Jesse Cohn’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 10/18/24 – no. 1018
Lots of fun stuff in this one. Also a few little clunky bits (PATEN, NOT DO, POKE OUT), but the good stuff outweighs it. Fave fill: RAGE ROOM, EYE CANDY, PAINT-BY-NUMBER (liked its clue, [Digital art?]), DOOR DASH, “NO NOTES,” GINGER ALE, “MYSTERY SOLVED,” ICE WATER.
A few notes (very rarely will I have NO NOTES!):
- 2d. [Warren of the Allman Brothers Band], HAYNES. Who? I was a kid when the Allman Brothers Band was putting out albums, and never heard of him. Per Wiki, he joined ABB for their 1989 reunion, not the original permutation. At any rate, my guitarist husband, who watches a whole lotta guitar-related YouTube also hasn’t heard of him. Wonder why the constructor/editor didn’t go with filmmaker Todd Haynes instead.
- 10d. [What a ’50s-style diner or arcade bar might have], RETRO VIBE. Part of me loves the entry and part of me thinks it’s too GREENPAINTish. Thoughts?
Four stars from me.
Joe Rodini’s Universal crossword, “Back in School”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases that hide a school class spelled backwards within. The revealer is REVERSE COURSE (55a, [Do a 180 … or what each starred clue’s answer contains]).
Universal crossword solution · “Back in School” · Joe Rodini · Fri., 10.18.24
- 20a. [*Webcasted music medium (In this answer, note letters 10-8)]
INTERNET RADIO. Art. - 24a. [*Glass-half-empty sort (… letters 7-5)]
GLOOMY GUS. Gym. - 35a. [*Dreaded class start time for many undergrads (… letters 7-4)]
EIGHT A.M. Math. - 48a. [*”Everything is frustrating!” (… letters 8-4)] “DARN IT ALL!” Latin.
Solid. But who the heck takes Latin as their language class? (*sheepishly raises hand*) To be fair, this was way back in the ’80s when all the kids were still speaking Latin.
The 13-letter revealer forces all the theme entries toward the center of the grid, and we end up with a whole slew of black cheater squares. I don’t know that it really affected the solve but it is surprising to see so many blocks in the grid.
IT COUPLE, HIT PARADE, and FISH PIE are highlights for me. Not so keen on RELIGHT and SERENER though. I have to believe ART at 63a could’ve been replaced with something else, given that the word is part of the theme.
Clue of note: 2d. [Ctrl+P]. PRINT. My boneheaded move of the day was thinking this was PASTE.
3.5 stars.
Josh Horowitz’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 10/18/24 • Fri • Horowitz • solution • 20241018
- 61aR [Summertime chore, or an apt title for this puzzle] AC INSTALLATION. The bigram AC is prefixed to common phrases.
- 16a. [What poker chips might do?] ACCOMPANY CARDS (company cards).
- 29a. [What people waiting in a long line might do?] ACCOST CUTTERS (cost cutters). Understanding the the theme helped me to complete this entry, since I was unsure of the consecutive crossings 8d [Early topic in music theory] KEY OF C, 18d [Singer Jay known as the “King of Mandopop”] CHOU.
- 46a. [What people who eschew online banking might do?] ACCLAIM CHECKS (claim checks). Very stilted in the new, wackified form.
Overall, solid and straightforward theme. Kind of weird to run it now, just as autumn is coming into its own, no?
- 7d [Double negative?] NO NO. 28a [Scottish no] NAE.
- 11d [Neat quality] TIDINESS. By the time I saw the clue, there were enough crossing letters that the ambiguity didn’t catch me. 12d [Captures] ENSNARES.
- 36d [“Wow, you almost dropped that!”] NICE SAVE. Nice clue.
60d [ __ Spunkmeyer] OTIS. There’s a recent novel by Joseph Earl Thomas called God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer. It was probably published after this puzzle was submitted.- 9a [Keeping folks waiting] LATE, crossed by 10d [Pt. of ETA] ARRival.
- 51a [Brandy bottle letters] VSO, very superior old. P stands for pale.
- 70a [Egg cream component] SODA. Egg creams notably contain neither eggs nor cream (but they do have milk).
i don’t know RETRO VIBE felt solidly in the language for me.
no idea re Haynes either. 7:11 which is a fairly fast Friday for me.
fun, nice Friday. In addition to the entries you mentioned, Amy, I loved ROWR. fun one! and crossing TATOOINE too—i heard Chewbacca ROWRing in my head as i solved it.
NYT: Enjoyed the puzzle, but there were a couple of rough spots.
I got HAYNES entirely from crosses. I know the band, don’t know the musician – but I can’t think of an alternative clue that would have helped me out. I just can’t think of any recognizable (to me) HAYNESes.
And TATOOINE x ROWR? I understand that for movie fans TATOOINE may be a “gimme,” but crossing it with a made-up word? Not for me!
I’ve seen ROWR online, and TATOOINE is one the many silly names I’ve learned from crosswords and have done my best to remember. But I agree, not a great cross.
HAYNES was a gimme for me. He is very well known in the Blues/Rock world. In addition to his work with the ABB, he is known as the co-founder of the jam band Gov’t Mule. And he has a YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChQR3tKmYVCmXKJa42sGK0Q
Warren Haynes guests with the Dave Matthews Band occasionally, so I knew him from there. First time I’ve completed a Friday puzzle in a long while and this one was fun.
I’m baffled by that central entry, PAINTBYNUMBER. It’s not a standard phrase without an S on the end, and without an S — is it meant to be some kind of clever variation, hinting at pictures made on a computer? If so, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
There are a ton of products sold by the Michael’s arts and crafts chain that are labeled “Paint-by-Number Kit.” A Facebook friend posted that her daughter “got me another paint by number on clearance.” It works for me.
Hmm, OK. I’ve never seen a singular form. ‘Paint by number’ must be a single piece of paper all the same color, right?
Perhaps you could view the singular as “paint each section by the number assigned to it”?
I’ve heard of Warren HAYNES. Saw him play with DMB one summer — not a fan, but he is probably generally as well known as TATOOINE.
I questioned PAINT BY NUMBER as well, but Googling shows both singular and plural use.
As a Catholic, PATEN was new to me, and I’m pretty well versed in the faith.
All in all, a nice Friday.
Ah, but perhaps you were never an altar boy back in the days when they had to hold a PATEN under the chin of the person receiving communion in order to catch any wayward host. I think this practice is mostly discontinued as most communicants receive communion in the hand rather than directly on the tongue.
Another long-ago altar boy here, so PATEN was a gimme. Still annoyed that Sam won’t accept it in the Spelling Bee (as of the last time I tried).
Not an altar boy, but a gimme here too. In the Bee, after I try PATEN, I remember PATENTEE. Like ACAI/ACACIA and VANILLA/VANILLIN. Sam’s got me well trained.
I came back to Spelling Bee about six months ago, after a hiatus of a few years. I still haven’t gotten all those “If you can spell X, you can spell Y” things internalized. The other day, I found “hath” but missed “hatha.” It bugs me when I do that.
I usually hate-remember HATHA. It bugs me because it’s only used as part of the phrase “hatha yoga.” Such components of phrases are generally not allowed. I guess the justification is the slangy use of “hatha” to mean “hatha yoga,” but this strikes me as sloppy. “Hatha yoga” is in M-W, but not “hatha.”
I agree with Martin about HATHA in the Spelling Bee, and for that matter the word MATHEMATIC (a pangram in a recent Bee) is virtually never used by anyone, anywhere.
While many perfectly good words that may not be known to the average 8th grader are disallowed for that reason.
PATEN is ancient crosswordese, so a gimme for a non-Catholic former Follower Of Maleska.
I don’t think there had been any prior public announcement about it, but I’m re-sharing the news mentioned in today’s Wordplay column that Ian Livengood joined the NYT editing team last month. Congrats, Ian!
Guessing he’s an addition rather than a replacement, since the team has mostly been down a full-timer since Will’s stroke.
NYT: Great puzzle, but a few nits from me.
Warren HAYNES, especially as clued, seems more like a Saturday clue than a Friday one. I think Todd HAYNES and the actor Colton HAYNES are more well-known. The real name of Nelly, the rap artist, is Cornell HAYNES. I don’t know if people would know his real name, but Nelly was a huge star – #3 of the Decade according to Billboard for the 2000-2009 decade (I don’t know if anyone ever came up with a good name for that decade – the Aughts?).
I don’t love the TATOOINE/ROWR cross, either. TATAOINE/RAWR seems just as plausible to me.
Aughties
LAT: I thought I knew all the random unending Ivy League related crossword puzzle clues/answers but today I learned another, Handsome Dan was a new one on me.
I was sure I’d know an Allman Brothers guitarist, but no. I see he was maybe 11 years old at the time of the Filmore East album and Eat a Peach. But no matter. I got it from plausible names and crossings.
I did get creamed on the NE just when I was sure I’d been moving fast. Marc, Halloween, RO/AWR, planet, tricky clue for warmup. Darn. (I was thinking scales.) oh well.
Any hints on the WSJ Contest puzzle for October 18? [possible spoilers deleted by Amy]
No spoilers till after the contest deadline has passed, Hank. Thanks!