Dentists participate at the molar derby. (I forgot where I heard that, to tell the tooth.)
@Mike Put on your thinking cap and find a way to fill in the gap. You'll remember, unless of course it's a bridge too far. And as I've always said, cavity emptier.
Mike, I’m always impacted by your wisdom. P.S. What’s a dentist’s favourite snack? Enamel crackers.
@Mike On this day I crown you King of Puns! Here is your commemorative plaque.
@Mike I was going to suggest these to you, but was afraid we'd be accused of incisor trading.
Glad to see there's no evidence of receding puns today.
First time ever not looking anything up or using the column for hints! Happy Monday
@Cassandra Congrats! You are on your way.
I'm glad to have encountered hoedown in today's puzzle - I realized I've heard it in Beyonce's Cowboy Carter but I had no idea what it meant. The BARNS that emerged from crosses explained little so I looked it up and learned about it. Most of the unfamiliar stuff I see in NYT grids has to do with brands, sports teams and SNL 🤣 - I don't even pretend I want to learn about any of that. Getting to know American culture is nice though 🙂 I don't think Polish culture or language has an equivalent of a hoedown. However, village parties - at the local fire station, "remiza strażacka," rather than a barn - have been a staple of Polish rural culture for decades. Why the fire station? In many villages it is the only building with a large enough space to party. I love how Polish law reflects this. The statute on sobriety forbids the sale and consumption of alcohol at public institutions. However, the statute makes an exception for "remizy strażackie" - as a bow to tradition.
@Andrzej In England a hoedown is called a 'barn dance' with somewhat similar dances to US square dances. The barn dances I have been to have been rather sedate affairs. In Scotland and Ireland we have a ceilidh (kay-lee). The ceilidhs I've been to have been more noisy, raucous affairs, (possibly more drink taken) and in Shetland they go in for 'birling' ie spinning round and round with a partner, for quite long periods. At least they did when I was there.
Testing the suggestion that a reply to OP will be visible without the time stamp folderol.
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Love of the past (3)(5) 2. Literary bird with a one-word vocabulary, apparently (5) 3. Sides of circles? (5)(5) 4. Concrete examples of rotational forces and fluid dynamics? (6)(5) 5. Ubiquitous figure during the holiday season (4)(5) OLD FLAME RAVEN ONION RINGS CEMENT MIXER SALE PRICE
@Lewis what am missing with OLDFLAME. Seems a pretty straightforward clue and answer
(There are more comments if you click on the "how-long-ago-this-was-posted" under my name...)
@Lewis You almost need a “non-Weintraub division” on a week where she has a grid. I think this was almost a clean sweep.
The worst is when WEGOWAYBACK, but for their name I’m thinking REMINDME. Nice puzzle.
Oh yeah. My dentist and me, we go way back. Dr. Nimrod. Don't remind me! With my teeth, I saw him several times a year. He would usher me into his dentist chair, peer into my mouth with those special double-lens glasses and annoy me with the same joke every time: "With all that ore in your mouth you could open up a silver mine!" Next he'd say "Open wide...no wider...like you're a hangar, like I'm gonna drive my John Deere into your barn." Then he'd give me a shot of novocaine and get to work. Once I had to get a root canal and he said, "OK, we're gonna uncap that tooth and see what's under the stump: that's where the roots are, right?" His decor was pretty simple: a poster of Tamara de Lempicka's "Young Lady With Gloves" on the facing wall, and I'd stare at her and wonder what she was thinking, if anything. "I just heard you moana little...are you getting sorer?" the dentist asked. "Thirst," I mumbled. "Sure," he said, pausing from hammering nails into the abrasion that was my mouth (that's how it felt anyway) and taking a pad to wipe away some stray bits, "it's not like we're in Saudi Arabia. Drink all you want. But tonight no carne asada. At the most, yam, maybe an acai smoothie." As he got back to work, Led Zeppelin's "Coda" started playing. I raised an eyebrow. "I used to play ambient music," the dentist explained, "like Eno. Thinking it would relax people. Uh-uh. But Zeppelin reminds people of their first prom date." "That's relaxing?" I asked.
@john ezra Lucky for you — and most other patients of dentists in modern times — that you got a shot of novocaine before having painful procedures performed in your mouth. When I was a young boy, I ate far too many sugar-filled foods and didn’t look after my teeth. (It didn’t help that back then, the city I grew up in had not yet ordered fluoride to be added to the municipal water supply.) On every visit to the dentist, I had at least one cavity that had to be filled. But my dentist never gave me any anaesthetic. He just drilled away, frequently hitting a nerve. I will leave it to others to imagine the pain I would invariably experience. Of course, never having had any other dentist, it never occurred to me that my dentist was making a conscious decision not to freeze me first. I just thought that was the price to be paid for taking such poor care of my teeth.
@Strudel Dad So sorry that happened to you.
Interesting conversation about dentists and novacaine. But it’s kind of left me a little numb.
@Strudel Dad My Dad was my dentist, and he said I was his worst patient because I'd scream and have a fit at the needle for the novacaine when I was a kid. But I have some lovely gold inlays that have been in my mouth for about 65 years! A more recent dentist wanted to take them out and replace with something else -- at a huge cost. No way! I know they are not as modern as porcelain or implants, but they are a gift from my Dad and that's irreplaceable.
STUMP right in the middle of the grid felt right to me. I got stumped but good twice. The first was, with no letters filled in, trying to come up with the furniture item usually near a drill. I was picturing home drills, construction drills, and more, before finally uncle-ing. After filling in some crosses and seeing the answer, well, that brought a huge “Hah!” In one swoop, I was smiling and my brain got its workout. Win-win. The second was trying to figure out the revealer, leaving it blank and not reading its clue. This is a weak area of mine, and man, I looked for every commonality in the theme answers, several times about to give up but refusing to. Alas, no cigar. Finally, I revealed one letter at a time, and after W, E, G, O – it finally hit me with a bigger “Hah!”. An even bigger win-win. Stumped twice, yes, but the defeat was easily outweighed by the payoff. Then there was a sweet bonus: the PuzzPair© of CHAIR abutting SAT ON. You gave me my money’s worth, Eric. Thank you for one terrific Monday!
A little bit of DENTALCHAIR history. John Naughton was my next door neighbor- until he became wealthy from his invention and moved to the ritzy part of town. Excerpt from dentalez.com: "Then in 1958, inventor John Naughton of Des Moines, Iowa, worked with Dr. John Anderson to create the Den-Tal-Ez J-Chair®. Widely regarded as the first modern dental chair, the J-Chair featured a split back that allowed the patient to be put in a supine position so the dentist could get as close to the patient’s head as possible . This invention set the stage for sit-down dentistry, the way dentists around the world still practice today."
@coloradoz The answer was DENTISTSCHAIR, not Dental chair. There is no editor for the comments, so any commenting error lives on for all eternity
@coloradoz I have a dental appointment this afternoon for my regular cleaning. Already it was pretty cool that DENTIST CHAIR was in the grid today, but now I have a little extra knowledge with which to chat* up the hygienist. Thanks! *More like "say in a rush before the cleaning starts, followed by grunting", haha. New hygienist this time, so it will be a good conversation starter!
@coloradoz Ah, that explains the old school upright dentist’s chairs that used to be in bars. I thought they were remnants of dental work done in early California saloons, but there were just too darn many. Our family dentist in the 1960’s still used the old school upright type chair, an off green, pale. Slightly padded. And never used Novocain… he thought it served us careless kids right to feel some pain. All that pain focused my mind, and I have extremely clear memories of his office. I wish he had used Novocain.
@coloradoz My Dad started practicing in 1951 and always stood up. Then in 1958 he was in a boating fire that severly burned his legs and he couldn't stand all day, so started using a rolling stool. I don't remember him getting new chairs for the office, but as far back as I can remember his chairs tilted back. I think that was before 1958??
I done retired form the puzz. Thank you. Goodbye too all of my fan's
@Eddie 😢 The puzzs done did you in?
@Eddie -- Noooooooo! Reconsider, please! Your done dids and didn'ts have become a fixture of my day!
@Eddie No! Please keep gettin the puzzle done did. Please.
Eddie done did stop doing do puzzles. Sad day.
Re 2D: When I’m only a little nervous, say, singing in public for a small friendly group, I can manage by chewing some 2 penny finish nails. But for very nervous situations, like an extended stay in the dentist’s chair, I usually resort to chewing those 16 penny concrete nails. My dentist has advised me to stop doing this.
I hope the IT folk can get the comments system squared away soon. When I first checked in, I could see three replies to Lewis's post (the first post). Now, you have click on a time stamp to see all but the first reply. This is getting old, and I'd rather not have say about the problem WE GO WAY BACK. (Nice puzzle, Eric.)
@Barry Ancona I wrote the times about an odd glitch I noticed for the last few days that sounds like it's related: for a few people, including yesterday with Sam Lyons, there's her original post and it says "2 replies" under that: when you click on it, there are SIX replies. Same with a bunch of other stuff. I think the IT people were tweaking and "improving" comments and broke something unintentionally in the process. I've noticed a few other little glitches, too, and, as you said, this is old news...
@Barry Ancona The problem I'm having is that I can see my comment when I click the link in the confirmation email, but it's nowhere to be found when I'm just scrolling through the comments section. And the number of comments hasn't increased at all.
I hope Andrzej sees this puzzle, as TAMARA de Lempicka was a painter from Poland. I didn't recognize the name, but I've definitely seen her artwork, as Madonna was a big collector (used one of her paintings in the Open Your Heart video), and WAY BACK, I was a big collector of anything and everything to do with Madonna. (We all have things we cringe about later, right?) <a href="https://youtu.be/snsTmi9N9Gs?si=yggYL2LHIBPfznHp" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/snsTmi9N9Gs?si=yggYL2LHIBPfznHp</a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_de_Lempicka" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_de_Lempicka</a>
@Beth TAMARA de Lempicka was a gimme for me! A dear friend wrote a wonderful novel in which the artist figures prominently: it's called The Last Nude, if you're interested! By the late Ellis Avery. More recently, there was a short run Broadway musical about the artist, appropriately called Lempicka.
@Beth I've heard of her but she is not well known in Poland, at all, sadly - to my knowledge, anyway. Apparently a Polish scientist researched her life - it turns out some of what's written about her on Wikipedia is probably not true. There is an English version of the findings under this link: <a href="https://zamek-lublin.pl/tamara-lempicka-miedzy-faktami-a-kreacja" target="_blank">https://zamek-lublin.pl/tamara-lempicka-miedzy-faktami-a-kreacja</a>/
I deliberately ignored the revealer clue and let the answer fill from the crosses and was amply rewarded - didn't see that one coming! Well done. Fond memory of Mr. Peabody and his pet boy* Sherman's WABAC Machine from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle show: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine_(Peabody%27s_Improbable_History" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine_(Peabody%27s_Improbable_History</a>) And that devices successor, the Internet Archive's WayBack Machine: <a href="https://web.archive.org" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org</a>/ * Mr. Peabody is/was a polymath Beagle.
@John Carson Thanks for "reminding me" of "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends". So many well-spent hours figuring out the double entendres and "easter eggs" in those jokes.
@John Carson Always important to point out the Internet Archive! Especially in times of rapid changes to -- ahem -- content one may or may not expect to find online.
Late to the Xword today as we’ve been celebrating VE Day in the village. Bunting, Union Jacks and Dame Vera Lynn on repeat at the pub. Splendid. As usual, a Bank Holiday in the UK automatically means foul weather. After the heatwave of last week it’s freezing today. Listening to Churchill’s speech from 1945 was a little chilling given current events I must say. Victory in Europe, but for how long? A slightly chewier Monday for me, but maybe that’s the gin. Good theme, with a few misdirects; nitwit for NIMROD, stalls for STANDS. A satisfying finish with the theme revealer. As with @Strudel Dad, DENTIST CHAIR through up some unpleasant childhood memories. Ouch.
@Helen Wright Edit ‘Through’? For goodness sake predictive text. It’s THREW.
61D: if it’s AD, then it’s BC. If you use BCE to avoid the overly Christian reference, then you’re certainly not going to refer to “the year of our Lord”, so BCE pairs with CE.
@John In Polish, the BC/AD terminology has been considered dated for many decades. Even the oldest Polish history books I've handled use the BCE/CE format (przed naszą erą/naszej ery - "nasz/a" means "our"). The earliest certain date in Polish history is adopting Christianity in 966 (CE). It's one of those dates every pupil in every school over here has learned for decades. The "communists" didn't appreciate the religiousness of the date. When in 1966 millennial celebrations were coming up, the government made them about 1000 years of the Polish state ("Tysiąclecie Państwa Polskiego") rather than celebrate anything religious in nature. Since then 966 has been recognized as the date of foundation of the Polish state, which is just untrue. Isn't it weird how religion and politics distorts our perception of simple, historical facts?
John, Right. I agree. Did you have a problem getting the answer from the clue? I didn't.
Thoroughly enjoyed solving this puzzle, it made me laugh. It was mostly easy, but there were enough misleading clues to keep it interesting. I object to 62A though... I may be getting up there in years, but I am not OLD! 😂
I was curious about the answer to 3D. Apparently, its use as an insult is a relatively recent development. It goes way back to Biblical times, being the name of Noah’s great grandson who was, evidently, a skilled hunter. Evidently, this was the reason Bugs Bunny taunted his nemesis, Elmer Fudd — recall he was always seen with his blunderbuss — by calling him by that name: <a href="https://www.simonsaysai.com/blog" target="_blank">https://www.simonsaysai.com/blog</a>/
@Strudel Dad Thanks for that. The sense of "mighty hunter", after the Biblical Nimrod, is the one I'm most familiar with. The fact that NIMROD, meaning "idiot", is "North American slang" according to the Oxford English Dictionary perhaps reinforces the plausibility of the Bugs Bunny connection. The OED has a citation from 1933 (well before Bugs or Fudd) which reads: "He's in love with her. That makes about the tenth. The same old Nimrod. Won't let her alone for a second." While this might be a very early use of "nimrod" as "idiot", it could equally be (as the OED editors point out) a sarcastic use of "Nimrod" in its old sense of "mighty hunter".
@Strudel Dad Foolishly, I used the 3D solution in my first attempt at a reply, which has now vanished off into emuland. I won't retype the whole thing, since it may well appear in due course. I still mainly associate the word with the Biblical reference to a mighty hunter. The pejorative usage is listed as "North American slang" by the OED, and I'm pretty sure I haven't heard it used in BrE. The OED does provide a citation for the pejorative sense from 1933, well before the advent of Bugs and Elmer, but it could well be a sarcastic usage in the "mighty hunter" sense.
@Strudel Dad -- I'm voting for the Bugs/Fudd connection, too. What's funny is that OED citation is using it in the same way that Bugs did -- a sarcastic reference to a mighty hunter. But wherever the OED citation came from, I can pretty much guarantee it wasn't broadcast for decades on Saturday mornings. And since I and virtually no one in my generation or those following had any clue about the Biblical allusion, we grew up thinking it was an insult.
@Strudel Dad I only know Nimrod as one of Elgar's Enigma Variations.
I’m continuing to find Monday puzzles a bit of a struggle, but , not a complaint as I think most don’t mind, and this was quite a clever theme.
@suejean How long have you been doing them? I struggled for a long time, but now I breeze through and can't imagine why they fazed me so. Stick with it.
I kept outsmarting myself with wrong fills, like "tenet" or "credo" for MOTTO (I GO WAY BACK, but not that far), forgot about LAILA and danced around with Mohamed for way too long, and I wanted a drill sergeant, not a dentist, all of which burned a lot of TIME, wracking my brain for wrong down fills. Puzzle took a little over 15 minutes, which seems excessive for a Monday, but I'm not as smart as I used to be (wanna buy a bridge?). It was a good puzzle, Eric, and I'm not complaining, just in a Sunday stupor. Thank you, and do come back.
@dutchiris I had some similar experiences, and also tarmac down at the bottom, before HANGAR sure slowed me down.
My current streak is for puzzles in which there is at least one square which I'm totally incapable of even guessing at. Others might call these Naticks. I won't because when you actually name one there is a substantial minority that will tell you you should have know, or have been able to guess, one of them. In fact I used to be among those souls. Recently thought, any day of the week I'll find one. Today is came early--1D and 14A. One is a proper name, and the other was [Secondary social accounts, informally]. I have never heard of ALTS, and moreover having gotten the A_TS did me absolutely no good in coming up with a reasonable guess. I seem to be having a run of bad luck in this regard.
@Francis Sorry! I didn't know alts either, but I did remember Laila from previous crosswords. Lately I've been coming up with a lot of down to one box issues at the end too. So I get it! Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
@Francis Yup, some people here salivate at the opportunity to pooh-pooh comments about tough crossings. 😁
If it makes you feel better I’m still yet to ever complete a NYT puzzle after about six months! Every Monday I think it’s the day and then I get down to one square. Today was the intersection of Coda / Asada - not a clue what either of them are. I live in hope for next week!
@Francis I was exactly the same. The same letter.
@Francis Me too. Down to sane lay square! Couldn’t remember Ali, never heard of ALTS usage. So, I started guessing consonants. Good news: it only took 8 guesses. Bad news: that just barely kept me from a new record time!
@Francis These are all good and fair comments. All I can say is that the longer you work these puzzles, the more likely you are to recognize one of the crossers, which will make it much easier and probably more satisfying overall.
I appreciated seeing “Who am I to judge?” A nice reminder of Pope Francis.
@JackiBunny made me think of the OJ case more than the pope.
@JackiBunny ITO is usually clued as the Judge in the OJ Simpson trial. So I liked this clue that still refered to a judge!
After yesterday, this was a breeze. Only one single letter from LEILA/ALTS was a problem for me. That doesn't mean I could actually solve all the clues - some were solved with crossers, like ASADA, SIA and OSHA. Only one film reference and one popular singer! That helped.
Fun Monday puzzle. A lot of things not dawning on me just from the clue, but was able to work everything out from the crosses. And... the reveal was almost the last thing I worked out and that just made for a great 'aha' moment when I finally caught on to the various meaning of going 'way back.' And... appropriate puzzle find today - a Monday from June 4, 2001 by Patrick Jordan. Three theme answers in that one, all with 'calendar anomaly' as part of the clue: EIGHTDAYSAWEEK JUNEINJANUARY TWELFTHOFNEVER Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/4/2001&g=20&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/4/2001&g=20&d=A</a> I'm done. ....
@Rich in Atlanta We lived off Humphreys Hill Rd from 2016-2020, then we retired.
Very nice Monday: breezy and fun with a cute little theme :) Especially liked the "constructive criticism" clue.
Glad to see Andrzej back and participating. Too bad Eddie done found the puzz too hard for good, but a weird little Eddie cult was developing, anyway. Not usually much to say about a Monday puzzle. This one was a good one for beginners. Gotta check whether my other comment regarding hoedowns and barn dances is showing...
This was a couple of seconds slower than my Monday average but seemed much easier than one I just completed from 1994 which needed one lookup and about seven more minutes. So I liked it a lot, except (just kidding) for painful reminders: Judge ITO, I remember that verdict as if it was yesterday, time stood still as I blurted out “what money can buy” to my attorney co-worker. No novocaine for baby teeth, I would just stare at the wall of good-girl rewards the dentist kept at eye level.
@Jeanne Yes, I thought of Judge ITO, also.
@Jeanne I hope you got the reference to Pope Francis at 58A - his comment when asked about queer relationships
The revealer today was just wonderful. A little bit hard to see the connection, even when solved. But after that moment's hesitation, it was just so clever.
I thought 11 down might be a rebus and we were going to have another showing of BLOWUPDOLL. 🤷♀️
@HeathieJ Too funny. I can’t imagine who might want to see that! Safe doll companions would come with duct tape instead of pins?
One more late puzzle find, somewhat inspired by a rearrangement of our constructor's surname. Anyway - a Monday from November 24, 2014 by Robert Seminara. Four 'theme' answers in that one - all straightforwardly clued. ROLLINGPINS ONTHEDOWNLOW FLOORMIRRORS LAUGHINGGAS And then the 'reveal': "Texter's expression spelled out by the starts of 18-, 28-, 46- and 59-Across" ROFL Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/24/2014&g=36&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/24/2014&g=36&d=A</a> ...
I finished the puzzle and was scratching my head trying to figure out why I never had a dentist sit in a chair and work on my mouth. I should have cleared the cobwebs out of my head first. Only after reading Wordplay did I realize what a complete dope I am. Never thought it was the chair I was sitting on! Now to make that cup of coffee.
I thought the most "unwelcome sound in a crowded subway car" is "Showtime!"
@Jill from Brooklyn I tried not to imagine what might follow...was not successful. Thanks a bunch.
Loved your puzzle, Eric, especially barns and stands and inhalers!
Loved me some DARTH Vader yesterday followed by Time Machine for DeLorean today as We Go Way Back. Love me some Star Wars and Back to the Future. Actually got Area Code very quickly today because my bestie is really good at area codes.
6:30! That was a reeeeally fast one! It helped to fill in TIMEMACHINE without any of the crossings.
Fine Monday puzzle, no notes. Regarding BCE, which I almost didn't see, the Star Wars universe uses BBY/ABY, as in Before/After the Battle of Yavin, when the Death Star was destroyed. (Yes, I'm still geeking out from May the Fourth.) The Imperial Calendar was based on the Formation of the Empire, when Palpatine was named Chancellor.
@Grant Somehow I never knew about BBY/ABY until Season 2 of Andor, which I am quite enjoying. But I'll tell you, if you go down the rabbit hole of the Star Wars wiki looking for info about BBY or something else linked in a recap of an episode, there is so much history there, in such a level of detail about people, places, dates etc. that I don't think I have enough time left on planet earth to learn it all. It takes geeking out to another level (I would say even beyond LOTR). I was just trying to learn about Senator Bail Organa, whom I had forgotten was formerly played by Jimmy Smits (hasn't he been in the crossword lately?) but who is now going to be played by another actor going forward, and I finally had to quit after about 15 minutes of reading about Organa's life story.
A reply I sent to the Dave Munger thread 3 hours ago is hidden in the current timestamp debacle. The comment was: Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez calls them (RBIs) ribeye steaks.
Steve L, As of 16:50 ADT, when I first come to the comments, I see only one reply (Hugh’s), and the counter says 1 reply, and there is no “View All Replies” option. But after once using the time stamp trick, and returning via “Back to all comments”, it now has a count of 3 replies, but only displays Hugh’s, with yours and one other hidden below the View All Replies message. It’s broken, Jim.
@Steve L I'd never heard of ribbies before and I thought to ask you about it... but my patience with these glitches is wearing very thin so I didn't bother.
@Steve L, This is a further test of the “who you reply to” theory. This reply is replying to the original comment. Please do not adjust your sets… if you even remember what a “set” is.
Nope...in a thread started by Andrzej about what a hoedown was, I replied thusly to a comment by Jane W., who said that hoedowns were called barn dances in the UK: Barn dance is not unheard of here in the states, either. Many of the earliest country music variety radio shows were called barn dances. This new glitch is a real pain...
@Steve L I clicked on Andrzej's time and saw your comment and others.
@Steve L I hope it's a glitch, and not a feature. It has never occurred to me to click on the time stamp - was it clickable before this? No value added. I may not come back here if this continues. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
And in a thread started by John from NJ about using BCE and AD in the same dating system, where Barry A. asked John if it kept him from getting the correct answer, I replied: CE can't be used in the clue, of course, so there had to be another way of wording it. This didn't stop me from figuring it out, and I suspect it didn't stop John, either, but he does have a point.
Steve, I clicked on the time stamp on my reply in that thread and it revealed your reply (and two others). Still not fixed.
@Steve let aL, Okay, so twice now, a reply to an original comment is visible to me (above the fold where it should be, and without further time-stamp or other processing), while replies to replies are invisible (to me). This is far from proven, but I am thinking for now people could try only clicking Reply for the original comment, and typing another name if needed.
Not a Monday puzzle. Didn't like it at all. Monday puzzles used to be fun and easy. Now...maybe I'm too old for these modern puzzles. Sigh...I used to enjoy them when they made sense. This one, imo, sure doesn't.
@Susan For me it was Monday-ish, but I feel for you - it's not nice when, for whatever reason, we subjectively don't enjoy a particular puzzle. It's been happening a lot to me lately.
14A. "you've got me on my knees..." Thought it was going to be clear sailing, but... 7D. Oh, I get the "O" and the "A," it's the middle that's a coin toss for me. And speaking of coin toss, 16A. Nice redirect! I went with UMP because of the pattern of their shirts in football. Well, TIL, etc.
Fun for a Monday. Still on the quick side (5+min) but enjoyable.
And.. one more late puzzle find. I thought I'd posted this earlier but it never showed up. Anyway - a Monday from September 12, 2022 by Michael Lieberman. Probably did this one but had forgotten it. Anyway. Three theme answers, all clued quite straightforwardly: 20a. FONDATHEATRE 30a. WANDAVISION 45a. HONDAACCORD And then the 'reveal' clue and answer: "Creator of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" … or, when said aloud, a hint to the starts of 20-, 30 and 45-Across" SHONDARHIMES Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/12/2022&g=25&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/12/2022&g=25&d=D</a> ....
Steven M. New York, NY2h ago @Lewis what am missing with OLDFLAME. Seems a pretty straightforward clue and answer Steven, For starters, you're missing these two replies... Reply1 RecommendShareFlag SP commented 2 hours ago S SP Cincinnati2h ago @Steven M. I think the misdirect is that it might mean appreciation for history, as in “the archaeologist has a love of the the past”. That was my first reading of it. Reply1 RecommendedShareFlag Al in Pittsburgh commented 1 hour ago A Al in Pittsburgh Cairo,NY1h ago @Steven M. My first thought was a history, music, or art ref. eg, AMOR, OLDies, OLDmasters, or Beatrice? OLDFLAME brought a smile.
@Barry Ancona Speaking of old flames... <a href="https://youtu.be/uJS5Y5x8JPQ?si=pukbuC-m7QFWMbMw" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/uJS5Y5x8JPQ?si=pukbuC-m7QFWMbMw</a> Hope you get a kick out of Spike Jones' take on this oldie.
Is 16A really a legit clue? "ribbie" has all the letters of the answer in it. I know Mondays are supposed to be easy but this one seemed a little too obvious (though I suspect non-sports-fans may disagree).
@Dave Munger not a baseball guy and have never heard it called a "ribbie" before, though it's obvious now
@Dave Munger I thought the "figure" referred to one of the players or officials at first, so perhaps the fact that it's a little ambiguous makes up for it.