0401-19 NY Times Crossword 1 Apr 19, Monday

Constructed by: Joel Fagliano
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Foolish Answers

Happy April Fool’s Day, everyone! We get fooled with a “set” of letters T, a “string” of letters G, and a “line” of letters B as today’s themed answers:

  • 20A Tea set? : TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT (a set of Ts)
  • 36A G-string? : GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG (a string of Gs)
  • 50A Beeline? : BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB (a line of Bs)

Bill’s time: 5m 10s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

As many of this blog’s readers know, I have been in Ireland for the past 6 weeks or so, helping care for my mother. Mom finally passed, very peacefully in her sleep, with her three sons around her bed.

Given the circumstances, I’m just providing a basic post for today. I run a one-man-show here, so I am sure you can understand the short pause in coverage of the daily puzzles. Mom was always a tough taskmaster, so I’m sure that her spirit will have me back up and running tomorrow.

Bill

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Part of a jacket where a hands-free mic is attached : LAPEL
6 Powder for a gymnast : TALC
10 Part of a constellation : STAR
14 Michelle with the 2018 hit memoir “Becoming” : OBAMA
15 Gymnast Korbut : OLGA
16 Columbus’s home : OHIO
17 The end : FINIS
18 Unruly crowds : MOBS
19 Nevada casino city : RENO
20 Tea set? : TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT (a set of Ts)
23 ___ Paulo, Brazil : SAO
24 Five cards of the same suit, in poker : FLUSH
25 Tune you just can’t get out of your head : EARWORM
29 On fire : LIT
30 Suffragist ___ B. Wells : IDA
33 Rice or wheat : GRAIN
34 Slowly swivel sideways, as a camera : PAN
35 Unknown author, for short : ANON
36 G-string? : GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG (a string of Gs)
40 French assents : OUIS
41 Bit of financial planning for old age, in brief : IRA
42 “The Little Mermaid” princess : ARIEL
43 Cory Booker or Cory Gardner: Abbr. : SEN
44 Spanish article : UNA
45 All together, as a crowd : EN MASSE
47 Like many people after eating beans : GASSY
49 Main squeeze, modernly : BAE
50 Beeline? : BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB (a line of Bs)
57 Earsplitting : LOUD
58 Peter Fonda title role of 1997 : ULEE
59 “… and sometimes y” preceder : A-E-I-O-U
60 Org. fighting for immigrants’ rights : ACLU
61 Lack of practice, metaphorically : RUST
62 Touches down on the tarmac : LANDS
63 Corridor : HALL
64 Receives : GETS
65 Olympic sleds : LUGES

Down

1 Apartment in an old warehouse district, say : LOFT
2 Not much : A BIT
3 Breathe like a tired runner : PANT
4 Give off : EMIT
5 Band’s closing number : LAST SONG
6 Drum with a repetitive name : TOM TOM
7 Tons and tons : A LOT
8 Rainbow symbol of pride : LGBT FLAG
9 Chess move involving the king and rook : CASTLING
10 Out of ___ (discombobulated) : SORTS
11 “Here’s what you have to realize …” : THE THING IS …
12 Slangy negative contraction : AIN’T
13 Tree anchor : ROOT
21 What cigarette filters are supposed to block : TAR
22 Egyptian boy king : TUT
25 Certain frozen waffles : EGGOS
26 Squabble : ARGUE
27 1980 Scorsese/De Niro classic : RAGING BULL
28 What many of the founding fathers wore : WIGS
31 Old Venetian rulers : DOGES
32 An obtuse one is more than 90° : ANGLE
34 Links org. : PGA
35 Home of the Taj Mahal : AGRA
37 Supreme Court justice nicknamed “The Notorious R.B.G.” : GINSBURG
38 Shade similar to slate : GRAY BLUE
39 N.B.A. souvenir : GAME BALL
44 Thumb drive port, for short : USB
45 ___ Field, onetime home of the Brooklyn Dodgers : EBBETS
46 Catch red-handed : NAB
48 Paula who once judged on “American Idol” : ABDUL
50 When tripled, “and so on and so forth” : BLAH
51 ___ Raton, Fla. : BOCA
52 Common email sign-off word : BEST
53 Lover : BEAU
54 Microsoft search engine : BING
55 Be an omen of : BODE
56 Kiss : BUSS

21 thoughts on “0401-19 NY Times Crossword 1 Apr 19, Monday”

  3. 13:10 no errors….for 44A and 38D
    I think an E or an A would have been acceptable.

    1. But … the clue for 44A is “Spanish article” rather than “French article”, so, as far as I know, “UNE” wouldn’t work there.

      1. I don’t care foreign language words should not even be in an English language puzzle

    2. @Bill in MN …

      In spite of studying Latin in high school, Spanish and German in college, and a little Norwegian in the fifty years since then, I am really familiar only with English. Nevertheless, there are a few foreign words that I have seen so often in reading English materials (and in doing crosswords, of course) that they have become a part of my working vocabulary. I suspect that most people have a similar small store of foreign words at their disposal and I suspect that crossword setters take advantage of this to ease the task of constructing a puzzle. And, up to a point, I have no quarrel with it; on a recent trip to France, I found that I was able to decipher menus and street signs surprisingly well and I suspect that, in part, I have crossword puzzles to thank for that.

      That said, I did once encounter a puzzle that asked me for the future pluperfect subjunctive form (or some such gobbledy-gook) of a rather uncommon French verb, and that was indeed a step too far … 😳 … 😜.

  4. Bill, how wonderful you and your brothers were all with your mother at her bedside, when she passed from this earth! She would have been so proud of her sons love and devotion at the very end! May God bless you three sons and your loving and caring family’s! Your dear mother is at rest now and she left knowing that her sons will continue to live life successfully!

    1. @Anonymous—-That is why there is a question mark after the clue “Tea set?”. The appearance of a question mark in crossword clues makes loose interpretations fair game.

  8. Little to say about this exceptionally easy Monday puzzle, except that maybe the constructor had more fun with it than I did

  9. I agree with Tom M. I had the feeling that this was the constructor saying “Look what I can do”. But it made the puzzle embarrassingly easy for us workers.

    1. That’s Ebbet’s Field, Terry. Wiki it. It’s quite nostalgic for Brooklynites.

  11. 36A breaks a cardinal rule of crosswords: you don’t put the “answer” in the clue, like “G” in G-string.

    Shortz, you’re slipping.

    1. Oh, give it a rest, Allen! Your “rule” is nowhere to be found in any description of crosswords that I’ve examined and, in any case, there is almost no crossword rule that cannot be broken when a theme calls for it, as is the case here.

      We all know you blame all of your solving problems on Will Shortz. From now on, to save us all some time, just post the initialism “IATFOTEWSAHSM” (“It’s All The Fault Of That Evil Will Shortz And His Satanic Minions”) … 😜.

      1. Dave K. — I agree with your sentiment here, but the issue could have been avoided simply by clueing it (obviously) as Gee-string.

        1. @Tom M. … Hmmm. I both disagree and (reluctantly) agree. The clues for the theme entries are “Tea set”, “G-string”, and “beeline”, all three of which are familiar words or phrases that I would expect to see in print, humorously interpreted to suggest entire rows filled with repetitions of a single letter. I just checked and, to my surprise, “Gee-string” (or “geestring”) is actually in the dictionary, but I don’t think it’s in common use; if that had been the clue, I think I’d have been thrown off a bit.

          In any case, I appreciate learning when and where it originated:

          https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gee-string

          But the etymology is unexplained. Why “g”? Short for “genitalia”, maybe? Interesting …

  12. Just now getting your post, Bill. My condolences to you and your family on the loss of your mother. Thanks for posting.

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