Get Up 8
◆ · By Elly Zupko · Published 10 months ago
This one is an NYT reject. I really like this theme and grid, but realized it would be hard to find a home for it in a mainstream publication because it contains one number. I prefilled that digit to alleviate any confusion. It has some tough fill, but I tried to keep the cluing on the easier side. All my puzzles here have so far been double black diamonds, so we'll see if I succeeded in that...
Post-solve notes:
I'd also like to say that I am completely aware that the saying "Fall [down] 7 (or 9) times; get up 8 (or 10)" doesn't make any logical sense. But it is such a well-known adage that I guess people don't mind that the math doesn't add up. If you're wondering why I used 7 instead of 9, it's because this adage has roots in both the Bible--"For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes." -Proverbs 24:16--and in a Japanese adage--"Nanakorobi yaoki" (七転び八起き), "Fall down seven; rise eight." Seven is a mystical number in many ideologies, and eight symbolizes happiness in Japanese culture. The 7/8 version seems to be more common, at least if averaged along the adage's own timeline.
The phrase has morphed in the modern era to the numbers 9 and 10, as in Cardi B's "Get Up Ten:" "Knock me down nine times but I get up ten." Similar 9/10 quotes have been attributed to Jon Bon Jovi, Roz Savage, and numerous print-in-demand t-shirts. I imagine the shift to 10 is related to our base-10 system of math and a cultural comfort with the "roundness" of the number. (Though one might argue that 8 is more "round" than 10.)
But no matter the numbers, here's to perserverence!
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