kkseattle
Seattle
Very clever. NE hung me up for a while, largely because I slapped in “patina” for “lamina” and got stuck. Rimier?
Great puzzle. But . . . SHOED?
@Keith Law Someone who enjoys learning new stuff?
@Spelling Marauder One of the great pleasures I had as a college student in New York was buying a half dozen yellow roses with my best friend (it was all we could afford), dressing up nicely and begging our way onto the late-night set at NBC to thank her and wish her well on her last broadcast. She graciously thanked us (“How’d you know I was from Texas?!”) and put those roses on her desk on the set that night, which of course we raced back to our dorm on the subway to watch.
@Kevin Davis Or neither of those.
How lucky am I to hit my 1,000 no-lookup streak on a Robyn Weintraub puzzle? And it was a gorgeous spring day today. Even the doggo was chill while getting his nails clipped and his locks shorn. The weekend is looking good for putting in tomatoes, too. Ahhhh.
Didn’t get the happy jingle. Ah. “CRAp” for “stuff” was wrong. Can you tell I have a house full of teens?
@Eleanor I’ve worked thousands of puzzles and this was truly great. You can be very proud of your bro!
A real, honest workout. The NW was roughest for me. Good stuff!
Enjoyed the puzzle, but it seemed a bit high on the crossword misery index: 3-letter words (23) plus product/personal names (11) = 34.
@Mr Dave The entire column is a spoiler. Always has been.
I didn’t read the title, but the penny dropped pretty quickly with GRAND RAP IDS. However, it wasn’t until I finished and read the title that the amazing symmetry was revealed for me. I was just enjoying the silliness of the word play. So clever.
Fresh and fun. BEL ESPRIT is new to me. Love learning new phrases!
@Manda Adams Love this. I remember asking my law school dean if it would be permissible to have Evan Wolfson, who was in town and was a friend of a friend, give a talk on how the Hawaii Supreme Court had found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Our dean was known as a conservative, but he was really a libertarian, and he said that of course we should. So we did. In 1993. (Baehr v. Lewin)
@Barry Ancona I didn’t have any trouble with landing the puzzle on the Tuesday runway (thought it was pretty fresh), but the revealer certainly stumped me.
Lovely puzzle. Haven’t been to Chipotle in ages, so I figured they could have “tazos” on the menu. Yeah, no.
@Nom De Plume You would have “heard” it because “gaol” is pronounced the same as “jail.”
@JayTee When the answers include: SNAKE COW BEEHIVE CHICKEN Then I think it’s fair to ask if it’s that Gary Larson.
More like a Friday with a bit of a theme. Good stuff.
@sonnel I had tentatively dropped in SKIS for “Tahoe runners” and then I got to 23D. Wait a minute . . .
@Vaer I remember as a kid reading in the Guinness Book of World Records about the shortest correspondence on record. After Les Misérables was published, Hugo, while on vacation, sent a telegram to his publisher: “?” The publisher responded: “!”
Delightful. Well done! What a nice way to end an absolutely gorgeous weekend here—warm, sunny weather, graduations, the garden in full bloom, the first farmer’s market (meaning, fresh strawberries). And with a lot of heavy lifting on major projects finally behind us, the chance to roll them out to the public this week. Life is good.
A bit crunchier than the usual Monday. Good stuff.
@James Vait Just take an “i.”
Thought at first this would be a cup of coffee, take a break and walk the dog, come back and finish over a second cup of coffee affair, but it was done by the end of the first cup. Huh! The dog gets an extra long walk now. Enjoy the weekend, all!
One of the joys of spending New Years in rural Japan is making mochi by hand outdoors. It’s a bit terrifying, because you swing a large mallet at the pile of sweet rice that is placed in the hollow of a tree stump, and in between each swing of the mallet, the proprietress of the inn will swoop in and quickly knead the mochi. It’s not sporting to pause for her—you’re just supposed to establish a rhythm in swinging the mallet and hope that you don’t smash her hands instead of the mochi. When finished, the mochi cakes are wrapped in nori (sushi seaweed) and baked on top of the wood stove. Yum!
@Steven M. I highly commend to you “A Wrinkle in Time,” one of the most impactful books of many children’s lives—up there with “Charlotte’s Web” in the canon of compelling stories that convey deep, painful truths. Several movie versions have been made, most are dreadful. Ava DuVernay’s was the most thoughtful treatment, but it’s a book that really can’t be captured on film. You’re in for a treat.
Good puzzle. If you want to serve a red wine that goes with virtually anything and isn’t as heavy as a Cabernet Sauvignon or as delicate as a Pinot noir, then a SYRAH is your go-to. So many excellent wines being bottled in Walla Walla and the Red Mountain AVA these days. Highly recommend.
@Steve L Mike didn’t say beef adobo doesn’t exist. Heck, beef ice cream probably exists. Somewhere. He said it wasn’t a thing. Which is true. If you look at a beef adobo recipe, it might have a couple of comments, whereas chicken and pork adobo recipes have hundreds (and, in Tagalog, goat adobo). It’s like clueing “French stew” for “duck bourguignon.”
Fast and fun. Had “slush” for 16A waay too long.
Fun puzzle, but it somehow took me forever. I’m better at 5:30 in the morning, with a cup of coffee and the doggo waiting for me to finish so he can get in his first walk and then help me pick the strawberries and tomatoes. (He does the requisite barking and chasing after squirrels.)
@SP Seems similar to eye candy or arm candy. A bit risqué? but not necessarily in bad taste.
@George You know, the constructor doesn’t choose the day on which the puzzle is run. Considering scoring the construction and the editorial placement separately.
Loved this. Pretty darn crunchy for a Wednesday!
@C Tarvin Rime I know. Rimier I don’t. Has anyone ever actually used the word? When I go to a meeting in Anchorage this December and say, “Gee, it’s far rimier here than in Seattle,” I can’t imagine a lot of appreciative nods. (Of course, I rarely use either rime or hoar, except in crosswords.)
@John The clue isn’t “units of light.” It’s “light units.” Units related to lights. Watts works.
Good Wednesday puzzle.
Yikes, this one nearly killed me. Toughest puzzle in years. Made three cups of coffee just to get through it. Whew!
Several years ago we took our young kids to visit friends on the Upper West Side. They got to see menorahs in every window and help us make latkes. When I was explaining the dreidel game, I pulled out the iPad and found a Disney-seeming link. Well, it fractured all the adults. Don’t know that it taught the kids anything. (As I discovered later, it was made by Harvey Fierstein and the cast of Hairspray.) Happy Hanukkah, everyone. <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-lAAfPvOD7s&pp=ygUcSGFydmV5IGZpZXJzdGVpbiBkcmVpZGwgc29uZw" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-lAAfPvOD7s&pp=ygUcSGFydmV5IGZpZXJzdGVpbiBkcmVpZGwgc29uZw</a>==
@Steve L Elle did not say the clue was incorrect. Elle was explaining why it took awhile to get it right. Chill. Out.
@Cat If it’s the people who didn’t figure it out who came here to gripe, then perhaps not a representative sample. It’s Thursday.
I feel very confident that if the clues had been written in the opposite manner there would have just as many (if not more) complaints! 😂
Good Wednesday puzzle. Very fresh.
Brilliant puzzle. One of the best in years. Bravo.
Fresh and fun, but definitely felt more like a Wednesday. Maybe because the first Monday back after two slow weeks at the office beat me up more than usual. Can we go back to feasting and lounging in front of the fireplace?
@Sam Lyons Bowie kept churning out such excellent music. We could certainly use more like him.
@Bob in Tennessee One of the delights of publicly-owned city courses is how welcoming they are to all. I remember playing a course in the Bronx that had a wrecked car on the edge of the fairway as a hazard. I doubt that anyone was patrolling the patrons for collars.
Initial response to 49A: ME!!!!! Later, more rational response: “Although it’s still Thursday, it’s unlikely that the Friday puzzle has five exclamation points in it.”