Being more familiar with hot peppers than Cuban dancing, I had 8D as HABANERO. This made 34A GO OUT WITH A BONG. Wrong maybe but I hope to see this in a future puzzle.
I've been doing NYT puzzles since I was 11 and I'm 63. I got personal records both yesterday and today. Granted, I don't often do Mondays or Tuesdays anymore, and I know the puzzles have eased up in general over time, but I thought I'd brag anyway.
Well, I'll leave you no longer in suspense... I did come back from my blue star Monday to get a gold star Tuesday. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're way too kind. Your applause is music to my ears.
@Francis I'm happy to provide the visuals for you: 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Take a bow. ;-) 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 (And another one) 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@Francis But wait! There’s more! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
@Francis Music to my ears is to hear that you're still posting, which means breathing. How is the air up there? One evening last week, the smoke was so thick in Detroit, I couldn't see the skyscrapers of downtown from my living room window. The next morning, I wore a KN95 mask on my commute to work, which helped. I dreamed of heading up north, where the air should be fresh and clean, but was, reportedly, worse.
I thought this was nice for a Tuesday--a little stiffer than the usual five-finger exercises. I want to check out REDWINESUPERNOVA simply for the name. Also, it gives me the opportunity to quote Dorothy Parker on Ayn Rand: “Atlas Shrugged is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” IMNSHO, Rand was a deeply damaged person, unworthy to be called either a philosopher or novelist, who translated her trauma into one of the most irrational, hateful and self-centered systems of belief ever devised. I wish she would disappear from crossword puzzles and college curricula. YMMV, as always.
@PuzzleDog As a two time ready of "Atlas Shrugged" I enthusiastically agreed. Both times when I read it (I was about 16, then about 20) I was initially really impressed. Then every time I thought about it, another chunk fell off--another completely contrived plot point or event, a world filled with one-dimensional characters. And within a couple of years, there was nothing left. Glad to hear you and Dorothy Parker agree.
@PuzzleDog Kinda harsh. at the very least you gotta admire someone who has the stamina and imagination to create a fictional writing that detailed and long.
@PuzzleDog I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead as a very young teenager. In those days I'd take out books from the library based on their size, because I couldn't bear getting into a book and having it end too soon. I was blown away by them both, and for a little while she was my hero. By the time I learned that I shouldn't have liked her or the books, I had already forgotten most of the details and couldn't understand why Ayn Rand was so reviled.
As your resident alphadoppeltotter, a role I’ve inexplicably taken in the past eight years, it is my duty to inform you that this puzzle has an unusually low number of double letters, at four, where unusual is any number less than five. This is the fourth time this year that this has happened. I remain your humble servant, ever on the alert.
@Lewis, I wouldn’t have guessed that 4 would be an unusually low number of doppelalphas in a single weekday puzzle. Have you ever pondered the reason why???
@Lewis Thank you. Thank you.
I don’t usually try to scoop Mike, but I have to today—this puzzle just made me so emotional, I got a little big bang teary.
@SP -- THAT HURT! In a good way...
@SP You could hear my shriek from there, couldn't you? Good one. I read it to DHubby and he winced, writhed, and shook his head...
Heh. Describing Carmen as a comic opera is a choice! I did some Wikipedia diving: While Carmen is written in the opéra comique style (spoken dialogue as well as songs), do not mistake it for an opera that is comic. (What I did not need Wikipedia for is the knowledge that the opera has themes of jealousy and possessiveness and lust, and the ending is distinctly not happy) (But I love the music, especially "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (the habanera) and the Toreador theme)
@Isabeau Welp, my head did explode a little when I read that description. Perhaps Sam was channeling the Gilligan's Island musical adaption of Hamlet? <a href="https://youtu.be/Kz3yL9Jg8bo?si=S-U9FPnXMD42Lmb0" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/Kz3yL9Jg8bo?si=S-U9FPnXMD42Lmb0</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/12sVIlQ6bkQ?si=xV-ix9gs82wx8hiC" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/12sVIlQ6bkQ?si=xV-ix9gs82wx8hiC</a>
I am shocked red wine super nova wasn’t the seed entry. Last summer? You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing a Chappell roan song. Extra points for the fun themer spanners. Nice Tuesday. Thanks Kenneth.
@Weak I didn't notice the extra column until I read, well, the column.
Well, the Libra in me achieved ultimate balance from this puzzle. On one hand, the fireworks, ka-pow, and kablooie of the theme kindled buoyancy and spark. Here was a puzzle that truly had pop. It brought me alive, got me buzzing. On the other, as I looked over the completed grid, with its remarkably junk-free answer set, I went to a zen place of calm, of serenity. This doesn’t happen very often; it takes a special puzzle to trigger it. I’m never looking for it; it just happens. Vibrant and chill, now that’s a rare and wonderful state of mind to be in, and that’s how I left the box today. That is a gift, Kenneth. Thank you for making this!
Proud Papa warning. Here's the video for REDWINESUPERNOVA, edited by...my daughter Raven! <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VS6ixn2berk&list=RDVS6ixn2berk&start_radio=1&pp=ygUScmVkIHdpbmUgc3VwZXJub3ZhoAcB" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VS6ixn2berk&list=RDVS6ixn2berk&start_radio=1&pp=ygUScmVkIHdpbmUgc3VwZXJub3ZhoAcB</a>
Please bring back the theme and tricky clues header at the top of the wordplay. I hate accidentally getting theme spoilers when I just need help with a tricky clue
@Kristen ? I see the headings. Did there used to be direct links or simething?
I initially read 5A as "Gnome component," and I confidently entered HAT. Oops. Let's get the coffee brewing!
Pretty impressive grid for a Tuesday, and some fun theme material. Andrzej, you might appreciate this—BADABINGBADABOOM reminds me of the “Badabing, Badabang” episode from Star Trek Deep Space Nine, and brings back fond memories of James Darren’s role as the holodeck crooner Vic Fontaine. One of Star Trek’s most engaging holodeck characters, in my opinion.
@SP Indeed, he was a great character, with surprising depth. I recently rewatched DS9 and I found it much better than what I remembered from the 1990s. Apparently it's a show you appreciate more as an adult than a teenager. Maybe because human (and non-human) interest seems to be at the forefront, rather than straight up adventure? As for the character, when I first the the episode I may have looked at the screen with a dog-like tilt of the head: is that the guy from "The Guns of Navarone"?! And it was! Did you really remember the title of the episode? I recall some ST episode titles ("The Menagerie" of the original series, "All Good Things..." of TNG), but definitely a huge minority of them.
@SP I was into the original Star Trek series--when I was studying for my qualifying exams in grad school I'd take a break every day to watch reruns. As I read, I tried to imagine Mr. Spock explaining it to me with his distinctive enunciation. But I never got past the Second Generation. It sounds like Deep Space Nine would be a good place to pick back up?
Also meant to include @Andrzej on that reply.
@Andrzej Yes I did remember the title, nerd that I am. Like you I didn’t appreciate Deep Space Nine as much the first time around (I wasn’t a teenager, but still) but in re-viewing I also thought it was amazing, and one of the more mature and well-developed, well acted, Star Trek series. There’s a great documentary on it, one of the best documentaries on the making of a TV show I can remember, you might want to check it out: What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. @Francis Yes I would highly recommend checking it out. As with most Star Trek shows, the first season or two can be a bit uneven, so you have to stick with it.
@SP - I too thought of that episode when filling in that answer, and had bang at the end instead of boom for awhile as a result. Deep Space Nine was my favorite Star Trek series.
The same people complaining about not knowing REDWINESUPERNOVA are the same ones who have something to say when the youth doesn’t know songs from the 60s and 70s.. oh well, shrug
Nagasaki crossing with Bada Bing Bada Boom...yikes, talk about triggering for some folk! I'll be curious if the constructor gets any flak for that one. Hello Daddy, Hello Mom: I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EBvXpjudf8&list=RD_EBvXpjudf8&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EBvXpjudf8&list=RD_EBvXpjudf8&start_radio=1</a>
@john ezra You're really covering all the bases with "This might be triggering to some folk" and "Here's a link to a 50-year-old song with 'bomb' in the title!" And if we're being technical, wouldn't crossing Nagasaki with "Go out with a bang" be far worse?
@john ezra The question is, does reference to another less tragic or fraught piece of a place's history amount to an erasure of the tragic or to a revival of the place's larger history? When I say Dresden, do you think of delicate china or Allied carpet-bombing? What would a German say today? Can we hold two thoughts at once?
@john ezra So long, Mom. I'm off to drop the bomb, So don't wait up for me. But though I may roam, I'll come back to my home, Although it may be A pile of debris.
Potential spoiler alert for the end of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle". Spoiler below... May I add my favorite to the lists of elegiac sounds. Kurt Vonnegut's "Grand Ah-whoom" in the breathtaking "Cat's Cradle". From the master himself: "There was a sound like that of the gentle closing of a portal as big as the sky, the great door of heaven being closed softly. It was a grand AH-WHOOM." I can hear it in my head. I think everyone can hear it in their heads, too.
@Francis The sound of Ice-9!
@Francis everytime I see a stack of cannonballs....
Sam, you’re not alone! I too didn’t know that a record could mean a single song. I was very curious how Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was going to fit into 16 spaces and how it related to BANGs.
@Elena Glad I’m not alone, and at least we both learned something new!
@Elena What? We have some Old 78's that don't even have anything on the flip side. And what about 45's? Did I read/understand this comment correctly?
@Elena This is probably a sign of the irrelevance of the Grammys, considering their "Record of the Year" usually goes to a single song.
When my Acer laptop is in sleep mode, if I try to wake it, it hisses at me. Is this just a setting I can change, or should I be worried? OGRE OHGROWUP is my crossword earworm for the day. And my mantra.
@JohnWM Maybe you should ask on Reddit.
poem made from words in today’s puzzle a/ someone found a haw under the sink, a clean haw with colorful tips and d/ 21 pips! made its home, it has to mature in some corner in standard hot/cold conditions it has a long a/ sleep season yeah
I finished the puzzle and had to nitpick to find my error. I was confusing the Cuban dance style with the HABANERo pepper, but then I realized you can't really GO OUT WITH A BoNG. Or maybe you can...
@JenL I also had an "O" for the last letter of 9-down. Sounded perfectly reasonable to me to go out with a bong! :)
My principal piano mentor at The University of Michigan, Marian Owen, a native of Cuba, insisted that a real Habaňera went slower than the familiar Carmen aria. She scorned the Carmen Habañera as “nothing but a cheap Spanish tango.”
@alphabetjohn I bet Marian Owen. a native of Cuba, would have rapped your knuckles for putting the tilde on "habanera."
Yesterday, in response to the difference between "less" and "fewer," I posted a link to Weird Al's parody, "Word Crimes." I'll repost that link today, as there is a reference to today's puzzle, at 2:42--don't blink or you'll miss it!: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc&list=RD8Gv0H-vPoDc&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc&list=RD8Gv0H-vPoDc&start_radio=1</a>
@Bill Just as fun today as it was yesterday. Love those jaunty punctuation marks bopping along. I thought you were referring to 5 across, but comes much later in time.
@Bill I spotted that subtle dig yesterday when I watched the vid.
@Bill Weird Al always brings it. I don't think I've ever seen or heard anything of his that doesn't make me laugh out loud.
I still never remember the difference between song/record/album/single. I kept trying to fit Pink Pony Club or Midwest Princess in there at first
@Tom C. Casual. Is the star of the show. The lyrics are intense. But I love how raw it is.
@Tom C. Records used to be physical objects of various sizes. What confuses the issue is the Grammys having separate awards for song, album, and record of the year, where by ' record' they mean big-selling single.
Banging great puzzle today! Bringing some energy on a Tuesday. So much of life is timing, enough said about that. And thanks for the Pink Pony Club earworm now on repeat in my brain.
And if we started every puzzle with a thought of chocolate Labs that would be good with me.
Never heard of a RED WINE SUPERNOVA before. (But I'm psyched! The Jacobian Conjecture has just been settled — in the negative.)
@Dan That's interesting ... counter-example in dimension three found by Claude Fable 5, Anthropic's LLM. So only the general case in dimension two remains. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobian_conjecture" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobian_conjecture</a>
I thought this was a really good Tuesday! Was pleasantly stumped by the horizontal clues but moved quickly after that. Appreciated a few of the longer entries. My solve time was the same but the process felt better than usual.
A delightful puzzle, with an appropriate mix of gimmes and head-scratchers for a Tuesday. I was surprised, though, when I got the star and saw my time was 40% under my average. I can’t think of BADDA-BING-BADDA-BOOM without thinking of the film Fifth Element. <a href="https://youtu.be/j8WLYzA0lCs?is=sqdlEuyddnYN6shF" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/j8WLYzA0lCs?is=sqdlEuyddnYN6shF</a>
“Sport-ute”? I get the portmanteau-ish thing here, but here in the land of ATVs and many an SUV, I’ve never heard anyone say this. Just wondering if it’s a regional thing (and if so, where) or new (to me) crosswordese or?…
@YooperJake It was familiar to me in SC. But no one says it.
@YooperJake I was sure I was going to get an “almost there” because of that one. And I had to look it up to see what it means. Hint: it’s NOT an athletic indigenous person from Utah.
@YooperJake It was how they were referred to, by the industry, when they first came out, '80s say? Car enthusiasts at the time objected to calling them "sport utes" because they weren't sporty racing cars. They had a narrower view of "sport". And sport ute is kinda clunky to say. So sport ute never really caught on with the general public.
@YooperJake Did you say “utes”? <a href="https://youtu.be/K6qGwmXZtsE?si=IYLspDyQvfja4XMa" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/K6qGwmXZtsE?si=IYLspDyQvfja4XMa</a>
@YooperJake and everybody else in this endless string: The best thing to do with a clue/entry that just doesn't have that ring, is you dress it up! So, here we have SPORT UTE (clunk, ugh)...but if you call it "Sport-U-Tiddledy" you are having a little fun, and you think of "Tiddley-Winks" and get tickled, and maybe snort-chuckle.... It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
@YooperJake I've often heard the small ones called cute utes.
The heat is getting to me: I just left a Comment about today's puzzle on yesterday's WordPlay. Oops. Now: I was up early, did the puzzle, but had to go out to water the languishing plants after our 108 degree heat index that has everything drooping...plants, humans, and even the lightposts. So, here I am again, beached on the prongs of a trident (candy, actress, REDWINESUPERNOVA, Sport-UTE,oops-too-many.) I got them all, but all I really wanted was for the puzzle to be over so I could go get more ice water. Fave entry was HABAÑERA... My sister and I used to sing along with Risé Stevens while we did the dishes. Ah, Carmen.....
@Mean Old Lady Are you sure you're not trapped in The Persistence of Memory?
Clever theme! I was Today’s years old when I learned that Starbursts are indeed a form of taffy… 😂 BADA BING BADA BOOM! Rating: 9/10
@Darren I agree!! Never in a million years were starbursts considered taffy.
@Darren that was a lightbulb moment for me too. I did like them as a kid, and I also liked salt water taffy, and it never occurred to me that they were basically the same. The first sentence of the Wikipedia article calls them taffy.
@Darren Same! Some marketing genius must've said, let's never call it taffy and no one will know.
Most of the puzzle was fun and quick today, but I have nitpicks about the SE corner. Having the big clue RED WINE SUPERNOVA for people not familiar with the artist was tough to guess when it crossed HEP which really feels like it should be HIP. Then also crossing TRIVET which I’ve never h heard of, a Mexican geography clue and TEASE which I don’t understand as an answer to Backcomb, all next to each other.
@Chris You asked. I don't recommend doing it. <a href="https://howcast.com/videos/511631-how-to-tease-your-hair-hair-tutorials" target="_blank">https://howcast.com/videos/511631-how-to-tease-your-hair-hair-tutorials</a>/
@Chris What tripped me up with TRIVET and TEASE was thinking 55A should be spelled HEINey.
@Chris, I’m not a gamer, so RPG didn’t come naturally, but I had _EDWINE, so I figure it had to be REDWINE…. Then on the right hand side, I had SUPERN___, so filling in OVA was easy even for me, even though I don’t recall knowing that title. But I get your HiP/HEP dilemma, as well as the Mexican State. Trivet was a word I learned after I was dating my (now) wife, so I’ve been kind of surprised to learn today that quite a few didn’t know it - something else to thank my wife for when she gets home tonight. And TEASE was easy after I had NOVA, and also helped me with the spelling of HEINIE (avoiding any temptation for the -ey ending instead of -ie).
@Chris Not knowing the exact title of the Roan album I thought the E must be an I forever especially for Tuesday. HEP isn't a thing HIP is.
Wait, BODEGA is in fact just a corner store?? I've been told by New Yorkers for years that it is something so holy and sacred that us simple folk in the middle of the country can't even comprehend a corner store within walking distance that has groceries and a deli, something that exists all over the country.
@Craig 😂 Yes, it sounds way more exotic than just another Seven-Eleven. For a long time I had "bodega" confused with "bordello", which caused some strange looks when I asked for directions in New York City.
@Craig I think it's all about the cat. But what do we benighted Upper Midwesterners know?
I rarely do Tuesday puzzles but had a go at this one. And it was great! Enough bite to tax the brain cells a bit, some clever entries and clueing -- well done!
I have never seen “hep” before, is that a term that is used??
@D No, Daddio. It's from the Jazz Age (30s-40s) when, if you were cool, you might be called a hepcat.
In case BOOM, BLAST, BANG, and BURST are triggering in a negative way to anyone, here's a song to help you reframe: Bob Schneider with "The World Exploded Into Love" – <a href="https://youtu.be/S9udALiWXbM?is=aMyBlY0TLXjHihmf" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/S9udALiWXbM?is=aMyBlY0TLXjHihmf</a> As for me, I thought the puzzle was creative and fun. easy breezy and over too soon. Thank you, Mr. Cortes! (For yet another musical interlude, here's Roxy Music with OH YEAH – <a href="https://youtu.be/EfCAHjm9ox0?is=1OPMr2cg7wrnaEqg" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/EfCAHjm9ox0?is=1OPMr2cg7wrnaEqg</a>)
Towards the end I got caught up by reading the clue for HEINIE as [Backslide]. Nice one. Thanks.
@John Carson At first I penciled in "revert" until I saw backside, not slide.
Coincidentally, when I looked for a version of HEPcat's "Dance Wid' Me" to post, this version from the SUPERNOVA Ska Festival came up. <a href="https://youtu.be/okYIKKHBrE8?si=c5qqtodnoz8lAgZW" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/okYIKKHBrE8?si=c5qqtodnoz8lAgZW</a>
Fun Tuesday puzzle. I didn't know the Chappell Roan record but got it from crosses. Like many others, apparently, I never thought of Starburst candy as a type of toffee either, but wasn't bothered by that. Thanks for the entertainment, Kenneth Cortez.
Red Wine Supernova is not a record, it's a single off of the record, you should fix that error.
@Kyle A single is a record, and an album is a record.
@Kyle Is the confusion because people are too young to remember singles (45 RPMs) being called records? Back in my day, we called singles "records" and the collection was a "record album."
@Kyle Off the record, it looks like you should read about records. btw, which single won record of the year this year? Oh yeah, that would be the album "Luther".
@Andrzej Yeah. Once I had enough crossings I realized I had heard of it before, but pretty obscure for a Tuesday. And while we're at it: Sport-UTE? I got it with crossings, but had absolutely no idea what it was until I looked it up.
@Andrzej And in contrast to NanuNanu, I think "trivet" is super common. You can look in any online kitchen-supply catalog, from commercial to high-end consumer (like Williams-Sonoma) and find whole sections devoted to them. Probably depends on how much time you spend in the kitchen. I used to be a chef and all, so...
@Andrzej A stumpy three legged stand, usually made of metal, that you place hot pans on to save damaging a kitchen worktop. Possibly a little old fashioned now as worktops have become much more robust. Unless you foolishly go for wood as a friend of mine did. Scorch marks and indelible stains from cumin, chilli etc. mark her cooking journey. No, she didn’t use a TRIVET.
@Andrzej It's what a frog with a particular tongue malformation says.
@Andrzej TRIVET is used on the regs in my house. Our son made one in shop class and it’s displayed on the table. (And we have at least five others.) My husband once called it a “trestle” so he finds it funny every…single…time… to refer to our trivets as trestles.
@Andrzej Also, our dining room table is as delicate as it is beautiful, so alllllll the trivets come out for big family dinners.
@Andrzej In our kitchen we have two metal trivets, although one, if not both (I'm not at home right now), have *four* little legs--and therefore should properly be called "quadrivets." Very useful for cooling pies upon.
Tried and failed to solve this one using just the horizontal clues. Had the top half in place---including the revealer---and odds and ends in the bottom half. Finally gave up and resorted to verticals, which allowed me to finish the puzzle easily enough. Just couldn't figure out the last two thematic entries. "Taffy" and STARBURST simply didn't connect in my head, and the Chappell Roan record was a total unknown. Furthermore, with endings like BOOM, BLAST, BANG and BURST, REDWINESUPERNOVA doesn't even seem thematic to me. And SUPERNOVA basically duplicates STARBURST. To me, this puzzle is thematically busted, and I would have sent it back for reworking. And, much more horrifying, "Which person are you referring to?" calls for WHOM, not WHO. ;-)
One more puzzle find - a Sunday from May 30, 1971 by Keith Blake with the title "Extra Values." Some theme answers: NICELYNICELY ABSALOMABSALOM MERRILYMERRILY JOHNJOHN TEMPERTEMPER And then a pair of answers, the second referencing the first as a clue: MILESTOGOBEFOREISLEEP MILESTOGOBEFOREISLEEP Don't recall another one quite like that. Here's the link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=5/30/1971&h=8d" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=5/30/1971&h=8d</a> ....
Good puzzle 🧩 but what is Sport-UTE?
@Convoid-04 Oh okay I looked it up! My face, red 🥅
Surprised a song with those lyrics would be a hot one. Will we ever stop with lyrics that are demeaning to women?
@Cathy King Well sure, I guess a song written by a woman can be demeaning to women. But I did not see that in this song.
@Cathy King Just because a song is about a sexual experience with a woman doesn’t mean that it’s demeaning to that woman. You don’t have to like the song, but there is no disrespectful language in it.
@Cathy King It's not just song lyrics. Many a female TikTok influencer has built their career on advice that is demeaning to women, leading their flock by example down regrettable avenues. But the boys are catching up, with the manosphere looksmaxxing crapola, etc. Science tells us that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25, roughly. We often see anecdotal proof of this.
"Starbursts" are, to me, a type of hard candy. They are white disks, maybe 3/4" in diameter and 1/4" thick, with rounded edges and a bright red starburst design radiating from the center. They are popular with a lot of factory workers who are forbidden to eat while working. They don't require chewing, and you can still speak with one tucked away in a cheek, so they are nearly undetectable. I never used them, because I knew the consequences of having essentially a hard lump of sugar resting against your teeth for hours: decay, unhealthy gums, and insulin resistance. But I appreciated the small act of rebellion.
The fact that “record” (not recording) can refer to one song, and not the entire album is proof that the English language and the world is going down the dumpster, or maybe that I’m just a grumpy boomer (and a grandfather as of yesterday).
@John k. Grammys "Record of the year" Always has been a single.
@John k., C’mon “boomer” (and I say that sympathetically, as I am a GB, grumpy boomer, as well), the Best Record (not best recording) award has been given since the Grammy Awards began in 1959. Congrats on becoming a grandfather!
@John k. You buried the lead. Congrats papa.
The best use of SKINT is, I think, by Sidney Poitier in To Sir With Love.
Did it, didn't like it. A number of questionable clues. Taffy?
@R.J. Smith It's not my idea of candy, but apparently it's considered to be taffy. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starburst_(candy" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starburst_(candy</a>)
Re Sam's comment on "record" in the column, I'm old enough to remember when you could buy a record with a single song on it.* Don't know if anyone still makes 45s anymore, but I've heard vinyl albums have had a resurgence so maybe? (There were/are also CD singles, but I've never bought one.) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music</a>) * Well, actually two, as there is/was (usually) one song on each side.
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen, Occasionally, BSIDE shows up in the Xword.