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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- MUDSLIDE (17A: *Vodka + coffee liqueur + Irish cream + heavy cream)
- HURRICANE (26A: *Light rum + dark rum + orange juice + passion fruit syrup)
- FLAMING / VOLCANO (36A: *With 38-Across, rum + brandy + pineapple juice + orange juice + orgeat syrup + fire)
Joshua David Duhamel (/dəˈmɛl/ də-MEL; born November 14, 1972) is an American actor. After various modeling work, he made his acting debut as Leo du Pres on the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children and later starred as Danny McCoy on NBC's Las Vegas.
[This Fergie, not that Fergie] Duhamel has ventured into film, appearing as one of the main protagonists in four of the Transformers films, most recently in the fifth entry, Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). He has also appeared in When in Rome (2010), Life as We Know It (2010), New Year's Eve (2011), Safe Haven (2013), and You're Not You (2014). In 2015, Duhamel co-starred on the short-lived CBS crime drama Battle Creek. He has also starred in several video games, most notably Call of Duty: WWII (2017). In 2018, he appeared in the coming of age film Love, Simon. In 2021, Duhamel starred in the role of Sheldon Sampson in the Netflix superhero series Jupiter's Legacy. He also played the role of Jacob Lee in the 2022 survival horror game The Callisto Protocol. [...]
He planned to attend dental school, but dropped out one-and-a-half credits shy of his undergraduate degree. He later completed his credits, and received his degree in 2005. // Duhamel has stated, "After college, I followed an ex-girlfriend to northern California, did a bunch of odd jobs." He won the title of Male Model of the Year in an International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) competition in 1997 (the runner-up was actor Ashton Kutcher). [...] In 2005, he became the co-owner of 10 North Main, a restaurant in Minot, North Dakota.
Duhamel is a spokesman for North Dakota tourism and has appeared in promotional videos for the state over the past decade. In 2022, Duhamel was paid $75,000 to become the face of the State’s Tourism Campaign for the next two years. // Duhamel met and began dating singer Stacy Ann Ferguson, better known by her stage name Fergie, in September 2004 after Ferguson appeared on Duhamel's show Las Vegas with her then-band The Black Eyed Peas. The couple wed on January 10, 2009, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu, California. They have a son born in August 2013. On September 14, 2017, the couple announced that they had separated earlier in the year. On June 1, 2019, the couple filed for divorce after two years of separation. As of late-November 2019, their divorce was finalized.(wikipedia)
• • •
Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a British author, television personality, and member of the extended British royal family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and a younger brother of King Charles III. (wikipedia)The "Fergie" in question today is a pop star—a solo artist as well as a member of the hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas. Would've helped (a lot) if I'd known who the hell Josh DUHAMEL is. As soon as I looked him up, I was like "oh, that guy." But like lots of handsome guys who came to fame in the aughts—like most pop culture from that entire decade, honestly—I missed him, and never managed to quite pick him up. In my head he was a fuzzy mix of Josh Brolin and ... what's that guy from Justified? ... Oh yeah, Timothy Olyphant! (who was in a movie from 1999 called Go, which also stars Sarah Polley before she became a director (and Oscar-winning screenplay writer), and which I tried to watch but it made me dizzy and a little bored so I stopped—might try again, though). OK, so ... DUHAMEL. Isn't that a sauce? No, that's béchamel. Anyway, he is much more famous than I thought he was, possibly because I thought "is marrying a duchess really the thing he's best known for?" (to reiterate, he never actually married a duchess—just a pop star who shares a nickname with a duchess ... and who also named her first album The Dutchess what the hell!?) Just as it seems kinda demeaning to clue accomplished women via their more famous husbands, so it seems demeaning to do the reverse, as this clue does. Clue the guy via his work or don't clue him, thank you. You learned this lesson with AMAL Clooney, now apply it writ large.
As for the rest of the puzzle ... I guess there are several cocktails named after natural disasters. That is my takeaway today. Is there supposed to be a secondary implication that these drinks will f*** you up? That they will be "disasters" for you (the next day) if you have one too many? Because if not, my question is "why do all the recipes involve liquor?" Why aren't there other kinds of "recipes?" Probably because most foodstuffs do not have elaborate metaphorical names (except "toad in the hole," that's a good one). My point is, I feel like there's a low-key "severe drunkenness / hangover" theme here, but I can't prove it. So let's just say the "disaster" refers solely to the drink names. That's safest. I love cocktails but hate the overly sweet nonsense that tends to dominate bar menus, fussy concoctions for people who want to get drunk but don't actually like the taste of liquor. So while I've had scores of different mixed drinks, these "disasters" are not among them. Never even heard of the FLAMING / VOLCANO. As far as I'm concerned, there's only on "flaming" cocktail, and it's fictional, and its secret ingredient is ... cough syrup.
The grid is varied and bouncy enough (not to mention clean enough) to keep the solving experience interesting, even if drinks are not your thing. I LOL'd at THEEURO (7D: Currency debut of 2002), mostly because I was thinking about how all the people who complained about THEEU a few days ago were really gonna lose it today. I too am not a big fan of random definite articles, and don't like the "THE" here much at all (any more than I'd like THEDOLLAR), but I am a fan of comments section meltdowns, so THEEURO ended me up making me laugh rather than wince. Now I'm imagining a romantic comedy set in Elizabethan England entitled "THEE, URO" (people are named URO, right?). Think of it as a prequel to the Josh DUHAMEL movie Love, Simon.
Only a couple of write-overs today—ROLL (!) before SELL (41A: Pitch) and DRY before WRY (22D: Droll). Let's go to the Bullet Points:
Bullet Points:
- 1A: "For ___" (greeting card section) (HIM) — who's HIM? Is it God? No? Is it Santa? Gotta say, "For HIM" sounds like a sex thing, but I may just be influenced by those (old?) ads for condoms that are ribbed, "for HER (pleasure)." Or by the men's sexual health company Hims.
- 11D: Believer in the principle of "I and I," for the physical and spiritual selves (RASTA) — cool trivia. Better than most RASTA clues. I double dog dare you to put IANDI in a puzzle, constructors. Come on—looks good, doesn't it. Tempting. You're salivating like a cartoon wolf right now, you know it.
- 50A: Losing tic-tac-toe line (OXO) — this clue is for OOX, XOO, XOX, XXO, OXX—all the terrible three-letter combinations that can't be clued any other way. This clue is not for OXO, which can be clued multiple other ways, most notably as the kitchenware brand. Also, the band I saw open for Hall & Oates in 1983. But unless it's Saturday and you're really trying to mess with solvers, the kitchenware brand is probably the way you wanna go.
 |
| [OXO is also an impact crater on the dwarf planet Ceres] |
- 24D: "Ungula" is Latin for this word, hence "ungulate" ("What is HOOF, Alex?") — seriously, this is some "Jeopardy!"-ass cluing.
- 30D: Magazine with cover exclamations like "Bigger Biceps!" (MEN'S HEALTH) — [whispers rapidly] "please let him be on the cover of MEN'S HEALTH please let him be on the cover of MEN'S HEALTH..." Ha ha ha, yesssss! That's the stuff! The DUHAMEL / MEN'S HEALTH crossing, irl, baby!:
 |
| [2,143 tips! Start reading, boys!] |
MUDSLIDE for me will always be Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it have been cleverer to clue the cocktails in an un-cocktaily way? I've never been into cocktails; they were decidedly something old people did when I was a teen, and now that I'm old they're something young people do. My son ordered an espresso martini once... good grief. Talk about mixing... metaphors?
Anyway, this puzzle was super easy, despite no idea on the cocktails or the Duhamel guy, way under avg time *and* faster than yd. The cocktail names kinda jumped out and everywhere it felt like a Mon-Tue downs only, where I could see the acrosses before reading the clues. RECIPE FOR DISASTER is very in the language and would have been obvious even without the cocktails.
But it was fun on a rainy morning in Germany 🇩🇪.
9.55 no comments posted
Medium but it felt tougher. EXile before EXPEL was it for erasures and I thought DUHAMEL needed a C somewhere. I also did not know the drink recipes so the theme clues were no help. My recreational drink preference is booze on ice with no adulteration or additives, YMMV.
ReplyDeleteVery smooth grid with a fun theme, liked it.
ReplyDelete@Rex: Bravo for the DUHAMEL MEN'S HEALTH covers!
Only one overwrite: MEAger before MEASLY at 19A. The only WOE was DUHAMEL.
I had no idea that there were two Fergies.
I don’t drink so when I figured out FLAMING, I was really hoping it would be FLAMING MOES, lol! Homer also once created homemade Prozac, which would probably be a good clue someday.
ReplyDeleteI thought, after entering in HURRICANE, that the revealer would be natural disasters. As I was a bartender on and off (mostly on) for over 50 years, the recipes for MUDSLIDE and HURRICANE were obvious. Never made, nor did I ever hear of a FLAMING VOLCANO (luckily I mostly worked in what I call adult drinker bars - made loads of martinis, manhattans, old fashioned, etc.). I know which Fergie is which - mostly because The Black Eyed Peas were the first hip-hop/rap/pop rap band I ever listened to and liked! But I didn't know what letter followed the Du in her ex husband's name. Luckily the h in Health fixed that.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was packed with PPP.
Fun puzzle - totally down with Rex on the implied DISASTER - the shade from the constructor places an almost untoward vibe on the themers. I didn’t know the cocktail names but backed into them easy enough. LOL at DUHAMEL.
ReplyDeleteBad Brains
Like the split revealer. BADMINTON, DESPOT and SMOLDER were nice - love MARY ANN. Hated THE EU earlier this week - hold my beer today. QUAYS - QUIS pair was cool.
She Don’t Use Jelly
Enjoyable Wednesday morning solve.
Dexter covering STYNE
I was pretty sure when I saw all those drink recipes I was going to fail since I haven't ever ordered any of those fancy things. But then it turned out they were all weather related so you could make good guesses. Suddenly the puzzle was super easy and quite fun.
ReplyDeletePublic service announcement: To make a better Café AU LAIT, brew the coffee double strength. And buy the good beans.
Propers: 6
Places: 2
Products: 5
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 4
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 24 (31%)
Tee-Hee: Definitely Ginger before MARYANN.
Uniclues:
1 The phrase, "The boss is coming."
2 Simone jumped over her car.
3 Activity on the church lawn in Kingston.
1 RECIPE FOR QUIET
2 BILES LIT UP LOT
3 RASTA BADMINTON
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: The ceremonial end of triangles. HYPOTENUSE PYRE.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Medium by solve time but it felt way out of my wavelength. MARYANN and DUHAMEL were both unknowns, and the recipe clues meant nothing to me. I kept hoping to see something more than just another dull recipe-based Wednesday and the revealer was exactly what I needed. It totally justifies the recipe-style clues, too.
ReplyDeleteGo is currently on the Criterion Channel, so it’s a good time to rewatch it!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of the DUHAMEL guy, and in retrospect, that was a good thing. No interest there.
ReplyDeleteToday I learned that I can’t spell BADMINTON for the life of me. It was comical seeing me try to iterate my way through that mess, even though I knew what the answer was.
Bizarre clue for CAMERA ROLL. My IPhone just has an icon and in the settings it’s labeled “Photos”. - not a CAMERA ROLL to be found. Is it an Android thing, perhaps ?
The clue is referring to one of the albums within the photo app, which I think is on iOS (it's been 15 years since I've used an Apple product, so that might not be true anymore).
DeleteEither way, I agree: awkward clue, since it's definitely not an Android thing.
Medium for me. But only because I went with TYRANT in the SW and then had all kinds of trouble until I fixed that. Also, I was totally think Sarah Ferguson until reading this. Josh DUHAMEL is a TIL.
ReplyDeleteThought the drinks and the revealer were fun. Didn’t know the drinks right off, but were easily inferable from a few crosses. Had to look up STYNE and DUHAMEL. Other names came easily, a sign I must be old. LITUP kinda fit the theme tho clued differently.
ReplyDeleteTotally with OFL on Mr. DUHAMEL and finding out there's another Fergie, except I had no "oh, that guy" moment. After reading about him in the writeup I still have to say that he's been in a lot of things I have either never seen or even heard of. I did know MENSHEALTH right away, a magazine that is definitely for HIM. It's similar to Esquire ,which I read for Charlie Pierce on politics, but otherwise is full of fashion tips and other advice that has nothing to do with me.
ReplyDeleteBesides making the acquaintance of Mr. DUHAMEL, I found out what a CAMERAROLL is and discovered what liquors are in a lot of fancy drinks I have never tried. Different strokes and all that.
Nice smooth solving experience and I thought the revealer was apt.
I liked your Wednesday offering very much, JB and JC. A Jocular Blend of trivia and solid answers, and Just Challenging enough. Thanks for all the fun.
Oh, clever wordplay theme, making literal the figurative phrase RECIPE FOR DISASTER. Perfecto!
ReplyDeleteSpotless grid, a given in any puzzle with the name Jeff Chen on it. Jeff is as kind a soul as you will ever run across, but he is ruthless, if you make a puzzle with him, when it comes to grid cleanliness. And, if you make a puzzle with him, you will eventually be exceedingly grateful to him for insisting on it.
Some lovely answers in SLEUTH, SMOLDER, and MEASLY. Also, after Monday's PUT ON A SHOW theme brought into the theater of my mind Ethel Merman brassily belting out "Everything's Coming Up Roses", how sweetly serendipitous that STYNE, who wrote the music to that song, shows up today.
In addition, the rebel in me liked seeing QUIET on the Eastern Front.
Jeanne, I loved how you, step-by-step, went from the dream of making a NYT-worthy crossword to its reality, as described in your notes. Jeff, you are such a giving and talented soul. This was a Recipe For Success. Thank you both for a delightful outing!
No idea who this DUHAMEL guy is nor to whom he was once married. I guess it doesn't help that of all the titles listed in his wiki blurb, All My Children is the only one I've ever heard of.
ReplyDeleteSame problem with the cocktails, so including the entire awful-sounding recipes did nothing to help solve them. It was a strange clueing choice, since you could have used some sort of punny clues relating, as Rex says, to hangovers. I have at least heard of a hurricane, but only because of
Hmm... The last part of my comment is missing, either because I typo'd the link code, or because Rex didn't appreciate the link (I admit, it does have at least one swear).
DeleteIt is supposed to say I have heard of a hurricane, but only because of this episode of Archer: https://youtu.be/xIZSOBlIy38?si=51IWUvylsbghlaR0
I thought this theme was super cute! And the rest was not painful. Josh whatever his name is fell in from the crosses pretty easily. I got a giggle out of the revealer.
ReplyDeleteBitty toddy y’all!
ReplyDeleteLoved the JULE STYNE clue - he did the music for Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol, the most underrated Scrooge adaptation in the umpteen versions that have been made.
ReplyDeleteThe Euro debuted on January 1st 1999 as a tradeable currency.
ReplyDeleteI was sweating it expecting IRISHCARBOMB to make an appearance, happy to see some restraint there on behalf of creator.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to see a good clean theme with not a howlingly unidiomatic crosswordism in sight. Very pleasant Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteApple has phased out the CAMERA ROLL as many will surely say.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle, great write-up!
I’d gotten a fast start in the northwest corner and got to the first themed clue. I read the recipe and thought, “That must be like drinking sludge.” Then a memory of decades ago, when my sister was a bartender and would send me whatever the ridiculous shot of the moment was, sprang up. I was set for the rest of the theme from there. Very fun puzzle all around. I’m in the sweet spot of knowing both Fergies but like another commenter, was sure his name was Duchamel.
ReplyDeleteThe Euro debuted on January 1st, 1999 as a tradeable currency.
ReplyDeleteI was at a tiki bar in DC eating deep fried snacks when the power went out… the manager brought each table a free flaming volcano; quite an impressive display of flames around the room. This was 30 years ago, but I still remember how extremely alcoholic and enormous it was— plenty of tropical cocktail for 4 thirsty underage college students, and that’s saying something!
ReplyDeleteHAM DUEL
ReplyDeleteWith COPSE at 48D (Small group of trees), and NAB at 65A (Catch in the act), the puzzle gives us a game of Copse and Robbers.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when Rex gets super technical with his criticisms of puzzles but I feel it necessary to play that role today. The theme clues are not recipes; they are just lists of ingredients. A recipe needs directions for concocting the final product.
ReplyDeleteStill, I thought this was very clever and lots of fun.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteFeel drunk after doing this puz.
Har.
Pretty nice theme. Three Themers, plus a Split Revealer. There's lots of drinks named by/for disasters. Was gonna look them up, but got lazy. 😁
A bunch of abbrs. today, I'll leave it up to others to list. Another bit of laziness...
Isn't APU The Simpsons convenient store dude? And a rare appearance by Jimmy SMITS. He was popular for a while, as was NYPD Blue.
That's about it for me.
Happy Wednesday.
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
He DOES look like Timothy Olyphant, whose best role, in my opinion, was salesman Danny Cordray in The Office. Micheal Scott: "I thought he was a male model"
ReplyDeleteI thought the timing of this puzzle was a little tone-deaf considering the 2000 people who just died in a mudslide.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see Jeff Chen's name back in the NYT crossword!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Broadway producer, but all of the other names are very recognizable, which made for a rather easy solve. Good puzzle overall and very little gunk.
Anyone else fall into the BITCOIN trap?
ReplyDeleteFiguring that THE EURO happened before 2002, I dropped BITCOIN into 7D and then looked to see if crosses would work.
At 21A, the C led me to think that COWs make roquefort cheese and 30A gave me the I for SKIPPER to be the castaway they were looking for.
With those seemingly anchoring BITCOIN in place, it took quite some time to dig myself out of that hole. Thank goodness for Jay LENO - and how often do you get to say that?
Was really hoping for FLAMING Dr. Pepper, which is a shotglass of amaretto + overproof rum + fire then dropped into a half pint of beer. Tastes similar to that Texas based soda. A very college days thing.
ReplyDeleteCAMERAROLL is still there, just not labeled as such. It’s found in the CAMERA app in the lower left corner.
Overall, thought a fine Wednesday and a good debut effort. Played relatively easy, but can definitely see it being a medium if some PPP not in wheelhouse. OLE was simply (vaguely) clued if not familiar with the school, but gettable from crosses.
Finished it without cheating, even without knowing all the drinks (I have heard of a mudslide). Easy by Wednesday standards, I thought; only the MIDSTREAM crosses gave me pause. I realized quickly that "bitcoin" wouldn't work as the new currency, albeit it had been my first reaction.
ReplyDeleteI suspected that "Fergie"wasn't the Duchess of York, because I remembered that she had divorced Prince Andrew and hadn't been in the news since then. if she had later married an American actor, the British tabloids would have roasted her over the coals.
A little hohum for a Chen puzzle, but they're always welcome. Nice solve
ReplyDeleteTried to make DESHANEL fit but no go.
RP's stream of consciousness writeup today was as good as the puzzle!
This was nice. I’ve never tasted and really am not even familiar with a single one of the theme drinks, but of course that did not detract from my enjoyment of the puzzle. I much prefer a QUIET margarita with salt and lime, or just give me the tequila, salt and lime and I’m good. The DISASTER may come later but at least I’ll know what I’m dealing with.
ReplyDeleteLike Rex, I thought Fergie meant the British one, but either way it was nice getting to know Mr. DUHAMEL. What a great crossword name and wow, he certainly did SMOLDER on the covers of that magazine for HIM which has always to me seemed a little sleazy. But then it doesn’t take much to APPALL me.
Congratulations Jeanne on a clever and entertaining debut!
@Conrad, MEAGER instead of MEASLY got me too, as did MIREDINIT before MIDSTREAM (in retrospect, I don't know what I was thinking there...sometimes my overconfidence pays off, sometimes it gives me random phrases that aren't...anything).
ReplyDeleteYes, I got caught by THE EURO again, thinking it might have been Bitcoin, which fit for a while.
ReplyDeleteWhen will I learn that EURO is the Oreo cookie of currencies? The Epee of sporting equipment?
Is Oreo perhaps the official snack to accompany MUDSLIDEs?
(For future reference, I now know Bitcoin was launched in 2009.)
Also thought there was someone else married to the Duchess of York Fergie that I was unaware of.
More importantly, I thought this was a fun puzzle, remarkably free of gunk, and with very fair clues. A Wednesday treat, thank you Jeanne Breen and Jeff Chen.
If I were unkind, I'd say this was edited "without a clue."
ReplyDeleteIs there quelque chose that these have in common, for a mini-theme?: Moi. Au lait. A la. Midi. Oui.
And, Ours could have been a French bear, and Duhamel could just as well have been a French natick instead of what was sought.
OXO could have been the food firm and its towering structure https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/OxoTower.jpg/220px-OxoTower.jpg
instead of one of six unsuccessful tictactoe results, which BTW could be successful game outcomes when a draw is the best the second player might get.
Hang more commonly refers to lynching or executing, or the fit of a clothing item, or putting a door on its hinges, or a dozen other more commonly spoken meanings.
Je m'en fou!
Jim G
A drop of yikes in my cocktail involve DUHAMEL crossing MENS HEALTH. That was my RECIPE FOR DISASTER!. Who dat?
ReplyDeleteMy bar trivia is that Alabama Slammer fits in the little hot FLAMING VOLCANO slot. If you asked me to try either one, I'd smile and pull out my flask filled with some Talisker and watch all of you get sloshed.
I finally got over my drink conundrum and finished with no hangover. I only took a few sips todays so I was able to enjoy some of this. I learned some bar trivia (here's looking at you, HOOF!), and that info on the RASTA family.....I remembered MARY ANN even though I thought "Gilligan's Island" was probably the dumbest show I watched one time. I didn't know that there's a green eyed monster named ENVY but I was happy for birdies that fly in BADMINTON. I was thinking golf.
Fun write-up, @Rex. MALE DUH? Yup....
Knew Duhamel almost off the bat but first thought of the Duchess. Pretty familiar with cocktails so not too bad .....but Cameraroll? Terrible.
ReplyDeleteTo be a bit pedantic, can one technically "DOCK" at a "QUAY", which, while functionally similar, is definitely not a dock? I would think "MOOR" would be the better answer there.
ReplyDeleteNow I think I’m embarrassed because I immediately the Fergie/JoshDUHAMEL thing. I guess I understand why many commenters aren’t familiar with The Black-eyed Peas but they were the Superbowl XLV (2011) headliners. Most people probably would likely recognize the (at the time) party anthem “I Gotta Feeling.” I’m not saying they’d like it. “Just fill my cup…Mazeltov!” amongst the lyrics. Otherwise, pretty repetitive. Josh DUHAMEL grew up in Minot, NDak and now prefers to spend his time there, so good on him.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I thought the theme/revealers was quite clever and that the puzzle was fun. And yes, as noted above, MUDSLIDE timing not good. However, these days there are so many natural disasters that there is probably NO time this puzzle could be published.
Much agreed with @Rex's drink choice, I much prefer aromatic cocktails to sweet.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with @Druid 8:59 AM that the clues are not recipes but rather simply lists of ingredients.
I know a Duhamel, but not that one, so no problem there.
NON to the plural OUI and THE EURO.
Classic write-up, Rex! More than one hearty laugh out loud moment in it!
ReplyDeleteIf the theme included food, specifically sushi rolls, could SEX ON THE BEACH be a (potential) RECIPE FOR DISASTER? Asking for a friend.
The puzzle + @Rex's write-up = RECIPE for fun. I enjoyed working out the names of the drinks (all unknown to me), and I thought the reveal was great. I liked SMOLDERS parked right between FLAMING and VOLCANO, and rye (via WRY) trying to sneak its way into a HURRICANE. Big groan, though, for THE EURO, which eluded me for way too long, especially since we'd just had THE EU recently. Admirable Downs,
ReplyDeleteSeems a little tone-deaf with so many being killed or losing everything in the ACTUAL natural disasters occurring right now…
ReplyDeleteWe would watch Las Vegas with DUHAMEL on Friday nights. It ran five seasons beginning in 2003. He was very good in it. Jimmy Caan also was excellent.
ReplyDeleteLively and enjoyable puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought on 36A was FLAMING asshole (a disaster of a different sort) since I already had the FLAMING part, and the spaces were right. Disappointed to figure out VOLCANO, but in case anyone is feeling the "summer is here" urge, here's the real McCoy (which is a completely different kind of RECIPE FOR DISASTER):
Flaming Asshole Cocktail
Mixed Drink Recipe from Cocktail Builder
1/2 oz of grenadine syrup
1/2 oz of creme de bananes (or banana liqueur)
1/2 oz of overproof rum
1/2 oz of green creme de menthe (or Mint liqueur)
Layer in this order: grenadine, creme de menthe, banana liqueur, white rum. Ignite rum before serving. Serve with a straw.
That really hits DESPOT.
Lately, I've been sampling breath fresheners such as Altoids. I had a great one on Monday, but a BADMINTON Wednesday. Frankly, it had overtones of SUET.
Being Bi-Rasta, I'm a believer in We and We.
Nice DISASTER relief effort, Jeanne Breen and Jeff Chen. Cheers!!!
One of your top writeups, RFP. Georgia
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Writeup was stellar
DeleteMy grandparents' generation, i.e., people born in the 1890s, had plenty of RECIPEs without quantities, saying things like, 'well, you take some flour...' The idea was that if you knew how to cook, you knew how much to use. But you do need instructions for how to combine the ingredients, I guess. Still, this is a crossword, and it was a pretty apt name for those drinks. I believe I've had a HURRICANE--they're big in NOLA, where they were invented, and I used to go there every year or so. I think I even had it in a red Go Cup, for the full New Orleans experience. Didn't know the other two. And at one point, thinking THE EURO had to be older than that, I put in new EURO, which gave me MUDdy cow for the first drink.
ReplyDeleteThe toughese part for me was the unknown SMITS over the equally unknown DUHAMEL. I wanted SMITh, but couldn't make the crosses work. I did once have a student named DUHAMEL, so I tried that out and it worked; and the H let me see MEN'S HEALTH.
Having been caught out before by the "kick out" kealoa, I cautiously put in E__CT, waiting for the crosses to see if it would be evict or eject. D'oh!
I knew CAMERA ROLL because it's one of the albums in my Photos app--or so I thought until @Southside's comments made me check. Not there any more; instead there is "recents." Plus many albums of pix of particular individuals, which IOS has figured out by some sort of eerie SLEUTHing. Kinda scary.
The Chart Room in Cataumet on Cape Cod is famous for its MUDSLIDES. BUT HAVE JUST ONE!
ReplyDeleteRP, absolutely brilliant today, esp. the double dose of Men’s Health
ReplyDelete@jberg - I only remember HURRICANE as a drink from NOLA also.
@Roo - APU from the Simpsons was the whole point of the book - the damage done by even casual stereotyping.
I wanted DUdAMEL, the soon to be conductor of the NY Philharmonic. That wasn’t going to work, and I must have seen Mr Duhamel’s name somewhere because the H jumped right into my brain.
This was fun! I didn't know any of the drinks, but I had a good time learning them. I had SEED for SUET 20A, PIE for HUE 9D but easy to fix.
ReplyDeleteWow - look at Josh DUHAMEL in 2004! Wonder what looks like now - 20 years later.
Congrats on your debut, Jeanne and nice to see Jeff Chen here again:)
Why does "Hard knocks?" require a question mark? "Raps" are, in fact, hard knocks.
ReplyDeleteThis went very fast (for me) at 8 minutes flat. The only typeover I can recall was looking at BADM----- for "A birdie flies in this" all I could think was: BAD MOVIE? BAD MYSTERY? Nothing fit.
ReplyDeleteI was never much into mixed drinks; about 30 years ago I recall drinking White Russians for a while. You could say these days that's a recipe for disaster but it's a stretch.
[Spelling Bee: Tue currently -1 missing a 7.]
Loved Rex's deep dive on... *looking up the name again*... ah, yes, Josh. Josh DUHAMEL. Transformers was one of the first Blu-rays I bought, solely for the eye candy (the CGI, not Josh). Didn't know/remember Josh being in the movie. Clue was fine, bonus "fun" fact. I know Jonathan DUHAMEL, who won the 2010 WSOP Main Event, but the name is very obscure outside of poker.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to mention Kim Hill, who was replaced by Fergie. Kim left the Black Eyed Peas due to pressure from the (newly merged) record label to sexualize and objectify her image. Basically walked out on millions of dollars to stand up for what she believed was right. *Serious* respect. You can listen to her story here, part of the Almost Famous series on the NYT YouTube channel.
Enjoyed today's puzzle. Thanks, Jeanne Breen & Jeff Chen! (Congrats on the debut, Jeanne!)
P.S. Immediately thought of Moe after FLAMING. You're the best, Rex :)
People actually drink those things?! I prefer a couple of ounces of good rye over a single, reasonably sized ice cube (approx. 1x1x1 inch). But if I'm in a bar wjith a whole bunch of "cocktail people", I might go with the flow and order, in order of preference, an Old Fashioned (rye based), a Sazerac (again rye based), A Manhattan (same), a Martini (not dry! you must taste some vermouth). A gin & tonic on the patio on hot summer afternoon is pretty good, although it's not really a cocktail; I think it's actually defined as a hi-ball. Please note that none of these contains anything called orgeat, or Irish cream, or pineapple juice.
ReplyDeleteAnd kudos to the first person to point out that these are not so much exact recipes as lists of ingredients. Alarmingly sweet ingredients.
Great puztheme revealer idea. Liked it like liquorice.
ReplyDeletePretty smooth solvequest, despite no-knows of DUHAMEL & MENSHEALTH & all the drinks. M&A don't drink much, other than beer and Barefoot wine. And Dr. Pepper, of course.
staff weeject picks: HMM/HIM.
fave stuff: MID STREAM by MID I. BADMINTON. SMOLDER. SLEUTH.
Only thing missin, themer-wise: Some sorta RECIPE+FORDISASTER with a t-RUM-p ingredient. [burrrup]
Thanx for gangin up on us, Ms. Breen darlin & Mr. Chenmeister dude. And for the mighty fun drinkfest. And congratz to Jeanne on her primo half-debut.
Masked & Anonymo9Us
**gruntz**
I can't believe folks didn't get a laugh out of the reveal.. yeah you drink those drinks its a recipe for disaster all right... that's guaranteed that's the 'joke'...
ReplyDeletep.s.
ReplyDeleteyep…
Someone has indeed made a drink called a STABLE GINIUS: Recipe features gin + tea + rum + pee.
Just sayin.
Full disclosure: When M&A goes out to eat at Mexican-style eateries, his drink selections may sometime expand to include a frozen margarita. As long as we can still save room for them churros/natillas/sopapillas, of course.
M&Also
Late to the party, but I see no one has pointed out the teaming of "Maryann" and "envy" in the puzzle. Turns out that each of the characters on Gilligan's Island was created to represent one of the seven deadly sins, and Maryann was the personification of envy. From an NPR story -
ReplyDelete"Years after the show ended, its creator, Sherwood Schwartz, admitted that each of the characters represented one of the seven deadly sins: pride (the Professor), Anger (Skipper), Lust, (Ginger), and the rest. Gilligan was supposed to be Sloth.
But a closer viewing indicates that the island may well have been Hell -- and the red-clad Gilligan the devil who kept them on his island." https://www.npr.org/sections/incharacter/2008/01/your_turn_gilligan.html
You're welcome!
Had the M from MIDSTREAM (how I increasingly end my trips to the LOO/LAV)
ReplyDeleteThought it might be MFM - a greeting card for the gender fluid…
Again glad to see Rex in humor form today. By the time I got to the last lines about Duhamel anagrams I was chuckling out loud.
ReplyDeleteYou don't want to know why I couldn't get to posting until now. It's been a perfectly awful day on every level. Fortunately I wasn't also dealing with the hangover and the stomach upset you'd get from drinking those horrible concoctions. This didn't pass my "breakfast test" because all the clues made me queasy -- and even queasier at that hour of the morning. And therefore I found the droll revealer quite amusing and right on the money.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion about people who drink such swill? They don't like the taste of liquor at all and are only drinking in order to get smashed. And so they will, but they'll also get sick.
Duhamel and Olyphant, the best story: https://youtu.be/fgx6X6s6cUg
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, just yesterday during Happy Hour, I asked my favorite bartender, Chris why he thought overly sweet cocktails had become so popular again. I reminisced about the ‘60s and the Harvey Wallbanger while he poured Drambuie into the mix for a Rusty Nail (a certain way to ruin scotch, in my opinion). Chris offered that first, he pours lots of “Harveys” these days (apparently it’s back in a big way) and also that he thinks perhaps the “fruits and veg drinkers” (his words) think it adds something healthy to their liquor. He was kidding - sort of, but the establishment does make a point of offering “organic, and fresh squeezed juices and house made syrups,” al of which (in tandem with the very capable mixologists) makes for delicious cocktails.
ReplyDeleteMy so far favorite watering hole here offers great bartenders, friendly ambiance, a personal welcome when one enters the door and nice folks who sit on bar stools and enjoy conversation. I love that cocktails are back, as do the bartenders; they all say it’s more fun to mix cocktails than to just pour pints and shots.
Since I do enjoy cocktails, I’m thinking about bar tender school. Is that nuts? My kids would say yes but I am really already over retirement and being in a completely new place at my age makes it hard to get plugged in to the community and to make good friends. I really miss my wide circle of friends. There was always someone to have a drink or a meal with and people to share entertainment, to help repot plants-all those things you just pick up the phone to arrange. Oh well, I’ll get there.
Crossword cocktails. Fun theme except that I only knew the HURRICANE, and that only because it had rum as the only liquor and it would look like the sunset. I declined to have one on any of my visits to NOLA, because I do not care for rum or sweet drinks, but it’s hard to walk through the Quarter without seeing hundreds of take-away plastic HURRICANE glasses. Accordingly, I used the downs and got through this one in good order. Enjoyed the MEASLY amount of junk fill too! Well done Jeanne and Jeff. Cheers!!
@Anon 5:50
ReplyDeleteGreat clip!!!
I'd never heard of DUHAMEL before, but Rex's DUHAMEL-MENSHEALTH crossing was excellent! A high point of this blog for me.
ReplyDeleteAn unusually high number of WoEs for a Wednesday. Or for a Saturday, for that matter: OPI, DUHAMEL, FLAMING VOLCANO, APU, CAMERA ROLL, and STYNE. And yet overall the puzzle felt normal for a Wednesday, so the WoEs were fairly crossed or gettable from pattern recognition.
ReplyDeleteAlso from some random online source: SYNERGY - mid 17th century (denoting cooperation): from modern Latin synergia cooperation, from Greek sunergia, from sunergos ‘working together’, from sun- ‘together’ + ergon ‘work’.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not synergy’s fault that (possibly) the tech-world uses it too much!
No heavy drinker here, I thought this would be the easiest ever puzzle for "experienced" drinkers. None of those RECIPE items meant a thing to me, but it wasn't long before I got the gist of what was going on. Yikes, is there really a FLAMING VOLCANO? I remember volcano as a we-dare-you-to-finish-it dessert at Rainforest Cafe. Alcohol was not involved.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a fun puzzle for midweek (MIDSTREAM?). The usual Chen flair is evident. Birdie.
Wordle birdie.
My first run-through I saw names I didn't know and those "drinks." Yikes!
ReplyDeleteBut then, the old bit-by-bit took over and eventually I got it all. Triumph points for me!
Lady Di