Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. Doug Peterson is a frequent contributor to the LAT and we met Angela Kinsella Olson once before . Today they have teamed up for a notable puzzle.
Theme: 
Today's themed answers are all vertical entries -- a refreshing change for a Monday grid. We have:
3 Down. *Neighborhood where the Brooklyn Dodgers played: FLATBUSH. Before moving to Los Angeles, the Brooklyn Dodgers played at Ebbets Field from 1913-1957. The ball park was located in FLATBUSH, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
While this answer might not be common knowledge, I like that it connects with Los Angelenos. After all, this is the LA Times.
 |
| Ebbets Field facts, figures, photos, & history |
5 Down. *ZZ Top hit with the lyric "Silk suit, black tie": SHARP DRESSED MAN. Gotta love this song from 1983!
9 Down. *Soil, water, or wind, e.g.: NATURAL RESOURCE. 
Now for the reveal:
40 Down. Initial perfume scents, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues: TOP NOTES.
Perfume is a mixture of different scents. These scents are created through a combination of fragrance oils, essential oils, and other aroma compounds. Each perfume has a unique scent that is made up of different notes in perfume. These notes are divided into three categories: top notes (the initial scent that you perceive right after application), middle notes (the heart of the fragrance that develops after the top notes fade), and base notes (the perfume’s lasting aroma that lingers for hours). source
Also, the three themers all have a type of musical NOTE at their TOP. FLAT (♭), SHARP (♯) and NATURAL (♮) are collectively called accidentals (hence today's theme). They let us know if the note should be moved down half a step, up half a step, or unaltered.
Works for me! Here is the grid:
Shall we play on?
 |
| Check out those suspenders! |
Across:
1. U.S. president who wrestled at Yale: TAFT. There were five presidents with four-letter last names: Polk, Taft, Ford, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. All but Polk attended Yale.
38. Lotus-__: EATER. This one is a Greek mythology reference. more info
39. Shopping cart unit: ITEM.
43. Fashion magazine that went digital-only in 2022: INSTYLE. I cannot show you this month's cover because they no longer do covers.
45. Home of Tulane University, for short: NOLA. Let's take another musical interlude:
46. Overwhelming feeling: AWE.
49. "__ it or lose it": USE. <See the song for 26A.>
50. Winter hrs. in Las Cruces: MST. hours and Mountain Standard Time
52. Domino dimple: PIP.
53. Mock mercilessly: DERIDE. Def.: (verb) to laugh at or insult contemptuously.
55. Unlace, say: LOOSEN.
57. Bestowed upon: HANDED TO.
59. Signify approval of, as a Reddit post: UPVOTE. Def.: (noun) a vote made by clicking an onscreen icon to signify one's approval or agreement with an online comment or post.
62. Foil alternative: ÉPÉE.
63. Alma __: MATER. This can mean the place you went to school or the school's song.
1. Abbr. before a summary: TL;DR. Too Long; Didn't Read
2. Mystical glow: AURA.
4. Solo scholar: TUTEE.
6. Cacao container: POD.
7. Old Pan Am rival: USAIR.
8. Union agts.: REPS. agents and REPresentativeS
10. Electric toothbrush brand: GLEEM. GLEEM also sold toothpaste in the U.S. from 1952-2014. Funny how sometimes things disappear and we do not notice.
11. Date night flick: ROM-COM. ROMantic-COMedy
1. U.S. president who wrestled at Yale: TAFT. There were five presidents with four-letter last names: Polk, Taft, Ford, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. All but Polk attended Yale.
Taft was a wrestling champ at Yale. He was known for throwing his opponents hard with the "flying mare." A mare in collar and elbow is any throw that puts the adversary's feet above his head. As you can imagine, it's devastating. All you have to do is take a look at the size of Taft, and you can envision what his powerful wrestling capabilities were. source
5. Reject: SPURN.
10. "How does that __ you?": GRAB.
14. Beaut: LULU. We had this one on May 2. I cannot tell if beaut is being used sarcastically. I think it is but some of these synonyms are compliments.
15. Hebrew prophet: HOSEA. I had mOSEs for a while because for some reason I was thinking the song was SmARt Dressed Man. Good grief!
16. Traditional tales: LORE.
17. "Nerts!": DRAT. Both are exclamations of exasperation...or so I am told.
18. Go with the flow: ADAPT.
19. "The Brutalist" actress Laird: EMMA. The Brutalist received ten nominations at this year's Oscars. This is Emma's IMDb page.
20. Not for children: RATED R. I had the first R so I tried R-rated. Nope.
22. "No problem!": I SURE CAN.
24. Paging device: BEEPER. Pagers were popular from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. However, by the 2000s, smaller, more affordable cell phones with better battery life led most consumers to switch to cellular communication. source
26. Dee Dee of punk rock: RAMONE. [1951-2002] Born Douglas Glenn Colvin, Dee Dee Ramone was an American musician and founding member of the Ramones.
27. Spike Lee's employer: Abbr.: NYU. Director Spike Lee has taught at New York University for 30 years.
29. __ Bach: fictional "forgotten son" of classical music: P. D. Q. He is a satirical persona used by composer Peter Schickele to parody classical music.
30. Droop: SAG.
31. Mediocre, in Gen Z slang: MID. as in "MIDdle of the road"
32. The "T" of SAT: TEST. But it's not only a TEST.
34. Stole steers: RUSTLED.
5. Reject: SPURN.
10. "How does that __ you?": GRAB.
14. Beaut: LULU. We had this one on May 2. I cannot tell if beaut is being used sarcastically. I think it is but some of these synonyms are compliments.
15. Hebrew prophet: HOSEA. I had mOSEs for a while because for some reason I was thinking the song was SmARt Dressed Man. Good grief!
16. Traditional tales: LORE.
17. "Nerts!": DRAT. Both are exclamations of exasperation...or so I am told.
18. Go with the flow: ADAPT.
 |
| The print is tiny. It says, "My ability to ADAPT is the key to my success." |
19. "The Brutalist" actress Laird: EMMA. The Brutalist received ten nominations at this year's Oscars. This is Emma's IMDb page.
20. Not for children: RATED R. I had the first R so I tried R-rated. Nope.
22. "No problem!": I SURE CAN.
24. Paging device: BEEPER. Pagers were popular from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. However, by the 2000s, smaller, more affordable cell phones with better battery life led most consumers to switch to cellular communication. source
26. Dee Dee of punk rock: RAMONE. [1951-2002] Born Douglas Glenn Colvin, Dee Dee Ramone was an American musician and founding member of the Ramones.
Ramones ~ Teenage Lobotomy ~ 1977
"Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em that I got no cerebellum."
27. Spike Lee's employer: Abbr.: NYU. Director Spike Lee has taught at New York University for 30 years.
29. __ Bach: fictional "forgotten son" of classical music: P. D. Q. He is a satirical persona used by composer Peter Schickele to parody classical music.
 |
| Portrait of P. D. Q. Bach album cover (1977) |
31. Mediocre, in Gen Z slang: MID. as in "MIDdle of the road"
32. The "T" of SAT: TEST. But it's not only a TEST.
34. Stole steers: RUSTLED.
37. "So funny!": HA HA.
38. Lotus-__: EATER. This one is a Greek mythology reference. more info
39. Shopping cart unit: ITEM.
43. Fashion magazine that went digital-only in 2022: INSTYLE. I cannot show you this month's cover because they no longer do covers.
45. Home of Tulane University, for short: NOLA. Let's take another musical interlude:
Willie Nelson ~ City of New Orleans ~ 1984
(Willie wrote over 300 songs but Steve Goodman wrote this one.)
46. Overwhelming feeling: AWE.
49. "__ it or lose it": USE. <See the song for 26A.>
50. Winter hrs. in Las Cruces: MST. hours and Mountain Standard Time
52. Domino dimple: PIP.
53. Mock mercilessly: DERIDE. Def.: (verb) to laugh at or insult contemptuously.
55. Unlace, say: LOOSEN.
57. Bestowed upon: HANDED TO.
59. Signify approval of, as a Reddit post: UPVOTE. Def.: (noun) a vote made by clicking an onscreen icon to signify one's approval or agreement with an online comment or post.
62. Foil alternative: ÉPÉE.
 |
| this type of foil not this |
63. Alma __: MATER. This can mean the place you went to school or the school's song.
I remember how cool it felt to be a high school freshman singing the alma mater for the first time after a football game.
65. Slanted type: Abbr.: ITAL. ITALics
65. Slanted type: Abbr.: ITAL. ITALics
I did not find this clue to be very bold.
66. Stephanie's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" role: ROSA. The clue uses parallelism to tell us we only need the character's first name.
66. Stephanie's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" role: ROSA. The clue uses parallelism to tell us we only need the character's first name.
I saw every episode of this TV show but still could not come up with a name.
67. San Diego State athlete: AZTEC. This would be a gimme if SDSU is your 63A.
68. Six years for a U.S. senator, e.g.: TERM.
69. Docs who perform tonsillectomies: ENTS.
70. Disappointing turnout: NO ONE. Yah, that's pretty rough.
71. Nile vipers: ASPS. They are asp-olutely venomous.
Down:
 |
| Rosa is second from the right. |
67. San Diego State athlete: AZTEC. This would be a gimme if SDSU is your 63A.
68. Six years for a U.S. senator, e.g.: TERM.
69. Docs who perform tonsillectomies: ENTS.
70. Disappointing turnout: NO ONE. Yah, that's pretty rough.
71. Nile vipers: ASPS. They are asp-olutely venomous.
Down:
1. Abbr. before a summary: TL;DR. Too Long; Didn't Read
2. Mystical glow: AURA.
6. Cacao container: POD.
 |
| $67 from Miami Fruit |
8. Union agts.: REPS. agents and REPresentativeS
10. Electric toothbrush brand: GLEEM. GLEEM also sold toothpaste in the U.S. from 1952-2014. Funny how sometimes things disappear and we do not notice.
11. Date night flick: ROM-COM. ROMantic-COMedy
You've Got Mail ~ (1998) ~ "I wanted it to be you." ~ (2:51 min.)
12. Italian fashion house: ARMANI.
13. Conked with a curveball: BEANED.
21. Opp. of withdrawal: DEP. Opposite and DEPosit -- together a clueing composite!
23. Fury: RAGE.
25. Treat as the same: EQUATE.
27. To the __ degree: NTH.
28. Word of support: YEA. Think "voting".
30. Patron of sailors: ST ELMO. I knew this one from doing XWDs.
13. Conked with a curveball: BEANED.
21. Opp. of withdrawal: DEP. Opposite and DEPosit -- together a clueing composite!
23. Fury: RAGE.
25. Treat as the same: EQUATE.
27. To the __ degree: NTH.
28. Word of support: YEA. Think "voting".
30. Patron of sailors: ST ELMO. I knew this one from doing XWDs.
AKA St. Erasmus, he is also the patron saint of stomach diseases and women in labor but those make for longer clues. His feast day is June 2.
33. Mai __: cocktail: TAI. I learned from Good Job, Brain! that this cocktail was invented at the Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, CA in 1944.
35. Foul territory?: STY. The clue is using sports terminology to talk about a place that smells foul.
36. Cacophony: DIN.
41. Yale grad: ELI. Along with those listed in 1A, Bill Clinton is the fifth ELI U.S. president.
42. Hiker's graphic: MAP. A MAP with elevation lines is preferable when hiking.
44. Wearing nothing: NUDE.
46. Stick fast: ADHERE.
47. Clue category: WEAPON. This one takes advantage of the capitalize-the-first-letter convention to distract solvers from thinking about the board game Clue.
48. Novelist Hemingway: ERNEST.
51. Amt. that may be "heaping": TSP. amount and teaspoon
54. Mental flashes: IDEAS.
55. State-run game: LOTTO.
56. Patti LuPone role: EVITA.
58. Brand with an Organic Blonde Tea Latte variety: TAZO.
60. Rain delay cover: TARP.
61. Colonnade trees: ELMS.
64. Poetic nightfall: E'EN. EvENing
33. Mai __: cocktail: TAI. I learned from Good Job, Brain! that this cocktail was invented at the Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, CA in 1944.
35. Foul territory?: STY. The clue is using sports terminology to talk about a place that smells foul.
36. Cacophony: DIN.
41. Yale grad: ELI. Along with those listed in 1A, Bill Clinton is the fifth ELI U.S. president.
42. Hiker's graphic: MAP. A MAP with elevation lines is preferable when hiking.
46. Stick fast: ADHERE.
47. Clue category: WEAPON. This one takes advantage of the capitalize-the-first-letter convention to distract solvers from thinking about the board game Clue.
48. Novelist Hemingway: ERNEST.
51. Amt. that may be "heaping": TSP. amount and teaspoon
54. Mental flashes: IDEAS.
55. State-run game: LOTTO.
56. Patti LuPone role: EVITA.
So beautiful!
58. Brand with an Organic Blonde Tea Latte variety: TAZO.
60. Rain delay cover: TARP.
61. Colonnade trees: ELMS.
64. Poetic nightfall: E'EN. EvENing
It's getting late. Time to sign out. Have a good week!
53 comments:
I am definitely NOT
going to give this puzzle the appellation
“a walk in the park”! Grid-spanning answers, obscure proper names, “modern” slang which I had no idea about- these among other things kept this puzzle quite challenging for me. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy, but it definitely took some thought!
[Clue category] - "This one takes advantage of the capitalize-the-first-letter convention to distract solvers from thinking about the board game Clue." Except that was my first thought, and then I dismissed it because I would've never thought of suspect, room and weapon as "categories". Plus, hidden capitalization tricks don't feel Monday-ish.
I only knew PDQ Bach from a NYT Sunday that needed a bunch of weird letter pairings as rebuses for its theme, and included PD[QB]ACH. Also not Monday-ish, especially as clued.
This feels like the opposite of last week's way too easy Friday - a puzzle that was MEANT for later in the week but ended up running on a Monday.
Good morning!
This one was so crunchy d-o almost broke a tooth. Impressive theme, which at least one among us failed to recognize. D'oh. How can a 5-letter electric toothbrush not be an ORALB? Also needed my Wite-Out to correct my go-with-the-flow AGREE to ADAPT. Is it really Monday? TOP NOTES and FLATBUSH were very nice -- have they been used in a cw before? The only Laird I could dredge up is Melvin, Vietnam era SECDEF. I'm exhausted after this solve. Thanx, Doug, Angela, and sumdaze.
BEEPER: I hated my boss's expectation that we should be on 24-hour call. When he passed out beepers to all employees, I kept mine on my desk, and the batteries in my drawer.
Definitely not a Monday puzzle. And way too many names / obscure abbreviations.
FIR, but meh->MID.
Filled FLATBUSH and SHARP DRESSED MAN without a single perp. The Dodgers were called (among other names) "The Lords of Flatbush" back then. The golden-voiced announcer Vin Scully had a supply of such factoids to share during lopsided games. I've always wondered if he had a book of them, or if he just carried them around in his coconut.
I wanted Oral B too, but I was sure of LORE. Influenced by the bottom-up puzzle yesterday, I nearly filled b L a r o, but thought better of it. Never knew that GLEEM was in the "ebrush" game.
Hitting someone in the head with a curveball is just a mistake. If you want a hitter to get BEANED, you throw a fastball. Not at his head, but behind his head. Most hitters will try to avoid a pitch by leaning away from home plate, making the behind-the-head pitch even more dangerous.
Thanks to Doug and Angela for the fun romp (only the New England area was difficult.) My favorite was "foil alternative" for EPEE. And thanks to sumdaze for yet another fine tour.
Agree with crunchy Monday. I also tried OralB.
I solved it with no help, but this was definitely NOT a Monday puzzle. Wednesday for sure and maybe even Thursday. Too many proper nouns, titles and slang terms for a Monday. Even some of the clues not in those categories were clued for something other than Monday!
H ad to take 9:21 today to finish this one.
A ctress of the day was unknown (Emma), as were the other actresses' roles (Evita and Rosa).
L ots of other unknowns for a Monday, including the prophet and Gleem. I think of "union stewards," and had "how does that suit you?" first.
F latbush? Never heard of that before.
I enjoyed this puzzle, but there's no way it should have been a Monday offering. I've solved Friday puzzles more quickly.
There were clues/fill for every generation in this one.
The only time I've ever heard NERTS was in an episode of "I Love Lucy," as a dig directed at Ethel Mertz.
There's a good chance that many in the cast and crew of that show brushed their teeth with GLEEM that morning.
For me this was a Friday puzzle. Very busy day.
FIR. This definitely had a lot of crunch to it. For a while I thought this was Thursday, not Monday. Too many proper names and long spanners are not typical on Mondays.
The last to fall was the NE. I've never heard of the brand Gleem and the crossing with two proper names made this near impossible. Once Armani came to me I was able to guess the rest. Emphasis on guess!
Overall NOT an enjoyable puzzle at all.
Too easy, too hard; hmm that seems puzzling. I enjoyed this but do not mind the day of the week confusion. I was aware when GLEEM toothpaste left our shores, but I think I have seen it in Dollar Tree packaged differently. No idea about Brooklyn Nine-Nine character but PDQ Bach and the rest were known. Stay away from the Lotus Eaters.
Thanks Doug and Angela who is (was) one of Patti's assistants and sumdaze hang in.
Good Morning:
Normally, a Monday grid has pretty basic fill and no unknown entities. Today’s had several for me: Rosa, Aztec, Sharp Dressed Man, and Top Notes. However, the perps were fair throughout the solve, so no complaints. We’re still of the mindset that difficulty levels are determined by the day of the week but, as recent offerings have shown, this is no longer the case under Patti’s stewardship. I, personally, prefer the tried, true, and familiar pattern of the past.
That said, I enjoyed the solve and always welcome a change of pace with a vertical theme challenge.
Thanks, Doug and Angela, and thanks, sumdaze, for the fun and facts. Loved the cartoons for Grab, Adapt, and Rustled. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are always a delight to see, as is the very talented Patti LuPone. As usual, your word play tickled my fancy.
Have a great day.
For several minutes I'd thought it was Friday already, what with all this gravelly fill -- but I was too pigheaded (see 35D) to give up and persisted to a FIR. So ...
Thank you Doug and Angela for a Monday challenge (which we can blame on Patti for her her choice of WEAPONS (i.e. CLUEING)).
And thank you sumdaze for another witty, entertaining, and informative review.
The fill evoked these favs:
29A PDQ. Here's PDQ BACH's Short-Tempered Clavier which just might be an Easter Egg.
55A LOOSEN. I'm reminded of a lyric from Stevie Nick's Sara.
4D TUTEE. I am reminded of the book by Robert P. Taylor called The Computer in School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee a seminal work published in 1980 which coined the term "computer literacy". This book led to another called Mindstorms, children, computers, and powerful ideas" which described a language designed for children called LOGO, which used "turtle graphics" teach programming concepts.
Cheers,
Bill
By and large, I enjoyed Doug and Angela's puzzle today. They challenged the notion that theme-and-reveal all need to be horizontallly gridded. Who says? So today we had an all-vertical theme-and-reveal. Not only that, two of the themes were grid-spanners, and then my favorite: the first part of all three of the themes--as directed by the TOPNOTES Reveal--were FLAT, SHARP, and NATURAL.
We had a return engagement of a couple Crossword Compiler tired old staples, EPEE and ELI, but hey--no OREO or ACAI!
7 Down's clue, "Old Pan Am rival," was a howler, and here the editors must have been asleep at the wheel. I could not think of any 5-letter rivals of Pan Am. Its main rivals were carriers like TWA, Air France, and Braniff. Pan Am and US Airways were of two different generations. In the entire existence of Pan Am, the US Air brand didn't even exist!
Angela and Doug, thanks for your worthy contribution today. It was fun, clever, and challenging. If it was too difficult for a Monday, as some folks have indicated, that is not through any fault of yours. The editors have the final say. And thanks, sumdaze, for another amusing and informative recap.
Missed FIR by one letter, NyT for Spike Lee clue. The rest filled with mostly perps and WAGS, so not much fun. Too many names and expressions.
I so wanted TWA for Pan Am rival since I just watched an old Leonard de Caprio movie “The Aviator” based on Howard Hughes’ air career and ownership of TWA.
Unfortunately i didn’t get the theme. Thank goodness for Sumdaze’s great review.
"Today they have teamed up for a notable puzzle." Well-played, sumdaze!
I didn't have any real issues solving this one and solved it rather absent mindedly while watching Adam 12. So if it was late-week tough, I didn't notice. FLATBUSH and SHARP DRESSED MAN went in without a perp. I did OralB first.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Never watched it until I saw a teaser for it on Netflix a couple of months ago. I like it. I watch it while exercising each morning. I'm up to s6, e2. About 40 more episodes to watch.
It didn't sound quite correct to me, but Allegheny Airlines rebranded as USAir (one word) in 1979 and ran until 1997, when it rebranded again as US Airways. Pan Am ceased operations in 1991, so there was a 12 year period of time where they were rivals (79-91, as US Air and Pan Am). Never flew Pam Am.
I'm not sure that Patti is beholden to the Monday easy, Friday hard schedule.
DITTO…LOL
Genius eh?
Like many of you (vs the people who finished in less than ten minutes), this was definitely a Friday puzzle. Too many unknowns to even list and some had to rely on swags. PDQ Bach? Unfortunately for me I was thinking of withdrawal as a military concept! Gen Z slang? Really? While I’m too young for the Brooklyn Dodgers, I’m still fairly familiar with them but hadn’t come across Flatbush terminology in forever (although my grandfather and Al Capone grew up in the same NY neighborhood and Al reportedly visited Granddad in Chicago once they were both ensconced there!).
This was a pretty smooth solve - but came in more at Wednesday time
A few scattered gimmes: I always enjoyed PDQ Bach's humorous pieces - sort of a classical Weird Al Yankovic
I've played the card game NERTS! which when you can win that's what you yell out. Kind of like Crossword favorite Uno but a game where everyone plays at the same time like Dutch Blitz or Spoons
Thanks Renee for the ROM COM link - I like all of the Meg Ryan/ Nora Ephron
movies and the Patti Lupone- Evita link!
Ray-O I think of Wind as a natural resource for wind power- very windy in the Western plains so lots of windmills going up to produce electricity
Thanks to SD for the fun blog and Doug & Angela for the puzzle
I'm not a New Yorker, so FLATBUSH was unknown. But, being a Billy Gibbons fan, ZZ Top's SHARP DRESSED MAN was a gimme for those ultra long bearded guys. The musical notations were easy spots for TOP NOTES but concerning perfume scents, a total unknown.
I knew FORD didn't go to Yale, figured POLK from Tennessee didn't, so that left either TAFT (heavyweight division) or BUSH.
DNK EMMA, RAMONE, NYU, MID, INSTYLE, UPVOTE, ROSA, TL;DR, or EVITA as clued but were easy fills.
NOLA- Willie Nelson ~ City of New Orleans ~ 1984- The only time I ever saw Willie perform was in 1984 at the World's Fair in NOLA. I had a season ticket so it costs nothing. Ditto for the Jimmy Buffet concert a few weeks later.
Remember GLEEM, FAB, CHEER or CREST toothbrushes? Those were Procter & Gamble's 'second' products to Crest and Tide. I really don't remember any Gleem toothbrushes but after P&G bought Gillette (owner of ORAL-B) they probably sold the rights to the name Gleem. Their company policy is to have the number one selling product in a category only-Pampers, Tide, ...etc. But they blew it when they ditched Aleve. The have an ORAL-B electric brush. They quit making Crest toothbrushes and kept the Oral-B brushes.
Glad to see I was not the only one who had difficulty with this sussfest...
The clue for TLDR was really from left field, I doubt that US Air was ever any competition for Pan Am, and looking at Lotus (blank) left me staring slack jawed even when I finally perped it in. (Thanks for the splainin' - it was all Greek to me...). My only disappointment though was that I never got a chance to puzzle the themers, because the reveal was totally out of my wheelhouse. (But I won't make a stink over it...)
Actually, now that YouTube has fixed the "prove your not a bot" imbed problem, I really have noth8ng left to complain about...
( oh wait, I could complain about this iPad keyboard slide number feature...)
My I's are always 8s, and my O's are always 9s...
accidentals can be quite helpful.
And sometimes add weight to a musical piece...
Good point about WIND. “Air”
Is also listed as a natural resource. More useful as such when it’s moving
Tough for a Monday, but gettable, thanks to fair perps. Didn't get the theme 'till sumdaze 'splained it, and some of the cluing felt a skosh off (TWA, CLUE, NATURAL RESOURCE...) editor? Constructors? All in all, not a bad start for the week.
Thanks to several commenters for the added info.! I UPVOTE learning from this group's varied experiences.
TTP@10:19. Well "played". I see what you did there.... Good one!
inanehiker@10:34 gave us a terrific description of P. D. Q. Bach
When I lived in LA, there was a popular bumper sticker advising "never breathe air you can't see."
Re: PamAm & USAir - thx, that’s what I thot - they didn’t coexist. Then I thot “am i so old that i just fell back in time to far?” Hmm…?
Got it done but definitely not a Monday puzzle. I learned something about perfume. Thanks Sumdaze for the recap.
I overslept and woke up in the middle of the week. Then I fell out of my wheelhouse and was lost at sea!
The best part today was sumdaze's take on the whole thing, so it ended on a high note! Come to think of it, HIGH NOTES would have been a good revealer.
WEES, except most still FIR. Not me. Had to resort to e-CW with red letter help, and even then had alpha runs. So big DNF...on a Friday-on-a-Monday CW. FAR too many names: 18, DNK 15 as clued. Also DNK TLDR (although I should have, it's been here before) or that GLEEM made an electric toothbrush. This was a clue that I was confident HAD to be ORALB. Nope. I can't even say I had fun with this CW. I look forward to Mondays for their doable CWs. Not this one. Thanx to Sumdaze for the terrific write-up, by far the best part of this CW experience. I love Willie Nelson, but like the Arlo Guthrie version of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans". The song brings back memories of taking the train from Milwaukee to Bismarck late summers when I was 10-13 or so to help grandpa harvest the wheat. The song is true: I would go to the club car, go up to the windowed viewing area and watch the men gamble and pass the bottle-in-a-bag. I can't remember what those train cars were called. Maybe a "dome car"? Anyway, thanx again to Sumdaze for the very enjoyable write-up.
I liked the puzzle - and, did have to go back and forth w/across-down clues a lot to complete it. The NW corner didn’t fall until I left it & came back after 20min (chatting w/ a friend - we’ve know each other 57yrs). Not knowing Taft set up a mental block - just kept ignoring that corner. I didn’t “know” (cold) a single person/character clued. I glibly put “Glide” in “Gleem’s” place; after seeing the it couldn’t be (but shoulda been) “oral B”. Along with so many of you, I found myself saying: “But this MONDAY …?” Thanks for the challenge, and for the fun & entertaining write-up! My day is on its way; and I will get to hear my husband’s piano practice full of accidentals.
They did coexist, from 79 to 91.
See my comments at 10:19
Yes, PanAm and USAir were rivals from 1979 to 1991.
You can look it up if you don't believe it to be true.
I forgot to say, "Be sure to tune in tomorrow to see who is subbing for Hahtoolah this week!"
Anonymous@4:12. I hate it when I talk myself out of the correct answer. Ugh!
Tough Monday puzzle, but still enjoyable--so many thanks, Doug and Angela. And your commentary is always helpful, Sumdaze, so thanks for that too.
Well, before starting this puzzle I was telling myself I SURE CAN do this, since after years of experience at an Alma MATER and then teaching college students , I'm not a TUTEE anymore, although I suppose my experience could hardly be thought of as a NATURAL RESOURCE. So I had a lots of IDEAS on how to adapt myself to this puzzle and do my best to pass the TEST, as it were. My only real disappointment was that this puzzle had almost no food in it, the way puzzles often do. So I'm getting hungry and better go make myself some breakfast. See you all later.
And have a good rest of the day, everybody.
My partner and I decided to brave it on Mondays and try using a pen to do the puzzles. We were feeling rather proud of ourselves at the start but have been discouraged by the Mondays that have been coming of late. We would love to move to the use of pen but bold we cannot be with offerings such as this. Text messaging clues “wrinkles my rankle” as Pogo used to remark.
Defs a tricky puzzle for a Monday. When I see so much proper nouns and youngster slang I wonder if I should obey a Hasbro type rule-ages 5-11 only. Anywho, short week starter should be easier!!
I’m rereading the little book, FLATland for the Nth time. What genius!
I seem to remember (how could I forget?) what was likely Meg Ryan’s last movie in which she appeared NUDE in several scenes, full frontally so! I think it was called “The Cut,” but sure.
…but NOT sure.
Sophia, I've been arguing with myself, but decided that I should go ahead and let you (and others) know that thot is a young person's slang term that is vulgar and demeaning to women. It is derived as an an initialism of an insulting 4 word sentence.
I know you were using it as a replacement of the word thought, but you will probably want to stop using it as a replacement.
I'd read about in a Readers Digest article.
https://www.rd.com/list/slang-words-we-cant-stand/
I'm actually surprised that Blogger's bot didn't automatically remove your comment, but the developers in India may not know of its slang meaning.
Prof M@1:47. I've read Flatland n/2 times.
Ray - O - Sunshine said...
(original comment deleted due to incorrect HTML)
WEES: Not a Monday level. Maybe editorially misplaced as has been hinted at before. Lotsa initial blanks and back-fill. An eventual hard won FIR
Sum-D: that explanation of perfume TOPNOTES sounds like how a wine snob describes wine 🍷 😀
Saw the waaay-too-long movie but didn’t recall “The Brutalist” actress nor “Dee Dee”. I knew ROSA from Brooklyn 99, (a terrific comedy series) and what a “Redditt” UPVOTE is.
“Wind” is a natural resource? 💨
PDQ: a “fictional Bach”? THE SHARP DRESSED MAN (recently designated a “fop”) might show up in INSTYLE but both unknowns. I only remember GLEEM as a toothpaste. (A decay-preventive dentifrice)
LULU Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie. She was a “beaut” in a good way
Wouldn’t want to wrestle TAFT who weighed up to 350 lbs “Yikes!” 😥. Did he introduce SUMO style wrestling to the US?
Knight’s backup … PIP
”Stick” your ____ on the bulletin board …. ADHERE
The destination is less important than enjoying ___ DERIDE
Happy Monday.
Monday Music. Thanks for the workout, Doug and Angela, and sumdaze.
Officially a DNF as I was stumped at 1D (and the slang at 14and 17A). But this Canadian did guess TAFT with the F.
But I got the rest, and saw the TOP NOTES theme, which sent me back to fill in FLAT, SHARP and NATURAL (Was PDQ Bach an Easter Egg )
(Is that SHARP DRESSED MAN our Fop from last week?).
I had Suit before GRAB, which confounded my desire for OralB. GLEEM perped, but I didn’t know it as a toothbrush.
My cacao was in a Tin before a POD.
Eve before EEN held me up in the south.
Wishing you all a great day.
Oops, I ment NyU
In The Cut. Now on my "must watch" list. Thanks.
Musings
-Just back from 27 holes on an 88oF day that was beautiful because of a light breeze and extremely low humidity
-TOP NOTES: It filled itself but I had to look see what the clue was. Never heard of it before but I knew Sumdaze would straighten me out in her always fun write-up.
-A student’s father does a very big business selling and maintaining PAGERS, especially in medical facilities.
-“Step In” Skechers will soon be my entire stock of footwear and lacing shoes will be a memory.
-The Royals won the other night when a White Sox second baseman got BEANED with a routine fly ball that could have ended the game with a Chicago victory came down on his head.
-Hollywood is losing its shirt with its crummy movies but must think ROM COMS are not the answer.
Hola!
President TAFT is important to Arizona because he signed us into the union as the 48th state. And I learned PDQ Bach from listening to music on the classical station. So thank you, Doug and Angela for this very doable puzzle.
HOSEA doesn't exactly trip off the tongue but I know of him.
CSO and R.I.P. to my late friend and teaching assistant, EMMA.
My Alma MATER is not S.D STATE but the U. of San Diego.
I love Madonna's EVITA.
Sandra Bullock was "Miss Congeniality from FLATBUSH" as an undercover agent.
I hope you are all having a marvelous Monday!
Hello everybody. I didn’t have time to do the puzzle today but came here to say hello to you all.
Hello Jayce!
Hello and goodnight.
Hated this Friday level puzzle on a Monday. Way too many obscure unknowns.
Post a Comment