I didn't have any cash to buy the 'Looney Tunes' memorabilia. I gave the seller a Blanc check. (That pun Bugs people.)
@Mike You have a Daffy sense of humor.
@Mike that’s some funny money!
@Mike Looks like his nibs is going to milk those duds to get some snickers, and dots okay with me.
@Mike Suffering succotash! That was Tweety kind of you
@Mike You could try to steal it, but you might end up in a cel. He was a pioneer in Voice Over IP applications. (That's Intellectual Property, you wascal.)
@Mike You belong in a cel, yourself!
@Mike I tried to come up with a response, but drew a blank. I'll listen to some car tunes while I drive to the store; maybe that will help.
Lovely tribute to Mel Blanc. Well done.
SP, Amen! (Will this fine Monday puzzle be deemed "unfair" by/for solvers not familiar with Mel Blanc?)
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Rock alternative (5) 2. Source of schadenfreude? (6) 3. Smack in the middle of a crowd, in brief? (3) 4. Bond classification (6)(4) 5. Like Manhattan in the 80s and 90s? (6) PAPER GERMAN PDA ACTION HERO UPTOWN
My favorite used-before clues from last week: [Collector's item, informally?] (3) [New Jersey?] (4) IOU CALF
@Lewis Totally agree with you this time.
I only checked the byline at the end of the solve, but all along I just knew there was a brilliant brain behind it. It turns out there were two! My middle brother and I, as children, would always enact the opening of the Bugs Bunny cartoon. "Is there a doctor in the house?" [A shadow raises its hand in the audience] "Yes, I'm a doctor!" "What's up doc?" Well, that brother became a physician. Now, as adults, we have some *real* fun with that script.:-) Thank you, ACME and Christina for sparking nice memories, and for sparkling the Monday puzzle. I wish it had been Sunday-sized!
What a relief to be thinking about the time not that long ago when life made sense. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd and Woody Woodpecker and Pepe le Pew and all the rest seem like mental giants now. Thanks Andrea and Christina, I needed that.
@dutchiris I had the very same feeling…and a brief, but appreciated, warm sense of nostalgia. Sigh.
Random thoughts: • Strong fauna presence with DUCK, WOODPECKER, and BUNNY in the theme answers, plus SWAN, MULE, TEACUP dog, not to mention the magic dragon. • WOODY WOODPECKER is just a gorgeous grid spanner. I wonder if Andrea/Christina were also considering SYLVESTER THE CAT, also at 15 letters. • The difference between early- and late-week clues: For HOARD today, [Stow away, big-time]; for the same word a week ago Sunday, [Mega-store?] • Fun fact – Mel’s birth surname was Blank. He changed it to Blanc after a teacher told him he would amount to nothing and be like his name, a “blank”. (Wikipedia) • Lovely PuzzPair© of IHOP and BUGS BUNNY. • Lovely theme echo in [Mont Blanc, e.g.]. (Pointed out by Rex Parker.) The theme got me thinking about how, as a kid, I loved watching cartoons on tv, and left me with a warm feeling that has lingered. Thank you, Andrea and Christina!
This was a charming crossword tribute to the great Mel Blanc, whose comic voice characterizations were a major part of my childhood. My favorite BUGSBUNNY ELMERFUDD episode involved Elmer tricking Bugs into switching roles. At the end Bugs, posing as Elmer, was arrested, and Elmer, in his bunny disguise said, “I may be a scwewy wabbit but I’m not going to Alcatraz.” It may have been the only time Elmer got the better of the wily rabbit. Pure gold.
@Marshall Walthew Should be Alcatwaz. Stupid autocorrect and even stupider failure to proofread.
A delightful puzzle! I thought for sure, though, that there would be some sort of revealer that read "That's all, folks," since it's actually engraved on his gravestone.
@Times Rita. Omg that is a great idea!!!!
No problems, and quite a fun blast from the past, but, alas, my favorite characters did not make the cut. My absolute top choice is that pesky alien that keeps attempting to blow up the Earth, and kept getting foiled by Duck Dodgers or Bugs, or both: Marvin, the Martian. My next group is that southwestern pair of Wile E. and the Roadrunner. Taz is up there, and Gossamer was unique. When I was at Kansas U, we had a convocation where Chuck Jones, the director of many Looney Tunes cartoons was the speaker, and he brought a few of them along, and also introduced us to "The Dot and the Line: a romance in lower mathematics", which I'm attaching here (don't worry, no calculating involved, but it does contain some visual and other puns): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpFXlfybnfg" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpFXlfybnfg</a> The writer of the story is the author of "The Phantom Tollbooth", Norton Juster. Anyway, thank you Acme and Christina, it was an absolute treat!
@JayTee I remember being ecstatic about "The Dot and the Line" when I was in college. Boy, is THAT ever an Oldie-but-Goodie.
I was about to protest the notion that “pound cake” means you use a pound of every ingredient, but it turns out that’s actually true! Or at least it used to be; modern recipes finesse the quantities. I was always under the impression that the name derived from the cake’s density/ heaviness. I still say a pound of sugar sounds a bit extreme.
@Heidi I make a butter-pecan POUND CAKE (baked in a bundt pan) that weighs more than a pound, for sure....but I can't imagine the size of a cake that might have four to five lbs. of ingredients. We're actually Pie People; the cake is for pot-luck dinners...
my thoughts that no one asked for this Monday: i've really come around on the early week puzzles. when i started my NYT crossword journey a couple years ago, i could usually manage Monday & Tuesday, Wednesday was a toss-up, and had no hope for the rest of the week. after getting more familiar, the puzzles became more accessible, and i really relished the tough end-of-week/weekend puzzles, and thought of the early weeks as placeholders until the good stuff arrived. maybe my ego abated a little bit, but now i find the soothing solve of the early week puzzles really enjoyable, and can appreciate the construction of them, without it being tied to the difficulty of the clues. thanks for the great puzzle, Andrea!
@Tim and Christina ! Who gets full credit for a smoooooth grid!
This was a great puzzle! I loved the theme. I got almost all of the acrosses, a rarity for me, that I got to skip over many of the downs. So, I am glad I read Wordplay and saw that we had yipes and yowie! I liked those two in the same puzzle. Thanks, you two! What a fun Monday!
It's amazing how those characters and their catch phrases are so easy to recall, when other memories are not. Is it because of repetition? The fun we had while watching? I don't know, but they are indelible.
So much fun. What a treat of a stroll down memory lane. The saccharine laden tosh they put on for kids now can’t hold a candle to the cartoons of the 60’s. My personal favourite was Tom and Jerry, always the last programme before kids tv ended for the night. At 5:45! None of this 24 hour nonsense. Bah humbug, grumble grouse. Oh the crossword. Lovely. Light and sweet and a perfect way to ease into the new week.
@Helen Wright, I agree with your assessment of today's offerings for kids! When I read about the effects of video game violence, I chuckle as I think of all the sledgehammers, anvils, explosions and more from my favorite cartoons.
@Susan E The Smurfs ruined Saturday mornings for me, with all their kinder, gentler tra-la-la nonsense. Cut to Wile E Coyote being run over by a train emerging from a tunnel he painted on a wall. Genius!
Wow. What would life be without Mel Blanc?
My note on 10D: The French name for pound cake is *quatre-quarts*, or "four quarters"--equal quantities (by weight) of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour--nothing else. Traditionally, no leavening is used. Also, a traditional way of measuring the ingredients is to put the eggs you are planning to use on one side of a (balance) scale, and weigh the other three ingredients to match. The recipe I use is pretty much that standard, but I've tweaked the ratio of sugar to flour (7:6) to reflect contemporary American tastes. Also, I put a little leavening in. BILL'S DETROIT-STYLE POUND CAKE: 6.5 oz. unsalted butter 7 oz. sugar 3/8 tsp. (kosher) salt flavorings--a little vanilla might be nice, or some almond extract, or some lemon zest, or orange*, or . . . 3 whole eggs plus as many yolks to make 6.5 oz. (weigh them!) 6 oz. A.P. flour 1 tsp. baking powder In a stand mixer, cream butter with sugar, salt, and flavorings until light and fluffy. Meanwhile, sift together flour and baking powder. Add about half the egg mixture to the butter, then stir in the flour, then the rest of the eggs. Mix just until incorporated. Put the batter into to a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake in a low-medium oven (325° or so) until a tester comes out clean. Would now be a good time to serve it with some grilled peaches and some whipped mascarpone? *Chef's tip--if using zest, grind it with the sugar for a few seconds in a food processor, to release the aromatic oils. (Hi, @MOL, and @ Heidi!)
@Bill Hmm, I think I'm going to have to make this for my husband. I think he would love this!! I don't bake as much as I used to (and I used to a lot, professionally for a few years, but not at your level) ever since he needed to get stents put in, but this sounds like it would hit the spot! What's your feeling about adding rum or brandy or something like that to it for the flavoring?
Why did filling in my name as the answer to 20 Across give me such a thrill?
@Lauren It happened to me once too and I was kind of over the moon about it!! So congratulations and I hear you and I get it!! ☺️
@Lauren It happened to me once, too. Just once, since my name isn't Rita, despite my nom de Wordplay. Rita has appeared many times. I took a picture of it from the newspaper version it appeared in (this was before on-line solving) and just happened upon the pic just yesterday. It sure was a thrill!
Sufferin' succotash! Was I the only one who noticed Mont Blanc as a bonus tribute item? Nice of the EUROS to name an ALP after him.
@Grant, Excellent catch!
ACME and Iverson-- perfect combo for a Monday puzzle, with the sole drawback of the solve being OTS! (Over Too Soon!) I don't know if they are on the LOONEY TUNES list (we're supposed to know the cartoon collections by syndicate/publisher name?)...but for my money Foghorn Leghorn and the baby Chicken Hawk, not to mention the Roadrunner and Wile E Coyote !! are the best cartoons. Oh, wait. What about the Huckleberry Hound lot? Dudley DoRight and Nell! And Boris Badinoff and Natasha! Oh, and George of the Jungle! (Watch out for that tree!) Rocky the Squirrel and that Moose who went to Whatsamatta U? (I never warmed up to Felix the Cat--too fake. TweetyBird needed to be let out of his cage, never to be seen again...) Maybe I should get on with Monday chores here...
@Mean Old Lady Bullwinkle! My memory finally (after a lot of chugging and clanking and clicking) produced the Moose's moniker!
@Mean Old Lady Pepe LePew was the worst of the lot, not because he repeatedly committed sexual assault, but because his cartoons were basically one joke. Repeated over and over. For years.
@Mean Old Lady "But Boris dahlink, vat about Moose und Sqvirrel?"
My encyclopedic knowledge of cartoons finally comes in handy! I knew this day would come! On a related note, I recently discovered that there's a channel devoted entirely to old cartoons. It's called MeTV Toons and it lives two channels above that one channel that only shows the Rockford Files in a wonky aspect ratio. Every ad on it is for a prescription drug with three X's in its name.
A couple of really fun days in a row. Yes, I loved the Pig Latin, but the emus ate my commendation. So here I am to say it again.
What a super tribute! The "Man of 1,000 voices" did, in fact, around 400 distinct characters, for 3,000 cartoons in all.
Grew up without tv service so movies and babysitting or staying at a friends were my exposure to looney tunes. Got Daffy right off the bat. Had to get a few downs to realize Woody but the rest of his voices were very easy. Still love Bugs and Elmer. 2:38 under my average. Nice trip down memory lane
A very enjoyable trip back to my youth. Thanks for that!
What an awesome tribute to the talented Mel Blanc! I was always partial to Tweety Bird and Sylvester as well as Wile E and Roadrunner. Beep beep! 😍 Thank you, ACME and Christina for the perfect start to our week!
Such a fun and nostalgic way to start the week - thank you Andrea & Christina! It brought back a sweet memory of receiving a favorite gift as a child -- a stuffed Bugs Bunny with a pull cord that had him repeat over and over, "Eh, what's up doc?" that I never seemed to tire of listening to (much to my parents' chagrin).
Woody woodpecker cries AND Barber of Seville playing in my brain as I solved this one with glee - fine start to the week! (Brain is quieter now we're done 😃)
Not alot to say today but it was kind of fun that I filled out this puzzle in an UBER on the way home from seeing Cabaret. Not super meta, but maybe a wee bit. The happy music went off just as he pulled up to our apartment. ☺️ Especially liked the 29 down clue for tip! Good one!! Fun puzzle. Cute theme!
What a lovely tribute to the Man of a Thousand Voices. Those cartoons still are the best ever made, with their wacky humour, fluid visuals, and of course, Mel Blanc's incredible talent. There is a special place in my heart for "One Froggy Evening", and for Marvin the Martian. "Give me back my space modulator!" Thanks to the constructors, and thank you, Mel. "I knew I shoudda toined left at Albaquoique!"
Could simply not complete today’s puzzle without enjoying a bowl off cereal. That is how I used to watch morning cartoons.
What a fun start to the week. I quite like feeling nostalgic.
My only complaint is that they left out my two favorite Mel Blanc characters: Mulan and Jasmine(a name which means, coincidentally, "I'm hunting wabbits".) Seriously fun puzzle and wonderful tribute to a man who left an amazing legacy! On an arguably related note, does anybody remember the '70s film "What's Up, Doc?", a screwball romcom starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal? Great supporting cast included Kenneth Mars, Madeline Kahn and Austin Pendleton("My Cousin Vinny"). I loved it and was surprised to find out just now how much critics and audiences enjoyed it as well.
@ad absurdum Yes, a classic screwball comedy from Peter Bogdanovich. Great fun.
@ad absurdum Jasmine: a name that whispers of the mysterious East...and wabbit hunting.
I just did Sunday puzzle. I’m not a fan of Sunday in general because the grid is just too big (too much time to solve). Plus. Very difficult on a standard phone. That said. I was shocked. Shocked. At all the “readers pick” hate. Because I am a solving savant. I never look at the Sunday title because it would make the solve “too easy.” That said. Even after the most obvious author/ title/theme giveaway of all time, this community brought the hate. I’ll never figure this place out. Sure. The grid wasn’t super clean. But coming up with that many “double sided” themers was pretty inspired, methinks. Obviously. The mob’s mileage did vary. Eeshyay
@Weak Most of the comments I'd call dislike or disappointment, rather than hate. Yesterday's puzzle was well-constructed. It just didn't click, for me. The community tone may also have been skewed yesterday because the emus held back many comments for hours.
So fun!! Easy, breezy, no furrowed brow—just what I want from a Monday puzzle!
Well, I found out just before doing the puzzle last night that Terrance Stamp had died, and I'm going to use the excuse that the clue for 5 Across mentions a kangaroo to post this clip from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. About one minute in wordplayers will see why I think it's particularly apt for us. If you're not a fan of RuPaul, this clip is probably not for you. <a href="https://youtu.be/kevJJDQloNE?si=qbOrUy7zlaIiIrsi" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/kevJJDQloNE?si=qbOrUy7zlaIiIrsi</a>
@Vaer Make that The Adventures of Priscilla,.... Enjoyable puzzle, Christina and Andrea.
@Vaer It took me a moment, but now I see the relevance--:-) (Don't Tell @Felicia, I don't think she'd like it.)
@Bill Definitely not for Felicia. In case you didn't know or forgot, the other two in that movie are two of Australia's finest, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce.
@Vaer I love that. Was Terrance Stamp's character named Felicia?
@ad absurdum No, lol. I believe it was Bernadette.
What a great themed Monday following the challenging Sunday puzzle we had. In the early 90’s my late mother let us watch all the Looney Toons we could get. She even bought us shirts. My personal favorite was the Pepe Le Pew.
A nice MELlow Monday puzzle, no intimidating BLANC spaces. Yes, nostalgic fun, but I don't want to hear any young whipper-snappers moaning about baby boomer references. 😉 Mel Blanc and his characters are to cartoons what Shakespeare is to theatre ---timeless, classic. So far, we're just seeing some larger waves from Hurricane Erin. Not expecting any big impacts, but North Carolina shore might get whalloped, or whapped or whupped. The next one, if it develops into Hurricane Ferdinand as the models predict, might hit near here over Labor Day weekend.
@Linda Jo Hope you guys don't get larruped! Always worry for St. Simon's Island and Fort Frederica!
Sufferin’ succotash! I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque. What a maroon. Well, so long suckers.
Happy Monday, everyone. This was a nice easy palate cleanser after a challenging weekend! I wasn’t allowed to watch cartoons as a child, my mother deemed them too violent, but even I had little trouble with these, especially when I had a few crosses filled in.
A nice Monday puzzle. Smooth sailing; little to no reason for complaint (I hope). And who doesn't love Mel Blanc and the hundreds of characters he voiced???
It was fun to solve this while listening to WOODY WOODPECKER hammering away at a tree outside. I do love having the pileateds around.
@CaptainQuahog, I also had a woodpecker as my morning soundtrack today!
@CaptainQuahog Where I live, when WOODY is outside my window, he's right outside...pecking at my house, not a tree! (Moving date, though, is set for Sept. 10.)
@CaptainQuahog My mom has a pileated woodpecker call as her ringtone. We have them up at the lake; frequently heard, rarely seen.
@CaptainQuahog Thank you for that link to Jon Ostot's work the other day. It's quite wonderful. I posted a reply then, but it never appeared.
@Vaer Can't spell to save my life today. Jon Onstot. And here's the link if anyone is interested. <a href="https://www.jonstot.com" target="_blank">https://www.jonstot.com</a>/
Nit, to be read in the voice of Bugs Bunny: “Clear component of blood”, in vivo, is plasma, not serum. Yeah, you get serum as a clear component when a tube of blood clots. Yeah, we still say things like “serum creatinine” and mean both the lab value found in the serum in the tube, and the (plasma) value in the patient. Conclusion: clue is okay but not great. (Will the emus allow me in today?)
Fun Monday puzzle and a pretty smooth solve by a couple of my favorite constructors (always glad to see another ACME enterprise). With my memory, I needed a few crosses to remember a couple of the theme answers, but they came quickly. One puzzle find today was inspired by Elmer Fudd. A Wednesday from November 24, 1999 by Greg Staples. Three theme answers in that one, with Elmer in the clue for each of them: BEVEWYVEWYQUIET ISNTSHEWOVEWY IMHUNTINGWABBIT Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/24/1999&g=38&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/24/1999&g=38&d=A</a> Might put another puzzle find in a reply. ....
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: a Thursday from October 31, 2013 by David Kwong. This was pretty amazing. One down clue and answer in the very middle of the puzzle: 23 down: "Things worth looking into?" MIRRORS And then all the other theme answers were pairs of across answers with the second answer referencing that MIRRORS answer. One example with the clues; 1a - "Universal Studios role of 1941" WOLFMAN 8a - "1-Across, in 23-Down" NAMFLOW And some other pairs, clued similarly. MONSTER / RETSNOM PHANTOM / MOTNAHP But then the last ones at the very bottom of the puzzle; 64a -"Universal Studios role of 1931" DRACULA 65a - "64-Across, in 23-Down :" And that answer was " " (just blank squares) Thought that was pretty clever. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/31/2013" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/31/2013</a> ...
Probably a lifetime-fastest solve for me, coming in at 6:01. Can't imagine ever besting that, simply based on my typing skills (or lack thereof). Am always impressed by folks who can do/enter these in under three minutes. A very solid puzzle, though even on Monday I'd prefer a theme that's more than just a collection of related names. I assume it has been used before, but I especially liked "Good thing that comes to those who wait?" for TIP.
@Xword Junkie, that's a perfectly respectable Monday time! Mine was 6:28, with my average hovering around 8:00. I am not a speed solver, for the same reason as you. I actually type quite well but I solve on an iPad without external keyboard, so I'm a one-finger typist here! 🤷🏼♀️ My Monday best is 4:48; I have no idea how that happened, nor when. I also like to savor the puzzle, no matter the day of the week; I hate when it's over too soon.
Enjoyed the puzzle! Mel Blanc is my hero! Among his many voices is Barney Rubble. And I've been wondering lately did Barney have a job? Another piece of trivia about Mel is his getting injured in a car crash on "Dead Man's Curve" in LA. Which put him in a coma. During recovery in hospital he continued to record Barney's lines.
@Call Me Al After about two weeks in a coma, one of Blanc's neurologists tried a different approach than just addressing the unconscious Blanc. Instead. Blanc was asked, "How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?" After a slight pause, Blanc answered, in a weak voice, "Eh ... just fine, Doc. How are you?”
Silly Wabbits!! Great fun...Grazie!
At last, constructors from my generation! Easy breezy solve, bringing back the sounds and images of my childhood toons. I loved working on this puzzle. Re 17A--there is an expression "there's been a birth in my family." So, YES, new parents can celebrate a birth that happened already.
"At last, constructors from my generation!" One is, the other is not.
Thank you *very* much Andrea & Christina for a very fun trip down memory lane. Like other folks have already mentioned, I was hooked on Looney Tunes as a kid, and I'll take any chance to revisit Bugs, Daffy, and the rest! (I wasn't a big fan of Woody Woodpecker, though; I think it's because he seemed more obnoxious than the other characters.) Mel Blanc was certainly a genius, too. Has anyone already mentioned the story of how his son was able to rouse him from his coma? I first heard it on Radio Lab many years ago, and it's absolutely fascinating! (My apologies if this was already posted.) <a href="https://www.openculture.com/2013/05/the_strange_day_when_bugs_bunny_saved_the_life_of_mel_blanc.html" target="_blank">https://www.openculture.com/2013/05/the_strange_day_when_bugs_bunny_saved_the_life_of_mel_blanc.html</a>