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This puzzle was a challenge, because I didn’t know Aiello’s character SAL, RETTA, 2020 Miss Universe, Aunt VIV, NADU, Sylvan ESSO, or hockey player IVAN. I got them from the crosses. I echo what Deb Amlen said about 17A. I didn’t know that METAL UMLAUT was a thing. I figured the diacritical marks in the band’s name would be the answer, but I didn’t know what to make of it until I finished the answer with UMLAUT. The band isn’t my cup of tea, but I know what its music is like. METAL UMLAUT seemed like a decent fit. After getting the music, I looked it up and learned it's an established phrase. Welcome, Ms. Kothari.
@Mike C. Though I'm not young, the only time I've heard the word NERTS used is in the TV version of M*A*S*H. Major Frank Burns used now and then. NERTS to booking emus at the RITZ.
I first solved it with rebuses: MOJ(ITO), using only the last rebus letter for the downs. I didn't get the music. I kept hesitating over OMNOMNOM. I would have preferred "nomnomnom," but it was too long, and I liked the crosses I had. I removed the rebuses and voila—music. Welcome, Mr. Lively.
Cailin, you and I solved “Creatures with the scientific name Monodon monoceros” the same way. The puzzle gave me trouble in spots, so it took over my average Saturday time. For a while I wanted GOD POP for 31D. It kinda made sense, especially since I had “gasp” for GAPE. Once I fixed that and realized JASPER was the quartz, GO DEEP made a lot of sense. I’d never heard the portmanteau JORTS, but I ended up figuring it was jeans-shorts. My first thought for 26D was “closet.” It worked with the clue, but not the crosses, though I tried and tried. “Could it really be wrong,” I asked myself? Then after taking it out and getting a good cross or two, GAYBAR was obvious. I guess I had been seeing the clue this way: “Place to go out [of] and be out.” I did not know the roundtrip game PADIDDLE. My favorite clue was “It’s sharp near the bottom.” It was a fun Saturday puzzle.
@Isabeau I've grieved many dear pets, so I understand. I send you lots of warm thoughts. I never had a pet emu (thank goodness).
I agree with Dave Rosenbaum’s comment about PLOUT and TOADETTE.. I had a fairly easy solve going, then I tried to finish the north and northeast. For 11D I had I HAvE TO ASK. It’s a recognizable phrase, so I though I was OK. I didn’t know 10A, but I figured 10D was RACE BIB, and 13D was I’M SET. EVENTUALLY, I figured out that RIRI was related to Rihanna (in my mind her name was spelled “Rhianna”), a singer whose name I recognize, but whose music I do not. That got me to the sticky things: 8D and 20A. To me they were crossing Naticks. After seeing a comment here, many people might know TOADETTE, so it wouldn't be a Natick for them. I’ve never played Mario games, so I was stuck. I didn’t like what I had for the end of 20A: T_ADEVTE. What the heck do I do with “EVDT”? Aha! Not I HAVE TO, but I HATE TO ASK. That helped a lot. I still had no clue what the hybrid fruit was, but a little persistence—and a couple passes through the grid to see if I might have had another HAvE/HATE type of mistake—gave me PLOUT, TOADETTE, and the happy music. Whew! Do emus eat PLOUTs?
@Steve L Thanks. I had it correct in the puzzle. When I wrote my post, I got it wrong. Since I did it more than once, it was a no-know, not a typo. Thanks for explaining the fruit's origin. It'll be easy to remember: apricots were my dad's favorite fruit.
@Reggers That's happened to me a couple of times. Write to the NYT's game people and they can fix it for you. <a href="mailto:nytgames@nytimes.com">nytgames@nytimes.com</a> Good luck.
@Raven Pfister The third "i" in WIRY SIMILE bothered me. All the other theme answers have two I's, which when removed, make a new phrase. Cute theme. But WIRY SIMILE has three I's. I tried several ways to substitute for the third, but kept coming back to removing only two. As I said to my wife, I was surprised by a third "i" that wasn't removed, because The Times's themes rarely have such a glitch. In other words, not all the ayes have it. That said, congratulations to Joe for his second cycle.
@James Best of luck to you. The emus are on your side, too.
@Bill I agree about RESPECT. It doesn't quite match the timbre of the others, but it's close enough for jazz, I guess. I tried CAROM first. I'm no pool player, but I know what a MASSE shot is. It just wasn't my first thought. CORONA wasn't my first thought, either. I had MODELO for a while. The SW gave me the hardest time. LOWRISE didn't click for a long time. I had YAKED before JAWED. I watched "The West Wing" long ago, but couldn't remember Janney's role. Do emus send love letters?
@Puzzled I knew BOLT, but maybe my age is showing. Do emus bolt down their food?
@Mark DelGiudice I knew some of them, but not CHIANG, TIMON, OSRIC, and ASLAN. I don't look anything up when solving, so it took me a while to get it all. What would JUNG have thought of BIKINI-TANning emus?
@Barry Ancona I had it, too, Barry, for my tonsillectomy. And like you and one other, I started with TATTooed. I wanted STEPS, but it wasn't coming. Then I got the picture. I enjoyed the puzzle. Do emus ever get tatted?
@Steve L NOSE RAG was the one that caught my attention. And the emus' attention, perhaps?
@Vaer Do you have a favorite tenor singing Mario? For me, it's Giuseppe Di Stefano. Do emus know Puccini's music?
@replay I had the same thought about SINES. I put it in, then thought "no," so I took it out until I got some crosses. Emus don't surf on sine waves.
@Barry Ancona I had a head-slapping moment with CELIA Cruz. I had the ELIA, but I couldn't think of the right letter to start her name. Start it with S? D? C? Then lightning struck. It's CELIA. Of course! I got CONGREGANT soon after. Why the head slap? I have some CELIA Cruz CDs (out of thousands). I haven't listened to her rmusic in ages, though.
@SP Yup, I had COSTAR at first. It didn't work, of course, though I wondered for a bit if 24D could be anything other than GREEK. Like you, I thought of OUTER. Has an emu ever been outed?
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