NYT> Eh. Left me cold. Nothing really enjoyable about it -- except maybe TOWNANDGOWN.
Norm | 05.16.08 - 10:22 pm | #

Well, went back and took another look. Still not enamored, but have to admit it made me stretch my brain -- not such a bad thing.
Norm | 05.16.08 - 10:27 pm | #

I'm beginning to think that Shortz knows nothing at all about biology. There are about a zillion clues for RNAs, yet he chooses some dumb, not clever "clever" clue. At least this one isn't flat out wrong, like some other biology clues (e.g., no one calls an amino acid an amino...that's just ridiculous, yet it's popped up in at least one puzzle that I can remember).
nerdlinger | 05.16.08 - 10:27 pm | #

Also a proud member of the No Mayo club; count me in.

I was having a blast with this one until I slammed into the pile of names on the right side of the puzzle, crossing with TOWN AND GOWN, which is a totally new term for me. Learn something new every day! Still enjoyed this one despite bruising my cerebellum against LOUIS II, ELIS, AVEDON, etc. Ow.
Bonus points for the term 'Nothnagelian', Orange.
Howard B | 05.16.08 - 10:52 pm | #

I came here to confirm shtetls even though I just watched scenes form Fiddler last night (I was ready to enter settings, scenes and numbers in some form), but I did the NE last and just learned a new Yiddish word. I worked out Int. generators to mean interest, but put in Ads as a means to generate interest in a product. I wonder how Mike learned how to approach a thong. I wouldn't know, but it sounds SWANKY. I went for dna strands at first and caught most of the tricky clues by thinking everything is a tick on Saturday. I also stumbled on lowcal for dieters. I found this to be harder than yesterday's but see others didn't struggle as much.
PhillySolver | 05.16.08 - 11:04 pm | #

Down the field is a Yale football song, hence ELIS fitting in there. I imediately thought of the town/gown relationship for that other clue, but wondered why there were three extra spaces - town and gown - doesn't roll off the tongue as well. I enjoyed the puzzle - not as frustrating as other Saturdays, but I still had to work through it.
Jan (danjan) | 05.16.08 - 11:44 pm | #

This one made up for yesterday's relatively speedy solve. Didn't find it particularly tricky, just slow work to get enough crossings to fill stuff in. So, was ILIKEIKE really grass-roots?
Matt | 05.17.08 - 7:19 am | #

Someday there will be a limerick that includes the words Hegelian and Nothnagelian. It will not be very good.

By the way, let me go on record as not liking RED HATS as an entry. RED HAT as the Linux-oriented company is familiar and a stand-alone entity, but RED HATS meaning "hats that are red" doesn't pass the test, I don't think. It doesn't feel qualitatively different from BLUE HATS or YELLOW CARS.

Maybe if it were clued with reference to the Red Hat Society, in which "red hats" are a requisite entity unto themselves, it would work better. (The Red Hat Society is a club for women aged 50 and up.)
Orange | Homepage | 05.17.08 - 1:56 pm | #

Mike and his puzzles are wonderful - my one cavil (and others may have a small complaint about people who use the word CAVIL) would be the REDHATS entry. I like Orange's idea of referencing a group that wears red hats - vs. a group that wears red CAPS: saying "baseball hat" sounds like it would come from a person who's going to go "on the line" when using the internet, or chastise someone for "making the rock and roll music". Of course, I loved all the other bits of this puzzle - and the offending entry was totally gettable/inferable. Also, if it could ever interest anyone else, I'd make an entire grid of the word SHTETLS! Maybe throw in NOTHNAGELIAN to mix things up?
tony orbach | 05.17.08 - 2:28 pm | #

i loved mike's puzzle! over on rex's blog i've already made too-lengthy comments about LOUIS II, but i found that clue totally fair.

re: REDHATS. first of all, i think this was a reference to the college of (catholic) cardinals, rather than the st louis cardinals of the NL. secondly, i don't find it made up. (if anything, the NOMAYO entry that orange loved seems quite a bit made-upper to me. i'd say "hold the mayo" instead. well, no, i wouldn't, because i'm very much pro-mayo.)

by the way, the name of the red skullcap worn by catholic cardinals is a zuchetto. in the old days they used to wear a ridiculous sombrero-like hat called a galero. i'd much rather see REDHATS in the grid than GALEROS, i'll tell you that.

nerdlinger, what are these zillion clues for RNAS? RNA, sure. but i really can't say i've ever seen RNAS (plural) before. isn't it just RNA?

the LAT was fun, until i got to the bottom third. boy, were those crossings unfamiliar to me. i probably should have remembered LISLE, but there are too many five-letter ropelike thingies for me to keep them straight. i think i tried out LIANA and SISAL, but not LISLE. didn't know SHUL. figured 57A was AN_, for some vowel, but that didn't help much. and the downs... never heard of DUCO or DCON. what are those? i guess they are probably a glue and pest trap brand, but they might as well be martian to me.

i always like a bob klahn, and today was no exception. i was expecting a bit more theme action, but a healthy dose of klahn kluing was enough to make up for it. [Coming down] for RAINY was an especially twisty one.

by the way, "vanya" is just the russian diminutive for IVAN. so yes, that's uncle vanya's first name. you could also say that "vanya" is uncle vanya's first name. (his last name, by the way, is voinitsky. i think.)

haven't done the stumper yet today. if orange's time is any indication, it shouldn't take me all day.
joon | 05.17.08 - 3:26 pm | #

Although Tony retracted his cavil over at Rex's after seeing explanations of RED HATS as referring to Catholic cardinals rather than baseball Cardinals, I think RED HATS still falls short as crossword fill. If you visit the Vatican or a gathering of cardinals here in the States, are the fellas going to call them "red hats" or zuchettos/zuchetti/whatever the Italian plural is? "Red hats" is just a description and not the name for the things themselves, it would seem.
Orange | Homepage | 05.17.08 - 4:20 pm | #

I never thought my last name would become an adjective. Live and learn.

As I mentioned on another blog, I'm at a conference this weekend, so I'm reading this in my hotel room using my "complimentary" Internet access that a $15 "resort fee" paid for.

Re: RED HATS -- I don't have a copy of my original clues in front of me (or even a copy of the published clues, for that matter), but I seem to remember cluing RED HATS in exactly the way that Amy suggested: in reference to the Red Hat Society. The culinary school at which I teach happens to be a popular tourist destination with said Society, so I see quite a few Red Hats on campus every week.

As I have said many times before, you all are too kind with your praise. Not that you should stop, but still.

See you next time...
MN
Nothnagel | 05.17.08 - 4:22 pm | #

okay, now that i've done the stumper, can somebody explain to me why ANEAR is a [Poetic preposition]? is it AN EAR? A NEAR? A'NEAR? lend me your ears? i have no idea here.

CIARA/CURLEW would have totally nailed me had CURLEW not appeared in the brad wilber NYT puzzle that kicked my butt three weeks ago. DOWNONTHECORNER, on the other hand, was (much to my surprise) quite familiar. the guy i carpooled with in high school was a big creedence fan. i can't tell you how many times i've heard DOWNONTHECORNER... probably in the hundreds.

i knew SHEMA, but i tried to spell it SHMAH. i believe it's "hear o israel, the lord our god, the lord is one" from deuteronomy. i have never tried to spell it.
joon | 05.17.08 - 4:31 pm | #

Great puzzle, Mike! Though I admit I thought NAN/AVEDON/NEREUS was an awfully tricky crossing that could have been a lot of things...
Bell Curve | Homepage | 05.17.08 - 5:35 pm | #

ANEAR, one word. Meaning near to or nearby. And no, it's not in all dictionaries, but it does come up in crosswords periodically.
Orange | Homepage | 05.17.08 - 5:35 pm | #

Stumper: When CONTRA failed as the Sandinista foe, I cleverly tried REAGAN, but not for long.
Cursory research indicates that CUSP, besides its other definitions, is a "Beginning point" only in a "house of the Zodiac" [quotes intentional].

Thanks to the NYT and MN for the news that the SDS is active again. I'll set a Google Alert and be watching with interest.

Both fun, doable puzzles and didn't take up half the day this time.
Jim in NYC | 05.17.08 - 9:01 pm | #

"Red hat" for cardinal is a long-accepted metaphor. You need go no further than RHUD to find it.
Nancy | 05.18.08 - 6:35 am | #