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Enemy org. in Bond novels / WED 2-15-23 / Peak perks / WW II-era campaign that helped usher in the civil rights movement / African American who recieved a posthumous Medal of Honor for valorous service in WWII / Bodybuilding supplement co. / Star Wars beeper informally / Consoles whose controllers have wrist straps
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Constructor: Sean Ziebarth
Relative difficulty: Medium (only because of two proper nouns I didn't know, otherwise, Easy)
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| [Sorry, I accidentally closed the puzz file before taking a screenshot and so rather than type all the letters back in I just "Reveal Entire Puzzle,” hence all the wee eyeballs] |
- IDA B. VVELLS (17A: Investigative journalist and civil rights pioneer who co-founded the N.A.A.C.P.)
- JAMES BALDVVIN (23A: Novelist and civil rights activist who wrote "Go Tell It on the Mountain")
- GEORGE VVATSON (52A: African American who received a posthumous Medal of Honor for valorous service in W.W. II)
- VV. E. B. DUBOIS (62A: Historian, essayist and civil rights leader who was the first African American to receive a doctorate at Harvard)
The Double V campaign was a slogan and drive to promote the fight for democracy in overseas campaigns and at the home front in the United States for African Americans during World War II. The Double V refers to the "V for victory" sign prominently displayed by countries fighting "for victory over aggression, slavery, and tyranny," but adopts a second "V" to represent the double victory for African Americans fighting for freedom overseas and at home. The campaign first appeared in the African-American newspaper Pittsburgh Courier on February 7, 1942. Being the largest circulated black newspaper with around 350,000 copies circulated during the war; hence other black newspapers followed suit including the Chicago Defender and the Amsterdam Star News in embracing the motto and symbol of Double V. The slogan was prompted by a response to the letter, "Should I Sacrifice to Live 'Half American?'" written by 26-year-old reader James G. Thompson. It was also in a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt encouraged five editors of the top black newspapers in the United States to reduce their discontent and apathy of the war; to which they did not reduce their discontent but changed to the two pronged approach of the Double V campaign. (wikipedia)
• • •
I had to review my finished puzzle to figure out why I didn't get the "Congratulations" message, and it turns out I'd instinctively written in the actual word WARBLE at 50D: Like a songbird instead of the semi-absurd adjective WARBLY. Gotta read your clues thoroughly, and you *really* gotta check your crosses—I should've noticed that ITSE was nonsense at 70A: ___-bitsy (ITSY). I somehow remembered SMERSH, though it feels increasingly ... dated as a crossword answer. Does SMERSH feature in the recent Bond movies??? Google tells me that SMERSH was replaced by SPECTRE except for a brief mention in From Russia With Love (1963). The young among us might be smershing up their faces at SMERSH today, is what I'm saying / guessing. VMI made people smersh up their faces a couple months ago, I remember. The clue mentioned something about the "Keydets" but the initialism VMI meant nothing to a lot of people who then ended up being Naticked. Weird the kerfuffles you remember ... anyway, here we are again with the Keydets (62D: Keydets' sch.). Hopefully you remembered Virginia Military Institute ... if not, the crosses seem undeniable, so that one answer shouldn't have wrecked your puzzle.
"IT'S OVER!" is an ... interesting choice of fill for the day after Valentine's Day. I like that HEROISM (appropriately) crosses GEORGE VVATSON. The other crosses probably don't really apply to him. That is, I hope he was not an OGRE, and I'm just gonna assume he was not WARBLY. Hope you liked this one, at least A TAD. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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74 comments:
I’m deeply impressed by this construction. And, like Rex, grateful to learn about the DOUBLE V campaign. Perfect Black History Month puzzle. That Sean even thought of this, found pairs of pioneers with W’s in their names with the same numbers of letters, placed DOUBLE V smack dab in the middle. . . wow.
Unlike Rex, this took a bit to snuff out. I have seen a DOUBLE u puzzle, but never a DOUBLE V.
Liked GEORGE WATSON crossing HEROISM – one of World WII’S medal recipients for valor.
“Flapjills” before FLAPJACKS. Just kidding. (That clue yesterday threw me. I had no idea that lumberjills were female fellers. I thought this ignorance was because I’m a bit warbly on women’s movement TERMs, but it seems the word has been around since the 1940s.)
Annnnyyyhoooooo, the clue for MELT pleased me. But I tell ya, I once bought some sugar-free ice cream, and it was so nasty I put the whole container in the sink to MELT. A couple hours later I went to rinse it all down the drain, and I swear, most of it was still intact in the carton. It was like some alien form of ice cream. Creepy.
I guess I was ACTING OUT yesterday afternoon; I threw a mini tantrum because I seem to be the only teacher who obeys the directive not to release kids until their name or bus is called. My poor students have to stay in the room while they watch the parade of happy kids wandering the halls, yucking it up, trying to get my students to leave the room. But what set off my IRE yesterday was that these kids who weren’t supposed to be out were actually given leftover sandwiches from our faculty Valentine’s Lunch. Are. You. Kidding. Me. So in addition to happily socializing with their friends, they were munching subs while my kids looked on through the window in our door. Man oh man, I was hot. Afterwards went to the Dean of Students and complained, and the worst part was as I sat in his office, the realization yet again that I was the Karen of Turning Point Academy hit me right between the eyes.
“Yours might be made up” – this is a gem of a clue. If you’re someone like me, it could be your face or your interest in someone’s detailed Facebook post about a stubborn sinus infection. If you’re someone like GEORGE Santos. . . well, pretty much everything else.
I have a nit to pick, with the WARNING/WARBLY cross. It would've been nice if the puzzle had only "VV"s and no "W"s. Other than that, what @Rex and @LMS said. Good puzzle, and I learned about Double V.
Nice puzzle, on the easy side once the theme became evident. I knew three of the four African-American names, and the fourth (George Watson) was obvious from the crosses.
President Truman desegregated the armed forces after World War II. For some reason Double-V isn't often cited as setting the stage for Truman's decision, thought it certainly must have.
@Conrad Yeah, the other W at 1A/D could have been replaced by R (RAFER/RIIS) to get RAFER JOHNSON in there.
Maybe an E for the W at 50A/D? (EARNING and grid alteration to EARBUD)
Still awed by the shade thrown at the #nytxw by Friday's co-constructor- go @Nijah!
Eye opening. Learned about the Double V program and George Watson, both so very inspiring. The Double V program was a unifying force that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement. I became acutely thoughtful, happy, and sad after reading about it today. Why have I never heard of it? Thank you, Sean.
The ship George Watson served on was attacked by the Japanese, and the damage was so great the order was given to abandon ship. Instead of just trying to save himself, George Watson helped those who couldn’t swim to get to rafts. The effort so weakened him, that when the ship sunk into the deep, he couldn’t fight against going down with it. His body was never found.
I think of the line from “To Kill A Mockingbird” about how you never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view. I’ve tried really hard to understand racist thinking, and I just can’t get there; it’s incomprehensible to me. I love reminders of just how off-base that thinking is, and here are two fresh ones for me today, in this puzzle.
Oh, it was a fun puzzle with a lovely gimmick, but today it was more than a diversion, as it touched and moved me deeply. I’m very grateful and so glad you made this, Sean.
VVhat a vvonderful puzzle/history class this is. Best debut ever!
Thankfully the crosses were fair and I was marginally familiar with some of the themers - so it didn’t devolve into a total slog. Discerning proper names in a PPP-theme or tribute puzzle is way down on my list of favs - but I was able to stick this one out.
Agree that the construction is admirable, it must have taken quite a bit of effort and diligence - so good job on that count.
Oh this puzzle was delightful. I’m stubborn about not checking the revealer until I work my way down to it, so for a little bit I had BBALDWIN, but I had my suspicions pretty early on and abandoned most of the top center and northeast til I got to the revealer.
I vaguely remembered the *facts* of the double-V campaign, but not its name, so was delighted to be reminded and see it so cleverly reflected in the puzzle.
Despite living 15 minutes from two major ski mountains, I have zero skiing knowledge. My father has always placed skiing firmly within the category of “goyishe nonsense” — like all sports in which one willingly exposes oneself to winter weather — and I never corrected that gap in my education. But, I eventually dredged up TBAR from crosses and the crosswordese mental vault.
And oof, LMS. That sounds rough - but in these dangerous days for students, having them accounted for seems like the right (if unpopular) thing to do. Hope today is easier.
Lots of sparkly cluing today, great theme, perfect bit of me time to fill the well as I brace myself for a 6 meeting day adding up to 7 hours on Zoom.
Re the shapely meals trend of the past two days: IT’S OVER. A nutritional puzzle today nonetheless. Like Rex, I learned about both the DOUBLE V campaign and GEORGE VVATSON for the first time. Rex fills us in on DOUBLE V, but I looked up Watson and learned he was a laundryman on a ship that was hit by Japanese bombs near New Guinea. After everyone was ordered to abandon ship, he helped many men who couldn’t swim get to life rafts - but he himself got sucked down with the sinking ship. He was one of seven black WWII heroes (one still alive) to get their overdue MOHs from Pres. Clinton after an investigation showed that racism kept them from being recognized for decades. Timely, because I just read about a black Vietnam War vet who just got approved for the MOH after his nominations from the many men he saved were repeatedly “lost.”
It felt like WIIS was trying to sneak into the theme but failed by a letter.
On a less lofty note, I also learned SMERSH. Too lazy after my Watson research to look that up so I’ll check back later to see which Bond fan among you enlightens us about that odd name.
I liked “beach retreat” for EBB. I had Alan first for the MASH answer because I thought “Hawkeye” was directing us to a first name. I realize I don’t know what Capt, Pierce’s actual first name was. Interesting to learn that INCA means leader in Quechua.
Sorry in advance if this is not the right place for this question. Rex mentioned downloading the puzzle in .puz format the other day and solving in black ink or across lite apps. Is it possible to do that on a tablet or just a computer? If so, how? Thanks and sorry if there is a better place to ask this wise community this question. Happy to post it there instead with direction. Happy puzzling!
Browser extension called Crossword Scraper. No idea if it works on tablets.
Was nice to learn and or relearn some things without it being crushing esoterica. Well played. Enjoyed it a lot.
Double V has a certain pertinence today.
Very timely and educational puzzle that played "Easy/Medium" for me. Had a tough time getting a solid foothold in the top half, but things picked up in the lower half. Knew it had to be IDA B "W"ELLS,but slow to pick up on the "DOUBLE V." Glad to learn about the real DOUBLE V.
Bit of a secondary food theme with MAHI (and fruit PITS), and WAFER crossing FLAPJACKS (and SAP turned into syrup), but highlighted by the delicious crossing combo of PECAN pie and SPAM. Yummy!
A nice puzzle, but like Conrad I thought the presence of two actual W’s was a bit of a knock. Was fully expecting Rex to call it “inelegant” or sone similarly Rexy word. Also expected one of the graphics to feature Alvvays, which seems like a band Rex would love.
I was hoping you would agree that this was a VVinner. Learned a lot, since I clearly know less than you do about the featured people in the puzzle.
Usually I’m Sir Hillary, but having tech challenges today…
Very nice puzzle — well-constructed, aptly timed and a learning experience to boot. Like some others, I was unfamiliar with DOUBLEV and GEORGEWATSON until this morning.
As to SMERSH…Fleming explained it as a portmanteau of smiert spionem, or “death to spies” in Russian. Basically, the KGB. It was Bond’s primary nemesis until SPECTRE was introduced in the “Thunderball” novel. In the films, the producers wanted to minimize politics, so SPECTRE (particularly its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld) became the more common baddie, often victimizing both the West and the Soviets with their schemes. As far as I can remember, the only film to mention SMERSH is “From Russia With Love”, in regard to a villain who had defected from the Soviets to SPECTRE. The term smiert spionem was also briefly revived in “The Living Daylights”.
OK, that’s enough Bond dorkery. Carry on…
Typically not a fan of tribute puzzles - but the trick here is cute. W for our neighbors from Valencia is “uve doble” which would have been nice to incorporate here somehow. Maybe @Gill or Pablo can expand on that. Didn’t know WATSON but backed into him easy with crosses. Not a lot of pushback anywhere.
Liked HEROISM x ARTOO and WARBLY. They’re always pancakes - I believe FLAP JACKS have an alternate urban definition? Been in my share of MOSH PITS early on - but a side eye to the reuse of PIT as a clue and fill.
Enjoyable Wednesday solve.
The Big O
Really good, enjoyable. I agree that it would have a more elegant construction without any other W’s, but what can you do.
VVell vvhat a vvonderful crossvvord. Native American dogs in a group is a bovvvvovv povvvvovv.
I am somewhat familiar with all of those people, but I certainly couldn't have written them in without lots of crosses, and the constructor did a great job here of making the puzzle fun, challenging, but also fair.
Double V might be a cute crossword theme, but the actual Double V campaign sounds a little creepy and sinister.
SMERSH is an hilarious word. MEWL is ugly. The fill is reasonable even with so many thematic restrictions, and also quite fun. A really complex work of art.
My post never showed up yesterday so I am hopeful today's is more amenable to the Blogger bots.
Uniclues:
1 How most tacos come.
2 "Excuse me. Excuse me! Stop slam dancing please. Does anybody need any meaningless chemicals in plastic tubs to make your urine more expensive?"
3 "The marquess is on his way."
4 Rides a cat to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
5 French toast.
6 Royal family gossip.
7 The day the songbirds head south.
8 The disappointing moment one has lost one too many times.
9 When they cut to the in-studio out-of-proportion basketball court to show the audience a simulation of how it all came down.
10 Pirate on an adventure less to ransack and pillage and more to prove nobody burns a village better than he.
1 SPANISH-WISE
2 GNC MOSH CUT-IN (~)
3 EARL WARNING
4 USES MEWL ROUTE
5 FLAPJACK'S OTHER
6 BBC CELEB VIEWS (~)
7 WARBLY ALL AWOL (~)
8 IT'S OVER UNO. BOO.
9 NBA TV ACTING OUT
10 ARSON KING ASEA
Terrific puzzle!
KEYDETS sounds like the name of an a cappella group. Whenever I see that word, I hear somebody blowing a little pitch pipe.
Saw what was going on with IDABWELLS which made the other themers pretty easy. Hand up for learning about the DOUBLEV program and having to be be prodded to remember GEORGEWATSON. I'd heard his story but didn't remember his name.
I'm so old I thought of SMERSH right away. SPECTRE never occurred to me.
@Weezie-It's hard to find a TBAR at a ski area any more. Most of the beginner slopes have gone to the "magic carpet" which you stand on to go up like a moving sidewalk.
@Son Volt-The Spanish alphabet doesn't really have a W, so I've heard "uve doble" and "doble ve". When I lived in Spain, TWA was still in operation and my family referred to it as La "To0-Ah", just sticking in a "u" sound .
Very timely and well-constructed, SZ. Some Zip and lots of good info. Congrats on the debut, and thanks for all the fun.
Agree with all the positive comments thus far. Very apt and entertaining puzzle. Fascinating how many of our “veterans” in every sense did not know about the Double V program, myself included. Recorded history can be elusive.
@Bob Mills. You are correct about President Truman. While bashing baseball is in vogue these days it should be remembered that Jackie Robinson integrated MLB almost seventy six years ago, before Truman integrated the Armed Forces and seven years before Brown v. Board of Education. A definite Double V for baseball. Spring Training is just days away.
As a white gal this was a little difficult for me. I knew Baldwin and DuBois, but the others escaped me. I will read up on them. The crosswords, for me, are all about learning. Didnt know about Double V, but I got the trick at BALDWIN. No errors. PS Aren’t you glad Valentines Day is over? Sheeeesh. On to St Patricks Day season. :)
Hey All !
Thankfully IDA B WELLS is a WELL known name, because I had the two V's next to each other in that answer, and also in the WATSON one. Scratched the ole head and said, "It's WELLS. What's this VV thing?" Then realized what was happening, and gave myself the D'oh slap.
Then got Revealer, and realized why the VV's. Ah, says I.
Nice puz. A few initialisms here and there to navigate some areas, but they're all common.
Noticed a bunch of B's while solving. There's nine of them, but seven are in the upper part. Strange how you notice these things.
Agree funny to see ITS OVER after V-Day. Har, just realized yesterday was V-Day, today is DOUBLE V Day. 😁
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Amy: liked this a lot. Great observation of Black History Month, and hits the Wednesday sweet spot. Also love the clue for MIND, as well as LMS's observations about it.
Very satisfying puzzle! But one quibble: PECAN is a pie FILLING not a flavor.
Dull puzzle gives birth to dull comments, including this one.
Have to pile on with the kudos today: great puzzle, great timing, great to learn about something that richly deserves to be better known!
BTW, I happened to think the "empty calories" theme pair from Monday and Tuesday was kinda cute...
Kind of tone-deaf to have VMI in a Black History Month puzzle, given its recent, if not current, history of virulent racism. Well maybe not, as that is in fact, Black History.
Add me to the list of, well everyone, who never heard of the Double V campaign. I echo the sentiment that the Double V campaign was sad, and add that I doubt it contributed significantly to the modern Civil Rights movement. It was over by '43. Returning black vets were still treated like shit. I doubt the failed promise of the Victory Over Racism half of the Double V was a tipping point for anything or anyone.
I normally don't like puzzle themes based on names and I normally am not a big fan of tribute puzzles, but this puzzle is the exception that proves the rule. What a nifty, deserving and inspired idea! So cleverly executed. And so well timed. I'd never heard of the DOUBLE V campaign, but I'll go read up on it now.
I can imagine Sean crying "Eureka!" when he hit on the idea and when all the themers turned out to be symmetrical. Great job!
VVell, vvee’re still dealing with shapes. They’re just not edible.
Congrats on your NYT debut, Sean. It’s a vvinner.
I knew instantly it was IDA B WELLS, as I'd just read about her in Scientific American of all places, but I tried spelling it WELLES to make it fit. Luckily the downs clued me into the trick.
Like others I had never heard of the double V campaign, so that was cool. And I also loved the clue for MIND. I had MIN_ and still couldn't think of it forever.
I've heard VVATSON's story before, but did I remember his name? No I did not.
I'm trying to learn Spanish and met ONCE yesterday. Talk about good timing!
Thx, Sean; loved your Black History Month puz! :)
Med.
More or less sniffed out the idea at IDA B. VVELLS. Great theme!
Coincidentally, just finished reading JAMES BALDVVIN'S 'Notes of a Native Son' yesterday.
Enjoyed learning about the DOUBLE V campaign and GEORGE VVATSON.
"George Watson (March 24, 1914 – March 8, 1943) was a United States Army private who gave his life rescuing several soldiers from drowning at sea during World War II. In 1997, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration for valor, for his actions on March 8, 1943, near Porlock Harbor, New Guinea.[1]" (Wikipedia)
A wonderful tribute today, and very worthwhile trip! :)
___
Finished Brooke's New Yorker in 70. Dnfed on the next to last two letters of the 'Oral hygiene product', not knowing the two crosses, either. :( Good workout, tho, and a fine puz! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
Great debut—I ran in some of the same circles as Sean in college, but I had no idea what he’d been up to, so seeing his name on the puzzle this morning was pretty cool.
I went to bed last night unsure about the plural of STARBURST. It's a wonder I was able to sleep. On the expression "the exception that proves the rule," I can see how a sign in an appliance store that says: "Deposits required for refrigerator purchases," would "prove" a general rule that other appliances do not require deposits. But I don't see how the rule for pluralizing "taffy" (without an S) "proves" that other candies, including STARBURST(S) take an S.
My grandson Leon uses an S for Starbursts, but he also still says GOED for "went," so I'm hesitant to consider him an authority.
The word STARBURST, when used for any purpose other than the candy, does take an S in plural form.
Unless anyone can add to the discussion, I'm going to move on in life considering them both correct.
Great puzzle. Fun and educational.
Cool idea and tough-ish solvequest, at our house. Usually, when U start out an answer with IDABVV-, U think "Figs again, M&A breath". [Figs = suspected incorrect answers that are messin up the solvequest … I think only the PuzEatinSpouse and I use this term.] JAMES BALDVVIN kinda helped m&e out on the nature of the puztheme mcguffin, then I went back and figured IDA B. VVELLS out, no big prob.
Like many, didn't have the DOUBLE V campaign covered in any of my schoolbook-learnin. Interestin thing to learn about, tho.
staff weeject pick: GNC. Part of the tenacious BBC/GNC/UNLV/DOUBLEV/non-VV AWOL/VCRS abbreve cluster.
Some of the fave stuff: FLAPJACKS. SMERSH [Read a lotta Bond novels when in high school. First movie date was at the Dr. No flick. etc. Sooo … gimme]. HEROISM. CACTI.
WARBLY. har
Thanx for the history lesson, Mr. Ziebarth dude. And congratz on a vvell-vvritten debut.
Masked & Anonymo[penta-U]s
**gruntz**
At 7:56 a.m., did everyone else's comments page suddenly morph from regular typing to italics?
The only thing worse than to “play in pain” is to “ACTINGOUT.” Ouch!
Do LUMBERJILLS eat FLAPJACKS? Come to think of it, a flapjill doesn’t sound too appealing. Just give me a KLONDIKEBAR with a KRAFTSINGLE, please.
My new glasses seem loose and unsteady. Guess I shouldn’t have ordered from WARBLY Parker.
It was easy to get the first themer (17A) and then you knew the gimmick. So a little unchallenging for a Wednesday, although historically interesting. But the cluing was awesome, with all sorts of puns, misdirects and other deceptions. I really enjoyed this. Thanks, Sean Ziebarth, and congrats on the debut.
P.S. @LMS. A “Karen” is a white woman who acts entitled. That’s not at all what I think you’re about. More like a stickler for certain rules (like procedures for classroom dismissals), although not for others (like grammar). Not sure what this type of selective stickler would be called, so I’ll suggest a “Loren”.
Here's something weird: in Web Mode view on my phone, all the comments under Anon/Sir Hillary's 7:56 post show up in italics. Like it couldn't figure out how to disengage Sir H's italics, so it's just gonna keep them going until...forever.
Good puzzle. I think I would have preferred an extra wide square with a VV rebus inside, but that's probably more than the Times's poor widdle software could handle.
The Double V campaign is very interesting to read about— I'd never heard of it. There's tons of stuff online. It originated as a suggestion in a letter from a 26-year old defense worker to the Pittsburgh Courier, which then took up the idea as a cause. Other black newspapers followed suit. It factored into various civil rights-related issues at the time, including the desegregation of baseball. Surprise: J. Edgar Hoover saw the campaign as an act of sedition.
Another kind of Double V.
Easyish. I caught the VV with IDA B. and I had no erasures, so on the easy side for a Wednesday. Me too for GEORGE VVATSON and DOUBLE V as WOEs. Liked it and learned something, or what @Rex said, an excellent debut!
2D - Hawkeye's player on M*A*S*H. Isn't the convention that if a clue references the first name of the character, then the answer will be the first name of the actor (and likewise if the clue is the last name)?
Hawkeye was the first name of Hawkeye Pierce on the show, so 2D should've been ALAN.
So I wrote in IDA B W and then noticed that the name was too short. I was still expecting 5-D to be clued "Button on a VCR," but then I got VIES, saw what was going on, and put in JAMES BALDVVIN from the J and E (which I didn't need). So I wend to 38-A saw DOUBLE V fit, and took a chance on it -- I had actually encountered it once before, in a novel by an African American author of the 1940s (can't remember who); it stuck in my mind because I was teaching American Political Thought and hoped to work it in some day (I never did). I still didn't know GEORGE VVATSON, though.
Almost overnight, GPS seem to have become PCPs. OTOH, my brother-in-law's husband recently referred to their "family doctor," so the past lingers on.
Kealoa time: LOTtA/LOTSA. Fortunately I noticed it before filling in the former.
I knew VMI from their long struggle to continue their policy of not accepting women as students, but I didn't know they were the Keydets. I guess I'll go and look up where that comes from.
Actually, I was thinking of The Citadel, so I don't know why I remembered VMI. Wikipedia has an article about VMI Keydets, but doesn't explain the name; Urban Dictionary says it's 'cadets' with a Southern accent. Anyway, VMI and the Citadel are the only 2 Division I schools that do not have women's basketball, so the tradition lives on.
Well, for me, replacing a double U with a double V is a bit of a clunker, but pretty happy with the puzzle overall. The letter, W, was once written UU, and is actually used as a double U (i.e. a vowel) in at least one word we use in English, CRWTH. That's a Welsh string instrument. It's accepted in Scrabble, yet I've never seen it in the NYTime Xword. Maybe one day it'll be used instead of the far-too-often used "oboe". I wonder if Scrabble accepts CWM as well?
I've played UNO for years, which has only one U, but I think it's far more popular in the Times Xwords than in the general public.
Real happy to read about the DoubleV campaign, hand up for another first exposure. I'll have to read more now.
Clever construction surrounding an educational core. I appreciated learning about the DOUBLE V Campaign and George Watson.
One do-over: Eureka as a "lemon" before MOTTO, good grief.
@Nancy 10:55am - yep. Even the Google "Leave your comment" box has got converted over to italics.
Far out. We're clearly bein hacked by the Italicans. Everybody check the skies for floatin meatball-oons.
M&Also
I was going to complain about FLAPJACKS as the answer to "gridiron goodies". No, those are waffles, I was gonna say. In the words of the Emily Litella (played by the late, great, Gilda Radner), Never Mind!!!
Puzzle was not all that Easy for me, and it took a while to grasp the trick. But it was well made, clever, and educational. Never heard of that Double V program. And why don't we call the W letter "double v"? They do in Spanish. French too.
@Jim in Canada - I noticed this too. Conventional use would have called for "Alan" but this clue doesn't follow convention. Not that there are really any rules in crosswords. But I did stumble briefly there until realizing that ALDA had to be the answer.
</i>
TO PROVE a rule means TO TEST a rule
That’s all.
Knew three of the people but never heard of the DOUBLE V campaign. Good to learn. It should be wider known so props to this puzzle for that.
(I tried to trick the nefarious hackers by doing the old DOUBLE italics reverse trickeroo. Testing, testing.)
@Canon (1:08). That's what I thought originally, but I did a little digging and was disabused of that. That meaning of proving a rule is archaic and/or way down the list of usages for the expression.
Nice write up on a fine puzzle. Interesting constructor note as well highlighting the tenacity needed to win a debut in NYTXW—not on par with Medal of Honor efforts perhaps, but praise-worthy nonetheless. Like others learning of the VV campaign was an appropriate prompt to consider American social values, dig a bit deeper into how far we have come & grimace at how far we have to journey to achieve “liberty and justice for all.”
@Jim in Canada-Hawkeye was a nickname. His first name was Benjamin.
p.p.s.s.
@AnoaBob - M&A has done extensive [well … some] research on how to eliminate the dreaded hacker italics from all our beloved blog comments.
Best bet seems to be to hang a dreamcatcher dealy directly over yer computin device, then close yer eyes while shakin a gourd rattle in yer left hand, and chantin "Begone, Italicans!" exactly 666 times.
Or, there's somethin about usin double asterisks or double underlines and/or Cmd-I's or Cntrl-somesuches, but that sounds kinda looney tunes to m&e, by comparison.
M&A Help Desk
Fun fact, at some point the Congress expressway in Chicago was renamed Ida B Wells, so you can now stand on the corner of Wells and Wells in the loop. My wife and I often wonder why they didn’t rename say, Jackson, for Ida B. Since Jackson was a totally horrible human.
Proving grounds, in the military sense, means testing grounds (for bombs and such), so this sense of proving survives outside of "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".
Loved this. Reminded me of my years as a Civil Rights advocate and of all the brave warriors who taught me so much as I learned to listen-really listen to others. My early years learning the power of people in nonviolent, well organized protest changed my life. Those years, born of anger and the need to make my own way in the world and my participation in something so much bigger than myself set me on my path of public service.
Today’s puzzle brought together the events and people so important to the movement and in Black History Month as well. The theme was obvious and easy, but very “vvell” executed. And I loved going all the way back to Double V. So many milestones and so many acts of absolute HEROISM.
And here we are again. Needing massive change but seeming to lack the will to look beyond our own “stuff” in order to join together and listen to each other in order to forge the change to move us forward. Thank you Sean Ziebart for reminding me of what came before. I’m not done yet.
For future reference, Hawkeye's full name is Benjamin Franklin Pierce.
The directions for the pills read "take once a day" so...overdose!
Yes, Monday-easy. Sovled downs-only and only stumbled on the network (I never know what network anything is on). Agree that the clue called for Alan, not ALDA.
Why are all the comments coming up in italics?
Test
VVell, right off I started to put in JAMESBALDWIN...uh-oh, a square left over. Hmm, can't be, because I know very well who wrote GTIOTM, and I don't remember his ever being known by a middle initial or anything. So, something Thursdayish must be afoot. Soon I saw the adjacent V's: just making the W cover two spaces.
Yet right there at Square 1, there's a normal W! And, as I went through the rest of it, three more! It's a great tribute puzzle, but those W's make the whole thing inelegant. I mean fine, if you're gonna split it, then split it everywhere and not just in the themers. Anyway that's my take on it. I do applaud the theme though, and did learn about the DOUBLEV movement and Mr. VVATSON. Hats off to all those pioneers, and a birdie for the constructor. I suppose it would be too difficult to double-V all those.
Wordle birdie.
ACTING HEROISM
JAMES Bond ran the GAMUT,
OUT OVER night and ALL morning,
to ERASE SMERSH, but dammit,
"WII DOUBLE-0s get no WARNING."
--- GEORGE L, BBC
As my grandfather would have said, "Vell, vell, vell." (Finnish accent there. Vy not?)
Very very funny - eh?
Happy Vendsday to all the SyndieCats.
Diana, Lady-in-Vaiting for Crosswords
Having read the Ian Fleming novels, SMERSH was a gimme. IF memory serves, SMERSH was mentioned a couple of times in the early Bond flicks and then changed to the more generic world-take-over fiends SPECTRE.
Wordle par.
@Anonymous 9:39am:
Every pecan pie I've ever eaten has tasted like pecans. What on earth have yours tasted like??? Cherry? Rhubarb? Peach?
SMERSH wasn't an Ian Fleming invention, but a real counter-intelligence group organized by Stalin to counteract Nazi Germany attempts to infiltrate spy organizations.
VVovv! VVhat a vvonderful puzzle! Learnt a lot and had LOTSA fun at the same time.
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