Damon Gulczynski’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s write-up
NY Times crossword solution, 11 11 16, no 1111
Lots of colloquial language in this grid. There’s WELL, SHUT MY MOUTH (I had WELL, I’LL BE DARNED first—I don’t know anyone who says 3d and wonder if it’s a regional or cultural thing), YOU LOOK FAMILIAR, THAT’S A BIG “IF,” and SO SUE ME. You could even throw in the French SALUT. Talky puzzle.
In the edibles department, we have NEW COKE (no, thanks!), ALMOND milk, CHEESE PIZZA (my default, unless a margherita is an option), and MCRIB (nope!).
Other fill I liked: JESSE JAMES with a cinematic clue, SCAM ARTIST, NOSE JOB (though I don’t care for the [Hook remover, perhaps] clue), LOAN OUT (I am 100% fine with loan being used as a verb, and the lend sticklers should consider being more flexible as there is no real reason to insist that they can’t be used interchangeably. Does anyone not understand exactly what someone means if they use loan as a verb?), JUST DESERTS (and not DESSERTS, since this DESERTS pertains to what is deserved), FOG LAMPS, BOOM MICS, and HOT TUBS.
Three more things:
- 28a. [Wrigley’s field], GUM. Wrigley Field has not been owned by Bill Wrigley for a long time, but the name remains. I turned to Wikipedia to see when it stopped being Wrigley’s field, and didn’t find that out but I did learn this: “No batter has ever hit the center field scoreboard. However, it has been hit by a golf ball hit by Sam Snead using a two iron.”
- 7d. [West Coast N.F.L.’er], L.A. RAM. Ha! Damon, did you make this puzzle when that was a retro answer that needed to stop showing up in so many crosswords, or after the team was yoinked back from St. Louis? I still don’t much care for “city + singular team member” entries, as opposed to the more natural plural, L.A. Rams.
- 12d. [Bar activity], KARAOKE. Please tell me that one of you is actually an attorney who has sung karaoke!
Four stars from me.
Patti Varol’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s write-up
LA Times
161111
The theme is of a clue answer reversal type. The clues are all cutlery or crockery, but the definitions are non-table related. So [Spoon], HUGTENDERLY; [Dish], SPREADGOSSIP; [Fork], BRANCHINTHEROAD; [Plate], COATWITHGOLD; [Bowl], PLAYTENPINS. The middle is the only one still used as a noun, the rest are verbs.
The rest of the grid was pleasant, with long answers like PLEASEHOLD and DEANMARTIN. I tried JANECURTIN there first. Is she a person?
Anyway, I don’t much time today.
Gareth
Randolph Ross’s CrosSynergy/Washington Post Crossword, “An Actor’s Life” —Ade’s write-up
CrosSynergy/Washington Post crossword solution, 11.11.16: “An Actor’s Life”
Good day, everyone! Happy Friday. Also, very appreciative of all of the veterans that are out here in the Fiend sphere as well as abroad. Today’s crossword puzzle, brought to us by Mr. Randolph Ross, are common phrases that, when looking at it in a different context, could be certain things and events that an actor could take along his/her time performing.
- CHANGE OF SCENERY (17A: [Something different])
- WAITING IN THE WINGS (25A: [Getting ready for an opportunity])
- IN THE SPOTLIGHT (40A: [Getting a lot of attention])
- TAKE CENTER STAGE (51A: [Exhibit leadership])
Interesting theme, and I liked it. This grid could have easily been titled “food and drink,” especially with all of the references to having some eats. There’s MUESLI, which I’m sure I haven’t had in forever (5D: [Breakfast cereal]). That answer intersected with MEAL, something that I need to have pretty soon (5A: [Breakfast, lunch, or dinner]). It’s possible that I could go out and get some GRITS (18D: [Southern breakfast dish]), as there’s a couple of places in NYC where you can get a plate of just that (52D: [Big Apple inits.]).Hopefully, during the meal, I don’t show myself to be a BIG EATER since I’ve put on a few more pounds than I would have liked recently (36D: [One who ignores portion control]). Crossing that entry is BREW, and having too many of those never helps in keeping a good figure (36A: [Cold one]). Maybe I’ll have a Lipton BRISK Iced Tea instead when having tonight’s meal (55A: [Lively]). OK, all of this is really making me hungry. Time to head out and get ready for a long weekend ahead.
“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: NORTH (28D: [Needle point?]) – Current ESPN golf commentator Andy NORTH was a two-time major champion, winning the U.S. Open in both 1978 and 1985. North only won three times on the PGA Tour, but two of them happened to be at majors. Hey, if you’re going to win, but not a lot, win big!
Have a good weekend, everyone!
Take care!
Ade/AOK
Amy, when I made this puzzle there were rumors the Rams were moving back to Los Angeles, but it hadn’t been confirmed yet. I figured there was a decent chance it would be relevant again. I actually thought of a better clue for LA RAM — “Noted NFL returner of 2016” — but too late.
If anybody is interested on further insights from the constructor about today’s NYT puzzle, visit my blog.
Terrible, terrible, tremendously terrible. Who is this guy? His name sounds Russian. I don’t like the Russians, I don’t even know them. Not a puppet, not a puppet. You’re the puppet!
Look at this puzzle. Boo. boo the media. Look at the liberal media. SCAMARTIST after I won the election bigly. The New York Times is a liberal rag. Shameful. Disgusting.
Just wanted to say something for Leonard Cohen. I know we’re in the middle of a lot of distraction, but I for one will really miss him and his music.
Enjoy this magnificent rendition:
http://damnbored.tv/violin-play-piano-hallelujah/
Steve
Nice one by Damon. But “salud” is not really a toast, but rather, a greeting. The toast would be [a votre] santé.
As I recall from French class (and as Google searches confirm), SALUT has different meanings in different contexts, one of which is a greeting, and one of which is “used to express friendly feelings toward one’s companions before drinking.” I’m pretty sure it can be used as a toast equivalent to “cheers.”
I’ve heard it used as such. But I hear a lot of toasts.
“Salud” would be okay in Spanish, but the French is SALUT.
Just don’t say “salaud” to a Frenchman! Not nice…
I just read this thread to my daughter who is in the 9th grade and taking French 1. She said she has learned SALUT, but only as a greeting–perhaps because she is underage.
Steve
Salut is complicated…
Salut to greet someone became fashionable within my memory (but decades ago nevertheless). Originally, we were taught to say, Bonjour or Bonsoir as the proper way to salute someone. Then younger people started using “salut” as a more casual way of greeting each other, something akin to going from Good Morning to Hi or Hey…
When you look up Salut in the French Larousse, that meaning of Salut meaning Hello is not under “definitions” but under “Expressions” and it’s listed as a familiar or colloquial usage. (formal definitions of salut are both about safety and formal salutations).
In the same Larousse, the use of “Salut” for toasting is not even mentioned under “Expressions” much less Definitions.
The word for toasting is “trinquer” which involves touching the glasses and often saying Tchin tchin… Some people say: “Dans les yeux” “In your eyes”… All of this derives from a history when people used to try to poison each other and so a habit evolved of mixing a bit of the drinks from each other’s glasses before drinking, looking each other in the eye and drinking… If you want to catch the instructions in French, here’s one option:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg_tX19Sot0
In a less traditional vein, it’s fine to say A Votre Sante, or Sante! The tone is more like saying “To your health”, than saying “Cheers”.
Tchin tchin…
NYT. I think it is a great puzzle when I learn something new. Today I learned the proper spelling of JUST DESERTS. Thank you!
i.e. what you justly deserve.
LAT: I think a constructor should work hard to ensure that the entry for 1A is not the weakest in the puzzle.
Nice puzzle.
I remain mystified by the fact that you can milk almonds.
I have a pedant’s preference for LEND over LOAN, but putting that aside, why do we need OUT? LEND OUT and LOAN OUT both strike me as unidiomatic.
It was the only thing I did not like about an otherwise excellent Friday. Of average difficulty for me.
Steve
“I loaned out my snow blower last February but I’m going to need it back.” If you’re not specifying who you lent it to, the “out” helps the sentence not sound freakish. “I lent my snow blower” or “I loaned my snow blower” both feel incomplete without a “to my neighbor” clause.
I would greatly prefer “to my neighbor” over OUT. I will accept that the opening sentence of your comment sounds less like a judgmental imperative, but it certainly is incomplete. To whom was it loaned/lent?
Steve
If the audience doesn’t care who borrowed it, though, there’s no reason to specify that. No need to include extraneous info.
A Cubs/crosswords fan passed along the Wrigley sale info:
“William Wrigley & family sold the Cubs & Wrigley Field to the Trib on 6/16/81 for $20.5MN.”
I was paying no mind to baseball back in 1981.