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Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (so ... Challenging to find the trick, Easy-to-Medium after that)
Bonds:
- SEAN CONNERY (17A: *1962-67)
- PIERCE BROSNAN (37A: *1995-2002)
- DANIEL CRAIG (59A: *2006-present)
Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, May 4, 1938 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the Billboard R&B chart: "Can I Change My Mind" (1968), "Turn Back The Hands Of Time" (1970), and "Turning Point" (1975).
• • •
So, it looks like for the second day in a row we're doing letter equations, cool, cool. Conceptually, this one is very nice. I'm stunned nOOne has done it before. Seems like double-O7 is just sitting there begging to be rebused or thematized in one way or another. I have only two issues with this theme (besides the M(OO)RE omission, come on!). First, once you pick up the trick (two O's in one square), then the whole theme becomes obvious instantly (i.e. that the asterisked clues are Bond actors, that there will be seven such "OO" squares). The remaining mystery is where the "OO" squares will be, which does keep things interesting. But to be able to fill in so much of the remaining fill, and to have nothing left but the "OO" minefield, after having finished only 1/4 of the puzzle ... it took some of the wind out of the puzzle's sails. Peaked too early. Finishing felt more like clean-up. The bigger issue with the theme for me—and I guess this relates to the M(OO)RE omission, is ... why these Bonds? Yes, because they fit symmetrically, OK, but seriously, why? Though Niven and Lazenby have played Bond, they did so just once apiece, so omit them, fine. But TIMOTHY DALTON played him twice and Roger M(OO)RE played him seven (!) times. So I guess my consternation really is about M(OO)RE's absence, after all. He was in as many Bond films as SEAN CONNERY (7), more than PIERCE BROSNAN (4), more than DANIEL CRAIG (soon to be 5), he has a double-O in his dang name ... but you (double-)omit him. Baffling. Shameful, really.
 |
| Directed by RIAN Johnson, and featuring ... DANIEL CRAIG! |
The gimmick was hard for me to pick up at first because IGLOO fit just fine at 14A: Quarters seen in some parts of Canada (IGL(OO)S). Nothing inherently plural about "Quarters" in this sense—just means "a place." So with IGLOO snugly in its place ... yeah, trouble. Because it was clearly wrong. No three-letter bird I could think of at 4D: Bird with a mournful cry that started LO-, no depressable thing I could think of at 5D: It quits when it gets depressed that started EO-. So I had to jump over to the next little section up top, where I put in BOLT at 7D: Who has finished a 100-meter dash in under nine seconds. Then ABOVE for 6A: Winning. Put TODOS in at 15A: Ruckuses. Total mess. Ultimately saved by They/THEM pronouns (8D: They/___ pronouns), as well as by knowing the absurd word H(OO)HAS (from years and years of seeing it in puzzles, and puzzles only). Somehow pieced that section together, got SEAN CONNERY, and that was all I needed—entire theme now clear, puzzle much easier from there on out.
 |
| clear from here on out |
It's a solid enough grid. I think Uber is a terrible company and I have no idea about the various flavors of Uber so easily my least favorite part of the grid was trying to figure out what came after UBER- in 42A: Certain money-saving rideshare option, then having that remaining bit be a rebus bit (P(OO)L), then having that bit crash into NLER, a ghastly bit of olde-timey crosswordese I thought we'd done away with (40D: Pirate or Padre, for short). No one in baseball says it. There's so much team-changing and interleague play that the very idea of an NLER has become pretty meaningless. Stop stop stop. Also stop with the NRA (I guess if you really insist, sure, do the New Deal cluing, but that initialism is never not gonna evoke guns). I mixed up my birds and had KETREL at first at 50A: Wide-ranging seabird (PETREL) (a kestrel is a wee falcon, not a seabird at all). Never heard of TYRONE Davis, but was happy to learn about him. One of the few times where I've been like "Who!?" then looked the person up and thought "well alright alright alright... this is alright":
Wanted IN ESSE (crossword muscle memory!) and then ONLINE and then IN LIFE (?) before finally getting ON-SITE (48D: Not virtual). I guess ONLINE is, in fact, virtual, in its way, so apparently which world is reality and which world is virtual is already becoming unclear to my brain. Great. Is this The Singularity? Am I in the cloud(s)? Save me, Digital Jesus! Or ON-SITE Jesus! One of you! The virtual/actual confusion is too much. I have permanent ZoomBrain now. I'm a Zoombie. And on that weird note, I'm off to get my second shot, W(OO) H(OO)! Have a nice day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
The pattern of double-OO's in the grid forms a large number 7; placing "Roger Moore" while keeping that feature would have been very difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe “00” squares are in the shape of the numeral “7.” Thus the top-heavy feel of the theme.
ReplyDeleteI did this in the app, which on completion actually has an animated line that shows that the OOs are arranged in a 7 shape. That was pretty cool, and made up a little for the Moore omission.
ReplyDeleteNot cool for me with a typo hiding directly under the animation haha. But I very much enjoyed this theme and fill despite that hiccup!
DeleteHow did you get it to complete? The animation is going but so I'd the clock!
DeleteNevermind... Had a mistake somewhere
DeleteWhat's wrong with guns? I keep a loaded gun in every closet and next to every door of my house! But I am not an NRA member.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have enough guns, then.
DeleteTwelfth Night,Act V, scene I
ReplyDeleteFeste: Why, 'some are born great, some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness thrown upon them.' I was
one, sir, in this interlude; one Sir Topas, sir; but
that's all one. 'By the Lord, fool, I am not mad.'
But do you remember? 'Madam, why laugh you at such
a barren rascal? an you smile not, he's gagged:'
and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.
♥️ed it‼️
ReplyDeleteThank you @Jem; a fine Thurs. puz; very enjoyable! :)
ReplyDeleteMed+
Had a hard time with this one, but fair crosses bailed me out numerous times.
Sang this for a wedding: My Sweet LADY ~ John Denver
___
yd 0
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Fun puzzle and yes about Roger M-OO-re.
ReplyDeleteOne minor beef - I am a sculler and a "scull" is an oar, the boat is called a "shell". Unfortunately this misuse of the word is becoming commonplace but it isn't accurate.
"Do not make the mistake of calling a shell/boat a “scull” as in “They rowed an eight-man scull or single-scull”. A pair of sculls (oars specifically used for sculling) is used to propel a sculling shell/boat"https://www.rowcamp.com › rowing-101
Shell went in immediately. My mistake. Hmm
DeleteEntered shell immediately. Oops.
DeleteBest NYTXW of the Covid Era!
ReplyDeleteAs Rex points out, 4D and 16A just didn’t make sense and were begging for double-O rebus squares. But once I got enough crosses, SEAN CONNERY was the only thing that made sense at 17A. Everything then fell in place, i.e., PIERCE BROSNAN and DANIEL CRAIG became obvious and I was hunting for the remaining "OO"s.
The coolest thing on my iPad app was, when I finished, a red line connected the seven OO squares, tracing a giant red number "7"!
So, Rex, two things: 1) The constructor couldn’t include all James Bond portrayers beacause...space. You know that. Silly complaint, and 2) the layout of the seven "OO" rebuses creates the numeral "7’.
ReplyDeleteTwo things to love about this puzzle: (1) the clue for 5D (It quits when it gets depressed) and (2) Rex's writeup struck all the right notes.
Timothy Dalton? George Lazenby? Roger Moore? David Niven? You could have had 7 007's. (OK, arguably Niven wasn't a "real" 007, and the first Casino Royale wasn't a "real" Bond movie, but still...)
ReplyDeleteSo how come I never heard of this NOONE fella that ran a sub-9 100M?
ReplyDeleteF**k. 32 of 78 for 41%. What we have here is a super fancy TV Guide puzzle again. And the eyebrows arched so hard it hurt at EYDIE Gorme and SHMOO. Dress it up all you want with your fancy rebopodes, in the end this is just a bunch of names with some words used as filler. I am a little surprised that THEM didn’t get a movie clue.
ReplyDeleteI’d be more impressed with people catching the 7 shape if the app didn’t draw it for you. And it is definitely no excuse for omitting Moore.
Got it at IGLOOS/LOON/SEAN CONNERY and basically flew through this. All the PPP was either wheelhouse (yes, I knew SHMOO - yes, I am embarrassed by that fact) or easily inferable (I thought I needed another rebus so briefly feared it was TYRooNE Davis).
Some clean-up on aisle 7 from yesterday:
The issue with so many names is that it turns a crossword puzzle into a trivia pursuit. There’s nothing wrong with trivia (I enjoy trivia night) but crosswords that involve wordplay are better, more interesting.
@Albie & @egs - Never said that fourth themer was “wrong” or even “bad” or broke any rules. Just that it doesn’t fit into an otherwise obvious pattern. “Nettlesome” seems to capture my feeling when that happens perfectly...”this would be better if...” As for Sesame Street, my point is that our need for consistent patterns is so ingrained that even pre-schoolers want it. When something is obvious to a 4 year-old maybe the adults should stop trying to defend it. 😉
@Barbara S - I solve puzzles and read books as Gof intended. The thing with dictionaries is that they are out of date before the type is set and have to make some sort of compromise to make them usable at home. So, for me, a good online dictionary makes a lot of sense. For the dictionary company, then, the answer becomes how do you make sure you get paid for your work. So the ads don’t bother me. Nor would paying a subscription fee. I think the library might provide access to the online OED. I need to check.
Dose 2 Update - So far the only side effect has been a mildly sore arm and annoyance at consecutive high PPP puzzles. How long until we get a Pfizer/Moderna/Johnson and Johnson themed puzzle (he asks annoyedly)?
@Z 723am
DeleteNor did I say your nettltsome compromise is wrong (Though nettlesome is a bit overboard, speaking as someone who has walked into a field of stinging nettles in shorts. Luckily there was some jewel weed near by which instantly takes the pain away).
Nor did I say the clues were of an identical type.
Nor does your Sesame Street clip show that youngsters have a need for consistent patterns. It shows them being taught to see consistent patterns. My point was an enjoyable theme should not be sacrificed on the altar of unnecessary consistency. Otherwise I agree everything you said. Of course.
Welcome to the new NYT CrossPPPuzzle. We're not so much into actual words anymore.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the last two days, can this declaration be far behind?
Maybe I might have appreciated this theme a bit more if it hadn't followed so closely on the heels of yesterday's PPPparty. It's clever in its frebus-y grid art revealage and was probably a bear to construct, but after yesterday, people need a break! Absolutely not the constructor's fault.
This is just poor editorial planning.
I liked it okay, but when the theme is all PPP, the fill should not follow suit. And I say this with most of it being in my wheelhouse.
Enough is too much already! This is a clever debut that clevers its cleverness out of cleverity.
But, congratulations are in order for you on your first NYTXW, Mr. Butch. I still enjoyed it, though there is room for growth. I hope we'll be seeing you again.
🧠🧠
🎉🎉.75
I take issue with Dada being NONART. That’s like saying Samuel Beckett is NONLIT. I mean work that might have been outside convention in 1920 is considered canon by now.
ReplyDeleteGreat point. No one since Dada’s heyday has refused to acknowledge that.
DeleteIt was the last answer I got because I couldn't believe it would be non art.
DeleteNONART is perfectly apt. Hans Richter used the term "anti-art". Absurdism abounded in the movement (or non-movement, if you prefer).
DeleteHere's today's NON crossword for y'all:
X
@zoobee, so agree! My brain just couldn’t see non art. For a while I thought – horrors - it might be pop art
Delete@zoobee, this section made me fear for my streak, I tried NEWART and NEOART before I figured it out. Despite that history may have settled on a critical consensus, to call Dadaism NONART is still a judgment, not a fact, and is unacceptable as a clue/answer.
Deletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-art
DeleteTo those bringing up Dada’s stated mission as “anti-art”: sure but Anti- and Non- are not the same thing. Maybe I’ve sat in too many art-school critiques, but, you know— precision in words does matter, or at least should in a crossword!
Deleteas well as by knowing the absurd word H(OO)HAS (from years and years of seeing it in puzzles, and puzzles only)
ReplyDeleteYou must not have had many girlfriends, Rex.
I once smoked a cigarette with Timothy Dalton. I also smoked cigarettes with Keanu Reeves and Sarah Silverman. I quit smoking years ago, but when I smoked I did so in the toniest of circles. I also once stood in line at a Starbucks with George Carlin.
This was a really fun puzzle but just like Rex said once I figured out the rebus and the names it fell quickly.
Annoying that the app does not recognize the use of double zero. I had to replace all zeros characters with letter o's to complete the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBut our man is double o 7, not double zero 7?
Delete@zoobee - To be NON-ART is the entire philosophical underpinnings of Dadaism. That the result of howling against the ART world is to end up being ART with a capital A is, maybe, some Animal Farm level irony. All ART is equal, it is just that some ART is more equal than others.
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle, but Rex, c’mon, Niven does NOT count as a Bond
ReplyDeleteDamn autocorrect. Apologies to Mr. Burch for the misspelling of his name. Not for nuthin', but I changed it once and it snuck back in! I hate when that happens.
ReplyDeleteWeird. I - and I expect there will be several others (Hi, @smalltowndoc!) who - had the very same initial experience with IGLOO and the Double Os...who will be appearing weekly at Z's Placebo and Tentacle Pub.
Speaking of...
@Z 713am So, whadja think of the puzzle? Glad the side effects are mild...so far, but don't get cocky. And you can spare me and everyone the inevitable "butch" comment. 😘
I’ll second @Frantic’s take. With the gimmick and trick this puzzle was a decent solve - but it is loaded with people and trivia and packaged back to back with yesterday’s mess it’s tough to swallow. The 7 grid art was lost on me until the app graphic kicked in. Roger Moore is not included because no one ever liked him - CONNERY obviously the classic Bond but I do like the new CRAIG films. Liked IN A TIZZY and HOO HAS. I think we saw STROP earlier this week. Never read Lil Abner.
ReplyDeleteAn enjoyable Thursday - just misplaced.
Cool beans..... but it took me a looooooong time to figure out Jem's little gem of his yummy Bonds.
ReplyDeleteNO ONE was stared at for ever. Then I thought HOO HAS? Really? (Don't look up the definition in the Urban dictionary, although I'm pretty sure @John X can give it to you).
OK, so once I figured the 007 gimmick, I sorta was happy. I liked the cleverness of it. Then I get to the ending and the fizzle began to sizzle and I fell IN A TIZZY mood. So many darn names again. The ending felt like it needed a quick mop up. Just let me stick in a bunch of proper names and finish this beast up feeling.
TYRONE, RIAN and SHMOO walk into a bar.
Will I ever remember how to spell EYDIE Gorme?
If this is a debut, I will say congratulations on an interesting stunt.
RIP SEAN CONNERY. You were the eye candy of all the Bonds.
Well it wasn’t “instantly obvious” to me. I got the OO rebus thing and I got the Bond actors, but I thought they were completely separate and independent. Duh. I agree that the absence of Roger M(OORE is strange. I think I went to a New Years Eve party at Mrs Roger Moore’s place sometime in the 70s, maybe in the DC area. He wasn’t there.
ReplyDeleteI’m all in with @Z and others. Came for a crossword puzzle, found a Trivial Test. As far as enjoyable solving goes, this one was far, far to the left of the bell curve (at least three standard deviations from the mean).
ReplyDeleteI’m generally somewhat surprised at the popularity of the Bond franchise (especially among adults). The movies aren’t really anything special - just a bunch of special effects cobbled together by something that alleges for a plot. No real character development (no - pretty girls don’t count), no real plot or suspense in the sense that you are vested in the characters, etc. My opinion, obviously - but still, surprised by its longevity and consistent popularity.
You're complaining about this one? Boo hoo!
ReplyDeleteJem put in the three good and frequent Bonds...left out the forgettable Lazenby...the excellent but off brand Niven... And the excerable Roger Moore.
One of the great disappointments of my formative years was finally getting to see a James Bond movie in a theater and going into her Majesty's secret service not knowing that it would have the wrong James Bond.
This puzzle got the theme exactly right.
And as far as the NRA goes the National Reconstruction Act is a high point of American political history and Wayne LaPierre does not get to make us stop talking about it.
Why no Moore? Because the grid will allow only for three Bonds. When you think of 007, who comes to mind?
ReplyDeleteNo Moore for me— apologies to Roger! Thanks for a very fun puzzle!
About a minute over my historical average (mebs!). This PPP-fest was decidedly not in my wheelhouse. I mean, crap, I'm not good with names in the first place, so while I could picture the most recent Bond easily enough, his name escaped me. And honestly, I kinda stopped caring after the eras of CONNERY and Moore.
ReplyDeleteNor am I at all up on my L'il Abner lore. SHMOO to you too. Honestly, from what I'm reading about him and his strip, he sounds like an a-hole in the first place. Or perhaps a SNOT.
I put down (Usain) Bolt for 7 Down before seeing that wasn't going to work. That hard-won realization must have been concomitant with getting my first of the 00s (or OO, as in NO ONE) and finally getting the theme.
It's hard for me to see the name EYDIE Gorme without also thinking of Mel Torme. I continue to watch Seinfeld reruns on PIX-11, and last night or the night before they had the one with Torme singing to Kramer at a benefit for the mentally challenged ("When You're Smiling"). I just love that one -- you can see Torme struggling hard not to laugh.
My first association with SHEBA is not Yemen, but something a crazy cat LADY feeds her loved ones. No, I'm not looking at you, @Frantic Sloth. Honest, I'm not.
Hey, NYT Online: if I'm smart enough to get through your puzzle, then I'm not dumb enough to need your annoying (is it virtual or ONSITE?) pen drawing the big 7. Durr!
Woo HOO! I haven’t had so much fun with a crossword puzzle in months. And it’s a debut and it was constructed by a high school senior, and his name is spelled the same as a character from my all-time favorite novel. Okay, that last one probably doesn’t count. But still.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the clues for the themers and hadn’t caught the SCENT of a rebus yet, I thought we might be headed for Nancy’s Wall. But then the Bond theme appeared with BROSNAN and the double Os at METOO, and things started falling into place. I knew there had to be seven of them but wasn't expecting yet a third aha moment when I saw how they formed the number in the grid. Impressive!
This is one that won’t soon be forgotten Jem. Well done! You must be one COOL COOKIE to come up with such a sparkling debut.
i got the rebus from IGLOOS/LOON (up in the far north, where they both belong), which let me go back and fix the NE, where I started with CaKe safe before COOKIE TIN. Then I got SEAN CONNERY, so as Rex says, the theme was obvious; my only trouble was that Mr. Connery was the only name I could remember. Once I got BROSNAN, I remembered the PIERCE part, but I had to fill in DANIEL from the D....L, guided only by plausibility. To my shame, I didn't remember ADA Lovelace until I had the AD.
ReplyDeleteI solve in the actual newspaper, and never noticed the grid art until I came here.
ME T(OO) for SheLL; I would have hung on to it much longer, but UBER POOL made it obvious what was wanted. I think we have to accept that when it comes to boats, ships, and other bits of nauticality neither Will Shortz nor Rex has a clue. Sigh.
My ability to self-deceive was in rare form here, the very foundation of my sometimes inability to see the obvious. First convinced myself that Iglo must be an alternative spelling, thought "so that's how you spell Hohas, I'd expect two Os," and just started to suspect something was up with Col.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and Shoter, just another Millennial thing. You kids and your stuff.
Sciatica went right in though, and some engaged thinking filled in the rest. Liked it. Snapped me out of this week's puzzle malaise.
Why no Moore. Maybe because all he did was play Roger Moore, in every movie he ever made.
ReplyDeleteTerrific idea for a rebus! I saw it from immediately at N[OO]NE/------NNERY. And, if I had a memory like everyone else, I might have found this a bit on the easy side for a rebus. But while SEAN CONNERY came to me in a heartbeat ("Come to me, SEAN, oh, please come to me!!!", I'm thinking), PIERCE and DANIEL didn't -- though of course they should have. It was quite maddening, drawing that blank, and I desperately wanted to cheat, but I didn't.
ReplyDeleteIt was so bad that I eventually had PIERCE written in as BROgNAN. Don't ask.
My "bit of help" answer was HaNd before HINT which also threw me off.
Do you think of Stevie Wonder as a TENOR? I think of Pavarotti as a TENOR. What a devious clue. TENOR (because I had BROgNAN, leading to G?TY for the S(OO)TY clue) was one of my last answers in.
Great clue for N(OO)NE (7D).
Wonderful puzzle that would have been even better with some of the other pop names like TYRENE, RIAN and ADA (as clued) eliminated. When you have a theme with names, you certainly don't need to add even more names.
Absolutely great! Besides the ultra-cool gimmick (seven OOs forming the numeral 7), the cluing was sharp and it had a lot of sparkle.
ReplyDeleteThe early commenters haven't liked it much. The rebus lovers haven't checked in yet.
My wife just won a year-long battle with SCIATICA. Several medications and physical therapy. Her pain was mainly in her legs. I've had a few bouts with it with pain starting in my buttock and running down my leg.
I also got the trick up top. I was suspicious there was something going on with what turned out to be IGLOOS and LOON, and then had it verified with HOOHAS/NOONE. I found the puzzle easy to solve after that, but almost crashed and burned on 1A and 1D! I had a hard time seeing MAPLE as the producer of “whirligigs”, primarily because I couldn’t believe that embezzlement would be described with a word as mild as MISUSE. I was thinking more “felony”. But I guess embezzlement can be either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the amounts involved.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's a shame about the absence of Moore and Dalton (and maybe the others), but this would have to be a Sunday to get all those Bonds in.
Marcel Duchamp coined the term "anti-art" to describe his ready-mades, sculptures that use found objects such as his Fountain, which is a urinal. I've certainly seen NONART used in conjunction with the Dadaists, a label that I'm sure they did or would have embraced. But, yes, ironically their work is canonical now -- so goes the avant-garde.
HOOHAS
Today I give you an excerpt from the work of HENRY FIELDING, born Apr. 22, 1707.
“Though Jones had formerly believed himself in the very prime of youth and vigor, his first encounter with Lady Bellaston both vexed and puzzled him. For though his own youthful appetites were quickly sated, hers were ravenous and almost beyond his power to satisfy. Her kisses and caresses were a source of inexpressible delight; yet when all was over it was he who collapsed into the most profound slumber. Early the next morning she took him shopping, her manner fresh and cheerful. Jones could not fathom her spritely behaviour. And in spite of all his best endeavours, he could scarcely keep his eyes open.”
(From The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling)
It seems to me that PPP considerations are kind of irrelevant if the constructors' intent is to make well known names the theme of the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI think ones enjoyment of this one was determined by how soon you caught on to what was going on. If you recognised Sean Connery while still in the upper third of the puz, then yeah, this had to go pretty easy. If you didn't catch on until you finally broke the code near the end (like, ahem, me) then it was a much more interesting solve.
@Z -- Which vaccine did you get that you're having no side effects from for your 2nd shot? I will be getting my 2nd Pfizer on May 7, so it would be something of a relief to know that you had the Pfizer too.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the sore arm is concerned -- well, as you all know I negotiated (pleaded, actually) up front, before going in for the first shot, to make sure I'd get the shot in the gluteal muscle. And I've had no pain at all from the first shot.
Do Not understand your infatuation with black culture. They hate you.
ReplyDeleteLove the Tyrone Davis shoutout. Whenever I've done something stupid, his song loops through my mind. Thought that "tenor" as the answer to Stevie Wonder as an example was a bit abstruse; it's not exactly what you think of when you think of him.
ReplyDeleteAbsol(oo)tely EXCELLENT write-up, Rex. One of your best. And thanks for The Spy Who Loved Me snippet. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great puz.
ReplyDeleteInstead of complaining about the number of proper names, and the absence of Roger Moore (who I though was always a bit of a dud in the franchise), can we all just take a collective minute and bask in the cleverness of this puzzle? And I'm not even a real fan of the franchise (though I do think it picked up a bit when Mr. Craig came on board), but this puzzle was just so elegantly constructed, and the cluing was pretty much spot on . . . . What's not to love?
@Nancy 9:17 You do realize that everyone's reaction to the vaccines has been different? We have friends who have had no reaction to Pfizer at all (and wondered if they were even getting any benefit from it), to an acquaintance who had a blot clot and had to be hospitalized for three days. Same vaccine. I think you'd be far better off speaking to your doctor about the range of effects than asking folks on this blog. I'm always amazed at the number of folks who ask for medical advice from random people on the internet. Then again, Z pretty much knows everything, lol, so maybe he is a good source of information. Or he can look it up in his dictionary. And then we can argue about dictionaries again for a few days. Seriously, talk to your doctor if you have concerns. And in any event, whatever you experience will be far batter than actually getting Covid. And you're doing your part to halt the spread, so thank you for that!
Easy to see the theme (N00NE x CONNERY) but nicely challenging to ferret out the remaining six 00s. Many thanks to those who pointed out the 7 shape formed by the 00s; I love grid art but this time it never occurred to me. Must remember: only connect!
ReplyDeleteDo-over: ism before SCh before SCI (an ideology is a science?). Help from previous puzzles: NOONE as clued, spelling of EYDIE. Eyebrow-raising cross: DANIEL CRAIG x CAD. No idea: SHM00, TYRONE.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteWondering why there were three OO's in a row up top. Once finished, app drew me the "7", and I said, "Aha". (@TTrimble, I'm Not smart enough to have seen it myself! 😁)
DNF at IN A TyZZe, even though TyZZe is a non-word. I guess Queen BEe is ingrained in the ole brain. (Thanks Sam Ezersky!) And want to slap RIAN's parents for giving him that spelling!
Neat puz. Wondering if Jem went through several grids trying to get Roger Moore in. Maybe add a fifth Themer? I'm sure he thought of that...
SHMOO! Haven't thought of that since last time in the puz. Fell for the BOLT misdirect at 7D. LOL at @The Joker 7:01 NOONE observation. Surprised some clueless @Anon hasn't "corrected" him yet.
REAGAN clue got a Har. Nice debut. 2021 continues the ERA of Debuters. (Not de-butters!)
No F's (two days in a row. I don't mind Trivia puzs, but I DO mind No F puzs. 😁)
RooMonster
DarrinV
Isn't there a missing element from this thing? If you knew absolutely nothing about the the Bond series, you wouldn't understand what the asterisks and years mean, nor would the 00s make sense, especially if you didn't see, as @Rex apparently didn't, that they form a 7 shape.
ReplyDeleteI feel like JAMES BOND needs to be in the grid, or something that actually links the actors to the grid art, to make this thing run like an Aston Martin.
But I do love that Tyrone Davis song. #95 for the year 1969.
They did it first. Correction: Them did it first.
Sooper fast here. I got the theme and the themers right out of the box. I knew there were 7 of the OOs, but I was surprised to see them arranged as they are. Played like a Tuesday for me today.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Dr. McElhone (RIP), "it is intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer". In this case, Moore was a horrid Bond, a smarmy pastiche of Fleming. Connery gets first place just for being first, and thus setting the bar. Early films were very good, latter ones segued into the trash of Moore. Brosnan toned things down a Brit, but not enough to be good.
ReplyDeleteThose closest to Fleming, in no order: Craig, Dalton, Lazenby (yes!). Niven's was a satire of a pastiche, and had no connection to Fleming.
@Unknown (9:50)-- What I'm doing has a name. It's called "mother-in-law research" and, scientifically speaking, it's worthless. I know that perfectly well, of course, and I believe that I deserve your respect in understanding that I'm an intelligent enough person to know that.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm looking for, though, is emotional reassurance, which is not at all the same thing as scientific certainty. The more people I hear about who didn't suffer side effects, the more optimistic I will be about my own prospects. That's just human nature, I believe.
In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some brilliant scientists themselves feel the need for emotional reassurance from time to time -- however unscientific that reassurance might be.
Loved “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” , but didn’t know Peter Noone was also a track star.
ReplyDeleteCol. Potter used HOOHA a lot. Let's keep folks.
ReplyDeleteFigured out the double Os early on with 16a and seeing SEANCONNERY. But got stuck for a long time finishing up in the SE because a) I blanked on the CRAIG of DANIEL and b) I thought I had only entered six OOs, and kept trying to slip one into the SE. Finally got the happy music and the hidden 7.
ReplyDeleteCool puzzle!
@Nancy, I and three people I know had the Pfizer vaccine. I had no effects after the first, felt very tired and achy after the second. Next day I was fine. Three younger people those same symptoms, but the symptoms were a bit more severe.
ReplyDeleteMy advice is don't fight the feeling. Just crawl into bed and rest. It would be helpful to have some chicken soup on hand that you can heat up.
Nice puzzle. As I read today's write-up I was certain it must have been written by one of Rex's stand-ins as it was so positive (if you ignore the NRA pea under Rex's mattress). But no! Rex wrote it. He must have taken a happy pill.
ReplyDelete@Albie - Otherwise I agree everything you said. Of course. 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Well, as long as we agree...
ReplyDelete@Nancy - Pfizer. And like with Moderna, the second shot is more likely to have a stronger negative impact than the first, but you’re still most likely to have nothing more than a sore arm (some 15% don’t even get that). It seems more likely to have a strong negative reaction than it actually is because hardly anyone Tweets/Posts/Writes screaming headlines about people getting the vaccine and being okay.
@TJS 9:12 - The theme answers are only three of the PPP answers. POEM, LADY, AGENCY, ÎLE, SOOTY, and ROC all have non-PPP cluing options. Change those six and the puzzle is down to 33%. @Frantic blamed the editor for having this one the day after yesterday’s. I also blame the editorial team for using all these unnecessary PPP clues.
As to Moore, CONNERY has 4, CRAIG and Moore 3 films in the top ten gross earners (adjusted for inflation) with CONNERY the first out if any of the later CRAIG films crack the top ten. So it seems the fans don’t agree with anti-mooreites. Personally, I’m pretty cocky about the whole idea and don’t care who plays Bond, I only watch for all the HOOHAS.
@Nancy - I'll add to your "data set" :) I had the Pfizer vaccine, and other than having a sore upper arm for a couple of hours, I felt no side effects after either dose.
ReplyDeleteThanks, @Z and thanks, @JD.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Bond is George Lazenby, of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” My reason is the location. In 2004, I climbed the Schilthorn with members of the family and friends. The summit plays a big role in the movie. I try not to bear grudges, but I have two big ones:
ReplyDelete1. Ara Parseghian going for the tie in 1966.
2. PIERCEBROSNAN having to sing in “Mama Mia.”
Easy-medium. Really liked this one. No reveal and the number 7 grid art enhanced the fun. Very clever, an excellent debut!
ReplyDelete@Frantic - thanks for reminding me about Michelle McNamara’s HBO documentary yesterday. We started watching it last night, fascinating.
@TTrimble 859am Oh, really? Not looking at me?
ReplyDelete@albie 928am I've never seen a stinging nettle wearing shorts. That must have distracted you while it attacked. Good thing the (family?) jewel weed was near. 😉
As is common for PPP-heavy puzzles, the reactions are all over the map. I have to admit not seeing the giant "7" myself since the animation began immediately after completion. Cartoons are fun, but it might have been interesting to see if I could have picked it up in my own.
I also find it interesting that so many people tried an actual name for the 100 meter dash under nine seconds. Not so fast - hasn't happened yet! 😉
@Nancy FWIW Several people (all in their 60s) I know have had both Pfizer shots with no side effects beyond a little fatigue the day after the 2nd shot. And perhaps it was all psychological, but I actually felt energized afterward.
@frantic
DeleteThanks for the grammar lesson. If the stinging nettles had shorts my knees might not have hurt so much. If I wasn't wearing shorts the family jewels ... YIKES.
Also @Nancy, I should have said very tired and just slightly achy. It was more like an excuse for a day off. As a whole, it was very mild. Everyone was completely fine the next day.
ReplyDelete@Roo
ReplyDeleteSorry. Can I ask though if you noticed before completion that there were going to be 7 of the darned things?
OK I had this nailed except Shoo-how is it I don't know this???
ReplyDeleteAgreed about the Moore comment but with a caveat. Maybe the constructor left him out precisely because the double-O in his name would be too big of a giveaway.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your second shot, Rex and welcome to the club! Be prepared for a day of feeling like crap, though, as your immune system kicks into gear.
I forgot to add that there are 3 million Uber drivers. As far as I know, none are chained to their steering wheels. I don't take a lot of Ubers myself but when I have (about 15-20 times, total, in cities as different as Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York and out-and-about in some rural areas) I've always engaged the drivers in conversation; without exception, they have all been really cool and interesting people. Quite ethnically diverse too. If I had to characterize them, as a group, I'd say they all seemed motivated and they generally shared stories of interesting getting-ahead kinds of family life. It's no wonder some people hate Uber, right?
ReplyDeleteThe absence of Moore is moot.
ReplyDeleteBoohoo! A an uncool booboo/goof made me look for booze behind the door in the nook, where I soon found my bloody book. I may soon choose to swoon over this puzzle. Thanks for a great debut, Jen Burch.
ReplyDeleteThis was an enjoyable puzzle, and a debut, so congratulations Mr. Burch!
ReplyDeleteI want to say thanks to all who have reported their experiences with the Pfizer vaccine - it is emotionally reassuring since I am getting my second shot in 2 hours.
As far as the puzzle is concerned, somehow I understood the Bond actor entries (after understanding the rebus aspect). But never got the rebus placement signifying a seven, which increased my appreciation of the theme. But the PPP was a downer for me. I have no idea if I am correct, but it seems to me newer constructors use PPP in their puzzles at a higher rate than more experienced constructors. I have no complaints about broadening the field of constructors, but as already pointed out there should be a bit of a break between two puzzles that are heavy into PPP.
ReplyDeleteAs with penicillin, often it's the second exposure that results in the allergic reaction, because your body does not produce antibodies until the first exposure. Since the antibodies don't result in an allergic reaction until they are present in sufficient numbers, it's the second vaccination shot which is the bother. With such a low chance of a problem rearing it's head, any worry is likely to be wasted worry. So, all you who are getting the second shot, worry about not getting the shot and dying from Covid. I think that is more likely.
And yes, I got both shots with no side effects. Maybe a sore arm, but so slight as to be ignorable.
In terms of wheelhouse, this could not possibly have hit me any more squarely.
ReplyDeleteSome background (which I am sure you all are just dying to hear): I discovered Bond films in 1978, when "The Spy Who Loved Me" ran on my local cable channel seemingly every few hours. From there I was hooked, and saw 1979's "Moonraker" at least five times in the theater. When Bondmania reached something of an apotheosis in 1983 with the simultaneous release of Moore's in-canon "Octopussy" and Connery's off-label "Never Say Never Again", I was in heaven. I rented all the prior films -- any Betamax, VHS and even LaserDisc I could get my hands on -- and made duplicate copies onto blank VHS tapes, which I then watched over and over again for the next 15 years (I still have them in my basement somewhere). In college, I bought original one-sheet posters (inexpensive back then) for all films from "Dr. No" through "The Living Daylights" via old-school mail order catalogs from the likes of Jerry Ohlinger's movie poster store in Greenwich Village. All 19 of them now hang framed in my basement, and I have to think they are worth some money. When my kids were old enough, we watched the movies together. At various places on the web, including here at RexWorld, my alias is in honor of Sir Hilary Bray from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service, my favorite Bond film, and my avatar is the shield of The College of Arms in London, where Bray worked. (I added a second "l" to Bray's first name through an error and have decided to keep it.)
When I began to try my hand at constructing crosswords (I am as yet unpublished), I started with what I know and love. That meant trying a Bond-themed one, including as many actors as I could. While I am a novice, my difficulty in executing said theme has me sympathetic to the fact that only three actors were included today. George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan are all convenient 13s, while Sean Connery and Daniel Craig are 11s. But poor Roger Moore is always the outlier -- sure, you could pair him with David Niven, but no real Bond fan considers 1967's "Casino Royale" a legitimate Bond film. The "oo" in today's theme reduces Moore to a 9, so I get the objections to his being omitted, but my sympathies lie more with the constructor. For what it's worth, the "Live And Let Die" movie poster does a great job of tying the "o's" in Moore's name to Bond's agent number.
So yeah, I loved this theme. The "7" shape is a brilliant cherry on top. Any complaints I may have otherwise had (fill, clues, etc.) are turned off today.
Thanks for reading. Hope my "all about me" posting has left you stirred, not shaken.
@bocamp(6:44) Thanks for the John Denver link. That song was popular at the time I got married but we opted instead for Annie’s Song. Both of them, IMHO, are among his most memorable.
ReplyDelete@Nancy: I had the Moderna and the second dose definitely triggered a response. I felt very achy and tired but it only lasted about 12 hours. I agree with @JD at 10:47. Be prepared with some comfort food and if you do feel badly, curl up and rest, knowing it’s only temporary and far preferable to the alternative.
Monday/Tuesday easy for some reason for me, although, solving on paper, I never saw the 7 shape, so I wanted another OO or two at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteI felt a weird shout out in this puzzle. I had back surgery for sciatica last August(11 down) and I had my aorta replaced last week( 65 across.) so that made the puzzle an a plus for me. I liked the theme. Loon crossing igloo was nice and coins in Canada are of course loonies
ReplyDeleteTo hate Uber is to love every single person owning their own CO2 spewing vehicle. And to hate capitalism. Got it, Rex is a climate-change denying socialist.
ReplyDeleteYou did notice SHOOTER crossing HOOP.
ReplyDeleteI almost always misspell one Bond's name: BROSmAN. Today it was a hard error to spot because mLER was a correct answer to the crossing clue.
EMBEZZLEMENT is the misappropriation of funds that one has legal control of. So MISUSE is an appropriate appropriation of the word.
Obviously a Sunday puzzle wouldbe needed for more Bonds. After the three double O's at the top I was hoping for three "7" rebuses at the bottom, but was happy with how it turned out.
Possible renaming of the CW-rebus: jambus, jambox (hoohah indeed), jamsquare (too long), jam-in, jammer, jammy etc.
MAPLE was delightfully clued. I hope it makes the Lewis list if there is one. A taste of childhood that appears every year.
The Lil Abner clue was quite a bit of fun. My memory seemed to have totally forgotten, but returned one letter at a time if you count the double O as one letter, which it perhaps was today.
Very C(OO)L double-O-seven ThursPuz. There was a slight delay in spottin the seventh OO, due to havin desperately splatzed in NONE instead of NOONE at 007-Down, early in the solvequest.
ReplyDeleteGot no big prob with omittin Roger Moore from the themers. Altho I did watch most of his Bond flicks, he always seemed like a slightly slapstick version of James Bond. Moore was less, sorta. My two Bond faves were/are definitely Connery & Craig … no Contest.
staff weeject pick: C(OO)L, outlier from the primo weeject stacks in the NE & SW.
Didn't see the gridart's Big 7, until I came here. When I found them seven OO's, I figured my job there was done. Wrong again, M&A breath. Hats off to the constructor, on his theme mcguffin within a theme mcguffin, there. thUmbsUp, dude.
Thanx for the fun, young Mr. Burch. And congratz on obtainin yer license to krossword.
Masked & AnonymoUUs
**gruntz**
After completing the puzzle, I thought for sure that Rex’ write up would include the following:
ReplyDelete1) Whining about NRA. Which is patently absurd, as best explained by @Hoboken Mike. (... the National Reconstruction Act is a high point of American political history and Wayne LaPierre does not get to make us stop talking about it.)
2) Fawning over 21A clued with Amanda Gorman because it hits the trifecta of recent, female and black.
I’m shocked at no mentioned of the latter.
As for the Roger Moore hooha: does anyone else recognize that if Moore WAS included Rex would gripe about the lack of thematic consistency? He’d complain that you can’t have one themed exhibiting the 00 whereas the others do not. He would argue that the constructor should have omitted Moore because the lack of consistency is inelegant, blah blah blah.
My three sisters and I all had Pfizer vaccines and had no reactions.
ReplyDeleteMade the same mistakes as Rex, in the same order, and was stymied by the same mess. Rare mind-meld! Great puzzle.
ReplyDeleteEven better 2nd Pfizer shot news! What's a little fatigue? There's always bed, after all.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your 2nd shot to the other Nancy (in Chicago).
Oars are not for white water rafting. Paddles are. Row, row, row your boat with oars in the oar locks.
ReplyDeleteWe have spoiler alerts.
ReplyDeleteWe have (had?) SB alerts.
At this time we need to add vaccine drivel alerts.
Right on, Rex about Tyrone Davis. I did not know him either, but I do now. It’s nice to learn things from the crossword puzzle. Always
ReplyDeleteLots of black ink used on this puppy, starting with Ediee/EeDIE/EYDIE, my COOKIE jar, my PETRaL (at least I didn't put in PETRoL!) which led to annul for 51d - lots of black ink on that one. And UBERPay (doesn't everyone have their own special payment app nowadays?) I really thought hard about Dick Van Dyke singing "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and still needed NLER to save me.
ReplyDeleteWith the OO of TOOL in place at 52D, I was having a tough time imagining how ScHMOO was going to fit.
I think this is a very nice debut puzzle, so congratulations Jem Burch.
@Grouch -- Touche.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably wrong but I think age has something to do with people's reaction to the vaccine. I turned 89 yesterday; yes the Queen and I share birthdays. Young people have very strong immune systems and old people don't. I had absolutely no reaction to either Moderna shots and neither did other elderly people I know. I hope I didn't get a placebo.
ReplyDeleteMy stupid Uber story:
ReplyDeleteI had never taken an uber and neither had my wife, but she's pretty good with tech and by the time we were outside the restaurant she had the app on her phone. I was pretty giddy. I had been working all week 2,500 miles from home and hadn't seen my wife all week. In seemingly no time, a car showed up, the driver said something, I said yep and off we went. Not too long later the driver stopped and said "here you are". Gentle reader, we were not at the hotel. Seems I had absconded with someone else's uber. Oops. The driver graciously took us to our hotel--maybe another mile or so, but felt he had no way to charge us. I gave him $20 or $30 in cash--whatever was about $10 more than the cab ride to the restaurant had been. He grudgingly took it. Bonus: my wife apparently had heard the driver say a name-not ours--when he arrived at the restaurant. I didnt hear eathe.
Not an uber story, but another stolen ride story. Five years before that, I was in a mob of people after an event. It was a zoo. Getting to the event had been easy--we called a cab, he showed at our motel and that was that. But now, after the event, it was clear to me that getting a cab after amid all the people, and traffic and hoopla was going to be a challenge. I called the cab company but didn't expect to see anyone any time soon. Once again a miracle. 3 minutes later there's a cab. I open the door for my wife, I slide in after her and count my blessings that I'm mobile. But we are stuck in traffic. A lot of it. And then I hear him. A man complaining bitterly. Where's his cab he's wondering. He's upset, he's been waiting , truthfully I don't recall what he said, but it was a good while. He's gesturing and walking in small circles. It would be comical on a sitcom, but I have empathy. That coulda been me I think. Then the horrible truth dawns. It shoulda been me. I have taken his cab. But... it's been a looong day, that cab is pretty comfy and , well, we drove off into the night.
Super extra bonus: I kinda sorta knew the guy. He had been the GM for a major, major sports team. He's the co-founder of a pretty famous charitable endeavor for sick ids and their families. I'd never worked for him, and he ws retired by the time I was moving in those kind of circles. But I'd met him...and I still feel bad about it. He's the kind of guy who, if he heard this tory, would laugh like hell and brush off my offense with a quip. or a drink. Probably both.
Count me among those who failed to notice the pattern of OOs; I've been improving lately wrt sussing out the theme and elements pertaining thereto, but I failed to do so this time. :(
ReplyDelete@Nancy
Glad you're feeling better about your upcoming 2nd vax. I get my 2nd Pfizer in 12 wks. Really appreciate the caring attitude and efforts of all those who shared their experiences with you. :)
@Whatsername (11:42 AM) 👍
___
td 0
Peace ~ Empathy ~ TOLERANCE ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Nobody remembers Woody Allen (yes...I know) years ago in the first take on "Casino Royale?"
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@Hungry Mother 1104am LOL! And who could blame you?
@jae 1107am You're welcome! Glad you're enjoying it.
@albie 1204pm Dear Gof! My comment was never meant as a "grammar lesson", as that would be ludicrous coming from me of all people! LOL! Sometimes I see things differently and I overshare in the interest of "humor". Unless you are being wry. Are you being wry? I've been known to miss subtlety. 🙄
Semi-rye, Ny
DeleteAirplane ID problem in the clues. 68A cluing DCTEN as "Jet similar to a 747" is mostly wrong. The DC-10 was a triple-engine airplane with two wing engines and a third engine in the tail vertical stabilizer. It was wide-body, as is the 747, but Boeing made a triple-engine airplane too, the 727. It was a narrow-body format with all three engines in the rear.
ReplyDelete@ Victor 2:42 Without disputing a thing you say, my guess is that absolutely no one got this answer wrong for the reasons that you list. I, who know nothing about planes, sussed it out immediately, as I'm sure did most of us.
ReplyDelete@ Schully 11:52 While rex may "hate" Uber, I'm guessing dollars to donuts he's actually never even ridden in one. I think he is hating on Uber just to be politically correct. (I've only used Uber once in my life, and I have to say it was a very pleasant, safe, clean experience.)
@Anony 1:32....Ooh, I loved your UBER/Cab stories. I'm not sure why @Rex calls Uber a terrible company. I've taken them may times; the cars are clean and the drivers very nice. I've probably used them over 30 times when I go to San Francisco and when I go to Auburn. Maybe I'm missing something?
ReplyDeleteThe only cab story I have was kinda ridiculously sad. It was in NYC. I was with my Dad so he paid the fare. I had a ton of packages.... all things I bought at my fave Bloomingdales, so my hands were full. I left my purse behind. When we got to the hotel and I needed my key, I realized my stoopid mistake. Called the cab company immediately. Evidently the cab driver said he knew nothing and that his next fare took it. Waaaaa. I had my favorite Chinese silk coin purse in there.. Not much money but that was the one thing I wanted back desperately. Dad bought me another - so all wasn't lost.....
@Victor 2:42. I know, right? I was going to write something about 68A. No similarities at all other than both are wide-bodies. Do you suppose Will will own up to that mistake? :-)
@Frantic Sloth
ReplyDeleteI was reading your response to @albatross 9:28 in the voice of Groucho Marx waving a cigar, "why the stinging nettles were in shorts, I'll never know".
@TTrimble354pm
DeleteReminded me of Groucho too. I asumed it reminded Frantic also.
For whoever gives a fig,
ReplyDeleteJames Bond was a real person. Like so many greats, a Philadelphian in fact. For close to half a century he was the third best ornithologist in the city (my grandfather and Dick Miller being 1 and 2). He was also the king ornithologist at the Academy of natural History. At any rate, his great work Birds of The West Indies was the de facto bible for birders in the Islands and when Fleming was at Goldeneye in Jamaica saw the book and knew quickly that he had the name of his hero. He described the name as brief, Anglo-Saxon and unmistakably masculine.
1954 James Bond played by Barry Nelson in Casino Rotale
ReplyDeleteIn 1972, I went to a Halloween party as James Bond...and the martinis were great.
ReplyDeleteLots of folks hate Uber for the simple reason that it's yet another Big Bidnezz seeking to make a few people rich at the expense of a vast array of poor people. It's not as if cab drivers are the 1% of wage earners, now is it? Is it? If you assert so, prove it.
ReplyDeleteLet’s see - UBER doesn’t make money.
ReplyDeleteUBER has repeatedly been caught committing wage theft.
UBER has a long history of sexual harassment.
UBER has been repeatedly caught engaging in predatory pricing.
I could go on... and on... and on. And then there’s the volumes written about UBER’s exploitative labor practices.
If you don’t realize UBER is a terrible company you just haven’t been paying attention. The irony is that these alleged “market disrupters” have never done anything but set investors’ money on fire and investors still give them more. Losing nearly $7 billion last year was considered an improvement. Why are they cheaper than your local taxi company? Not because of their technical innovations or surge pricing or gig employment model. Simply because they sell their service at a loss.
Hey @Nancy - Look what Rex Tweeted today.
ReplyDelete(@Grouch - you may want to not click on the link)
@Z.....7:40. One of my neighbors is a retired man in his late 70's. He decided to become an Uber driver for extra income so he could eventually travel. He loves it. He says the money he earns keeps him happy; he's saving to go on a cruise etc etc etc. So I guess it's who you talk to.
ReplyDeleteEveryone hates Amazon as well but I, now, can't live without it. I support my Mom ad Pop's best as I can but the world goes on and people have to become innovative. Yes....the rich get richer and maybe, just maybe, the poor will too. Most of us started out poor. Ain't capitalism a bitch.
If I had 3 choices for James Bond answers, I would have omitted Roger Moore as well.
ReplyDeleteGood one, @Z (7:48)! Thanks for the link.
ReplyDelete@Z:
ReplyDeleteLosing nearly $7 billion last year was considered an improvement.
that is astonishing, considering how little physical capital is involved; Uber is little more than a web site, fur cryin out loud!! which they can rent from Amazon or Google or whoever.
a vewy, vewy kwik search of the innterWebs yields this simple how-to
https://yalantis.com/blog/uber-underlying-technologies-and-how-it-actually-works/
if you read the piece, you'll see that not-so-much of Uber infrastructure is actually built by Uber; they buy/rent most of it. and they still manage to lose bundles of moolah. some I'd guess that much of the cash flow goes to the hand full of Uber Menchen.
@GILL I.:
ReplyDeleteEveryone hates Amazon as well but I, now, can't live without it.
There is a consistent difference between Amazon and Uber: Uber is just a way to replace low paid full time taxi drivers with even lower paid part time personal car drivers. the only way the latter can do more than break even is to both cheat Uncle Sam's taxman and the car insurance company. In due time, both alley ways will close.
Amazon, on the other hand, does offer a differentiable service: access to (at a lofty price, of which transport counts) rarely stocked items in B&M stores, outside of Big Cities. Even considering mileage cost on one's personal vehicle, it's way cheaper to go to Piggly Wiggly once a week for common items. Wear your mask and carry a sanitizer spritzer, natch.
OK, I'll pile on too:
ReplyDelete"The company's claim their New York City drivers rake in $90,000 got the company slapped with a $20 million fine for fraud."
"Uber doesn't hire its drivers for the same reason that 20% of companies now call employees "freelancers." They're cheap. Freelancers pay for their health insurance, retirement, equipment and expenses. Most firms even try to outsource their legal liabilities and fees onto freelancers in what is called a hold harmless clause. This has become common thanks to a combination of technology and a virtual collapse in enforcement by the Department of Labor."
"Uber has lost money every year since its founding because it undercharges customers. When accounting for the full costs of its infrastructure, salaries and other overhead, the company spends more per ride than it makes. This has allowed it to kick the stuffing out of legacy taxi companies which, lacking generous venture capitalists, have to operate at a profit."
https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/education/how-much-do-uber-lyft-drivers-make-14804869
So far, NO ONE's vaccine story is anything like mine - I've done a lot of Googling and haven't found anything that sounds similar so I'd love to hear if anyone else had anything similar.
ReplyDeleteI got the Johnson & Johnson on April 9th, right before the pause. The next day I was mildly headachy and queasy, no big deal. Exactly a week later, I was riding my bike home and could barely hold myself up from my handlebars, both of my arms were so weak. This continued the next day, with more fatigue. I didn’t feel tip-top again until the following Tuesday. I can’t think of anything that would have caused this except the vaccine. Anyone else?
@TT
ReplyDeleteYes, I knew from the Themer names there was going to be 7 OO's, just not that they would form an actual 7. I just thought they were randomly placed.
@Nancy
Drink lots ending of water. Worked for me, no dude effects of second Pfizer shot, but plenty of restroom trips!
RooMonster Late Reply Guy
Wow, Auto-Correct much?
DeleteShould have been:
@Nancy
Drink lots of water. Worked for me, no side effects of second Pfizer shot, but plenty of restroom trips!
How do those odd words get thrown in there?
Roo
I doubt if anyone will be interested at this time of night. but I think that Uber and the like should be compared to the existing Taxi cab monopolies all over the country to determine their worth.
ReplyDeleteDelightful. This was as fun as yesterday's was dismal. And to the Niven-haters, if you are going to count Never Say Never Again (as the Connery clue does), you have to count Casino Royale.
ReplyDeleteWish it had been made into a Sunday so all the Bonds could be included.
As someone who started watching Bond with Dr. No, the Roger Moore years were a huge let down. I was happy not have been reminded of him in the puzzle and that it was only the better Bonds.
ReplyDeleteLoved this puzzle. Best one in a long time. Moore would have been a possible addition at 7D (MOORE instead of NOONE) if 17A (SEANCONNERY) traded places with 59A (DANIELCRAIG) to get the R in MOORE. Of course this would require a lot of reworking and the result would not be symmetrical - so Rex would have something else to complain about.
ReplyDeleteHah! OFL had no idea about connecting the OOs to create a 7. That's the kind of thing you miss when focusing on speed solving, and probably on a device. As soon as I finished I grabbed my highlighter and connected them to form a bright yellow 7.
ReplyDeleteThe Roger Moore Bond films were the weakest, so didn't mind his name missing.
There's even a RON in this puz. What's not to like?!
AGENCY SHOOTER
ReplyDeletePIERCEBROSNAN had HOOHAS,
DANIELCRAIG NICE and ornery,
but NO_ONE of THEM was
COOL as SEANCONNERY.
--- RON REAGAN
Agree about poor old M00re, though he was a rather uninspired JB. Got the McGuffin as soon as (best by far) SEANCONNERY came to light, helping the remainder of the solve. Needed a bit of guessing in the SE; I thought calling Dadaism NONART was somewhat harsh, and didn't know TYRONE. Inferred the -ON- from TYR__E. Those classified inits. could be almost anything: CIA, NSA, TSA...
ReplyDeleteWhat I missed was the lineup of the OO squares: a perfect 7! Kudos to our constructor for pulling that off! DOD: a classic, EYDIE Gorme. Group honorable mention to all the Bond girls. Eagle.
My comment regarding the ooooo situation was lost in space. Oooo well.
ReplyDeleteDiana, LIW
Lotsa fun and pretty COOL slowly finding a way through this one. Got the James Bond theme, but picked up on OO7 (neat trick) only after coming here.
ReplyDeleteNotable pausers: MAPLE, RIAN (not Ryan), and the abrupt, rude, embarrassing I DON’T-- at the altar, no less. A few others slowed ME TOO, but not tOO many.
Again, lotsa fun.