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Evil conglomerate on Mr. Robot / FRI 2-17-23 / Its index case occurred in Meliandou Guinea / Contractor's project informally / Sucker for a fictional story line / Fictional figure who often visits the night-cloaked deck / Chopin piece inspired by a dog chasing its tail / Heracles killed its eponymous lion
Friday, February 17, 2023
Constructor: Jem Burch
Relative difficulty: Easy
Word of the Day: BEBE Rexha (51D: Singer/songwriter ___ Rexha) —
Bleta Rexha (Albanian pronunciation: [ˈblɛta ˈɾɛdʒa]; born August 30, 1989) known professionally as Bebe Rexha (/ˈbiːbi ˈrɛksə/BEE-bee REK-sə) is an American singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Records in 2013, Rexha received songwriting credits on Eminem's single "The Monster" (which later received the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance) and has also contributed songwriting to songs recorded by Shinee, Selena Gomez, and Nick Jonas. Rexha released her debut extended play in 2015, I Don't Wanna Grow Up, which saw the moderate commercial success of the singles "I Can't Stop Drinking About You" and "I'm Gonna Show You Crazy". [...] Rexha's debut studio album, Expectations (2018), reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and saw the success of its lead single, "I'm a Mess", and brought Rexha two nominations for Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 61st Grammy Awards. Rexha released her second studio album, Better Mistakes, in 2021.
• • •
I think PIZZA STONES was the one answer that really made me happy today, the one that really SIZZLED. I also enjoyed VAMPIRE BAT and (weirdly?) SHIRTFRONT. Not sure why that last one makes me happy. There's something apt and almost quaint about it. I just like the idea that at some point, someone was like "ugh, saying 'front of my shirt' is too long, too taxing, I need something shorter ... [snap] ... I've got it! We'll move the FRONT to the back and make it one word! SHIRTFRONT! Now all my tales of soup-eating mishaps will be slightly more economical!" It's a sneaky-fun word, is what I'm saying. The one answer I'm truly passionate about in real life (NOIR), I didn't even see its clue (this is what happens when the puzzle is far too easy) (52A: "The Third Man," for one). Definitely recommend Carol Reed's "The Third Man"—it's got one of the noirest speeches ever made on screen, courtesy of Harry Lime (played by the always redoubtable Orson Welles):
[really gets going around the 1:30 mark]
Had a malapop today at 19A: Kind of code (POSTAL). Could think only of PENAL at first, but it wouldn't fit ... until, later in the grid, it did (37A: Kind of code). That's a malapop—wanting an answer, having it be wrong, and then having that same "wrong" answer pop up later as a right answer! Pop! It happens more often than you'd think. I didn't have much hesitation or wrongness today. Had to leave 25D: Savages with two blanks in it until I could decide if it was MAIMS or MAULS. I couldn't remember ECORP. Again, as with yesterday's "Succession" clue, I'm dubious about these deep deep dives into so-called "prestige TV" programs. Seems ultra-exclusionary. I actually watched "Mr. Robot" for a time and still couldn't recall ECORP at first. Always hesitant on the vowel at the end of TAZ- tea, but ROW took care of me (53D: Big fight). I teach literature from the period of the English Reformation and still struggled to get BOLEYN as clued (13D: Pivotal figure in the English Reformation). She's "pivotal" in so far as Henry VIII wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon so he could marry BOLEYN (already pregnant with Henry's child), but the pope was reluctant to grant the divorce, and this (in part) led Henry to start his own damn church, The Church of England, of which he was the Supreme Head (following the Act of Supremacy in 1534). So, yes, BOLEYN ... was indeed a "pivotal figure," I suppose, though not in the "actually doing something Reformation-y" way I thought the clue was suggesting. Hardest thing for me today was maybe EBOLA, simply because I had no idea what "index case" meant (33D: Its index case occurred in Meliandou, Guinea). I had EBO- but ... EBOOK was all I could think of (books have 'indexes,' I half-reasoned). But I couldn't figure out what EBOOKs had to do with Guinea, so I just ran a rolodex of five-letter EBO- words and turns out there aren't many. EBOLA is one of them. Ta da. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. since I'm getting some exasperating, condescending flak from HP fans, here's a link to people far smarter than I about why JKR is, in fact, the worst. If you wanted to get even a little curious about the issue, you could turn this stuff up yourselves, but I thought I'd help out a little. Good day.
Power dynamics can be subtle and complex. But here? Not at all. One of the most powerful publications in the world and one of the most powerful authors in the world are kicking down at trans kids & adults & their allies. This is shameful and willfully ignorant. https://t.co/EbqtkJMHLu
— Laura Helmuth (@laurahelmuth) February 17, 2023
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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105 comments:
More Medium than Easy for me.
9D: I've heard of REPO for "reposess" and RELO for "relocate," but does anyone ever say "RENO" for renovation in the wild?
soRe before HURT for "Miffed" at 4D; Tau before TSE at 28A; lAMPrey eel before VAMPIRE BAT at 54A.
EARL Sweatshirt at 18A and BEBE Rexha at 51D were WOES.
Typical Friday for me. A few struggles but ultimately gettable. Yesterday’s puzzle took me longer to finish. Thank you for providing a link to the op-ed. Disagree with your categorization of it and of Ms Rowling, but the link will help readers decide for themselves and not take your (or my) word for it.
HARRY POTTER IS #1! Harry's STAG charm allows him to fight off hordes of Dementors, and one wants to do that if one hopes to stay out of jail for unjust accusations. The mere mention of Harry's name will predictably raise the hackles of the anti-JKR crowd -- (🦖) -- and she's joined in this puzzle by Frederic Chopin, another flawed human we need to parse personality from art, but one is a living woman of privilege and the other is in a box, so we let him slide and post her metaphorical head on the village gates. Maybe on Henry VIII's gate, another charming fellow.
Welp, it's Friday, and this is a forgettable puzzle.
Uniclues:
1 An extra Halloween-y flying mammal.
2 JK Rowling at tea, according to some.
3 It was cold outside and I was hungry.
4 Corpse flowers.
5 Black Rolls-Royce Cullinans.
6 Best place in Nevada to have your skin crawl.
7 He swiped right and she agreed to meet him at the Village Inn.
1 NOIR VAMPIRE BAT
2 TAZO SLEAZEBALL
3 STEW MADE SENSE
4 GASP-AT PLANTS
5 AFFLUENZA SUVS
6 RENO EBOLA PAD
7 STAG WON A PRIZE
Inspired by Gary Jugert's kind affirmation yesterday, I'll offer a couple of UNICLUES:
1. The cupboard was bare--except for that can of beef and vegetables
2. Good outcome from a rut
An easy Friday for me. The things I did not know (EARL sweatshirt, BEBE Rexha, TSE, ECORP) were fairly crossed. the back end of SHIRTFRONT really helped in the NW and things went smoothly from there. Finished with the P in ECORP, which brought a smile for the Judge at home clue--UMP.
Answers:
1. STEW MADE SENSE
2. STAG WON A PRIZE
This puzzle breakdown is just so spot on, as usual. And just a clinic in good writing. Love the occasional, well-warranted moral opprobrium.
Oh Rex, we know that in your heart you mean well. Have you ever contemplated that issues, like human sexuality, may not be BINARY - that perhaps not every issue is black and white, has a right or wrong - but there is an entire rainbow of hues and colors in between. Consider for example, that one may be a member of the LBGTQ++ community and still believe that individuals born with male genitals may have an unfair advantage competing against others not similarly characterized in certain sports ? Oh, Rex, you preach tolerance of the gender fluid, yet you have such little tolerance for those with opinions contrary to your own. In any event, the haltered and venom don’t become you very well.
So Rex, I disagree with you about the hate-mongering - but I agree with you 100% regarding that hideous clue for STAG.
NW corner was a bit of a stumble. I found the rest to be fair, and enjoyable.
So I was wondered in what way Frederic Chopin was flawed so I googled “Frederic Chopin cancelled.” Turns out it’s the name of the international airport in Warsaw and there have been quite a few flight cancellations lately.
Easy Friday, just a bit of resistance but not much, like riding into a zephyr of a headwind.
@SouthsideJohnny,
Thanks for putting into tactful words your (and my) opinion of the blogger.
Mine are shorter, blunter, and usually don’t get approved.
Medium to easy for me. Thanks for linking to the NYT article about Rowling. Encouraging to see the fevered thinking about her starting to break. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Rawls 25 years ago but had to leave the academy because of the deep moral and intellectual confusion of my fellow liberals. "A vile public figure..." Hopefully, your fever will break soon too.
Not easy for me but not extremely hard, despite having a good bit of stuff that was utterly unknown to me. AFFLUENZA is a fairly well known term in my field but I didn’t realize it had any general currency. I never saw Mr Robot, but I was able to correctly guess the C in ECORP (no other letter really made sense, but I briefly liked ExORP). That C, however, gave me ABOUT FACES — nice clue on that one, I first thought it had something to do with dentists.
Rex seemed to really be having fun with his write-up today. That’s always pleasant.
Medium for me too, and I mostly liked it. The Zs didn’t feel forced to me except for possibly WON A PRIZE. AFFLUENZA is fun, and a real thing for some of the rich folks I know. Lucky me to not be affluent! And some great clues such as “drill switches” for ABOUT FACE, “go-to spots for multiple dates” for PALMS, and “”place for a frog or a mouse” for PAD.
I thought that “sucker for a fictional story line” was sure to be a trick clue and put in Drac, with a side-eye to “for.” Thought it was a nice pairing for VAMPIRE BAT. Oh well.
The NYT article on Rowling wants to have it both ways. Rowling is not responsible for violence against transgender people but we who criticize her ARE responsible for obviously reprehensible threats and doxxing against her.
Ah well. I’m going to the SE corner, where I will put on the tea KETTLE, listen to some CASALS and dream of being an ARUBAN. Now I’m RELAXED.
I enjoy learning new fun facts; I love dogs; and I'm a big fan of Chopin's music. So ... 31A made me a happy crossword solver!
Anne Boleyn was more than Henry VIII's obsession -- she was also well read and an adherent of the "new" faith who is thought to have influenced Henry's thinking, so that does contribute to her being her a pivotal figure.
Just a lovely offering from one less than two years out of high school, and I was put through the paces, as I hope to be on Friday.
Elusive cluing gave me little on first pass, which steeled my resolve, and put me into Faith Solve mindset. Soon, little cracks opened up. When MINUTE WALTZ showed itself with maybe three crosses, it brought not only a “Hah!”, but a quick replay of its melody in my brain’s radio, to my delight. There were no splatfills for me today. Rather, steadiness.
I do like seeing ROW in a row, and BOXES in boxes.
Regarding the elusive cluing… For me, it was marvelous, just right, where so many clues kept me guessing at first, then at a later point, with pings and mini-jolts of excitement, they, bit by bit, MADE SENSE. I love that some people found this easy, that we humans are so different in how we think – the quilt made from all our differences is so comforting to me.
In my case, I so relished this outing, with the dances my brain did to figure things out and the ensuing staccato of victories, with lovely sights, like the beautiful ROBUST and the “Hah!”-producing [Whistler on the range]. What a marvelous start to the day, and thank you, Jem!
@Stanley 7:28 – too funny.
_______ Maltings, Benjamin Britten concert venue.
The pangramness does nothing for me as the standalone feature of this puzzle. Hopefully @Z gets a kick out of this one. Not difficult but most of the cluing is obtuse and tries a little too hard. Liked seeing Chopin and MADE SENSE.
The POSTAL Service
Starting in that brutal NW corner was a harbinger of things to come. GAS HEATER and SHIRT FRONT are not Friday worthy. Short glue everywhere.
In college I worked in some of the bars in the west end of Long Beach and into Rockaway - in the summers those places were loaded with recently arrived kids from Dingle and Tralee etc. First time since then that I’ve come across gosoon and proudly filled it right in today.
Not my kind of Friday.
HURT
Thank you, whale-hating, deck-haunting Captain AHAB. I had a hard time getting a toehold in this one but our favorite monomaniac saved me. I then proceeded clockwise from the NE – that worked out pretty well, but I ended up with a little problem in the RELAXED/HEADSETS/LIEIN area near my starting point. I had sItIN, which rendered the two affected downs unintelligible, but it didn’t take much to set things right. LIE-IN didn’t come as easily as one might expect; I have too many friends of British origin who use it to mean “sleep in,” or at least stay in bed in the morning longer than usual. I also thought MUZAK was spelled with an S in the middle, and had AFFLUENce at 6D, which messed up two of the central acrosses for a while. But got MINUTE WALTZ off the Z, for which I’m overly and unreasonably proud (neat origin story). Liked the mini-HVAC theme with GAS HEATER and ACS (hope @egs is going to tell us what a GASH EATER is). Also the mini-ocean theme with TAR, AHAB, SEA and PEACOAT. In sum, I liked the puzzle and had an easier time with it than yesterday’s. I finished without resorting to outside help – always a plus.
@Lewis, @Nancy (from last night)
Thanks for answering my query. It seems as if neither of you have had to test the NYTXW’s new policy about being more accommodating when constructor’s wishes differ from editor’s.
UNICLUES:
1. Twitty aristocrat who’s all about his ruffled jabots.
2. Lowlife who pretends to like romantic-sounding teas in order to pick up new-agey women.
3. What you do when you get up, open the curtains, and see triffids massing in the front yard.
4. Prefers shiny seagoing outerwear, so adores oilskins but ____________________.
5. What happened whenever Ms. James sang.
6. Gas-guzzlers for the idle rich.
7. Bauxite and hematite that just flow out of the seams and into the wagons.
8. Water-heating device that boils and blows its top.
1. SHIRTFRONT EARL
2. TAZO SLEAZEBALL
3. GASP AT PLANTS
4. ABHORS PEACOAT
5. ETTA SIZZLED
6. AFFLUENZA SUVS
7. RELAXED ORES
8. BOLEYN KETTLE
[SB: yd, 0. That’s a 3-day streak. Looking back over the 16-month period in which I’ve been obsessively keeping my SB stats, I see that I’ve never managed any more than 4 QBs in a row. Can I tie that record today?]
Amy: ARUBAN makes me sad. The Red Sox failed to sign our beloved Xander Bogaerts so he is a Padre now. Xander is from Aruba.
My Friday Flow slowed in the NE, but finally pieced it together, rather like quilting. Happy Friday!
Not easy for me but not extremely hard, despite having a good bit of stuff that was utterly unknown to me. AFFLUENZA is a fairly well known term in my field but I didn’t realize it had any general currency. I never saw Mr Robot, but I was able to correctly guess the C in ECORP (no other letter really made sense, but I briefly liked ExORP). That C, however, gave me ABOUT FACES — nice clue on that one, I first thought it had something to do with dentists.
Rex seemed to really be having fun with his write-up today. That’s always pleasant.
Wrote in NEERDOWELL at the SLEAZEBALL space, and had enough correct letters to keep it there way too long. After a while I began plugging in a Z at every blank square. That didn't work out too well. I liked this puzzle, and was not offended by the Potter - Rawlings clue. Rex sometimes annoys me, but I still come here every day.
Had pretty much the same experience as @Lewis, for a change. And the info that the constructor is *less than two years out of high school* is astonishing.
On a side note, I am forced to use a plug in keyboard on my laptop that has several keys with multiple choices. For example the number 2 key also can be used for the @ sumbol but also contains the quote mark which I cant figure out how to access. Any help. Also cant access the question mark. Where is @Z when I need him.
Fun puzzle. Hard enough. Wanted BigAgra, stumbled with agrabiz, agrobiz, until finally landing on agribiz.
J.K. always gets a K-J. reaction from the easily-triggered* R.P.
Synonyms of knee-jerk
: readily predictable : AUTOMATIC
knee-jerk reactions
also, disapproving : reacting in a readily predictable way
The man was such a bleeding-heart knee-jerk liberal that you could predict the rest of the column after reading the first sentence.
—Andrew M. Greeley
* here’s hoping for some tangential connection to NRA, Kirk C or Donald J in the week’s remaining PUZZLEBOXes.
Hollywood vampires suck.
Vampire bats "create a small incision with their teeth and lap up blood from the wound".
Assuming, that is, you are speaking about feeding.
Borderline challenging for me. In brief: NW = blank stare; NE - AHAB, LEGO, then nothing; bottom half - chicken feed (NOIR, NAP, ACh) gave me enough to get some traction and climb up through all of those ZZZZ; last in - GASP AT x TSE. Fun to figure it all out, liked it. Nice complimentary parallel of SIZZLED and RELAXED.
Do-overs: oilskin before PEACOAT, ACh. Help from previous puzzles: EARL. No idea: AFFLUENZA, BEBE.
Rex Parker said trans rights❤️
I can’t understand the hatred of JK Rowling - cmon Rex give her a break. She is NOT transphobic and I feel this whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. I do agree... Poker Face is brilliant and yes, reminiscent of Columbo. A show that I thought you’d be maybe too young for, Rex. For some reason I wanted “hyde” before AHAB and that slowed me down in the NE. Then I messed up and and had EllA before ETTA and grillFRONT before SHIRTFRONT and GAgsAT before GASPAT - so the NW was a bit of a mess. Finally corrected the whole thing messily in pen. But done is done. PS have you ever heard that great Irish lyric “What’s done is done, what’s won is won and what’s lost is lost and gone forever”? Phil Coulter - The Town I Loved So Well.
If I'd had the courage of my convictions, I could have started in the NW instead of travelling all the way to NEMEA (44D!) for my toehold. But while GASP AT/GAS HEATER was my first thought, it also could have been GAPE AT or GAWK AT or JUMP AT too. So I wrote in the AT/ARE and went elsewhere.
I found this hard -- a real "keep the faith" puzzle. But having bailed yesterday, there was no way I was going to have failures two days in a row. What made this hard were the clues. Not all of them were unusually clever -- MUZAK, PALM and ABOUT FACES were some of the cleverer -- but so many were clued in a way no one's ever thought of before. I mean who clues LAD (38A) that way?! Or LEGO (16A)? Or TILES (27D)?
I could have skipped ECORP, the evil org. There are far too many evil orgs in puzzles. We had SMERSH a couple of days ago. And EARL is a perfectly swell word that didn't have to be clued by a rapper. But, actually, there wasn't all that much pop culture in the puzzle and I enjoyed it.
things people never say : shirtfront, reno.
i bet that clue for palm made the constructor soooo happy
@Conrad - yes, RENO is a fairly common, in-language word, in my experience. ("How's the kitchen reno coming along?") I originally had dEmO there (as in "demolition"), another common shortening when it comes to things house-related. "Demo" can be used as both a noun and a verb, but "reno" I normally hear as a noun. Not sure if I've ever heard it as a verb, like "to reno" a kitchen. Dictionary only lists it as a noun.
Usual NW start went nowhere, so a quick clue scan led to PLANTS and PENAL and I solved bottom up and a puzzle I thought was going to be very challenging turned out to rather whoosh-ful. Had DALZZLED for SIZZLED which slowed things down, don't know Mr. Robot or Mr. Sweatshirt, and it took ne too long to remember AFFLUENZA which I think some young wealthy criminal type tried to use as a defense. The rest had a lot of fun clues and I'd rate it a medium Friday.
@Alice Pollard-"The Town I Loved So Well" is a great song. If you like superb finger-style guitar I'd recommend Pierre Bensusan's version, which is on youtube. His French accent also does wonderful things to the lyrics, my favorite of which is "Zere was music zere, in ze Derry Air."
@bocamp @egs, @T Trimble, @ Barbara S. and @Anon 12:10 from yesterday--Many thanks for the condolences. We got Fenny in October of 2004, just after the Red Sox had won the World Series, hence his name. His brother Theo still abides. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
I was sorry to see Rex's link was not to an article that justifies his opinion.
I am not in agreement with her but do not feel her position is totally reprehensible. I do think there could be some abuse in the areas where Rex disagrees with her. But her alternative may create abuses of its own that are much more likely.
AFFLUENZA, the triple stacks and columns, the clues' offbeatedness. Loved it even though I had to cheat on some of the PPP.
Bunches of good puzzles of late. Something has changed.
For some (un)reason, I was unreasonably miffed at "ump" since it was not clued as a shortened word.
Agreed that it was easy for a Friday and medium overall. I got a bit giddy when my wild stab at shirt front proved correct.
This was an example of my favorite type of solve: the clues seemed unhelpful for awhile, but a couple of well-placed guesses got things going. (The thing I hate about solving online is that you can't see all the clues at once, else I would have put CASALS in right away.)
It's been a bit gassy in here lately: recently we had a screwed-up GAS CAP, and CASPAR aka GASPAR of the Magi. Today we get GAS HEATER and GAS PAT, whoever that is. But at least I learned some French, didn't know "Evidently!" translates to "Soisée!" I'll be tossing that around in conversations a lot.
Advice of the day:
Don't lose ur head.
@Joseph Michael (from last week) -- So I promised to share with you more "secrets of crossword solving" if ever I thought of any -- and today's puzzle brought two more to mind:
1) All 3-letter holidays are TET.
2) All 5-letter "game pieces" -- even if it's a game you've never heard of -- are TILES.
@Pablo thank you, I will check out that version. It really is a heart wrenching song - all about the troubles in a little town in North Ireland as the “damned barbed wire gets higher and higher..."
If only it could have worked in CUCKOO CLOCK and SWITZERLAND (another Z) with THE THIRD MAN, there would be a puZZle
Rex: I have briefly seen in recent months the claim that JKR is a transphobe, so I read the NYTs article. I found it interesting; Ms Paul's defense was supported with quotes and supporting links. The link you provided was just a twitter opinion with zero support (unless you count people just simply agreeing with the tweet). I would welcome a link to an intellectual article or two supporting your position.
FH
Bob The Builder: Good luck with that request; best get back to your RENO.....
Eazzzzy today says OFL and I agree was a lazzzy solve in comparison to yesterday’s helllacious play on the el. Only learning SEA as the Hawaiian raised an eyebrow here. Time to ABOUT FACE & enjoy commentariat who saw more here than I.
"I'm not racist, but I thing there should be arenas where Whites should not have to be exposed to or compete with Blacks. I mean seriously, why should white people have to compete in sports with Blacks? Use the same bathroom as blacks" That sounds racist, because it is. Change Black/White to Trans/Cis, and it's transphobic, and that's what JKR has said. JKR is factually transphobic, and she goes out of her way to announce that.
My niece is trans. She was bullied mercilessly as a youth for being exceptionally effeminate, then bullied mercilessly as a young adult for being trans. She is nothing but a lovely young lady who now suffers from PTSD from all of the past abuse. Every time some bigot goes on some pointless rant about random instances where maybe, some time, some where, a cis-gendered person might be inconvenienced by a transgender person, proposed new laws putting her back in some closet, she gets triggered again, in that the rich and powerful really are out to get her.
It's easy to not present yourself as obviously bigoted - Just don't say things like "it's just that there are places/times/situations where [people in category x] don't belong". If you can't stop yourself from saying such things, or spending hours dreaming up places/times/situations which you think confirm your claim, that's your problem. Just don't say so out loud, or if you do, don't whine when people call you bigoted. Ok JKR? Ok @SouthSideJohnny? Ok @Andrew?
Oh, there was a puzzle? It was meh, and a plethora of Zs doesn't change that.
Speaking of POSTAL codes [19A]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLECCmKnrys&ab_channel=TeamCoco
If anyone has been wondering what became of “Z”, I think he’s now adopted the nom de Plume of Jem Burch (which means “Ultimate” in Dalmatian). Just look at all of the Z calling cards left as hints.
Sorry @BarbaraS, but I’m not gonna comment on 1A cuz’ it’s similar to something that got me Mod-axed recently. But just look at it and think crude.
I about went POSTAL when I saw the clue for PENAL. Which reminds me of JohnX. I bet he’s working undercover for the feds in a prison population. Yes, I’m afraid to say that he’s a PENAL implant!!!
Really nice puzzle today. Clues a bit up and down. But lotsa fun on my part. Thanks, Jem Burch.
re: RENO - that was a gimme for me. Shocked to see so many comments that they'd never heard the word in the wild.
re: When your only cross is the MUZAK gimme, then RUBIKS CUBES slides in nicely for 'confounding contraptions' - it also kills any chance of completing that middle section. Odd to say "hooray for EBOLA" but that's the thing that finally got my eraser moving
re: JKR - yes, she's vile. No, I wouldn't appreciate seeing her actual name in the puzzle. But I don't think that HP clues are vile nor are they pandering to the author. They're referencing a pop culture juggernaut beloved by millions, and is in many peoples' minds attached to fond sentiments of reading or movie-watching, enjoying the stories. That's it. I can like HP and despise JKR all at the same time.
re: potential Natik: crossing REA with CASALS on the A is evil. I don't know either of them and that could've been pretty much any vowel.
Lots of answers I liked today, although the plethora of Zs got a little tiresome. They also made the puzzle a bit easier than normal for a Friday for me, as once you get a Z, the cross answer possibilities are drastically reduced.
Jim in Canada
Intolerance of intolerance is not itself intolerance. Read Karl Popper.
Medium. Pretty smooth and solid with a couple of interesting long downs. The rest however was a tad meh even with all the Zs. Sorta liked it.
I know so little about the Reformation that as soon as I got the B I figure it was Boleyn... and then realized I had no idea how to spell her name. Really wanted Boleen/Bolean
Thx, Jem; your puz was indeed a 'gem'! :)
Med+
Lots of crunch, plus nifty clueing MADE this one something special to chew on!
Always seem to want SLEeZE before SLEAZE.
At least I got MUZAK & NEMEA right, without need of crosses.
TAR & PEACOAT were also gimmes.
Watched 'Mr. Robot', but had to strain to recall E CORP.
Due to 'of sorts', was expecting something not so straightforward as GAS HEATER.
Fave clue/answer 'Judge at home' for UMP.
A most enjoyable solving experience today! :)
@pabloinnh (10:14 AM) 😊
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
@Pete - There is an advantage for biological males announcing they are female and dominating women’s - often high school girls’ - sports.
Why does your having a trans niece disallow any discussion? Bullying - BAD! Finding one’s identity at the appropriate age of maturity - GOOD! Few of us are as “phobic” as you suggest.
But speaking out against anatomical males competing against young girls and depriving the latter of scholarship opportunities or enhanced self-worth is not whatever ism, ogyny or phobia you binary thinkers suggest…
@Nancy I was going to send you a pdf of the Shortz interview, but your profile does not appear to have a contact link. If you (or anyone among the commentariat) still want a pdf copy to read, email me an address and I’ll send it along (sans pix, alas). Sorry if I’m detracting from Jem’s zzzzesty grid discussion, but like many here, I’ve enjoyed Nancy’s puzzles here and elsewhere & wanted to repay in small.
@TJS 9:04 - About your keyboard. Have you tried using the "alt option" key? For example, just as you'd hold down the shift key to get the @ sign above the 2, holding down the alt option key may get you the quotation mark. I say "may," because I'm on an iPad with an external keyboard, and don't know if your laptop keyboard has the alt option key or if it would work the same. Worth a try, though? I'm sorry I have no idea about the question mark.
Couldn't get well started in the NW. Had ARE correct, and SORE (for HURT) incorrect, and that was about it. Zzzzzzzoomed over to the puzgrid center, got UMP and MAULS and TET, to ztart the rodeo in earnezt. Not an eazy solvequezt at our houze, tho.
faves included: VAMPIREBAT. SLEAZEBALL. PIZZASTONES [PIZZA-anything, really]. AFFLUENZA [weird-ish clue, tho]. ABOUTFACES clue. RENOvation innovation. The Jaws of Themelessness, splatzed down defiantly in the same spot as they were at, in yesterday's themed puz.
staff weeject pick: TSE. Oh -- so we're gonna do the Russian alphabet now, huh?! Bring it, Shortzmeister. M&A had one semester of Russian back in college long ago, so I am ready to whimper.
TSE also stands for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy -- which U can catch, by drinkin outta Putin's glass. FYI.
honrable mention to NAP, in cool concert with them Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z's.
Thanxz for the fun, Mr. Burch dude. Nice job.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
**gruntz**
I like that “secrets of crossword solving.” What about If it is a singer of a song you never heard of and the answer is 5 letters= ADELE. If a 4-letter singer. = ETTA or ENYA. There must be dozens for OREO,
Wow! That criticism of the clue for STAG is far reaching. I dare say you could tie almost any clue to something you find reprehensible.
I feel very much out of things after reading about this JKR controversy. I have to confess that I did not and do not think she is very important outside of children’s books . I have never read any. Saw the first flick which was enough for me.
“Yes, I’d like to order a large pizza with everything on it, but please leave off the stones.”
Challenging puzzle that had one too many names in it, but I did manage to solve it and admire it in the end. Would love to read the story that goes with the headline VAMPIREBAT SLEAZEBALL MADE SENSE.
@Nancy, I’m with you on TET as the three-letter holiday, but didn’t know about TILES. I’ll have to keep an eye out for clues about game pieces. Another Crossword Secret: a four-letter answer for a name you’ve never heard of is probably a STEW.
@Barbara S, your Uniclue #8, too funny.
Just wanna comment real quick to jump on the "J.K. Rowling is a transphobe who sucks" (and so is Pamela Paul) train. Thanks for not being shy in your opinions, Rex.
It should come as no surprise that EARL Sweatshirt is the rapper’s stage name. His real name is James Sweatshirt.
@Andrew - So, the cis-gendered person's right to be State Champ and/or get a scholarship supercedes the trans person's right to be State Champ and/or get a scholarship? That's what you're saying?
Males don't "announce they're female" to win sports competitions. Your saying so is abject ignorance at best. It's an enormous commitment, and an complicated process. All trans athletes have to document at least one year of continuous GAHT, and have gender appropriate hormone levels throughout the season for the sport in which they participate. This negates the vast majority of any residual muscle mass accrued more easily due to prior hormone levels.
Had to comb through this puzzle several times due to cluing that was vague (a good thing) and due to distrusting clues that I could have filled in right away. I guess VAMPIREBAT, PIZZASTONES, ABOUTFACES were the most amusing answers for me.
Social media seems to be the elephant in the room regarding many hate campaigns - like the one against JKR. There also seems to be an element of resentment due to her financial success.
I was in the Navy a long, long, time ago and even then TAR as a synonym for a 7D "Salt" was from an even longer long time ago, from the days when Captain AHAB (10A) was visiting the "Night-cloaked deck" and TAR was used to fill crevices between timbers in the ship's hull that were constantly springing leaks and threatening to sink the vessel.
I still have my Boot Camp issued PEACOAT (36D). It's an absolutely gorgeous garment and I can't bring myself to part with it even though I almost never need it down here in Tex-Mex Land. Shorts, tee shirt and flip flops are typically the uniform of the day.
I don't exactly GASP AT (1D) them but I can't unsee them either. Here are some entries that needed some letter count, grid fill boosting in order to do their jobs: ABOUT FACE, ABHOR, HEAD SET, GET BY, MAUL, TILE, PUZZLE BOX, PIZZA STONE, LATKE, PLANT, SUV & ORE. Plural of convenience (POC) to the rescue!
Thanks for speaking publicly in defense of trans kids, Rex. They need all the support we can give, and not whatever it is that JKR is doing
I unashamedly looked up Mr. Robot and, after long minutes trying to make froG work, Harry Potter's Patronus. (For some reason, frog and dog were all I could come up with in the way of g-ending animals.) Not knowing those answers held me up a bit -- but what held me up a lot was getting my numbers mixed up and writing PIZZA STONES where PUZZLE BOXES should have gone. Doh! So many of the crosses were confirmed, I just got lost in that little section.
Fine puzzle, except that some Zs in the top section would have been nice.
As for Rowling, I don't know who's right, but I wish Rex would explain when he calls someone intellectually dishonest. I've read two defenses of Rowling -- one by her -- which seemed fairly reasonable, but have never come across a real argument against her position. Incidentally, I think the answer to the sports issues is to use something other than gender to decide who competes with whom. Height and weight, for example. It works fine in horseracing, no one feels the need to have separate races for women jockeys.
My email is in my profile, if anyone has an article they'd like to send me.
I read the oped defending Rowling with an open mind, but it completely misses the point. The oped lists all the things that Rowling has gotten flack for that she shouldn't have, but she SHOULD be getting flack for those things. The fact that this defender is saying "Yeah, she did all these things, but so what?" is disgusting and dismissive. I'll explain.
- Wanting "spaces for biological women only": the only reason you wouldn't want a trans woman in, say, a women's locker room is because you're scared of trans women. Full stop. If you weren't scared of trans women, you wouldn't care if they shared that locker room. So if you demand space for "biological women only," you are precisely excluding trans women, othering them, and treating them as something to be feared.
- Having a person's "legal gender status" not be allowed to be self-identified: what in the world is "legal gender status"? Why does it matter what I call myself? Where in our lives in a society does it matter if I call myself a "male" or a "female" or something else? The only reason you want something legal on the books is because you don't recognize what's at the heart of this whole debate: gender is fluid and gender is a construct. Again, the only reason why you won't allow someone to self-identify as a gender is because you fear something. But what?
- Why does the phrase "people who menstrate" bother her so much? It's an inclusive phrase. It makes people feel seen and included. Isn't that reason enough to use the phrase? If a group of people says "I prefer this terminology" but she says "no, I won't call you that", that's her ignoring the feelings of an entire group of people, just because it makes her a little confused.
- Defending people who have been called out by trans activitists, including someone who made "incendiary comments" about trans people: Um, she's defending people who villify trans people. Of COURSE she should get flack for this. I can't defend a racist person's racist thoughts and then get upset when someone calls me out for being racist. If I defend a racist person's racist ideas, I'm racist.
Easy-ish, for a Friday. No zooming or whooshing (and I assume that was also the case for Rex, otherwise he would have said), but steady progress throughout, ending in a below-average time. I wouldn't say it SIZZLED, but it had some nice points.
Agree with most of Rex's comments. AGRIBIZ, which I've never seen, is ugly and ungainly. On the other hand, I like SHIRTFRONT (one word, I love it) which I haven't seen in ages but somehow knew right away. KETTLE on the other side of the PUZZLE was amusingly clued.
Similar to how I feel about her compatriot Dua Lipa, I don't mind seeing BEBE Rexha here. (Her birth name Bleta means "bee", SO I SEE. Thus "bee-bee" MADE SENSE after moving to the US. I also find amusing how the lyrics "it'll be, it'll be" in "Meant to Be" wind up sounding like "little bee".)
I also agree with Rex: let's please give Harry Potter a rest. It's gotten really stale. I think STAG could have been clued by something like "Buck": succinct, with a Friday-level ambiguity of meaning, without a presumption that we should know an answer because we are mass consumers. I prefer to buck that presumption.
I forget why I was reading up on Henry VIII and his wives recently, but I learned then about "bedding ceremonies", where a crowd of people would witness the royal consummation and even cheer them on. (Source.) But that might not have happened in the case of Anne BOLEYN.
HURT seems a weak answer for "miffed". It's not wrong, but I think of "miffed" as involving someone taking offense or being annoyed, a little more specific than just being HURT.
Wow, where would we be without Spelling Bee? I'll guess the constructor knew about the STEW called "callaloo" from SB. Either that, or Sam "the Grid Kid" Ezersky got involved in the editing.
SB: 0 yd. My last word took a weirdly long time, because it's one of those completely standard SB words that no one says much in real life.
@Nancy & Joseph Michael — unless the game is specified as Othello, then the pieces are DISCS.
ZCorp seemed a great villian enterprize!
I want to briefly continue my comment from above about Rowling. Later in the piece, Pamela Paul says:
"But nothing Rowling has said qualifies as transphobic. She is not
disputing the existence of gender dysphoria. She has never
voiced opposition to allowing people to transition under
evidence-based therapeutic and medical care. She is not denying
transgender people equal pay or housing. There is no evidence that she is putting trans people 'in danger,' as has been claimed, nor is
she denying their right to exist."
Ok, so Rowling hasn't overtly condemned trans people or actively tried to enact legislation harming them...she just doesn't want them anywhere near her, and she doesn't want them to be able to decide for themselves what they should be. They can exist, just...not the way she exists. They're allowed to live, but they can't live comfortably.
That's literally transphobic. That's what a phobia literally is. You can be phobic without actively hating.
And of COURSE her words put trans people in danger. She's an unbelievably famous person with incredible clout and a vast ability to reach millions of people at once. Everything she says has consequences. If she says "ew trans people," that will reach millions of people, and it will ripple out and have consequences.
So we get a NAP with a bunch of ZZZZZZZs, fun. And hate JKR if you want but STAG was a needed gimme for the NW.
I laughed at the answer of PALM for "Go-to spot for multiple dates?" And I fell for the Home on the "Range" meaning in 41D's clue so I was picturing a cowboy whistling around his campfire, and even after KETTLE filled in, the cowboy was still warming his tea over the fire until "range" smacked me in the forehead.
Thanks Jem Burch, for a RELAXED Friday solve.
Yes this was pretty easy. All the Zs reminded me of the puzzle -- I think it was by David Steinberg? -- where the middle was a solid mass of Zs, and the grid made a giant Z.
Thank you @Stanley 7:28 am, made me chuckle.
@Joaquin 10:53 am re POSTAL codes, funny video. Note that Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories are also integrated into the two letter abbrev system.
I thought "Judge at home" should be AARON.
[Spelling Bee: yd 0, my QB streak continues!]
I reread my 12:49 and realized it may be unclear. What I meant is: It's usually TILE or TILES– *unless* the game is Othello, in which case it's DISC or DISCS.
I kind of liked the puzzle, green paint and all. And I loved it that OFL provided a link to that JKR supporter's column, right there on the editorial page of my Times. His idea of intellectual dishonesty is my idea of simply telling the truth. Yet because he pointed it out, I got to read it. (And really, what JKR seems to believe is that boys should not be allowed on girls' sports teams -- true enough, but it seems to me no one has a problem with girls being on boys' teams, if they can swim as fast or run or even wrestle, as was the case at my kids' school.)
ABOUT FACES I got early, and then, faced with acres of white space, I moved to the bottom and worked my way to the top. The puzzle was, for the reasons noted, not all that thrilling, but it was doable, with persistence.
Decent puzzle that I won't remember anything about in 24 hours.
Well, maybe with the exception of the JKR nonsense.
Dad of a trans son here. Do I think JKR is a narcissist? Yes. Do I think she is transphobic? No. Does the NYT piece, in trying to portray her as some sort of hero, overreach beyond that opinion? Massively so. Is Rex's screed remotely helpful in any of this? No.
@pete
Abjectly Ignorant Andrew here.
Technically, anyone who announces they are female - without doing anything else - can compete as a high school girl. And to question the logic earns the knee-jerk transphobic slur.
Title IX was enacted in 1972 to ensure girls sports are provided funding commensurate to boys sports.
Speaking only for myself (not the much maligned JKR, whose books I’ve never read, movies I’ve never seen and crossword-related clues I’ve never liked - I agree with Rex on that), the only trans “rights” I have trouble with is a) competing in sports in which they have an advantage against biological-female amateurs (making a mockery of Title IX intent) and b) the age at which transitions are allowed to take place.
Have you read Abigail Shrier’s book Irreversible Damage? I have - and was impressed by both the research and writing, It of course drew 1 star reviews as Transphobic by those who haven’t read it but interviews many who transitioned as tweens or teens and have regretted it, it apparently is trendy to identify as non-binary and say you want a sex change. Who knew teens could be so faddish?
“Bigots” such as myself don’t have an issue with the LGB community at ALL - and the only issue with the T is the age of transition (apparently not a concern for many for-profit hospitals) and competing in girls events where there biological makeup matters (e.g., swimming, weightlifting, running - not say, figure skating or crossword competitions.)
JKR went from being beloved as a single mother mega-success story to becoming knee-jerk vilified for deviating from the prescribed leftist script (and I considered myself leftist up till the last decade).
I don’t shoot guns but am not offended by a mention of NRA, am not pro-Trump but can see how he had appeal to voters fed up with the establishment, am an atheist but don’t begrudge Kirk Cameron his Christianity (or making of films I’ll never see).
Hope it’s not MENSA-ist to suggest the Rex community is by and large a smart one. There are a variety of considered and nuanced opinions expressed herein. Claiming ignorant hatred at every turn does not advance a conversatu9b.
Slightly off topic: is the Christopher Adams who has today's NYer puzzle (super easy, btw) the same horrendous sometime guest blogger for @Rex? I think I remember that he lives in the Midwest.
This puzzle struck me as meh, blah, despite all the Zzzs trying to zing things up (hi @Z if you're still out there). But I'm tired, so it could be that.
Henry Ford was an anti-Semite. Why don’t Edsel clues trigger anyone?
Very well put! A big hug to your niece.
@Andrew - All your specifics prove exactly what's wrong with saying "trans people shouldn't be able to do [fill in whatever you think is appropriate, not what someone else thinks is appropriate]" You think it's innocuous, and that maybe some legitimate reasons exist justifying it, but it is first and foremost and ultimately a simple statement that trans people are sub-standard, and only suitable in certain situations based on your criteria. Repeat, Other humans are only suitable in certain situations based on your criteria. . I only used bold here because if there were a globally accepted "fuck you" font, I would have used that, but there isn't, or Blogger doesn't support it, I don't know.
If some biologically male student in high school decides to try out for the women's swim team, god bless her. If she lives nearby, I'll go to her meets and walk her home, to protect here from the 25% of her fellow students we can guarantee will be out there, taunt her, insult her, and probably threaten her with bodily harm. She harmed precisely no one in doing what she did, yet her life will become a living hell because she did it. And anyone who offers excuses for the 25% can go to hell.
How nice of you, @Newboy (11:26)! Thanks for the offer. I just sent you my contact info in an email.
Today is the last day I'll read this blog when the puzzle contains a Harry Potter clue. "Grotesque intellectual dishonesty"? Exactly the kind of gratuitous defamation of the Op ed writer (probably actionable if it were worth the time/effort) that is regularly practiced by Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump Jr., etc.
Japanese Puzzle Boxes are a highly regarded art form worthy of a crossword center clue https://www.seriouspuzzles.com/brain-teasers/puzzle-boxes/japanese-boxes/history-japanese/
Though who knows if that’s what the answer is referring to or if it’s a more general puzzle box concept.
Once I realized that AFFLUENZA was a real word, I was close. But I still needed to understand what PIZZASTONES were. I still don't. But I give myself a solve with trial and error.
Intolerance is an evil, no? So I am not sure how bad behavior in response to bad behavior is therefore good behavior. totalitarians of the 20th Century went down that road and under Stalin's USSR that road led to mass murder. Unless of course you are defining intolerance as a
good?
Cheeky, aren’t we? Maybe it’s because Rex doesn’t like SLEAZEBALLs like Ms. Rowling who use their fame & fortune to punch down at some of our society’s most vulnerable people.
It’s true that the JKR conversation is taking up a lot of space. But if you talk to most trans people, they will tell you that she is transphobic. Frankly, if you aren’t trans, you don’t get to be the judge of whether or not she’s being bigoted. I recommend looking up what various trans public figures have had to say in response to JKR’s constant public comments.
I think your comment is the best on the Rawlings topic today.
I have had trouble putting into words my reaction to the issue. The best I could come up with is: Intolerance does not justify intolerance.
Thanks for your comment.
I thought this was a very thoughtful essay by a transgendered female who grew up loving the Harry Potter series. She doesn't vilify Rowling, but she does identify the problems she finds with Rowling's postings -- not coldly and analytically, but in a way that examines closely her own feelings in all this, as well as acknowledging Rowling's humanity.
In short, it's civilized -- a refreshing break from Twitter group-think and regarding the other side as irredeemable, and confirmation-biased cherry-picking, and all the rest. (I note that the author isn't much into Twitter, which sounds like it's coming from a healthy impulse and good sense.) More of this, please.
Rex’s opinion and the twitter take both rely on the widespread understanding that questioning the right of trans people to live as their authentic selves in the world is inherently transphobic. The oped author writes from the assumption that transphobia means only inciting or acting violently towards trans people. Transphobia includes the realm of discourse that doubts and questions trans people’s existence.
“anatomical males” is a transphobic thing to say
It’s so easy to detest the person JKR, but that does not negate the skill and value of the stories that she told on the HP canon. So hate on her all you want, @Rex, but if the clue has nothing to do with her vile opinions, let HP alone! I just cannot enjoy rap, but I value its existence as a much loved musical genre and I don’t go all the way off every time I have to answer a rap/hip-hop centric clue. C’mon, give it a rest already.
That said, this puzzle felt more difficult than it apparently was because my time was well below average according to the app. I just don’t have much to say about it. In places it felt like it was trying too hard to be a “tough themeless Friday worthy of the NYT.” We had gossoon, waterzooi and callaloo to navigate, but a seasoned solver has worked through those before and they weren’t worked into any clever word play. Overall, this one was fine but lacked some pizazz, which, with all the other zzzzs seems as if it should have had some.
Compared to yesterday’s effort which was, in puzzle parlance the pinnacle of perfection, today left me wanting more.
Vampire bats don’t suck blood. They slash a wound with their razor-sharp spoon-shaped incisors (not their canines) and then lap the blood from the wound. Their saliva contains an anticoagulant that keeps the blood flowing. They can drink up to three times their body mass, and are the only bats that can launch themselves into the air from the ground (even when full of blood).
After reading Pamela Paul’s column, I thought maybe it would convince people like you, Rex/Michael to stop and listen and reconsider. But no. Your campaign to cancel Rowling and her work (even a mention in a crossword!) is just as offensive as those who want to cancel “wokeness” and CTR. You’re the one who’s hating, not Rowling. I’ve read Rowling’s essay. I’ll be listening to the podcast to hear her explain her comments further. Will you listen? I won’t be reading your blog to find out. I’m sorry. This is not why I do crosswords.
I thought the puzzle was far from easy,but it had some fun clues when I finally got them. As for JK Rawlings, I wish The NY Times would stop with all the Harry Potter clues,not because of her so called transphobia, but because I’m tired of all the fictional characters the Times expects the solver to know such as those in Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones, and rappers. As for Jk Rawlings, I agreed with the article Times. So what that she is a wealthy white woman, she is advocating for women who are anything but rich and or white. She doesn’t think trans women, especially those who still have their male genitals, belong in womens’s prisons or shelters, housed with women, some of whom have been physically and sexually assaulted by men. Don’t these women have rights to safety or do their rights not matter. The same goes for women athletes,who lose out to scholarships to trans women, who had the physical advantages of growing up male. Don’t get me started on the erasure of words like pregnant women for pregnant people and chest feeders. I like this blog, but I wish Rex wouldn’t use it to wrongfully accuse someone of bigotry. By doing so, he’s accusing me and some other readers ofbthe same thing.
The 25D clue is plain wrong. "NEW" is unreleated to colonial titles (which, I suppose, could be "governor" or summat). NEW, as in NEW England, - Zealand, - Mexico relates to colonial names. And a name is not the same as a title.
@Carola,
Thank you for your suggestion yesterday for solving my keyboard problems. I'll give it a try. I really appreciate your response.
Soisée! Love it!
Maybe Instead of shift-2, try alt-2, and/or hold the 2 key down.
Some keyboard tricks, when one can't RTFM, for Apples:
The number 0, when held down, will render °. Slide the keypress finger to capture the °
Similar hold-downs may exist: àåāàáâäæ, ēēêèéë, čçć, ìįíîïī, ñń, behind oslz and !?%-=
For PCs, look at the ASCII character codes at
https://theasciicode.com.ar/ascii-printable-characters/lowercase-letter-a-minuscule-ascii-code-97.html
To use the printable or extended characters, press and hold the ALT key while typing the character's number.
regards,
JimG
Carola,
For APPLE keyboards, you may find helpful my reply to TJS under his comment.
regards,
JimG
A good, tough puzzle that for me was ruined by the VAMPIRE BAT clue (inaccurate, as others have pointed out).
"Absolutely first-tier narcissist"...Ah yes... That'd be you Rex...
Saturday-level challenge for me. Tough to get any traction. Satisfying, even though it had some frustrating moments.
PALM MAULS
SOISEE that you ARE HURT
AT not having WONAPRIZE.
Any SLEAZEBALL with no SHIRT
gets PENAL rating of PINTSIZE.
--- BEBE RAE BOLEYN
A trivia infested jumble, one of the worst puzzles ever.
The best I can say for me is that I got a lot of it. Truly stumped me in places, and you know what happens whey you put in a wrong answer...
Saw "The Third Man" the other day on TCM - great older movie. Great shots of Vienna. Didn't even recognize Orson Welles. NOIR at its best.
Diana, LIW
No write-overs so not too tough, but I did paass on the NW til last. BEGS in the corners. Careful how you parse GASHEATER.
Wordle par.
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