Honey brand since 1921 / TUE 12-5-17 / Resource in Masabi Range / Instrument with cane blades / Sister brand of Baby Ruth

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Constructor: Harry Smith and Zhouqin Burnikel

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: odd (TV newsy?) jobs — clues are jobs, but the "?" on the clue indicates wacky wordplay, so the answers are not what you'd expect:

Theme answers:
  • 17A: Anchor man? (POPEYE THE SAILOR) — because he has an anchor tattoo, I assume
  • 25A: Sound technician? (MARINE BIOLOGIST) — as in "Puget Sound"—the one theme answer that is, in fact, a job
  • 48A: Beat reporter? (ALLEN GINSBERG) — a "beat" poet — I guess he was a "reporter" in that he documented / gave voice to the "Beat Generation"
  • 65A: Executive producer? (WHARTON) — business school at U. Penn—it "produces" some of our *finest* "executives" (/sarcasm)
Word of the Day: OH HENRY (62A: Sister brand of Baby Ruth) —
Oh Henry! is a candy bar containing peanuts, caramel, and fudge coated in chocolate. It was first introduced in 1920 by the Williamson Candy Company of Chicago, Illinois. (wikipedia)
• • •

Saw someone post a sub-3-minute time on Twitter just before I solved this one, so naturally I was way over my average. I *hate* seeing other people's times before I solve, and normally I either solve right at 10pm, so that this doesn't happen, or I deliberately avoid social media until I'm done. This time, it was only 10:05 and I so I (complacently!) checked Twitter. UGH. Anyway, it was going very well, very easily, until I tried -AR-S (18D: Hard-to-believe stories) and my mind drew a total blank. This meant that when I looked at the first theme answer (the clue for which I didn't understand) I saw POPE ... somebody. Without that "Y" from YARNS, that answer just looks nuts. I also wrote ICK for UGH (double UGH!) (7D: "Yuck!"), so I got slowed way down. I ended up rebooting in the NE, which was not a great idea. Had PUTT for CHIP (10A: Golf shot near a green), no idea about HALE, no idea about IRON (12D: Resource in the Mesabi Range). Just fussed a lot. After that, all the non-theme stuff was fairly easy (except HATTIPS) (56A: Quaint gestures of gratitude). The theme, I never really got. It seems thin and strange, with very arbitrary clues / answers. The grid shape is interesting, but it's a result of not really trying hard to get a solid set of rotationally symmetrical answers. Sometimes, all you can get are a bunch of answers you can center, and so you go with mirror symmetry. Anyway, didn't care for the theme at all, but the grid is (mostly) impeccably filled. Only the tilde-less ANO (52A 2017, por ejemplo): is at all irksome (I have vowed never to clue ANO as if it were AÑO again, unless the cross is also Ñ—the world doesn't need another asshole).


Harry Smith is a TV journalist, so this is kind of a vanity puzzle. I guess it makes sense for these celeb collabs to be centered on the celeb's celebness. I mean, why else do this celeb thing? It has nothing to do with making good puzzles (though often the puzzles are, in fact good). It's a marketing gimmick. Something to get social media buzz. I'm pretty cynical about it all, but there is some weird thing about the celebrity collaboration that makes the constructor halves of the pairings do really good work. Doug Peterson / Lisa Loeb was good. Quigley / Lithgow too. This one ... sure, good. More for the overall quality of the grid, rather than the theme, but good is good (*especially* on a Tuesday, which has the worst track record of all of the days).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

129 comments:

TomAz 12:28 AM  

If I had been moving away from the Earth at something approaching the speed of light, I'd've solved this in under 3 minutes as well. No, wait, I have that backwards.

But seriously. what? How does an under-three-minute solver even see the puzzle?

Puzzle, btw, was fine. Didn't really see the theme til after. But nothing made me go wtf, nothing to go aha, and nothing to go ugh.

Has anyone stopped to tally the puzzles that have reflective vs rotational symmetry? I think this is important data.

jae 12:30 AM  

Easy-medium and yeah, a pretty good Tues. Liked it.

Anonymous 12:58 AM  

@Tom Az - This link will show the puzzles in the Shortz era that do not have the usual rotational symmetry:

https://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?select=symmetry

chefwen 1:10 AM  

Thought the theme was a little on the weak side, but enjoyed the puzzle. Other than filling in aetNA before CIGNA I Had no hang ups.

I would opt for a Mars Bar any day before OH HENRY or a Baby Ruth.

Cute little corner in the SE with YAK and YEOW, I can hear my cat saying both of those.

Anonymous 1:16 AM  

@TomAz — yes, for me this was one of my best Tues times ever (which is nowhere near 3 minutes but, instead, just under 9 — what can I say? I’m a newbie, I’m a dimwit, I didn’t inherit the pun gene, I’m Gen X, and I’m very weak [or, horribly, according to Shortz, “lame”])....

A nice, well-made puzzle all around (well, almost all around). Here’s (just) one reason why I’ll never be a constructor: clearly I cannot go even one sentence without a parenthetical...)
(-:

Larry Gilstrap 1:23 AM  

Once in a while a theme adds to the solve. Often, it's just there hanging around asking me to add some unity. Today, it just sort of peters out, quickly. WHARTON must be one of those schools where privileged people go to continue being rich. Kinda like a car wash where they hook a chain on your bumper and drag you through the process and you emerge shiny and business savvy. Spoken like a real State college grad.

Speaking of losers, ROMEO was a star crossed lover and self-proclaimed "fortune's fool," a distinction he shares with AL GORE. Don't get all political on me! That election of 2000 was weird, and you know it. He got out while the gettin' was good, chose a cause he believed in, and has probably never looked back. He also happens to be one day older than me. Respect your elders.

OH HENRY! reminds me of a comedy routine by Redd Foxx. The premise was about living over a candy store run by a vociferous and randy couple. Names of candy and double entendre. As I recall, Baby Ruth was part of the punchline.

I admire OFL's ability to solve quickly, yet recall the thought processes involved. I plod along and then look back at the few answers I have circled. Yeah me!

Yep, AHAB was a monomaniac, among other things.

Joe the Flow 1:40 AM  

I call BS on a sub-3-minute time, particularly if the only proof is someone said so on Twitter. You can't even fill in the grid that fast if someone was telling you the answers. Solving a puzzle that fast is serious shit and maybe you're also good at counting cards and driving and petting rabbits to death. Those are all useful skills I guess.

Trombone Tom 2:01 AM  

We watch ABC news so I had no idea who Harry Smith was, whether from CBS or NBC, but the theme was interesting and I usually like CC's puzzles.

I'm with you @Joe the Flow, I cannot physically enter the answers in three minutes.

Anyone else remember Jimmy Hatlo and his Tip pf the Hatlo Hat cartoons?

And hand up for thinking AetNA before CIGNA (Hi, @chefwen!)

Go Democrats 2:24 AM  

Even after finishing the puzzle I wondered what Edith Wharton had to do with executives.. duh.

Thomaso808 3:43 AM  

I’m a dinosaur who still reads a newspaper and listens to news radio/ NPR, so I had no clue who Harry Smith is. I’m thinking, maybe one of those boy band guys? Haha!

I still enjoyed the puzzle, no tie-in to the celebrity needed. I really like R-L mirror symmetry in the rare times it shows up, not sure why. Plus two grid spanners and some fun shorter stuff — good Tues puz!

And after reading the commentary on Wordplay, gotta give some credit to Harry Smith working with CC. Nice work!

evil doug 3:43 AM  

"HAT TIPS"? I don't think so. Tip(s) of the hat/cap, but not HAT TIPS.

Anonymous 4:56 AM  

Wharton evidently is a great B school. Our President got his economics degree there, and look at what the U.S. economy has done the last year. A Nobel Prize is merited.

tbd88 5:11 AM  

I got a new personal best solve time for a Tuesday, just under five minutes, so I guess it was easy. I rather enjoyed it though.

Lewis 6:09 AM  

Heavy on the AHHs, no UGHs. I liked the theme, especially the clues for WHARTON and MARINE BIOLOGIST. I like that only the theme answers have question mark clues; that is elegant and often a puzzle will have non-theme q.m. clues. I like that exactly one week after having GOTYE we get a GOTYA. And it makes haters of AL GORE happy (SAD DAY is on the same line as he is), as well as lovers of the man (he crosses with SEER). Fun, fine Tuesday.

Hat Tip to @Evil 6:10 AM  

hat tip
noun
plural noun: hat tips

(in online contexts) used as an acknowledgement that someone has brought a piece of information to the writer's attention, or provided the inspiration for a piece of writing.
"hat tip to Chris Johnson, who alerted me to the story"

hat tip
Acknowledgment to a contributor toward an effort. Often used on blogs to let people know where the idea for the blog post originated.
Hat tip to Steve for sending me the link.

evil doug 6:16 AM  

"Don't wear that with the bill ass-backward, moron." Now *that's* a hat tip.

George Costanza 6:32 AM  

"Easy, big fella!"

RJ 6:57 AM  

Years ago, I used to think it wasn't physically possible to fill in a grid in under two minutes, like many on the NYT site did. So one day I printed out the pdf and solved. I then went online and typed the answers into the grid and yes, it's possible to physically fill in under two minutes if you don't have to read the clues...at least I couldn't do both.

As far as the puzzle went, it was a fast one for me and for once I actually used the theme to help with the answers - I often don't get the theme, even after finishing the puzzle. I didn't understand the "marine biologist" answer until I read the blog. I liked the beat reporter clue and thought the cluing for "steroid" (Olympic no-no) was awkward as a singular. Nice puzzle overall today.

Z 7:28 AM  

Sigh. I can’t hit a 100 MPH fastball, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Here is one example for you but just google “Feyer puzzle solve” and look for the videos. There’s probably other people out there with video, but Feyer is the one I know.

@Anon12:58 - Thanks. Interesting stuff. I feel as though we should get a super symmetrical puzzle any time we have a super moon. Here is your link.

More on Harry Smith. He’s been around most of my adult life, so not quite Walter Cronkite iconic but still better known to me than anyone in One Direction.

I really liked the themers. My only brief hang-up was a mini game of Whack-a-Vowel at GREY GOOSE. Otherwise a smooth solve. If you had asked me I would have said OH HENRY candy bars were named for Henry Aaron. Learn something new every day.

jimbobway 7:30 AM  

Some non-rich folks went to Wharton, but there is a reason for generalities. Unlike some grads, never mention it, with all the baggage, and with the current white house impostor.

kitshef 7:31 AM  

I may be coming down with a case of Rexitis as this is now back-to-back puzzles where I thought why bother? Well, I liked SCARAB well enough, and APIA, and AL GORE is always welcome, and SUE BEE, but … that’s it. For that I had to put up with UGH, GOT YA, YEOW, IM NOT READY, MICS, AHH, SAD DAY, ANO, NEE, SYN.

Always thought it was POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN or Sinbad THE SAILOR. Google says otherwise.

Never heard of Harry Smith - I assumed he was a golfer with that CHIP, IRON and HALE (Irwin) cluster.

BarbieBarbie 7:34 AM  

Very easy. Would have been record time if I hadn’t mis-typed POPEEE which made YARNS hard to come up with.
Loved the clues on this one, especially “executive producer.” Very cute.
I like these animated CAPTCHAs. Fun, like whack-a-mole.

Anonymous 7:45 AM  

Nancy Pelosi got another DNF.

Glimmerglass 7:49 AM  

I’m having a hard time seeing how a few celebrity co-constructors could be a “marketing gimmick.” Where are these puzzles advertised? “Buy today’s NYT! Harry Smith helped make the crossword puzzle!” It’s a nice, sort of interesting gimmick once in a while, but I don’t see any marketing value. It’s unlikely that anyone buys (or doesn’t buy) or subscribes on line (or not) based on the celebrity (in unrelated fields) of an occasional constructor.

Hungry Mother 7:53 AM  

I used to keep a copy of “Howl” next to my bed, just to read a bit of it whenever I wanted. Quick solve today, but I used a lot of down clues.

chefbea 7:54 AM  

Easy puzzle...but never got the theme. Hand up for never heard of Harry Smith.

My favorite candy bar is HEATH BAR!!! Yummm

Anonymous 8:04 AM  

@evil doug: often wrong, but never in doubt.

Cosmo Kramer 8:06 AM  

Is that a Titleist?

QuasiMojo 8:14 AM  

Forgive me but the bitter curmudgeon is back. For the life of me, I can't understand how this puzzle was accepted, let alone printed, or even commissioned. It's dull, lifeless, dry (sere, arid, as colorful as an OREO, fill in the blank.) It took me 11 excruciating minutes to fill it in with nary a laugh or even a chuckle.

Harry Smith hardly qualifies as a "celebrity," he's a newscaster, I guess an anchorman (I stopped watching the news after Peter Jennings died) yet I suspect if you asked any millennial who he was, they would scratch their heads (under their ipods.) I feel like c.c.'ing C.C. that perhaps it's time to take a break. This BUDS for you.

Speaking of YARNS, someone once told me (when I was in kneepants) that the OH HENRY bar was named for Hank Aaron. I guess they said GOT YA afterward. But I have believed it ever since.

Everybody's Token Black Friend 8:19 AM  

@Trombone Tom - Yes, to Jimmy Hatlo and his successor, Al Scaduto who rephrased it "Tip of the old dome topper." I and other members of a comic strip fan blog submitted many an entry to They'll Do It Every Time.

TomAz 8:24 AM  

I also thought the OH HENRY bar was named after Hank Aaron. Now I'm disillusioned.

Prof. Poopypants 8:26 AM  

Nice puzzle, good cluing. Enjoyed it.

So I guess Rex is calling our two constructors of the day assholes. Not constructive. Either there is a convention that allows us to overlook the fact that only the across (or down) is accented, or there is no such convention. Obviously there is a dispute within crossworld about this, and so be it. That's when we use our words to make an argument. This dispute doesn't categorize the world into assholes and not assholes.

If celebrity pairings help make for better puzzles, why be cynical about it?

kitshef 8:41 AM  

@Prof. Poopypants - Rex was not referring to the constructors. He was making a joke based on the meaning of the word ano in Spanish. [of course, if you have to explain a joke ...]

I really don't know why the crossworld has not developed a convention to clue ano as 'year' in Portugal/Brazil, where the accent is not an issue.

evil doug 8:41 AM  

[Setting: Dealership’s customer service room]
WILLIE: Mr. Costanza, I really don’t have time for this.
GEORGE: Now, if this mechanic guy, was, in fact, eating a 5th Avenue bar, as he claimed, wouldn’t you agree he would have no problem picking one out from a
candy line-up?
WILLIE: "Candy line-up"?
GEORGE: I’ve spent the last hour preparing ten candy bars with no wrappers or identification of any kind for him to select from.
WILLIE: It took you an hour?
GEORGE: Only I hold the answer key to their true candy identities. And so, without further ado, I give you...the candy line-up. (Opens a door to a back room. Various dealership employees are munching on candy bars)
SALESWOMAN: Hey, Willie, check it out! Free candy!
GEORGE: That’s my candy line-up! Where are all my cards?! They’re - they’re all on the floor!
(George starts picking up the numbered cards from off the floor. He sees the mechanic eating one of the candy bars)
GEORGE: And you! How many Twix does that make for you, today?! Like, 8 Twix?!
MECHANIC: No.
MAN: Hey, this Clark Bar is good.
GEORGE: It’s a Twix! They’re all Twix! It was a setup! A setup, I tell ya! And you’ve robbed it! You’ve all screwed me again! Now, gimme one! Gimme a Twix!
MECHANIC: They’re all gone.

Two Ponies 8:42 AM  

I had some fun moments with this one.
Mostly because as soon as I filled in marine biologist I could hear George Costanza saying "The sea was angry that day my friends."
Looks like several others had the same reaction. @ evil doug I hoped you would jump on this one. A classic episode for me.

Noshed looked so odd to me. No shed? Like a hairless cat?

Now I must look up what a cane blade is. A reed?

I wish hats for men had not gone out of style. So flattering and interesting. I wonder why that happened. A real shame.

I have no idea who Harry Smith is so the celebrity aspect was lost on me. I did notice the unusual grid though.

Anonymous 8:42 AM  

I'm not going to lie. I had two quality bowel movements today.

jackj 8:54 AM  

@Glimmerglass 7:49AM-

The NYT's crossword puzzle requires one to pay a subscription fee, independent of whether they are Times subscribers, so anything that further piques the interest of crossword enthusiasts would seem to have marketing value for this lucrative profit center.

Mohair Sam 9:03 AM  

@Z and @Quasi - I was munching OH HENRY candy bars before Hank Aaron was a rookie, no mistake there for me.

Good puzzle as Tuesday puzzles go. Liked the MARINEBIOLOGIST clue a lot - thought the ALLENGINSBERG was a little off, but I can't think of better clue. Larry Gilstrap may have a point on WHARTON. But Harvard Business School is still where you go to get the phone calls the night before big merger announcements (shhhhh).

I see Rex has taken to rating the celeb puzzles, it is December after all. My unsolicited vote goes to Elaine Boosler with John Lithgow a close second.

Jon from Saint Paul 9:06 AM  

I like when there's a gimme MN reference like the Mesabi Range that vexes lots of non-MN solvers. Doesn't happen that often, but I like it.

Ben 9:08 AM  

It's not out of the realm of reality. My time was 3:45 today and certainly stumbled around in some of the same places OFL did. My general assumption is that Twitter is full of liars, but if you ever read Rex's times, I'm sure his fastest Tuesday is below 3 minutes.

TSG 9:09 AM  

Yes! I even say Tip of the Hatlo Hat every now and again, usually to puzzled stares and concern about my mental health.

Two Ponies 9:12 AM  

It took some deeper than usual digging to find the relationship between a cane blade and oboes. It appears to be a tool for making your own reeds.
First google pass only showed walking sticks with concealed swords.
Rather obscure clue for a Tuesday but I enjoy learning new and odd things from my xword hobby. Nice fresh clue for a frequent answer.

G. Weissman 9:16 AM  

I bet you were that annoying guy in college who was always quoting Monty Python routines. Please stop.

Andrew Heinegg 9:17 AM  

That is absolutely the funniest thing I have read/heard in many years.

Sir Hillary 9:22 AM  

Just my opinion, but posting solving times is dopey. All the more so when they violate the laws of physics.

I don't really get the cynicism toward the celeb crosswords -- what's the big deal? Today, we got a fun enough Tuesday theme that might not even have been possible had a co-constructor not been a news celebrity.

Favorite entry: SUEBEE. One of those great moments where something you haven't thought of in 30+ years pops into your head as if you had seen it just yesterday. We had a lot of that honey in my house as a kid.

Anyone else write in aetNA before CIGNA? I must have the CVS deal on my mind.

I read somewhere that Jerry Seinfeld's favorite scene of the whole series is the one at the end of the MARINEBIOLOGIST episode, when George reveals the source of the whale's distress. Apparently, Jason Alexander had very little time in advance to read the script and blew the others away with how well he did the scene. As usual, Jerry can barely keep a straight face.

G. Weissman 9:26 AM  

And by just 8:42 AM! You, sir, are a miracle.

BH 9:35 AM  

Yes, "I saw the best minds of my generation..." is a report.

Anonymous 9:45 AM  

I type the puzzle on a Mac Air. For grins, I set the answers side by side with the blank grid, and simply typed them in. It took me 2:12 (and I'm not a bad typist). There are 76 clues. If I could spend one second reading each clue and coming up with the answer (obviously an optimistic assumption), that gives me a minimum physical time for completing the puzzle of 3:28. I don't see how a sub-three minute solve time is conceivable.

Nancy 9:49 AM  

I used the F3 key to look for Evil Doug because I was so sure he was going to cite the famous Seinfeld MARINE BIOLOGIST scene. You know: "The sea was angry, my friends..." Or something like that. But Evil seems to have other fish to fry today and the scene is uncited. Larry David has said that was his favorite Seinfeld episode, and it's many viewers' fave as well. My fave, however, was the Elaine/Suzy Suzy/Elaine mix-up. I lost it on that one -- laughed until my ribs hurt.

Oh, yes, the puzzle. I learned that CHICAGO is said to have big shoulders. Why would that be, I wonder? Oh well, I'll take the constructors word for it. Saw POPEYE THE SAILOR right off the POP. Sort of liked ALLEN GINSBERG as the answer to 48A and WHARTON as the answer to 65A. Other than that, the fill couldn't have been duller. Most of the non-theme clues were, too.

Anonymous 10:10 AM  

On the subject of "oh Henry" and the mistaken assumption that the bar was named after Hank Aaron, am I dreaming in remembering TV ads for the candy bar of Henry Aaron hitting home runs and the crowd yelling "Oh! Henry!"

Anonymous 10:18 AM  

“The world doesn’t need another asshole.” The lack of self awareness is amusing.

Nancy 10:20 AM  

Another hand up for aetNA before CIGNA.

I see that @Two Ponies was also waiting in vain for a MARINE BIOLOGIST citation from @Evil.

How many comments are there today saying that Rex's claimed solving time is -- or isn't -- possible? Most of the people commenting about it sound annoyed by his claim. Why is anyone interested in Rex's solving time? People -- if you don't read about it, you can't be annoyed. I, for one, find myself profoundly unannoyed.

GILL I. 10:30 AM  

I've enjoyed all the guest collaboration puzzles and I like Harry Smith and I hope he's not one appearing on Colbert.
I like SAD DAY across the street from AL GORE. I liked the apparent new clues for OREO and OBOE. How many ways and how clever can you be cluing those two? UGH and YEOW seem to be CC staples. I like that WHARTON is positioned at the very end....next to the YAK. I don't know whose idea it was to clue the themes the way they are, but it's whimsy CC at her best. This is her 50th puzzle. Good Tuesday job.
@Larry G. Your third paragraph had me laughing out loud. Baby Ruth!
I started enjoying the evening news programs with Huntley and Brinkley. I always waited for the "Good night Chet, good night David." Mr. Smith has "Sunday's with Harry." Hmmmm.
I'd LOVE to see someone come up with an ano/nino with the tilde but I don't know how to get my computer to use it.
The sun is out and so am I.


QuasiMojo 10:41 AM  

Found this online from Nestle which owns Oh Henry.

"First introduced in 1920 by the Williamson Company of Chicago, many people mistakenly assume OH HENRY! was named after the famous ball player Hank Aaron, but the true origin of the name is much more amusing...

Way back when, there was a little candy shop owned by George Williamson. A young fellow by the name of Henry who visited this shop on a regular basis became friendly with the young girls working there. They were soon asking favors of him, clamoring Oh Henry, will you do this?, and Oh Henry, will you do that? So often did Mr. Williamson hear the girls beseeching poor young Henry for help, that when he needed a name for a new candy bar, he called it OH HENRY! and filed a trademark application the following year."

But another site says the candy was invented by a guy named Tom Henry who then sold it to Williamson in 1920. You learn something new everyday.

jb129 10:50 AM  

I don't time myself, but it went pretty quickly for me.

Tom 10:58 AM  

Hey anonymous. Check the steady march of the markets. The economy is recovering thanks to the Obama policies set in motion to rescue the mess Wall Street greed created. Humpty Trumpty inherited a growing economy. If the Nobel committee had an award for Chump of the Year, that might be merited.

Buggy Bunny 11:11 AM  

@jimbobway "Unlike some grads, never mention it, with all the baggage, and with the current white house impostor."

thing is, the impostor didn't actually *get in* Penn/Wharton in either of the two normal ways. he spent his first two undergraduate years at a commuter school in NYC (Fordham), then a friend of his older brother (who did enter normally) who was in admissions, sneaked him in as a transfer. for a BBA, not an MBA. the latter program is what Wharton's famous for. the former, meh. so, in fact, he didn't *go to* an Ivy League school as either undergraduate or graduate student. he's a mulatto BBA. and it shows.

jberg 11:14 AM  

Wow, thanks for posting that explanation of "Oh Henry," @quasi -- just in time to save me from making an ano of myself with some snarky comment about how nobody must read "The Gift of the Magi" anymore.

I've got a portrait of Alan Ginsberg hanging over my desk, and once memorized the first 50-100 lines of "Howl" (btw, I think it's "I have seen," not "I saw"), but that didn't prevent me from putting it in as GINSBuRG. I blame the Sandburg reference at 10D. (@Nancy, the constructor just took it from the poet. I guess it joins the Mesabi Range as another Midwestern ACCENT.)

I forgot to look for a theme before I came here, and don't think I would have noticed the journalism thing if I had. Fun puzzle, though.

old timer 11:16 AM  

Foolishly I wanted "O Henry" (the author) instead of OHHENRY. Foolish because when I was in college I used to buy an OH HENRY pretty often. Before that I had never liked candies with nuts or peanuts in them.
And now I never see an OH HENRY in my part of N California.

The puzzle was just fine. My time was slow because of not getting WHARTON right off, nor the middle themer.

Anonymous 11:17 AM  

Not a fan of everything President Trump does, especially the tweeting, but when I look at my 401K I have to tip my cap to the man.

jberg 11:17 AM  

Here's that whole big-shoulders thing:

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Chicago Poems. 1916.

1. Chicago


HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders: 5

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. 10
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking, 15
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, 20
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse. and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Anonymous 11:24 AM  

@Tom 10:58: “It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and the markets are plunging, If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.” - Paul Krugman, New York Times November 9, 2016.

Anonymous 11:24 AM  

But the idiot @evil Doug is so good at cutting and pasting. Why deprive the toddler of one of his only few pleasures?

Buggy Bunny 11:25 AM  

on further investigation, it appears that the Wharton friend of Freddy was just that, not a classmate. it appears that Freddy may not have gone to any college.

Anonymous 11:28 AM  

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Solidium
Solidium Oy is Finnish state owned investment company that can be characterized as a National Wealth Fund. Solidium was founded to manage the property of SKOP Bank (Säästöpankkien Keskus-Osake-Pankki), which went bankrupt in the early 1990s recession.[1] In 2008 the purpose of Solidium was changed to manage the listed minority shareholdings of the Finnish state. Previously, the government directly owned the stock, and transferring them under a single company was the work of Minister of Trade and Industry Jyri Häkämies. On 30 June 2015 the net asset value of Solidium was EUR 6,854 million.[2]

Besides Solidium, the government still directly owns shares in three listed companies as a majority shareholder.

Holdings Edit

Solidium took over the state owned shares in 2008 of Kemira, Metso, Outokumpu, Rautaruukki, Sampo, Sponda (real estate), Stora Enso and TeliaSonera and in 2009 Elisa Oyj (Finnish telecommunications company).

Solidium acquired over 5% of Outotec mining technology company's shares in March 2012 while Goldman Sachs reduced its ownership to less than 5%. 5% is the limit of obligatory stock information note in Finland.[3]

Solidium has bought also Talvivaara mining stocks [4] and sold all shares of Sponda Oyj.

Company[5] % of company owned
Elisa Oyj 10.0
Kemira Oyj 16.7
Metso Oyj 13.0
Outokumpu Oyj 26.2
Outotec Oyj 13.2
SSAB 17.1 (capital) / 10.1 (votes)
Sampo Oyj 11.9
Stora Enso Oyj 12.3 (25.1% of all votes)
Talvivaara 15.2
TeliaSonera AB 3.2
Tieto Oyj 10.0
Finnish state also directly owns shares of certain publicly listed companies, deemed to be "strategically important", that are not in Solidium's portfolio. These include Finnair (55.8%), Fortum (50.8%), and Neste Oil (50.1%).[6]

Corporate governance Edit

Solidium Oy managing director is Kari Järvinen. The members of Solidium's Board of Directors are:[7] chairman (interim) Heikki Bergholm, Markku Hyvärinen (Varma, Tradeka), Marketta Kokkonen (Espoo city), Anni Vepsäläinen (The Finnish Fair Corporation) and Eero Heliövaara (Ownership steering department of the Prime Minister’s Office).

References Edit

^ http://www.omistajaonline.fi/lehdet/12009/talouskriisi-vauhditti-solidiumin.aspx
^ http://www.kauppalehti.fi/5/i/talous/uutiset/etusivu/uutinen.jsp?oid=20110155735http://www.e-julkaisu.fi/solidium/annual_report-2015/
^ Outotec ei kommentoi omistusmuutosta Arvopaperi 7.3.2012
^ Goldman Sachsin Outotec-osakkeet päätyivät Solidiumille Arvopaperi 7.3.2012
^ June 2015 http://www.solidium.fi/en/investments/holdings/
^ Finnairin kohubonukset poikkeus valtion pörssiyhtiöissä yle 13.3.2011 (in Finnish)
^ http://www.solidium.fi/en/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/
External links Edit

Solidium

Masked and Anonymous 11:29 AM  

{Breaking news??} = NEWWORLDRECORD? Primo theme idea, for a CC-ollab with a well-known (to m&e) news dude. Great fillins. thUmbsUp. It's yer OHHARRY kinda puz.

GOTYA. har. [OHCC!]

staff weeject pick: SYN. Better clue: {"Let he who is without ___ cast the first thesaurus"??}. Honrable mention to the three weeject stacks, in this always welcome E/W symmetry grid.

Fairly easy puz, at my house. No major nanosecond troughs were encountered. But…
Is ROBS really an ok synonym for {Steals}? As in: Steals a bank? Or: robs money from the cinnamon roll fund? Confuses the M&A.

Thanx, CC and Harryceleb.

Masked & AnonymoUUs


recently published (biter) runtpuz that could be this NYTPuz's distant cousin:
**gruntz**

Anonymous 11:30 AM  

Open main menu
Wikipedia Search
EditWatch this page
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Ulrik Wisløff
Page issues
Ulrik Wisløf (born 12 July 1968) is a Norwegian professor of physiology at the Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. He is Head of the K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine (the Cardiac Exercise Research Group/CERG).

Ulrik Wisløff
Born 12 July 1968 (age 49)
Inderøy, Norway
Residence Trondheim
Nationality Norwegian
His research and research group tries to find out how physical activity and exercise training can be used as medicine, and they are especially looking at the effects physical exercise have on heart, blood vessels and skeletal muscles to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.

Wisløff has also done research on football physiology, and he is responsible for the research on physical training for the Norwegian Center of Football Excellence. He has received international awards for his science.

Awards Edit

2011: K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine (4 year funding; 1 250 000 Euro each year)
2008: Ole Storsteins Award for excellence in cardiovascular science from Norwegian Society of Cardiology
2007: Young Investigator Award 2008-2012 (4 year funding; 600 000 Euro each year)
2007: The American College of Sports Medicine New Investigator Award for 2007
2005: The European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Cardiac Rehabilitation & Exercise Physiology, Prize for best oral presentation for the study ”Anti-remodelling effect of interval training in patients with post-infarction heart failure”
2005: National Scientific Award, Norwegian Society of Cardiology, for the study ”Anti-remodelling effect of interval training in patients with post-infarction heart failure”
2004: National Award in Medical Technology, for the study “NOS inhibition increases bubble formation and reduces survival in sedentary but not exercised rats” published in J. Physiol. 2003 Jan 15;546(Pt 2):577-82
2001: American College of Sports Medicine & International Relations Committee; 2001 International Student Award for the study “Endurance Training Improves Myocyte Contractile Function, and Restores Myocardial SERCA-2 Levels in Postinfarction Rats”.
2000: European Society of Cardiology: Stress testing and cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure (Udine, Italy).
2000: Award for best oral presentation from the study "Training effects on post-infarction heart failure in rats: Remodeling, contractility and calcium handling".
1997: National Scientific Award, Norwegian Society of Exercise Physiology, “The Nycomed-prize”, 1997 for the study "Strength and endurance of elite soccer players"
Publications Edit

List of publications by Ulrik Wisløff in BIBSYS (Norway)
Ulrik Wisløff

Anonymous 11:34 AM  

Nothing to do with Trump but whoever said Fordham is a “commuter school” has no idea what he’s talking about. A large majority live on campus or in off campus apartments in the Bronx.

Anonymous 11:36 AM  

Open main menu
Wikipedia Search
EditWatch this page
Read in another language
Ulrik Wisløff
Page issues
Ulrik Wisløf (born 12 July 1968) is a Norwegian professor of physiology at the Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. He is Head of the K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine (the Cardiac Exercise Research Group/CERG).

Ulrik Wisløff
Born 12 July 1968 (age 49)
Inderøy, Norway
Residence Trondheim
Nationality Norwegian
His research and research group tries to find out how physical activity and exercise training can be used as medicine, and they are especially looking at the effects physical exercise have on heart, blood vessels and skeletal muscles to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.

Wisløff has also done research on football physiology, and he is responsible for the research on physical training for the Norwegian Center of Football Excellence. He has received international awards for his science.

Awards Edit

2011: K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine (4 year funding; 1 250 000 Euro each year)
2008: Ole Storsteins Award for excellence in cardiovascular science from Norwegian Society of Cardiology
2007: Young Investigator Award 2008-2012 (4 year funding; 600 000 Euro each year)
2007: The American College of Sports Medicine New Investigator Award for 2007
2005: The European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Cardiac Rehabilitation & Exercise Physiology, Prize for best oral presentation for the study ”Anti-remodelling effect of interval training in patients with post-infarction heart failure”
2005: National Scientific Award, Norwegian Society of Cardiology, for the study ”Anti-remodelling effect of interval training in patients with post-infarction heart failure”
2004: National Award in Medical Technology, for the study “NOS inhibition increases bubble formation and reduces survival in sedentary but not exercised rats” published in J. Physiol. 2003 Jan 15;546(Pt 2):577-82
2001: American College of Sports Medicine & International Relations Committee; 2001 International Student Award for the study “Endurance Training Improves Myocyte Contractile Function, and Restores Myocardial SERCA-2 Levels in Postinfarction Rats”.
2000: European Society of Cardiology: Stress testing and cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure (Udine, Italy).
2000: Award for best oral presentation from the study "Training effects on post-infarction heart failure in rats: Remodeling, contractility and calcium handling".
1997: National Scientific Award, Norwegian Society of Exercise Physiology, “The Nycomed-prize”, 1997 for the study "Strength and endurance of elite soccer players"
Publications Edit

List of publications by Ulrik Wisløff in BIBSYS (Norway)
Ulrik Wisløff

Masked and Anonymous 11:39 AM  

p.s.
Steal peter to pay Paul?
"This is hi-way stealery!"

AHHar! …
Just found this, deep down inside the trusty Official M&A Research Dictionary, under its "rob" entry:

"• informal or dialect steal: he accused her of robbing the cream out of his chocolate eclair."

Sooo … sorta ok.

M&Also

evil doug 11:42 AM  

Hiya, Coco!

Anonymous 11:43 AM  

Will Peter Strzok and Lisa Page collaborate on a puzzle?

RooMonster 11:43 AM  

Hey All !
What the hell is all that @Anony nonsense blathering? Go somewhere where people give a damb about whatever you're spewing.
/Rant

Anyway, todays puz was kinda weird. Symmetry cool, but theme was confusing. Oh well, TuesPuz after all. At least I got it 109℅ correct. I would say (I RULE!) but I don't want to infer some ire! :-)

PRO UGH
RooMonster
DarrinV

JC66 11:53 AM  

@M&A

Surely, you've heard of highway robbery.

Roberto Escobar 11:55 AM  

Notwithstanding the unfortunate relationship with DT and Penn/Wharton, it's always funny to see a SUNY Binghamton guy take a snarky shot at one of the Ivies. If offered a position at Penn, I'm betting Rex would be packed and off to Philly faster than he executes a Tuesday crossword.

The puzzle itself was easy and quick for me. I could never type fast enough to begin to approach the warp speed of the 3 to 4 minute range on any puzzle, no mater how easy. I'm at best 7 to 8 minutes. Those speeds seem to be as much a tribute to manual dexterity on the keyboard or with the pen, as it is to crossword solving ability. Impressive, unless they are fibbing

Anoa Bob 12:00 PM  

SOUND is a geographical or geological term, so for SOUND TECHNICIAN, would not MARINE GEOLOGIST be a much better answer? Same number of letters as MARINE BIOLOGIST, needing only to change the BI... to a GE.... (MARINE GEOGRAPHER would be the best answer, but is a couple of letters too long.)

George: So, you're a MARINE BIOLOGIST. What, exactly, do you study?

M.B.: Yep, that's what I am. I study SOUNDs.

George: Huh?

I notice that the blog page says up top that "Your contributions help keep this site strong, independent, and ad free! (Italics mine), but my Chrome ad blocker tells me that eight ads---I suspect the pop-up variety---were blocked on this one visit. Anybody else seeing any ads on this ad-free site?


I'm Popeye the sailor man
I live in a garbage can
I love to go swimmin'
With bow-legged women
I'm Popeye the sailor man.

Nancy 12:02 PM  

Thanks for the Sandburg quote, @jberg (11:17). He does have a way with words. Although a bit of rhyming here and there would have been appreciated -- at least in this corner. Poetry that rhymes is a strong, strong preference of mine, but it's a battle that, alas, was lost a long time ago.

Right on, @Roo (11:43). The gobbledy-gook that sometimes ends up on this blog boggles the mind.

Anonymous 12:06 PM  

@Evil, if it weren't for @jberg, you'd have gotten the post of the day award. But anyone who goes to Gift of the Magi and Carl Sandberg in the same day, well there my heart's aflutter.

Two Ponies 12:14 PM  

Hey @ M&A, It is a syn to make such a bad pun!

No mention of the Mesabi Range/iron ore connection but my wandering mind went right to Gordon Lightfoot and the Edmund Fitzgerald.
In any other part of the world that body of water would be the Superior Sea.

mathgent 12:16 PM  

@QuasiMojo (8:14): Beautifully expressed. Only four red plusses in the margin for me, low even for a Wednesday. Another waste of time from the untalented Ms. Burnikel.

@Larry Gilstrap (1:23): Loved the car wash analogy.

@jberg (11:12): Thanks for the Carl Sandburg. That's the kind of poetry I like. Musical.

Oldflappyfrommississappy 12:17 PM  

I'm not going to lie: we don't give a sh*t about your sh*ts.

mathgent 12:18 PM  

I meant low for a Tuesday.

Anonymous 12:24 PM  

The Class of 2021 is one of the most geographically diverse in our history. More than 20 students are enrolled from each of the following states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.

This year's freshman class includes 225 international students from countries as far as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Malaysia, Nigeria, and more.

But we are still committed to the city we call home. 17% of the class is from NYC's five boroughs.

Fordham is a top Fulbright producer in the United States. Since 2003, 125 Fordham students have been awarded Fulbright scholarships. There weren’t as many international students when Trump was there but it’s never been a commuter school, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Anonymous 12:26 PM  

Just one week until Alabama elects a pedophile to the United States Senate.

Mohair Sam 12:41 PM  

@jberg (11:17) - Great stuff, thanks for posting.

RooMonster 12:43 PM  

I really need to proofread my posts! 109℅, Har!

Roo

Dick Swart 1:03 PM  

With all the news of the merger, I wrote in 'Aetna' immediately. 'Cigna' was an i-opener for 'dill'.

Teedmn 1:16 PM  

Not knowing who Harry Smith is meant I didn't get the over-arching theme today, although I understood each punny theme answer in relation to its clue. Too bad; the connection with the co-constructor makes it that much better than what I experienced.

I just had the privilege of meeting CC this past Sunday where she mentioned her 50th puzzle was upcoming, so congrats to her on that milestone.

isH before UGH, GINSBuRG before GREY fixed it, and a brief CeGNA were my only slowdowns for this Tuesday puzzle. I liked the mirror symmetry. CHICAGO crossing o'HARE is fun. The only nit I would pick is, why the e.g. after the 9D Batter, e.g. clue? To me that was an illegal misdirection, making me think it was a type of ball player. Am I out of line or just unAWARE?

And I double-dog dare anyone to try M&A's Runt puzzle today. My ankles still hurt from the little biter.

puzzlehoarder 1:27 PM  

Glad to see I'm not the only one who's never heard of Harry Smith. The name sounds like an alias and the photo doesn't ring any bells either. If they're going to use celebrities use real ones.

I was surprised to see I got this in average Monday time. It felt slow and it was compared to the ease of yesterday's puzzle.

@Nancy, lm with you on our Host's comments. Ever since I stopped reading them I've enjoyed coming here much more. Rex ought to send you and a good number the other regulars here a check as the comments are the only thing worth visiting for.

BBPDX 1:43 PM  

Technically, isn't a "southern drawl" (22 across) a dialect, not an accent?

tea73 1:51 PM  

I too went for AetNA and then corrected it to CIGmA. UGH.

I almost put in GOTYe looking at the grid, luckily I decided to check the clues before I did.

Anonymous 2:34 PM  

Open main menu
Wikipedia Search
EditWatch this page
Read in another language
Ulrik Wisløff
Page issues
Ulrik Wisløf (born 12 July 1968) is a Norwegian professor of physiology at the Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. He is Head of the K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine (the Cardiac Exercise Research Group/CERG).

Ulrik Wisløff
Born 12 July 1968 (age 49)
Inderøy, Norway
Residence Trondheim
Nationality Norwegian
His research and research group tries to find out how physical activity and exercise training can be used as medicine, and they are especially looking at the effects physical exercise have on heart, blood vessels and skeletal muscles to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.

Wisløff has also done research on football physiology, and he is responsible for the research on physical training for the Norwegian Center of Football Excellence. He has received international awards for his science.

Awards Edit

2011: K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine (4 year funding; 1 250 000 Euro each year)
2008: Ole Storsteins Award for excellence in cardiovascular science from Norwegian Society of Cardiology
2007: Young Investigator Award 2008-2012 (4 year funding; 600 000 Euro each year)
2007: The American College of Sports Medicine New Investigator Award for 2007
2005: The European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Cardiac Rehabilitation & Exercise Physiology, Prize for best oral presentation for the study ”Anti-remodelling effect of interval training in patients with post-infarction heart failure”
2005: National Scientific Award, Norwegian Society of Cardiology, for the study ”Anti-remodelling effect of interval training in patients with post-infarction heart failure”
2004: National Award in Medical Technology, for the study “NOS inhibition increases bubble formation and reduces survival in sedentary but not exercised rats” published in J. Physiol. 2003 Jan 15;546(Pt 2):577-82
2001: American College of Sports Medicine & International Relations Committee; 2001 International Student Award for the study “Endurance Training Improves Myocyte Contractile Function, and Restores Myocardial SERCA-2 Levels in Postinfarction Rats”.
2000: European Society of Cardiology: Stress testing and cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure (Udine, Italy).
2000: Award for best oral presentation from the study "Training effects on post-infarction heart failure in rats: Remodeling, contractility and calcium handling".
1997: National Scientific Award, Norwegian Society of Exercise Physiology, “The Nycomed-prize”, 1997 for the study "Strength and endurance of elite soccer players"
Publications Edit

List of publications by Ulrik Wisløff in BIBSYS (Norway)
Ulrik Wisløff

QuasiMojo 2:36 PM  

@jberg 11:17, you are welcome. And thanks for that poem explaining the clue. It reminds me of The Fog (that creeps in like a cat) poem also by Carl Sandburg. He has fallen out of favor in recent years and definitely deserves a renaissance.

QuasiMojo 2:41 PM  

Sorry correction: the poem is called "Fog" and the line is "The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches."

And thanks too @mathgent

Anonymous 2:59 PM  

@Bugs,

About the only thing you got right was calling Pennsylvania Penn.
This UPenn nonsense is really grating.
As for the prez, sorry. Transfers count. As for undergraduate degrees from Wharton being meh; guess again. Almost all the real hitters, and by that I mean folks who work in the greenbelt with 8 digit incomes don't in fact have MBAs. Sure, there are plenty of folks who have them and from Wharton, Harvard and Kellogg to boot( don't get me started on Palo Alto. But those guys and gals aint at the top of the pyramid.

Hurrah for the Red and the Blue--(Col)`88

Joe Bleaux 3:38 PM  

CC was angry that day, my friend

Kimmie Jane 3:52 PM  

Does anyone remember Ulrik Wisløff?

Anonymous 3:53 PM  

No but I do remember Ulrik Jackoff.

Mohair Sam 4:21 PM  

@Joe Bleaux - Is that a Titleist?

Moon Child 4:46 PM  

What if college admissions and resumes were based on simple IQ tests?
No age, gender, or race quotas allowed so no bias.
Forget your MBAs. Just hire the smartest people and see if your business thrives.

Anonymous 4:58 PM  

Liked it just fine. Fun puzzle, especially for a Tuesday. Only criticism is I thought HAT TIPS was a stretch. Perhaps they could have used HOT TIPS instead?

Joe Dipinto 5:09 PM  

"I lied. So sue bee." Have never heard of SueBee Honey but there are pictures of it on the internet so it must be true. Of more concern to me is Rex's completion time (as it were). I'm sure I'll be up all night worrying if someone is going to tweet a 0:30 Wednesday result.

Go Democrats 5:15 PM  

Now there's a college transcript of like to see. trump is as dumb as a bag of hammers.

Anonymous 5:43 PM  

Neil Gorsuch.

Chip Hilton 6:13 PM  

It's amazing how angry this country has become in a mere eleven months. This little puzzle community serves to illustrate.

Kevin Spacey 6:38 PM  

I'm not angry.

I am abashed, though.

semioticus (shelbyl) 6:47 PM  

Let's see if I will be able to figure out the theme by the time I get to the corresponding paragraph.

Fill: ABCS, YEOW, APIA, SYN were not fun. Other than that, decent fill for a Tuesday. The bonus answers could have been more bonus-y, I guess, but I will not complain. 17/25

Theme/long answers: I still don't get it. Sailor/Marine/I(ce)berg/Whar(f)? What is this? I give up, I'll read the review.
...
Oh come on this is not a theme. This is a weak ass excuse to feature a celebrity-adjacent puzzle constructor. I don't even know him, sorry Mr. Smith. I'll give some credit to the clue for WHARTON (because apparently the clues are the themers) which got a sincere laughter out of me. That's it. 4/25

Clues: This is where the puzzle shone. "Executive producer?" was brilliant. "Hot ones can cause trouble," "Melville monomaniac" etc. demonstrated that the puzzle knew the quality of the answers and were trying to make them funner than they are. And it worked to an extent. 19/25

Pleasurability: For what's practically a themeless puzzle, it was OK. Mostly smooth, funny at times. It was easy to completely forget about the theme while solving it, but this could have easily become a tedious endeavor. 18/25

GRADE: C+, 3 stars.

P.S.: One of the answers is Oh Henry! and no one mentiones Sue Ellen Mischke, the Braless Wonder in these 100+ comments? Wow. I'm thoroughly disappointed in all of you...

Anonymous 7:06 PM  

Moon,
IQ is based on age. Reconsider your proposisition, and we'll reconsider your application.

(Signed) The admissions office.

CHIP,
Check the archives. This blog is no angrier than it's ever been. Neither is the country. This blog is not representative of the populace.

Anonymous 7:27 PM  

Semiotics,
Careful. You'll offend Mohair who's on record about being surprised that anyone could associate a particular subject with Seinfeld episode at will.

COME ON MOHAIR! If Semis post isn't proof that evil dougs posts are inane nothing is.

Chip Hilton 7:55 PM  

@Anonymous 7:06
I respectfully disagree. Go back a few years and you don't find the political barbs posted anonymously. Nor were the Rex comments anywhere as nasty as they are nowadays (neither were Rex's essays, in my opinion). "Neither is the country"? Wow.

Anonymous 8:13 PM  

CHIP,
May I ask your age? I'll concede the country is riven. But as for the quality of discourse being nastier than ever, I respectfully disagree.

semioticus (shelbyl) 8:18 PM  

@Anonymous 7:27pm

I have recently run a Seinfeld trivia night, I watch the whole series from beginning to end every 4 years and I know people who have message groups dedicated to seeing Seinfeld in their daily lives.

Mohair can come at me all he wants, I'm ready.

On a semi-related note, I thought that people who solve crossword puzzles in only a few minutes were cheating/imaginary etc. Then I attended a couple of Crossword tournaments and have with my very own eyes witnessed that they are indeed real. Improbable != impossible.

Moon Child 9:08 PM  

@Anon 7:06,
Focusing on that minor detail is ignoring the general point.
Afraid of who those winning applicants might be?

john 9:09 PM  

@twoponies oboe reeds have two blades of cane (aka swamp grass or arundo donax: the Latin name) A reed knife as sharp as a scalpel is used to shave each blade symetrically so that they vibrate to produce the distinctly plaintive sound of the oboe.
Best,
john











Ed’s

BarbieBarbie 9:51 PM  

OK it’s late enough to leave a nerd-note nobody will see. The person who did timed typing at 2:something and then wanted to give each clue 1sec to read and grok... you would, mostly, get 2 seconds, not 1, because you only need to answer about half the clues in any puzzle, if you’re flat-out answering them and not skipping and going back. And, that’s pretty doable (and impressive, of course).

Boris Bladderoff 11:12 PM  

Does anyone remember Yaacov Smirnoff?

Unknown 12:20 AM  

I'm no longer a fan of Zhouqin puzzles. He sacrifices enjoyability to flagrantly display cheeky cleverness. This puzzle was too difficult for a Tuesday. Theme was loosey goosey, fill abstract, and construction awkward.

Girish 1:44 AM  

@BarbieBarbie 9:51 PM let us linger among the lines...
(no, wait...that's more like Whitman than Ginsberg) it's only now that i recognize the three, long, question clues are newsroom-related...so, thank you, Barbie... i was wondering if there was anything at least partially intelligible left to say... very perspicacious... a crossword puzzle is not an IQ test... one doesn't have to answer every clue and query... until one is weak and weary... no, no, don't make me channel Poe...

chefwen 1:45 AM  

@Jonathan Norwich, he is a she and English is her second language, you might want to rethink your opinion. She is pretty damn brilliant in my opinion.

Anonymous 5:44 AM  

I am no longer a fan of Jonathan Norwich. She whines too much.

Joe Bleaux 2:42 PM  

Just bad punnery: "CC was angry" was a play on George's "The SEA was angry" AND an allusion to the puzzle constructor (she's also known as "CC"). Sorry for my lame attempt.

Brma Shave 9:46 AM  

OH,HENRY, AGE GOTYA?

GREY HAREd AGATHA is a MARINEBIOLOGIST
who HAS URGES that ACCENT she’ll wanna
PLOT which ROMEOs ARE, at LEAST, PRO-risk,
or HOW to BED POPEYETHESAILOR in the SAUNA.

--- RITA LYNN HALE-WHARTON

thefogman 11:09 AM  

Thin GREY gruel even for a Tuesday. It's a SADDAY when the NYT uses "famous people" instead of just making good puzzles to celebrate The Crossword's 75th anniversary. Celebrity pairings are fine as long as the end result is good enough to make you say AHH! instead of UGH! C.C. is better than this but she's been AWOL lately. I could YAK on, but this one deserves no HATTIPS.

Diana, LIW 11:36 AM  

Just skimmed thru OFL's comments. He checks Twitter whilst speed solving? Really? Does he bake a cake at the same time, too? Jeez Louizie...

And what's with the snark about the co-conspirator (constructor) making the grid too CENTERED ON HIS "CELEB"NESS - TOO newsy? Really? OREO? POPEYE? Is OHHENRY too close to OHHarry? I just don't get it - what's the complaint about. Someone enlighten me. Oh well, haven't yet read the Futurelanders.

Lady Di

spacecraft 11:38 AM  

At last OFL prints his soul: "I'm pretty cynical about it all." Yeah, dude, we kinda had that one figured out.

I liked this one--not knowing who Harry Smith is. Maybe that's why I never noticed that all the theme clues were TV jobs. I put it down as a rare Tuesday themeless, so I suppose the team can tell me "GOTYA!" Although, we have to mark a deduction for that. It's "GOTCHA!" as we all know. It gets just a little awkward at the bottom with the double H's going both directions--but no foul there.

I did notice the top/bottom asymmetry; it didn't bother me. In fact, very little in this grid did. Burnikel plies her trade with Berry-like care. Outstanding long downs. Theme clues devilishly clever, almost to beyond Tuesday--yet the fill is clued so simply that this is just about the right day.

Several choices for DOD today: I'd like to introduce you to LYNN Gilmartin of the World Poker Tour. Yeah baby, the sash is yours. Birdie.

Diana, LIW 11:39 AM  

OK - I see - it's about the clues to the themers. Pretty soon @Rex will complain that the grid is a square, just like yesterday's grid.

D,LIW

rondo 12:47 PM  

Didn’t finish in 3 minutes, but no write-overs, so that’s something. “Executive producer” will have to be on @Lewis’ list of favorite clues for this week.This puz is probably the only place where you’ll see ALGORE and ALLENGINSBERG mentioned in such close proximity.

When I was a kid and there were no super-centers, SUEBEE honey was about the only brand you’d get, especially outside of any metro area. Maybe it was a Midwest thing?

The Mesabi IRON Range a gimme for anyone from MN. Should be for most folks educated in the U.S. Biggest IRON mining production in the U.S. for a hundred or more years. From where do you think Pittsburgh and the other steel cities got their raw materials? OFL shoulda learned that in grade school geography.

Loretta LYNN musta been a yeah baby in her youth; four kids before age 20.

IMNOTREADY to say this was her best, but at LEAST CC turns out some nice grids.

Sloaka 1:07 PM  

If only the theme were Seinfeld, the MARINE BIOLOGIST and OHENRY would be perfect! Otherwise, a timid effort with a weak theme.

HATTIPS is terrible. And anytime the clue is "appropriate rhyme for ___", that is a fail.

Grade: C

rainforest 4:30 PM  

Anytime I think "hey, maybe I should subscribe and become a real-timer", I read comments like many of today's and realize I'd become a schnook and argue with everybody.

Forgetting the commentary, I liked the puzzle, as I do most of C.C.'s, and enjoyed the theme/clue combos a lot. The fill was AOK, and the grid looked good, even though it was square (hi, @Lady Di).

Amazing how many people thought that the OH HENRY bar had anything to do with Hammerin' Hank.

Good Tuesday.

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