THYME OUT
This one needed to go back to the drawing board. Not to discredit the co-authors, but the puzzle, at best, is clunky, with a mediocre theme, too many names, and egregious fill - and that's on the editor. YMMV, but fills like 5 and 53D., with names not only at 1D. - Chairman Moe mentioned certain editors will not allow abbrs to start, and I agree - but also as theme answers ( even if I know two-thirds of them ) makes this grid lose lustre . . . Congratulations to Sheri, as this looks to be her debut, and Katie has constructed and co-authored several crosswords for the LA Times, "et al."; I do hope to see more collaborations. Standard grid, only 13 3LWs - all the "worst" ones - and an oversampling of 'generic' crossword fill - but hey, no circles~! The themers and the reveal;
20. Winner of the first Olympic gold medal in men's snowboard slopestyle: SAGE KOTSENBURG - name #1 - really vague - more here
34. "White Christmas" co-star: ROSEMARY CLOONEY - name #2
43. "Peanuts" character with a tendency to sleep through class: PEPPERMINT PATTY - name #3
58. Shampoo brand that claims to be "plant obsessed," and what 20-, 34-, and 43-Across all have: HERBAL ESSENCES
* - I see that there's a new analytic on the XWord Info page that tracks "Grid Flow", created at a site called Crosserville. There is a mathematical algorithm involved, and so far, the highest flow recorded has been 219.2, and the median 31.8 - turns out that Friday and Saturday crosswords show higher flow #s; I'm gonna keep an eye on this moving forward. Today's grid~? 20.0
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Dreary: DRAB - this definitely describes my feelings about this puzzle
5. Shock: JOLT - when I filled in 53D., I certainly got a shock - I mean, really~?
9. Improvises vocally: SCATS
14. Currency in 20 countries: EURO
15. Desire: URGE
16. Like days long ago: OLDEN
17. Has-__: BEEN - hmmm . . . filled via perps
18. Cornhusker st.: NEBRaska - HuskerG nailed this one; abbr, geo name #1 - and meh.
19. McDonald of "The Gilded Age": AUDRA - name #4 in the Hahtoolah Convention -her IMDb
23. Not even: ODD
24. Pilot's approx.: ETD - Estimated Time of Departure, crossword "alt" staple to ETA
25. Dads: PAs - yes, but semi-meh.
26. __-la-la: TRA - crossword staple . . . . sheesh
29. Problem in one's pants or pantry: ANTS - "ants in your pants" = nervous, twitchy, "antsy"
32. Burro: ASS
40. Where to see the big picture?: IMAX
41. "Rudy" coach Parseghian: ARA - I screwed up and went with ARI - name #5
42. Erté's style: DECO - I like Art Deco; since the skyscraper was born in that ERA, we still see it's influnce 100 years later - I would get me this book
48. Soccer fan's "Bravo!": OLÉ - oh yay, more generic answers~!
49. Tennis great Arthur: ASHE - name #6, even if it's a crossword staple
50. Michigan's __ Locks: SOO - Joins the Great Lakes Superior and Huron - geo name #2
And there's another crossword staple in there - Sault STE Marie
51. Wee: SMA - meh.
54. Rocket ending: EER - RocketEER - semi-meh, in terms of fill
56. Speed Wagon automaker: REO - this one is getting as boring as ERA and ATM
64. Like sun bears and pandas: ASIAN - Naomi showed us a sun bear in this BUNS puzzle
65. __-Seltzer: ALKA
66. California roll ingredient: CRAB - I am east coast; this was a WAG from perps
And I don't care for sushi, either, but crab is good
68. Italian soccer great Maldini: PAOLO - name #7 - if you want to know more
69. __-back: LAID
70. Like a fairy tale duckling: UGLY
71. Fragrant compound: ESTER
72. Postseason honorees, briefly: MVPs - at the time of this write-up, the World Series was 1 - 1; I'm rooting for Toronto, because their NHL Maple Leafs are playoff confounders
73. Memorization technique: ROTE
DOWN:
1. Food blogger Perelman: DEB - name #8
2. Feels bad about: RUES - I feel bad about my review, but I'm being honest
3. Geometric calculation: AREA
4. Salsa hand drum: BONGO - or CONGA~?
5. Outdated term for noncoding genetic material: JUNK DNA - Maybe it's a great fill, but as a theme crossing, as part of a name, on a Wednesday, it's meh. Everything you ever wanted to know
6. Cookie with many specialty flavors: OREO - yet another crossword trope
7. Pride Month letters: LGBT
8. Not wordy: TERSE - I thought this read "worLdly" - so I was thinking CLERGY - Bzzzt~!
9. Scoundrel: SO AND SO - I do not see these as the same; "so-and-so" to me is someone anonymous, or that person whose name you cannot remember - at least that's how my mother used it
10. Country __: CLUB
11. Tally: ADD UP
12. __ firma: TERRA
13. Glitches: SNAGS - Tragedy~! A travesty~! For shame~!
Chairman paid a fine for breech of contract last Friday
21. Red-coated cheese: EDAM
22. List ender: ET AL. - abbr, Latin for "and others"
26. Klutz's move, perhaps: TRIP
27. "Ben-Hur" setting: ROME - even if I know this, it's geo name #3
28. "Hurry!" letters: A.S.A.P. - As Soon As Possible - and it's not the same as "hurry~!"
30. Peak transport: TRAM - I had T-bar, as in a ski lift to the peak
31. Lebanon neighbor: SYRIA - geo name #4
33. Bubbly beverage: SODA - good WAG; could have been COLA
35. Convention center event: EXPO - I have attended the Toy Fair in NYC twice
The Javits Center in Lego, from 2017
36. Tuna holders: CANS - NETS is next; my ARI at 41A. left the "I" in, so I did not get my ta-DA~!
37. Brooklyn B-ballers: NETS - B-ballers are basketball players, even tho Baseball could work as well; and they're name(ish)
38. Start for -derm or -plasm: ECTO - These guys knew all about Ectoplasm
"That's great Ray - save some for me~!" Ghostbusters
39. Toy on a string: YO-YO
44. "__ Rigby": ELEANOR - name #9 - and I spelled it wrong, too
45. Rod's partner: REEL - CONE worked, if we were talking eyes, as in Sunday's puzzle
46. Duds: THREADS - CLOTHES fit too, but Bzzzt
47. Hammer head: PEEN
51. Rhombus, e.g.: SHAPE - ah. Here's the actual 'classification' of four-sided polygons:
We had "kite" on Monday
52. Southwestern flattops: MESAS
53. Eliciting many laughs: A RIOT - Cringe. Even if you claimed to parse this as "the place was ariot with laughter" it still doesn't work, and sounds "meh" at best
55. Domain: REALM
57. Happen: OCCUR
59. Packed hay: BALE
60. Many an Eastern European: SLAV
61. YouTube ad option: SKIP - And I do this ASAP - now that's how to clue it~!
62. Therefore: ERGO
63. Shaker filling: SALT - Who's looking for their lost shaker of salt~?
I thought the third verse line was "and soon a Veranda" - hey, it makes sense . . .
67. "Toodles!": BYE
adieu to you, and you, "meh."
Splynter
Well, I certainly didn’t
ReplyDeleteknow the Olympian, but the perps were kind so I got her (or perhaps him). The rest also fell into place eventually, as the other grid spanners were known to me.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteD-o wasn't blown away with today's offering, but it didn't engender feelings of hate. Knew two of the three themers, and recognized the shampoo, even though I failed to recognize it as a reveal. The Williams Tower is a DECO tower on Houston's West Loop, completed in '83. Thanx, Sheri, Katie, and Splynter. (Methinks you're over-reacting.)
Back to the dentist this morning. Fun, fun, fun.
FIR. getting my WAG @ SAGE KNOTSENBURG x JUNK DNA as well as the double WAGs @ ARIOT x SMA and PAOLO. (To me, SMA means "System Malfunction Analysis" spewed from a telco switching system I used to engineer.) Erased eta for ETD. (Don't know that the ETD comes from the pilot. I think it's more from ground operations if you're flying commercial, or from the VIP if you're flying private.)
ReplyDeleteNever met ROSEMARY CLOONEY, but I have met her brother Nick. He was an on-air personality on Lexington's WLAP radio station back then. Oh, and Nick had a son named George, who I've also never met. The radio station was said to have been established by a Quaker, and the call sign meant "We Love All People."
The NCAA's best b-ballers are called MOPs, for Most Outstanding Player.
Mexican restaurants could save time by serving me salsa by the drum, though one basket of chips is plenty.
OREO - what a fresh and original fill!
SKIP would have been better clued "How to get to My Lou."
At Jimmy Buffett concerts, the audience would shout "SALT - SALT- SALT - SALT" when Jimmy sang Margaritaville's "lost shaker of SALT" lyric. By that point in the concert, many fans would have been unable to shout anything polysyllable. Good times.
Thanks to Splynter for another fine review, and for the imperfect picture of perfect legs.
Wasn’t Nick the host on TCM before Robert Osborne?
DeleteSMA x ARIOT?! NEBR?? I don't really care about themes with long proper names as theme entries, but the revealer has to be spot on. I don't see how herbs as first names qualify as HERBAL ESSENCES. This revealer would work better if the herbs were in the middle of the themers.
ReplyDeleteTGFP because SAGE KOTSENGURG would have never been filled on my grid today. Filling ROSEMARY changed my "Peak transport" from a T-BAR to a Tram. Those two herbs made the PEPPERMINT even easier to guess if you are not a Peanuts fan. DEB, AUDRA, and PAOLO are three more people I didn't know and will not remember after today, but the perps took care of them.
ReplyDeleteAnybody remember Clairol HERBAL ESSENCE (No plural) Shampoo?
CRAB anything is overpriced. I just paid $48 for crab dip at some place on the water in Annapolis. MD. DW likes it but I could care less. People around here who live on the water will hang crab nets off of their piers and get crabs. Lump crab meat can cost $60/lb.
Hi, Big Easy at 8:18 AM! I remember the Clairol non-plural product! Your question sent me to Google, where I found this: "The original Herbal Essence shampoo sold in the 70's was made by Clairol. The name was changed to Herbal Essences when Procter & Gamble bought Clairol in 2001. Apparently, when you pay nearly $5 Billion for something, you get to make whatever changes you want to it, even if they're stupid."
DeleteI had a problem with this unifier for the same reason, the plural.
DeleteHand up for Googling to confirm that the S was correct. I remembered the singular product.
DeleteFinally! There is a benefit for not having hair! (Also of having a DW who wouldn't dream of buying hair product from anywhere other than her stylist.)
DeleteMuch of this puzzle was easier than Monday-level, over-saturated with “crossword staples.”
ReplyDeleteBut it also featured a smattering of obscure names and questionable clue-to-answer connections.
Overall, kind of a mess in my opinion.
FIR. There were a few too many proper names for my liking. And especially an Olympian I'd never heard of. But fortunately the perps were there to help.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme early on and that somewhat helped the solve.
But overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Took 7:35 today - yes, that was my thyme.
ReplyDeleteNo Ginger Rogers?
I didn't really know today's actresses (I'd heard of Rosemary Clooney, but not Audra - and I watched "The Gilded Age"). I didn't know the Italian soccer great, nor the Olympian.
Wee = sma. Huh?
I've seen Nebraska shortened to NE and NEB, but NEBR?
I agree with the majority that found this not enjoyable. I wish we'd have more themeless puzzles, so that we don't have to endure fill such as many of today's examples just for the pay-off of a weak theme.
The juice isn't worth the squeeze.
Agree with all of the above, especially regarding state abbreviations. What's next...ALAB? OREG? ARKA?
DeleteSAGE KOSTENBURG is about as obscure as it gets, for me anyway, it took all perps as did JUNK DNA, AUDRA and PAOLO. The rest of the puzzle was pretty straightforward clues and fill, and my FIR thyme was a tick under 10. I like California rolls but the would be better if the CRAB was real and not imitation. The SOO Locks are in my neck of the woods and I’ve been there many times. They raise or lower the boats/ships the 24 foot difference in the elevations of Lakes Superior and Huron. They are actually in the St. Marys River, the 75 miles long waterway which connects the Lakes. A new lock is being constructed on the U.S. side of the river, massive undertaking costing about $2.5b. As for the puzzle, thanks to the authors for your collaboration, and congrats to Sheri on your LAT debut. Also thanks to Splynter for your write-up!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't quite as down on the fill as you, but SMA and NEBR were deranged work. Rosemary Clooney I only knew because of her relation to George, Audra McDonald I only knew because like ten years ago I briefly dated a girl who was *very* into musical theater and referred to her as Godra hahaha. Not a bad puzzle overall but def had a lot of the hallmarks of a first-time constructor.
ReplyDeleteDid you get up on the wrong side of the bed today?
ReplyDeletemeh. Managed to FIR, but agree with Splynters take on this one. Pretty clunky.
ReplyDeleteMeh 🫤
ReplyDeleteI liked the “ants” clue. Fun twist.
Katie Hale is far to experienced to use “sma” and “nebr”. Both nose wrinklers.
I totally agree with Splynters analysis. And as usual an interesting and informative recap.
Musings
ReplyDelete-I put in BOLT which gave me BUNK DNA instead of JOLT/JUNK DNA.
-When Cornhusker is in the clue, that severely limits the fill.
-Imagine this on an IMAX screen with speakers as big as buses 1:23
-TERSE: Brevity is truly the soul of wit
Close, but no cigar! I did manage to change ooh-la-la to TRA-la-la, and T-bar to TRAM, but like Splynter, I had ARi, not ARA, which led me to tiNS for tuna, not CANS, and therefore the White Christmas co-star was ROSEMARY t. LOONEY. Oops! That movie was before my time. The snowboarder was completely unknown, but perps were fair. With only two squares wrong, and not too much time spent on it, I thought this puzzle was OK. BTW, "wee" and "sma" are both Scottish words for "small" and not too much of a stretch.
ReplyDeleteHand up for thinking that SMA would have been better clued as “a Scottish Wee”.
DeleteI always thought that a Scottish Wee was what one took in the gorse when the loo was too far away.
DeleteI don't speak Scottish. Clueing a single foreign word with another single foreign word is a stretch regardless of the language.
DeleteJinx- I thought of that as I was posting that possible clue. Trust you to come up with it.
DeleteI was just as cranky as Splynter during this one. Worse puzzle in months, or maybe longer. The KOTSENBURG/JUNK DNA natick nearly cost me an FIR.
ReplyDeleteWorst. . . .though at least Rosemary Clooney appeared.
DeleteWees,
ReplyDeleteFor me it started off easy, even with the nose wrinkles. Nebr was perpable, and A riot could be construed in a pinch, but SMA is the reason I could never be a crossword constructor. I give the constructor kudos for doing something I could not do, but then again, I don't think I could ever pass off SMA as a reference to small on the unsuspecting public...
Today's highlight, (for me) Rosemary Clooney. If interested, here is a 15 minute retrospective from Rosemary, regarding the making of White Christmas.
Danny Kay was a third choice?
“Walk in the Herb Garden” Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Sheri and Katie.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in very good time, and saw the Herbs early in the solve.
Easy-Peasy today.
I thought of the Simon and Garfunkel song, Scarborough Fair. We had the SAGE and ROSEMARY, but were missing the Parsley and Thyme.
We did have the Easter Egg of ESTER. Those fragrant compounds are responsible for the ESSENCES.
Two inkblots as EndO moved outward to ECTO, and ETa changed to ETD, which gave me the AND to parse SO AND SO.
(My mother used that term to mean a “dirty, rotten SO AND SO).
A RIOT gave a nose-wrinkle when parsed.
Plenty of possible MVPS on the Dodgers and Blue Jays teams. Those Blue Jays just never give up. Now the World Series will be decided in Toronto either Friday or Saturday night. Go Jays Go!
Wishing you all a great day.
CEH, this Red Sox fan is rooting for your Blue Jays as well. It’s been a good series so far!
DeleteThanks Kat!
DeleteWell, it looks like I stand alone on liking this CW. Did NOT like 17 names, DNK 5. Also kind of appalled at SMA...WHAT?? Never heard of it. But most of the CW was fun, and I managed to FIR in 9 minutes which is a TERRIFIC Wednesday time for me. DNK SAGEKOTSENBURG, needed almost all perps, but once I had that I already thought, "I bet this CW is about herbs", which was a big help. Overall, I enjoyed this CW. Thanx SS&KH. Thanx too to Splynter for the terrific write-up, and the great legs picture. Now, for an afternoon siesta. It is pouring rain, so perfect for a snooze.
ReplyDeleteI figured it had to be "junk" cuz I definitely didn't know the Olympian. I didn't care for the 4 letter State abbreviation or "sma" and "ariot" but I got them right. The perps were fair which helped with the names. I didn't hate it, I'll give it a Randy Jackson, "aw-ight". I did enjoy the recap Splynter.
ReplyDeleteHola! My, my, so much grousing! For me a puzzle is a puzzle is a puzzle, and I finished it so that satisfies me. I had not heard of SAGE KOTSENBURG, but I am familiar with the other names including the shampoo. AUDRA emerged quickly so I must have heard of her.
ReplyDeleteCSO to the late, great Sister ELEANOR who lived to 104.
I hope you are all enjoying this day!
I know I’ve seen “SMA” before, but I believe it was clued much better…Tiny in Scotland or similar.
ReplyDelete"Slightly challenging, but still interesting puzzle--many thanks, Sheri and Katie. And your commentary and pictures are always a pleasure, Splynter, as I think I've said many times before. Thank you for those too.
ReplyDeleteWell, opening a puzzle with DRAB prepared me for a JOLT of JUNK DNA, and a puzzle where most answers were SO AND SO. We got some ANTS and, to my embarrassment we got an ASS, even if it was only a burro. But then the puzzle got adventurous as people began to take a TRIP, to AREAS like ROME and SYRIA and places that has a lot of MESAS--a WHOLE different TERRA firma. Well, this trip might not have been a RIOT, but it was still totally delightful and a pleasure.
Thanks again, everybody, and have a sunny and warm and cheerful day!
I look for something in every puzzle to lighten up the day. I thought that today’s theme was cute, the perps eased the unknowns, and the clue for ANTS was well worth the price of admission. Congratulations and thank-you to Sheri and Katie!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Sheri on her debut! FAVs were the clues for ANTS and SALT (made even better with Splynter's link to the JB song). Bonus points for BYE as the last answer.
ReplyDeleteThe other day they announced that the commercial Dungeness crab season will be delayed for all of CA; but, as Splynter said, they use imitation crab in California rolls. The presence of whales and sea turtles delays the crab season because those animals sometimes become entangled in the crab trap lines and die unnecessarily.
YP@9:35. Thank you for the interesting SOO info.
Thanks to Splynter for his analysis. I like Art Deco, too. I could spend hours studying that book.
NDAK SDAK MISS KANS OKLA CONN MASS MONT, and more, have been CW fill from time to time.
ReplyDeleteThank you for illustrating other examples of shotty fill. Miss and mass are common nouns.
Deletesomewhat shocked to discover that those Dakota abbrevs, and Nebr, are technically considered valid (if a bit outdated) by the Government Printing Office (at least according to wiki) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_and_territory_abbreviations
Delete