Wednesday, April 10, 2024

1965 film starring George Segal that was set in a P.O.W. camp / WED 4-10-24 / Traditional crustless fruit pie / First U.S. Secretary of War / Popular Italian entree, informally / Al Jolson's actual first name / Word derived from the Arabic for "lot" / Semiotician's interest

Constructor: Bill Thompson

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: broken spells — words meaning (roughly) "spell" are "broken" inside longer answers (i.e. they are split into two parts that then bookend the longer answers):

Theme answers:
  • CHARM (39A: Spell that's "broken" by 17-Across)
    • CHICKEN PARM (17A: Popular Italian entree, informally)
  • HEX (11A: Spell that's "broken" by 23-Across)
    • HENRY KNOX (23A: First U.S. Secretary of War)
  • POX (65A: Spell that's "broken" by 49-Across)
    • PENCIL BOX (49A: Container in a kid's backpack)
  • CURSE (37A: Spell that's "broken" by 59-Across)
    • CRASH COURSE (59A: Intensive study program)
Word of the Day: KING RAT (42D: 1965 film starring George Segal that was set in a P.O.W. camp) —
King Rat
 is a 1965 American war film written and directed by Bryan Forbes and starring George Segal and James Fox. They play Corporal King and Flight Lieutenant Marlowe, respectively, two World War IIprisoners of war in a squalid camp in Singapore. Among the supporting cast are John Mills and Tom Courtenay. The film was adapted from James Clavell's novel King Rat (1962), which in turn is partly based on Clavell's experiences as a POW at Changi Prison in Singapore in the latter part of the Second World War. [...] Forbes was unhappy with what he felt was a misleading ad campaign. He said the film "made little or no impression in America, although it was given long and impressive reviews by the top-line critics — but I remain convinced that whatever chance it had was thrown away by run-of-the-mill and basically dishonest exploitation. Now it has become a cult film on the university campuses, but in 1965 when it was first shown Vietnam was still a clean war, and the American mass audiences were unlikely to take kindly to such a cynical view of human behaviour. It had no happy or heroic ending and said some unpopular things about the American dream. The real audience, the audience for whom it was intended, stayed away." (wikipedia) (my emphasis + extreme LOL)
• • •

I admire this puzzle's ambition. I don't think the theme quite works, in that the spells are technically "broken" by gibberish ("ICKENPA," "NRYKNO," etc.), not the whole of the longer theme answers, but insofar as those answers feature one part of the "spell" up front and the other part in the back, I suppose the clue phrasing is close enough. Eight answers makes for a very dense theme, and the grid definitely shows the strain in places (particularly the areas where the theme answers are closest together), but overall I thought the theme was handled reasonably well. The more fixed answers you have to begin with, the harder it is to fill your grid cleanly, and *eight* is a lot of fixed answers. But you handle those short "curses" by getting them as far out of the way as possible (HEX and POX tucked way back in highly sequestered corners, and CURSE and CHARM parked off to the side), and then you've got some room to lay down the long stuff. There's still theme material all over the place, but as a constructor you've got a little room to breathe. The grid we end up getting could be cleaner, but it's OK. You make the compromises you gotta make to pull off your theme, and hopefully those compromises aren't fatal. Today, I don't think they are. The execution may be only so-so, but the theme concept is well above average, so I'll take it. More credits than debits on the ledger today.


The theme answers were not forced, which is one of the things I liked about the puzzle. I don't really know who HENRY KNOX is (to be perfectly honest), but he's obviously an important historical figure, and his name rings a bell at least, and that's fine. The other themers are universally familiar things, though I do have a question about PENCIL BOX, which is "Whose child?" and (follow-up) "What year is it?" Do kids' backpacks still contain PENCIL BOXes!?!? If so, I couldn't be more thrilled. I have several pencil boxes in my desk drawer here, I love them. Pencils rule. But I thought "kids" were moving away from writing by hand generally, and even if they are still writing by hand, the PENCIL BOX (as a kids' school accessory) seems old-fashioned. Maybe it's an art thing? Are they colored pencils? Anyway, that answer felt slightly dated. Not INK WELL dated, but ... about halfway to INKWELL. I'm seeing kid-branded PENCIL BOXes online, so obviously kids still use them. I just wonder about what percentage actually have them in their backpacks on any given day. Also, I wonder how many tuxedo cats are named OREO (53D: Popular name for a tuxedo cat). Citation needed.


Things got rough for me right where the first two longer themers are closest to each other. Thematic density leads to ... trouble. The primary problem is ... isn't it APPLE BROWN BETTY???? Yes, yes it most certainly is. In fact, "Brown Betty" is the primary name of the dessert and "Apple"is the modifier, so you'd be on way way way more solid ground with BROWN BETTY than APPLE BETTY (?!!?) (21A: Traditional crustless fruit pie). For a brief moment there I thought there was going to be a rebus of some kind, a color rebus (BROWN) or a woman's name rebus (BETTY), or maybe not a rebus, but some other tricky thing going on where BROWN or BETTY was missing or hidden in some way. So APPLE BETTY was a major ear-thud. The crosses there were hard, or ugly, or ugly-hard. AWALK, awful, EXE, ugly, DARENOT, archaic, PAPPY, big spelling yikes, NPRTOTE, ugh, put in TOTEBAG without hesitating. There are other ugly places that were less difficult to work out, like the plural EMMAS (?) crossing the eye-crossingly dull ADRATES, but I was never so stuck (or annoyed) as I was in that APPLE BETTY thicket. The only other thing that truly bothered me about this puzzle came in the HOT MAGENTA thicket, which wasn't really a thicket, but did contain the puzzle's one inexcusably arcane answer: KING RAT. I love George Segal. I have seen many George Segal movies, not just the famous ones like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but deeper cuts like California Split (Elliot Gould!) and The Quiller Memorandum and Fun With Dick and Jane (Jane Fonda!) and Carbon Copy (Denzel Washington!). But KING RAT!? I watch movies and read about movies so I'm sure the title has crossed my field of vision at some point, but hoo boy, why do you drop an obscure movie title like that right in the middle of your Wednesday puzzle? Baffling. When the director himself says the movie "made little or no impression in America," and the movie in question is now 60 years old ... it's possible you wanna move in another direction with your crossword answer.


Notes:
  • 19A: Al Jolson's actual first name (ASA) — Al Jolson? Really? This is what's called "underlining your bad fill." I don't know why you do this.
  • 42A: Actress Palmer with a reduplicative name (KEKE) — Very much appreciate the "reduplicative name" part, because, while this actress has had a long career in TV and movies, they aren't TV or movies that I've seen (for the most part). 
  • 64A: Word derived from the Arabic for "lot" (KISMET) — sincerely, this is the first answer I wanted for the George Segal movie, when I had just the "K" in place (it didn't fit, obviously, but it's the first thing that popped into my head). So weird to have it actually appear in the puzzle!
  • 12D: Where runway 9 is always oriented at an airport (EAST) — ??? for takeoff or landing? If it's "oriented" EAST, is it not also oriented WEST? I'm so confused. I guess I don't know what "oriented" means here. Here's a guide to runway numbering. It says it's "simple" but my eyes quickly glazed over. Something about magnetic north ...
  • 4D: Game piece? (TIC) — as in, "a piece of TIC-Tac-Toe." Or a piece of STICKBALL, whichever.
See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

100 comments:

  1. Hal90006:12 AM

    I have a third grader and he does, indeed, use pencils, though he carries them in a nylon bag and not a box. Still, pencils are still around, at least for my kid.

    Not a particularly difficult or memorable puzzle. Main takeaway is I want to see that movie, now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:48 AM

      My middle schooler has a pencil case, but sometimes he's had a box - it depends on his whim at the start of the year when we're buying supplies - and yes, he has to bring it every day. Still, it took me a minute to get the clue.

      Delete
  2. Bob Mills6:13 AM

    I was proud of myself for sticking with this puzzle and solving it without cheating (well, I looked up OAST to make sure it was a kiln.. I had "oodles" instead of OCEANS, and couldn't imagine I was wrong. But the crosses didn't work, so after remembering HENRYKNOX I experimented and came up with EXE and OLEATE, even though they were unfamiliar to me.

    NPR TOTE was another mystery. "NPR" is National Public Radio, right? Do they give out totes for a donation? I've never been solicited by NPR, so it was a total guess.

    A lot of this puzzle was easy, but not the top third.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:49 AM

      OODLES here, too.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:58 AM

      Remembering Henry Knox? Not sure about oast.. and yet never solicited by NPR? You will be now!!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous6:39 AM

    When you land or take off in an airplane on runway 9 you are heading east. 9 is short for 90 degrees on a compass heading. If you land or take off in the opposite direction you are on the same surface but heading west on runway 27 or 270 degrees on the compass.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:39 AM

      Interesting!

      Out on runway number nine
      Big 707 set to go
      I'm stuck here on the ground
      Where the cold winds blow.

      Early Morning Rain, Bob Dylan

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:25 AM

      You’ll often see runways labeled both ways on ground signage. They’ll always have a difference of 18. For example, 9R/27L. They both refer to the same physical pavement running east-west. Depending on which direction traffic is going determines which name is used.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:40 AM

      Gordon Lightfoot

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:45 AM

      Bob’s good friend from Canada, Gordon, would like a word

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:17 PM

      Gordon Lightfoot

      Delete
    6. I heard the Gordon Lightfoot song many times but I don’t think the phrase about runway no. 9 ever registered in my brain, possibly because like Rex I didn’t know what it meant.
      Thanks to the various anonymous posters for explaining it.

      Delete

  4. A tad on the Challenging side of Medium for a Wednesday. I had problems in most of the areas that OFL cited, but I agree that there were "more credits than debits on the ledger".

    15A: wide before AWAY for the outside pitch
    39D: CARa before CARO
    66A: keEp before STET

    19A: Had no idea about Al Jolson's given name
    23D: HOBS as a Britishism for cooktops was a WOE

    Initially misreading the 18D clue as "Ironic fund-raising 'thank you' gift" led to some head scratching

    ReplyDelete
  5. No, the runaway oriented west is 27. The runway is 9-27.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Never noticed the theme and was stumped by the likes of things like OAST, Ninjas, Atahualpa, KINGRAT, KEKE etc. Saw the HEX’s and similar items strewn around the grid, but it never jelled into anything cohesive for me. Turned into a bit of a sleep-walk through a grid full of trivia, aka pretty much standard NYT fare.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:09 AM

    Each end of a runway is a different number, so runway nine is the one oriented east, but the other end would have a different number, and that would be the one oriented west.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A. Vespucci7:10 AM

    Chicken Parm Italian?

    Chicken Parm is an American dish developed in Italian immigrant neighborhoods in cities northeastern US during the first part of the 20th century. While it certainly has "cousins" in Italian cuisine, it is a big stretch to call it Italian. Better cluing might have been "Popular Italian-American entree, informally." or "Popular entree in Italian-American restaurants, informally."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:15 PM

      A. Vespucci
      As an Italian American ( 4 Italian immigrant grandparents) I agree that chicken parm and so many other items called Italian are in fact of Italian American origin. But that is what people CALL chicken parm, “Italian “. The clue says informal We are not discussing a dissertation In any event, clues are hints, not definitions, that is why they are called clues.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous7:12 AM

    Yes, runway 9 always runs east. Runways carry two numbers, so runway 9 would be numbered runway 27 on the other end.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Andy Freude7:16 AM

    Just realized I’ve never actually spotted an NPR TOTE in the wild. Are they really a thing?
    This puzzle reminds me of how much I prefer themeless puzzles.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous7:16 AM

    This is a Thursday, IMO

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hand up for APPLE BETTY landing with a thud, for tote bag before NPR TOTE.

    Early days yet, but Mr. Fagliano seems to have a very welcome willingness to amp up the Friday Saturday difficulty, and an unwelcome tolerance for people's names of marginal fame, or no fame.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous7:50 AM

    I pictured these themes as witches using Cockney rhyming slang to cure their victims, which made it fun for me

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well, the theme got me looking inside all the puzzle answers, and some sweet serendipities popped out. Such as OAST (of I'M TOAST) touching … OAST, and TOT (of NPR TOTE) crossing … TOT. And I especially liked seeing MAGE (of HOT MAGENTA) in a puzzle with a magic spell theme.

    Oh, I also liked seeing that RAT in AD RATES echoing nearby KING RAT.

    On top of that, wheelhouse deficiencies of mine caused some lovely resistance in some areas, which satisfied my brain’s work ethic.

    Very impressive construction, with its two sets of symmetrical answers – the types of spells are symmetrical, and the long words that break them are as well.

    Bill, your theme was clever, with its play on breaking spells, and double play on the word “spell”. That in itself raised my thumbs. The sweet serendipities and resistance lifted them even higher. This was a day-brightener, and thank you so much for making it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I see it differently: I never heard of KING RAT, but now I want to watch it, so I’ll look for it. Obscurity isn’t always a bad thing in an answer. Sometimes it’s an opportunity for discovery.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The biggest, glaring issue with the theme is that POX isn't a spell. It's a disease. It's like calling cancer a "spell". "The witch cast a cancer on me!" No.
    My kids carry pencil boxes in their backpacks, but more for traveling than for school.
    NPR tote bags are indeed a classic fund drive gift. I see them around fairly regularly.

    King Rat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:54 AM

      I agree that POX was a bit of a thud on initial discovery, but in the context of “a pox on both of your houses,” the threat of disease is basically used as a curse. At least is how I read it.

      Delete
  17. Diane Joan8:03 AM

    Yes my grandson also has a pencil box. During the pandemic, when schools reopened, the children were asked to bring in their own supplies so that they didn’t share germs. So I guess there was a pencil box Renaissance in a way. These days they’re back to sharing supplies since we know the more likely mode of transmission is through the air.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Andrew Z.8:07 AM

    NYC middle school teacher here, currently in year 27. Students absolutely use pencil cases in school. I’ve never heard the term pencil box before this crossword.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kept looking at Kin Grat and trying to figure out what kind of film it was. If the clue had referenced James Clavell's novel, it would have been no problem, but the film? One of those times when I couldn't see the two words for what they were.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:24 AM

    1: Fort Know was named for Henry Knox
    2: There are cobblers, crumbles, buckles and Bettys (Betties?). All are variations of a crustless fruit pie, so you could substitute any fruit, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a “brown” Betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brown 'BETTY' is a brown teapot in which to make tea when the kettle singing on the 'HOB' comes to the boil.

      Delete
  21. You have to listen to NPR to be solicited by NPR.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous8:44 AM

    My kids had pencil boxes, pencil pouches now that they’re in middle/high school. There’s been a move back toward handwriting that I see more with my 12 year old than my 16 year old. Assignments required to be worn by hand, learning cursive, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I don't bleeping care. I don't care about the Crayola debut nor the Palmer who isn't LILI nor the Shepherd woman nor the winning team in 2001 nor Al's real first name nor the POW film nor the song. I DON'T BLEEPING CARE!

    Off to the archives to find a puzzle that's for grownups and is not one long, mindless trivia-fest. SPLAT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:07 PM

      I'm with you. The crossword is becoming a bar trivia night, less to do with clever language and more to do with the names of dishes, people, movies, and politicians.

      Delete
  24. HENRYKNOX is perhaps best known now as the namesake of Fort Knox, of gold-storage fame. And while a POX in its modern sense is a disease, the more archaic sense is of a disaster or evil leveled on someone: “A pox on him!” Similar to “A plague on both your houses!”

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous8:48 AM

    Had SAVE for a long time instead of STET 66A. That and putting in RPI instead of RPM 45D prevented me from seeing HOT MAGENTA for a while. KING RAT I’d heard of but had never seen. Don’t forget the George Segal/Ruth Gordon farce ‘Where’s Poppa’!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Smooth sailing here except for the proper names (again)-KEKE and SHERRI, nice to meet you, and ASA. who knew? Can never remember the difference between a NOOB and a NEWB so had to wait for crosses. I got this all done fast enough that I had to go check the themers to see what was going on, so that was a nice aha! when I saw the trick. Good stuff.

    Liked your Wednesday just fine, BT. A Bit Tougher than some, which is appreciated. Thanks for all the fun.

    And for the birthday wishes, thanks to:
    JC66
    Anonymous
    GILL I-Mil gracias
    M&A-Thanks for the moo-cow choice
    A-Thanks for the shared birthday info. Glad to see so many singers. It's also the day the Civil War ended.
    Roo-No pablos today, but a double EMMA (not the birthday granddaughter though, that's Tessa)

    Always look forward to our little gaggle of word-lovers here. Nice to be remembered.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous8:53 AM

    In what way is an NPR TOTE “iconic?” A tote bag, sure. Well, “iconic” might still be a touch hyperbolic but I’d let it slide. But NPR? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an NPR tote bag nor did I even know they existed. Maybe “iconic” for NPR listeners? Certainly not the general public. That clue/answer was so weird to me.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hey All !
    Leaned slightly difficult here today. Seemed to be stuck in every section by one or two answers. HENRYKNOX/HOBS crossing H was tough. Other spots like that, that of course I don't remember now. 😁

    A lot of X's today. Five. Four with the theme, though.

    Fill came out fairly clean, considering navigation twixt all the Themers. The clues are what made it a bit obscure and toughish.

    Nice WedsPuz. Have a great Hump Day!

    No F's (Is this a HOAX?)
    RooMonster
    DarrinV

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous9:10 AM

    I got King Rat based on the novel - the first book of Claville’s Asia Saga, which also includes Shogun. I imagine the Shogun reboot has at least brought it back to the public consciousness somewhat.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Medium-Challenging (WED). Besides "La Cage AUX Folles", CARO/cara, and maybe Linzer TORTE, the puz was quite a bit US-centric (USA!). Famous events in 1969: Armstrong lands on the Moon, Woodstock, NY Jets win Super Bowl III, JFK is inaugurated, and... of course, the first ATM in the US is "deployed" by Chemical Bank, in the war between capitalism and communism. Odd clue/"fun" fact. (Wiki says the first recognized ATM in the world was in the UK, 1967.)

    Theme and themers were really nice, but the puzzle felt like a 2015 NYT with HOBS, OLEATE, PPP, and trivia. OAST is worth remembering for crosswordese. Also, the Cardiff Giant was an amusing HOAX. Overall, A-OK!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:30 PM

      ?! If you mean the president, he was inaugurated in January 1961. If you mean the airport, it was renamed from Idlewild in 1963.

      Delete
  31. I'm afraid I have to weigh in on the "pox" debate here. Pox is plural for pock, which is indeed a skin pustule. So we have chicken pox, small pox, and syphilis ("great pox"). Always a medical/skin adjective for hundreds of years. This did then morph into sayings such as "a pox on both their houses", rephrased from Romeo and Juliet. So, a pox is not really a curse, but is invoked in a curse to wish illness upon someone. A bit of a stretch for this puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Challenging (for a Wednesday). Lotta vague cluing and some weird answers I’ve never heard (APPLE BETTY, KING RAT, OAST, HENRY KNOX, HOBS) slowed me down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:42 PM

      Sam
      FWIW
      OAST has appeared many, many times over the years. It is considered classic crosswordese
      Longtime solvers put it in automatically.
      As someone pointed out, Ft. Knox was named after Henry. That was a help to me.
      Hobs. I had no idea.
      Betty is probably an age thing. More commonly used years ago.
      As is King Rat because the movie was based on a novel by Clavell ( deceased) a very popular novelist in his day. I never saw the movie, never read the book, I was aware of the title somewhere in my head.
      The puzzle mostly skewed old.

      Delete
    2. 'HOBS' as in 'the kettle singing on the hob'

      Delete
  33. Anonymous9:46 AM

    Felt like I was completing a puzzle in 1969. also Rex you should definitely check out Keke Palmer movies she's a fantastic actress

    ReplyDelete
  34. I guess if you have a PENCIL BOX you probably also have a big box of Crayola crayons and know what HOT MAGENTA is. As for me, I'm still trying to imagine what it looks like. Oh wait, I'm sitting at a computer... yes, it's #FF1DCE. OK.

    This puzzle had two gender-dependent answers, Y_CA and CAR_. Both broke masculine, to my disappointment. But seeing our old friend OAST more than made up for it. Plus I learned what a HOB is -- I knew it only from novels, and had thought it was some kind of warming plate.

    I'm pretty sure the INCAS were the nobility of the eponymous empire, not their subjects, but hey, it's a puzzle. And having learned about runway numbering from Arthur Hailey's novel Airport, I was going to explain it all to you, but I see that 82 people have done that already, so I'll pass up the chance.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Bob Mills10:15 AM

    For PH: Did you mean that JFK Airport was given that name in 1969? President Kennedy was inaugurated in 1961.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Took me a little longer than usual because I'd never heard of an APPLE BETTY or HENRY KNOX, and CHICKEN PARM seems like an American entree to me. Stacked on top of each other I patiently waited for crosses, and several were kinda fussy. Too heavy on proper nouns again. A nice walk in the park and pleasant battle.

    Prior to unearthing the theme, I had PENCIL BAG blocking up a big chunk of real estate in the center. I love this theme and used it to help figure out a few of the other answers and fix the BAG v. BOX challenge.

    Congrats 🦖 for another appearance in a puzzle.

    On a HENRY side note, we had to put our cat Henry to sleep Monday morning and it's been hell. Reading this blog is a helpful distraction, so thank you Rex and thank you to all of you.

    Uniclues:

    1 Quetzalcoatl devotees volunteer to give swimming lessons.
    2 Hawaiian who says the haoles aren't that bad.

    1 INCAS HELP YMCA
    2 OAHU OREO MOUTH

    My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Take the "Sanitized for Your Protection" paper strip off the hotel toilet. UNSEAL SEATS.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous10:21 AM

    I confidently wrote in PENCILBAG, as that’s what is in my kid’s backpack, then slowly remembered I was doing a NYT crossword, and they were much more likely to go with the older “box.”

    ReplyDelete
  38. It's probably unusual to see non-theme-related anagrams in a grid. @Lewis could tell us, I'm sure. But I'll just point out OAK and AOK.

    What did the inventor of the new Crayola color say to the non-violent Indian leader who stole his crayon? Give me my HOTMAGENTA, Mahatma Gandhi.

    In nominating the country's first Secretary of War, Washington quipped, "No nation shall dare to close the door to peace when HENRYKNOX."

    I guess some consider POX not to be a spell. So including it in this puzzle is to err in spelling. Makes me think that Aaron Spelling might have been worked into a revealer. Anyway, I liked the puzzle. Thanks, Bill Thompson.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:25 PM

      Thank you for your daily humor. Everyday I look forward to reading your entertaining posts. It is so amazing and impressive to see your clever reworking of the words from each puzzle. Thanks!

      Delete
  39. Anonymous10:32 AM

    King Rat was written by James Clavell who also wrote Shogun. This was an incredibly popular 3-night miniseries back in the 1970’s and was just remade in a Hulu series in 2024. A little trivia for you.

    ReplyDelete
  40. So I guess I'm supposed to remember the first US secretary of war!!!! Oh, wait...it doesn't stop with KNOX. Shall I add BETTY and her APPLE to the mix? Does one add OLEATE into this mixture. And ASA? How do you go from Al to ASA? DBACKS and all those EMMAS embrace a little PAPPY with the HEAT turned up.


    Trivia GALORE...and don't get me started on the never heard of KING RAT. End of story.


    Oh...Did I mention that I liked the puzzle?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Cool puztheme.
    TREESTUMP makes a dandy curse-breaker, btw.

    staff weeject picks: HEX & POX. Runty themer respect.
    Nice weeject stacks in the NE & SW, btw.

    Wasn't real familiar with the non-themer longballs APPLEBETTY & HOTMAGENTA. Was OK with NPRTOTE & KINGRAT, tho.

    Clue no-know: Semiotician. M&A has a SYMBOL for that word, all right.

    Kinda feisty solvequest, at our house. I blame the clues and maybe also HENRY KNOX & KEKE.

    Thanx for a fun solvin spell, Mr. Thompson dude.

    Masked & Anonymo4Us

    :-( … Runtpuz server had another bad night, I reckon.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Liveprof10:39 AM

    I am surprised to see that Rex and several of the comments are completely missing the point on the PENCIL BOX (49A). The true pencil box is a box made out of pencils. Each side of the box is made by placing pencils of equal length one on top of the other until the desired box height is reached. Hold them in place as best as possible with your fingers. You’ll get better at this the more boxes you make.

    Next, slather them with a good, fast-drying liquid glue. When they seem securely glued in place, do your best to remove them from your fingers and try to separate your fingers from each other. Ideally, you will have someone available to drive you to the emergency room if necessary, as it is difficult to control a steering wheel with pencils glued to your fingers.

    Repeat four times, making sure the opposing box sides are equal in length and all four equal in height. When you have all of the sides completed, just use common sense to finish constructing the box.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I saw The Jolson Story when it came out in 1946. Loved it. I still remember that Jolson changed his name.

    I liked the puzzle. Some lively cluing and entries.

    I didn't know anything about runway numbers. They don't seem to be related to gate numbers. Curious that a runway can have two numbers. Depending on the direction being taken by the plane using it.

    Another great clue for OREO.

    ReplyDelete
  44. @Bob Mills Oops! Yes, the airport was renamed to JFK in 1969. Thanks for the correction!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:28 PM

      You are still wrong. Idlewild was renamed to JFK on December 24, 1963.

      Delete
  45. Nicely done theme! Like @Lewis, I admired the double trouble of the four intact spells and their four corresponding "broken" states, all requiring symmetrical placement. Impressive! As far as catching on goes, I was so puzzled by HENRY KNOX that I didn't notice the connection with HEX; only with CHARM did I see it bookending CHICKEN PARM. After that, CRASH COURSE came in a trice, but "lunch" BOX blocked PENCIL BOX until POX came to mind. Unknown names and terms and some (to me) overly vague clues (like that for INSET) made it a harder than usual Wednesday for me. I liked seeing STEALTH, KISMET, and OAST under TOAST (although I think the hops are not exactly getting toasted, just dried).

    No idea: ASA, KEKE, SHERRI, KING RAT, HOT MAGENTA, HENRY KNOX, OLEATE, Cardiff Giant HOAX.

    @Joel and others - Thank you for correcting my misremembered "Romeo and Juliet" POX to "plague"!

    @Rex and commenters - I enjoyed learning about airport runway numbering. In the old days on United you could listen to the pilots talking with the control tower; I especially loved the handoffs coming in for landing and all the heading and runway language.

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  46. Anonymous 8:39 AM: Song referred to ("Early Morning Rain") was written by Gordon Lightfoot, not Bob Dylan.
    Canadians never get no respect!

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  47. Fiddlesticks. I forgot to give a shout out to old and dear friend OAST, sorely missed and reappearing at last. I have done those things that I ought not have done, and I have left undone those things that I ought to have done, and there is no health in me.

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  48. Liveprof11:00 AM

    Nina Totenberg, who is 80 now, is a wonderful correspondent for NPR. The late Steve Post when fundraising for NPR on his morning show on WNYC would sometimes offer donors a “Nina Totenbag.” (Something like that. He was careful to have it come across as funny and not insulting.) I miss Steve Post every day.

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  49. Anonymous11:05 AM

    My PENCIL BOX had dials on each side and windows on top that displayed the states and their capitals.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:08 PM

      @Anonymous 11:05am:
      When my brother and I were kids, we had that pencil box, plus another one that had countries and their capitals on it. We would test each other all the time.

      Delete
  50. EasyEd11:07 AM

    Am feeling a different vibe from the new editor—more arcane references and specific trivia that are difficult to fill from crosses. Even on the easy stuff—cycled through keep and Save to get STET—there is a higher degree of ambiguity. That and maybe my brain is slowing down on its own. Anyway, my mind was stretched so not all that bad…

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  51. Whoo hoo! Two wheelhouse answers fell my way and made me smile today.

    Back in the olden days of office PCs, before screen icons made finding apps and files easy, computer users needed to have some basic knowledge of how computer programs work. You could get into trouble if you didn’t understand the hierarchy of file extensions such as .EXE and .com. I remember a co-worker coming over to me and asking “Why does Wheel of Fortune keep coming up when I try to load my menu screen?” A peek at his autoexe.bat file yielded the answer and I changed either the name or the location of his game file, I don’t remember which.

    More on runway numbers…they are calibrated to magnetic compass directions which change over time. Thus runway numbers are occasionally changed. I made my first solo flight from 23/5 at Cleveland Hopkins Airport in 1968. That runway is now 24/6.

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  52. To one of the anonymous commenters above-Early Morning Rain was written by Gordon Lightfoot, not Bob Dylan. I vividly recall reading King Rat, but have never seen the movie. It would have to be pretty dark given the theme of the book. That was easy for me; Henry Knox not so much so.

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  53. Anonymous11:37 AM

    Not much trouble. Put in bEAT without checking the cross. First tried OLEAsE because it sounds science-y, then remembered that -ase is used for enzymes. Never heard of a Linzer TORTE but eventually found the letter that looked correct in both directions.

    Last square in the puzzle was SHERRI/KINGRAT. I tried all the vowels until I got the trophy. Didn’t realize it was “king rat” two words until I came here. Was trying to parse it as one word and getting nowhere.

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  54. Anonymous11:37 AM

    KING RAT is a fine film, albeit with a British take on American G.I.s. The cast is extraordinary. Towards the end there’s a five minute scene with, of all people, Richard Dawson that’s quiet and slightly chilling.

    My tuxedo cat was Gracie. A sweetheart.

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  55. I wouldn't trade my HOT MAGENTA PENCIL BOX for all the gold in Fort Knox.

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  56. Anonymous12:06 PM

    Something clanks a bit about the cluing for SYMBOL ("Semiotician's interest"). As clued, I think the answer should be SYMBOLs or SYMBOLism. You would say that a linguist's interest is "language" in the sense of the overall subject, not in the sense of a singular noun ie a single language. And SYMBOL can't work as a collective noun in the same way language can.

    But maybe I'm just splitting hairs over my morning coffee.

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  57. Anonymous12:07 PM

    To anonymous at 8:39- I heard the same song in my head but it was written by Gordon Lightfoot, not Dylan

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  58. If I have to work this hard on Wednesday, it's no fun for me. It would be one thing if I was enjoying the solve in trying to guess the gimmick, but I wasn't. Back to being frustrated, I guess :)

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  59. In honor of yesterday’s “Love It” answer, have updated my profile pic to me and Lyle a dozen years ago…

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  60. Anonymous12:37 PM

    The letter “K” does not appear in the Italian language so with the “K” in OAK crossing I couldn’t imagine what the Italian dish could possibly be!

    During the early days of the Revolutionary War, the British had a hold on Boston. George Washington, desperately in need of armaments ordered HENRY KNOX to Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York in order to retrieve the cannons from the fort and transport them to Boston. KNOX with his small band of volunteers managed to haul the cannons, in the middle of winter no less, through the Berkshire Mountains to an awaiting Washington. An amazing feat and one that more people should be aware of. For those that are interested there are memorial plaques along the route that Knox took including one here in Clifton Park NY….also of interest is the fact that one of the cannon fell through the ice on Lake George and still lies there today!

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  61. I enjoyed this puzzle way more than many did today but that may be a wheelhouse thing…I’m familiar with SHERRI Shepard, KEKE Palmer, and with crosses there was a glimmer of recollection about a movie named KINGRAT, although I’ve never seen it. And I’ll raise my hand to say I’ve only heard of the dessert to be APPLEbrownBETTY, so THAT took some extra thinkin’ to figure out.

    @DavidP, I like the cut of your jib! I have often been turned on to different books, movies, and music that I learn about when mentioned in the puzzle…so I view it very much like you. Plus, today I learned Al Jolson was ASA.

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  62. Anonymous12:55 PM

    My daughter is a second grade teacher in Sacramento, CA, and every year she, like the other teachers of her grade level, buys pencil boxes for her students. They come in all different colors, and I help her fill them with pencils of a variety of sizes: fat ones and medium ones along with traditional-sized ones. The students each also get crayons, an eraser, a pair of scissors with rounded ends, and other items in their boxes. We put one in each desk so they're there when the school year starts. The pencil boxes are a treasure the kids get to take home at the end of the school year, so they're not in their backpacks until the last day of school. Still, pencil boxes continue to be a thing!

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  63. Medium. Did not know ASA and OLEATE (I might have seen it before but it didn’t stick). EMMAS (not a good plural) saved me from my ignorance of OLEATE.

    Sorta smooth (see above) and not too bad or pretty much what @Rex said.

    I saw KING RAT decades ago and must have it impressed me enough then that today it was gimme and I remembered the gist of the plot.

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  64. @bigsteve 10:54 and @Joe 11:34 beat me to it. Anon @8:39 was remembering a Bob Dylan cover. Peter, Paul and Mary also did a cover as did Elvis Presley, but it was written by Gordon Lightfoot. It was on his self titled "Lightfoot" debut vinyl LP from 1966. Here's the YouTube "In the Early Morning Rain" cut from his "Gord's Gold" collection of hits album.

    I also hesitated putting in 65A POX for one of the spells to be broken since it's any of several viral diseases that leave behind pockmarks on healing. Not to be confused with an xword grid that leans too heavily of the plural of convenience (POC) and becomes POC Marked.

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  65. Anonymous1:26 PM

    More familiar with the tote bag being offered by PBS rather than NPR. Wouldn't call one from NPR iconic.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:01 PM

      Anonymous 1:26 pm
      About NPR PBS
      While PBS and NPR are different entities, numerous local broadcasters run both a tv station and a radio station, eg Boston.
      They offer the same stuff as “gifts”. Tote bags are equally iconic for both.

      Delete
  66. p.s.

    Got no big prob with PENCILBOX. Weirdest thing was that APPLEBETTY & HOTMAGENTA were longer than some of the themers, but best I could do for the spells they'd be breakin were:
    * ATTY [possible curse to break, for short]. Lawyer joke?
    * HOTMAGA [breaks two curses at once].

    M&Also

    runtpuz server hath arisen:
    **gruntz**

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  67. Yeesh, I missed the theme the first time around because those little numbers are so small I thought 37 across CURSE referred to 39 across CHARM, and then vice versa. So a charm breaks a curse, and a curse breaks a charm. Made a sort of twisted sense at the time.

    I was all set to correct anonymous about Gordon Lightfoot but others beat me to it! Looks like Bob did a cover of Early Morning Rain. Gordon died at 84 just under two years ago; he was touring and performing almost to the very end. Awesome.

    [Spelling Bee: yd 0; no really goofy words for a change.]

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  68. I read "King Rat" many years ago at the urging of my then boss. Quite memorable. But I didn't automatically plop it in with only the K - I forgot it was also a movie (which I've never seen.)

    My Crayola crayons always had a magenta color but I don't remember it being HOT.

    I found this harder than medium, for a Wednesday, so thanks, Bill Thompson, for a bit of a challenge.

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  69. CarlosinNJ2:16 PM

    Have we seen enough to say the puzzles of the Fagliano Era are both more varied and more challenging?

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  70. Anonymous2:56 PM

    King Rat - great movie! Have seen it multiple times. It was the first for-sure answer in this puzzle for me. Find and watch it. Excellent portrayal of the changes in human behavior under stress.

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  71. @Anonymous(es)/Anonymice(?)

    Thanks for the correction to the correction. I knew Kennedy heavily promoted science & technology in support of the Space Race, but... I don't have a good excuse for my initial error. I'll be sure to add the ERRATUM in my next comment, thanks for double-fact checking.

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  72. I think I'm correct about this. I seem to remember at some point in the movie, the English prisoner talks about how happy he will be to toss out Churchill and the Tories when elections are held. Really surprised me given the adulation of Churchill in this country.

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  73. This was crushingly hard for me. After getting the two long acrosses in the north I wound up with a "NP_____" start for 18d and immediately assumed "IMTOAST, I surely did ERR." But then as the rest of it filled out, there was NPRTOTE. Really? Is that a thing? TOTE, AOK, but NPR, that's way out in left field. (As regards totes.)

    Other areas, particularly to do with tech stuff (UNIX, EXE) were foreign to me. And then there's Ms. Palmer. There was an actress, back in the '40s- '50s, named Lily (Lilli? Lili?) Palmer. KEKE? Never heard of her. That one almost put a CURSE on me.

    BTW, POX is fine: "A POX on you!"

    I got through it, but for a Wednesday, wow. Challenging.

    Not that great, but the triumph points! Birdie.

    Wordle eagle!

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  74. Burma Shave1:23 PM

    HEX SYMBOL

    SHERRI put A CURSE on YOU
    at CHICKEN EMMA would DARENOT,
    and YOU REACT, ISEE it TOO,
    of COURSE her HEAT, it makes YOU HOT.

    --- BETTY LEE KNOX, RETD.

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  75. Diana, LIW1:31 PM

    @Spacey - National Public Radio (NPR) was famous for giving out tote bags during its pledge drives. And...your packing tip yesterday was spot on!

    Once I got the "trick" it all made sense. Of course.

    And then I finished with no probs. I remember my PENCILBOX, but not HOTMAGENTA. Magenta? Sure.

    Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords

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  76. rondo1:45 PM

    I used to fly. The clue for 12d is wrong; it is runway 09 (zero nine), not runway 9; very important distinction. And OFL's eyes glaze over at this simple concept? C'mon. 360 degrees in a circle. Zero = 360 degrees at the top, or north; clockwise 090 degrees = EAST; etc. Just drop the trailing 0. So the clue is in error.
    Filled this puz in with EASE except for OLEfin at first.
    Wordle birdie.

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  77. must proofread, second line should start with 'that' not 'at'

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  78. Anonymous3:42 PM

    Boring!

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  79. Anonymous5:19 PM

    Rex, you complained about a generic answer to the clue demerit. Today you get a specific answer, apple Betty, and you want the generic. Make up your mind.

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  80. Anonymous6:01 PM

    I don't mind people carping about PPP, but when people complain about trivia in a crossword puzzle, I just shake my head. Every answer in every crossword puzzle ever made is trivia. All of them. 100%. We all have stuff that we like and don't like, that doesn't mean the answers we don't like are any more trivial than the ones we do.

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