Pretty good Wednesday with a well disguised theme. TIL that I didn’t know how to spell LANGUOROUS. I liked the clues for TUTU and COVENS. I just listened to O mio babbino caro earlier today, which is not as serendipitous as it might seem, as it is, to me, the most beautiful song ever written, and I play it often. I find it incomparably serene and soothing. My father was an opera buff and I had a lot of exposure to opera growing up, although I never developed a fondness for it. In my old age I have learned to love many of the great arias. When my father was in the later stages of dementia I would take him from his memory care unit to the local art house theater whenever it would offer a filmed opera performance. He would sit in the darkened theater, transfixed, and pretend to conduct. I do believe those were the happiest moments of his last two years.
@Marshall Walthew That’s a heart-warming image
@Marshall Walthew I love it too. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-tjXevlyQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-tjXevlyQ</a>
@Marshall Walthew That's a beautiful memory. Thank you for sharing it with us.
@Marshall Walthew What a wonderful way to spend time with your father. How wonderful for him that you took him to the local art house to watch the filmed opera performances, and how lucky for both of you that you could watch them together.
@Marshall Walthew This almost wrung a snurfle out of me.
@Marshall Walthew Thank you for your recommendation. I just listened to the indomitable Maria Callas singing that beautiful song. It made my day. Kudos!
@Marshall Walthew Soave sia il Vento for us all.
"Want to play bingo?" "Yeah, I have a free space in my schedule." (I've posted this one B4.)
@Mike Really? Don't be cross, but I keno remember seeing it.
@Mike A rather B9 entry today.
Mike, This was such a beautiful pun today. It brought a tear, under the eye.
Tell me I’m not the only one who thought 11 across was MTA.
@Rebecca Every transit authority that runs above-ground trains calls them elevated trains and shortens it to "el." In Chicago, though, the same elevated trains are called "L trains." In NYC, where the MTA trains are, the L train is a specific line that runs across 14th Street underground, and then serves Brooklyn and a snippet of Queens. The L comes out of the ground along that route, and becomes an el. But being elevated doesn't make it an L in NYC.
@Rebecca Yes! Absolutely stuck on MTA for CTA (having grown up with the L at 14th and 1st as my closest subway stop). Had to reveal the answer.
@Rebecca Yes I got stuck with MTA and MOVIES
@Rebecca I thought of the New York MTA but I knew it was Chicago because the El train is sort of iconic for Chicago. Here's what Google had to say: [The Chicago "L" is a rapid transit system serving Chicago and surrounding suburbs, featuring eight color-coded lines and 145 stations, with iconic elevated tracks in the city center known as "The Loop".] See, it's "iconic." LOL
To be clear, the 11 Across clue works for both MTA and CTA. The MTA has an L train, and the CTA calls all trains The L. I have ridden both over quite a few decades. But this is a crossword, and casting groups are COVENS, not mOVENS.
If we had another one of these soon, THATDBEWONDERFUL. Thanks, Adam!
18D: Dakar is NOT the westernmost African capital. The correct answer should be Praia, Cabo Verde. Perhaps the clue should be: "Westernmost continental African capital.'
Decently crunchy Wednesday, and I certainly didn’t see that revealer coming!
Whenever I see the word DAKAR, I can't help but hear the distinctive voice of NPR's Africa correspondent: "This is Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR news, reporting from DAKAR." <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/4513318/ofeibea-quist-arcton" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/people/4513318/ofeibea-quist-arcton</a>
@The X-Phile Always a pleasure to hear from her! I am nostalgic for 20 years ago, when Sylvia Poggioli would sign off with her charming Roman lilt.
I wish one of those casting groups would put a "spell" on me because then LANGUOROUS wouldn't have tripped me up. According to the NYT's "Dubai Was Not Built For War" from a couple days ago the UAE is not currently a luxury tourism destination. But things will change for the better. Is that what those casting groups call magical thinking? Enjoyed seeing entries like LANGUOROUS, the playwright Ijames (I haven't seen it, but apparently Fat Ham is a southern, queer take on Hamlet -- interesting how resonant that play is these days, there's "Hamnet" and also some well regarded books on the play recently), plus RUBY TUESDAY (made me think of other possible Stones-inspired restaurants: Wild Horses -- a chain steakhouse I'd probably avoid-- Beggars Banquet -- I'd eat there -- Satisfaction -- big servings of comfort food -- Brown Sugar for desserts, and the exclusive You Can't Always Get What You Want...). If you believe in it, is OUIJA a game or a connection to the Beyond? James Merrill's long poetry book "The Changing Light of Sandover" uses 20 years of transcriptions of seances using the Ouija board -- it wasn't a game for him. Here's my favorite casting group, in Macbeth, chanting: The Weïrd Sisters, hand in hand, Posters of the sea and land, Thus do go about, about, Thrice to thine and thrice to mine And thrice again, to make up nine. Peace, the charm’s wound up. BINGO!
@john ezra "(...) and the exclusive You Can't Always Get What You Want..." 😂 What, you ordered a burger? Well, hot dogs are what we're serving today. Reminds me of a hole-in-the-wall famous and fabulous diner off of NW 23rd St. in Portland. Their motto is "You eat here because we let you."
@john ezra Regarding the resilience of Hamlet... There was an pretty decently funny movie a while back whose title cracked me up: Hamlet 2 Given that everyone dies at the end of Hamlet (**spoiler alert**) the idea of a sequel is profoundly funny to me for some reason.
@john ezra Brown Sugar was a restaurant in Oakland, that unfortunately closed.
'Similc or Enfamil' is a clue for BABY FOod, not BABY FORMULA. A clue for BABY FORMULA would be something like: "First, you find two people who love each other very, very much"
@Leapfinger There was a reply to this which has disappeared. Any hypothesis as to why? I don't recall the author but perhaps they might reply.
@SBK 'Twas me, and I mentioned uncertainty in the age of rogue states as one of the factors influencing people's decisions whether to have children.
@Leapfinger Reminds me of when spouse and I and another couple went to see the movie "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and being too poor for a babysitter, brought along our 4-year-old. She'll sleep through it, right? Wrong! So comes a steamy scene and she demands an explanation. We stammer but our friend steps in with "They like each other A LOT, really A LOT." She's 40+ now but he still tells the story every couple of years.
Overall I thought the cluing was good today but I thought the theme clues were a bit of a reach. Even after getting the revealer I had no idea what it was supposed to mean until I read this column. Northeast corner felt a bit dubious to me. The vocabulary quiz with LANGUOROUS. Then very regionally specific knowledge with CTA and LOON, and a makeup brand clue that most men just won't know. Then TOOTLE which is a word I've never heard of. And with COVENS I'm not sure what the heck witches have to do with 'Casting'. That 3x3 square was a great big Natick for me.
@Chris Different wheelhouses again. All of your examples were gimmes for me, although CTA was a guess. LOON is a regular entry, Avon is calling (in old ads <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66IWgU9AAis" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66IWgU9AAis</a>), witches cast spells, and with a few crosses LANGOUROUS jumped out.
@Chris tootle cracked me up. I had to dig for it, I'm ashamed to say, since Im solving this on St Pat's Day. Listen for the lyric in McNamara's Band Hennesy Tennessee tootles the flute <a href="https://youtu.be/oSBSL6M9XQI?si=kfLjey5KppnEolrh" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/oSBSL6M9XQI?si=kfLjey5KppnEolrh</a>
@Chris. I can’t resist. “Knock, knock” “Who’s there?” “Avon calling, your bell is broken”
@Chris CTA, or Chicago Transit Authority, would be a gimme for anyone of an age who was a fan of the rock group Chicago, and for anyone who knocks about in the Midwest.
@Chris CTA and LOON were gimmes for me and I'm a Londoner living in Ireland. However I've completed A Lot of archive puzzles over the past 3.5 years and those answers come up frequently enough to be recognised. I've even managed to pick up some baseball terms and the names of nail polish brands!
Great puzzle! Though I think it’s worth mentioning for the geography nerds out there that DAKAR is not the westernmost African capital. That would be Praia, since Cabo Verde is a part of the African continent. This clue is misleading as is, but could be fixed by specifying it is the westernmost capital on “mainland Africa.”
The seriousness with which some people take a word puzzle never fails to amuse me. Everyone seems to be able to find something new to complain about. I just enjoy putting the letters in the grid. Nice puzzle.
@Scott 100% agreed. But in this day and age we must give our opinions. Heaven forbid we simply enjoy the handiwork of someone else and not comment, thinking it should be tailored to our personal whims. I thought it quite clever And a satisfying solve.
I think American (and other non-British) readers may be unaware of the British tradition of using nicknames for all the numbers in Bingo. So the caller doesn’t just shout out “88”, but “Two fat ladies… 88!” I guess this helps the hard of hearing and also gives an advantage to the keen-witted, who don’t need to wait for the actual number to be read out. And it makes it all even more fun. Please enjoy the full rundown, and be prepared for lots of rhyming slang and a healthy dollop of bawdiness. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_bingo_nicknames" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_bingo_nicknames</a>
@Petrol Those are really clever. I noticed they kind of held back on the number 3x23 (I don't know why I can't actually type the number).
@Petrol In the US, bingo numbers only go up to 75.
@Petrol This is fascinating! As one who has seldom played (American-style) bingo, I had never considered that it was so different across the Water! Suddenly, all those bingo-hall scenes in Midsomer make more sense.
@Petrol How NOt to be a good American Bingo caller: <a href="https://youtu.be/5-oeubsV0HY" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/5-oeubsV0HY</a>
TIL about the playwright James IJAMES and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Fat Ham" (2021), a reimagining of the Hamlet story that takes place in a modern Southern Black family. I hope I get to see the play one day. And for those of us new to the playwright, it seems that his name is pronounced "I'ms", like "rhymes" without the "r"; the J is silent.
@The X-Phile James Ijames has three plays being produced on Philadelphia this season (one closed already.)
Shout out to all the fellow parents feeding their babies in the wee hours and completing the crossword, who got BABY FORMULA with their eyes half open!
@MD I haven't needed to open a can of baby formula for 30+ years, and those were gimmes for me. However, my son had colic, and couldn't tolerate either of those, so we had to buy Nutramigen, which was priced at about double the other ones. He's now 38, and eats anything! Good times!
@MD I knew FORMULA from "Weeds" which I have been rewatching recently. If it were not for that, as a childless and Polish guy, not even knowing the Polish term for the stuff, I would have been so stumped :D Pop culture enriches us!
At some point last year we played BINGO. As this is a "Continuing Care Residential Center," all the folks living here are elderly, and Yes, there is BINGO every Friday night--a dollar a card. There were more kinds of games than I had ever imagined ("Four Corners", "Big X" etc.) --each one dependent on Luck and good hearing. I actually won $15....and felt like a cliché. I would never have tumbled to the theme if not for the Reveal! This puzzle definitely raised the bar for its use of more diverse vocab! BENIGNLY, LANGUOROUS,TOOTLE, MUSES, NYMPH... Nice!
Well, throw quirky QUIRK, silly TOOTLE, and gorgeous LANGUOROUS in the box, and you’ve won me over. It would take an inordinate amount of yuk to bring my thumbs down after that. It’s a moot point, because no yuk stood out. For one, this is an original theme, never done before. There have been two Bingo themes where the letters of “Bingo” were hidden in the theme answers, (such as the “I” spelled as “eye”), but none like this, where a wining row was hidden. Also, I found the theme impossible to guess before uncovering the revealer, and let me tell you I tried, to my brain’s delight. I’d love to hear from someone here who figured it out before filling in the revealer. On top of that, the goofy puns in at least five of the clues kept mirth in the air. I especially liked [Org. that offers one L of a ride], because CTA has appeared in the major venues more than one hundred times, but never clued like this. Originality, beauty, brainwork, and mirth. A wealth of pleasure in the box today. Thank you, Adam!
You know me--I see the words HARP and UKES in the same puzzle, and immediately I open a new tab on the browser, head to YouTube, and see if anyone has posted a duet for ukelele and harp (they have; it appears to be a popular combo at Hawaiian weddings, for them as who don't elope--hey, those freelance musicians are expensive, ya know!) But TIL of the existence of the harp-ukulele, a hybrid instrument, first cross-bred some 115 years ago, on which the body of the instrument has an extension to the right, which supports a row of unfretted bass strings. (There exist other, similar designs.) Here's tuber Tony Liu performing a *very* familiar tune (here transposed down a whole-step, necessitated by the tuning or the bass strings): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHUCYbhYTIE&list=RDZHUCYbhYTIE&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHUCYbhYTIE&list=RDZHUCYbhYTIE&start_radio=1</a> Mr. Liu's instrument is of quite exquisite construction--no $40 purchase from Amazon for him!--what with that wood inlay at the top of the harp extension, and the mother-of-pearl porpoises on the ukulele neck.
@Bill this is glorious - thank you for this! That instrument, those porpoises, and his playing 😍! (I fully own loving decoration just because - one of my most cherished things is a Singer treadle sewing machine, which is covered in sphinxes and roses, and sews likes an absolute champ...) Have a wonderful day!
@Bill The pineapple pizza of the orchestra. Some things just shouldn't be invented.
O that make like a hot dog one really got me. My mind stayed on frankfurters until almost the end. PANT, PANT....
@Ms. Billie M. Spaight It all depended on whether you read it as HOT dog or Hot DOG.
Nice puzzle. Appropriate level of difficulty, fresh fill, good cluing, and excellent longer entries. I especially liked LANGUOROUS. As for the theme? The puzzle solved for me like a themeless. I saw the BINGO clue in the middle of my solve, but it didn't mean anything to me. I looked at it again when I was finished, and saw the hidden B-words, and my reaction wasn't "Aha! How clever!" But rather, "Yeah, I see it. So?" But a good puzzle is a good puzzle, even if the theme falls flat for me. And, of course, a nit: Does anyone pronounce BENIGNLY as B-9-ly? I won't mention Un-B-10.
@The X-Phile Yes ? How do you pronounce it?
@The X-Phile That's how I pronounce it. I'm not an authority on it though. Have I been doing it wrong?
@The X-Phile For me, the E's at the beginning of BENIGNLY and at the end of UNBEATEN are both schwas, that are almost completely "swallowed" in pronunciation.
I like GIMME, as in “Gimme Shelter”, touching corners with RUBY TUESDAY.
I am shockd -- shocked! -- that no one tried to winkle in DERBY at 42A. Yeah, I know that it's one letter too long but what did God create the REBUS button for?! Or maybe tons of you did but I'm the first ďope to admit it?
@SBK in TO Those of us in the Bluegrass know that the Kentucky OAKS is run for fillies the day before the Derby at Churchill Downs, and is a big part of Louisville's Derby celebration week. <a href="https://www.kentuckyderby.com/visit/derby-week-events" target="_blank">https://www.kentuckyderby.com/visit/derby-week-events</a>/
@SBK in TO I'm reading comments before making one, and was planning to comment on it. I never mind confessing my dopiness. Definitely thought this was going to be a rebus puzzle at that point. Liked it, but was a bit letdown that it wasn't.
I went back mid-solve to see if I could discern a theme in a puzzle that didn't seem to have one. I noticed the number homophones, but not the "B"s. I found out about the "B"s by going to the blog. Thought for the day: The theme sure is a lot stronger with the "B"s than without them This puzzle served to remind me of the curse my father placed upon my head when I was taking a cross-country trip at age 16. I was excited we would be stopping off in Las Vegas and made the great mistake of telling him so. "Those casinos don't provide all the glitz and free food so that they can give you their money," he said. "They do it so that they can take YOUR money." He then told me that he hoped I'd lose every bet because he didn't want me to win and think that gambling was a good way to make money. Betting one 25-cent chip on each hand, I lost $15 in 20 minutes playing blackjack. That was it for my three days in Vegas: it was the limit for what I had allowed myself to lose. Nor was that the end of the gambling curse -- which has been with me ever since. I am the unluckiest gambler who ever lived. Re BINGO: I have never had more than one space on my card filled at the point someone in the room shouts "BINGO!" Never. Not even once.. Usually I have NO space filled on my card. Meaning that not only have I never won anything -- I've never had a single moment of fun in the playing of the game. Gee, thanks, Dad. :)
@Nancy Well, years ago I went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant on my birthday with a friend and my fortune cookie fortune was BLANK. Still alive.
DAKAR is not the western most African capital. That would be PRAIA, Cabo Verde, an island off the coast of western Africa.
@Manda I pointed that out in one of the much earlier comments. Replier said Dakar was the western most African mainland capital and that the clue should have been worded differently. I had Praia as one of the first words I filled in and drove myself crazy wondering how that made any sense with the words around it.
forgive me for sounding like a nag, but i have been doing the puzzle for nearly 60 years and i cringe at how it has deteriorated. lots of cheapening shortcuts like abreviations, and the frequent use of NAMES like obscure playrights today. reeks of autofill. please return to the more intellectual puzzles of yesteryear featuring erudite clues and mostly WORDS.
@david g sutliff There are those who agree with you that the puzzle has gone downhill, and those who like the updates, finding them less stodgy. And everyone is absolutely entitled to their opinion. But the puzzle has always included NAMES, often ones I don't know. And if you're suggesting IJAMES is obscure, I will point out that Fat Ham (as referenced in the clue) won the Pulitzer; it was also nominated for five Tonys including best play. *And* the crossings were fairly gentle.
I thought Cape Verde was the westernmost African country.
@C.C. It is, but Dakar is the western most capital on the mainland of Africa. The clue should have been worded better.
@C.C. @V Point to @C.C. As the self-appointed nattering nabob of nit(wit)s, I rule that: Insofar as Cape Verde is the western-most African nation, the correct answer to the clue must be PRAIA. (The death penalty is, however, commuted since the correct fill has the same number of letters.)
@C.C. @V Point to @C.C. As the self-appointed nattering nabob of nit(ωit)s, I rule that: Insofar as Cape Verde is the western-most African nation, the correct answer to the clue must be PRAIA. (The δeath penalty is, however, commuted since the correct fill has the same number of letters.)
Haha, will we have folks saying that RUBY TUESDAY is not a legitimate answer for a Wednesday? Now to research why it would matter that all these Bingo calls start with the same letter B. Yes it’s true - I don’t play Bingo *and* I don’t care what day it is. I’ll just be over here in my corner enjoying today’s puzzle.
@Cat Lady Margaret I suppose to get a BINGO in the B column. It'd be a lot trickier to clue with I (numbers 16–30), N (numbers 31–45), G (numbers 46–60), or O (numbers 61–75).
This was a solid Wednesday difficulty with a tight theme in my opinion. I enjoyed the solve, Seeing as it’s still St Patrick’s Day while I’m solving this, I appreciated the Guinness logo reference with HARP. Cheers, Adam🍻
@Jacqui J I don't often drink Guiness, but I did raise a pint last night to wash down my corned beef and cabbage.
@Jacqui J I’ve never been a fan of Guinness, but I do recall drinking Harp Lager on tap. I find now, it’s the same company. Didn’t know that.
This is a rare Crossword where the fill was really great but the theme was so bad.
Nice puzzle, kept me guessing about the theme until the end. Bonus for me was learning about James Ijames today! Thanks!
@Sal After hearing about James Ijames, I think I'll start going by Steve Isteve.
I still don't really understand the theme even after the write up. I knew there were b s all over. I solved it as a themeless.
@Robco when you read the answers to the starred clues out loud, you'll find yourself saying "B-2", B-9", etc., as though you're calling out squares for a game of Bingo. Because they all land in the B column, if you had all of the numbers on your Bingo card, you'd win and yell "Bingo!".
Our younger son was born fascinated by money. Tucking him in when he was barely three, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, his fingers twiddling, I asked him what he was thinking about. “Just counting my moneys, Mamma.” (He had zero “moneys.”) He studied YouTube videos to learn how to fix cracked iPhone and iPad screens *years* before he was allowed to own a phone, because he saw a way to make a pretty penny on his classmates’ ever-present plaints. For his 18th birthday, he asked for one thing. A Roth IRA. He has a lovely family name, but we call him “our darling retirement plan.”
@CCNY When our now twenty-something was in his crib (and as every trip to the grocery store involved buying a huge quantity of diapers), after I sang him his nighttime lullaby, I would say, "Goodnight, my little IRA. We're spending all our saving on you; so, we're counting on you to take care of us in our senescence." Sad to say, it hasn't worked out that way. He doesn't seem to care about money at all.
Fun! I’m glad the revealer was at the end of the across clues. It gave me one theme answer, which I always enjoy - but not too many, which would have spoiled my fun. Nicely done.
Would playing a bit of French horn be TOOTSWEET for a future puzzle say? When my parents were alive and in their retirement they loved going for a TOOTLE in their car when they would point themselves in one direction to see how far they could go and what they would find. Always came back with great stories.
Enjoyed this one. Felt meaty for a Wednesday, and, try as I might, I couldn't see the theme before I entered BINGO at the end. Then the theme became obvious, which to me is a sign of a clever theme. Some nice *words* in today's grid: NYMPH, QUIRK, LANGUOROUS, TOOTLE. Very fine Wednesday puzzle.
@Xword Junkie Same overall reaction. Different reaction to the theme.
I, at first had Movies and MTA instead of Covens and CTA- nearly a Schrödinger if you accept alternate spelling for Magneto!
The theme was unguessable for me. I looked at the words carefully, said them out loud, parsed them in many ways. Nothing. Once I got to the revealer (nicely placed at the end), it seemed so obvious. Good one, Adam.
@Nancy J. Same for me, exactly!
Late puzzle find. One of the cutest I've encountered. A Sunday from July 3, 1994 by A.J. Santora with the title "Overcrowding." A couple of theme clues and answers: "Newsman in the Sahara?" SUDANRATHER "Canal zone film favorites?" PANAMAANDPAKETTLE And some other theme answers: HUNGARYCOOPER ETHIOPIAZADORA ARGENTINATURNER BOHEMIAFARROW BOLIVIANEWTONJOHN SENEGALGORE And there were more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/3/1994&g=120&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/3/1994&g=120&d=A</a> ....
I'm being nitpicky, but the BE in BENIGNLY is not pronounced like the letter, but like "big" without the G. From the Cambridge Dictionary: /bɪˈnaɪn.li/
@Ryan several dictionaries list both pronunciations. I believe I have pronounced it both ways.
@Ryan My quibble is that I don’t think the absence of malice implies a benign purpose
The cause of the hullabaloo re: the pronunciation of RUBY TUESDAY as a themer is known in phonetics as the "yot"; it's the consonant sound of the letter "y", as in yellow. It's the difference between coot and cute, or boot and beaut--one little yot completely changes the meaning. However there are a handful of words where the yot seems optional; student and stupid come to mind. I'd say Tuesday falls into that category; some may feel their way of pronouncing it is the only correct way, but in reality it does get pronounced both ways.
@Bob T. There is a rule in Formal, or Mid-Atlantic, English Diction for that "y" sound known as the [j] glide following a consonant when there is a choice of pronunciation. A helpful mnemonic is the phrase Daniel Sitteth; i.e., the glide should follow the consonants in that phrase before an "oo" or [u] sound. The rule does not apply to other consonants where there is no choice, such as music or beauty. For example: due or dew, news, lute, ensue, Tuesday, enthusiastic. An exception is when those consonants are followed by an "l" as in flute. Obviously there are dialects and accents that have evolved to remove the glide - this is just the formal rule. Others might be able to explain more clearly.
@Bob T. Not that I'm taking sides! I had no trouble understanding the revealer, no complaints here. (In case the emyoos are listening.)
Very fun puzzle. Took a bit for me to grok the theme, since I've always thought "Tuesday" is pronounced with a y sound, like "cues." (Sure, I hear some people say Toosday, but they also say "libarry" instead of library and "prolly" instead of probably, and I figured it was their regionalism.) A small amount of googling has convinced me that I'm in the minority in this, so this isn't a complaint.
@mnemonica For me, "cues" rhymes with "crews", "twos", "booze", and "news", none of which I would describe as having a "y" sound. So your statement confuses me. Also, several years ago the local news station had a weather person who pronounced Tuesday as if it was spelled "Teeyouseday". I found it extremely grating. Every. Single. Time.
@mnemonica I think “Tyuesday” is more common in Britain, leading to the other pronunciation that’s often heard there: “Chuesday.”
@mnemonica I say toosday, but I most certainly also say library, probably, and February with every consonant. So let's not be smearing us toosday-sayers as a bunch of yokels. Yes, I suppose it is a "regionalism", but so is tyooesday. Everyone has an accent. Everyone. Interestingly, my accent in French is too heavy on the Y in vowel sounds. Anglophones tend to terminate vowels with a Y sound, like eey, and the French do not. Plus most French folks cannot tell a British accent from an American accent.
I grew up in the northeastern US. Lived briefly on the west coast, and in London. Over the years, I've had friends from all over the states, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. I've never once heard anyone pronounce Tuesday any way but Toosday.
@mnemonica Very fair point, especially because that's how Mick Jagger pronounces it in the song.
If I've understood correctly, it seems American bingo calls are far less fun than those here in the UK!
@Banners I couldn't get the Bingo thing at all. Ours being all numbers the relevance of B was lost on me! I was looking out for the Bingo callers slang for numbers (clickety click etc)
a shame you can't make a puzzle out of Conan O Brian's speech at the Oscars - are we celebrating words that are meaningful and enlighten us or is everyone at the Times afraid of calling out those who suppress journalism in crossword form that would be real fun
@acjones You appear to have mislaid the punctuation marks on your keyboard. Allow me. ......... ,,,,,,,,, ??????? !!!!!!!! Enjoy.
One more puzzle find. A Sunday from February 9, 1975 by William Lutwiniak with the title: "Companions." Five 23-letter grid-spanning theme answers. Those answers with their clues: "Bears." GRIZZLYKODIAKANDCHICAGO "Eagles." PHILADELPHIAANDAMERICAN "Cards." STLOUISPOSTALANDPLAYING "Saints." NEWORLEANSJAMESANDPETER "Patriots." NEWENGLANDANDPAULREVERE Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=2/9/1975&g=92&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=2/9/1975&g=92&d=A</a> ...
The editors made him change Obi-Wan because the 'Wan' doesn't sound enough like 'one', but BENIGNLY made the cut, despite its first syllable sounding even less like 'B'?
@el I suppose that's regional, though. It seems you say "buh-nine." I say "bee-nine." It raises a valid point, though. I wonder how most would pronounce it.
@el and TUE supposedly sounds like "two" 🙄
Why the hell does wordplay open in the crossword app now??
@Aaron --- glad I'm not the only one thrown off by this!! It makes it much harder to refer back to the puzzle while reading the comments, which really takes away from the comment reading experience. I hope they roll back this change. Should probably note that I'm using the App on Android as I imagine it could be platform specific.
I had trouble "hearing the calls hidden in the answers to the starred clues", but no trouble solving the puzzle 25% faster than average.