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Hey besties, thanks for joining me for a second Malaika MWednesday! (If we can change the clocks twice a year, why not change the days of the week.) If you'd like to enter The Malaika Headspace, today I was blasting this song which is from the Twilight soundtrack.
Relative difficulty: Pretty average, then spent 8mins in the NE (22:11)
THEME: TAKE OUT THE TRASH — In the theme answers, if you ignore letters that spell out synonyms for "trash" then you get words that actually match the clues
Theme answers:
I really appreciated how the mechanism interacted with these theme answers! The majority of the letter addition / deletion themes I see result in either wacky phrases (like here, where you have IRISH SCANNERS) or entries in the grid that do not make sense (like here, where you end up with nonsense like HIGLIDAYS). This theme very elegantly did neither! One thing that Puzzle Reviewers like to talk about is whether a square is "checked"-- i.e., whether a letter corresponds to both an across clue and a down clue. In some complicated Letter Switcheroo Puzzles (like this), you end up with a square that only gets clued one time. But that doesn't happen here. While it's true that something like WILD ROSES never got an across clue, every single letter in it did get an across clue. We knew that the circled letters would form a word meaning "trash" and we knew that the uncircled letters would form a word meaning "trick." And, you get a bonus of knowing that the whole entry does still read as a word!
- LITTLE ROCK: LITTER is removed to give LOCK clued as [Secure]
- WILD ROSES: DROSS is removed to give WILE clued as [Trick]
- IOWA STATE: WASTE is removed to give IOTA clued as [Speck]
- SHOOT CRAPS: SCRAPS is removed to give HOOT clued as [Riot]
Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He also joined with three other Republican Senators in the Singing Senators barbershop-like quartet. In 2003, he stepped down from the position after controversy due to his praising of senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential bid. (Wikipedia.)
• • •
Okay that was a lot of technical blah blah blah, but as a newer constructor, that sort of analysis is very helpful for me as I brainstorm and workshop themes. I hope it was helpful for some of you. Anyway, let's talk about what I liked and didn't like.
It made me beam to see AUNTIE clued as [Term of address for many a respected elder]. Since I'm third gen, I am very bad about remembering that, which gets me some exasperated sighs from my dadi ma. The little stacks of down answers were all lovely. (I like to call these "colonnades," which in real life is a term for pillars that are side-by-side.) We had OVERLOOKS, NAKED LIE, RAT TAILS, and SANTAS LAP. That last one was clued incredibly as [Popular site for holiday gift orders]. Soooo good.
This segues me nicely into a complaint that the clues were a little hard for a Thursday. That one could have used a question mark, in my opinion. (This is my same complaint from yesterday lmao. I feel like what I'm getting at is "Malaika wants to do easy breezy puzzles!!" and y'know what. That's true.) Opaque stuff like [Flip-flop] for THONG and [Astronomical news] for NOVA and [Incense, in a sense] for ODOR really slowed me down.
I've found that in puzzles with a Jeff Chen byline, I'll run into a lot of terms that I 100% learned from crossword puzzles and have never seen in the wild. That is not to say that these things don't exist in the wild, just that I don't come across them. In this puzzle, that's stuff like OLIN as a chemical manufacturer (I know it as a college of engineering) and LADE and ARG as an abbreviation for Argentina (I see it in software stuff, as an abbreviation for "argument") and ATT (an abbreviation for "attempts" apparently?) and SCOW. The worst for me was SPEX which I am so resistant to that I actually refilled that corner:
I am curious-- were there any entries like that where we have different experiences? For example-- probably lots of you watch more football than me and know of ATT outside of solving. And on the flip-side, I was familiar with OPI like a decade before I was doing crosswords, but I'm sure that's different for some of y'all.
Bullets:
- ICEES (Some frozen drinks) — Anyone else wanted "margs" to go here?
- Please let me know your best alternative answer for the clue [Didn't wax, say]
- I always love to see CORGI in a puzzle
- The clue for TILDE (What a jalapeΓ±o has that a habanero lacks) was clever, because a lot of people do actually think that the word "habanero" has a tilde!! There's a whole wikipedia page about this phenomenon which is called "hyperforeignism."
- Let's talk about crying UNCLE. I have never in my entire life heard this phrase except in crosswords, where I feel it appears once a week. I have not even read it, or heard it in movies. Please can you reassure me that this is a real thing that exists??
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Crying “Uncle” is definitely a thing, but your uncle probably hasn’t heard it since he was a kid.
ReplyDeleteAlso, assuming no crosses yet, I got BUSHY, ITCHY or SEVENTIESPORNO.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLove how when Malaika reworks a corner it seems like a helpful, maternal gesture rather than a semi-rageful attack. The positivity given with her critique of crosswordese made me less anxious and less afraid to read the blog. Also liked learning about hyperforeignisms! Malaika, you should make your own daily blog!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat our host said about the themers. Personally I would have preferred no circles, but maybe that would have taken it past Thursday level difficulty.
ReplyDeleteSome of our hosts plaints are reflective of age. THONGs were flip flops before they were underwear and swimsuits, crying UNCLE was definitely a thing when I was a kid but I don’t know that it is still a thing, and SPEX for spectacles is right off the back page of the comic books I used to read, where there was always x-ray SPEX or Charles Atlas ads. So I get those complaints. But NOVA and ODOR? That’s some fine cluing right there. Also, I haven’t counted yet but this felt low low low in the PPP department. ππ½ππ½
I knew Olin right off the bat, only because I was a “hot dog” skier when I was young, and I had a pair of Olin Mark IV skis, that WERE the ski to have... and I soon after heard of the chemical company, and wondered if there was a connection. I don’t think so...
ReplyDeleteEasy. This would have been a pretty good Wednesday. Cute idea, smooth grid, liked it except for the too easy part, although @Z I may be in the right age group for this puzzle as opposed to our host?
ReplyDeleteI liked this different take on theme circles. Usually, the circled letters are the main attraction, while here they're getting discarded - a witty idea, I thought. I also enjoyed the challenge: even after understanding the concept, I had to work at figuring out the 2 post-reveal theme "packages," i.e., I wrote in the clued IOTA and the trash SCRAPS right away, but it took me a while to get the complementary words and the complete phrases. Hats off to the constructor for finding 4 solid phrases that can be divided in this way! Quite a feat, and fun to unravel.
ReplyDeleteDo-overs: Oaty O's, SANTA ShoP. Help from previous puzzles: STU. No idea: SHAHS.
@chefwen - Aloha from a few islands down. It's good to be back, after 3 years.
Yes "cry uncle" is most definitely a thing. Maybe declining in use, as many terms do.
ReplyDeleteSANTA SLAP is just rude. (but the clue is epic!!) Actually, here at xmas a local mall Santa got fired for letting an attractive young woman pose provocatively on his knee (at her request).
Nothing to do with the puzzle: I recorded the PBS show Frontline, about the rise of Putin. I used to enjoy documentaries, but as good as it was I had to stop it and watch something else; it was just too depressing. I remember in the 1990s when Clinton and Yeltsin had their Vancouver summit a few blocks from where I lived; I watched helicopter footage on CNN while I could see that helicopter in person hovering over my apartment. I thought it was the triumph of liberal democracy.
History continues to repeat itself, and I just hope we're not living in a repeat of 100 years ago.
This pretty much shapes up as a "perfect Thursday" challenge for me. Some resistance finding an initial foothold, just the right amount of very clever cluing, for the toughest answers there was just the right level of accessibility via crosses.
ReplyDeleteI came in with roughly an average time. The finish came with a lot of satisfaction with the ride ... no obscure PPP to wrangle with and I was kept on my toes start to finish.
Jeff Chen is a particularly talented constructor. When he pairs up with a partner, a real treat is typically at hand.
@Z - No circles, I would have pulled a @Nancy and put another dent in her wall. It was fine and fun, just the way it was.
ReplyDeleteLoved Riot. HOOT, pure Wisconsin.
@Carola, Welcome back and enjoy your stay in paradise. Try Kauai next year.
ReplyDeleteSomeone I knew a while back worked out that 'Uncle' was probably short for 'Unconditional Surrender.' Sounds reasonable to me.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of SANTA'S LAP, an example of saying UNCLE can be found in this clip from A Christmas S Story, around the 1:23 mark: https://youtu.be/Z2l6RnWM2tU.
ReplyDelete@Malaika - It's a generational thing. In my youth, the cry UNCLE was quite common (but that was long ago; the English language at that time had maybe eleven words total).
ReplyDeleteAnd during my work life, I had a client that sold eyeglasses whose name included the word SPEX. Again, as a yute, we referred to eyeglasses as "specs" or SPEX.
Cool puzzle; great write-up.
ReplyDeleteI decided to try to solve without reading the clues for the long acrosses. It probably helped. I got the idea that the circled letters formed words that meant TRASH and were embedded in longer words that made sense. When I got the revealer, I understood that the clues probably referred to the uncircled letters. That made the whole puzzle easier for me than a standard Thursday.
One overwrite out of the gate: link instead of ICON at 1A. But the puzzle was right: you click an ICON, you click *on* a link. Also, @Carola SHAHS at 25D was a WOE.
Extreme disappointment. I was really enjoying this and I was able to fill in the revealer. OH, there must be a "trash" word that has to be removed for the answer in the themers to make sense. That Aha moment was instantly crushed when I realized the circles told me the "TRASH" to "TAKE OUT". I don't want you to hold my hand. What a shame!
ReplyDeleteUNCLE
ReplyDeleteCute write up. Nice writing style. I thought I knew Cry Uncle from cartoons. Googled and it’s there, but also a bunch of racy 50’s film noir.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't remember the name of the story - but there's a great Stephen King short story where somebody is getting beaten up by a demon possessed young fellow and, to stop the pain, he "cries uncle." This was a lovely and well-thought out review. Thank you
ReplyDeleteBusy week, so Cliffs Notes:
ReplyDeleteLiked the theme. Clever and fun. Agree with @Z 106am - except for the circles. Needed them.
More difficult than average, but not sure if it was cluing or fatigue.
π§ π§ .5
πππ
Found this to be quite easy but after the first two answers-with-circles showed up I couldn't guess the theme, which I should have been able to, but then along came the revealer RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE where it doesn't belong!. That made the bottom even easier and bang I was done, too soon, because I was having a good time.
ReplyDeleteUNCLE is something you learn if you have an older brother who gets you in a fancy wrestling hold he saw on TV. Also agree with @Z about SPEX, which was a gimme. Never ordered the sea monkeys either.
Our friends had a CORGI who was murder on spilled popcorn. Given his shape and efficiency, I called him "Electrolux".
New clue for OREO, and nice to see RIP-roaring, which I haven't heard in forever.
Overall a nice smooth Thursday, although I always look forward to a little more tricksiness. Impressive construction, DB and JC. I Don't Believe you Just Created this without some hard work, so thanks for all the fun.
@malaika -- I'm greatly enjoying your takes!
ReplyDeleteAh, a solver’s puzzle. One that makes you go, “Okay, what the heck is going on?”, then work to crack the mystery. Oh yes, I come to puzzles to learn new things, to jog my memory, to grin at puns, and to marvel at cleverness, but my deepest satisfaction comes from unlocking what was baffling, whether tricky clues or perplexing themes. The joy of unbaffling.
Today brought just such a theme. Figuring out what was in the circles and outside of them, and how the theme answers related to their clues. Icing on the cake was the cleverness of the reveal. Here was a puzzle that required unpeeling, like a tangerine, to reveal its sweetness.
This is an example of where computer programming, which both constructors engage in, can ENABLE a solver’s puzzle. Sometimes, yes, programming can give a puzzle a sterile feel – but not always, and not today.
I liked ODOR in the puzzle, which echoed the theme. I adored the lovely palindromic SHAHS, not to mention that backward PASA, as in “QuΓ© pasa?” right next to ‘SUP. The junk-free grid is a given in a JC puzzle. And, as always, I was quite fond of the rub I ran into – viva la rΓ©sistance!
Congratulations on your debut, Daniel, and thank you both for a satisfying feel-good solve!
UNCLE and AUNTIE. Neat.
ReplyDeleteOnly unknowns: OPI and OLIN. Where’s Lina when you need her? And did you know she was in Bang Bang Orangutang?
Lovely write-up, Malaika! Encountering unfamiliar words is a big part of the fun in crosswords, don’t you think? A good puzzle (and Jeff Chen’s, I’ve begun to notice, are very good indeed) gives you that great sensation of pinging around so many different areas of knowledge, with some clever wordplay to boot. For me, this was the best Thursday in ages.
ReplyDeleteThx Daniel & Jeff; fab Thurs. offering! :)
ReplyDeleteMed.
Moved thru this one without too much pushback; just a bit slow on the themers, but actually caught on quicker than usual.
The SE was the toughest part; had a bit of trouble parsing IOWASTATE.
Went back to the themers post-solve to discover the clued answers minus the TRASH. No luck finding a TRASHcan in the grid art, tho. π
Liked the puz a lot! :)
___
yd pg: 21:29 / W: 3*
Peace π πΊπ¦ ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all π
PPP (Pop Culture, Product Names, and Other Proper Nouns) is unusually low. It almost never gets below 20% and becomes problematic for at least some subset of solvers around 33%. Today it is 14 of 76 for a low 18.4%. I gave this ππ½ππ½ before counting the PPP, but for getting below 20% I think this puzzle deserves ππ½ππ½ππ½ππ½.
ReplyDeleteWhere “cry UNCLE” comes from. This is the source cited by Wikipedia. I don’t know how reliable of a source the source is.
Very easy forThursday, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteCrying UNCLE - definitely a thing, but as I am almost 50 and I'm going to guess you are on the younger side of that number, it may not be a phrase that's in common use anymore
ReplyDeleteWANING - I was *totally* on a hair/shaving thought space with that one for a long time
RATTAILS - unfortunately for me, had the A, and MOWHAWK fell into that space for way too long of a time
The NW was the struggle area for me, with that themer as I had in the circles _ROSS, and fixated on GROSS for a long time, which just didn't feel right but couldn't get past. Probably put OGRE in and out 5 different times as I couldn't get anything to work with it.
It was a struggle, but in hindsight, I enjoyed the solve so yep, good puzzle.
This was a puzzle of many virtues.
ReplyDeleteImaginative clues, extremely low ppp, original gimmick, tight theme, impressive construction...
Kudos to both constructors!
@jms1:33, afraid it is the same Olin corporation; they began with chemicals and ammunitions and then diversified to other products.
@harry 2:21, completely agree with your take on jeff chen puzzles.
AnneD 5:09, here's a more probable explanation of the origins of "uncle!".
What follows is a story from an English magazine ( late 19th c):
A gentleman was boasting that his parrot would repeat anything he told him. For example, he told him several times, before some friends, to say “Uncle,” but the parrot would not repeat it. In anger he seized the bird, and half-twisting his neck, said: “Say ‘uncle,’ you beggar!” and threw him into the fowl pen, in which he had ten prize fowls. Shortly afterward, thinking he had killed the parrot, he went to the pen. To his surprise he found nine of the fowls dead on the floor with their necks wrung, and the parrot standing on the tenth twisting his neck and screaming: “Say ‘uncle,’ you beggar! say uncle.’”
Later versions make the reason for choosing uncle as the key word clearer by starting the story “A man whose niece had coaxed him to buy her a parrot succeeded in getting a bird that was warranted a good talker.”
The vital question is the same as that regarding the chicken and the egg: which came first, the joke or the children’s call to submit?
But as the idiom ‘say uncle’ is apparently strictly American, the joke cannot be an allusion to the idiom, and hence the idiom must be an allusion to the joke.
@frantic, from the other day. Deal accepted.
Malaika, hi, loved your reworking the SE corner, especially because TIKKA. Am still remembering the Indian meal I had earlier in the week, sigh.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, most women of a certain age who had older brothers cried Uncle at times in our youth. (Mine was fond of tickling me until I said it.)
Great write up.
On second thought, this one was masterfully constructed. I got all the downs to 18A and of course didn’t get it. So I went after the revealer, which actually revealed the path to quickly getting everything. Niven job in constructing.
ReplyDeleteThought the theme was a little flat - circles didn’t help. Overall fill was slick - although thought we see our crossword friends Eire, Erin etc today. ATARI has been showing up a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteWe get OPI often but I can never remember it. OLIN was the only other entry I had to think about. I have to revisit the Power and the Glory - I always thought HATE was the lack of imagination.
Enjoyable Thursday solve.
I had the same thoughts as @Z when reading about our guest host’s blind spots with this puzzle. I wouldn’t be surprised if the SHAHS clue was right in her wheelhouse while it was a total WoE for me.
ReplyDeleteI recently grabbed Chen’s book of puzzles and am getting a little accustomed to his style - which I might call very “efficient” as he is usually pretty straightforward even while upping up the difficulty level. I especially like his grids on a low PPP day like today.
I was looking for a common thread tying the theme entries together (with the circles included). Malaika pointed out that just the fact that they are all valid words and phrases is an achievement in and of itself - it would have been cool if a constructor of Chen’s talent-level could have found away (and maybe he did and I missed it) to get the WILD ROSES from IOWA STATE to chill out with the casino in LITTLE ROCK where they SHOOT CRAPS.
How about a 1 month moratorium on the use of ATARI - but of course the door is wide open for OREO (and SS fave the lovely Ms. TERI GARR) anytime.
I got the revealer right off but still had to struggle to get the themers. Tough clueing, but fair and gettable and often clever indeed. But the solve was hard and easy and hard and easy and so on and so forth. Got messed up with dNA instead of RNA, and I suppose some people know the difference but to me they just have something mysterious to do with genes. Or something. The puzzle is impressively constructed AND is a good solve, and those two things don’t always go together.
ReplyDeleteOlin Skis was a originally division of the chemical company. Olin skis are now produced under a licensing agreement by K2 Sports. Usually clued as Actor Ken from 30 Something or Swedish actress Lena.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: X-ray Specs and Sea Monkeys were both patented by the same person. [Quick wiki check later: apparently his patent was for an improved version of X-ray Specs, not the original version. I can tell you, though, that the "improvement" still did not fulfill the implied function.]
ReplyDeleteWord of respect a bully forces his victim to say to indicate surrender.
ReplyDeleteUNCLE.
@pabloinnh
The clue for OREO has been used here before several times.
I'm surprised nobody has complained about DROSS. Maybe I'm revealing my above-average ignorance here, but I was incredulous the whole way as I filled in the crosses on that one. Between that and the crosswordese-heavy fill, I was more than a smidge annoyed by the end of this one.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteAll after-TAKE OUT words are four letters, so there's another layer to this theme.
Neat puz. SQUABS sounds disgusting. Pigeons? Eek. Had SQUidS first, then SQUiBS. Wanted inT for ATT.
Kealoa, dNA/RNA.
Not feeling verbose today. Y'all get a break. Har.
In case you missed it last time I posted it, there's a newer Wordle version called Octordle. You'll have to Google it.
You're welcome.
yd -8, should'ves 3
No F's, again (ARG!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
I am not as fond of this one as others are. A few complaints:
ReplyDeleteThe themers, with the trash in, are unrelated to each other and utterly random. If you start with Iowa State, you expect a set of schools, or perhaps NCAA basketball teams (given the timing), and then Little Rock leaves you assuming some college connection (although it’s the wrong town for the NCAA tourney team). But then the other two are random oddities.
Meanwhile, Stop Verbing Language! “Keynote” is a noun, not a verb.
And is the OLIN factory in NATICK?
@ ashell-No reason to doubt you. Should have said "new to me" or more likely, "forgotten by me".
ReplyDeleteThe NW corner was the hardest for me!
ReplyDeleteI liked this theme, and agree it was well executed.
I also hated "spex". I've never seen it spelled other than "specs". I had the X first and thought it was LASX.
Didn't wax, say was so hard too! I had _A_ED, and tried, LASED, then RAZED, then tried to think of other forms of hair removal, before filling in another letter made me realize it was WANED.
There was a phalanx of pop culture clues guarding the much-needed (by me) revealer -- a phalanx assembled from "The Simpsons", the Bravo series, the company name, and the holiday gift site. I knew I was on my own in finding the revealer without knowing any of them, because without the revealer, I had no idea what on earth was going on with the clues.
ReplyDeleteI had the TAKE O---------- and wondered if it would be TAKE OUT or TAKE OFF? And I had the final SH. But what, if anything, would it all have to do with LITTLE ROCK or WILD ROSES, both of which I already had?
When ASAP came in (I was looking for a time of day like NOON or FIVE) that gave me ATARI which gave me TAKE OUT.
My biggest remaining problem was "SEEN In" at 10D. You know, Meryl Streep as "seen in" whatever. Giving me ?AnE for Graham Greene's "failure of imagination". You try to figure that one out! Eventually SHAHS of Sunset (what an odd series title!) came in and bailed me out.
Trick puzzles that mess with the clues are harder to solve, I find. Remember that recent one with the "l"s in the clues that were "t"s? (Or vice versa, I can't remember.) Anyway, I did this without cheating on the pop trivia stuff and I'm proud of my accomplishment. I enjoyed what was for me a challenge. If you knew the pop culture answers, I imagine you would have found this pretty easy, though.
Oops. I see that SANTA'S LAP is not a website like, say, Etsy, but is a real place on a real lap IRL. Nice clue! It completely fooled me!
ReplyDeleteFunny, got the revealer from _AKEO__ and still had trouble understanding the themers for a few seconds. As @Carola said, usually the circles are the highlight, not the throw away. Would have been much harder without the circles.
ReplyDeleteRe DROSS: comes to my mind from the hymn How Firm A Foundation, "thy dross to consume, thy gold to refine".
Overall pretty easy for Thursday and not too tricky - I do like a rebus on Thursday. Well under average time, I guess because the clues were super fair?
There's a famous UNCLE scene in "A Christmas Story" (which takes place in the forties) where Scott Farkus (he had red eyes!!!) makes a kid cry "uncle". Classic!
ReplyDeleteLet me add to the "Malaika rocks" chorus - I was feeling a bit frustrated with this puzzle, but I felt like this write-up helped me appreciate it more.
ReplyDeleteI often have a tough time getting on Jeff Chen's wavelength... his clues just don't come naturally to me, even on earlier days of the week. What's worse, his gimme clues often feel like traps! For instance, I would not allow myself to write BAKES for the "Makes, as a cake" clue because I could just see him in my mind, taunting me: "Come on dummy, you know you want to fall for this! It rhymes!" As someone who's only recently started solving Thursdays, I felt sure when I was first scrambling through the grid that I'd be bested, but I somehow managed. I know some folks feel the circles were too much of a giveaway, but I don't think I would have come anywhere close to finishing today without them.
NE was also brutal for me. I also thought of MARGS, but also RITAS. And yeah, as a millennial, I'm pretty sure I only know "cry uncle" because Scut Farkus makes Flip scream it in A Christmas Story. And I thought the Voyager clue was a Star Trek reference, so I kept looking for ship synonyms. To top it all off, I had LITTLERISK for the themer there and felt confident about it, so I was just generally down bad in that area.
@Casarussell Like minds! lol
ReplyDeleteCasarussell,
ReplyDeleteOne of the best elements of the scene you describe is Farkus's nickname: Scut! Scott Farkus, meh. Scut Farkus, well, now we got us a villain.
No reflection on Malaika at all, but kind of disappointed that Rex wasn’t here to review this one. I would have liked to have heard his take.
ReplyDeleteThis was like two different puzzles for me. I breezed through the top half and then bogged down to slog in the lower part. Mostly my own doing, however, by stubbornly insisting on Bob DOLE at 46A and SANTA SHOP at 34D. That was further complicated by the oddball clue for 51D (Keynote as a verb? Really?) and WIPER as a car part which is accurate but seemed weird. The one clue I took issue with was STY. On a farm it’s an outdoor enclosure, not a building.
I like that once you got the trick, the theme aided in the solve. Very clever concept and I’ll bet the two constructor guys had fun working this OUT.
“The Unsinkable Molly Brown” with the great Debbie Reynolds has a scene when she says “Uncle”.
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, Malaika! Loved reading your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Malaika for the tutorial with links as well as the willingness to give OFL a break. As a non-constructor, I’m grateful for the chance to peek into the creative process. Congratulations to Daniel for your debut & appreciation for Jeff’s ongoing support of excellence in Crossworld. I’m missing my serving of Thursday rebus, but otherwise delighted by getting today’s theme after only seeing the bottom two themes fill. As several above have noted, today’s grid contained an almost bipolar split between generational gimme & WOE: from SQUABS & GOATEES to OPI (without the E) & RAT TAILS (elevated soul patches?). At least we could all TREK to the OREO aisle together.
ReplyDeleteThought it was a great theme, well executed. If Jeff Chen is involved, you’ve got to expect great. But it seems like Daniel Bodily was a wonderful co-constructor/ collaborator. Congrats on your debut, Daniel. And thanks for a wonderful Malaika write-up.
ReplyDeleteI was mildly perturbed by the notion of a SANTA SLAP, but even more so in the context of a NAKED LIE. Well, sorry Daniel and Jeff, but if I SEE a NIT, it’s not something I OVERLOOKS. And, in fact, thanks for the timely reminder that IOWASTATE some taxes before April 15.
Thanks for a wonderful puzzle just full of disposable junk!!!
I whipped through the first part of this puzzle thinking I was brilliant, then got to the first theme answer…no matter…start on the downs! With the last entry…VOILA, except NO happy music…I looked through my entries and there it was…HANE. Yes, @Nancy, I put in SEENIN for the Netflix clues and never looked back!
ReplyDeleteMy nits (or may I say observations) are:
I’ve heard of NAKEDtruth but not NAKEDLIE…I’ve heard “that’s a BALDFACEDLIE” (with exclamation point). I’ll assume NAKEDLIE is just a thing I’ve not heard or remembered.
Since Millenials are now officially the largest population group in our country, we might want to ditch THONGS as a synonym for flip flops. My official disuse of the word was YEARS ago prior to a family winter beach trip and I asked my son to check under his bed to see if my THONGS were stashed in a storage box under his bed…yeah. The look I got with THAT!
Lastly, like @Frantic I NEEDED the circles. Of course I don’t mind being spoon-fed anyway but unless the “trash letters” are all together…no thanks! I KNOW DROSS is “trash” but I’m not thinking DROSS would have come to mind for me. Well. Maybe eventually but I already spend too much time on puzzles each day!
Well, so much for it being St. Patrick’s Day. ☘️ I was hoping for an Irish theme in honor of the homeland. especially when WILD (Irish) ROSES came into view, but ended up taking out the trash instead.
ReplyDeleteNot to say it wasn’t a good puzzle. Put up just the right amount of resistance and paid off with some nice tricks and surprises.
Hard to imagine that anyone would want their hair to look like a RATTAIL on purpose and fun to see that AUNTIE and UNTIE almost mirror each other. Also liked SANTA’S LAP and assumed it was a website until @Nancy pointed out that it was the jolly old fella’s actual lap, the one that disappears when he stands up.
SHOOT CRAPS is a two-for-one themer since CRAP and SCRAPS are both forms of TRASH.
The trouble with TWO-dollar bills is that it seems like bad luck to let go of them, so you end up with a bunch of money that you can’t spend. However, I will say that I’ve been carrying one around in my wallet now for a few years and I haven’t had one lightning strike, grisly bear attack. or elephant stampede yet.
@Joeph Michael. Pretty sure you can spend a $2 bill.
ReplyDeleteWas hoping for an Irish theme on St Patrick’s Day. The closest is 23 Across as this comes to mind: “my Wild Irish Rose, the sweetest flower that grows...”. Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone π
ReplyDeleteI loved the clue for WIPER - the rhythmic sound was so relaxing when I was younger and riding along. SANTASLAP was worth a smile too. NOVA's clue was a good start - an actual nova would be news, and the science show would probably report on it.
ReplyDelete“Serious schlep” slowed me down because I assumed it was Yiddish - (face palm) It took forever to get NAKEDLIE.
After getting the first themer I realized I’d have to work mostly with down clues, and at first I was leery of the ones that seemed easy. After I boldly put a few in, the puzzle came together. Very cleverly done.
Man, this is gonna get repetitious. Mosta M&A's thoughts about the puz have already been well-covered.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject pick: RAN. Closest 3-letter answer I could come up with, as a possible answer to: {Didn't wax, say}. [yo, @Malaika] Maybe ARG would sorta also work, tho -- dependin on yer hairiness preferences.
fave stuff: AUNTIE & UNCLE. SANTA SLAP. RATTAILS in TRASH. CRAP in the SCRAPS. Malaika, as a blog subber.
no-knows: OPI. OLIN. SHAHS in sunsets.
The Circles. In a ThursPuz. @RP would be so displeased. Tough call, on whether the circles coulda been left out. Would definitely be a nice, sadistic theme mcguffin, without includin the circles, I'd grant.
fave themer: LITTER in LITTLE ROCK.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Mr. Bodily dude and Chenmeister. And congratz to Daniel on his half-debut. Fun, unsadistic, puz.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
p.s. Great job, Malaika darlin. And cool corner re-write.
**gruntz**
Cute puzzle, though far too easy for me on a Thursday. Tore through in 13 minutes with no typos. Seemed more like an easy Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t think any of the pop culture was too obscure or stuck in any generation. And not sure the difficulty with CRY UNCLE. This has been a “not used often” phrase for all of modern time. I can’t remember anyone ever using it for real as long as I’ve lived, but everyone knows it, just from living.
Only beef was the clueing of punk culture for RATTAIL. I was always “friend adjacent” to many in this scene, and certainly paid attention to the music. Punks have never in history worn something so down market as a rattail. Rattails were for skids and losers who hung out behind the seven eleven. Just my two cents.
Interesting Dordle today.
ReplyDeleteDaily Dordle #0052 4&5/7
⬜⬜π¨⬜π¨ ⬜⬜π¨⬜π¨
π¨π¨π¨⬜⬜ π¨π¨⬜⬜⬜
π©π¨π¨⬜π¨ ⬜π¨π¨⬜⬜
π©π©π©π©π© ⬜π©⬜π©π©
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ π©π©π©π©π©
Great Thursday - thanks, Dan and Jeff! Another good Malaika writeup, too - I particularly like the reworking of my problem area, the SE. Details to come.
ReplyDeleteSolved in the wee hours and felt out of my wheelhouse at first, but then things came together, thanks to knowing stuff like CORGI, SQUABS, SHAHS and SCOW. (Not that they’re IN my wheelhouse, just floating around the ETHER between my ears.) I liked the tricky theme - not trashy at all. Lots of great clues; from53D I learned to remove the dancing (Ma)TILDE from the habanero.
OptTAP seems to be a budding kealoa.
Stupidly couldn’t think of Trent LOTT - he WAS my state senator - and I had riDE instead of LADE for “Get on board.” It was so late when the senator’s T’s went in I didn’t check the downs. Now that I SEENIT I love SANTASLAP!
Does Mrs. Santa Clause sit on his lap? If you listen to Nat King Cole, musician du jour, she wouldn’t have time. I’d never heard this one, seems about the same vintage as “cry uncle.” Wonder what spices she puts in those brownies?
Just yesterday I was taking a Latin quiz in which I needed to translate "se dederet" (subjunctive imperfect) and I couldn't think of "surrender," so I wrote, "give up, cry uncle."
ReplyDelete@Beezer - Not even a Millennial thing. I'm an Xer, and I don't think I've ever heard thongs refer to anything but the undergarment. Maybe in the 80s, but I was in grade school then. For most my life, it's been provocative underwear.
ReplyDelete@Joseph Michael - It's funny, because I spent a two-dollar bill at the local corner store the other day and the cashier looked at me and said "Oh, this is good luck!" I was actually expecting a response more like "what is this fake money?" I've never associated it with luck myself, just rarity. My kids' great-uncle gives them $3 in a two and a single every year for their birthday, Valentine's Day, Christmas, and whatever day strikes his fancy. Now I gotta get a hold of some half-dollars to try to spend (and to show the kids -- I don't think they've ever seen a half-dollar.)
My kind of theme. It opens up the whole puzzle. I got that thrilling crossword rush when I saw TAKEOUTTHETRASH.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the puzzle was excellent in every way. Cluing, theme, information, variety, wit. Jeff Chen at his best.
@Malaika:
ReplyDeletePlease let me know your best alternative answer for the clue [Didn't wax, say]
let's see... epilate, shave, electrolysis, laser, au naturel
According to Google NGram viewer, CRYUNCLE is more common now than decades ago, but I have to say that I haven't heard it in a very long time. But it was a very common expression at one point.
ReplyDeleteEchoing the love for the SANTASLAP clue. I was all ready to look up santaslap.com .
Mostly easy, except for the part where I got my dates confused and put in Bob dOle instead of Trent LOTT. Bear in mind, I taught American politics for 42 years, specializing in Congress. Ah well. I finally got that sorted, but missed that it was TAP, not TAg, so finishing with UgS, not UPS. Nice trick definition in 'boom times.'
ReplyDeleteWell...this took a while eating my SQUIBS at Chez Daniel & Jeff's PUB & SALOON. It certainly was filled with some RICO ODOR. I do, though, suggest you skip the RAT TAILS.
ReplyDeleteI liked that AUNTIE and UNCLE didn't dribble any BILE on their GOATEE. I HATE when that happens.
My first taste came with the theme du jour. I saw the main course peeking at me when someone yelled TAKE OUT THE TRASH. There's TRASH here? Oh, nosireebob....You've got to try a little of the specials: A primo LOCK here, some WILES there and the IOTA HOOT. I guarantee you won't need a PROBE WIPER when you're done.
Check Please...and tell the chefs, the food was delicious.
Thanks for reminding me, guys. Today's the day I wheel out the trash bins. I usually take out only two. Today I have six, thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteMy hang-up area was the opposite of Malaika's, the SW. There are a ton of O cereals, some of which fit at 44D. Oaty-O's held me up to the point that I took DON'T GO out. I finally concluded that the marathon's destination had to be ATHENS and the OREO crumbled Oaty.
ReplyDeleteWith TAKE OUT in place at 37A, THE TRASH filled right in and then I went back to see the circles held LITTER and DROSS. Great idea for a theme and well executed. Thanks, Daniel and Jeff!
first Reid, then Dole, finally LOTT. a forgettable guy. of course, he's not Lotte Lenya (Bond Bad Girl toward the end of her career). I had a year of Russian in HS (long story), about the same time as the movie, and I got the joke.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with the circles was, once I figured out I needed to simply get rid of all the circled letters, I was not very motivate to figure out that the circled letters actually stood for something you might describe as trash. So I didn't bother. What I did enjoy was finding HOOT could mean a (laugh) RIOT, and lITTER is, yes, a form of trash.
ReplyDeleteWe had an AUNTIE vs. AUNT convention in my family. An AUNT was someone whose name began with a vowel or most consonants (I had an AUNT Emily, RIP, and an AUNT Mary) . But if her name began with a K sound, she was an AUNTIE (Thus my mother was AUNTIE Kay, and her sister was AUNTIE Claire. Of course they all came with UNCLEs and cousins.
What I liked about the themers was that they all made sense as phrases, though none made sense as an answer to the clue.
BTW, has anyone seen SQUAB on a restaurant menu recently? I used to see SQUABS pretty often, and liked them too.
MFCTM.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Michael (11:41)
@Casarussell Christmas Story was what immediately came to mind for me, as well, as an example of crying "Uncle." Farkus, though, had yellow eyes -- Yellow eyes!
ReplyDeleteSeems like it would take a lot of chutzpah to slap santa, but what do I know about kids today?
ReplyDeleteScut Farkus should have cried UNCLE when getting his comeuppance from Ralphie later on. Scut was lucky Ralphie's brother Randy went and got their mom to intercede. So much for peace, compassion, etc., etc.. π€
ReplyDelete@RooMonster (9:45 AM)
Thx; just what I needed: one more Wordle puz. I promise this will be my 1st & last Octordle post. lol
Daily Octordle #52
8️⃣4️⃣
9️⃣π
3️⃣6️⃣
5️⃣π
octordle.com
⬜⬜π¨⬜π© π¨π¨π¨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ π¨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜π¨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜π¨⬜
⬜π©⬜⬜⬜ π©π©π©π©π©
⬜⬜π¨π¨π© ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬜π©⬜π¨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬜π©⬜π©π© ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
π©π©π©π©π© ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
π¨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜π©⬜
⬜π¨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜π¨⬜⬜
⬜π¨⬜π©⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜π¨ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜π¨⬜⬜⬜ π¨⬜⬜⬜⬜
π¨⬜π¨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
π©π©π©π©π© π©⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜π©⬜⬜⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ π©π©π©π©π©
π¨⬜⬜⬜π¨ π©⬜π¨⬜⬜
⬜π©⬜⬜π© ⬜⬜⬜⬜π©
π©π©π©π©π© ⬜⬜⬜π¨π©
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜π©⬜⬜π¨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜π¨π¨π©⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ π©π©π©π©π©
π¨⬜π©π¨π© π¨⬜⬜⬜π¨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜π¨⬜⬜
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⬜π¨⬜⬜π¨ ⬜⬜⬜⬜π©
π©π©π©π©π© ⬜π¨⬜⬜π¨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ π¨⬜π©⬜⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜π¨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜π¨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜π¨π¨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ π©π©π©π©π©
___
td npg: 18:17 / W: 3*
Peace π πΊπ¦ ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all π
Enjoyed this Thurz once I figured out the trash talk. Went along like a locomotive till I hit the SW and then major dnf.
ReplyDeletepg -2
Octordle... hilarious! Widescreen mode fits perfectly. (Also one and only time I will post mine: 12, 10, 5, 11, 9, 6, 7, 8.)
ReplyDelete[Spelling Bee: yd -4; not my day; 2 new words to me.
td: ~3:00 for 1st pan, 5:25 for genius, ~10:00 for 2nd pan, and ~25:00 to QB.]
I had to put this aside this morning because after an easy little NW, I just couldn’t find my way to the theme. Just now my experience was very different and I was only done in by a single letter. I had SQUiBS instead of SQUABS. I wouldn’t want to eat a pigeon anyway.
ReplyDeleteHaha…after I finished the puzzle I was interested to go check out the online ‘site’ santaslap.com and got a error code π€£π what a geek I am I thought it was a real site…but now that I think about it it wasn’t clued with a ‘?’ which most of the time clues like this are
ReplyDeleteIt's SANTAS LAP, not SANTA SLAP.
ReplyDeleteWAX clue has nothing to do with hair.
s/he who laughs last, didn't get it.
ReplyDeleteSomeone, I'm guessing, is going to smile upon learning that Jeopardy gave ultimate Frisbee some love tonight -- as it was one of the answers.
ReplyDeleteI know it's late, but we can't let the day slip past without this→π©
ReplyDelete"With those windshield WIPERs slapping time and Bobbie clapping hands, we fi-
ReplyDeletenally sang up every song that driver knew." Kris Kristofferson
ILLS (61A) is crossed by a Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW): ILL
And speaking of SPEX and AUNTIEs and UNCLEs, I have a nephew whose company in San Diego--SPEXWAX--manufactures very cool sunglasses made from recycled vinyl records. And the glasses come in cases constructed from recycled album jackets. Google "SPEXWAX" to check them out.
I thought Ultimate was Ultimate but not Frisbee in any case. Ultimate Disc?
ReplyDeleteWhat is Ultimate Wordle?
Nevermind I don't want to know.
Failed at octordle today but look at this
ReplyDeleteDaily Dordle #0052 3&2/7
⬜⬜π¨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜π¨⬜⬜
⬜π©⬜π©π© π©π©π©π©π©
π©π©π©π©π© ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
zaratustra.itch.io/dordle
And the two words, boy howdy. Upside down below.
@Lewis - Dang. I was busy so only caught Final Jeopardy tonight.
ΙΉα΄ΚΙΙ ΙΉα΄dΙΚ
Could someone untie Auntie now? She needs to go to bed.
ReplyDeleteJust a shoutout that "Auntie" and "Tikka" in the same puzzle would have been nice :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Malaika!
Crying uncle is in the movie "a Christmas story" which I'm pretty sure everyone has seen by now.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSEENIT NAKED
ReplyDeleteAUNTIE and UNCLE were TWO WILD
OWNERS of X-ray SPEX
who LOOK OVER THE PUB for a WILE
which ENABLEs them for ESSEX.
---STU OLIN
It took a while to understand the gimmick but after that it was smooth sailing. Very good, as I would expect when Jeff Chen is the co-pilot. Bravo to DB on his debut.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePS - What do naughty boys and girls get for Xmas? A SANTA SLAP.
ReplyDeleteTAKE OUT the papers and THE TRASH
ReplyDeleteOr you don't get no spendin' cash...
This one was kind of difficult, mostly because of the cluing. In particular, one that still mystifies me after filling it in: RACE to the bottom? We're supposed to enter a downhill skiing event? Of all the ways to clue RACE, that was quite weird. Certainly doesn't belong on a Thursday.
Coming out of the NW I had WILDR____. Looking for a trash word, I figure DRECK. That cost some time. Forgot about DROSS.
Guest constructor with an unusual name:
"Mandrake, I can no longer allow Communist subversion, Communist infiltration, and Communist indoctrination to sap and impurify our precious BODILY fluids." --Col. Jack D. Ripper, cdr. Burpelson AFB
There ya go, Daniel, you've been immortalized. Birdie.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteObviously, not everyone has paid close attention to "A Christmas Story". Scut was terrorizing FLICK, not Flip.
ReplyDelete