ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ PEST LIST]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ PEST LIST]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
The views expressed in this puzzle are those of 42-Across and do not necessarily reflect the views of Brendan Emmett Quigley, the staff of BEQ.com or any of its agencies. Though, to be fair, BEQ thought the sentiment was pretty funny.
Share the puzzle. New one on Wednesday.
I suspect the low ratings for this one (that I can see) have to do with the comic being not well known … and for the puzzle’s being a quote puzzle (oft-despised). I thought the quote was funny, so it worked for me, though I really had to work for Part 5 (“NAMEDCHADGET”)! MIRMAN seems an unexpected name spelling. Took me too long to figure out how REW could be right. Is “clap” *any* STD?
Sorry about the Patriots, dude.
rp
part 5 killed me too, with the C and D in CHAD crossing tough words (although I should have known OCA…)
otherwise loved the quote; fun puzzle
I like Eugene Mirman a lot, but his sense of humor is definitely an acquired taste. So those unfamiliar with his work (which will be most people, he never quite hit the mainstream) will find a quote like this just weird.
I didn’t understand the quote at all, even with the explanation, I still feel like I’m on the outside looking in. I got stopped in the SE corner with YOW, REW, and GOTOWAR. The SW took some time but I figured that portions out, love a little BUGABOO. The rest of the puzzle moved nicely.
i don’t get it…can someone explain the chad bit
This one’s a contender for Most Fun I Ever Had While Getting My Ass Totally Kicked. Eventually finished, but it was ugly. When Across Lite’s clock turned red, I resorted to Check All with maybe a fourth of the squares still empty.
That took 35A GERM over 39A OBIT out of my misery, and ditto 72A __TABOO and 41D SORBET (wow, was that a surprise!). That allowed me to work through the rest, except for one google to get DOULA (my WTF moment of the day).
My other problems were largely self-inflicted. Totally over-thought “50A “Seat near an island” (terrific clue, but was thinking “hmmm, seat of government?”). Same with 60A’s “two letters”. I’ve gotten caught before assuming the English alphabet, so I made up for that today by ‘betting on Greek. And another over-think at 68A, where I was thinking “no, no way it’s gonna be that straightforward”.
@Rex and @Ethan (@CHAD, @CHAS, and @THAD et al. too, I guess), me too re part 5. That was my only misgiving about the puzz. Got _HA_ from downs but, still, isn’t crossing an unknown name with “Andean edible tuber” and “Birthing coach” on the outskirts of Natickville?
I’d never heard of the comedian, so this is a SWAG. A gay friend of mine goes by Chas, for Charles. I wonder if this is a stereotypical-gay-name joke. Anyone else?
I have never heard of Eugene Mirman either but thought this quote was hilarious. I think it’s just that the name Chad is kind of a tool name. I know a couple of Chads I went to high school with are total tools (don’t think they read this blog, so I should be OK). Love me a good quote puzzle, especially ones with obscenities in them. Thanks!
I liked this one also even though I’m not a big quote puzzle fan. Never heard of the comic but it was all pretty getable and went down relatively quickly for me. I’m buying into Whitney’s take on quote until informed otherwise.
Medically, I expect ‘the clap’ to mean gonorrhea. But practically anyone with one STD I will suspect to have potential exposure to all of them.
But someone else will have to explain what happened in November to make it impotency month.
Yeah, my vote would go to February, Valentine’s day aside, because it’s the shortest.
Good thing it wasn’t a “Ralph” joke. It would have screwed up the symmetry of the quote.
Curiously Google reports that August is the most popular birth month and doing the math indicates that August is 9 months from November.
Looking back at the way the clue is worded, I’ve gotta support Brendan on this one. “Gonorrhea” is subsumed by “STD” and, so, “STD” as a class is a fair reference to any member of the class, the same way that “Undergraduate intro. course” could clue “ECON CI” (oooh, snuck in a RRN!). But that doesn’t imply that “gonorrhea” and “STD” are synonymous in an exclusive way.
and in reply to Karen again as well, interesting point re the birth month (trivia datum: people born in summer months have longer expected lifespans to a statistically significant degree than do people born in winter months). Heretofore I’d been imagining that it was Turkey Impotence Month, due to anxiety re Thanksgiving.
Ooooh, niiiiice!
Oh, dear. I had “If you’re at a party with more than five people NAKED…” and then “?HAD get the Fuck out right away” so potentially this was almost solved except for the Andean Tuber problem. I was just sure “naked” was part of the fun. Had VIEW for 52 across, so _AVET as the playwright was going nowhere. A little tiny Natick, alas, thanks to my failure to check the 55D word.
November 4th is 40 weeks after Valentine’s Day. (Guess how I know this…though the baby came November 6th.)
@Elaine, congratulations on the young one! I’m here checking for late postings re Brendan’s Monday puzz, and I get both the news of your child (news to me, at least) and a chance to thank you for your elaboration re EGRET v. HERON over on Rex’s NYT blog. Also, re “the Andean tuber problem”, wow I had a hard time getting past YAM on that one.
OK, tomorrow’s NYT puzz in about five minutes, and a new BEQ in the a.m. Cool, very cool. Perhaps…toooo cool.
Oops. I failed to specify: said child was born in 1980. (Check my profile for the sad news about my age.) If I had a new baby I certainly would not have time for crosswords!
I just came here to print up the BEQ puzzle because the NYT was such a disappointment. meh