Happiness is a Robyn Weintraub Friday.
@Vaer Well, I'm back after solving, and it was fun. Got stuck in the NE for a while, because of a few typos, forgot about the PILLs, and had CSI before MTV. Isn't a 3 letter TV show either CSI or SNL? And I RAN AGROUND by the ISLE. Loved the clue for SANTA. Thank you, Robyn.
Nice to see yet another Robyn Weintraub Friday. They aren't the hardest themeless puzzles, but they are among the freshest. I don't think there are many CURVEBALLS here, but if people find them I'm sure they'll LET ME KNOW. Thanks, Robyn!
"Would you like a baked good?" "Donut mind if I do!" ("Wait, I can't find any!" "You must be glazed and confused.")
@Mike A holey unacceptable case, sprinkled with cooked up, old fashioned, cinnamontal twists. Words dessert me.
@Mike Sounds like the beginning of a new school year. Do you think the kids are all right?
@Mike That’s cruller than usual. Are you feeling a little jelly?
@Mike I’m not sure we knead puns like this
Classic Robyn Weintraub puzzle. I was doing fine until the NE threw me some CURVEBALLS. Seldom instead of RARELY and Lees instead of LEVI made it harder, so perhaps I threw the CURVEBALLS at myself. I loved the clue for SANTA.,
@Marshall Walthew Now there's an old cultural divide: Lees or LEVIs? I found Lees fit me better, back in the day.
@Marshall Walthew I wrote in LEES also. My one (well, two, counting the V and the I) blemish.
It's the eve of Rosh HaShanah, so I'll be checking out soon and then gone 'til Sunday night. For those who observe: may you be written and sealed for a sweet year. And to the commentariat at large: thanks for a wonderful year. I'm grateful for all the tidbits of knowledge you've shared. And to those with whom I've had a snit: I apologise. It's odd how the little pane of glass between us seems to tap my id on the shoulder and say: Now's your chance! Be as disagreeable, shrill, and overbearing as you like. I'm working on it. Sometimes I feel as though I should be surrounded by those construction hoardings that keep all the shaggy mess hidden inside. Hoping for a better year for all.
Yes to the return of the now RARELY seen Weintraub Friday! The thing with Robyn's puzzles is that even if I get stuck here or there, I still feel SOOTHEd by the puzzle and still feel on her wavelength. It's pure magic what she accomplishes in terms of how I feel solving her puzzles. My personal LOL moment came at [How often blue moons occur.] Hmm, let me think...umm...once in a blue moon? [THUD] Thank you, Robyn, for gracing us with your talent! And for those who weren't there when MTV launched in 1981, here is the first music video we all watched (back when MTV was really Music Television) – <a href="https://youtu.be/W8r-tXRLazs?is=IOE0nsnaTqiKDmWL" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/W8r-tXRLazs?is=IOE0nsnaTqiKDmWL</a> "Ladies and gentlemen, rock 'and roll." 😉
@sotto voce I was there, but why have I thought all these years that Aha's Take on Me was the first video when it launched? 🤔
@@HeathieJ Maybe the first animated video?
@sotto voce this brings back fond memories of my first apartment in 2004 and having MTV music videos on as background... And enjoyed the flow and clever wordplay of the puzzle, thanks Robyn!
@sotto voceOne of the things I like about that video is the bass that Trevor is playing at the end. I have an electric guitar that's a sibling to it, very nice instruments.
Well it’s hard to be anything but agog at a new Robyn Weintraub offering, whose puzzles we have been awaiting with bated breath. And as usual we were given a pretty pristine grid, that even the most die-hard trivia complainers should be happy about, without a hint of a Natick—unless maybe TIA and EDITH, but who can be mad about a call out to the ageless Lily Tomlin? <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GIaydiPi-zY&pp=0gcJCYsCo7VqN5tD&ra=m" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GIaydiPi-zY&pp=0gcJCYsCo7VqN5tD&ra=m</a> And lots of lovely Weintraubian clues like SANTA and GSUIT and TELETHON and GLITTERPEN and IOTA. That said, alas, it was over far too soon for me, suggesting that the insidious tendrils of the Great Easening, like the invasion of the body snatchers, has wormed their way into the puzzles of even our most celebrated enigmatologists, and it’s only a matter of time before all of us, I suppose, will be shuffling along and sending piercing shrieks at anyone daring to create a puzzle that can’t be solved in less time than an unboxing video of an iPhone. That’s ok, it was still worth it to see a master at work and another fun and brilliant grid, thanks Robyn!
@SP I'm always operating on at least two levels on Friday - Sunday. The level of solving the puzzle, of course. But also the level of evaluating how easy or hard it's coming for me. I started in the NW as usual, and filled it out with no difficulty and I thought "oh oh". But then the rest of it gave me more resistance, and I thought, "well, maybe...". But, not to be. I finished in a time about a third longer than what is takes me for what are now considering evidence of the Great Easening. So it was a bit on the right side of the GE, at least. But that was no where near the gulp-inducing experiences of having almost nothing on a first lap. Still, though, I enjoyed it (I mean it *was* a Weintraub, for Pete's sake), which should be the sole consideration. But it somehow isn't.
@SP - Tia Carrere and Edith Ann were gimmes for me. Maybe it's an age thing.
@SP Most previous Weintraub puzzles have been impossibly difficult for me - I can't recall ever solving one without lookups. This one, however, I managed to complete on my own, and in Wednesday time, too...
@SP I think “the Great Easening” is perhaps a bit of a melodramatic moniker. People enjoy crosswords for a variety of reasons, but generally appear (to me) to fall into two camps. One group loves puzzles for the trivia and therefore enjoys Sam E. for the arcane, reaching-into-the-murky-depths-of-once-heard-names style of puzzle. These puzzles tend to be “harder” because if you don’t know enough proper nouns, you simply cannot complete them. The other group tends to enjoy crosswords for their wordplay and clever turns of phrase and favors puzzles like Robyn’s, where the trivia takes a backseat to the turns of phrase. Neither is wrong, but puzzles have increasingly become one way or another (in my estimation.) The two approaches tend to be mutually exclusive, given the limited grid space means any trivia necessarily takes away from any wordplay clues, and vice versa. Puzzles aren’t getting easier, it’s just that fewer of them rely exclusively on your knowledge of athletes, actors, artists; poets, politicians, philosophers; musicians, magicians, mathematicians; or even news anchors, nautical terms, or other such nonsense.
A hug from a child A smile from a baby A surprise call from an old friend Robyn Weintraub Fridays
Good morning. I just need to reach out and say a word of caring to all humans who shared the day 25 years ago, and carry the effects forward. May we all care for one another and this earth we share.
To all my fellow puzzles solvers who lived in NYC or lost loved ones on this day 25 years ago, you have my sincerest condolences and prayers. We will never forget!
Not quite, but close to a personal best solve time. This just felt too straightforward for a Friday.
@JMW , I thought the same thing but actually did set my Friday best so maybe I shouldn’t complain haha
Completing today’s puzzle brings my streak to 1826, five years on the nose. How fitting that it be another gem from Ms. Weintraub, one of my favourite constructors. As I type this, I’m enroute from Hong Kong to San Francisco (CX 870) and from there I will continue on to Portland, OR. But because the Crossword releases at the same moment worldwide (unlike other NYT puzzles which are referenced to local time), there’s no threat to losing a streak because of a timezone change. It’s my hope to get to 2000 then take a break. We shall see! Mark
Clean, smooth, clever, a generous sense of humor, something to savor. I could be talking about a 94 pt. bottle of Bordeaux! Questioned only [Ptolemy III?] -- a specific enough Greek guy to warrant considering him part of the clue for who he is, but the muddled grammar -- it should be [Ptolemy's III?] -- made me think it would be a better clue if it was a place in Greece -- that would make much more grammatical sense -- and preferably a place that sounds like a person's name, like Rhodes, Argos, Samos, or Olympia -- so that it might just be Olympia the Third. Such a longwinded explanation as to why I don't care for the clue, after just saying how much I liked the puzzle! Don't get me wrong. It's so good it's good!
@john ezra The thing that bothered me was that it was about a Greek who ruled Egypt, but finding the Greek-ish answer involved what we now call Roman numerals. Perhaps they were doing “one stroke is one, two strokes are two, three strokes are three,” but more likely they were using the older Semitic system, where alpha is one, beta is two and gamma is three, as they still do in Hebrew. I figured it out all right, but it seemed odd nonetheless.
@john ezra Totally agree that [Ptolemy's III?] is a far better clue. If there are puzzle editor openings at NYT, I can write you a letter of reference.
@john ezra I’d disagree, Ptolemy’s III would take the misdirect out of it. Yeah, Ptolemy III isn’t quite grammatically correct; but I think the question mark allows for it. Also in some contexts you can use proper names in an adjectival sense; think about “Franklin stove”. Or for example, I might clue TOPGUN as “Cruise vehicle?” and I don’t think eyebrows would be raised.
Sometimes, for me, a Friday puzzle will drag well into Saturday, so I make sure to start them when they come out at 10pm my time. Happy surprise! No dragging of my feet and scraping along today, but eagerly gobbling up nice and long, sensical and fresh answers! Delicious! 😋 Quick puzzle, but in my opinion the level/difficulty of a crossword is not determined by the speed at which I can solve it. Often, I find clunky puzzles can actually take the longest (and sometimes with less of a payoff, though to each their own I guess). This puzzle had me grinning ear to ear, and the fact that the Friday treat I usually save for lunch didn’t make it past my midnight snackage didn’t detract from my enjoyment of it in the slightest, much like the cat that ate the canary 😁 ————— This is just to say I have solved The puzzle For Friday And which I usually Save For lunch break Forgive me It was so nice So witty And so clever Happy Friday Eve :)
@poptart I too am fond of plums and puzzles.
I neglected to look at who presented us with this lovely puzzle, and as I finished I was thinking "this is very like a Robyn Weintraub Friday", and then looked and found out that it was (seriously, this happened!). I am always delighted when I see that Robyn is the constructor. It's not necessarily going to be easy, but it is going to be smooth, and once you get a toehold the answers seem to give you just enough to get the next, and it keeps going until you've completed the solve. She has an amazing talent and is one of my favorite constructors. Nice to see your work again, Robyn, and thanks!
Robyn’s name on a puzzle has quickly become one that inspires great expectations which are quickly and consistently exceeded. I love crosswords for the wordplay, and boy does Robyn deliver. Tons and tons of fun, twisty clues (I loved the “key chain” one personally.) While not the most challenging of Fridays, this one had just enough crunch to give me pause, but plenty of chuckles and “aha!” moments to spur me back onward. Another positively delightful puzzle—welcome back, Robyn!
“LEGOS”? Let the games begin!
Since I'm sure it will come up soon enough, I will just point out the notion that "the plural of LEGO is LEGO" is a marketing ploy by the company and none of us are under any obligation to adhere to it.
@Shrike reminds me of when Mattel tweeted about the rules of Uno. Thanks but no thanks, it’s our rules now!
@Shrike Particularly because they speak Danish. LEGO is a sort of contraction in Danish, but not in English, so their reasoning doesn't apply.
@Shrike I believe it’s more of a trademark issue than a marketing ploy (how would that drive sales?), but I do agree that no one who isn’t employed by the Lego Group is obligated to follow that diktat.
@Shrike That's not an accurate characterization. They say refer to the elements as "Lego bricks," "Lego blocks," etc. Seems reasonable to me. I don't see how it has anything to do with marketing. BTW I don't care if anyone wants to use "legos." It's free country.
I'm very disappointed. Usually, whenever LEGOS appears on the grid, there are at least two dozen surplus objections by now. I see only about 10 comments. Clearly, the Department of Repetitious Redundancy Department is slacking!
@Captain Quahog wait for it...
@Captain Quahog Told you
I really enjoyed this puzzle. I always enjoy Robyn’s challenges and this one was a bit less daunting than most. I figured some would complain that it wasn’t Friday-ish enough, but I loved feeling a little more clever than I usually do on Fridays. To each his or her own I say. I haven’t commented in quite awhile. I was sick for a week or so but grateful to be doing better. It is a sad day and I was glad none of the puzzles featured that horrid history. I know we all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news. My memory about lots of things in the past is getting worse but I suppose I’ll always remember 9/11. Be well, all. Hold your loved ones tight.
As I went on a rampage dissing yesterday’s puzzle, I felt strongly that I should say how much I enjoyed today’s. Nicely done.
on this solemn day thank you Robyn and editorial staff for a classic Friday. keep up the amazing puzzling!
Fun fun fun!! As I gear up for my first ever crossword tournament this October, I'm so excited to see myself getting better and better at Fridays. Great clues, super fun solve! Amazing confidence builder :)
Ha, I thought, this is going to be easy, then I hit the HURDLES, RAN AGROUND, and fell with a THUD. Why isn't it rest in the "deep"? Maybe on "deck"? It SOOTHED my wounded EGO somewhat when I finally found it, despite feeling like a dummy about the OSCAR PARTY. Hi, Robyn. Where have you been? Devising devilish puzzles no doubt, and we pray that you'll keep on doing that forever. Thank you for this one.
Finished this puzzle 13 seconds short of a PB, and knew *exactly* how the early comments would go: “not the hardest perhaps, but another gem of a puzzle from Robyn Weintraub!” And as expected from Rex Parker: 4.5 stars, zero complaints about lack of difficulty (he actually spun that positively in terms of a Friday “whoosh” factor). Oh, and a few commenters have already chimed in to say they got PBs today. All that to say — this was a nice grid (as anyone would expect from Robyn), but largely ruined by the easy mode clueing.
@Anonymous Only Robyn seems to get away with early week level puzzles on a Friday. Yes, I get it, they're quality puzzles. That's why we need a themeless Wednesday option
And here's a list of the most common answer words from the pre-Shortz era that haven't appeared since...tell me if the words you get nowadays are obscure! Rank Count Words 1. 148 INEE 2. 135 ARAR 3. 119 UNAL 4. 109 ENARE 5. 107 ENNS 6. 106 ATLE 7. 103 ISER 8. 102 IRADE 9. 98 AMENT 10. 95 AVAL 11. 93 TAA 12. 87 STOSS 13. 79 NEP 14. 76 SAIC 15. 75 OLENT SNY 17. 70 PALI UNAU 19. 68 AROA ILI 21. 67 EBOE 22. 66 AET 23. 65 RENAN SPT 25. 63 ACOR 26. 62 INIA NEF 28. 59 ICA SPES 30. 58 TOLA 31. 57 IRO 32. 55 ADIB 33. 54 ANAM 34. 53 ARRA 35. 52 APRA BLE ENAM NIDE SCAP SERES TEIL 42. 51 ARADA BORI IMPI REHAN SIDI 47. 50 LAON ONAS TOLU 50. 49 ESSED UNIO <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Popular?year=psunique" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Popular?year=psunique</a>
@Steve L I've actually been to LAON, home to one of France's most impressive cathedrals 😃 Is EBOE a hybrid oboe/epee?
@Steve L I've heard of one of them! Oops no, I was thinking of "ait." I've heard of exactly none of these.
@Steve L Jeff AMENT played bass guitar for Pearl Jam., and an IMPI was a regiment of Zulu warriors. SIDI Barrani is a town in Egypt, site of a battle in WWII. That's all I got.
@Steve L This is a great reminder of my experiences doing puzzles from the NYT from long ago. I don't think there was ever a puzzle that didn't have at least five words I'd never heard of. This is what I remember from the "good old days" when puzzles were puzzles--a lot of three and four letter combinations that made absolutely no sense.
@Steve L That was very interesting. I went down the list thinking surely I would have encountered one or two at least, but nope. Thanks for showing us this list.
Robyn is the best in my book. Clever but not obtuse.
PB for me. Finished it 40 seconds faster than Monday!
What a lovely, breezy puzzle. We’ve missed you, Robyn.
Lovely. A tad easier than the last few Fridays yes, but the sparkly fill more than made up for it. Chuckled at the SANTA clue. Now, hand me that GLITTERPEN.
Typical long Friday workout for me, but an enjoyable solve as I managed to work out things from the crosses. And... ...27d was particularly appropriate for me. I'm currently residing in a VA home (probably forever) and have four boxes of donut holes at the moment (they're a long time favorite). And... in a roundabout way that led me to my puzzle find today. A Monday from September 19, 2016 by Zhouquin Burnikel. DONUTHOLE was a non-theme answer in that one, but the theme answers... NINEMONTHS THEFOURSEASONS SIXTEENCANDLES ONEFINEDAY And then the 'reveal,' referencing those four answers: HOLLYWOODSQUARES Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/19/2016&h=3d" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/19/2016&h=3d</a> ....
@Rich in Atlanta Thank you for your service.
Personal best for a Friday for me. I was in total sync with the constructor.... I don't think I ended up changing a single answer, which for me on a Friday must be a first. Last Friday had been my fastest Friday, but tonight's this I finished 40% faster than that.
Well that was easy. Wednesday difficulty at best. Seems like the difficulty selection is off this week.
This was quite fun. However, I found the puzzle weirdly easy for a Weintraub creation. Her grids have always been very hard for me, to the point of being unenjoyable. Today's puzzle skewed a bit too far the other way, maybe? I solved it in a Wednesday time of under 17 minutes, which is roughly a third of how long Weintraub Fridays have usually taken me. DONUT HOLES are mentioned in the column but I still don't get it. How can a hole be a treat? Isn't it just air? Or do you call a donut with a hole in it a "donut hole"? Polish donuts are pączki, singular: pączek; the word shares its etymology with the adjective "pękaty", meaning round or fat. As I've mentioned here before, Polish donuts never come with a hole. They are shaped like flattened balls, traditionally fried in lard, filled with rose hip jam, and very lightly iced. Historically, Poles gorge on them on Tłusty Czwartek, Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before lent. On that day, many people queue for hours to get their pączki from the most famous bakeries (and I get my pączki from a wonderful, local bakery where there is never a line 🤷🏽).
@Andrzej. DONUT HOLES are small balls go donut dough fried as would be a donut. They ere allegedly what is pushed out when the holes are made in donuts.
@Andrzej The hole is the center that's been cut out of a ring donut made into its own delicious little treat. So it's just a little orb of dough that created the hole in a ring type donut. It's the hole that's left behind from making a ring type donut. Here's a picture of donuts and their holes... <a href="https://imgur.com/a/4IFZqRP" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/4IFZqRP</a> Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it's been a "hole" lot of fun, I have now said hole way too many times than is appropriate, and I'm just going to stop. 😂😂😂
@Andrzej It's interesting you feel that way about Robin Weintraub's crosswords, because I think most people feel the opposite, that her puzzles are very smooth and easier than others. Maybe it's because she uses a lot of informal conversational bits that may not be global: a good example of that here would be THAT DOES IT (or, as might be said by the frustrated speaker who is at their breaking point about the neighbor who keeps playing loud music after repeatedly being told not to, "All right, that does it, I'm calling the cops!"). The same thing for LETMEKNOW, which would be an extremely common thing for someone in the US to say when you want someone to get back to you, but might not be the specific wording used elsewhere.
I’ve seen more than one complaint about product placement for ETSY in today’s comments. When you think about it, almost everything is product placement. Today alone, I see: LEVI (along with DENIM) TIANA (Disney deal) IDRIS (Elba—big product) AABOND (someone wants to sell you these) ORC (both book and movie product) GLITTERPEN (need I say more) EDITH (big SNL/NBC product and think of all the products that sponsor this show) OSCARPARTY (huge product—including all the designers displayed on the red carpet) MTV (what? How'd this get by those greedy editors?) PILL ("The Matrix"—how much does this DVD cost?) Blue TANGS (another Di$ney deal) DONUTHOLES (Tim Horton got this for free?) LSAT (They ain’t giving this one away—last time I looked: $253.00) MOUNDS (I’ll forgive them this one—one of the most delicious things ever invented) AGRA (TIL online-- “The cost to tour the Taj Mahal ranges from a basic ₹250 to ₹1,300 ($3 to $16 USD) for entry tickets alone, up to $30 to $150+ USD for full-day guided tours depending on your nationality and the type of experience you want.”) ALAN (Silvestri—do you think seeing “The Avengers” is free?)
@lucky13 Edith-Ann was from Laugh-In, not SNL, but I'll take your point.
@lucky13 And I had no idea of 8 of those, especially the doughnut clue. So I found it harder than yesterday's.
@lucky13 Don't forget TELETHONS. The editors have clearly been paid off by the incredibly lucrative public television industry.
About a third of the way through I had that sensation that something was up: the puzzle was making me feel clever. That feeling where the clues aren't obvious, but the you catch on to the trick without much struggle. So I checked the constructor line, and it all made sense. This was really a nice way to get into what is a somber day for folks in the US.
Now that a busy morning is done (crossword in waiting room on my phone, blood draw, coffee, finish crossword on my laptop, yoga class, in that order), I've come down to earth again and my thoughts are filled with memories of 25 years ago. Our office in upstate NY watched it on TV in real time from shortly after the first plane hit. I knew some people in Manhattan and they were OK, but as we learned later, this was in body only.
Robyn's byline guarantees a terrific puzzle, with interesting fill and clever clues. One of the very best.
When I read 26 Down I got a big smile and confidently put in LEGOS. My son and his friend, Nate, are Youtubers. They do lots of science-oriented videos, and have over 1 million followers! Last year they built a life-sized Lego castle using ten+ 3-D printers to print all the bricks. It took them 8 months to do all the project, and there are 12 videos about it on YouTube. If you are into Legos, it's fun to watch. <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqQyvTNm4L_DfkH4JGTkBKFXBunkHod7g&si=lauhhiv62YAwhnPg" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqQyvTNm4L_DfkH4JGTkBKFXBunkHod7g&si=lauhhiv62YAwhnPg</a> The Printer company is headquartered in Prague, so invited them both to a 3D printing convention there last Spring! They sold the Castle to SiliconBricks -- a group in Utah that puts on Lego conventions. [Silicon Slopes is what Utahns call the high-tech area between Salt Lake City & Provo.]
@Sue I hoped it would be a life-size castle made of tiny bricks. Alas, no 😑
@Sue Nate did great! I watched some of the first video, and then jumped up a few, watched a bit, then went to video 12 to see the final creation. Very cool project!
Breezy cluing and a smooth, speedy solve. A truly enjoyable Wednesday puzzle!
@Anna in Bellingham sourcasm?
Today’s poem fairly wrote itself… a/ along the moons of your ramadan close to your shoreline in a barrel of rain i steered for the gates of your nods d/ under waves of silk and lilac that i may feel for the key in the reef a/ below
@Peter Valentine Beautiful. And perhaps an echo of my day yesterday watching the waves in New York Harbor dance in the light of yet another blue, blue September day. After the sun set behind the Statue of Liberty, the Towers of Light stretched once again to infinity in the dark sky. Somehow this little crossword poem captures that same feeling. Thank you.
Another good puzzle on the wrong day. Probably more suited to a Wednesday, or a 'gimme' before a brutal Friday. That said it took me way too long to figure out why the answer to Ptolemy III was what it was 😬. Feels odd that my coffee is still warm now that I'm done...
@Hitch Yep, this is the fault of the editors. Well-constructed puzzle, but no business running on a Friday.
ANTIHEROES makes me think of “ante-heroes”, a near-miss crossword answer (the clue would be “Subs before a game”) Other mashups that come to mind: “Epee-gram” (“the last word in sword fighting “) “Ore-Ali” (“spoken like a resourceful boxer”) “Oreo-oles” (“Cheers for cookies, but not quite what you’d hear at the Baltimore game”) “Inc-err” (“corporate mistake that sounds like a civilization”)
Well that was quick. Took a moment to remember that the Ptolemaic line of Pharaohs were Greek. As was Cleopatra.
Relatively easy for me but welcomed after yesterday’s slog! 😂 Rating: 8/10
@Darren Great! I guess sometimes we do agree! That’s probably where I’d put it too if I were inclined to give ratings, maybe a 7 just because I would rate it a bit lower for difficulty.
I'm too verklempt to complain that it only lasted 17 minutes.
@Matt I was thinking of your hopeful glee, as I solved, despite the... Dare I say, the e word. Nice one, nonetheless!
@Matt 17 minutes here, too. Shouldn't your solve have been much faster, erudite doc?
@Matt Due to your taste for challenging end of week puzzles, I'm always surprised by your longing for a Weintraub construction. They very often run on a Friday and are always pretty easy.
Alright got to make a trip to Tim Horton's. This has set off an itch.