Times Rita

This is not about today's puzzle, which I already weighed in agreement with Andrzej's earlier post. Instead, I want to express my disbelief and displeasure about the NYT not printing my comment about Phil OCHS, along with a link to the one song that is so timely for this nightmare that we are now living in. Even more so after the latest horrific events in Mpls.yesterday. My comment was not the only one that wasn't published. I learned that @Nancy H also had her comment removed. She also wrote about Phil OCHS, and posted a link to a different one of his songs. Neither one had the least bit offensive content. I had read her post, which preceded mine, but then it seems it was inexplicably removed. I cannot fathom what could have caused either of these to be 86'd. And I'm angry. I'm posting the link again, so that maybe some younger people might learn how history really does repeat itself. That's if it doesn't get removed again. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beLWF9eqnnU&list=RDbeLWF9eqnnU&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beLWF9eqnnU&list=RDbeLWF9eqnnU&start_radio=1</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beLWF9eqnnU&list=RDbeLWF9eqnnU&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beLWF9eqnnU&list=RDbeLWF9eqnnU&start_radio=1</a>

I wanted to post about Sunday’s puzzle, but it didn’t happen. I’ve been absent from here for several weeks. I had a bad, strange fall, and broke both my shoulder and patella, of course on my dominant side. After weeks at rehab, I’m finally home. As many of you may know, I solve the puzzle on paper. I still can’t write, but managed to peck out Sunday’s puzzle with my left hand on my PC. It was a laborious exercise, but I managed to complete it in an hour. Thank goodness I found it a very easy puzzle, unusual for a Kugelman. Also grateful that I’m able to dictate this into my phone. I don’t think I’ll be able to do many puzzles, since this recovery may take months for the shoulder. Hope I’m wrong, but I was so happy to be able to complete yesterday‘s. Just stopping by here to say hi and to read comments from some familiar names.

I haven't started the puzzle yet, so haven't read any comments or Wordplay. I just looked at 1D. I thought the answer might start with T and end with P, but I guess not.

I opened the puzzle, looked at the constructor, and said "Oh, no, not again." I absolutely despise any puzzle by this constructor, and this puzzle didn't change my mind. I knew for sure that Andrjez was going to be in my corner. No surprise that my print copy had no italics, but they weren't necessary at all. I hated almost all the theme answers, with the exception of MAMA CASS SCAMS CMAS. I didn't appreciate a triple Natick with an actress, a Noble physicist, and a martial arts sport intersecting, though I got them through a couple of lucky guesses and the crosses. The rest of the fill was underwhelming. HA HA, YEAH? GEEK GIRL CON? MADE A TRY? Then there's the sad UNALIVED. But a kudo, just one, for LEHRER. It wasn't that the puzzle was all that difficult. I did manage to complete it, kicking and screaming all the way. It was just annoying and a total slog. I wish the NYT would bring back the real stars of crossword constructing who have defected to other outlets that appreciate them. I had a ray of hope when David J. Kahn made it into print this past week, but then Mr. Kugelman seems to have ousted all the rest of the brilliant Sunday constructors, and for the life of me, I don't know why.

I've now read all 217 of the previous comments. Yup, still up at 4:50 Pacific Time. Hate it on the nights the clocks change, and Oseem to get to bed even later. But I always must print and finish the puzzle before that can happen. I'm surprised that no one commented on SILICON VALLEY / TECHNOCRATS / THAT’S RICH. Rafa says in his notes that it made him smile. I can't say the same for me. It conjures up the image of that tacky umbrella-clad spot that was the former Rose Garden, and the big, fancy party given for all the rich people yesterday, while so many of the peasants will go without food in order to pay their outrageous sky-high med insurance premiums. The gilded age, indeed. Very poor timing for those three clues all in one puzzle.

I'm apparently one of the few Americans who totally disliked this puzzle, for many of the reasons Andrjez cited. I did fill it all in without having to look up anything. I did connect all the circles. But the trivia was difficult for me. A beer that was discontinued in 2010? (I don't drink beer). The BIEB? ROADSTER? I haven't seen a car called that since I read the entire Nancy Drew mystery series when I was a child, and that was many decades ago. I, too, dislike non-linguistic gimmicks. I knew I'd be in a very small minority among my countrymen and women. But give me those words and smart clues. Also, having to connect the circles with a fine-point pen, without the end result gotten by those who solve online, didn't produce a very clear outline, so I had to look at xwordinfo's solution to see the clearer outline. Very tedious, especially solving in the middle of the night after getting both flu and covid vaccines late in the afternoon in the arm that does the writing!

I loved SCTV when it played back in the early 80's, so somehow I managed to pull HOSERS out of my ....whatever. Also, unlike most American college students, when they went south, I went north, and spent almost every spring break in Montreal or Toronto, so I heard "eh" quite a bit. Too bad I didn't stay there, as I had wanted to during that terrible era. And want to again. Just look at how tasteful that Oval Office is, and compare it with how garish and gaudy and tawdry it is now.

The color TV part of the theme brought up two memories. First: Long, long ago, in a planet far, far away, lived a family in Brooklyn with only one B & W television. We kids pined for a color TV, and I had to be content with going to Manhattan to watch it in the window of the RCA building. (Yes, I'm that old!). Dad worked near City Hall, and one night came home after shlepping a TV on the subway back to Brooklyn. He bought it off the back of a truck, cheap. We peeled off the plastic sticker that showed all the colors of the rainbow and plugged it in. Alas, dad was scammed. It was color in sticker only. Second memory: Fast forward several years. I was the last in my class to finally get a color TV. And I was the teacher. Bought it with my own hard-earned money. True story.

The Fantasy Island clue brought back a fond memory. It was my 21st birthday and I found myself uncharacteristically alone. So I went to one of my favorite bars in Soho (NYC) to drown my sorrows. I had just sat down at the bar when a little person climbed up on the stool next to me. We started to chat, and he told me he was about to appear in a TV show. I honestly didn't believe him. When I told him it was my birthday, he bought be a glass of champagne. Imagine my shock when just a few weeks later "Fantasy Island" debuted, and there he was, Hervé Villechaize!

Deb, I read your announcement first on that other page, and cried almost as much as I did watching Jimmy K's monologue/eulogy for his friend last night. It evoked so many of the same emotions. I feel as if we're all losing a close friend. I did comment there, where I use 3/4 of my legal name, but it bears briefly repeating how much joy you have given me and everyone else who are regular devotees of your columns. I started solving these puzzles before you were born, yet the graciousness of your words have left a meaningful impression, and you've been a model of patience and guidance for the newer and younger solvers.. Change is hard, but retirement is wonderful, so long as you have your health. And so I wish you a long, happy, and healthy retirement, and lots of joy in your new endeavors. Mazel tov!

Thank you so much to those of you who responded to my post yesterday. It means so much to me. Not sure when I will be commenting again, because doing the puzzle remains so difficult. But hope to be back here soon.

Who among us doesn't smile when we see the Robyn Weintraub byline on a Friday NYT puzzle? I wasn't forced to take physics in high school. So I didn't. My first glance at the clue filled me with dread. For a couple of seconds. And then CEMENT MIXER made me howl with laughter. ONION RINGS have sadly been on my no-no list for a very long time. But when I finally filled in that answer, I swear I was able to conjure up the taste of them, and also the memory of those fabulous Brooklyn Greek diners where I ate too many of them. As many of you know that I'm usually cranky and tough to please as of late. Not tonight. Loved it. Thank you, Robyn!

To be blown away by a Monday puzzle is not something I was expecting. I usually do them just because they exist. But this one, wow, just wow. Not only an incredible theme with a revealer that brought tears to my eyes when I recognized the gravitas of it, but fill that's unusually sparkling for an early week puzzle. Absolutely brilliant. Having done these puzzles for 60 years, I don't remember a lot of them. In fact, I can only think of one, the CLINTON/BOB DOLE WINS that made it into my "Most Memorable" list. This is now the second. Kenneth, wishing you all the best, and Happy Pride Month. And thanks to the NYT for publishing it.

With three potential Naticks in the SE, and another at 27D/39A, I was sure there was no way I was going to complete this puzzle without help. After a lot of walking away and returning, the crosses finally did their work. Having said that, this puzzle was a total drag for me. Obscure names (Fichte? Peter IV?) made it a complete slog. Probably the only clue I liked was the misdirect at 19A, when I finally got rid of "ore" and realized that it referred to fish. That allowed me to fill in what jumped out right away, but didn't fit, i.e. CHOCULA. Sam Ezersky may have 22 Saturday puzzles to his credit, but I can't remember having solved any of them with enjoyment or a great sense of accomplishment. Just my two cents'.

Started out right away with a gimme - PTOWN. When I was in college I went there a few times with a friend. We just thought it would be a cool place to go. And it was. Except for the fact that she was tall, slim,natural blonde, and drop-dead gorgeous, and I was quite the opposite. Walking down the street with her did nothing for my ego. She was such a looker that even the women couldn't take their eyes off her. It was only after our second excursion there that I learned why women kept looking at her. There was no LGBTQ terminology in those days, but my mom later told me that it was that way even that way when she was young. More that 50 years later, my friend is still beautiful. And I'm still short. To add insult to that long-ago injury, I'm having trouble with my eyes, so I put PTOWN in the wrong place. Not a big deal for you online solvers, but a disaster for my pen on paper solve. Caught it, though, and went on to finish the puzzle rather quickly.

Ah, the memories of my fake ID. I was 16 when I started college (end of the year baby), so I needed a fake ID to keep up with some of my classmates. My birth certificate was white lettering on a black background. I had to take that to the library to make a copy - the only place that had a Xerox - which came out black lettering on a white background, Then I used black ink to change the date by two years (drinking age was 18 then, and so was the driving age in NY) and then put it back in the copy machine to make it look like the white letter on black original. And it worked, all too well in those days!

When 1A starts of with a clue that has "____ in modern lingo, I know automatically that this is not going to be a puzzle designed with this geezerette in mind. But by the time I finished, I not only had filled in that answer, but had also heard the term. I had not, however, heard of ANTI-COMEDY. I thought for sure that the Mammoth home was NHM, for Natural History Museum, until I realized that it was probably a sports team and threw the L in. Somehow, I pulled MANIOC out of some deep, dark recess of my ancient brain, and there were enough older references (POOH, NAST) to help the flow along. Instantly thought of SORTIE, but only as a military term; not that I have knowledge of anything military, but I probably picked it up from some old novels. But when I put it in tentatively, it helped me finish the puzzle, the last quadrant to fall. Finally delighted to have a true Friday puzzle that starts out inscrutable but gets the job done at the end!

I couldn't make much headway with this puzzle, and found it too full of arcane trivia. If I have to get even one answer, either from these comments or Wordplay, I consider it a failure for me. It was way too difficult, even for a Saturday. The only answer I was absolutely sure of during the first pass, strangely enough, was ERNST! Will Will be returning? I surely hope so and continue to wish him well.

I print out the puzzle, so I've learned just recently, thanks to a hint from, I think, Steve E., to check the newspaper version, especially on Sundays and Thursdays, because the regular .pdf omits any of those things that often make the difference in solving a puzzle. I'm not sure I could have finished it without having done that for this puzzle. Those scissors don't appear in the regular .pdf, were an instant alert as soon as I saw them. And that helped me get the theme very quickly, both parts of it. But it was tough going, since I have something wrong with one of my eyes and had to solve it using a big magnifying glass. Sunday print is SO tiny. But today is my birthday, so it was a really nice way to start the day. Thanks for a lovely gift, Michael! As for the revealer, I learned it years ago. My only woodworking was in building a huge dollhouse and a lot of dollhouse furniture, so I always had that phrase in the back of my mind. Also helpful when I'd hem my own pants.

I got all excited when I saw the clue for 1A. Thought for sure it was going to be DOZIER. Lamont Dozier and the two Hollands were the most prolific songwriting and production team in Motown's history, writing a preponderance of the hits of that era. When we decided to move to Vegas, we weren't quite ready to commit full time to the move, so we bought a house and decided to rent it for a couple of years. Our R.E. agent got us Lamont Dozier and his third wife, Barbara, as our tenants. They moved a ton of stuff into the place —boxes of evening gowns and tuxedos, a grand piano, computers, TVs — everything but themselves. They never set foot in the place. The first year they paid the entire years' rent in one payment. The second year we had to run after them for the money. I was hoping I'd get to meet him and maybe even get a signed copy of one of his albums (he performed, too). Alas, it was not to be, and after the second year they left, cleaning out every bit of unused stuff they brought with them. We figured they were using it as an expensive storage facility as a tax shelter to have a Las Vegas address. It was nice that there wasn't any wear and tear on the house, but the downside was that a leak went undetected until we made a rare visit to check up on the house. So my one brush with fame never came to be.

I did not find this to be, as @Sam wrote, "a delightfully festive solve." First, the little party icons were just there to force me to print my paper copy using more ink, since only the newspaper version was displayed. Unless I'm missing something, they serve no real purpose. XES IN, followed by the improbable REACHED IN? And I never heard of a BOX SOCIAL. Maybe that's on me, but I don't think it's in common parlance. CELL RECEPTION is oddly not a gathering, so it didn't fit the theme the way the other did. The answer for Book Reviewer was also a stretch, since CPAs review the books, plural. IDLE CHAT is another answer that, though it may appear in a dictionary, is something that no one says. It's IDLE CHATTER. The revealer was easy enough to come by, but I was saddened to have this be the final puzzle of the year. It was a total slog that fell flat on its face, IMO. Happy New Year from this curmudgeon to all of you, even those who dislike my opposing viewpoints 🎈🎆🎉

Finally, a puzzle that earned its day, and maybe was even a wee bit harder. I enjoyed it immensely. even though I didn't get the full flavor or the theme, i.e, the e.g. after each theme clue. But there were enough fresh answers to keep me entertained, and to keep me from being bored, the way the last umpteen batch of puzzles has. Congrats to Adam on a perfectly pleasant puzzle. I only wish your account were on BlueSky and not X. I closed that account the minute the Muskrat took over and changed the name and the political bent.

Steve L. wrote: "...this puzzle is a special treat for those of us with a decent amount of experience." Well, I have more than a decent amount of experience, and this was no treat for me. I winced when I saw one of the two names of the constructors, who happens to be one of my least favorite, and I was not disabused by that opinion. Just like I light up with joy when I see someone like Robyn Weintraub's name on a puzzle, I cringe when I see the one today. I walked away several times, came back and filled in a few more answers. In the end, I finished it without help, but had no sense of accomplishment, just a big sigh that it was finally over. I didn't find the clues or the theme clever, and the theme was just annoying. Many Sundays make me laugh when I fill in theme answers. All I got from this was, okay, another one filled in.

I don't think I've posted about this here, but whenever I think of Elmer's glue, that staple of my later elementary school days, I harken back to the time before it displaced what we used to use in those halcyon olden days: LePage's Mucilage, with its rubber dabber. <a href="https://justuseglue.com/history-of-lepages-glue" target="_blank">https://justuseglue.com/history-of-lepages-glue</a>/ I laugh whenever a member of the younger generation states that "moist" is the most disgusting word they've ever heard. I nominate "mucilage."

Not a hard puzzle, but enough already with slang crossing slang, i.e. SPITS BARS and SLAPS, and "informally" i.e. NORMIE (65A: Person with mainstream likes, pejoratively), AMIRITE (23A: "Don't you agree with me?," informally). Yes, I do say and write "gonna" and "wanna," but, "gimme" a break, you're never gonna convince me that AMIRITE is anything but awful. As for NORMIE, I have a cousin Normie, but since he's from Brooklyn, as am I, he has always been called NAWMIE, even after we both lost our accents.

A delightful puzzle! I thought for sure, though, that there would be some sort of revealer that read "That's all, folks," since it's actually engraved on his gravestone.

The only movie I'd ever heard of was Armageddon. Nevertheless, it was pretty easy to complete the puzzle and figure out that it was Roger Ebert whose reviews were quoted. But the happy coincidence for me was the answer to 38A. For days now I've been wracking my brain trying to remember the name of a phenomenal indie movie, likely the very first indie movie, I saw in the early mid-80s, and NORTH made it pop into my brain. The movie was El Norte, and few here have probably ever heard of or seen it. I urge you to either find it online or at least to read the Wikipedia article about it. It is so poignantly and heartbreakingly apropos of what is going on today, but also interspersed with a bit of comical relief. Roger Ebert is even quoted in the article, and Wikipedia cites the one scene I remember best, when the heroine is exposed to the modern convenience of a washing machine. El Norte received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1985. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". I hope that the current thugs in charge of destroying our culture don't rip this film from its place in the LOC.

Another satisfying Friday, one that starts out as "No way will I ever get more than those first two gimmes," then ends up getting all filled in with no lookups! Especially loved the heteronyms; though "number" was not a new one for me, it took a bit until it burst through the cobwebs. Maybe because I'm old enough to actually have experienced that awful ether when I had my tonsils removed. LABYRINTH, though, took longer. Really appreciated the absence of modern slang and truncated words by a generation too lazy to spell anything out in full! Congrats on your wonderful debut, Larry. Hope your next one won't have any math!

I never heard of PADIDDLE, and because of that idiotic - yes, idiotic - entry, I could not finish this puzzle. Call me a curmudgeon. I've taken perhaps 20 cross-country road trips, and never once have I come across this game. To those for whom this entry brought back fond memories, per the constructor, more power to you. Am I disappointed? No. I'm just plain mad. I'm sure this will raise some hackles, but so be it.

My first gimme was MOIST. I don't share that distaste for the word, but younger friends on FB made me aware how how hated that word is. My entry for one of the most repulsive words in the English language is one that many younger solvers may never have encountered, and that is MUCILAGE. When I began elementary school, Elmer's glue had not yet been invented. Instead, we had bottles of Lepage's Mucilage for our projects, which came in a little glass bottle with a rubber top that had a slit for the glue to be dabbed out. Once Elmer's became a classroom staple, we bid adieu to Lepage's. I just did some research and learned that it is still available, though not in it's original form or by the original company. Here's a link to the history and current usages. I think you'll find it fascinating! <a href="https://justuseglue.com/history-of-lepages-glue" target="_blank">https://justuseglue.com/history-of-lepages-glue</a>/

Late to the puzzle, Wordplay and the Comments today. I was too busy listening to Garfunkel and Simon, along with Messina and Loggins.

I don't often love a Friday puzzle, but this one was an exception. I couldn't make much headway, walked away for just a few moments, and then bingo! the top half fell into place. Long grid-spanning entries always start out seeming intimidating, but invariable are the easiest to solve with only a few letters showing. CHANCE ENCOUNTER, ON A REGULAR BASIS, AND DINNER THEATER leapt out with almost nothing filled in. Even my near-Natick encounter, EMMA and CENA, which would have been my first in decades, filled themselves in from the crosses, It's refreshing for me, the resident grump here, to have actually been smiling as I whizzed through the rest of the puzzle. Easy enough to finish, tough enough to be entertaining and worthy of a Friday. Thanks, Kelly, from one former Spanish teacher to another.

Four product placements, if you include Acela, and maybe the most proper names of any puzzle in memory. made this one a total slog. I'd like to say I managed to do the entire puzzle without looking anything up, but the Natick of DOLAN and RENATO did me in, as well as having no clue about the bridge or the car -JFK? RFK? MLK?, and FORCECHOKE was way beyond my pay grade. The rest of the unknown proper names worked out from the crosses, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. Simply hated it.

I don't know Star Wars from Star Trek. I think I saw the former during its first run at a movie theater, but I was on a date and we had both partaken of a nickel bag. All I remember was a lot of pretty flashing lights. (Yes, I did inhale). I have seen the Yoda character many times, but had no idea of his idiosyncratic speaking style. I had no trouble getting three of the four theme answers, since they were part of my musical coming of age. Didn't know Katy Perry's song — too new for me. The theme reminded me, though, of my grandmother. As a student of languages, I can figure out the sentence structure of a person's native language by the way they speak English, and Grandma was no exception. She didn't speak English very well. They lived on the second floor of our two-family house, and there were several times when I was upstairs and grandpa had to go somewhere, but forgot something. She's say something like "Throw grandpa down the stairs his hat." So I smiled all through those theme answers.

Deb, I knew this day was coming, but now that it's here I'm crying real tears. I can't say you were my mentor, because I started doing these puzzles long before Wordplay existed. But I looked forward to every Thursday and Friday column with joy that I don't feel for the others, fine writers though they. I feel as if I know you, as if we'd could have been friends in real life, kinda heimish, y'know? I will miss your wit, your warmth, your bits of personal observations, so many things. I've said it before and will say it again: Wishing you many years of happy and healthy retirement. If your recent trip is any indication of your future plans, you will have a ball. And deservedly so.

The clue for PAPERCUT was worth the price of admission!

Slow beginning, and never thought I'd complete it. Finally got to the SE, and that was my sticking point. I knew that somewhere in the recesses of my brain was the answer to “Reader, I married him," even though I never read the book. And then it popped into my head. But I had no knowledge of anything relating to Game of Thrones, though in retrospect, after getting ARYA from the crosses, I know it's appeared before. And I never think of NAAN as a side. Rice is a side. Veggies are a side. But NAAN is bread, not a side, IMO! However, the big kick for me is this story: My best friend when I was 5 years old was also a good friend by the time we reached our 20s. And that's when our lives did a 180. She became Ultra Orthodox after no religious upbringing, and I went the other way from one that was very religious. We lost contact over the ensuing decades, but reconnected on FB a couple of years ago. Just two weeks ago her adult daughter put a photo of her business card on her mom's FB page.It showed a woman's arm covered in a beautiful HENNA design, and I couldn't figure out why this Orthodox (but not Sephardic) young woman would be involved with HENNA. So when I read the clue for 61A, the lightbulb went off, and I was able to finish the puzzle! This was one tough puzzle, but ultimately do-able and satisfying. Thanks, Rebecca, and good luck at the tournament, which I proudly attended for 10 years.

One itty bitty (or is it itsy bitsy, or teeny weeny, not to mention teensy weensy) error: I had YOICKED instead of YOINKED. But I forgive myself, because IMO, these are not real words. I thought maybe CCO stood for Chief Commanding Officer. Come to think of it, I like my answer better. Isn't NCO a non-commissioned officer? Why would that be a big shot in the USMC? ' ' ' ' ' So there!

What a pleasant surprise to find a Sam Ezersky puzzle that didn't live up to the terror that struck my heart when I saw the byline. And on a Thursday, no less. Just a breezy and quick solve, with more than a few chuckles along the way. In keeping with the holiday spirit, I'll leave out the ones that made my eyebrows arch. Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating, and Happy Holidays to everyone else!