Zachary David Levy’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Pardon My French”—Jim’s review
I solved the puzzle without catching on to the theme, since I kept looking for French words in either the entries or the clues. So the clues didn’t help me very much, but with enough crossings, I recognized each phrase. After the solve I went back and noticed each entry starts with LA and that the first words can be separated into LA something. So there’s your theme: Each entry is a familiar phrase whose first word can be separated into the French definite article LA plus another word. Wackiness ensues. Shall we say this is in honor of the Paris Olympics? Let’s.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Pardon My French” · Zachary David Levy · Wed., 7.31.24
- 17a. [Sore spot left by a bee, in Bordeaux?] LA STING REMINDER.
- 22a. [What finals generate, in Grenoble?] LA TEST CRAZE.
- 37a. [The ore that’s mined, in Marseille?] LA TIN MASS.
- 51a. [Where lab rats learn, in Lyon?] LA MAZE CLASS.
- 59a. [How revulsion is expressed, in Rouen?] LA UGHING OUT LOUD. Ugh indeed. This one’s awkward but it does have a certain charm.
A somewhat kooky theme that reminded me of Pepe Le Pew combining French and English into one. These felt like groan-worthy puns, but not in an entirely bad way.
Plenty of 6s and 7s in the fill with only a couple of 8s. I liked RED ZONE and fully-named BRIAN ENO as well as MONETIZE and HANGRY.
Clues of note:
- 43a. [Central]. MID. I recently learned that kids these days are using this word to mean “average” or “mediocre”. So I was surprised at this traditional cluing angle since editor Mike Shenk seems to like to include newer slang when he can.
- 49d. [Canoeing event at the Olympics]. SLALOM. Nice tie-in to the Summer Games since we normally see this word associated with skiing.
3.5 stars.
Jackson Matz & Ben Matz’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 7/31/24 – no. 0731
First, let me confess that I have never seen The Little Mermaid, neither the original animated movie or the Halle Bailey live-action version. But I’ve seen plenty of “Under the ___” crossword clues, so boom. The theme revealer, UNDER THE SEA, points to the vertical theme entries. As clued, the answers should be specific words or phrases, but if you sneak a C in front, they become entirely different (but still legit) phrases:
- 11d. [*Not moving fast enough], CLOSING TIME. C + losing time.
- 18d. [*Increases sharply], CRAMPS UP.
- 25d. [*Rip off], COVER CHARGE.
- 31d. [*Like 10%-fat beef], CLEAN-CUT. Is lean-cut an adjective, as clued? Feels more like an awkward noun phrase, but beef butchery is not my thing.
I’m not sure about 31d, but overall it’s a lever, ute theme.
Three things:
- 23a. [Expose the vulnerabilities of, in a way], HACK. I couldn’t see what this clue was getting at for the longest time.
- 3d. [What it would be a mistake to write twice?], BOO. As in a booboo.
- 39d. [Duck delicacy], FOIE GRAS. Gross. Some jurisdictions ban this because it entails force-feeding ducks or geese via tubes (often metal). If you find it delicious and don’t give a rat’s ass about what the birds are subjected to, please keep that to yourself.
Fave fill: BEAR HUG, BROADCASTER, the lovely word PERUSE.
3.5 stars from me.
Ryan Judge’s AV Club Classic crossword, “What the …?”—Amy’s recap
AV Club Classic crossword solution, “What the …?” – 7/31/24
Literature meets geography meets anagramming in this theme.
- 40a-49a. [With 49-Across, work set in Paris and London], A TALE OF / TWO CITIES.
- 17a, [Street in Paris that runs alongside the Louvre], RUE DE RIVOLI.
- 27a. [Street in London known for bespoke tailoring and the Beatles’ rooftop concert], SAVILE ROW.
- 64a. [Titular street child in a famous novel … and a hint to finding that child in the streets of 17- and 27-Across], OLIVER TWIST.
“Twist” those highlighted letters in the street names by scrambling them, and you get OLIVER. Street kid, two street names in London and Paris, the two cities in the Dickens novel … I like the interconnectedness of the theme.
Favorite clue: 54a. [What to do, per Dylan Thomas, against the dying of the light (you could also just buy a new bulb I suppose)], RAGE. There are always people who would rather rage against something than actually look for solutions, but this is not what inspires poets.
Take note: 11d. [Jewelry chain named for its founder’s daughters], ALEX AND ANI. This is constructors’ alternative to Ani DiFranco, so you’ll see it “Alex and ___” in the occasional clue.
Four stars from me. An enjoyable solve and an elegant theme.
Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker crossword – Kyle’s write-up
Thanks Robyn for today’s puzzle.
The New Yorker solution grid – Robyn Weintraub – Wednesday 07/31/2024
Neat bit of trivia at 17A [Prizes named for the theatre pioneer Antoinette Perry] TONY AWARDS. Here’s her Wikipedia bio. The full name of the award is the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre.
Other long answers I liked: the duo of SEAWEED SALAD and BREADSTICKS (the latter getting a nod to Olive Garden in the clue), CLASSICAL (just discovered a lovely recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations by Mitsuko Uchida), “END OF RANT”, CLICKBAIT (with a tricky clue: [What a mouse might be drawn to?]), “GET ON WITH IT!”. The rest of the grid is totally clean, as usual.
Lenora Genovese and Emet Ozar’s Universal crossword, “Monster Movie” — pannonica’s write-up
Universal • 7/31/24 • Wed • “Monster Movie” • Genovese, Ozar • solution • 20240731
The theme is basically animal name + anatomical feature.
- 41aR [“Godzilla vs. Kong,” for example … and a hint to each starred clue’s answer] CREATURE FEATURE.
- 16a. [*Suedelike fabric] MOLESKIN.
- 24a. [*Keen observer’s ability] EAGLE EYE.
- 52a. [*Paw-shaped pastry] BEAR CLAW.
- 68a. [*Skid side to side] FISHTAIL.
It’s a nice, tidy theme, but I don’t care for the way that the title is relevant to the revealer but not the theme itself. It’s spurlike but not spurious (those words have different etymologies).
- 5d [Go on and on] YAK. Clued not as the bovid.
- 38d [Small Hawaiian shell] PUKA, seen often in necklaces.
- 48a [Shake, like a finger] WAG. Finger is an anatomical feature, so this intrudes on the theme a bit. Evoking a dog’s tail would objectively be more egregious. My suggestion: echo the clue for 32a [Super hilarious person] RIOT.
- 59a [“Well, obviously!”] UM, DUH. The last bit of fill that needed correcting. Had NO DUH, then UH, DUH before proper completion.
- 71a [Edge of the forest] TREELINE. The upper altitudinal edge, also called timberline.
Zachary David Levy’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary
LA Times
240731
Zachary David Levy’s theme today is more creative than most: we have four LITTLEWOMEN – famous women with a first name (or similar) than sounds small:
- [Grand Ole Opry fixture from 1940 to 1991], MINNIEPEARL
- [“If These Walls Could Talk” star], DEMIMOORE
- [Actress who played Lucy on “Raising Hope”], BIJOUPHILLIPS
- [Singer born Emma Lee Bunton], BABYSPICE
Interesting clues and answers:
- [Kit filled with money and passports, in spy movies], GOBAG. I only know this in the context of waiting a visit to the hospital…
- [Narrative device employed in “Russian Doll”], TIMELOOP. Is that like “Groundhog Day”, perchance?
- [John who played Blackie Parrish on “General Hospital], STAMOS. You mean he was in things other than Full House?
Gareth
Max Schlenker’s USA Today Crossword, “I Will Turn This Car Around!” — Emily’s write-up
Better keep yourself entertained—how about a puzzle?
USA Today, July 31, 2024, “I Will Turn This Car Around!” by Max Schlenker
Theme: each themer contains —RAC— (or “car” backwards)
Themers:
- 15a. [Bonus points on an exam], EXTRACREDIT
- 36a. [Tomb Raider heroine portrayed by Alicia Vikander], LARACROFT
- 61a. [Groups following reality TV stars], CAMERACREWS
Great themer set today! EXTRACREDIT and LARACROFT filled without issue for me. However, CAMERACREWS was one I needed many crossings for as I kept thinking about fans instead of a more practical option. It’s super savvy that made me grin once I figured it out. Loved the title hint too!
Favorite fill: ENERO, SITBACK, GLAMPED, and LIEDETECTORTEST
Stumpers: LOSE (I misdirected and racked my brain for chess terms), ILKS (needed crossings, just didn’t come to mind), and MIX (kept thinking “mess” or “tangle”)
If it weren’t for the three stumpers that really tripped me up today, my time would have been 6 minutes. The puzzle just clicked for me, had an easy flow, really nice cluing and great overall fill with oodles of lengthy bonus fill including a spanner. I also enjoyed the grid design.
4.5 stars
~Emily
NYT: I apologize for repeating myself.
But after reading “Other Minds” by philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith, and “The Soul of an Octopus”, not to mention other articles and videos about this amazing creature, I sure would like it if the New York Times crossword editors — who strike me as having no particular fondness for words — would stick to the accepted spelling of the plural, or else find some other words to clue.
You mean accepted by you, right?
i think we should all just settle on octopodes
I vote for octopuses. English word, English plural.
Octopus is the Latinization of oktopous. So shouldn’t the purists prefer “oktopodes”?
English has lots of words of hybrid “Greco-Roman” etymology — television, asexual, antacid, bigamy, automobile, claustrophobia, geostationary, petroleum and nonagon all combine Greek and Latin roots.
I don’t know what it is about “octopi,” arguably fully Latin-based, that sets people off, but it has been doing so for centuries.
BTW, it’s fine to hate a word. But to see that word as evidence that the editors have no particular fondness for words is pretty loony. Just sayin’.
OCTOPI grates on me because it sounds pompous. But I recognize that dictionaries accept it and cringe only a little when I have to put it in a grid.
Interestingly, “octopodes” is the one that sounds pompous to me. “Octopi” sounds whimsical. Ain’t words the best?
Words are great.
But only “octopuses” sounds unaffected to me.
No, Martin, my evidence is having solved NYT crosswords since 1993.
(I’ve also solved them since 1962.)
And when I wrote “accepted” I meant accepted by every English-speaking expert on octopuses, not “by me”.
Domain authorities don’t determine much in crosswords. Language authorities, like dictionary editors, do. Feel free to not like the word, but if M-W says it’s a word, the editor’s job is done.
I prefer octopussies.
Especially if Maud Adams is involved, lol!
I’ll just use this to post one of my favorite jokes:
Q: How many tickles does it take to tickle an octopus?
A: Ten. Ten tickles.
I’m going to be humorless and observe that oktopodes (thanks Martin!) don’t have tentacles, they have arms.
Dallas: Thanks! I got a giggle out of that.
Pannonica: Now I know more than I ever did before about arms vs. tentacles, octopi vs. squid and can imagine how bored my family will be next time we order fried calamari appetizer and they serve us with rings and (tentacles & arms) and I explain the differences, gently pulling them apart to show the differences in length between the squid arms and tentacles. OH MY! You know I’m going to have to!
The fastidious chef removes the tentacles from squid before frying the arms. As you now know, they’re the two long skinny bits and would overcook by the time the arms are done. So you might need a raw squid as a teaching prop.
Thx for the heads up, Martin. I would hate to trip up like that! Now we can have counting moments (grandkids will like that) to make sure there are no ten tickles!
Octopuses are awesome, and clever. Each arm has its own “mini-brain”, for motion planning…
(Bon appetit!)
Have you watched “Secrets of the Octopus” on NatGeo or Hulu? I’ve only seen episode one, plan to go back for the rest. They truly are amazing!
Luckily, I think many an octopus does have a sense of humor :-)
I liked the NYT theme but I agree with Amy’s objection to LEANCUT. You can talk about lean cuts of beef (or other meats), but I can’t imagine using lean-cut as an adjective. But that’s a smallish objection to a nice puzzle.
That LEAN CUT is the only theme answer that doesn’t really sound right is pretty impressive.
Would you like it better if the clue were something like “10% ground beef, for one”? (In other words, if it were clued in such a way that the answer was a noun.)
I wouldn’t say that 10% ground beef is a lean cut — because it’s ground beef. According to Google AI: “The leanest beef cuts include round steaks and roasts (eye of round, top round, bottom round, round tip), top loin, top sirloin, and chuck shoulder and arm roasts.” But I’m not sure how I would make a Wednesday-level clue out of that list.
I do a fair amount of cooking, and am a meat eater, so maybe I’m biased. But I would think something like “Filet mignon, for example” would be a fair clue on a Wednesday for LEAN CUT. It wouldn’t necessarily be the first thing to pop into my head, but with a couple of crosses, it would make sense.
I had the same thought. It’s why I eat other cuts when I want a steak
I agree with your observation. Filet mignon is a LEAN CUT of beef, and the answer would work better with CUT as a noun.
But other than that minor hitch, this was a notably clean puzzle, with blessedly little trivia. Easy, even for a Wednesday, but I liked it.
I had that same thought, and it would work just fine … until one of our purists insists that filet only means no bone, not necessarily low in fat.
LOL!
NYT: The more I have thought about this puzzle, the more I think it’s a perfect bridge for someone who is doing reasonably well with Monday and Tuesday puzzles but who struggles with Thursday trickery.
You’re going along, filling in squares, and you hit something like 11D. The answer that fits the grid is obviously CLOSING TIME, but what does that have to do with “Not moving fast enough”?
So you plug on, and eventually you see the revealer, which is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. Suddenly it all makes sense!
Those of us who have been solving for years take these kinds of things for granted. I hope that many newer solvers were pleased when they got today’s trick.
That’s an interesting observation. I think I agree.
I’m with you; right where a Wednesday should be. It’s a nice puzzle.
Still no word about Jenni?
Hectocotylus is the ultimate cephalopod insult to the purity of our language. This is the modified arm of male octos, used in mating. It’s formed from the Greek prefix for “one hundred” and the Latin suffix for “cup.” Since there’s only one to a customer, we don’t have to worry about the plural too much.
… one to a customer, and one use. Then they die :(
Universal: reviewer’s timing has been posted for a couple of hours, but no accompanying review. Seems unexpected!
Oh, thought I posted it, but only did the music selection, mistakenly appended to the New Yorker write-up.
On it!
Awesome! Thanks!!
Plus – picking a title seems tough, for this. I thought the misdirection on the reveal was – fine here.
@Amy, you should definitely see one or both Little Mermaids. That way, you can have that song stuck in your head, like the rest of us.
LAT: The proper name theme was a little tough for me. MINNIE PEARL was easy enough, DEMI MOORE okay though I didn’t remember that role, BIJOU PHILLIPS and BABY SPICE go in the “yeah, I’ve of them but I need a lot of crosses” category.
The J of BIJOU was a particularly difficult spot, since I don’t know “The Big Bang Theory.” (But I’m sure others found that a gimme.)
I never saw “Big Bang…” but I knew the name Bijou from remembering Papa John Phillips children’s names, or at least some of them… (Mackenzie and Chynna are two more that I know of).
I remember when Wilson Phillips first got attention (the Wilson sisters being daughters of Brian Wilson). Nepo babies long before the word was coined!
New Yorker: BREADSTICKS as clued inevitably made me think of one of the strangest moments of my life.
In 1990, my younger sister Andrea was hit by a car while crossing a street and was instantly killed.
At Andrea’s memorial service, some woman who most of didn’t know — possibly one of Andrea’s coworkers — got up and said something like, “I need to tell you that Andrea had a substance abuse problem.”
Long pause.
“She was addicted to the breadsticks at Olive Garden.”
I’m reminded of this because today would have been Andrea’s 59th birthday.
But there’s a broader point here. I’ve commented many times about entries that have the potential to evoke unpleasant memories. Olive Garden BREADSTICKS seem totally innocuous, and for most people, I’m sure they are. But even the most innocent-sounding entry might be unpleasant for someone.
I don’t expect this to change the way constructors make puzzles, and I don’t blame Robyn Weintraub for evoking my sister’s death. I guess all I’m really hoping for is that constructors think about the potential impact of answers, and if an answer is foreseeably likely to upset people, don’t use it.