Charlie
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I actually cruised through this one - might be a wednesday record for me, with no look-ups. I got the theme early and easy, Go me!
Loved the theme answers. "MIXED RESULTS" and GOODNOTGREAT Friday are hilarious. (and the second one is timely) I also liked the sage sage, and I liked that the NYT got a slightly embarrassing shout-out in its own pages. Thanks Oren and Aiden!
@Miriam I thought we were supposed to remember him for saying "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country". Before being hanged by the British for being an American patriot-spy. Statue of him at Yale. Did he also write children's books? Or are we up to three Nathans now? Perhaps other commenters will know of more to add to the list...
@Paul I couldn't figure out why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
So sorry for you loss, Deb; thank you for sharing with all of us. anaheim mighty DUCKS works pretty darn well, at least as well in my opinion, for 47D; "goal seekers". I wonder if anyone else went down the wrong path there.
Wow! Thirty eight minutes! Was that easy or am I just getting better? Although like other here I'd never heard of mapo tofu, and was today-years-old when I learned that "cence" is a word, and a verb. Thanks Natan and friends!
Absolutely _love_ this theme! "Speach RE: Cognition". Hilarious. So funny, so fun. I also liked "head of a noted animal rescue project" NOAH. (I had considered the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, before considering the correct century. Despite the fact that they don't particularly focus on animals, to my knowledge...) I admit the question mark had me looking for a RE in 54 across "roadies" -- But it didn't throw me too badly. Another good double entendre there. I'm so glad I found this one! Thanks constructors and editors!
@dutchiris And here the radio reported "no injuries" - I guess they didn't think to ask DutchIris's husband if he was okay!
@Andrzej I'll agree with you; as in Heather J's sample setence, the expression is used almost exclusively in the negative.
@Lucy I'm stunned and amazed by people from other countries who can solve, and enjoy solving, these puzzles. Maybe not so much Monday and Tuesday, but later in the week... the sports teams, the stores/ trade names, the small idiomatic differences, math spelled with four letters... I would think the small snags would be constant, unavoidable, unfair. How do you guys do it??
@Connor I always feel bad for international solvers, guilty even. But I doubt there's a good way out of it. There are so many Americanism and American brands, and constructors need all the words they can get. Puzzles are already so constrained, to use only terms known to English speakers across the globe, may be... I am surprised to read Sam, in her column, say she wasn't particularly familiar with the AFL-CIO. I thought the name was pretty well known.
Wow, are these getting easier or am I getting better? Has someone below already commented on the crossing of SEE and EYES in the lower right corner? Well, yay BANANA SLUGs!! Those creatures are so cool. I love seeing them. On behalf of distant solvers I'm glad it was not clued as the mascot of UC Santa Cruz.
Yeah, good one. I liked "die" as a random number generator. I liked "ayes" and "tenant" and yes, even "ones" as tricky but good clues. I certainly had (and say, and hear) bald-faced lie, but other than that one small exception, good puzzle.
Excellent puzzle, excellent theme. Tidy, funny. I like the prime numbers clue. As I guessed and correctly predicted, this was far easier for me than yesterday's.
Wow! Was that easy (for Friday) or am I getting better?
I thought "good for an angler, bad for a dog trainer" was pretty cute.
@Charlie Oh. Thanks guys. (slightly embarassed) (notes there is no delete function on this forum.) I and few friends have reached that stage of life at which we've had to quit completely so "can I get you an N.A. [beer]?" comes up periodically.
@Roberto Yes, you're correct about the "with" and all, but there's no "a". So it's "on par with" or "commensurate with".
Now _there's_ a different grid pattern!
@Trish Yeah. "why the long face" also fit perfectly. I put that in early and it was hard to believe that wasn't correct.
Holy hell that was hard for a Monday. I think I said that a week ago, and that would have to make this _really_ hard for a monday. I did mis-read the clue for 52D as present tense "prepare to be knighted" and was certain (for a long time) that KNEel fit wonderfully where KNELT would have worked far better... and that's on me... And I'm well aware that most people know more actresses than I do. (low bar out here). Anyway. I expect tomorrow's puzzle will be easier for one outta-touch west-coaster.
Hi, sincere question here; shouldn't all the theme titles have been listed with "or" not "and" since the answers were singular? I thought that was a convention followed in the crossword.
@Charlie Tie as in tennis. Got it. I got 'em both. I'm very tired out here on the west coast. Thanks everyone!!
Like others, I respect the theme, I like it, but I got it all on crosses and couldn't figure it out till I read the column. I know I'd _love_the theme if I'd gotten it. It works that way. I'm a touch disappointed in me, but it is tricky, you just have to see it I suppose.
@_chs_ You can tell her for a fact, there's a second person who doesn't know Elphaba...
@koty Good question. I find the column writers to be quite supportive of the constructors, quite positive in their reviews of the puzzles, but they'll include a quibble on occasion. Perhaps they include the occasional critique when something really strikes them, or perhaps they do so the column reads as honest, credible, and interesting not predicable and bland. Anyway. Good question.
I actually got this one pretty readily for a Thursday. Was it easy, or was I just on-wavelength with the constructors this time?
Found this a touch on the easier side for a Friday. I'm sure it helped that I didn't fall into the "Warsaw Pact" trap in the NW that so many others did.
Wow. I feel like I made this harder than it should have been. I should have gotten "whom" much more easily (after trying "thou" and "them" for far too long). Had (unwarranted) trouble getting "ccs" in the lower left after trying "worn" for dad humor... (obviously) tried "moo" and "baa" before leaving "maa" (owing to crosses) with a head scratch and a shrug. I don't feel at all bad for not knowing (and struggling with) "Abelard" or "orale". "Halo" is awesome and I liked "exes" too. Nice theme. I played some volleyball growing up in California. Thanks Laura!
I like the incorporation of the alpha-bravo phonetic alphabet. (Despite the fact that it took me a while to catch on to it) Sierra Leone --> Sergio Leone is superb. That one was a real ah-ha!
@Scott Yeah, I think "keep to the plan" sounds pretty natural. That said, I had "keep at" for the longest time . As in "to keep at a task". And it screwed me up. I was unreasonably confident in that answer. "keep to" is actually a better fit for the clue.
@Erick P. Was this the one for which "chalked up" was the answer? Or something close to it? In which case what does it matter how skilled or serious of a climber you are?
Wow, that was hard for a Monday.
@Sarah Yup. me too. Found this one far easier than yesterday's. :)
@Sam Lyons Where are you?
@Andrzej Yeah, I don't know if you looked this up already, or it's interesting to you, or helpful, but the team name is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Which gets shortened to "The Bucs" - always plural. And a buccaneer, of course, is another name for a pirate.
@Joey It took me forever to let go of noviA. I had the rest of the puzzle completed before I could bring myself to question, and then replace, that entry.
@dutchiris This is a superb comment. (I see what you did there!)
@Stephen I like "litmust tesT" also. Maybe someday.
@Jon Yeah, I loved the "tank top" clue. Excellent word-play. Brought a smile.
@Norwood I see what you did there.
@kilaueabart I hear it all the time. I was going to add "out here in California" but I see you're in Oakland... (shrugs). (maybe recently arrived from Hawaii and they're not common there?)
@Times Rita That clue first took my mind to the rhyme we learned when younger "beer then liquor, never skicker; liquor then beer, never fear" or "...you're in the clear" Obviously the intended entry was a much better one.
@Cat Lady Margaret The singular "antic" reminds me of Bill Bryson writing about words in English for which there seem to exist only the negated form. "She is so wonderfully competent and ept"
@Renegator I believe setting the puzzle aside and returning after a break works for exactly the opposite reason most people say. I think your mind gets stuck in rut, if you will. Reading that clue as a noun, thinking of those two homophones but not the third, hearing the answer rhyme with the last word you were thinking of, that sort of thing. When you come back to it, you start over, you see the verb instead of the noun or whatever it might be, because you are looking at it fresh, your mind isn't in the same loop it was before. Returning after a break works as well as it does precisely because an unconscious part of your mind was _not_ working on the puzzle.
Nice one, though I found it a bit challenging and tricky for a Monday. Never heard of Syrah before, and I was far too wedded to "range" instead of "ranch" for a cowboy's workplace, for example... (palm to forehead) But, nice one, thank you Kate and Erica!
@Jay Ha!! I totally missed "D to F" Thanks for pointing it out!