Theme: Less is less.
The theme clues and answers are:
18. Flat sea urchin: SAND QUARTER. Instead of sand DOLLAR.
29. Period covered in a midterm exam, maybe: ACADEMIC DIME. Instead of an academic QUARTER. When I was in college, a midterm exam covered the first half of an academic quarter. I suppose an academic dime is a little less than half.
45. Tattles (on): DROPS A NICKEL. Instead of drops a DIME. "Drop a dime" is an idiom that means to inform on or betray someone, especially to the authorities.
57. Dense, dark rye bread: PUMPER PENNY. Instead of pumperNICKEL.
And the reveal ...
36. Form of downsizing, and what has affected 18-, 29-, 45-, and 57-Across?: SHRINKFLATION. Shrinkflation is a business practice by which a company reduces the size or quantity of a product while keeping the price the same. Fewer Cheerios in the Cheerios box. The value of your DOLLAR is now a QUARTER.
On to more ... or less!
Across:
1. Makeup of an oyster bed?: ICE. Raw oysters are stored and served on crushed ice.
4. Ordering aid: MENU.
8. Superlatively smart: WISEST.
14. Sanskrit honorific: SRI. In India, Sri is a title of respect used before the name of a man, a god, or a sacred book.
15. Second word in many fairy tales: UPON. Once upon a time ...
16. Member of the Seven Council Fires: OGLALA. The Oglala are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Seven Council Fires.
8. Superlatively smart: WISEST.
14. Sanskrit honorific: SRI. In India, Sri is a title of respect used before the name of a man, a god, or a sacred book.
15. Second word in many fairy tales: UPON. Once upon a time ...
16. Member of the Seven Council Fires: OGLALA. The Oglala are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Seven Council Fires.
 |
| Thomas White Face, Oglala Lakota, 1899. |
17. Ducked, maybe: HID.
18. [Theme clue]
20. Mouth-puckering: TART.
18. [Theme clue]
20. Mouth-puckering: TART.
22. Mate mate?: SOUL. DH is my soul mate. Or perhaps, my better half.
23. Altar answer: I DO. That's essentially what I said to DH! But it was more like, "Behold, by this ring you are made holy unto me."
23. Altar answer: I DO. That's essentially what I said to DH! But it was more like, "Behold, by this ring you are made holy unto me."
 |
| Best day ever. |
24. Small storage unit: KILOBIT. A unit of computer memory or data equal to 1,024 (2¹º) bits. Kilobytes measure storage capacity or data size, while kilobits measure data transfer rates or transmission speeds. I'm sure you knew this, but I sure didn't!
26. Assumes: ADOPTS. "Adopt" in the sense of "assume" means to take on or accept something as your own, like an idea, attitude, or position.
29. [Theme clue]
31. Cap: LID. What do caps and lids conjure up for you?
 |
| Caps and lids ... or caps and lids? |
32. Hosp. ward: ICU. Intensive Care Unit in a hospital. Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer.
33. South Indian rice cake: IDLI. Crossword cuisine.
33. South Indian rice cake: IDLI. Crossword cuisine.
 |
| Idli |
36. [Theme reveal]
41. __ squeeze: MAIN. Uh, oh. TMI today about DH!
42. Peaty wetland: FEN.
43. Singular: ONE.
45. [Theme clue]
50. Fresh air, say: BREEZE.
52. "Maybe give it a pass": NO STARS. A no star rating is a rating that indicates there is no redeeming quality about something. A reviewer might say "maybe give it a pass" about a bad movie or museum.
43. Singular: ONE.
45. [Theme clue]
50. Fresh air, say: BREEZE.
52. "Maybe give it a pass": NO STARS. A no star rating is a rating that indicates there is no redeeming quality about something. A reviewer might say "maybe give it a pass" about a bad movie or museum.
53. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
54. Flying start?: AERO. A Greek prefix relating to flight and air, as in aerodynamics and aeroplane (British for airplane).
56. Graphic __: ARTS. The graphic arts include drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking -- all of which are produced on flat surfaces -- and are often associated with visual communication and advertising.
57. [Theme clue]
61. Vote for: YEA. As opposed to nay. In a sensible language, these would be yea and nea, or yae and nae, or yay and nay.
63. Wet weather wear: ANORAK. A usually pullover hooded jacket long enough to cover the hips.
54. Flying start?: AERO. A Greek prefix relating to flight and air, as in aerodynamics and aeroplane (British for airplane).
56. Graphic __: ARTS. The graphic arts include drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking -- all of which are produced on flat surfaces -- and are often associated with visual communication and advertising.
57. [Theme clue]
61. Vote for: YEA. As opposed to nay. In a sensible language, these would be yea and nea, or yae and nae, or yay and nay.
63. Wet weather wear: ANORAK. A usually pullover hooded jacket long enough to cover the hips.
64. Reddit Q&As: AMAS. Reddit AMAs (which stands for “Ask Me Anything”) are Q&As designed to bring an authority on a subject to a community of interested people. News to me.
65. Stale, in a way: OLD.
66. Names on some college buildings: DONORS.
67. Toy brand with a 3,955-piece "Home Alone" set: LEGO. The level of detail in this set is astonishing.
66. Names on some college buildings: DONORS.
67. Toy brand with a 3,955-piece "Home Alone" set: LEGO. The level of detail in this set is astonishing.
68. Phenomenon that may be explained by NASA: UFO. Unidentified Flying Object (commonly abbreviated as UFO) is the popular term for any apparent aerial phenomenon whose cause cannot be easily or immediately identified by the observer.
Down:
1. In a way: ISH. The suffix "-ish" is used to form adjectives from nouns or other adjectives to indicate an approximation.
2. Pulitzer category since 1970: CRITICISM. The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated "distinguished criticism."
3. Muslim festival that precedes the Tashreeq days: EID AL-ADHA. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is one of the two main holidays in Islam. The Days of Tashreeq are the three days after Eid al-Adha.
4. "There's no other explanation": MUST BE.
5. AQI monitor: EPA. The Air Quality Index is the Environmental Protection Agency's tool for communicating about outdoor air quality and health.
6. Like some cookware: NONSTICK.
7. Take back: UNDO.
8. Eager agreement: WOULD I. DH: Would you marry me? Me: Would I?! (Not the actual words that were uttered. Proposal-ISH.)
9. Grocery store franchise based in Chicago: IGA. The Independent Grocers Alliance was founded in 1926 to bring family owned, local grocery stores together under the IGA brand.
10. Shutterbug's initials: SLR. A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) typically uses a mirror and prism system that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. I like to point my SLR at birds in the backyard.
7. Take back: UNDO.
8. Eager agreement: WOULD I. DH: Would you marry me? Me: Would I?! (Not the actual words that were uttered. Proposal-ISH.)
9. Grocery store franchise based in Chicago: IGA. The Independent Grocers Alliance was founded in 1926 to bring family owned, local grocery stores together under the IGA brand.
10. Shutterbug's initials: SLR. A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) typically uses a mirror and prism system that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. I like to point my SLR at birds in the backyard.
 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler, a fall and winter resident in my Los Angeles garden. |
11. Hit the deck: EAT IT. "Hit the deck" means to suddenly fall to the ground, usually to avoid danger. One meaning of "eat it" is to fall down.
12. Para ice hockey gear: SLEDS. Para ice hockey is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a lower body physical disability. A specialized sled (or sledge) is substituted for skates.
12. Para ice hockey gear: SLEDS. Para ice hockey is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a lower body physical disability. A specialized sled (or sledge) is substituted for skates.
 |
| A para ice hockey player handling the puck. |
13. Boba tea flavor: TARO. Taro root has a slightly sweet and nutty flavor with vanilla undertones that goes well with the milk, sugar, and black tea used to make boba tea. Or so I've read! I'm not a fan of the tapioca bubbles (AKA pearls, AKA boba) in boba tea.
19. Campus square: QUAD. In architecture, a quadrangle (or colloquially, a quad) is a space or a courtyard, usually rectangular, the sides of which are mainly occupied by parts of a large building, or several smaller buildings. Often associated with college campuses.
19. Campus square: QUAD. In architecture, a quadrangle (or colloquially, a quad) is a space or a courtyard, usually rectangular, the sides of which are mainly occupied by parts of a large building, or several smaller buildings. Often associated with college campuses.
 |
| The original quad at UCLA is bordered by the first four campus buildings, dating to 1929: |
the Library, Royce Hall, the Physics Building and the Chemistry Building. Pictured here is Royce Hall.
24. Actor Penn: KAL. Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration.
 |
| Kal Penn |
25. "Name the time and place": I'M IN.
27. Conveniently forget, maybe: OMIT.
28. Treatment for tootsies: PEDI. A pedicure makes your toes pretty.
30. Results of rolling up one's sleeves?: CUFFS.
34. "Great job, friend!": LOOK AT YOU.
35. Private parts?: INNER SELF. Ha ha!
37. Roller coaster, e.g.: RIDE.
38. Subject line phrase: IN RE. In re, Latin for "in the matter [of]," is a term with several different meanings. I always assumed it meant "in regard to ...."
39. Bill Withers hit that begins, "Sometimes in our lives / We all have pain": LEAN ON ME. What a great song!
27. Conveniently forget, maybe: OMIT.
28. Treatment for tootsies: PEDI. A pedicure makes your toes pretty.
30. Results of rolling up one's sleeves?: CUFFS.
34. "Great job, friend!": LOOK AT YOU.
35. Private parts?: INNER SELF. Ha ha!
37. Roller coaster, e.g.: RIDE.
38. Subject line phrase: IN RE. In re, Latin for "in the matter [of]," is a term with several different meanings. I always assumed it meant "in regard to ...."
39. Bill Withers hit that begins, "Sometimes in our lives / We all have pain": LEAN ON ME. What a great song!
40. Civilization-building video game series set in various years: ANNO. Did not know this, but guessed the name, since "anno" is Latin for "in the year."
44. Half of roll call: ELS. The letter L (spelled "el") constitutes half of the letters in "roll call."
46. Range whose highest point is Wahzhazhe Summit: OZARKS. The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, is a region in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as the southeastern corner of Kansas.
47. Marshmallow treat: PEEP.
46. Range whose highest point is Wahzhazhe Summit: OZARKS. The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, is a region in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as the southeastern corner of Kansas.
47. Marshmallow treat: PEEP.
 |
| These do not look like good eats. |
48. "It's my decision": I SAY SO. Did your parents give you this answer to "Why?"
49. QB feeder: CTR. Football *and* abbreviations!
50. "Encanto" uncle: BRUNO. I saw the 2021 animated film by Walt Disney Studios, but had to guess at this character's name.
51. Rodriguez of "Will Trent": RAMON. Ramón Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican actor known for his current role as the title character in the ABC series Will Trent. Well, known to some -- not to me!
49. QB feeder: CTR. Football *and* abbreviations!
50. "Encanto" uncle: BRUNO. I saw the 2021 animated film by Walt Disney Studios, but had to guess at this character's name.
51. Rodriguez of "Will Trent": RAMON. Ramón Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican actor known for his current role as the title character in the ABC series Will Trent. Well, known to some -- not to me!
 |
| Ramón Rodríguez |
53. Apple tablet: IPAD.
55. Honest-to-goodness: REAL.
58. Major leaguer: PRO. A member of a major-league baseball team is a PROfessional ball player.
59. Maize unit: EAR. Corny!
60. Remind repeatedly, say: NAG. Dr. Laura Schlessinger says not to do this to our Dear Husbands.
62. Fuss: ADO. Nagging DH would constitute Much Ado About Nothing.
I had one bad cell in the solve, thanks to that small storage unit at 24 Across.
55. Honest-to-goodness: REAL.
58. Major leaguer: PRO. A member of a major-league baseball team is a PROfessional ball player.
59. Maize unit: EAR. Corny!
60. Remind repeatedly, say: NAG. Dr. Laura Schlessinger says not to do this to our Dear Husbands.
62. Fuss: ADO. Nagging DH would constitute Much Ado About Nothing.
Here's the grid:
I had one bad cell in the solve, thanks to that small storage unit at 24 Across.
Did you have more? Or LESS?
NaomiZ
58 comments:
Whew! That was tough!
I couldn’t get much traction until I got the reveal and figured out what was going on. Then the themed answers became clear, but that still left quite obscurities, including the Moslem holiday, the Indian tribe, and others. Nevertheless, FIR, so I’m happy (and relieved!).
That should be
“quite a few obscurities.” Don’t know how I left those two words out!
Rebecca is on my "don't bother" list, but what good is a list if you don't follow it? Filled a little over a dozen, then just lost interest. Her puzzles are just not my cuppa. On to the Penny/Dell offering.
Beware of the Ides of December (which is today.)
Wow!
At about 10 min in, I was wondering if I could solve this one. Some of the clues were very difficult. Some of the answers would require a lot of perp help. 3D, 16A and 33A were clear examples where I'd need perp help.
None of the long theme answers were making sense. I had the starts of each of them. PUMPERnickel was most assuredly the answer to Dark rye, but wouldn't fit. The reveal looked to be the coined term SHRINKFLATION, but at that point I was missing the F, A, O, and N.
Aren't Fridays supposed to be add-a-letter or drop-a-letter days? But which letter to drop out of nickel?
Then that soft little marshmallow treat broke the logjam. If it was truly PEEP that woukld give me PUMPERP___? That was the aha! moment. There's no other explanation. The answer MUST BE PENNY! So yes, NICKEL to PENNY and the reveal is SHRINKFLATION.
It was downhill SLEDding from there, but the northeast had one more mogul that even a schussing manatee might find difficult to navigate. I had SLR and IGA, but WISEST and OGLALA took time to get. Speaking of IGA, some here like Big Easy and Sandyanon might wonder why it wasn't clued as Tennis pro Swiatek.
Thank you, Rebecca. Your test today was a prime example of why I like to solve puzzles. A tough nut to crack, but the fruit was worth the effort. Rewarding.
Thank you for the spot on review, NaomiZ. I also needed perp help and gusses with BRUNO and RAMON. Does your DH solve and read your reviews? :>) I've been meaning to ask, do you watch food programs? I sometimes watch Jazzy Vegetarian and Christina Cooks. Of those two, I feel more engaged with Christina.
Good morning!
D-o suspected the diminishing returns when SAND QUARTER appeared. Cute. It made up for IDLI and EID AL ADHA. When "____ squeeze" appeared, I immediately threw down MAIN. Guess it's a good clue. Thanx, Rebecca and NaomiZ.
UFO: The preferred initialism is now UAP -- unidentified anomalous phenomena.
RAMON: I thought the show had been cancelled, but Will Trent is due to return for season three in January. IM would fall in love with his little dog, Betty.
Friday puzzle….It’s all about the money and lotsa weird names and titles. DNF
Greet the day!
A feisty group today, it is a Friday and is supposed to be a challenge. After years of explaining Friday offerings I found this theme very gettable, though it was not as Subgenius says, "not a walk in the park." Creating a theme which shrank the money sequentially dollar-quarter-nickel-penny was very impressive. EID AL-ADHA was all perps, but I thought they were very fair with so many three letter fill. Thanks Rebecca and Naomi, shabbat shalom. Beautiful wedding pic.
DO, I fell in love with Betty at first sight! I also took a fancy to Will Trent and am happy to hear the show is coming back for another season. 😉
FIW. The NW did me in. I just couldn't make sense of all those three letter words, so I took several WAG's and was wrong. Oh well.
I got the theme early on and had no problem with the long answers. In fact they were quite clever.
But the number of odd proper names, and several off the mark clues made this more of a Saturday presentation.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
A Friday or Saturday puzzle is predictably challenging, you bet, but that doesn't mean it has to be unfair. Today's crossword had a cute and clever theme that was unfortunately overshadowed by many inscrutable answers and wretched clues.
So there were guaranteed Naticks in virtually every section of the puzzle, with a mixed bag of nearby helpful perps.
It seems to me that there is an unwritten pact between.constructor/editor and solver. Solvers agree to give their best effort to solve, and in return the constructor/editor shows respect to the solver by presenting a challenging puzzle that is fair, doable, fun, and satisfying in the solve.
The vast majority of LAT Friday and Saturday puzzles abide by this unwritten pact; I feel that today's did not.
I have nobody to blame but myself for wasting 16 minutes on this puzzle. I saw the constructor's byline, and against my better judgment, forged ahead.
Yes, I'm aware of how difficult Fridays are "supposed to be," but too much of this offering was obscure dreck.
Perfectly said!
Took 10:23 today for me to finish this toughie - but that's just me putting in my one cent....
The Muslim festival, the South Indian rice cake, and the Oglala were all unknown to me, and I suspect, many others here.
I knew one of the actors (Kal, though I thought Sean first), but not the other (Ramon).
I got the gist of this tricky puzzle but couldn't finish due to intersections of unknown ANNO, and the tricky clues for NO STARS and ELS. I had ANN_, N__STAR__, and EL___. Not only did the amounts shrink but the denominations shrank as the puzzle progressed.
EID AL ADHA- 100% perps for that unknown but I was able to guess BRUNO and RAMON after a few perps for those two in the SW. Moving to the NE, guessing the two unknowns-TARO and SLEDS- opened up the puzzle and let the SAND DOLLARS change to a single QUARTER. WOULD I and LOOK AT YOU- those two fills didn't come easily.
SHRINKFLATION- if you think you are a millionaire, guess what? A million ain't what it used to be. Those dollars are shrinking fast.
If you know anything about baud rates, KILOBIT is an easy fill. It's the speed measured in kilobits/second your modem transfers data. Remember dial up internet? My first modem was RENTED for Ma Bell(at $30/month), which allowed customers to transmit orders over the phone. Think of those handheld devices you would see grocery clerks scanning for out of stock mdse. Pre-internet, they would transmit those orders over the slow copper wire phone system.
Á really cute theme that i eventually figured out, but oh, so many unknowns that required tons pf perps, some still not showing up. KILOBIT, IDLI, EID AL ADHA, (I can recognize the words, but can’t come up with them), EAT IT as clued, SLEDS, ANNO as clued, BRUNO, RAMON. Phew!
At first I had bog for FEN.Some cute clues like the one for CUFFS. Also more phrase clues than I’m comfortable with.
Oh, and by the way, I might be OLD but I’m not stale.LOL.
Thank you NaomiZ for a nice review. I’m sorry you didn’t include videos to test my system today. Tee Hee.
Tough obscure workout, but (to me) the juice was worth the squeeze...
Learning moment: Oglala, kilobit, para ice hockey And you can't rate anything zero stars...
Yes, shrinkflation is a thing...
Some are dishonest,
While others make it obvious...
Good Morning:
My first comment (lengthy and specific) disappeared into thin air.
My second comment (less lengthy and specific) disappeared into the same thin air.
This, my third comment and my last, is even more concise. Ditto to every word written by Ken @ 9:04.
Thanks to Naomi for pinch hitting once again and for the enjoyable review and commentary and especially for the lovely wedding photo.
A total bust. Lotsa blanks. Aren’t the theme answers supposed to be a play on words - stand alone phrases? I looked up PENNY PUMPER, SAND QUARTER etc, nothing.
“Maybe give it a pass” to me means “‘it’s not great but it’s good enough” not “No stars” I have many Moslem colleagues and there’s a mosque a block from the hospital so I knew Eid Al-Ftr, but wrong holiday.
Sticking with Ojibwa didn’t help the NE. I was gonna give our local tribe Oneida a try but figured no one would know of them including the author. “7 council fires” had me thinking of the 6 original nations in the Iroquois confederation, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora..
“Maize unit” …. Our Italian instructor at UNIBO often spoke of her trip across the USA after WWII. One time how she enjoyed eating “boiled mice” in the Midwest (mais It. for corn pronounced “mah-eese ”)
Boston FENway Park stadium was actually built on a filled in “peaty wetland”. AMAS: “you love this answer in Latin?”
KAL Penn sounds like a bicoastal university.
“Miss Gabor, I didn’t understand you?” “Wahzhazhe?”
I’D LI if I claimed to know what IDLI was 😀. And we finally know there is no such thing as a UFO. … cuz …they’re now called a UAP “unidentified anomalous phenomenon” to the chagrin of the those of us in Italian-American community 🤨
Anyway kudos to all youdos who completed the puzzle.
Eidaladha,
This was a tough one, do I want to learn about it? I decided I did,
but I had to dumb it down a bit.... But in hindsight, it now makes perfect sense...
Musings
-Even the Muslim festival and Indian rice cake went quietly, albeit letter-by-letter
-The gimmick was fun, helpful and even in descending order!
-I-80 runs right through OGALALA, Nebraska which uses an alternate spelling
-Nobody seems to know what the UFO’s MUST BE over N.J
-Just when I know tennis player Iga Świątek, we go back to the grocer.
-With so few subs, I’M IN a classroom all 9 periods today. Okay, I’m not doing anything but still…
-Rolling up one’s sleeves gives someone a “no nonsense” appearance, I guess.
-When all else fails in reasoning with a child, "because I SAY SO" is the last resort
Thanks to all who played along and read the blog post, too! TTP at 5:30 AM asked, "Does your DH solve and read your reviews?" DH laughed when I read him that question. He said that I didn't marry him for his crossword solving skills. Today's post is likely the first he has read. We run a small business together, so it's OK that there are a few mental spaces we do not share! Thanks, TTP, for the cooking show recommendations. I'll check them out.
desper-otto at 5:35 AM came up with a better title for the theme than I did: "diminishing returns."
Anonymous at 7:38 AM (a former Friday blogger I should recognize!) noted that the monetary values shrank sequentially, an observation also made by Big Easy at 10:15 AM and by Husker Gary at 10:41 AM. I missed that -- thanks for pointing it out!
Yesterday, the best little dog in the world met her end. Strong, willful, loving -- this little terrier burned up every ounce of life on her own terms. A long walk on Tuesday, exploring all her favorite side streets, and multiple organ failure on Wednesday. Gotta dig a hole. Appreciate you all.
Naomi, 😥.
Tough, but still interesting Friday puzzle--many thanks, Rebecca. And thank you, too, for your commentary, Naomi, much appreciated.
Well, the MENU made me look forward to food in this puzzle, but except for that TART, which probably doesn't have a TARO flavor, we didn't get much else. And the advice to EAT IT didn't seem to refer to food, did it? So, I guess we had to go on and deal with CRITICISM, not a very happy topic either, with a reference to NAG later on. But at least "LOOK AT YOU" ended up being a compliment from a friend, commending a "great job," and we were encouraged to LEAN ON ME, and maybe to deal with our INNER SELF positively. Maybe all that money--those QUARTERS, DIMES, NICKELS, and PENNIES should have been awarded to readers for successfully dealing with all the challenges. So, we'll go ahead and say "Thank you."
Have a lovely weekend coming up, everybody.
Sorry about your dog Naomi. Thanks for sitting in for MM/CMOE.
QUAD helped me decipher the theme gimmick and helped me overcome Rebecca’s usual cluing issues. More on one of those entries below.
Rebecca inflicted us with five paraphrases, at least four of which were no help without perps. The worst was “Great job, friend” for LOOK AT YOU. My annoyance count (lame answers, bad clues, unknowns) was 22.
There were three great quiz questions. I’ve never heard of that OZARKS peak, so that was an annoyance. It’s debatable whether some of Arkansas’ highest peaks are in the Ozarks; Magazine Mountain is the state’s high point. … The LEAN ON ME entry illustrated how we often know only the hook of a hit song. … I consider the CRITICISM entry to be a CSO to me, because the majority of my best clips are reviews. By the way, Joseph’s name was pronounced PULL-it-zer, not PEW-lit-zer.
One of my favorite-ever quotes in Sports Illustrated centered on “drop a dime,” which can mean tattling but also means to pass the ball precisely in basketball. In a 1980s article about African native Hakeem (then Akeem) Olajuwon and the U of Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma team, colorful point guard Benny Anders illustrated Olajuwon’s shooting accuracy around the basket by saying,, “I drop a dime on the Big Swahili, he got to put it in the hole.”
Hit the crossword trifecta: hard, annoying, no fun. Rebecca is at the top of my list now.
There’s no doubt that Rebecca offers up some serious challenges, but I for one enjoy her puzzles even if I don’t succeed on them. Today’s was pretty tough, requiring some thought and significant perp help, but I did manage a FIR in 41 minutes w/out help. OGLALA, BRUNO and EIDALADHA were all perps (and one WAG at the I for SRI instead of SRA). Not only were the themers reduced by a denomination but also shrunk in descending order, very clever, thank you Rebecca for today’s grid. I for one very much dislike SHRINKFLATION, keep the size and raise the price is what I would prefer!
NaomiZ ~ nice to see you back in the bloggers chair today with a very fine and thorough review! Lovely wedding photo! Sorry about the loss of your little terrier, they are so much a part of the family. 😔
Naomi, I'm so sorry your treasured dog passed. There are so many wonderful pets waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.
Here's my forty-on cents.
One bad wag trying to fill KI__OBIT. My got stuck thinking that the storage unit was the kind you rent to put your extra stuff in.
Naomi, so sorry for the loss of your feisty pet. I know how that feels.
Knew from previous experience that Rebecca would only lead me to frustration, so I just went directly to Naomi's review, which confirmed my initial opinion! Just not my cuppa. So sorry about your little friend. It's one of the hardest things in life to say goodbye. I've several waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for me.
“Wretched clues” is a much nicer way of putting it than I had in mind.
Here is my original post from this morning:
I don’t often resort to outside help but the NW corner had me stymied to the point of surrender, mainly because of the ill-conceived but workable (Banned word beginning in with E) instead of Criticism and not knowing the Muslim festival. Ish and the elusive Ice compounded the frustration that led to the FWH (Finished With Help), albeit grudgingly.
I’ll preempt Jace’s complaint (Mine, also) about the plethora of C/As that require mind-reading abilities rather than knowledge or common sense, I.e., the conversational entries, to wit:
“Maybe give it a pass” = No Stars
“There’s no other explanation “ = Must be
“Name the time and place” = I’m in
“Great job, friend” = Look at you
“It’s my decision” = I say so
I felt like I was on a quiz show rather than solving a puzzle. This annoying and distracting trend, coupled with some very difficult fill, e.g., Oglala, Idli, Eid Al-Ahda, Bruno, Ramón, etc. resulted in a slog-fest and the inevitable FIW. IMO, this was a challenging and demanding puzzle that offered no enjoyment or satisfaction in the solve.
Thanks, Naomi, for a very informative and breezy review. Loved your wedding photo! Thanks, also, for pinch-hitting once again.
Have a great day.
And here is my second post:
Good Morning:
I typed a lengthy critique and somehow it disappeared into thin air. I don’t have the time or energy to recreate it but the main points were: Too many conversational entries, too many difficult C/As, and very little, if any, satisfaction or enjoyment in the solve. Too bad, because the theme was very clever and executed very well. I had a FWH (Finished With Help) due to the challenge of the NW corner, particularly because of my misguided entry of (Banned word, again) vs Criticism!
Thanks, Naomi, for doing such a great job of pinch-hitting. Loved your wedding photo!
Have a great day.
Hand up this was a challenge. I also struggled with that area involving NO STARS, ANNO, INNER SELF and LOOK AT YOU. Last to fill were utterly unknown BRUNO and RAMAN.
But I enjoyed the creative theme and managed to FIR. My very first fill was PUMPERPENNY, even before I got the exact wording of the theme.
SHRINKFLATION is a pet peeve of mine. If you are interested, I am tagging on the text of a letter I wrote to the Cheerios people ten years ago when they played the SHRINKFLATION game.
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"We have no respect for our customers and think they are stupid". Do you realize this is the message you are putting out now on store shelves around the country?
Do you really think we are so stupid that we don't notice a 16% price increase disguised as a product size reduction?
Reducing the size of the Cheerios box is a nasty thing to do for many reasons.
It reduces trust in General Mills.
It is insulting to the intelligence of the customers that we won't notice that this is an effective price increase.
It is also foolish in practical terms. I alternate eating Cheerios with the cereal of another brand. By making the box smaller, you actually have me eating more of the competitor's brand! Did you ever stop to think about that?
You make a good product that has endured for decades, at least since I first enjoyed it as a child in the 1960s.
Please don't destroy your reputation out of greed. Please IMMEDIATELY restore the box sizes to their former capacity. And please reply including this message and let me know you will be doing this. Thank you.
PS: Thanks for the lovely wedding photo NaomiZ
A sincere thank you to TTP for alerting me to the fact that my posts were not acceptable because of that E word. Thanks to him, the mystery of the disappearance was solved. He also recreated both posts for me in an email so that I could share them with the blog, as intended. Thanks, again, Tom. 😉
I'm glad TTP was able to help Irish Miss recover her initial reviews! They were worth reading. Picard, I'm glad I cited Cheerios as an example of shrinkflation! Good on you for writing to the manufacturer.
NaomiZ Yes, I meant to mention your mention of Cheerios. I first wrote to them about this in 2007 and never received a response. The message above was from 2014 and they did reply with a message that made no sense.
Irish Miss, TTP I am curious what is the forbidden "E" word? If you add a symbol or dash in it you can share what it is. I have repeatedly struggled with absurd words it censors for no good reason. It is a pain to figure out what common word it has obsessed over.
I’m so curious. What could the banned E word be. I must lack imagination.
That’s Monkey above.
D-Otto, ya beat me to it on the current UAP 😎👍🏽
====> Darren
Thanks to Rebecca for the Friday challenge. I had a FIW in Maine but I feel pretty good about getting the other answers. FAV was Mate mate? The descending amounts not showed the constructor's expertise but also was a big help to filling in a lot of unknown squares.
One day in the Spring an order is issued and all Marines report to work the next day with their camo uniform sleeves rolled up. I've heard the phrase "Sun's out. ___ out." (I don't want to get censored so fill in the blank with a slang word for muscles that rhymes with "funs".)
Thanks to NaomiZ for a quality review! I agree with the others -- your wedding photo is so lovely. I'm very sorry to hear about your beloved terrier. They fill our hearts then break our hearts. We know this from day one yet we still find it worth it. IIRC, you lost another dog earlier this year. That's asking a lot.
🙏🏽❤️😔 ====> Darren
Yeah, the potato chips marketers have a leg up on these guys. Open one up and try to figure out what happened to the other half bag. Ask them and they will tell you that they sell them by the ounce, not cubic inch. And they claim that all that extra space is air-cushion protection for the chips. And if you'll buy that I'll throw the Golden Gate in free. (Apologies to George Strait.)
Rebecca’s grid gave me a grind of a workout today; thank you to perps (and the theme hook) for saving my arse on things like EID-AL-ADHA and ANNO and somehow allowing me to pull a FIR out of my aforementioned orofice! I’m not as familiar with this constructor as some of the others here, but I felt your pain — do the side-by-side proper names at 50 & 51D qualify as Naticks? 😝 I did grok the “diminishing return” in the themers — gotta give credit to Ms. Goldstein for pulling that off.
CSO’s to C.E.D @10:40 for the primer on the Muslim holiday (one thing I give that religion props for is their attention to the poor) and to TTP @5:30a for the hilarious mental image of a manatee schussing down a ski slope — I’m surprised that the Malodorous One didn’t comment here in that!
NaomiZ, nice to see you back again doing a review — another good one, thanks!
Loved your searing letter to the cereal killers at General Mills, Picard. Exactly how I’ve stated my feelings to more than one conglomerate I’ve bitched at about their nefarious tactics: Purina for short-filling cat food cans (“You’re cheating us and our kitties!!”) and Del Monte for their cut beans going from 16oz to 14oz in the same size cans — do they really think we’re that stupid?? And don’t get me started on Fritos: $5.49 for an 8oz bag of chips, are you 🤬ing kidding me? At least that last one I can protest by not buying their product; Trader Joe’s has a 12oz bag of (better) chips for $2.89. Time for a popular revolt!
Okay, rant over. I’ll see myself out…
====> Darren / L.A.
To the surprise of nobody, unclefred DNF today. Well, O.K., I filled every cell with the correct letter ... eventually. But only with red-letter help plus multiple alphabet runs. Far too many DNKs. I was so pleased to at last complete the fill after mire than 30 minutes, I never appreciated the clever theme. RG, ya totally baffled me. Far tougher than most Friday, or even Saturday, CWs. Of the 10 names, I DNK 7. Oy. Thanx NaomiZ for the terrific write-up. But this CW was far over my meager ability.
Darren in LA Thank you for your rant. Loved your "cereal killers" comment! Good point about the cat food. In some cases, changing the size makes planning impossible. The portion sizes no longer divide into the new package size. I have another letter about that.
Jinx Thanks for your rant about potato chips SHRINK FLATION. I thank Rebecca Goldstein for highlighting this deceptive corporate behavior.
For those who have a little snow on the attic, I seem to remember from my ute that movie theaters started putting smaller candy bars in their overgrown wrappers. The trays inside the wrapper remained the same size, but the candy bar was noticeably smaller. They may have pioneered the technique.
...bars were...
Yup, Picard — we feed 3-1/2 cats (don’t ask) with each can. They hate it if they don’t get a full meal!
In an earlier instance, I revealed a trigger word that resulted in Blogger filtering a comment. The immediate result was that some readers were miffed while others railed against the censorship of a word that may or may not be appropriate and normal in the context of its usage.
The secondary result was that a number of readers tested the algorithm by authoring comments using the word, or derivatives of the word just to see if those usages would be filtered. They were. Excess work for me to deal with that in the filter.
This blog has a wide-spread audience, with many different opinions and attitudes about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable on many different subject matters.
Blogger has a content policy, and it is Blogger that decides what is appropriate and what is not. This blog has a wide-spread audience, with many different opinions and attitudes about what is acceptable and what is not, on many different subject matters. I may personally disagree with their algorithm that decides which words and phrases violate their content policy, especially when it comes to usage in context.
Rather than directly respond and reveal the specific word, whether or not appropriate in context, let's just move on. If you post a comment and it is posted and then disappears in a few moments, then you have used a trigger word that Blogger's algorithm has flagged. Study the words you have used, and you'll figure it out.
Did I mention that, this blog has a wide-spread audience, with many different opinions and attitudes about what is acceptable and what is not, on many different subject matters.
Hi All!
Oy! what an inky mess I made on the way to a FIW. And FIW was my own dang fault. micoBIT [sic] instead of KILO let me to MAT [sic] PENN.
In my defense, I'd already played Rebecca's opus for hours on and off.
Thanks NaomiZ for the spectacular expo and I'm so sorry to hear about your Terrier.
The PENNY, too, dropped for me at PUMPER PENNY. I'd already filled SHRINKFLATION long ago but then I realized, QUAD was! right and ink'd over DOLLARS (is urchin plural? Fish can be.)
Anyway, I had fun noodling in the morning, during my waiting on the dermatologist in the afternoon, and finally filling in the last bits here and there this eve.
Favs: Oyster bed makeup, CUFFS, NO STARS [sorry folks, but that tickled me].
I was disappointed that Private parts? had nothing to do with the military ;-)
Darren in LA - what really bugs me about shrinkflation is OLDer recipes may call for, say, 16oz canned green beans. WTH am I supposed to do w/ a 14oz can? ibid. canned anything!
Companies, charge me a tad more for 16oz so I can make that same (kinda gross) ambrosia grandma did :-)
Enjoyed reading y'all this eve!
Cheers, -T
Picard : AMEM !!
That was a tough one which I did not finish; I wanted to work on my Christmas cards instead. I finished addressing them, wrote a letter and bought stamps but a friend stopped by to visit and so they did not get mailed. Tomorrow our Book Club is having lunch and a gift exchange so I won't have too much time for the puzzle. I'll try, though. I wish you all a good night!
My only quibble (so late it is probably talking to myself) is the difference between "smart" and "wise". Being smart does not imply wisdom at all.
Really enjoyed this puzzle.
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