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Japanese lunch box / WED 3-20-19 / 1931 boxing movie for which Wallace Beery won Best Actor Oscar / actress Joan whose last name consists of two different conveyances
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Constructor: Erik Agard, Amanda Chung and Karl Ni
Relative difficulty: Medium (4:08)
Theme answers:
- I CAN'T SLEEP A WINK (16A: *Insomniac's complaint)
- KITCHEN SIN (23A: *Leaving dirty dishes on the counter, say)
- HOT P.I. (36A: *Sexy detective)
- MAKES YOUTH (46A: *Works like an anti-aging serum) (from "makes you think...")
The Champ is a 1931 American pre-Code film starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper and directed by King Vidorfrom a screenplay by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock. The picture tells the story of a washed-up alcoholic boxer (Beery) attempting to put his life back together for the sake of his young son (Cooper).Beery won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance (sharing the prize with Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Frances Marion won the Academy Award for Best Story, and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. (wikipedia)
• • •
The grid is very clean, fill-wise, but kind of unpleasant to navigate, since it's riddled with a ridiculous number of black squares (40), making the middle into a swiss cheese. This results in a ton of 3- and 4-letter answers, and a very fussy grid to navigate overall. Kudos to the constructing team for having so much short fill and very little gunk. Looks like they dropped a bunch of Downs through three themers, which really locks you in as a constructor, and the offset* 2nd and 5th themers are also unusual, and probably have something to do with the weirdly pock-marked look of the grid (*I mean "offset" here in the sense of neither centered nor flush right/left). It's structurally bizarre, which is weirdly visually distracting to me, but you do what you gotta do to get a clean grid, I guess. Overall it felt pretty easy, with all the difficulty coming in figuring out the wacky themers. Had SLIP before TRIP at 1A: What you might do if you skip a step, and that was probably the hardes thing in the grid, for me. Oh, that and "OKAY, DEAR," which is truly nonsense. It's YES, DEAR or gtfo.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. the clue on 1D: Group making a reservation? (TRIBE) did not sit right with me. It's true enough, but using forced relocation of Native Americans to achieve your cutesy restaurant wordplay clue felt tone-deaf. I don't feel super-strongly about this. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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138 comments:
Medium. IBC was a WOE so I thought I might have had a dnf, but it turned out to be OKAY.
Pretty smooth grid with a theme I had to go back and THink about, liked it.
Enjoyed the theme. On the easier side Wednesday, but I only finished by making likely combinations for small amounts, gas station letters, and sponge bob work places. Got it on my second try after I realized I had spelled raisin with an san. I guess that's laughing gas. Pretty good haha.
Love the HOTPI sitting right in the middle of the puzzle. Made me hungry. Then it transforms to HOT PINK. Not bad but it would have been better on 3/14.
Shouldn't a Swiss roll be FRANCS, or not?
Had no reservations about the TRIBE clue.
HOTPI?!? Seriously? MAKESYOUTH?!? Huh? KITCHENSIN?!? Who says that? I'm in disbelief.
I just went back and looked. They are still there.
Two days in a row now I pretty much agree with Rex. I must be getting soft in the head.
The theme was cool, it worked, conceptually at least. HOT PI and MAKES YOUTH are not the best, but they were gettable.
I had OK mY DEAR for too long. That's worse than the actual answer, granted. I thought a BOm was plausibly a necktie I was not familiar with. OKAY DEAR works better, clearly, but "yes dear" is the phrase you're looking for there.
IN CHAOS and EXTINCT are perfectly good answers that took me too long. I finished well over average time and 3 minutes longer than last Saturday, which is weird.
I finished this in what I thought was just a minute and a half over my average. However I couldn't make sense out of MACESYOUTH at46A. I needed the theme to straighten that one out and that extra two and a half minutes put this into Thursday time.
I read the constructors' notes at xwordinfo and they had nothing to do with the tasteless clue for 1D. The editor often has this dated dad sense of humor that he thinks is clever but just falls flat.
Wonderful. I was prepared to accept KITCHEN SIN as another up-to-the-minute phrase I'm not familiar with, but HOT PI? Then I looked back up and saw the puzzle's initial WINK, and aha. So I loved the zany MAKES YOUTH, and wrote the confirmatory DISAPPEARING INK right in. KITCHEN SIN x IN CHAOS: I know I should clean as I go....
ROCKY ROAD !!!
... also it's not the TRIBE that makes the reservation, it's the U.S. government, which drew the boundaries and created the political framework in which the reservations exist. Without those actions these lands are not reservations, they're just lands.
I did feel strongly about TRIBE. There are so many other ways it could be approached -- why make it that one?
Wow - seven puzzles in nine months for Ms Chung and Mr Ni is quite a run. Mr Agard is a star for sure. But I didn’t particularly enjoy this puzzle - pretty choppy and only 12 of 78 answers more than five letters long.
It took me forever to figure out what HOT P. I. was about, and I agree with @Rex about MAKES YOUTH. AS IF I CARE and RUM RAISIN (yum) are great.
I disagree with @Whirred Whacks’ comment yesterday, but I don’t understand the moderators’ decision to remove it while leaving the equally political but less civil responses on the site. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
I just knew Rex would have something to say about 1D, I’m just thankful that he didn’t fly into a RAGE.
I almost filled in I CAN’T get to sleep @16A but held off for a few more downs, that would have messed me up terribly. Finished with zero write overs, puts me into the easy medium rating.
I slid to the bottom pretty early on and got 56A which made the puzzle that much easier.
Liked it a lot, puzzle partner, not so much, his copy got crumpled up and turned into a plaything for the pups.
This puzzle made me so angry! TRIBE and IVANA were bad enough, but then LOLITA, all in the same corner at the start! Not even LGBT could save this for me. I just can't even . . .
Will should be fired for this.
16A for me last night.
But hey, among the top seeds in terms of posting, that'a first :)
Didn't like this too much: the theme was kinda cute and well executed but the filling process was not pleasant : bumpy and short.
As Rex points out, the grid has too many black squares and I think the clueing tries too hard, borderline annoying for me.
Three renowned constructors for a meh puz? Nah, I'll take a 15 year old fresh look instead, thank you.
Get'em Danno!
I find it interesting that while I generally reject Rex's PC issues with words and phrases the clue on Tribe also made me a little uneasy.
1 Down is just wrong.
I feel pretty strongly about the reservation clue, so you don't have to. I think that might have been the last tone-deaf straw for me with the NYT Crossword.
Sure, MAKES YOUTH is not a phrase I’ve ever heard before in my entire life, but given it makes you think? All is forgiven! ALL IS FORGIVEN, ERIK, AMANDA AND KARL
I don't see any downs that cross three themers, let alone a bunch. It's early in the morning though...am I missing something?
No comment on the puzzle, which I think is just fine for a Wednesday. But come on, New York Times,do you really have to make me play Whack-A-Mole with fire hydrants, buses, bicycles and crosswalks for 10 minutes just to get to it? When it takes longer to access the puzzle than to solve it it isn't worth the effort any more.
Oops! Ignore my last comment. I forgot HOTPI was a themer.
Wow, I thought Rex would be a lot more upset about 1D.
@Pat
TRIBE is fine, if clued better. IVANA and LOLITA are perfectly fine. Perhaps instead of firing Will, you should find a puzzle source that's safer for you. Does Reader's Digest have a crossword?
It took Three people to make this pile of garbage? Not one of them thought this sucked? Wow, and it gets published. In disbelief.
Not only are the theme answers not things, -MAKES YOUTH??? Please, someone use that in a coherent sentence- But there are 6 cheater squares, 40 black squares, 25 threes, and just stupid overall. KITCHEN SIN? Sure, buddy. HOT PI? There's your sexism. Or is it being HOT for 3.1415? TRIBE? Sure, like Native Americans haven't suffered enough.
Just because they are often published puzzle makers, and friends of Will, does not give them a pass on pure shit like this.
Clean, cute theme, and easily clued for a Wednesday. I did flinch at 1D, thinking "bad taste".
I went through a disappearing ink stage for a few elementary school years, then it itself disappeared, perhaps replaced by a yucky-ink-on-hand stage, not uncommon, I hear, for left-handers using ball point pens, and this stage is still with me.
Quick one today. Getting the theme right away helped some brief confusion and then it was full speed ahead. Fun solve.
@Lewis: another left-hander smearing as he writes here. I mostly type now, which helps the verbiage flow from my other hemisphere.
Just awful. A new low for the NYT puzzle.
Nice puz, funny reveal. Criticism of 1D doesn't really hold up, tho. Are we supposed to erase history?
Or acknowledge it and improve on it?
This is exactly right.
The Champ" used to air on TV fairly often when I was little and it got me every time. Very amusing, clever puzzle. Happy Spring!
Seeing TRIBE, LOLITA and IVANKA all in one puzzle, I thought for sure Rex would blow a gasket. Surprised that he seems to feel that the clue for MARA on Monday is worse than all of these, especially. TRIBE which is inexcusable.
Nice puzzle. Now I'm gonna go listen to Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth album and time warp myself back to sixth grade. I can still smell the cheap perfume the girls used to wear.
A careless DNF where I had DRop for DRAB. I should have noticed RUM RAISoN didn't work, but the Krusty KRAp felt great, and still amuses me now.
Great clue for FRANC.
ON TRIBE, I thought to my self that it was a terrible clue, because it was awkwardly worded and clunky and didn't quite work and trying too hard. I was not offended by it, although I do remember thinking that it was very un-Asgardian. Thanks @puzzlehoarder for letting us know that it was editorial, not constructorial.
MAKES YOUTH = DISAPPEARING wrINKle.
Were @Rex's RUM RAISIN pictures ever posted from the last time that tasty treat showed up in the puzzle?
Hey All !
Interesting concept. Not sure it worked well, though. Some of the themers seemed stretched. Was on the easy side for a WedsPuz, but still got hung up briefly in spots. SW, had iota for DRIB, los for SAN, so that took a bit to muscle down. Iota is the answer to Tiny bit 97℅ of the time. Nice misdirect. And, mas for IBC, until a neat clue for IBE BC set me straight. (Did people know it was ONE BC in ONE BC? What kind of calendar was in use then?)
RUM RAISIN. Har. Let the battle begin!
Took me a while to figure out DDS. I first thought it had something to do with bra size, Har, Double D'S "filling". Was waiting for the s&@# storm to follow!
Does a HOT P I. wear a BOA?
TWAS brillig...
RooMonster
DarrinV
Fun theme, caught on early, fast solve.
As Homer would say, I am so smrt.
Thanks for the fun.
Equinox and full moon! This is a holiday at my house.
It must be tough to teach kids to read with things like Krusty Krab to
confuse them.
The puzzle? Too many cooks...
I had OKMYDEAR which made the neckwear BOM, which I thought was just some crossword-y word for bauble. Also had CUT and TEA which made the author NUDER, which kinda makes me chuckle.
IBC, CAF, EMT, AKA, PDT, DVD, CDS, PAC, ETA, DDS, IRA
And those are just the three letter abbreviations. Plus, 14 more 3's. And, LGBT, ONE BC, HOT PI.
ICK. Was Shortz drinking at the time?
Three crossword pros came up with this? Do they split their prize evenly? Oof.
I liked BENTO....anything with pickled vegetables. JADE is nice, too. I wear it because it's supposed to bring you good luck. Let's see...as a theme answer goes I CAN'T SLEEP A WINK is about right. You can AXE HOT PI and the rest. They didn't make sense.
When I had my son, I wanted to go all natural and all that and was kinda into saving animals and the planet so I only used CLOTH diapers. Because he's a boy and boys, for some reason, don't mind carrying a load around, it took me years to get him potty trained. After he kept flushing them down the toilet, I gave up and spent my entire vacation surplus money on Pampers. Which brings me to SpongeBob's workplace, The Krusty KRAP (Hi @kitshef - great minds and all that). Left it in - it sounded about right.
AS IF I CARE.
Just to reiterate, It’s the tone-deaf “let's make a joke about a national embarrassment/tragedy” that people find somewhere between off-putting and offensive.
@Pat - I’m inferring that you either missed the point or never read LOLITA. The Wiki section on Erotic Motifs is a good place to start to get a sense of what’s really going on.
Pretty much what Rex said. I did note that where the INK is disappearing is represented by a black square. I wonder if that was intentional or not. @TomAZ - Keep reading a critic and their critical framework starts getting internalized. I find myself agreeing with Rex about 80% of the time, and when I disagree it is often more a disagreement of degree.
Here we go. Rum Raisin Wars II.
@Rex, Disappearing ink gradually fades so this is (ink) spot on. Then it makes disappear. Okay dear? ;D
@John Child...I felt the same way as you about @Whirred Whack's comment yesterday. I'm not entirely sure the moderators removed it - he might have asked them to. Only WW can tell us.
I like to champion differences of opinions - especially if they are well written. His comment was polite and not the least bit condescending, but many on this blog practically flogged him for his political views. Most regulars on this blog don't take nasty shots at those they disagree with, but man, yesterday was brutal.
Agree to disagree, but some of the hate spewing sounded exactly what we dislike about Trump. Do you think IVANA figured that out?
Really enjoyed FILLING STATION misdirect.
MAKESYOUTH, not so much.
Clever, amusing and imaginative, with some really nice cluing. I found the sheer oddball-ness of both HOT P.I. and MAKES YOUTH a plus rather than a minus. It made having some crosses necessary and made the puzzle tougher. Nothing made any sense at all until I got to the revealer, and then I had a big, belated Aha Moment.
My big stumbling block was the far midwest, where I had KRONE instead of FRANC and therefore couldn't see either FORUM or IN CHAOS. Eventually I figured it out. But DNF on my DRIb/Krusty KRAb cross. Which is just as good a choice as the real answers, I believe, so in my own mind I'm pronouncing this puzzle "Solved!!!"
Very enjoyable. I know how two constructors work together, having done that myself, but I can't begin to imagine how three constructors work together. Well, however they parceled out the responsibilities, the result is a very good puzzle.
If @ John Child 3:37 had not pointed it out I would not have known that @WW's comment from yesterday had been deleted. That must have happened quite late but why? It was a civil well expressed comment. I cannot say so much about the responses it generated. So again, why?
Whether you agreed with the views of @WW or not is beside the point. Are you not concerned about these actions?
Nothing to see here folks. Just keep moving.
30D answer Pea makes no sense to me!
Silly question re 9D. I've never heard of "HOP on it!" - Isn't it "HOP to it!"?
A new low
Why? Lolita is a classic novel (also a movie), ivana is an ex wife of donald trump, and tribe for eons has described a community. Will seems to just be doing his job
@ GILL,I, You are so right about the brutal flogging yesterday. Some old regulars must have gotten tired of the abuse because they have gone away. It's really a shame (literally) because nothing is more boring than a one-sided conversation.
@Yargh 6:44.
The new anti-aging serum MAKES YOUTH last for many years.
Yesterday was the worst shit show in a while here. At this point, I am begging...can we please have a day not dominated by political speeches or whether someone's now-deleted post was civil or not?
I found the puzzle to be so-so. Cool idea to make the INK disappear this way. The theme answers are cute -- and they're supposed to be "wacky" phrases, not things anyone actually says (we see this all the time, don't we?). Great misdirection on Rockyroad/RUMRAISIN, which I definitely fell for. EXTINCT, a sad word, somehow looks wonderful in a grid. But while the fill is relatively clean, the preponderance of short fill made for a slog of a solve. I can't help but stare at IBC right next to CAF, probably the two worst entries in the whole thing. And the TRIBE clue made me queasy, which is not easy to do.
Wow! Proof positive that Rex let's his friends skate.
If Bruce Haight had clued tribe as it was today, Rex would've scalped him.
There's also his breezy wave of the hand for the ludicrous makes youth. That's at least a fifth of the theme answers and the de facto revealer. And it's nonsense. A non phrase. Precisely the kind of thing rex excoriates others for. Especially of course his nemesis, Mr. Shortz.
I like the concept. But makes youth simply doesn't cut it.
How about eminent Harvard law professor Laurence for 1D?
Breaking news today...
Z says "what Rex said"
Breaking news!
You are right of course @GILL I. He may have taken it down or asked for it to be taken down after the fecal matter hit the rotary impeller. Not the blog’s finest moment...
3 and out.
I found the theme execution inconsistent. I CANT SLEEP A WINK is a normal phrase whereas KITCHEN SIN is come kind of wordplay and MAKES YOUTH is just ???
But Rex semi approved it whereas yesterday he wailed and ranted over a U used twice in an alphabet progression,
Out to get someone maybe??
A couple of years ago actually tried rum raisin ice cream on a dare. I wouldn't order it on purpose, but it isn't bad. I've certainly had worse.
I could be wrong, but I don't think tribe's had anything to do with "making a reservation." If by "making a reservation" you mean "were made to live on the crappiest land there was to offer" then yeah, I guess.
DRIB? I had DRam to start...but drib? Sure, I guess that's a word...but how many of you (or any of your friends) have used the word "drib" unironically in the last 30 years?
Has anyone noticed that the mini puzzles often contain "spoilers" for the larger puzzle? Today it was CHAOS. That happens a lot.
For me, the problem with 1D is the clue. It's blaming the oppressed for the act of oppression. Surely there are much better clues for TRIBE.
@Z
Have you read every Wikipedia page? You're quite the intellectual!
I feel very strongly about the cluing for 1D. It is much worse than the objections I have seen posted about SOT. It is completely offensive, in my opinion.
By the way, the puzzle played like a Monday for me. Not deserving of a Wednesday date.
I liked the DISAPPEARING INK theme, but when you have to have non-real phrases answers such as KITCHIN SIN, HOT PI, and MAKES YOUTH to make the theme work, the theme doesn’t work. Don’t get me started on OKAY DEAR (my husband will happily tell you the correct phrase is “Yes, dear”). I realize I’m nitpicking here but I’ve always heard the phrase “Hop to it”, not HOP ON IT. This may be a regional phraseology, though.
In a perfect world, hot p. i., would make Lewis' top five
@RastaMan -- a crisis of Single Jewish Women? I didn't notice tat!
Like @Nancy, I thought the weirdness of the theme answers with disappeared letters was a feature, not a bug. Also, it's probably the only way possible with this particular theme. I got HOT PI before I knew what was going on, and thought maybe it was some kind of thing from the days of typesetting with hot lead.
Add me to the throngs admiring the clue for DDS.
Ridiculous nitpick of the day: the H in "ATHENS" is part of the letter theta, not an eta. (Yeah, I know that was not what was meant by the clue.)
I did comment on Whirred yesterday, but I tried to be pretty civil. Sorry if that bothered anyone, I'll try to hold back in the future; I generally agree with limiting the political argument here.
To acknowledge and improve on history it might be nice to think that forced resettlement is not a group of people creating a reservation. Just sayin'. I'd have clued 1D "Lawrence".
I like the disappearing ink bit, but this puzzle was chaos all the way. Many, many other three letter answers should have disappeared.
The (biggest) problem with 1D is that it's just wrong. I didn't want TRIBE there, not because of any sort of offense on my part, but because a Native American tribe does not or did not "make" a reservation. I get that it's "wordplay," but it's shitty wordplay when the result is inaccurate.
David,
who's Lawrence Tribe? How about improving your knowledge before tutoring others.
Anonymous 9:35 - funny! I always suspected Z was Rex.
But I didn't see any one mention the KITCHEN SINk or HOT PInk
Time posted by Arkansas girl who has been solving for a year and a half: 29:53.
Started off fast.
Enjoyed it for the most part.
jberg,
You are the very model of decency. I can't imagine anyone took offense at what you wrote.
Also, nice pick up on the theta/eta bit. I confess to having boasted of my knowledge of classical Greek here (well, I only lorded it over one loudmouth, but still), and didn't notice it. Thanks for double lesson in humility.
Just to explain my lack of upset abot TRIBE.
I think tribe is an essential concept to most Natives especially those who live on what they call The Rez. Outsiders do not.
Non-natives do not often respect tribal idenity. Thats why I approved the answer. If wrong, I'd bse glad to listen to any bloods.
@ Rastaman, My first mental picture of Sexy P.I. was Magnum. There might be some hot female cops but Tom Selleck was definitely one for the ladies.
Tribe has been in the puzzle dozens of time in the last few years almost all referring to Indian tribes. I don’t recall Rex or anyone else objecting before. Maybe I just don’t remember but I don’t think so. Once there was a Cleveland Indians clue. God forbid they did that again. People would be calling for Shortz’s scalp. I miss the days when people weren’t so hypersensitive.
jberg and anon 10:59, the Greek letter H = eta is the vowel in the middle of the name of Athena in Greek:
Αθήνα
You see that third letter? That is the letter ETA, which in capital form is spelled H.
Think about it, think about it again, get over it, move on.
Since I've subjected the blog for the last few days to every DRIB of my angst about the coming renovation over my head, I must immediately share with you the incredibly good news I just heard from the Super this morning. The contractors have agreed to delay their noisy work until 10 a.m. -- even though technically they are allowed to start at 9:00. The heavy work, i.e. demolition, will only take 6-7 days!!!, beginning tomorrow. So instead of being forced out of my house at 9 a.m. for months on end, I will be forced out at 10 a.m. for 7 days! Nor does it sound as though the renovation will be that extensive. Kitchen, bathroom, and a door through what's now a wall to the kitchen. He wasn't sure about closets and floors, he'll find out, but whatever's being done can be demolished in 7 days.
What's more, the Super says the contractors seem like real gentlemen and very accommodating. "Like the ones who worked on the apartment right next to you last year." And they were terrific!!! I'm sure there will be noise after the demolition, but not of the type that will drive me into the loony bin. I'm so relieved!!!!!!!
it could be worse. the TRIBE clue could have been something like, "one of 12 ancient Zionist interlopers". which would, of course, set off an anti-Semitic tsunami.
I liked the puzzle; as others have said, the oddball answers on the road to ink's disappearance became appealing once the disappearing act became evident.
Good to see things calmer today on the political front after yesterday's meltdown. I actually like reading the exchange of views here when it's not overheated. If there's one thing we need more of in the national conversation it's willingness to listen to opposing views and counter them with reasonable arguments when appropriate. In the case of the 1D clue, I agree that it was inaccurate in implying that reservations were created by tribes, and offensive in using a part of our country's history that should at a minimum be viewed as morally questionable as the basis for humor. In a face-to-face encounter one's response might be saying "we are not amused", as it would be with jokes that involve gender or ethnic put-downs. It's highly relevant, IMO, that this clearly intentional mis-step is happening now (well, at most a few months ago when the puzzle was created/edited), rather than in the distant past. I don't feel a need to apologize because I played cowboys-and-Indians as a kid and rooted for the cavalry in movie westerns (some of which I still enjoy watching). But things have changed, for the better in many ways. This sometimes needs to be brought to the attention people who may not have noticed, in a way that encourages them to change as well.
.
@Bahama Mama:
There might be some hot female cops .
Pam Grier
@Bourbon Street, thank you for so succinctly stating my feelings exactly about this puzzle. When the quality of the fill is sacrificed to accommodate a grid trick, the result is a mediocre puzzle (at best). MAKE YOUTH, OKAY DEAR (it's "Yes, dear"), and I CAN'T SLEEP A WINK (it's "I didn't/couldn't sleep a wink," or "I can't/couldn't sleep so much as OR even a wink") don't work, period.
Can someone put me out of my misery and explain DDS?
ICANTSLEEPAWINK. KITCHENSINK, K faded. HOTPINK, N&K faded. MAKESYOUTHINK, I&N&K faded. Works fine for m&e. Kinda sneaky, havin a 5-letter HOTPI themer, I'd grant. Cluin up MAKESYOUTH couldn'ta been no picnic in the park, neither.
staff weeject pick: IBC. Never heard of this root beer. Must try.
@RP: yep. 25 weejects is quite a bonanza of them lil runts. Don't see any stacks of em … they're just more or less like a general puzgrid inkfestation, today.
Some pretty nice long ball fillins. Hi-lites for M&A: ASIFICARE. INCHAOS. EXTINCT. POUR/RUM(raisin).
KRAB and IBC and VENA gobbled up a few precious nanoseconds, but overall I thought this rodeo was a fair and easy WedPuz workout, for this oldst[ink]er.
Clues with 'tude: {Part of a Swiss roll?} = FRANC. {Letters at a filling station?} = DDS. Makes youth ink. And makes ol' M&A use pencil & bigass eraser.
Thanx for formin a whole day-um mob and gangin up on us, Amanda+Karl+Erik + Shortzmeister + NYTPuz minions.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
kitchen sINK
hot pINK
makes you thINK
Anon 9:27: "Well written" by meaning I could interpret his viewpoint. All voices are worth hearing. The best ones, to me, even if I utterly disagree, are succinct.
@Nancy....So glad you will keep your sanity.
@webwinger. I enjoyed your post. How different would we be face-to face?...especially over a mighty fine dry martini....!
This was fun and I had a nice aha moment when I figured out the gimmick. Cute, clever, not too easy and not too hard - giving credit where due to the constructors for a good Wednesday.
BUT that said, IMO the clue for 1D is atrocious, simply inexcusable. To quote Erik Agard on today’s Wordplay site: “Of the clues not written by us . . . I’m unsure about 1D — I fear that ‘making’ implies that those groups had more agency in the historical creation of that system than they actually did, or that the ‘?’ at the end of the clue is a bit too flippant for the subject matter. I hope I’m wrong.” Afraid not, Mr. Agard, my thoughts exactly.
@GILL, not to belabor the issue of yesterday’s carnage but . . . what you said. If one is going to call a person out for being an ugly bellicose bully, one should not do so by behaving like an ugly bellicose bully.
@Anon 12:11
A dentist (DDS) sometimes fills teeth.
p.s.
@ Anonymous,12:11pm version:
DDS = Doctor of Dental Surgery/Science = their place ("station") is where to go to get fillings in yer teeth.
Like @RP, I did also experience a bit of dejavuosity, as far as the theme mcguffin(k). An oldie, but a goodie, tho. Suuuu … ok.
M&A Help Desk
@Cowboy Joe: I didn’t object to the word TRIBE but felt the way it was clued was disrespectful and flippant. I maybe should explain that I just finished watching the miniseries “Centennial” which portrayed in heartbreaking detail how many Native Americans were treated in the events which ultimately led them to the lands we now know as reservations. Perhaps because of that I am not being more sensitive than usual, but it just hit me wrong.
@Anonymous at 12:11 — DDS means dentist, where you might go to get a filling.
@Nancy, when I filled in I CANT SLEEP A WINK, I immediately thought of your predicament with your apartment. So glad it’s not going to be as bad as anticipated.
@birchbark, I never did see the RUM RAISIN photos published. I blissed out on the RUM RAISIN that I searched for and found for @Rex’s request for photos. I haven’t had ice cream since, but I still remember how good it was.
@GILL I, I tried the CLOTH diapers too. We had a diaper service, but it was long enough ago that you still had to use safety pins. When the part time nanny confessed that she jabbed her own son with a safety pin in a sensitive area, we immediately bought disposable diapers. As for potty training, I earned my street “bad mommy” street cred with the nursery school moms when we had the potty training session with the child development specialist who facilitated weekly talks at the nursery school. I knew many of the moms were struggling with potty training their three and even some four year olds. I knew they’d hate me because my son potty trained himself. I remembered that the specialist was down on Disney for its potential to scare young children. So the saving grace to fit in with the other moms was to confess where he potty trained himself. I took him to see Jurassic Park III at age 2. The toilets in the movie theater had blue water that turned green when my son peed in it and he was delighted. That was the end of diapers. The moms were shocked that I’d taken him to Jurassic Park III and that I admitted it to the child development specialist. After that they welcomed my fully into their clique. My son didn’t mind at all that people were being eaten; he just loved the dinosaurs.
Thank you!
MAKES YOUTH brings to mind the phrase "Makes water", the urination euphemism. Where did I learn that and does anyone say that anymore?
I created a DRIB of CHAOS by assuming 24D would have an A after IN, making part of a Swiss roll a FRANa briefly.
I like the theme. As usual, I don't remember any of the previous versions of DISAPPEARING INK themes cited by Jeff Chen, though I won't go so far as to say "AS IF I CARE".
Thanks, EA, AC and KN.
I am a card carrying blood member of the Choctaw Tribe....didn't bother me.
But I don't live on a reservation.
Someone wondered about the PEA clue. A pea is a morsel, thus split pea, as in soup.
I interpreted 1D as meaning the makeup of a reservation.
Some of the complaints about the theme suggest that it wasn't fully understood.
Exactly. The clue for TRIBE made me uncomfortable too and I think any word is OK in a crossword (and any President, too). Nothing wrong with TRIBE to describe an organized group of Indians -- there is no other word, and the word is not at all an insult to them or anyone. But they did not make the reservations. Rather, the U.S. Government reserved the land for them, while the rest was sold or made available for non-Indians to occupy. Then the government sent in the cavalry and other troops to force the Indians to live there.
There are no doubt places where the Indians made the choice and built their dwellings first, as with some Pueblo Indians. And probably a few places in New York and Connecticut where the Indians asked the government to acquire lands for them as they held no legal title to any place. But west of the Appalachians, the rule was the Indians had legal title to all the land, until that title was extinguished by treaty, and the treaties were negotiated under threat of annihilation and bloodshed.
I kind of liked the puzzle but it was choppy and felt like it was made by committee, and not by an artist with a vision. Good theme, though.
I have friends who are Indians and they are so used to being cheated, mocked, ridiculed, and disrespected they would probably just shrug at this as more of the same. It is, however, on non-Indians to be aware of this and work to prevent it. Especially given our so-called “president” who has intentionally made vile and offensive comments e.g, the White House “ceremony’” honoring the last living Navajo code talkers.
How does someone declare "Solved" with a wrong answer, thinking that it's just as good as the right answer.
Got slowed down by the fact that Rocky road has the same number of letters as RUM RAISIN. Since none of the answer phrases are really in the language I was fine with them, and I loved the way the pronunciation and way you had to parse out the answer was different each time. It took me an embarassingly long time to see that it wasn't pi, but P.I or to see that I had to see YOU THINK, not YOUTH INK. I liked this one a lot. And 1/3 female to boot!
@Z - an interesting read about Lolita. Many interesting interpretations listed in the article, perhaps the most famous having to do with Reading Lolita in Tehran. Nevertheless, the central existence of paedophilia would certainly legitimately raise as many hackles as most of the subjects people rail against on this blog.
@ Nancy - My belated congratulations on your Black Hat puzzle from last week. Very enjoyable. I was out of the country and for some reason couldn’t access this blog even though I had WiFi. Hope construction not driving you crazy...
My 2 cents regarding WW deletion:
Moderation has been puzzling at times here. I would say in their defense that the posting had nothing to do with the topic, which is a general rule of moderation. Plenty of political topics are set off by clues/answers, but they at least originate in crossworld. Seeing how easily it derailed the conversation on what should have been a triumphant day for a 15 year old constructor, it would have been nice to have had it not appear at all.
@Beaglelover: think split pea soup
Off the table? EATER????? Just don't get it. Can someone help, please?
Not sure I get your nitpick about H in Athens. H is the symbol for the letter eta. “In Athens” just lets us know it’s asking for a Greek letter, not specifically the one in the word “Athens”
@Maddiegail
Off the table = EATEN, not EATEr.
Hi all, first time poster. I’m a non-native English speaker, transplanted from the Netherlands to the US five years ago and have been working on my NYT crossword skills for a couple of months now.
Definitely had to get used to the general quirks of English language crosswords, expanding my knowledge of US pop culture and understanding the general mechanics of NYT crossword themes a bit.
I’ve gotten to the point where I can finish a Monday crossword in about 20 minutes, which I thought was pretty damn great until I started reading a couple of crossword blogs like this one :)
My Tuesdays typically take between 20 and 30 minutes and Wednesdays are hit and miss in terms of being able to finish without help (which I do do, mostly to learn). I’ve only finished one Thursday so far, but I’d say this is pretty good progress!
Anyway, today’s puzzle had me absolutely stumped. The theme didn’t click with me at all, KITCHEN SIN had me puzzled until the very end, and there were many three and four letter words that I got completely stuck on (BEEP, ERA, AKA, IBC, DDS, BENE, as well as almost the entire rest of the south east). Another one to learn from and improve my solving skills!
I really enjoy reading both Rex’ take on the puzzles but especially the insightful and entertaining comments here!
I never got here yesterday and I THINK I’m relieved. Back to Jumbles if you can’t get along. @Nancy, congratulations!
I thought this theme was about as cute as they come. It didn’t come easy, however, because I began with ICANTgettosleep. I was saved by AVA, since right before I did the puzzle I watched her participate on PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” last night. Serendipity!
Hypertechnically, it’s both the US government and a tribe that made a reservation, at least usually. They made a treaty by which the tribe ceded or sold land but reserved some of it for the tribe’s continued use. That reserved part is the reservation. Plainly that’s an idealized, contextless fiction but at least technically that’s what was said to be taking place.
@Giskarrrd, welcome to the blog and congratulations on your crossword progress! Your post struck a chord with me, as when I travel to Germany I enjoy trying to crack the Kreuzworträtsel in one of the national papers and face similar challenges with the quirks of cluing and the cultural references. I feel it's a real achievement when I can finish one, and I can imagine how good it felt when you completed that one Thursday.
The moderator who approved WW’s post asked late last night if that was the right decision. It was pointed out that it was a response to Rex’s post the previous day, so was off topic. I don’t know who actually deleted the post, but that was a central reason. WW did not, to my knowledge, make any requests to have it removed, and could have done so himself if he had been so inclined. I will note that I deleted many pending posts that were nasty from both sides of the spectrum, and removed other posts that had been approved by others. We try to exercise a light touch, but that’s not always practical.
I agree with a lot of the comments about clues and answers.
Only really distasteful things should be banned as answers. I agree that Harpo Marx's given name is a valid answer. I don't have a strong opinion on Nazis. Trump is president (ugh) whether we like it or not, so he and his ilk and properties are a valid topic. I personally would not object to MADOFF as an answer. He too is a historical person.
And TRIBE is a fine answer. But as many others have said, the clue should be historically valid. Native American tribes did not make their reservations.
The "?" in 1D means the clue is not "making a reservation" as we think of it. Reservation has a different meaning, AND "making" means consisting of, not creating.
Thanks for the insight and what I am sure is hours of thoughtful consideration. I am sure it is a thankless endeavor and you only hear from upset people. The end result is a site that is free from the absolute dreck I see elsewhere despite these occasional generally civil dustups.
My hat is off for you...
@A Mod
Why was a post that included WW's personal information approved by the mods, and why wasn't it deleted? It's still there, as of this writing.
That post is repulsive. Everyone involved in either allowing it or not using their power to remove it should be deeply ashamed.
A Mod,
Why all that passive voice? Own it. Or put your fellow mod on the spot.
Folks who agree with Rex get forum time. Folks who don't? They suck eggs.
Heck, Amelia's "Go fuck yourself" (sic) is still there.
Guess where she lands on the poitical spectrum.
@Longtime Contributor
I don't know why the post is still up, but it appears his post was removed, but none of the responses.
BTW, if you Google Whirred Whacks here
is the first hit, which gives all of his info, including name & email.
I'm breaking the law here but @Z does it all the time so this is my finito de finito.
Just want to welcome @Giskarrd to the @Rex blog of all blogs. Being a newbie here can actually be fun as long as you don't let any lack of commas, periods, run on sentences or syntax get to you. I hope you give yourself an avatar.....Welcome.
@Aketi....Jurassic park never worked for me. It was always McDonald's. Go figure.....
Just got back from the denist. No filling, just filling a gap with a permanent bridge where there already was a temporary bridge. No laughing gas. Can anybody get me a tank of that stuff? I did try to give away that clue in my first post, but I guess I was to
subtle or maybe when I wrote it I was thinking the clue was gas station, which some dentists use. I did mess up with FRANC. I forgot "part of a" was in the clue when I suggested FRANCS should be right.
To add to my defense of TRIBE (anon 454pm makes one point very well) the people on the reservation have made it their home. If they want to call it crap that's one thing, if a bunch of crosswords geeks want to call it crap, it's another. They and their ancestors have invested their lives and dreams in the land for 150 years. The Cherokees have reclaimed land in their old territories. Many stories out there. Many Tribes. And many still prefer to live in their "crap land" with their brethern, than in the "Wonderful white world with wonderful white people". The land and the people are sacred. Now personally, I don't have that perspective, but I live in a Podunk town. But watch how you talk about it to me. Get it?
ICANTSLEEPAWINK is something you say to yourself at 3 am. I DIDN'T SLEEP A WINK is something you say to someone else the next morning. KITCHEN SIN is accurately clued and makes a normal phrase with the disappeared letters. The same is true of MAKES YOUTH despite the awkward phrasing the final phrase with the missing letters is perfect.
And come on LOLITA? You want it banned again? What about all those Greek stories? Father killing? Mother loving? And Media's divorce settlement? And the Bible.
And what the hell is sexist about HOT PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR? Most TV watchers would think TOM SELLECK.
Oh sure, @Gill I, blame me. ; )
@burtonkd 2:05 - Point taken.
@anon - Wikipedia, like any encyclopedia, is a fine starting point and offers easy and accessible intros to a variety of topics. Discounting it entirely is as foolish as using it at as a sole or primary resource. If you want to share other sources, feel free. Otherwise, go away. I’m not your mommy or your tutor.
One of the coauthors is K. Ni. Or, INK backwards.
Anyone else pick up on the nod to Billions with Axe Cap side by side in the middle of the puzzle?
A puzzle that presents MAKES YOUTH as an answer to a clue cannot be recommended. Period. Dear God.....
I agree with the tribe reference... insensitive.....no need
Hated tribes but loved that my cousin Joan is in the grid. When she snd Rio Torn were in a show on Broadway no one could believe those were their actual names!
according to ENCYCOLORPEDIA.COM all shades of butterscotch are BROWN, not orange
Started in the NE corner with honorable mention DOD Joan VAN ARK, which led to an instant fill-in of the entire first themer; this baby went pretty fast for a midweek offering. I noticed the dropping of the K in KITCHENSIN, but didn't get the significance of it till the reveal line. That's how a theme should be: oh yeah, NOW I understand.
While not totally gunk-free (IBC??? and the RTZ*), the short fill here is not terrible for all it has to do.
Sorry, Joan, but any time my heartthrob AUDREY Hepburn appears, she's gonna take down the DOD sash. For that reason alone, birdie.
*random time zone
DISAPPEARINGINK EXTINCT
Well, ASIFICARE about what MAKESYOUTH(INK)
when LOLITA wears CLOTHes of HOTPI(NK)
and the ACTS she dares include the KITCHENSIN(K),
DANNO, I don’t CARE, ‘cuz ICAN’TSLEEPAWINK.
--- ETHAN VAN ARK, DDS
Yes, the INK is DISAPPEARING, letter by letter. I TH(INK) there are still some folks who haven’t grasped the concept of the DISAPPEARINGINK. What did DISAPPEAR was any italicism as the reveal clue told me; though it’s kinda obvious it’s the longer answers. I’ve started marking the answers that might trigger OFL, and TRIBE was one of them; I see others were irked more than OFL.
I’m sure blogs VARY, but the few I visit have the NEWER posts at the bottom, like here.
I’m also sure that the Japanese lunch box BENTO has APPEARed before; how obscure can you get? And in my world N.B. is North Bound, but neither fit into the BENE space. IBC? Unknown.
Yep, AUDREY Hepburn. Yeah baby.
This episode’s over. Book ‘em DANNO.
Yeah, DISAPPEARING INK is a good "aha" revealer to finish off the theme, and the "Sexy detective", in HOT PI[NK], helped solve the case. Simple, neat letter regression.
IBC root beer and VENA cava were unknown fill needing the crosses.
In sum, easy and fun.
Funny, I got DISAPPEARINGINK off of 3 letters before I had any idea of the theme. Much, much later it helped me finish up.
I was just discussing nota BENE with Mr. W the other day - I used it on a note. (NB)
Root is my beer of choice!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
I only know A&W, Barq's, and Dad's root beer. Oh, and also Mr. Cochrane's (my best friend's Dad). Like 'em all.
I really don't know what is the matter with TRIBE. Here in Canada it is used all the time. The PC TRIBE runs rampant again.
The DISAPPEARING INK theme and its execution was great. Made the puzzle. Lotsa good words throughout, decent fill.
Liked it.
@rainforest -- I think the problem with TRIBE lies more with interpretations of the clue. One or two earlier posters pointed out that "making" a reservation wrongly suggests the tribe "made" it. The tribe didn't make it, the U.S. government did, and therein lies a very sad story. The clue could more properly mean that a reservation is made up of or consists of a tribe.
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