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Salisbury MD
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Salisbury MD
I'm not technically "of a certain age" enough to know egg creams, but I was familiar enough from just reading about them. When driving my son back to college from Maryland to upstate New York (plus his younger brothers who were to be my "carry things upstairs" guys), we stopped at Holsten's in New Jersey, an old-school ice cream shop. We all had egg creams and they were amazing. Bonus fun fact, Holsten's is where the famous final scene of "The Sopranos" takes place. We even got to sit in their booth! We ordered onion rings in Tony's honor and they were a perfect accompaniment to the egg creams. I recommend this road trip. You can all expense it to your crossword research accounts.
I enjoyed this puzzle and it was a bonus delight to find out afterwards that the creator is an antitrust lawyer working vs. mergers - so funny! I am not great at anagrams so I got most of them from the crosses, but it was fun trying to puzzle them out a bit anyway.
The greatest thing ever happened while I was working on this crossword - I turned on the TV to be presented with an airing of the classic "Gilligan's Island" episode where the castaways have to stage a musical version of "Hamlet" for, you know, sitcom reasons. It's such a great episode and I will have Alan Hale singing "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" to the toreador song stuck in my head all day. I don't know if I can post a link in a comment, but just in case: <a href="https://youtu.be/bXId5jOTxdg?si=gIOGTZz7PYq21sZi" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/bXId5jOTxdg?si=gIOGTZz7PYq21sZi</a>
The "moonshine" clue took me a while, but once I figured it out, I was delighted! This was a fun puzzle.
So happy to see Erroll Garner make an appearance - I named my son after him and you would think no one had ever seen the name Erroll before (granted, it's a bit more common with one L - he was excited to see his name in the crossword today!). If you have never heard Garner's Concert by the Sea, it is a delight. Or if modern music is more to your taste, Adele's All Night Parking has a great Garner feature.
I thought this was so brilliant! When I finally figured out the trick, I was delighted. Thanks a million for making me use my brain a little even before coffee on a Sunday morning.
This puzzle brought back one of my favorite elementary school memories, during my fifth grade classroom spelling bee, when the teacher made the mistake of giving the class clown the word "relief." It was pure hysterical joy for a bunch of 10-year-olds. I don't think that could happen nowadays because kids are probably not getting fed antacid ads by the algorithms!
@SP You don't think "I were a new solver I would have been happy with it" is kind of disdainful? Like "it's fine for you plebs, but pros like better puzzles?" That's how it came across to me and I was not expecting that at all! Like many others have said, it's really not the tone we're used to from the usually lighthearted Wordplay column.
In a delightful coincidence, I had just tuned into one of the Roku channels that was playing "The Wrath of Khan" when I opened my crossword app. Definitely made the solving a bit easier! I absolutely loved the reverse "beam me up" clues.
@CCNY I particularly liked FIXITINPOST giving a little hint to COEDIT (one of the last to fall for me, but I appreciated it when I figured it out!).
@Marty yes! And the technical reason from back in printing press days is that the en dash is the size of a letter "n," while an em dash is m-sized.
@Heidi I'm impressed! My very last solve was "To a T." I kept going, what in the world is a "toat"?
I loved this puzzle! The pleasing theme, the very charming "tea and sandwiches" clue. So much fun. I regret that I have but one "like" to give for this crossword!
Totally enjoyed this puzzle l the way through!
@Brian hey we have an apt "Beaver" in town here too. He runs a tree-trimming service!
This was such a fun, funny puzzle and I love the creators' comments about it. It took me a little bit and I had some lucky guessing, but the reveal was a total delight.
@The X-Phile I can't believe I never put that together - of course! Thanks for the TIR!
@Divs I love this and I have to add that my then-toddler used to sing "Uptown Funky Duck" by Bruno Mars! Some of the 24 carrot magic must have rubbed off on me because I actually managed this one with no lookups.
@CarolinaJessamine TIL (thanks to your link) that it's required in Maryland, where I have had one kid graduate and another currently in high school, and had no idea this was something they were (supposed to be) learning. I'll have to grill them on what they actually do in health class, a topic I had always avoided! It is a great skill to have.
@James Morgan I just finished my own 20-minute typo slog! I don't know why it was so tough this morning! (MADEA got me, I thought it was Medea, but I should have known Baath!)
@Jim in Forest Hills Saucepan hung me up for the longest time!
@Charles Nelson Reilly I am not a music nerd but I am always delighted when I recognize an artist my kids have talked about whom I've never heard of. It means I'm really listening. To them, not Earl Sweatshirt... although maybe I should!
@Milo I have to admit I felt the same way about Thursday puzzles for a long time, but I have come around to them after a couple of years of banging my head against them - now that I'm better at it, I like the challenge!
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen well deserved! It's genuinely so fun to watch!
@LGinDC BLOSSOMED/CUSSED. I struggled a little with it getting to accept my grid with empty letters as well. After I filled in a couple, but not all, of the rebuses, it did. But double check that you don't have another letter out of place somewhere!
@Marcia Fidler I am having the same experience! It's maddening but I'm sure we'll find that one stray letter ... I hope!
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