I didn't watch the documentary on rivers live. I streamed it. (No need to change the channel!)
Mike, Are the LEVEES holding?
@Mike I was shore i could bank on you for a creeky pun
@Mike Was a Ukrainian documentary? Then it might have been called “CRIMEA River” (Oh, boo hoo!)
@Mike I can sea how that might be irrigating.
@Mike Was there an accompanying oaratorio?
@Mike Sounds like you're keeping up with current events swimmingly!
@Mike, et al. I think you punsters are all wet.
Mike, That “River” doc seems too long. I’m waiting for “The Brook” to come out.
@Mike I saw it in theaters, but I was too close to the screen, so I got a crick in my neck.
@Mike Of course you did. You might want to branch out, though, instead of going with the flow.
@Mike You all are all so funny, I'm gonna drown in my own HAZYIPAs--I mean beers--I mean tears.
I have heard the phrase “uncanny valley” before, but I never knew what it meant until now. Basically, a feeling of revulsion towards beings who seem almost human but are not quite. That explains a lot about my reaction to certain members of our government.
@Heidi …and the entire city council here in Hooterville (a euphemism for the CA small town where I pretend to matter).
I found this to be somewhat tricky for a Tuesday. Not hard necessarily, but for me there was more thought required than a typical Tuesday. Similar to “Chris” from Boston, the crossings of HOLST, LASE and SITSKI were my final fills.
@Nick Always happy to introduce a modicum of extra challenge. ;)
I don't really have anything to say about the puzzle (other than I enjoyed it and I thought it was steeper than the usual Tuesday), so I looked through the answers for some inspiration. I found it in WATTS, which is the amount of energy produced per unit time (one joule of energy is produced in one second is a power of one watt). Now think of yourself as a little power producer. You eat food, the food is broken down chemically and it produces energy. So you produce energy, like the sun, although it's chemical rather than nuclear. You've probably noticed that a crowded room heats up pretty quickly. Finally, you have a volume, probably about 65 liters which is a little over 68 quarts, or about 17 gallons. Now here's the fun fact: your 65 liters produces more energy, and thus more power, than 65 liter of stellar material. So you are producing more energy than a same volume of the sun. The only reason the sun is so hot is that it's so incredibly big. If the sun were made of a bunch of humans all smashed together (but somehow still alive) the sun would be much, much brighter. But not for very long.
@Francis Excellent Science Minute. And now from the Arts side but with a whole new meaning: You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey...
@Francis so you made me go check 😀. Even though the sun only burns hydrogen in its core, so only 1/125th of its volume is at play, humans still win. On the surface of the earth the sun provides ~1000 watts per square meter for half the day. Humans at 100 Watts all day but with a surface area of ~ 2 sq.m. lose the surface game. I’d nitpick on your one use of ‘energy’ and whether the sun is ‘hot’ but this is dictionary corner and they don’t like us 😀
@Francis On my first run through I had joules -- but the kitchenWARE when I got to the downs made me change it. I guess I think joules is a much more interesting word. Not sure why....
@Francis Wow! Thanks for sharing. What an interesting factoid! I’ll remember that today when I’m feeling discouraged about the job market!
@Francis This could inspire a whole new policy to replace deportation to third party countries!
Yay! With Ryan Patrick Smith's romp of a puzzle I've hit a five year streak today. Plus, I've done an additional 7 years from the archives. There is so much talent here - from old puzzlers from years past to the newest grids that are able to hold everyone's interest and keep educating (mainly me). Best, I love reading missives from folks here. Ta!
@G.T. Big ups on hitting the five-year mark! I feel honored to have contributed the capstone puzzle
I know I'm a newer and younger solver, but am I crazy or was the Monday and the Tuesday this week significantly more difficult than usual? The entries themselves seem to be far more unusual and uncommon words and they don't lend themselves to beginners and entry level players very well. I think Mr. Shortz should reconsider puzzles like this for a Wednesday type. While this is definitely not a Thursday difficulty, it has easy clues with extremely challenging fill for a Tuesday.
@Nate G Tuesday was definitely harder. I didn’t find Monday so much harder but others did. Since the weekends are getting easier maybe it’s all balancing out in some cosmic way.
@Nate G I'm old as dirt and agree with you completely - this one had a couple of clues that were beyond the usual Tuesdays. The crossing of HOLST and SITSKI put this one cleanly outside of my reach. Maybe not a Friday puzzle, but Wednesday at least.
@Nate G You're not 'crazy'. I'm an older solver, and I also noticed the increased difficulty. While the Tuesday was a fair 'Wednesday', I think the Monday was as well. I needed two cheats on the Monday puzzle! That's never happened!
@Nate G Imo Monday was way harder but this was typical for Tuesday.
FWIW, for xwstats solvers, the Monday median solve time was 13% slower than usual, the Tuesday median solve time (at the moment) is 1% slower than usual. So they were both harder than usual, with Monday more so.
@Nate G I doubt this will continue. In the Before Times, there used to be some variation to the difficulty, so you would get a Monday/Tuesday that was slightly harder than usual. Next week's puzzles will probably go back to being super easy. (Hopefully just the early-week puzzles.)
An interesting black-and-tan of a puzzle: the top half was light and airy, Monday breezy, the bottom half thicker, darker, Wednesday begrudgingly. Mix them together and you get a Tuesday. Anyway, among great works, this one has Mystic River (one of my all time favorites, what a group of actors, what a range of characters), Magic Mountain (by Mann, although for all I know the Six Flags location and its 20 roller coasters are a homage to the masterpiece. Perhaps one of the coasters represents the intellectual and later physical duel of Lodovico Settembrini vs. Leo Naphta, and another the ups and downs of Hans Castorp's obsession with Claudia Chauchat). And Holst's The Planets! Perhaps too overplayed to still have that "magic" but once every five years and you'll love it! Now with gas over $4/gallon, I wonder what fantasy land that guy is living in who's making all these decisions. I'd wager he doesn't have a clue. And when his master says "Sitski! I'll take Crimea and then some!" he's gonna sitski. Back to the puzzle, or did I ever leave? Much as I feel the revealer is kind of goofy, there was a lot of great verbiage in here -- my kinda word salad -- gas guzzler, hokum, orzo, tavern, Uptown Girl (please note that while I dig that song, it didn't qualify for my masterpiece list above). It's a solid song, a little jabbery and never really goes anywhere. But then again, neither do I.
@john ezra I completely agree with your assessment of this puzzle. The top half was very easy, the bottom half much less so. Trickle-down solving was the key for me. (I also love Mystic River, both book and movie.)
@john ezra We wish gas were 'only' $4/gallon. Even the cheap cut-rate places are over $5, and the expensive ones have hit $6 ! I'm ready to go back to FANTASYLAND and drive those little cars. Do they get good milege? But last time I was there I could hardly breath. I guess something that small isn't required to have smog-control devices, even in SoCal. I liked the puzzle -- clever theme. But my Natick was DIR_ and R_MY -- being neither a rap, nor Game of Thrones fan. Luckily it seemed to need a vowel, and E seemed the most logical, so put that in and got the happy music.
@john ezra I agree with your assessment of Mystic River — it’s full of wonderful performances, especially Laura Linney’s. Thanks for the spoiler on Mann’s Magic Mountain. :-) I’m almost to the halfway point and Naphta has yet to show up.
Hello, all! Long time mostly-lurker here. Well, the day has finally come - my gold star streak reached 1,000 today!* I've learned a lot in the last 3 years - wonderful interesting ideas, people and concepts - it's been a literal mental exercise in perseverance and stamina. *Have I looked up answers? Yes, if I was running out of time or energy. In the debate on if that is cheating, I like to give myself and others the grace to learn something new and commit it to memory, rather than give up a streak. I did do all the puzzles, after all. Sometimes the puzzle annoyed or tormented me, but mostly it's a daily excursion through the world, contained within artfully arranged black & white squares. Today's puzzle by Ryan Patrick Smith feels especially suited to be my 1,000th: I recently gave a musical book about The Planets by Gustav HOLST to my grandchildren; I've read MYSTIC RIVER; I recently read about UNCANNY VALLEY because what the heck is that??; big fan of typefaces so ARIAL was a gimme; Billy Joel's music was the soundtrack of my youth - yet none of the answers felt too obvious and a few I'd never heard of: Rapper REMY Ma, LOLLOP as movement?, Greek water nymph NAIAD escaped me. And Priya's column - Priya, who I've enjoyed watching on the Bon Appetit channel many times - evoked the beauty of El Paso's landscape, my husband's childhood home, so enticingly different from our New England home. After 1,000 puzzles, what's next? I think it may be time to try constructing a puzzle.
@Tricia109 Congratulations and good luck as you venture into construction!! 👷🏼♀️
@Tricia109 Terrific story. Don't wait till 2000 to post again, ok? Deal?
@Tricia109, Congratulations on getting to 1000! That is a great milestone to reach! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@Tricia109 Wow, huge congrats on hitting 1K! And glad to hear you so vibed with my puzzle today. :) Google "Crossword Constructor Resource Guide" and click the NYT link if you're looking to wade into construction. The water's fine!
Seen on a sign this past Saturday: "Terrible things are happening outside." ANNE Frank Raise the ALARM. This is not NORMal.
Today is a beautiful day. Mystical town. Magical espresso and pain au chocolat. Like a fantasy. Beginning to plot ways to avoid returning to Life. Will keep you posted.
Don’t tell me the brain doesn’t work in strange and marvelous ways. I woke up in the middle of the night, bolt upright, with the thought, “The six pestles”. Yes, “pestles”, as in mortar-and-pestle. Then I practically laughed out loud when I realized it was a play on Johnny Rotten’s band, and pictured a Sex Pistols tribute band taking the name The Six Pestles. I can’t tell you the mirth this thought filled me with. It lasted but a moment, then I calmed and returned to a deep sleep. Don’t tell me the brain doesn’t work in strange and marvelous ways.
@Lewis Seek....Help....
@Lewis Who would be satisfied with six pestle when they could have seven? <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AHwmrQL1FOc&pp=ygULU2l4IHBlc3RsZXM" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AHwmrQL1FOc&pp=ygULU2l4IHBlc3RsZXM</a>%3D
@Lewis You must have manifested @Helen Wright's reference to Pretty Vacant.
I didn’t see anyone explain the “valley” part of UNCANNY VALLEY, so here it is from Google: The "Valley" part refers to the line graph of human likeness (x-axis) vs. affinity (y-axis). A sudden dip in emotion at 75–90% realism creates a "valley" before rising again for real humans.” This was definitely a crunchy Tuesday! I had never heard of HOKUM, HOLST, or ASAHI, or UNCANNY VALLEY before, which seems like a lot for a Tuesday! (Though I was still 7 minutes under my average) And I’m on Team Human, thank you. Let’s find a way to use robots and AI responsibly and ethically. I would like to keep using the skills I have and get paid for them. We may be flawed but we’re still the pinnacle of creation.
@Cherry Yes! And while we're at it, we need to find a way to get some Humans to act responsibly and ethically....
What a quirky and interesting theme, with its two-word answers melding fantastical elements and geographical features. When I uncovered the revealer, I had to take a moment to appreciate it, because it was so perfect. So, there was that. And there was more. I learned UNCANNY VALLEY and thought, “Yes! I’ve experienced that! And now I’ve got something to call it!” And LOLLOP. Never heard it before, but will remember it because it is really fun to say. Then the memory-burst at UPTOWN GIRL, which I haven’t heard in forever. When that song came out, I practically had to break into dance every time it started playing, and today, hearing it in my head, it filled me with zing. Plus, little word-nerdy things, like a rare-in-crossword five-letter palindrome (REFER), a pair of answers that can be names … or not (DEAN, NORM), the neighbors CRIMEA and RIVER (Hi, @SP!), and a DIRE straight and WATTS up. A rich outing is what your box brought me today, Ryan. Thank you for this!
@Lewis Oh, dear. It's DIRE *straits* (hardly ever just one)....as when one is up the RIVER w/o an OAR. But surely you've read _Watership Down_...in which the rabbits bound along in a looose-limbed fashion.... a relaxed LOLLOPing pace....
@Lewis Sounds like this one really resonated with you, Lewis! Thanks for detailing your solving experience -- we constructors live for this sort of stuff. :)
I’m back baby! Though to be fair no one would have noticed I was missing. Thank you for the kind comments yesterday, I wasn’t looking for approbation, more lashing out in frustration at the complete technical breakdown, now hopefully solved. It involved turning off the iPad, de-installing then re-installing the Games app. Twice. Turning off the iPad again, standing on my head while whistling Pretty Vacant. Some or all of that seems to have done the trick. I would have continued with the crossword, but would have missed your delightful, educational company. Ah, the puzzle. A nice, crunchy Tuesday with a few black holes in my knowledge helpfully filled by the crosses. Entertainment centres, company buyouts, rappers etc are never going to stick in my brain pan. Talking of which I’m nursing what is probably going to be a stonking black eye, having clumsily tripped on the porch step and literally face planted on the door jamb. Embarrassingly I have to catch a train later to meet DH. I’ll leave my multicoloured visage as a surprise for him.
@Helen Wright We would have noticed.
@Helen Wright Welcome back! So sorry to hear of your black eye! That sounds painful. 😞 I remember my only black eye came at the end of the worst week of my life leading a group of middle schoolers on a bike trip I joined at the last minute (and was therefore unprepared to ride at least 30 miles a day!). I got the black eye from a paddle hitting just under my eye going over a small waterfall on a rafting trip the final day. It seemed a fitting end to a miserable week!😩
@Helen Wright I hope you have video of you whistling "Pretty Vacant".
Well, we've certainly had our helpings of ORZO these past several weeks! But to me, orzo looks nothing like rice--it looks like barley. If I want a pastini which looks like rice, I would opt for risoni. Some elegant cluing in this puzzle--the "coherent," in [Produce coherent light] has a specific meaning, as used in physics. And TOGAS? While many contemporary Americans connect togas with "beer-me!" frat parties, the ancient Roman use was anything but. In many ways, it resembled the modern business suit--it was worn primarily by free-born, upper-class, male Roman citizens, and under specific circumstances--in business settings (including meetings of the Senate), and formal dinner parties. There was also a decorated version which would be worn by pre-adolescent boys, sort of like the Victorian sailor-suits. A man would be judged by the cut of his toga, and how meticulously it was draped. And those hanging loops ("sinuses")?--handy for transporting paperwork, money, and useful trinkets, such as tyrannicidal daggers. My TIL that the genuine Mystic River, north of Boston, was the river in "Over the river and through the woods . . . "
@Bill I see you are very Up To Date on the special occasions and privileges associated with the TOGAE of Ancient Rome. By chance have you read the Lindsey Davis novels (featuring Didius Falco, who rises in the ranks...)?
@Bill Here in little ole Connecticut we have a Mystic River as well. And, yes, Mystic Pizza is located in Mystic CT.
@Bill I checked it out the other day. "Risoni" is the word for "ORZO" in Italian, while "ORZO" in Italian means "barley." So there!
This was the crunchiest Tuesday I can remember for a while. I owe UNCANNYVALLEY to Tracy Bennett’s July 5th puzzle. Because I spelled HOLZT wrong I had ZIPSKI and because I was set on the novel starting with MY I was wondering why MY RIVER had a racial slur attached to it. Even when I got it I was dooked for a while wondering how MY STIC RIVER was a crime novel. Anyway, tight theme and a lot of interesting accessory fill, very engaging for a Tuesday
@SP Interesting. I did not think this was particularly hard, at all. Had I not made a siIIy mistake combined with a typo, which required 2 or 3 minutes of flyspecking at the end, I would have finished this in exactly my average Tuesday time.
Great puzzle! Especially loved seeing Kenan and KEL in the puzzle, bringing me back to my 90s childhood. My favorite thing was this character Kenan Thompson had on All That, where he was just a French guy in a bathtub who would say silly French-sounding things. This was the pinnacle of comedy to an eight-year-old.
Oh my goodness, just this past weekend, because she was in town to speak at the rally, I was reminded of doing Jane Fonda aerobics in high school gym class in the big ole smelly gym. Leg warmers, anyone!? And now, the puzzle reminds me of doing Billy Blanks' Tae Bo on VHS the following decade but in my non-smelly living room. And then, not in the puzzle, were my Leslie Samsone dvds of walking away the pounds. Boy, those were the days! Now I go to PT once a week so I can learn how to not fall down. 🤣 Ah, life! It's a funny little thing, but I am a fan! Oh, and to add to the nostalgia, a little Billy Joel, UPTOWNGIRL! Nice! Fun puzzle! A bit above average for my Tuesday, but I don't mind that at all! There were a number of fun and fresh entries and I enjoyed it. And that's no HOKUM!
@HeathieJ You can learn how not to fall down? Could you please sign me up for that class?
@HeathieJ Douglas Adam's taught us all how to fly. All we have to do is fall down and miss.
Enjoyed this one. UNCANNY VALLEY was uncanny to me, so down the rabbit hole! Great column @Priya Krishna -- Especially the food on the crossword page.
I solved this puzzle without comprehending all of it. My thanks to Cherry from GA (my birthplace!) for explaining UNCANNY VALLEY, which seemed very strange to me. I find most (or all) robotic version of life forms unsettling--they creep me out, more than a little. I remember when "Six Flags over Texas" was the big new thing; they spread ....and I've never been to any of them. Cincinnatians had King's Island (was there once; never again). As with the big Disney parks: once was enough. So, I related to some of this puzzle, solved it successfully, and I'm ready for more....the sooner the better! @soto voce Saw your msg!! Delighted!
@Mean Old Lady Just remember that robots are just as creeped out by us as we are by them.
@Mean Old Lady I thought of you yesterday because I saw a thing on Facebook where someone was showing that you can use a corkscrew to core an apple. They made it look easy, just like opening a bottle of wine, but I can't vouch for anything. I trust very little of the content on Facebook these days, but I still wanted to share it with you because I've seen you sharing about corer issues out here, or the lack of corers, I guess. ☺️
What a lovely, tight theme! And I'm glad Priya had a chance to experience my home city. (An ex-in-law once looked at El Paso's mountains and said "They look like slag heaps!" I replied, a little stiffly, "We prefer the phrase 'stark beauty.'")
@mnemonica Thank you for the kind words, mnemonica! I'm writing this from Austin, a mere 8-9 hours east of you.
Crunchy Tuesday for sure . Dire wolf and Remy Ma not in my lexicon before today . I enjoyed reading about Dire Wolves - apparently they appeared in Game of Thrones and were commonly discovered in the LaBrea tarpits . Also got hung up spelling AriEl until I realized of course it was Amy Schumer !! Happy Tuesday , Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all who celebrate :)
Whew. Some pretty obscure clues for a Tuesday puzzle.
Easy solve, but I’ve never heard of the word “lollop”
Nice Tuesday puzzle. I thought for sure “Utopian Girl” would be part of the theme. From “The Mystery Zone” by Spoon: “How come it feels so familiar When you’ve never been there? How can it feel so unreachable, when You’ve never tried to find the mystery zone? …Times that we met, before we met, We will go there.” The song may not be to everyone’s taste, but I like it. <a href="https://youtu.be/VUJKOYTe2h8?si=MBtMeJPwPhVrqCdA" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/VUJKOYTe2h8?si=MBtMeJPwPhVrqCdA</a>
@JohnWM Can't let a Spoon reference go by without comment. One of the best live bands ever if you're a so-called indie rock fan (what does that even mean anymore).
Just a bit on the tough side for a Tuesday, but that just made for a good workout. Just had to work the crosses until something dawned on me. And of course a puzzle find today. A Sunday from April 11, 1999 by Matt Gaffney with the title "Spring Dream." The reveal in that one was: "D.C. org dropped from this puzzle... or what much of your money is." THEIRS And some theme answers: MSPACESTATION KTIEALLEY UPSTADOWNSTA FTFAMILIES GETAFAHAKE CHOCOLATEECLA Think about it. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/11/1999&g=118&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/11/1999&g=118&d=A</a> ....
Even on Tuesday, it's good to check crosses before writing anything in. Phone HOME was obvious and the HAYDN immediately sprang to mind as the only 5-letter composer I could think of beginning with an "H". But when not a single letter of HAYDN worked with any of the Downs, I abandoned it -- and soon, HOLST came in. His name rang a bell. Re 3D and its clue, "Produce coherent light." What, pray tell, is INcoherent light? Someone will please explain why the phrase UNCANNY VALLEY has anything at all to do with unsettling humanoid-looking robots? Thank you. Is LOLLOP right? I forgot to look. Never heard it and I'm wondering if it's a portmanteau of GALLOP and LOLL (LOL). And what's a DIRE WOLF? I hope that's right -- I forgot to look that one up too. My revealer was going to be an "I See..." phrase, having to do with scenery you see from a car. But then I realized that the game is "I Spy", not "I See". The actual revealer is cute. I could quibble that RIVER isn't LAND -- it's water. But why quibble? This was an enjoyable Tuesday.
@Nancy Pretty much any light that doesn't come from a laser is incoherent. All the light waves in a laser cohere, i.e. they stay together and go in the same direction. Light from a lamp doesn't cohere – it goes every whichaway.
@Nancy incoherent light has many colours in it and the waves of light can have their crests pretty much all over the place. Coherent light has a very very limited colour spread and all the crests are synchronised to arrive to you at the same ‘phase’ An analogy with coherent speech and incoherent mumbling may help.
I don’t speak French, and I’d spelled “HOKEM.” Took me 11 additional minutes of searching for typos before I finally got it. Phew! Enjoyable puzzle.
Pretty good Tuesday puzzle today. Very good theme with the MYSTIC RIVER, MAGIC MOUNTAIN, UNCANNY VALLEY and some other good clues. (Some time I'm going to remember that the three letter Native American tribe is UTE). The last square I got was when I changed HOKAM to HOKUM, that's a word you just don't see spelled a lot. The toughest area of the grid was that I just didn't know the HOLST answer and it crossed with LASE and SITSKI.
Chris, Watch the crosses for three-letter tribes; OTO may be next.
@Chris Same. The HOLST, LASE and SITSKI crosses were my final fills.
@Chris I live about 25 miles from the Southern Ute tribal headquarters. Absolutely a gimme for me if the clue mentions the Southwest or the Colorado Plateau.
I've attended cocktail parties that made me feel as if I'd wandered into an uncanny valley.
I won tickets from a radio station to see Kiss perform a concert at Six Flags Magic Mountain for their tv movie "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park". Highlight of my life(so far). You might know Johnny Flynn as an actor although I didn't. He's also a fantastic musical artist, which is how I know him. Here he is with "Uncanny Valley", which he co-wrote with Robert Macfarlane, a multitalented writer who opens this video with some spoken-word, um, speaking: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0zDEySctOMk0zYPSSLs1LTszLq1QoS8zJSa1UyMrPAPHScirz8gA4Yw8b&q=uncanny+valley+johnny+flynn&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS1184US1184&oq=uncanny+valley+jo&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgCEC4YgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQLhiABDIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMggIBRAAGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB7SAQoxMzE5MWowajE1qAIIsAIB8QVovb-SWsTDOg&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:cec813a1,vid:wo8oZRDUaE0,st:0" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0zDEySctOMk0zYPSSLs1LTszLq1QoS8zJSa1UyMrPAPHScirz8gA4Yw8b&q=uncanny+valley+johnny+flynn&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS1184US1184&oq=uncanny+valley+jo&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgCEC4YgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQLhiABDIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMggIBRAAGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB7SAQoxMzE5MWowajE1qAIIsAIB8QVovb-SWsTDOg&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:cec813a1,vid:wo8oZRDUaE0,st:0</a>
ad absurdum, Nice song - but that link kinda freaked me out, so I just searched for it on YouTube :)
@John I guess I can see how that would freak you out. But I'm the one who had to memorize it to type it in! Check out Johnny Flynn on Spotify or any other service you might have. I promise you might not regret it.
@ad absurdum Ha! I remember watching that Kiss movie.
@aa I don't know Flynn, or MacFarlane, as either actor or musician, although--have you posted an offering to some of his music before . . .? In any case, I should listen to more of it, as it is just to (one of) my taste(s).
Fans of Johnny Flynn might know his theme song for the show The Detectorists. Fans of Robert MacFarlane should check out the musical project with Spell Songs. a.a., fun to learn you are a fan!
I can confirm that every D&D adventure begins with a visit to the TAVERN. Those barmaids are remarkably well-informed.
@Grant Love me an RPG. My friend and I are incorporating some light role-playing elements into the board game we're currently developing. :)
"Dire Wolf" is a Grateful Dead song on workingmans dead album - and there was an article in NYT last August about scientists trying to bring them back from old DNA
@albert donsky The headlines rather overstated things with the "bringing them back" business. Mostly a matter of introducing some DW traits into contemporary wolves, iirc.
I woke up thinking today was Tuesday...
I was just checking my stats, and lo! This is my 1200th solved puzzle. 457 in my current gold star streak, which would be at 840 if it were not for that darned infamous Art Heist puzzle. However, I can proudly say that I have completed every puzzle for the last 37 months. I feel like this occasion calls for an anecdote. So, up where we live, in the northern most metropolis in North America, we are well known for West Edmonton Mall. It used to be the largest mall in the world, with the world's largest parking lot, and the world's largest indoor water park. It is also home to the world's largest indoor amusement park, which formerly housed the largest indoor triple loop roller-coaster. And that theme park was named FANTASY LAND. However, Disney caught wind of this in the late 90s or early 00s, and sued. As such, the park was renamed Galaxy Land. Alas, my one regret is never riding that roller coaster before it was shut down. Every time I wanted to go, I stood in the middle of the platform (one of the loops completely encircled a viewing platform), looked up at the careening carriages, and chickened out. I'm sure my fear had nothing to do with the fatalities in 1988...
@DocP Art Heist strikes again! For some reason I didn't do that when it came out, but after hearing about it went back and did it, which was kind of cheating. I already knew it was going to be something special, so I aligned my patience and expectation with that in mind. So I did do it, but not really. I am a widely know as a roller-coaster-chicken-outer. And now that I've seen some of the "Final Destination" movies, there's no chance I'll ever get back on one.
@DocP Wow, quite a topical bit of trivia there! Congrats on powering through to 1200.
Lovely puzzle. I’ve never seen a round flapjack though, is that thing in the States?!
@Caitlin Gosh how would you make it any other way? When you drop the batter it comes out round—unless you deliberately cut it in a different shape. Unless we are talking about something different than a pancake?
@Caitlin Came here to say this. I’ve eaten many, many flapjacks. I’ve never ever had a round one. This was an awful clue. Couldn’t the setter or editor have thought of any actual round things?
@Caitlin Ok just found out this is an oat bar overseas, here it’s a pancake. Live and learn!
@Caitlin Likewise! A brief Google indicates the Americans are using the original meaning of the word - apparently we changed it in the 1930s, who knows why? Having said that, I think they need a word for our flapjacks that isn't "oat bar". Flapjacks are a subset of oat bar - must be sticky, and should contain fruit, right?
@Caitlin I'll admit the oat bar ambiguity was not on my radar! #TMYK
@Caitlin I'm confused, what shape are your flapjacks? I mean, they can form different shapes by design, but when you just pour the batter in the pan they generally form a round shape.
@Caitlin Ask 1000 Americans if they know what a flapjack is, and at least half would have no idea. It's a pancake here in the US, plain and simple, but it's an outdated term here, Perhaps it is used regionally in the US. I doubt more than one or two--and those would have to be those with Commonwealth-based friends or relatives, or who have traveled extensively--would say it's something similar to a granola bar. The Commonwealth version sounds like a rectangular oatmeal raisin cookie, minus the raisins. And before any Brits go off saying "We invented the language," as one does, note that the word meant "pancake" originally, and changed gradually in the UK after the nastiness of the late 18th century. Canadians, what do you think it means?
@Caitlin seems like @SP and I went down the same rabbit hole: "In Australia, a flapjack is typically a baked, chewy oat bar made with butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup. Similar to British flapjacks, they are a popular, simple "traybake" snack. Note that in the US a "flapjack" refers to a pancake." So... @Petrol, it isn't an awful clue at all. It's just an extra hurdle for some of our foreign solvers. Next time you visit I'll make you buttermilk blueberry flapjacks with maple syrup. I have the recipe taped to the inside of one of my cabinet doors.
A nice Tuesday puzzle. Solid theme, good revealer, and the fill was surprisingly fresh for a Tuesday. I especially liked GAS GUZZLER, and APPALL had my superEGO (ideal?) saying, "Is that how you spell that word?: Like Priya Krishna, I was familiar with UNCANNY VALLEY, but I was happy (?) to refresh my memory on that phenomenon. This morning I'm thinking about how the makers of the fascinating 2014 movie "Ex Machina" avoided that problem by seamlessly casting the beautiful Alicia Vikander as their droid. Thanks, CGI!) And another thank you to our guest columnist, Priya Krishna, whose father anecdote was a nice complement to yesterday's mom story. And, thanks to Ms. Krishna, TIL about the origin of the Six Flags. What she didn't tell us is that one of the flags is for the Confederate States of America. It makes me wonder whether I care to support that establishment (although that's not really an issue, since I despise "amusement" parks in general).
@The X-Phile The word APPALL always reminds me of the comic Bloom County. An exchange between Binkley and his father's new girlfriend: Girlfriend: "I'm Stormee, with two e's." Binkley: "I'm appalled, with two p's." It helps me remember the spelling.
@The X-Phile Cheers! In your defense re: appall, they favor the single-l spelling across the pond.
I love Billy Joel's music, I love "UPTOWN GIRL", and I love the video with the gorgeous Christie Brinkley, who would later become his wife. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E</a> But every time I see it, I think about how the song was not written about Ms. Brinkley, but about another supermodel Mr. Joel dated, Elle McPherson. And I think about an earlier song Mr. Joel wrote, "(I Love You) Just the Way You Are" about his first wife, who he divorced so he could date these others. "An Innocent Man", Mr. Joel? Maybe not so much. [Copied from a comment to @Manhattan]
@The X-Phile Next you'll tell me that Madonna is not, in fact, "Like a Virgin".
@Nancy J I don't claim to have any privileged information about Ms. Ciccone's intimate life, and I don't know how virginal one has to be in order to be "like" a virgin, but I might point out that she didn't write the song, that honor belongs to Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly And as a bonus, I'd present you with Quentin Tarantino's idiosyncratic interpretation of the lyric's "true" meaning: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRd2gti9rHE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRd2gti9rHE</a>
As a proud El Pasoan/Fronterizo really enjoyed your tie-ins from the puzzle to the scenery. Can’t wait to see your food recommendations.
Other Wordplayers have provided wonderful musical offerings form Spoon and Flynn/MacFarlane, and the puzzle itself gave us earworms to Bill Joel and whichever movement of Holst's Planets rocks your world. So here's mine--the part-song "It was a Time when Silly Bees . . ." by Elizabethan composer John Dowland: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy-gqw-GzGI&list=RDwy-gqw-GzGI&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy-gqw-GzGI&list=RDwy-gqw-GzGI&start_radio=1</a> The lyrics are full of contemporary (16th c.) political allegory, and over-done puns on "time"/"thyme," but how can you not like a song with the line "Peace, PEEVish bee!" (Which might be a fitting motto for many commenters on this forum.)
I thought it was a perfect Tuesday. Interesting comments. I knew Dire Wolf from, well, because I knew about it. Never saw Game of Thrones. And though I didn’t know asahi or Kel, the crosses helped. I winged it on Ariana Grande. I enjoyed the puzzle a lot for Tuesday, just enough work that it didn’t come all in one go.
@Crevecoeur Cheers! My hope is always that my work will put up at least a modicum of resistance. Who wants a puzzle that's utterly non-puzzling?
Today’s poem made from words found in today’s puzzle <br> <br> a/ across the curve of planets <br> the sound of the wolf <br> the sign… the expanse of a king <br> once in the why of things <br> d/ bound along the water of time <br> her dream seen new <br> her world in wonder <br> the winter lake a/ the valley rim <br> the mountain the river the air… <br> the i-o-i-o-i-o-ooooo! <br> <br>
@Peter Valentine Would this qualify as meta verse? Evocative!
Props to Priya for her guest column and props to Ryan for a fun (if quick and easy) puzzle! I appreciate a good fill with lots of high-scoring letters. HAZYIPA was a nice timely entry. Keep it up.
@Alex Cheers, Alex! You seem to be in the minority with your assessment of the difficulty level there; glad to hear the material was on your wavelength. :)
But will the rest of the week live up to this Tuesday challenge? ....we'll be crucified by Friday!
@Norwood I honestly can't tell if you're making a religious pun here or or if it's just coincidental that you wrote it right before Good Friday. 🤔
Our columnist of the day writes: 39A. [Typeface that sounds like the name of a Disney princess]... Okay, puzzle editors. That's the online clue, but the print clue is [Basic typeface]. Make up your minds!
N.B. Given her position at The Times, I'm glad our guest columnist did not mistakenly enter MYSTICpIzza.
@Barry Ancona A decision to easify (sic) the puzzle for online users, eh?
@Barry Ancona My print clue said {Typeface that sounds like the name of a Disney princess]. Pdf, not the newspaper edition.
Times Rita, The Newspaper Version PDF and the actual puzzle in the paper have [Basic typeface] as the clue.
@Barry Ancona interesting. any stats on how often they make a last-minute change like that? "Basic font" is awfully dry.
Bob T., xwordinfo.com doesn't track that ... yet! It has been happening recently on weekday puzzles. In the past, I only recall changes to the Sunday puzzle when errors are caught or clues are reconsidered after the Magazine is printed on Wednesday.
@Barry Ancona Over at Diary of a Crossword Fiend, the WaPo’s Evan Birnholz lists five clues that are different in the online and print versions. (Excuse me if someone else has already mentioned this; I haven’t yet read all the Wordplay comments.)
Eric, No excusing needed. I didn't compare the puzzles in their entirety. I noted two variants here as people commented on a digital clue that didn't match my Newspaper Version PDF solve experience (confirmed in the paper). There may well be three others!
I knew of Magic Mountain due to its unofficial competition with Cedar Point to be the coaster capital of the US. One park would add one, then the other, and each would try to get something more exciting or thrilling to keep the advantage. Spent a year in El Paso, working at the Army hospital in 1972, and enjoyed an occasional meal at the original Grigg's Restaurant, now long gone as a break from the Army mess. Not familiar with either uncanny valley or lollop, but they pretty much filled in with the crosses so it wasn't difficult to finish them and close out the puzzle. A nice Tuesday, thanks, Ryan!
@JayTee I made this puzzle in Austin, so it was a treat seeing Priya rhapsodize over West Texas (as the Mountain Goats did before her).
Ahh, MAGIC MOUNTAIN. My favorite amusement park growing up here in Southern California. Back when I loved the thrill of a roller coaster ride…. Developing vertigo as an adult has really put a damper on things. On another note, we took our kids to see Billy Joel when we lived in Wisconsin. He sang UPTOWN GIRL, but even more interesting was him playing lead guitar while one of his roadies sang an AC/DC song for us. Who knew?!
@Jacqui J A childhood friend and I once braved the Goliath at Magic Mountain together. 85 mph at the depth of its intimidating drop -- I was ashen and speechless afterwards, as my mom recounts to this day. No regrets, tho!
Fantastic puzzle, lots of great entries. I’m a huge fan of HAZY IPAs, so it was satisfying to see that entry as a fresh take on the ubiquitous IPA that we see so often. Also for some reason I loved TAVERN next to THE RAT (great imagery I think, or half of a potential tavern name?) and ALARM on top of BLEEP. A Billy Joel reference topped it all off, thanks Ryan!
@Sam But of course! Thanks for solving, Sam.
Three solid themers and a perfect revealer along with some nice fill like HAZY IPA, GAS GUZZLER and LOLLOP made for a more interesting than usual Tuesday. A+ from me. I always do the crossword first thing in the morning, so it often inspires my playlist. I think I'll be listening to a lot of Grateful Dead today. DIRE Wolf <a href="https://youtu.be/VWY4hyIlsqQ?si=QiiyhV4xRnHvmrCz" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/VWY4hyIlsqQ?si=QiiyhV4xRnHvmrCz</a>