NOOB, “pwned”, DONEZO, ZONKED, “Mario Kart”…). Overall fun puzzle though. Really liked the clue and answer for DRUNKDIAL.
TIL Nena was a band, not just the name of the singer. All this time...
@CalGal Same!! I knew it had to be NENE but clued as a band!? Whaaaat!? I had no idea! Btw, thanks so much for posting the Mary Oliver poem the other day. I really appreciate it! Somehow, I'd heard the last two lines but I don't think I'd read the entire poem before or maybe I have but those last two lines are just so impactful that it's all I retained. :-)
Wow. Lots of unfamiliarity with DONEZO. FWIW, I’m a 71-year old retired librarian.👵 Wasn’t DONEZO uttered a couple of times in episodes of Stargate SG1? Also: NOT ON MY WATCH. Maybe today’s puzzle constructor, Greg Snitkin, was a fan of the show?
@NESB I am a 34-year old actor from the Philippines and I am very familiar with DONEZO, I do not know why 😂 My answer would be tons of TV, so your Stargate query may be on the right path, though I didn’t watch that one when it was in syndication!
For the record, NENA was the stage name for Gabriele Susanne Kerner, and she stuck with it, but it was also the name of the band. Clearly it could be clued both ways. Pretty good puzzle today.