The clue for 26A is embarrassingly inaccurate and Christocentric. Passover has always been, and will forever be, on the 15th of Nisan.
@Rebecca Goldstein Pan-centric, one might say, given the near-universal reliance on the solar calendar
@Rebecca Goldstein Even Israel uses the Gregorian calendar for almost all purposes
@Rebecca Goldstein. And do we say that Tet and Eid el Ramadan are moveable? Probably not. Possibly because their calendars are more widely used in the secular world.
@Rebecca Goldstein It’s not inaccurate, let alone embarrassingly inaccurate, because we don’t use the Nisan.
Pan-centric or non-theistic, the clue works for M-W: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/movablefeast" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/movablefeast</a>
@ConnKat Who's we? People celebrating Passover sure do. And we celebrate Passover every year, as @Rebecca Goldstein said, on the 15th of Nisan.
@Steven M. "for almost all purposes" But not for the purposes of determining when Passover is. Because Passover always is the 15th of Nisan.
@Rebecca Goldstein I'll be the first to point out when a clue is Christocentric, and I'll say so here. For example, I am always bothered by clues that mention the order of books in the Bible, such as the oft-used [Book after II Chronicles] (for EZRA). Thirteen times! For Jews, there's no book after II Chronicles! But here, I don't see a problem. Yes, Passover always starts on the 15th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar. But the entire Hebrew calendar is a MOVABLE FEAST--its months, adding up to about 11 days short every regular year, moves in relation to the Earth's revolution around the Sun, and hence, the stars present in the sky. And hence, the seasons. That's why we have to put in an extra month every two or three years. If the adjustment has to be made to make sure Nisan is "the month of Spring"--that is, the month of Aviv--then every single day of the Hebrew calendar moves, in a sense. That being the case, I think the clue is fine.
For the record, I was equally bothered by the clue on January 3, 2025 for SEDER [Meal before the 15th of Nisan]. Seder is definitionally held on the 15th of Nisan because the Jewish day begins at dark, irrespective of the date on the the Gregorian calendar. To write such a detailed clue, and get it so wrong, suggests that there is no fact-checker with basic Jewish literacy, and upsetting to this solver.
@Rebecca Goldstein You may be right that "99% of [observant] Jewish Israelis would say that Passover begins on the 15th of Nisan," (although I'd like to see your data), But I'd say that 99% of solvers of the NYTimes crossword puzzle would say "Passover begins a different day every year; just like Easter." We could apply for a grant from the National Endowment of Puzzles to verify our statistics, but I think their budget has recently been cut.
@Rebecca Goldstein Besides, as I said in another thread, as someone who grew up culturally-Christian, movable feast to me does not mean "a holiday that isn't consistent on the Gregorian calendar", it means a Christian festival that moves. Thanksgiving isn't a movable feast even to someone who celebrates both it and Easter.
@Patrick J. "Eid el Ramadan" isn't a thing. Eid al-fitr is the feast which ends the holy month of Ramadan. And just adding my two cents on the MOVABLE FEAST thing: I have always considered it to be a Christian term, so it would be inappropriate to use it to refer to Passover, Eid al-fitr, or any other religion's holidays. Passover isn't a MOVABLE FEAST.
This felt like a Tuesday that was given Monday duty for some reason.
@Josh If the rest of the week is nicely lined up in order of difficulty, I have to wonder what's waiting for us at the end of this week.
"Can you help make this bread?" "It's the yeast I could do." (I loaf this one.)
@Mike If you knead a hand, just challah. That should get a rise out of it.
@Mike Crumbs! And now a real puzzle that occurred to me as I had my breakfast: if you toast French bread, do you get French toast?
Mike, Your pun today bakes the question: Has Mike finally crust the line?
@Mike I would never pan your floury language, butter a-pun my word, you slice it pretty thin.
@Mike Q: Is that a line? A: No offense. -from a friend while out hiking 🥾
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Homing devices? (5)(8) 2. Companionship? (3) 3. Perfect writing? (6) 4. Stops digging (5)(2) 5. Share cleanup duty, in a way (6) ANKLE MONITORS ARK REVISE SOURS ON CO-EDIT
A few oblique clues. Had meh instead of heh and meatwaves did not make sense. However, 3 minutes faster than my average I can’t complain
@Megan haha, hands up for mEATWAVES ✋ 😂
@Megan I've never heard of 'ate' meaning 'did something especially well'. So I put 'ace', knowing the tense didn't agree. This was the first spot I checked when I didn't hear the music. Because 'ace' led to 'lace' in the vertical, I hadn't looked any closer before checking the answers. If I had read the clue for the vertical word, I would have known better.
@Megan Glad I was not the only one with mEATWAVES, which I accepted without questioning :D
@Megan Another meatwaves here. Does one eat a lot of meat when baking? Meh, probably not.
Yay!!! My first ever correct crossword with no checks or reveals required !! Took six months but finally got there. Thanks for a great puzzle - now to work on getting a Tuesday one 😉
@Billie this was a hard Monday and very close to Tuesday level, youll be fine
@Billie It's a great feeling. There'll be more.
Felt pretty tough for a Monday. Usually I can get well over half of the across clues on my first round. Today was well under half. Got a little confused about what a MOfABLEFEAST was, but I guess OLAf can also be spelled OLAV? 5:40, just over a second for every minute of today's CLAY court final
@Steven M.I made the same mistake plus AiR for Aer Lingus, resulting in the even weirder MOfABLiFEAST!
@Steven M. Exactly the same for me! I really, really dislike the term "Movable" in that answer. It occurs on different dates, but that's simply not what that word means. It annoyed me.
@Steven M. I thought it was Olaf also.
Steven M., Most of the Kings Olav came after the Kings Olaf. Seth, That's exactly what it means: <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/movable-feast" target="_blank">https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/movable-feast</a>
@Steven M. At least you were a little closer than I was. Unless you want to accept that a “no fable feast” is a Thing, as I tried to. (“It’s real! It’s happening! It’s not a fable!”)
Small quibble but I don’t consider EDGECASES to be synonymous with “outliers.” To my mind, edge cases refer to inputs that are extreme in the context of a particular system, whereas outliers refer to anomalies in statistical data. I’ve never seen them used interchangeably, and in some situations edge cases in a system (e.g., one where the design fails to accurately anticipate common use cases) may not be statistical outliers.
@JS I love posts like yours - people knowing and being passionate about stuff completely alien to me restore my faith in humanity. Ultimately, the sum of us knows and cares about everything. If only humanity cared to make good use of the fact... For me, an utter statistics ignoramus, the clue was fine. I am a bit ashamed of that now 🤣
@JS Though I'm far less read on this topic, I did notice when I put in EDGECASES that it fit a little loosely. But, as I often do, I shrug and go on. I can always reconsider. After all this whole transaction was someone trying to get me to say something that fits the context (i.e. the rest of the puzzle) by giving me a clue that might lead me there, somehow. If I got there, 'Saul good, man.
@JS Thank you for confirming my understanding. And even though these are “clues,” not definitions, it read like a definition. On the third hand, can’t some outliers be naturally occurring edge cases?
@JS - There are often clues in crosswords that don't jive with what an expert knows. They fit the general knowledge pool. For instance, CPA is almost always clued incorrectly. CPAs are not bookkeepers or merely tax preparers. CPAs do audits, analysis and advice, tax planning, and occasionally financial statements for smaller entities.
Here’s something to note about 18D: OLAV is the modern Norwegian spelling. The English spelling is Olaf, which reflects the Old Norse version, Óláfr. It could date as far back as 793 CE, the year the Vikings first raided Lindisfarne. By the time the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled ca. 890, there would have been lots of Olafs running around the Danelaw. Now, the Chronicle spells it as Anlaf, which was probably how the Anglo-Saxons heard the Old East Norse variants of the name, Áleifr or Anleifr, which in turn came from an earlier Proto-Norse root, reconstructed as *Anu-laibaraz—something like “forefather’s heir.” By the time the first Christian scribes in Scandinavia were transcribing runic texts in the 12th c. and writing down their oral sagas in the 13th c., Óláfr was the more common version. It’s worth noting that the f in Óláfr was probably pronounced as a /β/ in Old Norse, a kind of buzzing b (not quite an f or a v), and was probably allophonic, i.e. it didn’t contrast with another similar sound (like v), but showed up depending on environment. The modern spelling and pronunciation variants in today’s Scandinavian languages reflect how those old regionals spellings solidified differently: Norwegian Olav, Danish and Swedish Olaf, Icelandic Ólafur (still faithfully retaining that -r masculine ending of Okd Norse), and Faroese Olavur. Still, for the record, the English spelling is Olaf. We wrote it down 3 centuries before the Scandinavians did. (Sorry, Uncle Håkon…)
@Sam Lyons Any etymological connection to Oliver?
@Sam Lyons Your post is a perfect example of why I love this forum.
@Sam Lyons If you wrote this from memory, I bow before you 🤩. I appreciate your post, as I was confused by the spelling of OLAV/f today. In Polish it's Olaf, but it's a very rare name over here. I think most mentions of it I have ever seen had to do with St. Olav/f in the iconography of the churches I have visited. I may be an atheist but I have a thing for Christian art.
Oh, lots o’ sparks in the box today: • Theme answers with pop: BELLY OF THE BEAST, MOVABLE FEAST, LAST BUT NOT LEAST. • Gorgeous answers elsewhere: GEISHA, BLARE, BISTRO, SIDLES, ABYSS, REBUFFED. • Three palindromes (HEH, ENE, OTTO). • Abuttting semordnilaps GARB and LIAR. • Funny and surprising revealer bringing an inner LOL along with the aha. • REBUFFED crossing ALONE. • Lovely PuzzPair© of on-the-perimeter answer GO BAG and EDGE CASE. • Sweet misdirecting clues: Verb-instead-of-noun [Refill at a Shell, station, say] for GAS UP, and noun-instead-of-verb [Stinks] for ODORS. • A good-to-know TIL in EDGE CASE. Was I entertained? Greatly. An ELITE Monday. Thank you, Aimee, for a splendid outing!
I didn’t realize Psycho wasn’t given a R rating till the 80’s. Hitchcock once said that he filmed Psycho in black and white not because he wanted it to be an art film, but because he knew that red blood flowing down the drain in the shower scene wouldn’t get past the censors. He was right, the blood wasn’t questioned. Instead, the censors got hung up on the camera showing the inside of the toilet bowl when the torn up note gets flushed, something that had never been shown before in mainstream movies or TV. A different time.
@clue by four And because it was filmed in black and white, the blood wasn’t even red. It was chocolate syrup! I have to wonder if Hitchcock intentionally inserted a toilet shot as censor bait, in order to divert their attention from the potentially more objectionable stabbing of a nude woman. (I mean, that should definitely be more objectionable, but censors have weird fixations.) The stabbing scene is also a pretty fascinating exercise in editing: The knife never actually pierces skin, although viewers will swear it does, multiple times.
@clue by four oh wow! the inside of the toilet bowl is not something I ever would have guessed to be risqué
@Kyle You did not expect *censors*, of all people, to be reasonable, did you?
@clue by four Yeah, that's a great bit of film history. I, too, am baffled by movies and televisions phobia of toilets. If I recall, it wasn't until a few year later that a toilet was first heard flushing in a national TV show. At least that's something I heard about "All In the Family".
@clue by four Dr Zhivago, five years later, had a memorable toilet flushing
@clue by four I don't remember when movie Ratings came out, but in the 60's they weren't official in the same sense they are now (proof of age, etc.)
Really enjoyable Monday puzzle. None of the theme answers dawning on me just from the clues, but they all came together with some crosses. And... the reveal was the last thing I worked out. Couldn't ask for anything more. And... very appropriate puzzle find today. A Tuesday from March 7, 2017 by Freddie Cheng. Some theme answers - all quite straightforwardly clued: CANTERBURYTALES THATSASTEAL CLEANSLATE GOINGSTALE NIKOLATESLA And then.. what had to be the reveal though it was not specifically clued as that: "Finally ..." LASTBUTNOTLEAST Don't recall ever seeing another one like that. Thought that was pretty clever. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/7/2017&g=60&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/7/2017&g=60&d=A</a> ..
@Rich in Atlanta Thank you!! I was thinking of this one after the solve. I knew I recognized it. The 2017 puzzle was a great use of this revealer… this one, not so much. IMHo.
As an 11-year-old, I spent quite a while explaining to my exasperated dad the meaning of my grunts, more specifically the difference between uh-huh and uh-uh. Nowadays I wonder why two syllables were easier to utter than a plain "YES" or "no." Something else that jumped out at me was the cultural difference behind [Arriving at 8:00 for a 7:00 dinner, say.] In Brazil, for starters, one would be invited to a dinner at "7:00, 7:30." And that , my friends, would translate to 8:00! If you were to get to your hosts' house at 7:00 or 7:30, you might find them still getting dressed and the table still being set. Never arrive at the time you're told unless it's followed by "punctually." I enjoyed the puzzle as much as I always enjoy the cruciverbalist flights of fancy of constructors, which is to say, a lot! Thank you, Ms. Lucido! LAST BUT NOT LEAST, of course ADELE with "Skyfall" - <a href="https://youtu.be/tnu571p2CCw?si=xrbXYiIJr5CWNWiz" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/tnu571p2CCw?si=xrbXYiIJr5CWNWiz</a> (and the less obvious Guns 'N ROSES with "Patience" which, as we were reminded yesterday, is always finite for parents, especially when all they hear from you are grunts... <a href="https://youtu.be/ErvgV4P6Fzc?si=4mzhDD_1ZvVph6Zm" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ErvgV4P6Fzc?si=4mzhDD_1ZvVph6Zm</a>)
@sotto voce Re your 11-y.o. conversations with your Dad, ask David C.. But until he shows up, I think if you just voice the words and grunts (while paying attention to the movements of lips, tongue, and jaw), it will be evident why the grunts are more economical. They require almost no movement. (Something must be moving somewhere, but I can’t even tell what it is)
@sotto voce We have two such grunts in Polish, too, but I have no idea how to transcribe them into English. The one for yes could be written down as " yhy" in Polish, and the one for no as "yy". As you can see (even if you can't pronounce it), they are quite similar. Also, confusingly for speakers of other languages including English, the shortest way to actually utter "yes" in Polish is to say... "no" (that sounds different than the English "no", however, as our "o" is always like yours in otter or Ottawa; the "o" of your "no" we would write down as "oł" or "ou"). It is related to the Czech and Slovak "ano", their "yes". Teenagers are often rebuked by adults for substituting "no" for other, more polite and verbose ways of assenting. My mother - a master of literary, high-brow Polish when she needed to be - at home loved her nos herself though so I got no flak for saying it, either :D Also, we prefer the 24 hour clock, so even though it speech it would be ok to say "Przyjdź na obiad o 7" ("Come to dinner at 7"), in writing, which tends to be more formal and accurate, we would probably use 19.00.
@sotto voce I have a wonderful friend who is Brazilian. She will do anything for anyone anytime. But once she was put in charge of a church dinner. Supposed to start at 6 pm. She showed up about then and started to prepare the food! Uh -oh. [speaking of grunts.]
@Emkay I did too. I like mEATWAVES. I with that had been the answer.
@Emkay I did as well. 😂 That was my last correction for the gold star ⭐️
@Emkay Same! Though I guess most baking doesn't involve meat...
I found this to be quite an enjoyable if not terribly interesting puzzle. The theme was well thought out, albeit one of its entries gave me trouble: I don't think I've ever seen or read Peter Pan (in fact, I'm not even sure if it's a book rather than just a film; I may have seen the Disney animation 40 years ago, but I must not have liked it since I remember so little and never felt like rewatching it), OLA(f/V) always confuses me (Polish spelling uses the f), being childless and uninterested in the kids in the family I'm unfamiliar with current children's cartoon characters, Easter is not meaningful to me, and all I know about Passover is that it exists. Also, I did not know if the cross for the toon _L_EY would be U or e - it depended on Y(U/e)P. _LeEY would be weird but who knows? I stared at _O_A_LEAFEST for a few minutes, feeling slightly dejected. Finally I was able to dredge SMEE from the darkest abyss of my mind (where it was probably deposited by some previous NYT puzzle of 2022-2025; it's just such a weird name, especially for a villain! He is a villain, right?), and I opted for OLAV rather than OLAf. Aha! MOVABLE FEAST! I knew that about Easter, d'oh! And it's BLUEY... I realized I had probably seen it mentioned in some Guardian article on the struggles of modern parenting. That was an unusual workout for a Monday, but I'm glad I dealt with it 🙂
The mEATWAVES I had in the puzzle for a but made me laugh when I finally spotted them 🤣. I actually imagined them then in the graphical style of the spells of the video game Diablo IV 😆. The clue for HEH really works better with mEH as the answer.
@Andrzej Where were you when I needed you, man? Yesterday there was a Jason Momoa clue that resolved to ARMOFSTEEL or ASSOFSTEEL or ABSOFSTEEL, who can remember? Anyway, you wouldn't believe how many of the ladies on this board *openly mocked* me because I don't have those things. Openly mocked me, I swear! They were relentless. I needed all the help I could get, and you were on the sidelines. 🤣🤣🤣
@Francis Any of those of mine are of wood, at best, and not hardwood, either, so I feel you, man 🤣 My mom had a thing for slightly rough, muscular men (think the guy of Bishop Brigg's 'Baby' - it's a great song, I recommend it!) so she would have mocked you, too 🤣. Funnily enough, my father, though quite tall and handsome, never was a hunk, and he was always more of a family man than a bad boy. He keeps quite fit in his 70s though, which has allowed him to recover within weeks from a near fatal accident last year, and survive it in the first place.
@Francis My dad loves to go on long, fast walks. He lives just on the edge of a forest, where he wanders for hours just for the joy of it, and he also goes on foot almost everywhere. He bikes, too, over long distances. He eats well, doesn't drink or smoke. He does his own gardening. It all adds up, and he enjoys it all.
@Francis My dad's father was a heavy vodka drinker all his life - watching him was enough for my dad to never want to drink. He will have an occasional beer or glass of wine with my wife and me, and extremely rarely a tiny portion of cognac or whisky, but that's it. My mom loved alcohol but never asked my dad to keep up with her. I was her drinking buddy much more often 🤣
@Francis Also, I drowned my stress and grief in alcohol for years, and apparently it almost killed me. I owe my life to my hair dresser. She noticed something strange on my scalp, so I went to have it examined, and in turn the scalp doctor sent me for an overall health checkup. It turned out my liver was almost done. That was in late 2023, and since then I've been drinking very little. I feel so much better. The world around me still sucks but I'm OK, and being healthier and stronger I've made progress in climbing, which is one of the few things I actually care about.
@Francis It would be hard to climb mountains in Warsaw 😆 I do my climbing at climbing gyms. Warsaw has a lot of those, and the closest is just 15 minutes away. My wife and I tried rock climbing, too, and it was nice, but we had major safety concerns (boring, reasonable, middle aged people, eh?) so we stick to gyms these days.
@Alex Knowing people find these posts of mine interesting is my main motivation for making them, I think. Too bad there is nothing like the NYT crossword in Poland so I could get an American perspective on it. Polish grids are boring and crude in comparison.
@Andrzej Our household also looks forward to your posts. Sometimes it takes a distant perspective to better understand what is going on. SO much more thoughtful and informative than the school marm style posters who simply post to hear the sounds of their own keystrokes. Thank you for continuing to be so prolific!
What do mean I’m late just because I’m arriving for dinner at 8:00? I thought this was a moveable feast!? Fine. Just put mine in a to-go bag. Very nice puzzle for a Monday.
I've never remarked on the accompanying photo, but today's picture (although its connection with the today's puzzle seems tenuous at best) reminds me that yesterday was the 49th Vogalonga in Venice, an event involving 2,000 boats and 7,000 rowers. Rowers, not motors. The Vogalonga started as a protest against the predominance of motorized boats, whose wakes weaken the foundations of Venice's buildings. The event has been credited with reviving the interest in Voga alla Veneta, the Venetian style of rowing, in which the oarsmen stand in a keel-less boat, the oar cradled (but not fixed) in a beautifully carved black walnut forcola. I kayaked the 40th Vogalonga in 2014, and have never experienced such a thrill as returning to the city amid cheers from the thousands of tourists lining the canals and watching from the bridges, and rowed the 45th Vogalonga in a Venetian sandolo with the Venetian guys who taught me how to row in the intervening years. I hope to participate in the 50th edition next year. The motoscafi, as pretty and well-maintained as they are, can't match the elegance of Venetian rowing craft, including the gondola, sandolo, mascareta, caorlina, and other variants, as they glide soundlessly along the canals.
@LordBottletop Sam's photo picks are always a bit tenous. She picks a photo that illustrates an alternative interpretation of the clue she's using for the column title. A pun of sorts, to avoid being a spoiler to the solve. So today we have boats in a traffic jam on the canals, as "honkers" on the "pond". And today we get to learn about the boats and rowers in Venice through your personal perspective. Win win.
@LordBottletop I love how each clue answer pair is an opportunity for a great comment. Great comment!
What with all the birthday hoop-la, I never made it to the (hullabaloo of ) Comments yesterday; I checked in at 588 Comments and left a note, however. I'm guessing Ijoined a minority: I loved the puzzle, solved steadily, and ultimately (thanks to the themer/reveal) saw the ANIMALS. I know it wasn't a birthday present from John K., but it felt like one--just delightful. Today's introduced me to "EDGE CASES" which even Techie DHubby has never heard, but oh well. I had just put in my eyedrops, so BEEmaker's supply was very confusing until I saw the R (and also realized I had skimmed over the clue to read "Beekeeper's supply" which could have been SMOKE or SUPERS or (in my case) EPI-PENS..... Our Monday started in the wee hours with torrential downpours and LOUD thunderation... Stay safe, everybody.
@Mean Old Lady I’m sorry we missed your birthday! Hope it was a good one.
If we spot a river otter on its back, do we see the BELLYOFTHEBEAST? ------------------------------------------------------------- Stop! What is your name? It is Arthur, King of the Britons! What is your quest? To seek the Holy Grail. What is belly size of a back-floating otter? What do you mean---river or sea otter? Uh ... I don't know that.
@Xword Junkie How do you know so much about otters? You have to know these things when you're a king.
I should have my parenting license revoked by not getting BLUEY right away.
@Brian I thought the dog's name was just "BLUE", and was wondering whether there might be an empty square there. But not on a Monday.
@The X-Phile There also was/is a Nickelodeon kids'show called Blue's Clues featuring a blue dog.
Re: 28A: Passover always begins on the 15th of Nissan. MOVEABLE? Depends on who’s looking.
@G. L. Dryfoos I guess you could say that Easter is always on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox, so in that respect, it's not MOVABLE either. I took it to mean with regards to the Gregorian calendar.
@G. L. Dryfoos Yeah, to me "movable feast" is specifically a Christian term -- even aside from the fact that Passover is consistent in its own calendar, something like Thanksgiving isn't a movable feast.
Kinda hard for a Monday.
What adds punch to this theme is that BEAST, FEAST, YEAST, and LEAST and the only _EAST words in our everyday language.
Oops! That second "and" should be "are"!
@Lewis Hunh. I never would've peast that together.
@Lewis You have a sharp eye. I would never have noticed.
Briefly had MEH instead of HEH. This gave MEATWAVES for "Stretches of baking days?". Which sounded like limbering-up exercises one might do while baking a ham. In any case, the M was quickly converted to an H. A CRAB SIDLES. Very surprised those two entries weren't connected in some way. I'm familiar with EDGECASES as cases in a mathematical proof or a computer program that require special consideration. "Outliers in the data" I simply call ... "outliers". And why not just "Outliers in data"? Why the definite article in the clue? Lots of crossword favorites visiting us today. Did SMEE wield a SABER or an EPEE? (Or maybe a cutlass?) After all, in Chapter Five we have: "the Irish bo’sun Smee, an oddly genial man who stabbed, so to speak, without offence ..." Really liked the theme, and the puzzle as a whole was fun. Took me a bit longer than usual on Monday.
@Xword Junkie I loved CRAB SIDLES and AIDE and ABET and their unassisted appearances!
@Joya Thanks for pointing out AIDED and ABET. Neither registered with me while I was solving. Must have gotten both from the crosses.
@Xword Junkie Wouldn't Mr SMEE do his stabbing with a snee? Also, URL and HTTP.
I never find a clue like "Stinks" to be appropriate for the answer "odors". It is like using the clue "Shouts" for the answer "talks".
@polymath Denotatively, I think that you are right, but the connotations of ODOR are generally negative (at least in my experience). I wouldn't say "There are some lovely ODORS emanating from your kitchen." or "What's that floral ODOR you're wearing?" For positive sensations, I would use "aromas" or "scents".
I was a bit confused by 9D, after having put the obvious SABre at 6A. Sigh ... the idiosynchratic Yankee spelling got me again. But my biggest time loss was a typo in 24D, leading to confusion about a nO(v or F - keeping my options open)ABLEFEAST. What's a no fable feast? Or is it a nova something? Getting nowhere, I eventually started checking all my other answers, to finally get a 🤦♂️ moment after finding "SnEE". It sounds like a reasonably possible word, but definitely not associated with Captain Hook! And just like that I got the gold star.
@Grumpy It's amazing how similar our solving experiences often are! Are Canadians and Polish people more alike than Americans and either Poles or Canadians? 😮
Nice puzzle overall. My only quibble is with “slap me five.” Nobody says that, colleagues notwithstanding. It’s “Give me five.” Hands down. I guess UP TOP is okay as a follow up. More likely, of course, would be “Up high,” paired with “down low.”
@@AT I’m 64 and grew up in NJ. We always said “slap me five.”
What a lovely Monday offering. Nice wordplay.
Cheery way to spend my Monday morning time while the coffee is brewing.
had MEH instead of HEH, which gave me MEAT WAVES. kinda gross
@J I came here to say the same thing, and your post was the first I saw. Not an appealing visual, especially for any vegan or vegetarian solvers!
Was coming here as well to say the very same things! Being a vegan myself, it definitely elicited a 'gross' feeling, as well as a chuckle- especially after I realized my mistake. It ended up being that one last letter/error I couldn't find to finish the puzzle, I was so convinced it was a thing. Apparently it is though, I found it used as a "BBQ spree". Still can't shake the visual of meat heating up in the sun
In 68, my family treated soon to be 49er Gene Washington to dinner when he was in Chicago for an all-star game at Northwestern U ...i was 11 years old but ahead of my time wearing bell bottoms and a double-breasted jacket which my older brothers hated. When Gene met us at the restaurant, he walked right up to me and said "Slap Me five!...you are stylin', my man!" My brothrs were crushed. I floated on a cloud for days.
Tough for a Monday. Great puzzle! Very refreshing after yesterday's fiasco.
Firstly, this puzzle felt more Tuesday-ish than Monday-ish. Enjoyable, nonetheless, just trickier. Secondly, and more generally, Ms. Corbin, I feel like the section of the column - under the header of - 'Tricky Clues' should include more explanations to actual tricky clues, than just some random comments (which are just as appreciated - don't get me wrong). For example: [Follower of Haile Selassie, informally] turns out to be RASTA. I have no idea what, why, and how. Either way, I love your wit and 'wordplay', Ms. Corbin. Keep it up and G-d bless!
@15shirhamalos That list may only ever be subjective. I so rarely find stuff *I* don't know on it that I generally don't check the column, at all. Still, how could any if the authors know what *I* find tricky?
@15shirhamalos Read the Wikipedia article on "Rastafari:" <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari</a>
@15shirhamalos @Andrzej is right; what each solver finds to be tricky is dependent on their personal background. Sam can only report on what she found tricky; she doesn't know you. As people say around here, "Your mileage may vary." But, Andrzej, I do wish you would read the column. Sometimes the issues that you raise are addressed there.
@The X-Phile Yeah, I know. But I always prefer to ask the community. I'm weird that way.
It was an enjoyable Monday with a revealer that made me laugh. I'm glad Aimee gave this one another chance.
@Steve Well, now I have to post this (even though it does not reflect my solving experience): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mAFiPVs3tM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mAFiPVs3tM</a>
River otters are common here in the Salish Sea, but I've never seen one swimming on its back.
@patk I was bothered enough by this clue to go looking for pictures... while river otters have been photographed on their backs, it seems to be a fairly uncommon occurrence, especially when compared to how often sea otters are seen floating along. I have to wonder if the clue was changed and not properly checked at some point.
@patk - This former resident of Friday Harbor and current resident of a place with river otters living in rivers agrees with you.
@patk @max @cap’n Q When I was young, I was taught that, if you stumbled on river otters in the wild, you could tell folks about it but should never reveal *where* you saw them. Perhaps to protect a shy species?? I’ve respected this my whole life but have no idea if it’s based on anything legitimate. Has anyone else ever heard this and, if so, is there a basis?
@CQ I’m not sure what others can see with this new comment system, so I’ll repeat my thanks to you for responding: @CaptainQuahog Well, PA at the time. Probably, same issues. Thanks. FWIW otters are kinda cool.
54 down was easy to guess, but the clue is inaccurate. Sea otters are often seen on their backs. Freshwater or "river" otters are not.
Fun puzzle and nice and easy. One quibble. River otters are not seen on their backs, that’s Sea Otters. Different animal.
@Lisa Marshall I came here with the same thought in mind. Eurasian otters don't spend any noticeable time on their backs, and I wondered if North American river otters were behaviourally different ... but suspected the reference might be to sea otters.
@Oikofuge Your post reminded me of the discussion of swallows in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. SOLDIER #2: It could be carried by an African swallow! SOLDIER #1: Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow. That's my point. SOLDIER #2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that. ARTHUR: Will you ask your master if he wants to join my court at Camelot?! SOLDIER #1: But then of course, uh, African swallows are non-migratory.
@Andrzej Just saw this post. We went to exactly the same place regarding otters and Monty Python. And I thought I was being original!
@Xword Junkie Anyway, on to scene twenty-four, in which there aren't any otters, but I think you can hear a muskrat...
That was a fun puzzle. I liked the theme clues/answers.
How was I to know that the [Colorful puppy of children's TV] wasn't called BLEeY? Well, I suppose "colorful" might have been a hint ... Took me ages to track that one down. I see others have commented on how Passover is only "movable" relative to the Gregorian calendar, in which its date changes from year to year, but is fixed in the Jewish lunisolar calendar, in which it always falls on the same date. For a ridiculously detailed discussion of the dates of Easter in the Western and Orthodox traditions, and why they're sometimes different, but sometimes the same (with charts!) see here: <a href="https://oikofuge.com/easter-sunday" target="_blank">https://oikofuge.com/easter-sunday</a>/
On "movable" vs "moveable", Google Ngram shows a fairly abrupt transition from "moveable" to "movable" as the preferred form in British English, round about 1870. Which explains why my spellchecker flags "moveable" as an error. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/4zk9m2hx" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/4zk9m2hx</a> In American English, the transition was even earlier, around 1840. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2v9u5tk6" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/2v9u5tk6</a> Pretty much the same dates for the loveable/lovable shift.
@Oikofuge Hemingway spelled it with the 'e', so many Americans take it from there.
Ah, MOVABLE FEAST. Religious days, Paris, Hemingway and the name of our favorite local restaurant. Even here in a red-state tourist area, consumer confidence has slipped and local restaurants are feeling pinched. Do support your local small businesses, best you can. Love the gondola pond honker, Sam. Bright and breezy puzzle.
@Linda Jo I usually stop at Indigo Shanty when I’m in Brunswick, but I’ll have to try out Movable Feast next time. :)
Normally, I would say something snarky about 26A being a good name for a food truck or a caterer, but Moveable Feast is an organization in Baltimore that provides meals to the chronically ill in that city, going back to the AIDS outbreak. (And they spell it with the E.)
@Grant I knew I heard of that organization before but wasn’t sure if they were still active. Sadly, I hope they will be able to remain active given that the PSYCHO is trying to do away with programs that are humanitarian. Marvellous Monday and Namaste!
@Grant, and the title of a Hemingway novella. Paris is a moveable feast.
Monday funday! Is it true that the birds we call Canadian geese, are the *same* birds that Canadians call American geese? Nobody wants to claim them? (Which reminds me that in Sweden, we found “American” salad dressing. Curious, we bought it, just find out what it was! It was Russian dressing. We’ve wondered ever since, what Russians call *that* salad dressing.)
@CCNY First off, they’re “Canada geese”—or more properly “Canada gooses”—and Canadians embrace them (except the ones who don’t): <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w1exJGPZyhs&pp=ygUaTGV0dGVya2VubnkgY2FuYWRhIGdvb3NlcyA" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w1exJGPZyhs&pp=ygUaTGV0dGVya2VubnkgY2FuYWRhIGdvb3NlcyA</a>%3D
CCNY, I’ve never heard the geese called “American” (or “Canadian”, just “Canada geese”). But I wonder if it might be a recent politically-motivated phenomenon, due to the sometimes pesky nature of the geese…
All this kvetching about Passover makes me want to fast but not feast.
My usual late puzzle find. A Sunday from July 8, 2018 by Bruce Haight with the title: "Person / place / thing." All the theme answers were three terms matching that sequence, but... with each of them overlapping each other. Some examples; "Singer / City / Home feature" ALGREENBAYWINDOW "Socialite / Resort / Store" PARISHILTONHEADSHOP "Political commentator / Geographical area / Fitness routine" OLIVERNORTHPOLEDANCE And some other theme answers: SEANPENNSTATIONBREAK RICHLITTLEROCKMUSIC MAEWESTBANKHEIST Thought that was enormously clever. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/8/2018&g=23&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/8/2018&g=23&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta It is clever. But Political Commentator Oliver North?
Charming and clever crossword, with consistently coherent clueing!