Theme: "Monsters Incorporated" - Seven different monsters are hidden the theme entries.
22A. Just okay: NO GREAT SHAKES. Ogre.
36A. Hitting the market soon: NOT YET IN STORES. Yeti.
66A. Style maven: FASHION ICON. Oni. The character of Oni can also mean ghost. Same as in Chinese.
96A. Bread options in morning buffets: BREAKFAST ROLLS. Troll
112A. Strong ale brewed by Trappists in the Low Countries: BELGIAN TRIPEL. Giant. From "Jack and the Beanstalk
16D. Take longer than necessary: DRAG ONE'S FEET. Dragon.
60D. Genghis Khan's realm: MONGOL EMPIRE. Golem.
Monster Sandwich! Congrats to Matthew Stock on his first LAT Sunday. Very smooth 140-worder.
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| Matthew Stock |
The
last few weeks of comments have been quite interesting. Different editors and constructors bring different voices, so naturally there will be some changes in our puzzles, esp clue angles.
Across:
7. Components: FACETS.
13. Odysseys, e.g.: HONDAS. Minivans.
19. "God Is a Woman" singer Grande: ARIANA. My grandma believed in Ya Ya, who's genderless.
20. Inviting call from a treehouse: UP HERE.
21. Sicilian seaport: PALERMO. Mafia stronghold.
24. Generational divides: AGE GAPS.
25. One of the Big Five in Hollywood's Golden Age: RKO.
26. Name in a will: HEIR.
27. Befuddled gesture: SHRUG.
29. Golfo contents: AGUA.
30. Hip hop dance move: NAE NAE.
32. Poorly lit: DIM.
34. "Okay, that's enough from me": I'LL STOP.
40. North Carolina university: ELON. No Musk!
41. Nights of anticipation: EVES.
42. Lines from an admirer: ODE.
43. "Aaaand that's mine now!": YOINK. Originated in "The Simpsons", I think.
44. Challenges: DARES.
46. Smidge: TAD.
47. Boatloads: SLEWS.
49. Horde: HOST.
51. Wet wipes brand: LYSOL.
53. Historian Cobb who writes for The New Yorker: JELANI. Unfamiliar to me.
54. __ guzzler: GAS.
55. The Yoko of "Dear Yoko" and "Oh Yoko!": ONO.
57. Egg __ yung: FOO. Tiny clue/answer dupe: 61. Spur to action: EGG ON.
58. Madagascar primate: LEMUR.
63. Proclaims: TRUMPETS.
65. "That's my cue!": I'M ON.
69. "v funny": HE HE.
70. Film versions made by devotees: FAN EDITS.
72. Line of work for a dog walker?: LEASH. Fun clue.
73. "Misery" Oscar winner: BATES (Kathy)
74. Comedian Notaro: TIG. Right. Left is her wife.
75. __-ball pens: UNI.
76. Novelist Tan: AMY.
77. Didn't play: SAT OUT.
80. Keycard receivers: SLOTS.
82. Maker of Berryblossom White tea: TAZO. Not fond of white tea.
84. Balm additives: ALOES.
85. Nintendo console: WII.
88. "Political Gabfest" podcast producer: SLATE.
90. Supercharged: TURBO.
93. Vinyl records, briefly: LPS.
94. "I'd rather not": PASS.
95. __ out a win (almost lost): EKED.
99. Ferrera of "Superstore": AMERICA.
101. Philosophy: ISM.
102. __ skills: PEOPLE.
103. Some political campaign research, for short: OPPO. Opposition research.
104. Ashtray debris: BUTTS.
107. South Asian rice cake: IDLI. Do you make this at home, Vidwan?
109. Ballyhoo: ADO.
110. Snag in a plan: WRINKLE.
117. Counter-counterculture folks: NORMIES. New term to me.
118. Sports venues: ARENAS.
119. Painter Diego: RIVERA. Frida Kahlo's husband.
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120. Contemptuous looks: SNEERS.
121. Fight like a country kid: RASSLE.
122. Tomorrow: IN A DAY.
Down:
2. Spanish gold: ORO.
3. Flew south for the winter, say: MIGRATED. Hope next winter is milder.
4. Valet's array: CAR KEYS.
5. Low-scoring tie: ONE ONE.
6. [I'm a goat!]: MAA. Not BAA.
7. __ box: FUSE.
8. Leaf-eating pests: APHIDS.
9. Many a tax-exempt organization: CHARITY.
10. "Jeepers!": EEK.
11. Uno y dos: TRES.
12. Brief meeting?: SESH. Sessions.
13. Argued over prices: HAGGLED. I've seen it all during our years of flea market dealings.
14. La Liga cheer: OLE.
15. "No siree": NEGATORY. Not a word I use.
17. Energize: AMP UP.
18. Argentine singer Mercedes known for "Gracias a la Vida": SOSA.
Another learning moment for me. From Wikipedia: "Sosa performed in
venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York City, the Théâtre Mogador
in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, as well as sell-out
shows in New York's Carnegie Hall and the Roman Colosseum during her
final decade of life."
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21. See 113-Down: PAUL. 113. With 21-Down, guitarist in the National Inventors Hall of Fame: LES.
23. "How could you even sugGEST that?": THE IDEA.
28. Puts on the line: RISKS.
30. Bossa __: NOVA.
31. Bikini, e.g.: ATOLL.
33. __ juice: MOO.
35. Sinuous ski race: SLALOM.
36. After taxes: NET.
37. Currency: NEWNESS.
38. Musician honored as a National Hero of Barbados: RIHANNA. And 94. 38-Down, notably: POP DIVA.
39. Mireille of "Big Love": ENOS.
45. Console: SOOTHE.
47. Spanish 101 verb: SER. To be.
48. [What a relief!]: SIGH.
50. Fatty tuna, to a sushi chef: TORO. Gimme!
52. Topples the Jenga tower, say: LOSES.
53. Summer month: JUNE.
54. Like undercooked brownies: GOOEY. Got Boomer a few more Bismarcks with pudding in the middle.
56. Many a "Call the Midwife" character: NUN.
58. Brings up: LIFTS.
59. Inbox fillers: EMAILS.
62. Surname well known in Stars Hollow: GILMORE. "Gilmore Girls".
63. "Black Panther" role for Chadwick Boseman: TCHALLA.
64. "Cool," in dated slang: PHAT.
66. Fiver: FIN.
67. Quarreling: AT IT.
68. "Insecure" star Rae: ISSA.
71. Feather __: DUSTER.
73. Mass-transit option: BUS.
76. Bleu hue: AZUR.
78. Curveball element: TOPSPIN.
79. Sunset dirección: OESTE.
81. Big A-ha moment?: TAKE ON ME. From the band A-ha.
83. Trip to the plate: AT BAT.
85. Clobbered: WALLOPED.
86. __ of Wight: ISLE.
87. Mag. unit: ISS.
89. Food: EDIBLES.
91. Antioxidant beverage brand: BAI. Chinese for "white".
92. Thumbs-up gestures: OK SIGNS.
97. Radio knob: FM DIAL.
98. Make quite an entrance: ROAR IN.
99. Splatter guard: APRON.
100. Sticks by the pool table: CUES.
103. Possesses: OWNS.
105. Retro ski lift: T BAR.
106. Blood fluids: SERA. I'd be so lost without Nina's feedback and guidance.
108. Cut with a surgical beam: LASE.
111. Cassis apéritif: KIR.
114. TNT part: TRI.
115. Time period often named for an art movement: ERA.
116. __ down the law: LAY.
Boomer
had another blood draw last Monday. His white blood count was good,
unfortunately his PSA spiked to 531 (0-4 is normal). It was 445 on April
5th. So the 4th chemo infusion did not work either. His new oncologist canceled the 5th infusion scheduled for May 5th.
Tomorrow morning Boomer is having more x-rays at the VA hospital in Minneapolis, then we'll meet with the orthopedic doctor to see if a surgery is needed for his broken left shoulder. After that, we'll meet with the new oncologist to discuss the next steps.
Thanks for continuing to keep Boomer in your thoughts and prayers.
C.C.
39 comments:
Good morning!
This was a toughy, but goody. That "Fiver" wasn't an ABE. Put in AQUA, but then saw "bleu" and took it back out. Wite-Out, please. In the end, d-o turfed it with one bad letter -- a U in lieu of E in JELANI. Oops, SUR is French, and it's not a verb. D'oh. Well done, Matthew and C.C.
Well, folks. The great Subgenius struck out this time. I had exactly the same error as D-Otto, "sur" instead of "ser." Oh well, I guess a FIW once in a blue moon isn't the end of the world!
Sorry. BAI? ONI? YOINK? TRIPEL? IDLI? What language is this puzzle in? Also didn't know JELANI and ENOS. I'll take NAENAE and NORMIES, but yeesh.
Didn't realize RIHANNA is Barbadan.
I don't really care to list all of the fill I found unpleasant, but there really was a good amount of it. There was some pretty sketchy clueing and fill. Painful. Another joyless Sunday slog. On the positive side, I liked the theme.
FIR. Way too many unknowns for me, and completely bewildered by yoink. Huh?
I was led astray, not once, but several times. Seven bad squares for a FIW. Matthew, your debut really puzzled me! But I managed to get more of this puzzle right than wrong and I enjoyed finding the monsters in the circles. I knew most of the monsters but ONI was a learning moment for me. Come back, Matthew. I hope to do better next time.
C.C. gets my thanks too for her helpful review today. You need some good news for Boomer's medical situation, C.C.! Thanks for updating us. We will keep you both in our thoughts.
Unlike DO and Subgenius, SER was a solid fill for me. Thank you, years of Spanish classes! Two of my wrong words were maSs instead of HOST and monDAY/oNeDAY instead of IN A DAY. Unfortunately the perps didn't raise red flags. Actually when I entered Monday, I thought Matthew was being clever.
Hope you all have a great Mother's Day today!
Good Morning:
I’m deferring to my good friend, Thumper, this morning.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms. 💐
Have a great day.
This one was a mix of smiles, groans (some good, some bad) and WTFs (most of which have already been enumerated).
Thinking good thoughts for Boomer.
Why was this puzzle published?
Musings
-Me too, D-O, an obscure historian crossing a Spanish verb with a coinflip vowel cost me one bad cell.
-I even accidentally got YOINK or, in modern parlance, I got YOINK on accident. PU!
-Obscure actors and/or their roles for fill and/or cluing seem to be becoming more prevalent
-A SHRUG and a mumbled “I dunno” is teen-speak for “Leave me alone”
-Gee, what Yoko could that possibly be? :-)
-Credit card slots used to be a horizontal front, and then a vertical side swipe, then vertical from the bottom and yesterday at Walgreens it was vertical from the top.
-Some tax-exempt CHARITIES share a very small percent of their donations
-HAGGLED – “Will you take a quarter for that shirt you have at 50¢?” Really?
-Curveballs are more associated with SIDESPIN
-I put in TAKE ME ON but didn’t “get” it in until I saw the capital in A-hah
-ISS is always the International Space Station to this NASA guy
Yoink should not be allowed
Best wishes for Boomer and happy Mothers' Day.
I have to agree with Anthony Gael Moral, billocohoes, anon@ 9:02, KS and probably everybody to follow. I see Rich's name is still listed but this puzzle just had weird clues.
ATLGranny- I don't have 'bad squares'; I leave them blank- I had 6 empty spots. DNF.
OPPO, NORMIES, TCHALLA, Political Gabfest, JELANI, TIG, ENOS and Mireille and 'Big Love', IDLI, SESH for sessions, OINK, TORA, Stars Hollow, FAN EDITS, Mercedes SOSA, BELGIAN TRIPEL, SER for 'to be' in Espanol? Never heard or seen any of them but managed to get some of them by perps. I don't like to criticize any constructor's work but those fills were just bad choices for somebody who hadn't won ten or more consecutive games on Jeopardy.
NEGATORY- I remember people using it during the CB craze before cell phones came on the scene. Tt was used for 'no' because there was a lot of static. AFFIRMATIVE was used for 'yes'.
One of those red letters days where I do the 26 letter substitution game and I am surprised when something fits...
I had to check, and "yoink" is now in the dictionary, so you better get used to it.
here is how it started...
And I can see how it got adopted into real life...
Praying for Boomer and CC. I got “iss” (from perps) for 87D - but what is it? And what does “mag.” mean in clue? Thx
Dang.. too many obscure names
Anon@11:04 Mag is short for Magazine (indicating an abbreviation for the answer); ISS is an Issue.
I was hoping Boomer would get some good news. Lets pray we have some in the coming weeks. GC
Big Easy @ 11:01 AM
I put something in every square in case my WAG happens to be correct. That does happen, but not for every guess today.
Sunday toughie but with still many neat items all around--may thanks, Matthew.
C.C. thank you for your update on Boomer. You are both in my prayers every day, and I hope you'll get good medical advice and help in the coming week.
Missed your Sunday commentary, Irish Miss. Have a good day!
Have a lovely Mother's Day, everyone.
Boomer and CC Sorry to hear the scary news. You are quite a survivor, Boomer! Keep on!
WEES. TRIPEL? Had RHIANNA instead of RIHANNA at first. YOINK is annoYOINK. But I guess we have seen it before. CrossEyedDave Thanks for the Simpsons reminder of its origin.
ONI actually annoyed me most of all as I put so much emphasis on the theme. Who ever heard of ONI? I did enjoy the theme otherwise. Amazed to FIR, but not really fun.
Curitiba, Brazil has a most unique BUS system that needs to be duplicated in every major city. They have BUSes that board like a subway. You pay your fare first and multiple doors open from the station. People enter and exit rapidly and the BUS is on its way. Most important, the BUS has its own lane so it is true Rapid TRANSIT as well as MASS TRANSIT.
Here are my photos of this innovative and effective MASS TRANSIT BUS system in Curitiba, Brazil.
Has anyone else experienced this?
From Earlier Days:
I thought the SNAIL SPA was cool!
Learning moment about BLUE EMU.
I was able to finish but hadn't heard of a few things before. I don't mind a little emergency fill here and there, maybe less sensitive to it than most. IDLI is pushing it - has been used in three Universal Crosswords in the last couple years, so maybe we'll have to get used to it. I have never heard of "NO GREAT SHAKES" before, but it looks like that's just me. Thank you for the debut! Always nice to see a new constructor.
Used to drink Belgian Tripel but have switched to light beer due to the calorie content.
desper-otto at 11:17 AM, thanks for explaining what the heck "Mag." and ISS are. Like Gary, ISS means International Space Station to me, and "Mag." looks to me like an abbrev. for Magnetic or Magnetism or something like that.
I, too, gut stuck on the unknown vowel crossing the unknown historian Cobb and the unknown Spanish verb. As Gary also said, flip a coin. The ONLY way I filled TCHALLA was being able to solve all 7 perps. It took all 3 perps to fill TIG and all 4 perps to fill SOSA and ENOS, too.
I like the clue for LEASH and the clue/answer CAR KEYS.
I could probably write a whole white paper expounding on the topic of how crossword puzzle answers that are sussable by logic and certain amount of noodling are a completely different species from trivia puzzle answers that are either flat out known or flat out not known and no amount of logic or noodling will do the solver any good at figuring them out.
All the best wishes to you all this Mothers' Day.
Happy Mother's Day! The puzzle didn't really make me a happy mother. Filled it in just over an hour, again with red-letters blazing away. I counted 18 unknowns. Theme was fine but sure needed the circles to find it. ONI was unknown, but may be the ONI unknown I remember.
Whoopee! I knew RIHANNA from the clue, but not the spelling. I saw the announcement of her honor.
C.C., thank you for the great explanations. Sorry for your disappointing news, but praying for better times for you & Boomer. Please keep us posted.
I had a tough time with the CW puzzle, and I hate to say, that I never bothered to complete it. I just gave up ... Hey, its only a game ... not a matter of Life and / or Death ...
I was most interested on how many folks could have possibly solved it successfully .... other than the constructor or the puzzle editor...
Judging from your blog replies .... not too many people actually solved this ...A-ha moment !!
Thank you CC for the blog review, which explained everything.
I am sorry for Boomer's ongoing problems, and both of you are in my prayers, every night.
I trust and hope he has enough and adequate pain medication readily available and at hand, so that his suffering is minimized.
In answer to your question:: Do You eat or prepare IDLI ( or IDLY, or IDLEE )
Idli, is plain steamed, fermented, savory, rice flour cakes. It is by far, the most common breakfast food in all of southern India.
It is made with one third, .... powdered and ground black bean (urad) flour, .... and rest rice flour, all fermented for a day or more, with some salt and other minor additives. Then the mixture is poured into moulds and steamed for five minutes, for the finished product.
Since the Idlis are by and large,.... bland, or slighty salty ... they are meant to be a filler like bread slices, .. and need a strong, spicy, gravy... sambhar or rasam .... to lend them their taste.
BTW, the IDLI batter can be purchased ready-made at most indian stores ... but you still need a steamer vessel, and moulds to make those shapes.
We generally eat Idlis, about 5 or 6 times a year.
have a nice Sunday, and a great week ahead.
Quick! What is Nelson Mandela's middle name? I can tell you it has 10 letters.
Don't know? Okay, I'll reveal a few letters for you via the perps:
R--I-L-H--
Still don't know? Can't use reasoning or intuition to figure it out? Here are some more letters:
RO-I-LAH-A
Okay okay, I'll reveal all but one letter:
ROLI-LAHLA
What? You still don't know? Oh, so you are going to guess that maybe, just maybe (no way of knowing) that the missing letter is an H because the last three letters are HLA? You guessed right! Nelson Mandela's middle name is
ROLIHLAHLA
Gosh you sure are a good crossword puzzle solver.
I know I know, maybe that was too obscure (obscure to whom?) Here's an easy one. What is Amy Klobuchar's middle name? It's 4 letters.
J--N
JEAN? JOAN? JOON? JAHN? JIAN? Who knows what a parent may name their child and how they may choose to spell it?
J-AN
Ah, so you are guessing it is JEAN? It really is a guess, you know. Well, you are right, you skilled solver, you! Her full name is Amy JEAN Klobuchar.
Shall I go on? Okay, who is the Yankee pitcher named the 1956 world series MVP? 9 letters.
D-NLARS-N
I leave it the reader to fill in the blanks.
Puzzling thoughts:
Big Easy @ 11:02
I fill out the puzzle on the newspaper copy from the Arizona Republic. Today's puzzle gives credit to Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis as the editors
Irish Miss - I, too, will defer to Thumper
Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms here!
That was sure some exciting race at Churchill Downs yesterday! What a great race and great story about the winning horse and its connections
Jayce, good one. Wonder how Matthew did on yours?
Vidwan, enjoyed your explanation of IDLI.
Big Easy, agree that the Kentucky Derby was very exciting.
It really says a lot about a puzzle when our expert Agnes has to declare Thumper. Hope our editors are listening.
I imagine the consternation was the same when the NYT stopped being a puzzle about knowing obscure words. This puzzle was very difficult for anyone over 50, but we are not the only audience and will need to replaced with those under 50. Did I love the puzzle, no but I accept the future as inevitable. I was not happy when they cancelled THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and replaced it with LAUGH-IN . But I got used to it and learned much of the world as it changed. Lighten up, it is a game and you are not forced to play. I think I just YOINKED you all, but I really do not know...yet.
Lemonade, since doing the puzzle is one of the few pleasures I have left, I don't believe it is inappropriate to complain. Young people probably don't know some of this crazy stuff that is being forced upon us either. Why would they? Yoink? For shame.
I am 65 and I loved it! Patti is clearly bringing a fresher, most welcome air to a puzzle that has, for far too long, been the sloggiest, most error-prone, old school, least respected and most badly edited Xword in the country, bar none. Way to go, Matthew & Patti!
I think you need to reread what I wrote, Lemonade. Nothing I wrote can be construed as complaining about change.
Sunday Lurk say...
Happy Mother's Day!
Thanks for updating us on Boomer, C.C.. Here's to wishing this week comes with better news a no setbacks.
Re: Churchill downs race... Apparently a buddy of my [CEO] Bro had $25 on the underdog. And that's all I know ;-)
Jayce - I agree on your analysis of good solver / good at Trivial Pursuit. Two proper (obscure) names crossing, IMHO, is lazy gridding. A proper name that you can perp provides learning or even an AHA! of something you knew but forgot.
Learning about food (thanks Vidwan re: IDLI
@8:46 - I'm an X-er and 13yrs your Jr. I find the change to modern-day vernacular fun but the pop-culture references... Look, it took me years to get OONA at Chaplin; give me that :-)
//Ch, Cha, Changes [Bowie]
Hopefully no one finds this offensive - here's comedian Russell Peters on two cultures HAGGLING [2:57].
More fun is Python's take [2:05] :-)
Cheers, -T
Don't post here often, but I feel constrained to say that I'm 81, and I enjoyed this puzzle.
Late to post today - got back late from visiting my mom in KC for Mother's day and then had Face Time with 2 of the kids and grands- so way late start on the puzzle.
Theme definitely helped move the puzzle along except WEES about ONI - complete unknown.
I had my share of IDLI when I was in India - it could take on the flavor of whatever else it was eaten with. I didn't handle the really hot spices in some dishes very well - so sometimes I just ate the IDLI, bananas, and yogurt ;)
BREAKFAST ROLLS reminded me of a trip our family took to the East Coast in the early 70s - my mom ordered a sweet roll &coffee and the waitress had no clue what she wanted - she brought out a dinner roll from the night before - finally she understood that my mom wanted a Danish - a term my Midwestern mom had never heard of.
I'm fine with the variety of clues and answers - I had to learn all the stuff from early to mid 20th century and now I am learning the latest cultural references- some from my kids and staff at work and some from playing Sporcle.com trivia. I've never seen an episode of The Simpsons - but between Xwords and Sporcle - I've learned many of the answers
So I'd encourage everyone to be lifelong learners. My kids are always saying - how did you know THAT?
Thanks CC - hope the eval goes well tomorrow!
and congrats to Matthew
I'm in 78 and absolutely HATED this entry. Started after breakfast then took a hiatus for my Mother's Day feast brought by my family. Began again at 9 p.m.and it's 1:30 am and it's only 2/3 finished. Looked at the answer and honestly don't even understand the answers!!!
Why do the constructor's relish in piling up their puzzles with little-known pop trivia and sanguine themes that no one is concerned about. I always thought puzzles were supposed to stretch your word-sense, not to provide constructor's to display their whacky sense of superiority!?
I fell asleep and never posted. Clues like ODYSSEY always bring the V8 can.
YOINK was all perps . The E on JELANI was part of a Natick. I guessed U. SER for the Spanish was UNK. I didn't think I'd FIR this one anyway. I see D-O and SubG did the same
Yep, I had aNyDAY and meant to ink DIVA but overlooked it. Close.
Anybody know what a TRIPEL is? I see it's a beer.* I almost stopped at Waffle House on my way S from Ocala. It was late.
Yep, HG is right. Curve ball is the opposite of TOP SPIN- But as HG says, today it's sidespin. When I finally started throwing a curve I could make it drop with backspin.
Jayce I knew Don "Perfect Game' Larsen without the perps. And SOSA could have been ex Cub Slugger, Sammy
WC
On second thought I can't consider a simple Spanish verb a Natick
FIR with writeovers, SOLACE to SOOTHE and HIPPIES to NORMIES (missed the double ‘counter’ on first reading).
Three nits to pick —
Icon vs maven (there is an intersection in the Venn diagram, but, is one really a clue for the other?)
Uno mas tres is how I hear my Spanish speaking students do addition
Isn’t the thumb and index finger circle the okay sign?
Thanks! — and (doh), of course
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