Started with RICE, then changed it to STEW and got FRAT and OBI-WAN quickly thereafter. Then I looked at 1D: Nose nipper. I had -F-O-- ... and I knew what I was dealing with. [JACK] FROST went in, [JACK] ASS went across, and off I went. As I continued solving, I thought "This can't really be a JACK IN / THE BOX puzzle, can it? That's a really obvious rebus concept, and I'm virtually certain I've seen it before. Maybe this will have some different twist..." But then it didn't. It just had four JACK boxes, and a patently unnecessary revealer (which is to say, if you got one box, the revealer was obvious). Then I did some sleuthing and discovered that the NYT ran This Exact Theme roughly 4.5 years ago. Conceptually identical. So, since the NYT is just nakedly recycling themes, allow me to nakedly recycle write-ups. Actually, it wasn't my write-up. I was off somewhere, and 5-time ACPT champion Tyler Hinman was filling in for me. Anyway, you can read it here. I'm done here today. There is nothing wrong with this puzzle. It's just a rerun.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
PS there is one thing wrong and that is BRAINO, holy crap. But I'll let you fight over that one. Good night.
Very easy Thurs. for me too. My first thought for "Nose nipper" was JACK FROST. It fit as a rebus and I was off and running confirmed by 8d. My only hesitation was in the IBIZA/BRAINO area as BRAINO was a WOE and IBIZA was slow to surface.
@Rex - I thought this seemed familiar, but it's nicely execute....so, liked it?
Very easy and caught JACK rebus early at 1D. Liked the way the word Jack was employed to reveal the theme. I felt the very last box could have been an "s" and not the last JACK. Creative cluing for SON , DIE, PLEA, and EPEE. The only CrosswordEASE I spotted was OREL and that is a " maybe". So the fill was pretty perfect and that is not easy to do. Thanks SG.
BRAINO was/is an abomination – of language writ large and puzzles. That whole SE corner is a hot mess and that's a no-braino. I'm not keen on JABBER/epee either. And the fact this theme is recycled suggests even the constructor was phoning it in on a "communication connection" (another egregious clue).
I'm sorry this was actually easy, because I found it easy and was quite proud of my Thursday performance. Had the same experience as @Rex, figured it had to be Jack Frost, then J. Frost and then the rebus, and it was off to the races. The big difference is I enjoyed it way more than OFL.
It was new to me, but disappointing to discover it's a rerun. It was SORTA fun but it also made me cringe over youthful indiscretions when I worked at JACK IN THE BOX.I worked the late night weekend shifts when there would be a 1:00 am rush when all the stoners would get the munchies. When we got their inevitable pranks when they put in their orders through the microphone,we would sometimes preempt them with extremely juvenile deviations from the obligatory "Welcome to JACK IN THE BOX, may I take your order please." JACK sadly lends himself to some rather CRUDE interpretations. One of the words in this puzzle well below one of the JACKs in boxes is one of the words we would ocaissionally insert in our welcome message. Editing standards must have been higher in 2011. I'm sure my parents would have washed my mouth out with soap had they ever caught me.
We also used to have frisbee flying contests with the frozen beef patties that were never defrosted before grilling. If you've ever worked in a fast food joint you never go back to eat in the one you worked in,
Easy though the theme may be, I still had some trip ups. Had to comb through changing things here and there before I finally solved. Turns out I had OVAlE (that's an "L") over OVATE, which did not stand out to me for the longest time. I also wasn't sure of MAHALIA, ENSLER or LEONINE and BRAINO just never seemed right.
I was flying through at twice my normal Thursday speed and was left with BRA--O. Could braino possibly be a thing? Looked at the college clue, which could only be Erie, PA, so yep. I guess it's better than a DNF from not knowing the college or athlete in the down clues, but it sure is ugly.
Big sigh of relief that ERIE PA flew right under the radar this morning. I did the uncomfortable wince-laugh thing when that one fell.
I don't remember that earlier version, but I figured this one had to have already been visited. Such a perfect concept for a rebus. We've discussed the recycled theme deal here ad infinitum and all weighed in with our opinions. As with the trooper/trouper and ano/año debate, I think I'm done running my mouth about the recurring theme issue. So I'll spare you the paralipsis (hah!) of reminding everyone that it doesn't bother me one whit.
I actually accepted the reveal as just JACK IN and then that black square underneath. I was startled to find THE BOX, too, but that made it better.
I agree that this was easy. My only hesitation was FAVOR. I had been toying with "Mer" d'Or, so I had a startling image of leaving a party with someone's "femur." Now That's a party.
Never heard of BRAINO, but it makes sense. I kinda like this new suffix, this O to represent some kind of flub. "Limbo" comes to mind in the spirit of the aforementioned party favor. Oops. Didn't mean to pull so hard.
Carry A TUNE. Yesterday we were all monkeying around – last day of school, most students on a reward field trip - so the ones left behind were, well, the more challenging kids. Trenten C had his guitar in my room and was figuring out the chords for "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" when Ms. Wallburn came in and started singing. She's a soprano and sings solos at church and stuff. Heck. I can carry a tune, but I'm not in the church solo-singing league. Undaunted, I joined in with some killer harmony, if I do say so myself. We were both belting it out. I think in a situation like that, being willing to totally commit and sing really loud is half the battle. In for a penny, in for a pound, man.
I enjoyed this one. Pretty sly, Susan, to work in MAHALIA JACK SON, too.
That was perhaps the easiest Thursday puzzle in recent memory. Got jackFROST right away off of the F ST. Feeling all smug as I tore through the rest of it until I reached the south east and I had to call for back up. Mr . Sports Authority gave me LANIER, I guess he played for the Milwaukee Bucks when we still lived there. O.K., if you say so (don't follow basketball at all). With that I was able to sew up the remaining corner.
In checking to see whether 5A would be MAJ or Min, I got JACK-IN-THE-BOX - and the key to the puzzle - immediately. So yes, very easy, especially since the JACKs didn't pop up unexpectedly as a surprise but rather were placed symmetrically. But lots of nice entries, so a pleasure to solve nonetheless. JACK over FRAT reminded me of the one who could eat no fat...meaning no NUTELLA - OMG!
The symmetrical squares made this easy Thursday even easier. I'm with @Rex; the overt reveal was unnecessary. I think JACKINTHEBOX should have been an answer, with the JACK as a rebus, and clued as "Child's toy", with no mention that it is a clue to the theme answers. Solvers could easily infer that it is a reveal.
Never heard of BRAINO, and I don't think I'll begin using it in conversation, unless I start hearing it a lot, and maybe not even then. There is a mini-theme of answers ending in A (10), a good clue for SON, and some nice answers in LEONINE, WHELP, and ARABLE. I don't mind repeating a good theme if the theme answers don't repeat, but two did here (between Elizabeth Long's puzzle of 2011 and today's).
All this said, I must add that while the solve was quick, it was fun, a crackerJACK experience while it lasted.
All criticism of recycling aside, seems like there was a lot of real estate wasted where the theme is concerned. Only 4 boxes dedicated to the theme. Most of my energy in solving this thing was spent on wondering where the other JACKs were. There weren't any others. Only four. And they were in predictable places.
Certainly a less than stellar puzzle no matter how you slice it.
As NBC used to say, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you.
Was floating unimpeded through the grid until I hit the E and SE. RUNSSHORT took a couple of efforts (RUNSoutof, RUNSlowon). ENSLER is a WoE. MAHALIA rings a bell but would not have come to me without the crosses.
But that SE was the toughest nut. Even with LANIER, PHONEJACK, BELIEVEIN, EPEE and CARJACK in place, still struggled. As it turns out, the problem was another WoE (BRAINO) crossing a ERIEPA, where the college was a WoE and I failed to parse the answer. Not until I came here did I realize it was that city/state thing.
After getting JACKFROST, I was hoping for a TEN, JACK, QUEEN, KING, ACE rebus with a revealer of straight. So I guess that's still out there for someone who wants to build it.
Clues like 5A do nothing for me. Every such clue should simply say "musical key". That allows me to put in the 'M' and await developments, without the extraneous 'if you weren't such a dope, you would know this' implication. Are there really non-musicians who know what key any piece of music is in?
Not much to add. PPP* comes in low at 17/78, 22%. I snickered at the random TARA clue and the almost as random ERIE, PA clue. I was pleased that we got LEONINE and not Leo IX. I totally missed the MAHALIA Jackson connection, but our Muse has always been a Cracker Jack noticer of such subtleties.
@Aketi...you mean the pour quality of the "food" at the fast food joints isn't what we need to be most worried about??!
A fun rebus, even if it is a rehash. I think the two-part revealer added to it. I do wish that apps had the option of hiding reveal ers, though. I like to see if I can figure it out on my own. I've conditioned myself to squint past the central answer and the SE, but this one was in an unexpected place. Thankfully, I started it way late last night, and by the time I got back to it this morning, had forgotten about it. (Y'all see why rerun puzzles don't faze me...?)
Thanks, Ms. G. ( I was kinda hoping it was a double rebus with fart...)
The easiest rebus I think I've ever seen. I, too, got it immediately at 1D, off just the S in JACK FROST. Checked it at 1A, saw JACKASS, and said "Yup," rather than "Aha". Too easy to provoke an "Aha." Never heard of BRAINO and maybe someday it will be a term I've gotten used to and learned to like. Right now, I don't. As for the fact this theme has been done before -- who remembers? I can barely remember what I had for dinner two nights ago. Wish this had been harder.
My golden rule is any rebus is better than none, and this was a cute offering. I was happily doing the NYT crossword 4 1/2 years ago, but that didn't impact my solve today. My mind is a sieve when it comes to previous years' puzzles because I'm busy filling all my mind's nooks and crannies with pop culture so I can complete the puzzle that's sitting right in front of me. Hi @Nancy, and @Lobster too! I'm surprised if Monday's puzzle is still knocking around in there somewhere by Thursday and it would have to be a stellar offering to survive that long!
Oyez is from the French-derived Anglo-Norman dialect in medieval England, It's the plural imperative of the verb "to hear," so it's "Hear Ye" in English.
Like most have commented already I got the theme very quickly in the NW. I'm embarrassed to admit I had a DNF at OYER/OYEZ. We just had OYER so it went in reflexively. IBIRA didn't ring any bells but there are lots of island names I'm not familiar with. Maybe if I'd done a little research on the term OYER and TERMINER this could have been avoided. It was one of those things I didn't have time to get around to and loose ends have a way of coming back to bite you. I solved on my Kindle last night. When I initially didn't get the congratulations I found my OBIWON misspelling. I still didn't get that ok and had forgotten about IBIRA. I just assumed my having a J in the rebus squares wasn't being accepted. I was already up to the 25 minute mark and just wanted to get some sleep. I went into my actual puzzle hoard and found the 12/1/11 version of today's puzzle. Of course it was a Thursday as well. I got a clean grid on that one but it took 45 minutes. It was like looking back into the dark ages. I had no smartphone back then and never went on the internet. It's enlightening to read the comments from that old puzzle and see now familiar names in them. I'm still getting used to having so much info at my fingertips. Besides from saving the actual puzzles when I had the time I'd hoard answers in my Webster's. OYER and TERMINER is underlined and dated 1/7/12. OYEZ was dated 4/2/11. This habit only goes back about ten years and it's a piss poor way to improve your solving time.
OKAY, easy CHEESEy puzzle. I so wanted it to be a JACK and Jill, but I think that one was done as well... DODO is a knucklehead? I thought it was a bird from yore. WHELP is a whippersnapper? I thought it was a cute baby puppy. My how we change the English language around to suit whose needs? BRAINO? Liked seeing SEA TURTLES. I've seen some footage of mamma turtle laying her eggs on nesting beaches. Quite amazing. What's even more amazing is watching the babies scramble along the way to the ocean, only to be gobbled up by those nasty gulls, then god knows what's waiting for them once they get in the ocean. I could never eat turtle soup.....
I vaguely remembered the theme being used before and even remembered the actual puzzle when Rex put it out there. I don't consider it unforgivable that the NYT did this but, in combination of what I thought was a boring and too easy for a Thursday puzzle, I am with the naysayers. Among other things, braino needs no comment being as awful as it is. But, I have another nit to pick, which is 12 down. I have never seen the notation/abbreviation TBA. I have always seen it written as tbd. Only because I knew that Hogdn could not be a Navajo dwelling was this doable. At least the NBA Hall-of-Famer wasn't Cousy.
As soon as we got the theme we recognized it, and looked forward to Rex's comments. He didn't disappoint. We liked the puzzle in spite of the fact it was a rerun, just not as much as we would have otherwise - I still watch "Casablanca" don't I?
@LMS - I was actually tempted to enter MAHALIA (JACK) SON, but I know where they plunked good old Gannon and RAH kind of a gimme - so didn't do it.
Was listening to "Mike and Mike" on ESPN the other day and they had a heated argument on the pronunciation of NUTELLA. Apparently half the world calls it NEW-tella, and the other half calls it NUT-tella. The official line from the Italian manufacturer is NEW-tella, but they make it clear you are correct in whatever your pronunciation so long as you buy the stuff.
About 20 years ago I was introduced to the term "brain fart" which I didn't like at all, but have learned to accept as part of the lexicon. Please spare me from BRAINO.
Heard a one hour interview with Bob LANIER on Philadelphia sports radio around the time of Wilt Chamberlain's death a few years back. Host was the local basketball legend and civil rights leader Sonny Hill. Like most other NBA fans I knew Bob mostly for his size 22 feet and his habit of sneaking smokes in the tunnel. He is actually a thoughtful man of great depth and character. A class act.
Any thurs rhebus I solve is good even if deemed easy. Was disappointed to only find 4 jacks tho that would be a winning hand. Never heard of braino only brain freeze but I think I'll use it as preferable to senior moment altho not quite the same.
@cwf, I'm sure XENA is perfectly capable of handling the plethora of LEONINE MALE SONS in the puzzle, including HULK HOGAN (and maybe even IRON man).
@Tita, let's just say that the pay level did not inspire employees to rise above the level of the quality of the food. Children (including teens) will always find innovative ways to play with food. When your main clientele are in a state of self inflicted BRAINO, the temptation to further exacerbate their state can be overwhelming, especially back in the day before security cameras were widely used to monitor employee behavior.
@theredanman, I'm trying to pull out of my SPIRAL of shame from my J in the B days, but I have to admit that what you wanted to put IN THE BOX was but one of many inclusions in employee generated modifications to the mandatory late night welcome messages.
yo, @indie009: har. Mornin, Sunshine. It seems that U wanted ultra-freshness of theme, and got JACK.
Liked NUTELLA and SEATURTLE a lot. Admired the ballsiness of BRAINO. Sounds like a brand of drug used to clear one's mind.
Seemed like a friendly, ARABLE lil puz ... got the gimmick awful quick, tho, for a ThursPuz. Might say it was a gimme gimmick. Plus then it also gave U a revealer, like whipped cream and cherry on top of yer after dinner mint. Sorta like a ThursPuz for beginners? Or a WedPuz with attitude; and IBIZA.
p.s. @Aketi ... Ahar ... Small world. U also worked at Jack in the Box, as did my bro-in-law Cletus, as an impressionable youth. Cletus would always relive stories of their "Special Sauce", and cringe at the memory of what extras the kids workin there would add to the Special Sauce. And then how much they would hoot, when someone unknowingly would order the Special Sauce.
What would they add? U have just crossed over ... that's the signpost up ahead ... U are now enterin The TMI Zone ...
I strongly object to the use of BRAINO in this puzzle. In no way can the superior Brain Fart be taken over.
Yours etc., Brigidier Simon O. Brainsly, the Second.
Hey All ! A little Monty Python reference for y'all! Liked the puz, a rerun, it happens. Maybe that's the key to getting a puz accepted... Same hangups and writeovers as most here. SE corner BRAINO draining.
Unlike for most, this was slower than my normal time. Got very held up in the SE corner with BRAINO (thought that was a TYPO) EPEE and LANIER, and the ENSLER/LEONINE cross was no picnic. My non-American upbringing hurt me here, with JACKASS, JACK FROST, JACK CHEESE and FLAPJACKS all unfamiliar to me. That made the theme a bit harder, rendering me a PLEBE. SEATURTLE, RAVE MUSIC and WHELP were highlights
OYEZ, the SE was my VAL of shame today; along with all the obvious problems, I had "hum" rather than RAH at 56A. And I was sure 58A was going to be a cause of DNF but I just shrugged it OFF as a BRAINO moment and called it done.
My other issue was throwing in "odds" for the even KEEL and "adobe" (wrong tribe) for HOGAN. At least I haven't been ignorant of a college town named EuroPA, which is where I thought 50D was going, notwithstanding the fact that the ERIEPA DOOK is seemingly worming its way into crosswordese.
I don't think there should be a FLAPJACK over the repeat of the theme. Thanks, Susan Gelfand.
I confidently put down JACOBS LADDER for the revealer. Was it going to be a word ladder involving Jacob? Ascending to heaven? Slowed me down a bit! Added to the enjoyment.
Easy for me except for getting stuck at one cross (crossing in 2 spots) where I didn't know any of the words: IBIZA and MAHALIA, OYEZ. So I was a couple letters short of finishing.
@jack - On one level I agree - constructor comes up with a bit of word play, creates a decent puzzle, lots of people will have never seen the earlier puzzle or won't remember it from five years before. Yet, why? Are there only so many ways to play with words and puzzles that we need to recycle earlier ideas. There are only 365 puzzles a year, why would you use one of those few slots for something that has been done (and is easily findable and accessible in the archive)? You don't have to be around Rex world long to realize there are lots of brilliant and innovative people around. With so much ability out there I feel that the NYTX should be more demanding. Ask more and you get more.
Sorry, my BRAIN (-O??) is not ABLE to hold all the puzzles I've ever done. So today's was fresh, if not SASSy, to me. Glommed onto the theme in the...NW, go figure, and it went OKAY from there. I enjoyed it, at least as much as OFL did the first one, though it was not "sans" defects. MUSIC keys, whether for good old Ludwig van or RAVEs, signal "CRUTCH!" and leave a sour taste. We have a WWNAU in OVATE; everybody just says "oval." And that BRAIN thing with one square left over? I thought there might be a second rebus going, and was trying to fit FREEZE into 52-down. I have truly never heard of BRAINO, WOD or not. It'll never be the W O MY D.
Curious that there are two homophonic Jessicas, BeaL and BIEL--either of whom would do for DOD. But soul can be beautiful too, so I nominate the incomparable MAHALIA--whose last name, BTW, is JACKson.
I'd SAY medium; the cluing is suitably post-humpday strong. We don't often see a partial as a longer entry, but BELIEVEIN is so "in the language" that I'm in FAVOR. Overall, a par.
Had this one nailed from square one, when JACKFROST nipped my FRAT brother’s nose. Did the RCA dog Nipper’s head tilt on BRAINO and didn’t know NUTELLA was chocolaty, but no real problems to be found. Looks like there may have been an attempt to get JACK involved vertically in the other two corners with JACK preceding SON = JACKSON (tie it in with MAHALIA) , and ACK also preceding, well . . . that other corner.
The only thing missing from yesterday’s puz was the random key and here we have AMAJ today.
AVA Gardner in her day and today’s yeah baby Jessica BIEL; Justin Timberlake is a lucky man. And possibly XENA, who seemed to have more interest in her little red-head partner than any of the MALES on the show.
I BELIEVEIN my heart that I did this in rebus record time, for me, which is still not good enough for completion, due to my BRAINO? Hit the road, JACK.
Forgot to mention there is an open air night club in Odessa, Ukraine called IBIZA. Lotsa dance MUSIC. If you go home alone from that night SPOT, you're not trying.
I might have done the 2011 puzzle, but I have no memory of it, so this was a "new" one for me. As rebuses go, this was pretty easy, yet well done, *and* had the controversial entry BRAINO to give lots of us something to talk about.
Actually, when I was a a school principal, the head secretary typed up one of my inspirational memos to staff and I noticed an error. Wish I could remember what the word was, but when I suggested she may have made a typo, she did the d'oh thing and said, "no, it was a BRAINO". That became a common saying around the office after that. Maybe Candace coined the term, circa 2004.
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Very easy Thurs. for me too. My first thought for "Nose nipper" was JACK FROST. It fit as a rebus and I was off and running confirmed by 8d. My only hesitation was in the IBIZA/BRAINO area as BRAINO was a WOE and IBIZA was slow to surface.
ReplyDelete@Rex - I thought this seemed familiar, but it's nicely execute....so, liked it?
Very easy and caught JACK rebus early at 1D. Liked the way the word Jack was employed to reveal the theme.
ReplyDeleteI felt the very last box could have been an "s" and not the last JACK.
Creative cluing for SON , DIE, PLEA, and EPEE.
The only CrosswordEASE I spotted was OREL and that is a " maybe".
So the fill was pretty perfect and that is not easy to do.
Thanks SG.
BRAINO was/is an abomination – of language writ large and puzzles. That whole SE corner is a hot mess and that's a no-braino. I'm not keen on JABBER/epee either. And the fact this theme is recycled suggests even the constructor was phoning it in on a "communication connection" (another egregious clue).
ReplyDeleteBRAINO!??? WOE?
ReplyDeleteThis would have gone a lot easier if I had not put in (even)odds for KEEL early on, which really slowed down the top part.
Picked up on the theme with (JACK)POTS.
Especially liked RAVE MUSIC, SEA TURTLE, and WHELP. The lawyer in me always enjoys seeing a nod to OYEZ.
Was not aware this was a repeat until I read OFL's comments.
BRAINO!???
I'm sorry this was actually easy, because I found it easy and was quite proud of my Thursday performance. Had the same experience as @Rex, figured it had to be Jack Frost, then J. Frost and then the rebus, and it was off to the races. The big difference is I enjoyed it way more than OFL.
ReplyDelete"There is nothing wrong with this puzzle. It is just a rerun."
ReplyDeleteI think it's nice that your are so secure in your skin to say that. Otherwise, that is not very nice.
It was new to me, but disappointing to discover it's a rerun. It was SORTA fun but it also made me cringe over youthful indiscretions
ReplyDeletewhen I worked at JACK IN THE BOX.I worked the late night weekend shifts when there would be a 1:00 am rush when all the stoners would get the munchies. When we got their inevitable pranks when they put in their orders through the microphone,we would sometimes preempt them with extremely juvenile deviations from the obligatory "Welcome to JACK IN THE BOX, may I take your order please." JACK sadly lends himself to some rather CRUDE interpretations. One of the words in this puzzle well below one of the JACKs in boxes is one of the words we would ocaissionally insert in our welcome message. Editing standards must have been higher in 2011. I'm sure my parents would have washed my mouth out with soap had they ever caught me.
We also used to have frisbee flying contests with the frozen beef patties that were never defrosted before grilling. If you've ever worked in a fast food joint you never go back to eat in the one you worked in,
Hmm. Got a WOE at the EPEE/PHONE JACK cross. Rookie mistake.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Brennan
Easy though the theme may be, I still had some trip ups. Had to comb through changing things here and there before I finally solved. Turns out I had OVAlE (that's an "L") over OVATE, which did not stand out to me for the longest time. I also wasn't sure of MAHALIA, ENSLER or LEONINE and BRAINO just never seemed right.
ReplyDeleteI was flying through at twice my normal Thursday speed and was left with BRA--O. Could braino possibly be a thing? Looked at the college clue, which could only be Erie, PA, so yep. I guess it's better than a DNF from not knowing the college or athlete in the down clues, but it sure is ugly.
ReplyDeleteBRAINO
ReplyDeleteIs this a regionalism or?
Big sigh of relief that ERIE PA flew right under the radar this morning. I did the uncomfortable wince-laugh thing when that one fell.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that earlier version, but I figured this one had to have already been visited. Such a perfect concept for a rebus. We've discussed the recycled theme deal here ad infinitum and all weighed in with our opinions. As with the trooper/trouper and ano/año debate, I think I'm done running my mouth about the recurring theme issue. So I'll spare you the paralipsis (hah!) of reminding everyone that it doesn't bother me one whit.
I actually accepted the reveal as just JACK IN and then that black square underneath. I was startled to find THE BOX, too, but that made it better.
I agree that this was easy. My only hesitation was FAVOR. I had been toying with "Mer" d'Or, so I had a startling image of leaving a party with someone's "femur." Now That's a party.
Never heard of BRAINO, but it makes sense. I kinda like this new suffix, this O to represent some kind of flub. "Limbo" comes to mind in the spirit of the aforementioned party favor. Oops. Didn't mean to pull so hard.
Carry A TUNE. Yesterday we were all monkeying around – last day of school, most students on a reward field trip - so the ones left behind were, well, the more challenging kids. Trenten C had his guitar in my room and was figuring out the chords for "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" when Ms. Wallburn came in and started singing. She's a soprano and sings solos at church and stuff. Heck. I can carry a tune, but I'm not in the church solo-singing league. Undaunted, I joined in with some killer harmony, if I do say so myself. We were both belting it out. I think in a situation like that, being willing to totally commit and sing really loud is half the battle. In for a penny, in for a pound, man.
I enjoyed this one. Pretty sly, Susan, to work in MAHALIA JACK SON, too.
That was perhaps the easiest Thursday puzzle in recent memory. Got jackFROST right away off of the F ST. Feeling all smug as I tore through the rest of it until I reached the south east and I had to call for back up. Mr . Sports Authority gave me LANIER, I guess he played for the Milwaukee Bucks when we still lived there. O.K., if you say so (don't follow basketball at all). With that I was able to sew up the remaining corner.
ReplyDeleteCute puzzle, just a little too easy.
In checking to see whether 5A would be MAJ or Min, I got JACK-IN-THE-BOX - and the key to the puzzle - immediately. So yes, very easy, especially since the JACKs didn't pop up unexpectedly as a surprise but rather were placed symmetrically. But lots of nice entries, so a pleasure to solve nonetheless. JACK over FRAT reminded me of the one who could eat no fat...meaning no NUTELLA - OMG!
ReplyDeleteThought it might be a face card rebus initially.
ReplyDeleteThe symmetrical squares made this easy Thursday even easier. I'm with @Rex; the overt reveal was unnecessary. I think JACKINTHEBOX should have been an answer, with the JACK as a rebus, and clued as "Child's toy", with no mention that it is a clue to the theme answers. Solvers could easily infer that it is a reveal.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of BRAINO, and I don't think I'll begin using it in conversation, unless I start hearing it a lot, and maybe not even then. There is a mini-theme of answers ending in A (10), a good clue for SON, and some nice answers in LEONINE, WHELP, and ARABLE. I don't mind repeating a good theme if the theme answers don't repeat, but two did here (between Elizabeth Long's puzzle of 2011 and today's).
All this said, I must add that while the solve was quick, it was fun, a crackerJACK experience while it lasted.
Besides BRAINO, I will never, ever, ever think ERIEPA is a proper answer. Other than that, it was alright.
ReplyDeleteAll criticism of recycling aside, seems like there was a lot of real estate wasted where the theme is concerned. Only 4 boxes dedicated to the theme. Most of my energy in solving this thing was spent on wondering where the other JACKs were. There weren't any others. Only four. And they were in predictable places.
ReplyDeleteCertainly a less than stellar puzzle no matter how you slice it.
On and Not on... Not much more to say. I wanted a JACK in every corner, but probably not possible with this grid shape.
ReplyDeleteWe're off to Saskatoon for a family wedding-/I hope to see you all again on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend!
This puzzle = liquid braino...flowed easily through a few obstacles right down the drain.
ReplyDeleteAs NBC used to say, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you.
ReplyDeleteWas floating unimpeded through the grid until I hit the E and SE. RUNSSHORT took a couple of efforts (RUNSoutof, RUNSlowon). ENSLER is a WoE. MAHALIA rings a bell but would not have come to me without the crosses.
But that SE was the toughest nut. Even with LANIER, PHONEJACK, BELIEVEIN, EPEE and CARJACK in place, still struggled. As it turns out, the problem was another WoE (BRAINO) crossing a ERIEPA, where the college was a WoE and I failed to parse the answer. Not until I came here did I realize it was that city/state thing.
After getting JACKFROST, I was hoping for a TEN, JACK, QUEEN, KING, ACE rebus with a revealer of straight. So I guess that's still out there for someone who wants to build it.
Clues like 5A do nothing for me. Every such clue should simply say "musical key". That allows me to put in the 'M' and await developments, without the extraneous 'if you weren't such a dope, you would know this' implication. Are there really non-musicians who know what key any piece of music is in?
Not much to add. PPP* comes in low at 17/78, 22%. I snickered at the random TARA clue and the almost as random ERIE, PA clue. I was pleased that we got LEONINE and not Leo IX. I totally missed the MAHALIA Jackson connection, but our Muse has always been a Cracker Jack noticer of such subtleties.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know the reason OYEZ became a court cry?
*Pop Culture, Product Names, and Proper Nouns
'Ballin' the JACK' originated 100 years ago. This version is by Danny Kaye.
ReplyDeleteLouis Jordan recorded 'JACK, you're dead'. Sounds like Rex wishes the same for this puzzle.
MAHALIA Jackson's powerful voice is on display in this video from Nat King Cole's tv show.
@Aketi...you mean the pour quality of the "food" at the fast food joints isn't what we need to be most worried about??!
ReplyDeleteA fun rebus, even if it is a rehash. I think the two-part revealer added to it. I do wish that apps had the option of hiding reveal ers, though. I like to see if I can figure it out on my own. I've conditioned myself to squint past the central answer and the SE, but this one was in an unexpected place. Thankfully, I started it way late last night, and by the time I got back to it this morning, had forgotten about it. (Y'all see why rerun puzzles don't faze me...?)
Thanks, Ms. G. ( I was kinda hoping it was a double rebus with fart...)
The easiest rebus I think I've ever seen. I, too, got it immediately at 1D, off just the S in JACK FROST. Checked it at 1A, saw JACKASS, and said "Yup," rather than "Aha". Too easy to provoke an "Aha." Never heard of BRAINO and maybe someday it will be a term I've gotten used to and learned to like. Right now, I don't. As for the fact this theme has been done before -- who remembers? I can barely remember what I had for dinner two nights ago. Wish this had been harder.
ReplyDeleteI wanted BRAIN FART, but I couldn't think of other ways FART IN THE BOX would work.
ReplyDeleteRats!
WHELP for Whippersnapper was second biggest hang up
Got my first JACK at FLAPJACK, I often start at the bottom, don't ask why
My golden rule is any rebus is better than none, and this was a cute offering. I was happily doing the NYT crossword 4 1/2 years ago, but that didn't impact my solve today. My mind is a sieve when it comes to previous years' puzzles because I'm busy filling all my mind's nooks and crannies with pop culture so I can complete the puzzle that's sitting right in front of me. Hi @Nancy, and @Lobster too! I'm surprised if Monday's puzzle is still knocking around in there somewhere by Thursday and it would have to be a stellar offering to survive that long!
ReplyDeleteBraino was a no-no. Revealer would have been much better if it had been clued as "Dr. Kevorkian's franchise" (Jack, in the box!)
ReplyDeleteI take exception to the relentlessly gender normative answers regarding human offspring.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@Z --
Oyez is from the French-derived Anglo-Norman dialect in medieval England, It's the plural imperative of the verb "to hear," so it's "Hear Ye" in English.
Like most have commented already I got the theme very quickly in the NW. I'm embarrassed to admit I had a DNF at OYER/OYEZ. We just had OYER so it went in reflexively. IBIRA didn't ring any bells but there are lots of island names I'm not familiar with. Maybe if I'd done a little research on the term OYER and TERMINER this could have been avoided. It was one of those things I didn't have time to get around to and loose ends have a way of coming back to bite you. I solved on my Kindle last night. When I initially didn't get the congratulations I found my OBIWON misspelling. I still didn't get that ok and had forgotten about IBIRA. I just assumed my having a J in the rebus squares wasn't being accepted. I was already up to the 25 minute mark and just wanted to get some sleep.
ReplyDeleteI went into my actual puzzle hoard and found the 12/1/11 version of today's puzzle. Of course it was a Thursday as well. I got a clean grid on that one but it took 45 minutes. It was like looking back into the dark ages. I had no smartphone back then and never went on the internet. It's enlightening to read the comments from that old puzzle and see now familiar names in them. I'm still getting used to having so much info at my fingertips. Besides from saving the actual puzzles when I had the time I'd hoard answers in my Webster's. OYER and TERMINER is underlined and dated 1/7/12. OYEZ was dated 4/2/11. This habit only goes back about ten years and it's a piss poor way to improve your solving time.
OKAY, easy CHEESEy puzzle. I so wanted it to be a JACK and Jill, but I think that one was done as well...
ReplyDeleteDODO is a knucklehead? I thought it was a bird from yore. WHELP is a whippersnapper? I thought it was a cute baby puppy. My how we change the English language around to suit whose needs? BRAINO?
Liked seeing SEA TURTLES. I've seen some footage of mamma turtle laying her eggs on nesting beaches. Quite amazing. What's even more amazing is watching the babies scramble along the way to the ocean, only to be gobbled up by those nasty gulls, then god knows what's waiting for them once they get in the ocean. I could never eat turtle soup.....
Once in every week, BRAINO in every brain. Or better, not.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remembered the theme being used before and even remembered the actual puzzle when Rex put it out there. I don't consider it unforgivable that the NYT did this but, in combination of what I thought was a boring and too easy for a Thursday puzzle, I am with the naysayers. Among other things, braino needs no comment being as awful as it is. But, I have another nit to pick, which is 12 down. I have never seen the notation/abbreviation TBA. I have always seen it written as tbd. Only because I knew that Hogdn could not be a Navajo dwelling was this doable. At least the NBA Hall-of-Famer wasn't Cousy.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as we got the theme we recognized it, and looked forward to Rex's comments. He didn't disappoint. We liked the puzzle in spite of the fact it was a rerun, just not as much as we would have otherwise - I still watch "Casablanca" don't I?
ReplyDelete@LMS - I was actually tempted to enter MAHALIA (JACK) SON, but I know where they plunked good old Gannon and RAH kind of a gimme - so didn't do it.
Was listening to "Mike and Mike" on ESPN the other day and they had a heated argument on the pronunciation of NUTELLA. Apparently half the world calls it NEW-tella, and the other half calls it NUT-tella. The official line from the Italian manufacturer is NEW-tella, but they make it clear you are correct in whatever your pronunciation so long as you buy the stuff.
About 20 years ago I was introduced to the term "brain fart" which I didn't like at all, but have learned to accept as part of the lexicon. Please spare me from BRAINO.
Heard a one hour interview with Bob LANIER on Philadelphia sports radio around the time of Wilt Chamberlain's death a few years back. Host was the local basketball legend and civil rights leader Sonny Hill. Like most other NBA fans I knew Bob mostly for his size 22 feet and his habit of sneaking smokes in the tunnel. He is actually a thoughtful man of great depth and character. A class act.
Any thurs rhebus I solve is good even if deemed easy. Was disappointed to only find 4 jacks tho that would be a winning hand. Never heard of braino only brain freeze but I think I'll use it as preferable to senior moment altho not quite the same.
ReplyDelete@cwf, I'm sure XENA is perfectly capable of handling the plethora of LEONINE MALE SONS in the puzzle, including HULK HOGAN (and maybe even IRON man).
ReplyDelete@Tita, let's just say that the pay level did not inspire employees to rise above the level of the quality of the food. Children (including teens) will always find innovative ways to play with food. When your main clientele are in a state of self inflicted BRAINO, the temptation to further exacerbate their state can be overwhelming, especially back in the day before security cameras were widely used to monitor employee behavior.
@theredanman, I'm trying to pull out of my SPIRAL of shame from my J in the B days, but I have to admit that what you wanted to put IN THE BOX was but one of many inclusions in employee generated modifications to the mandatory late night welcome messages.
What is the proper amount of time to wait before reusing a theme? Infinity?
ReplyDeleteyo, @indie009: har. Mornin, Sunshine. It seems that U wanted ultra-freshness of theme, and got JACK.
ReplyDeleteLiked NUTELLA and SEATURTLE a lot. Admired the ballsiness of BRAINO. Sounds like a brand of drug used to clear one's mind.
Seemed like a friendly, ARABLE lil puz ... got the gimmick awful quick, tho, for a ThursPuz. Might say it was a gimme gimmick. Plus then it also gave U a revealer, like whipped cream and cherry on top of yer after dinner mint. Sorta like a ThursPuz for beginners? Or a WedPuz with attitude; and IBIZA.
Thanx, Ms. Gelfand.
M&A
For those who think BRAINO is lame-o and "brain fart" is unseemly, how about "brain cramp"?
ReplyDeletep.s.
ReplyDelete@Aketi ... Ahar ... Small world. U also worked at Jack in the Box, as did my bro-in-law Cletus, as an impressionable youth. Cletus would always relive stories of their "Special Sauce", and cringe at the memory of what extras the kids workin there would add to the Special Sauce. And then how much they would hoot, when someone unknowingly would order the Special Sauce.
What would they add? U have just crossed over ... that's the signpost up ahead ... U are now enterin The TMI Zone ...
A&M
Dear Sir,
ReplyDeleteI strongly object to the use of BRAINO in this puzzle. In no way can the superior Brain Fart be taken over.
Yours etc., Brigidier Simon O. Brainsly, the Second.
Hey All !
A little Monty Python reference for y'all!
Liked the puz, a rerun, it happens. Maybe that's the key to getting a puz accepted...
Same hangups and writeovers as most here. SE corner BRAINO draining.
Short and to the point, or TERSE if you will.
SASS OFF
RooMonster
DarrinV
SE corner is garbage. LANIER/BRAINO cross is utter tripe. As are OYEZ, MAHALIA, and WHELP. Othewise, Monday easy.
ReplyDeleteUnlike for most, this was slower than my normal time. Got very held up in the SE corner with BRAINO (thought that was a TYPO) EPEE and LANIER, and the ENSLER/LEONINE cross was no picnic. My non-American upbringing hurt me here, with JACKASS, JACK FROST, JACK CHEESE and FLAPJACKS all unfamiliar to me. That made the theme a bit harder, rendering me a PLEBE. SEATURTLE, RAVE MUSIC and WHELP were highlights
ReplyDeleteOYEZ, the SE was my VAL of shame today; along with all the obvious problems, I had "hum" rather than RAH at 56A. And I was sure 58A was going to be a cause of DNF but I just shrugged it OFF as a BRAINO moment and called it done.
ReplyDeleteMy other issue was throwing in "odds" for the even KEEL and "adobe" (wrong tribe) for HOGAN. At least I haven't been ignorant of a college town named EuroPA, which is where I thought 50D was going, notwithstanding the fact that the ERIEPA DOOK is seemingly worming its way into crosswordese.
I don't think there should be a FLAPJACK over the repeat of the theme. Thanks, Susan Gelfand.
fun puzzle. got the theme right away...thought I had seen this theme before. Love rotini and nutella!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rex, I was quite sure I had done "this" puzzle before, and not all that long ago.
ReplyDeleteMr. Shortz, if you read this, you're just being lazy.
If it has been 4.5 years since the theme was run last that means there have been some 1600 NYT puzzles in the interim. give Shortz a break here.
ReplyDeleteI confidently put down JACOBS LADDER for the revealer. Was it going to be a word ladder involving Jacob? Ascending to heaven? Slowed me down a bit! Added to the enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to decide if my leaving the "d" off the end of executed in my comment above is a BRAINO or a TYPO?
ReplyDelete@Anoa Bob - Hey stranger!
ReplyDeleteYa I get it Jack is a rerun. Maybe someone will do Rex rebus:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.morewords.com/contains/rex/
Easy for me except for getting stuck at one cross (crossing in 2 spots) where I didn't know any of the words: IBIZA and MAHALIA, OYEZ. So I was a couple letters short of finishing.
ReplyDelete@jack - On one level I agree - constructor comes up with a bit of word play, creates a decent puzzle, lots of people will have never seen the earlier puzzle or won't remember it from five years before. Yet, why? Are there only so many ways to play with words and puzzles that we need to recycle earlier ideas. There are only 365 puzzles a year, why would you use one of those few slots for something that has been done (and is easily findable and accessible in the archive)? You don't have to be around Rex world long to realize there are lots of brilliant and innovative people around. With so much ability out there I feel that the NYTX should be more demanding. Ask more and you get more.
ReplyDeleteHARSH PLEA
ReplyDeleteThe LUMBERJACK was a JACKASS who asked AVA for an OREL FAVOR,
he’d SAY with LEONINE SASS, “OKAY, (8down) (60down) is bad behavior.”
--- VAL IBIZA
Sorry, my BRAIN (-O??) is not ABLE to hold all the puzzles I've ever done. So today's was fresh, if not SASSy, to me. Glommed onto the theme in the...NW, go figure, and it went OKAY from there. I enjoyed it, at least as much as OFL did the first one, though it was not "sans" defects. MUSIC keys, whether for good old Ludwig van or RAVEs, signal "CRUTCH!" and leave a sour taste. We have a WWNAU in OVATE; everybody just says "oval." And that BRAIN thing with one square left over? I thought there might be a second rebus going, and was trying to fit FREEZE into 52-down. I have truly never heard of BRAINO, WOD or not. It'll never be the W O MY D.
ReplyDeleteCurious that there are two homophonic Jessicas, BeaL and BIEL--either of whom would do for DOD. But soul can be beautiful too, so I nominate the incomparable MAHALIA--whose last name, BTW, is JACKson.
I'd SAY medium; the cluing is suitably post-humpday strong. We don't often see a partial as a longer entry, but BELIEVEIN is so "in the language" that I'm in FAVOR. Overall, a par.
Theme, revealer, and JACKs were easy-simple, maybe too much so for Thursday. But some of the fill was not:
ReplyDeleteLIRAS crossed by NUTELLA and ENSLER.
The IBIZA/BRAINO/LANIER crosses (BRAINO?).
RAVEMUSIC, revealed by down crosses.
These weren't really tough either, but they added a little bite to an otherwise bland mix.
No BRAINO here.
Had this one nailed from square one, when JACKFROST nipped my FRAT brother’s nose. Did the RCA dog Nipper’s head tilt on BRAINO and didn’t know NUTELLA was chocolaty, but no real problems to be found. Looks like there may have been an attempt to get JACK involved vertically in the other two corners with JACK preceding SON = JACKSON (tie it in with MAHALIA) , and ACK also preceding, well . . . that other corner.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing missing from yesterday’s puz was the random key and here we have AMAJ today.
AVA Gardner in her day and today’s yeah baby Jessica BIEL; Justin Timberlake is a lucky man. And possibly XENA, who seemed to have more interest in her little red-head partner than any of the MALES on the show.
I BELIEVEIN my heart that I did this in rebus record time, for me, which is still not good enough for completion, due to my BRAINO? Hit the road, JACK.
Forgot to mention there is an open air night club in Odessa, Ukraine called IBIZA. Lotsa dance MUSIC. If you go home alone from that night SPOT, you're not trying.
ReplyDeleteI might have done the 2011 puzzle, but I have no memory of it, so this was a "new" one for me. As rebuses go, this was pretty easy, yet well done, *and* had the controversial entry BRAINO to give lots of us something to talk about.
ReplyDeleteActually, when I was a a school principal, the head secretary typed up one of my inspirational memos to staff and I noticed an error. Wish I could remember what the word was, but when I suggested she may have made a typo, she did the d'oh thing and said, "no, it was a BRAINO". That became a common saying around the office after that. Maybe Candace coined the term, circa 2004.
So, did I like the puzzle? O YEZ.
I remember that 2011 puzzle and I don't care that it was themejacked.
ReplyDeleteThere's a mini ASS theme going on today with JACKASS, SASS, and ASSET. MAS ASS!
If you (8down) (60down) in the Jumbo Jack does it become a COMBO Jack?
Do you need free YouTube Subscribers?
ReplyDeleteDid you know that you can get them ON AUTO-PILOT & TOTALLY FREE by using Like 4 Like?