Thursday, August 8, 2024

Vegan cheese ingredient, often / THU 8-8-2024 / First nonhuman species encountered in the "Star Wars" franchise / Response to an anticlimactic reveal / Basic level of a popular ridesharing app / Company with a purple heart in its logo / French vineyards

Constructor: Christopher Youngs

Relative difficulty: Easy; even tired and unable to type, still a 3:30 solve


THEME: MINUTE HAND [Part of a clock depicted four times in this puzzle?] — there's four HAND rebuses; I'm a fan of the reveal in that in involves repronouncing "minute" to make the theme work

Word of the Day: LOU (He asked Bud "Who's on first?") —
The Heptapod languages are two constructed fictional languages used in Ted Chiang's short story, Story of Your Life, as well as its later film adaptation, Arrival. In-universe, they are used by the "heptapods", an alien race that makes contact with humanity.
The languages are classified by two separate names, "Heptapod A" and "Heptapod B", as the species uses two separate languages; the former is a spoken language, and the latter a semasiography. These two languages together encapsulate two different concepts of time—Heptapod B presents time as synchronous, while A presents time as sequential, with causality. The two languages are grammatically unrelated. [wikipedia; in the film the alien creatures are nicknamed Abbott and Costello, who are the Bud and Lou (respectively) actually referred to in the clue]
• • •
Christopher Adams here again, filling in today (and also Saturday) for some tricky puzzles. Full disclosure: I solved this while dead tired (two full time jobs after an ungodly early morning run). Thankfully it seemed like a lot of answers / clues were ones I've seen before, and those dropped in quickly enough (even if my tired fingers couldn't quite type them correctly the first, or second, or even third time). Only real problem was going for UNCLE at 5D first, and even then my thoughts while solving were "UN---, "unhand" doesn't fit, let's go UNCLE, but that doesn't fit with "scotch and..."...oh, there's a rebus here", and (in theory) I was off to the races again.

Theme answers:
  • SCOTC[H AND] SODA [Mixed drink with an alliterative name]
  • [HAN D]YNASY [Preceder of the Three Kingdoms in Chinese history]
  • EASIER SAID T[HAN D]ONE ["It's not as simple as it sounds"]
  • C[HAND]ELIER [Ornate lighting fixture]
Anyway, thank goodness this was an easy solve, which, nothing wrong with that sometimes for a Thursday. Sometimes it's a tricky hard puzzle. Sometimes it's an easy puzzle to introduce a tricky concept (here, a rebus). And sometimes it's just a relief to have an easy puzzle after a long day; not every Thursday needs to be hard, and if nothing else, this provides a greater contrast for when it actually is difficult.

And thankfully it was also a fun theme; the theme answers were more fun than not (especially the spanner, which I assume was one of the seeds, but also SCOTCH AND SODA and even HANDY NASTY HAN DYNASTY). The down answers were also lively; it's easy as a constructor to focus only on the long entries since they take up more real estate and are what most solvers will notice first, but the shorter rebus entries were all fun. Admittedly, they all used HAND quite literally (as opposed to the acrosses), but three of the four (all but AT HAND) had clues that were evocative and made them fun, and bonus points for the consistency of having actual hands in all the downs but none of the acrosses. Also, bonus points for running REDHANDED through two theme entries pretty cleanly (only the nearby EVO is a demerit), which is a nice touch.

Olio:
  • STU [Name spelled out in "The Alphabet Song"] — As far as clues go, this is an old chestnut that's oft RETOLD, and I wish it weren't. It is the second worst cluing angle that I see regularly in the NYTXW; the first, of course, is the NYTXW cluing names (and especially female names) as anything but actual people with that name. I am once again asking Will, Joel, etc. to stop this practice (and I am once again tired of having to make this point).
  • ODD [Like most primes] — Two is, of course, the oddest prime of all, as it's the only one that isn't odd.
  • COD [A carved one hangs in the chamber of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]— It's known as the Sacred Cod, and the state Senate does them one better with (and I am not making this up) the Holy Mackerel (which, imo, is the best fish; it's certainly my favorite to eat).
  • CASHEW [Vegan cheese ingredient, often] — I did not know this, and now I have a new quest for the next time I'm at the local Hy-Vee (assuming this doesn't happen at the Iowa State Fair this weekend).
  • EPEE [Weapon that shares an etymology with "spade" and "spatula"] — Also did not know this, very interesting to learn this and will research it more tomorrow. Will not, however, watch any Olympic fencing; too busy rewatching the men's 1500m and 400m races.
  • ASIA [Setting for the FIFA World Cups of 2002 and 2022] — Given that I lived in one of the host countries here while they were building some of the host cities for the Men's World Cup, quite easily saw through the misdirect of country vs continent here.
  • SLEEP ["Don't give up on your dreams. ___ longer" (quip)] — I'm going to bed, no alarm, see you all Saturday.
Yours truly, Christopher Adams, Court Jester of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

89 comments:

  1. Easy. I’ve seen “Six” so 1a was a gimme. The rest wasn’t much harder as the rebus was pretty obvious.

    No erasures and I did not know IRA and EPEE.

    Cute, breezy and fun, liked it or pretty much what @Christopher said.

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  2. Anonymous2:34 AM

    How is CRUS "French vineyards"? I had a one cell mistake somewhere and couldn't find it for awhile because I kept looking sideways at that one.

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    Replies
    1. From Merriam-Webster: cru (noun) plural crus - A French vineyard producing wine grapes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:48 AM

      Cru is the French word for vineyard...ie "Grand Cru"

      Delete
  3. 2:17 while watching the Olympics. Hard.

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  4. Loved POST, hated COATI but just because I didn't know it. Very boring trick, too bad because I look forward to Thursdays.

    Earnest question for the crowd: are there any other puzzles with a ~Thursday-to-Saturday level of difficulty that have tricks/gimmicks/mcguffins like the NYT Thursday puzzle?

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  5. Wendy Writer4:40 AM

    Quick (for me), easy, entertaining, and satisfying puzzle. A four-letter rebus is impressive, and the revealer was fun.

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  6. Very easy for a Thursday. Got the rebus at 5D, UN[HAND] ME and "whooshed" from there. I did give a second glance to HANDY-NASTY (21A), which I filled in before reading the clue. My only overwrite was at 10A, ewok before JAWA, but I realized ewok was wrong as soon as I finished typing it.

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  7. Wonderful follow up to yesterday’s mess. Cute theme and well filled. It fell quickly with the SCOTCH AND SODA cross. After that it was just a matter of identifying the rebus locations. Thought the random placement was neat.

    LAKE Steet

    Liked ROOT CAUSES, DEFACTO and CASHEW. Maybe keep UBER X and all the short trivia out next time.

    Enjoyable Thursday morning solve.

    MINUTEmen

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  8. Anonymous7:05 AM

    Not sure if you’re doing a bit, but Abbott and Costello were a famous 1940/50s era comedy duo, which Arrival referenced. I’m certain the puzzle is referencing the original duo, not the heptapods.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:19 PM

      EXACTLY! Was he kidding?

      Delete
  9. I had a real head slap moment when the reveal indicated that I was one HAND short in my rebus squares and it took me forever to get CHANDELIER which is so, so obvious. DOH!

    I was at a disadvantage with the name of the drink cause I can never remember what the heck alliteration is supposed to mean - I guess I still don’t know because I thought it involved consecutive words and here we have an AND in between. Fortunately my ignorance regarding this matter has not had an adverse effect (affect?) on my quality of life, with the exception of an occasional blank stare at a crossword clue now and then.

    Others may characterize this one as too easy, but I think it hit the sweet spot. It’s nice to have a middle-of-the-road rebus on a Thursday, and the alternatives that the NYT concocts could be much worse (I’m still haunted by that Olympics nightmare puzzle where the grid was completely obliterated with different colored squares - even though that one wasn’t run on a Thursday, it seems to have done irrevocable psychological damage).

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  10. Ah yes, Etta Jones, the lesser hailed of the two Ettas of Jazz fame. So wanted it to be Nora Jones but it was obvious that didn’t work. On the other hand (group groan) it was a pretty easy puzzle.

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  11. Shandra Dykman7:23 AM

    I was tripped up by the fact that both DYNASTY and SCOTCHSODA seemed good enough going across, which made the ✋🏼 rebus harder to see. Enjoyed the puzz. Didn’t try to put ✋🏼 in as the rebus but it would look cool if it let me.

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  12. I’m having trouble seeing the difference between Mr. Adams’ #1 cluing angle complaint (cluing names as anything but actual people with that name) and his #2 cluing complaint (cluing STU as a string from the alphabet song). Isn’t #2 simply an example of #1?

    Also, I solved this puzzle while dying from loss of blood when my arms got cut off in an EPEE battle, and typing with my nose on a tiny phone keyboard, and finished in 3:29.

    MURK is a very odd little word.

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    Replies
    1. I finished at 3:31 (behind you and OP) because I was using Lil Diva’s paws to enter the answers and claws are less efficient than HANDs. Plus she was about to get sick and didn’t want her to ARF on my iPad so I hurried her along..

      Hope you recover quickly from your EPEE misfortune (TCELLS can help rejuvenation, especially during TSTORMS…)

      Delete
    2. Cliff C.9:34 AM

      @kitshef (7:24am) I see your concern. But, it's a little know fact that STU was the name of the person who developed what is now the English alphabet, adapting from the Latin, back in the 7th century. Foreshadowing current widespread practice, Stu was one of the earliest creators to embed his name in his work - something that in the digital age has become known as a type of Easter egg.

      So glad I could clear that up for you. ;)

      Delete
  13. Anonymous7:35 AM

    A quick fun solve — about two minutes off my best Thursday. Before I figured out the rebus feature I had SCOTCHSODA, which already had me grumbling about why we had to change drink names. But never mind. Nicely done puzzle.

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  15. That gorgeous banner across the middle – EASIER SAID THAN DONE – is not only good looking, but it has never appeared in a crossword in any of the major venues before, not even on a Sunday, where it could easily fit without the rebus.

    That alone, IMO, is worth the price of admission, but it has a terrific supporting cast as well. Every answer, horizontal and vertical, that includes HAND has verve (Hi, @Christopher A!) -- look at them! -- not to mention MURK, DEFACTO, ENNUI, and OH THAT.

    Then there’s the clue for IOU – [The vowels not seen in “bad debt,” ironically]. Here’s an answer that has appeared nearly 500 times in the crossword outlets, but never clued like this.

    And the revealer that lands perfectly, where you have to smile and nod with respect. One of the great Crosslandia moments when that happens.

    Plus, some lovely serendipities. That double-letter-fest in the EDDY-STEEL-DDAY final column. A five-letter semordnilap (SLEEP). And the lovely PuzzPair© of a backward ERIE crossing LAKE.

    Elegant and entertaining. This puzzle made me feel good through and through, and what a sweet way to enter the day. Thank you, Christopher Y!

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  17. It took me 4 minutes but that was because I was busy collecting my Nobel Prize, after bench pressing six hundred pounds.. (with one hand)

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  18. Cute. I guess you could do something similar with “small talk” or “small change” or something, but this one has the added value of changing the pronunciation of “minute.”

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  19. Anonymous8:19 AM

    Not easy for me. The sw was one big Natick

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  20. Christophers rule the day! Thank you, Mr. Youngs, for a pleasant Thursday puzzle and thank you, Mr. Adams for guest blogging. I’m also you a fan of Hy-Vee stores and state fairs. In fact, the Missouri fair starts today.

    No complaints from me today. If it’s Thursday and there’s a rebus, all is well in my crossworld. A nice little reward for my patience in getting through yesterday‘s hopscotch lookie-loo festival. Initially thought we might be drinking a PIÑA COLADA at the top. Then got the trick at 29D because what else could that answer have been? CHANDELIER was the most difficult to parse but I liked them all.

    This new blog format compresses the comment section To the point where I can only see a few lines at a time. Very frustrating. But that’s just one thing I don’t like about it.

    @Nancy: I hope you have a better day today. Posted a note to you last night at 10:25 in case you missed it.

    No complaints

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  21. I always know 1A because I had a classmate in school named Hugh PARR, who was also the only HUGH I have known outside of my grandfather.

    Caught on instantly at the SCOTCH/SODA UNHAND me intersection and just had to decide if I wanted to squeeze the letters in or draw a little hand. Opted for leaving a blank space and entering HAND mentally, which you can do on paper.

    Same experience as @Southside in the SW corner, which was taking forever because I for some reason forgot entirely about the rebus. Come on man.

    Today's how do you do's include EVO and GUNN as clued. Also found out elsewhere today that "howdy" is short for "how do you do", which I had never stopped to think about.

    Side eye to SHOWERBA TH, and LOADS before SCADS, but otherwise a very smooth ride indeed.

    Enjoyed this one very much, CY. Easy breezy fun, and Could You make the next one just a little trickier? Thanks for all the fun.

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    Replies
    1. @Pablo

      It's actually "Howdy do?" which should make it easier to see. The Howdy part is "how d'ye [yuh]" and do = do.
      In spoken English, if I want to know how you did something, it sounds like "howja": "Howja get here so fast?" "Howja solve problem 6?"
      Similar.

      Delete
  22. Norah Jones spells her name with an "H", I tried that first didnt fit. I agree with above, SCOTCHSODA seemed OK as is, so I had to retrace on that one. I had COATe for awhile, that messed me up. Hand Up for a fun puzzle

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  23. Hey All !
    3:30 with making mistakes. How is doing a puz that fast fun? How can a puz be done that fast whilst making mistakes? That's supersonic speed, to be able to read clues and type in answers without making mistakes. But with? C'mon man. Most people can't even type in answers that fast having a completed grid to copy off.

    Anyway, do agree on the easy side for a ThursPuz. Finished here about 15 minutes, which is (normal) fast. 😁 I like reading all the clues, even if something auto fills by getting all the crossers, I'll read the clue. Strange, yes, but I think it's FOMO, even though with my terrible memory, it's irrelevant whether I read the clue or not, as it's almost immediately forgotten anyway. Yes, I am ODD. 😁

    Had lIttlEHAND in first for the Revealer. But MINUTE HAND has the double meaning of the smaller hand on a clock face (MIN-IT) and the other meaning of small, MY-NEWT. Neat.

    Little 4x4 closed off NE/SW corners.Each with a HAND, however.

    Good puz, quick (not lightening fast), nice Revealer. Some fun clues, ala ARF.

    Happy Thursday!

    One F
    RooMonster
    DarrinV

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    1. My reaction the OP’s claimed 3:30 was roughly equivalent to Trump’s reaction to Biden’s claim of a 6 handicap. Especially with a rebus to suss out and admitted errors.

      I’ve done minis in 30 seconds but my regular xword best time is 4:23 once on a very easy Monday.

      Maybe we read this wrong and he’s painstakingly thorough and meant 3 hours, 30 minutes. Why I found Kitshef’s 3:29 time using his nose so funny…

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:52 PM

      You all should stop w/ this idea that speed solvers are lying about their times. They’re not. Mid-3s on a Thursday is average for lots of top solvers. It just is. Go to a tournament some time. Under controlled conditions, you’ll see.

      Delete
  24. I don't get Christopher's comment that the reveal "involves repronouncing "minute" to make the theme work."

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    Replies
    1. Minute as a synonym for tiny, as opposed to minute as a unit of time.

      Delete
    2. Strunk10:03 AM

      @Twangster (9:20am) Long "i" in first syllable & stress on second syllable = very small or tiny. ergo, a tiny HAND squeezed into the cell

      Delete
  25. Easy, nicely done - I admired how the Across HANDs were hidden as letter strings, while the Downs showed up as "real" ones, and the reveal's changing a unit of time to a synonym for WEE. Also liked SHOWER BATH - it seems like an eon or two since I've encountered that expression.

    Do-over: EVa. No idea: Gunn. Fun to learn: the COD in the Massachusetts legislature! In the Wisconsin Capitol building, there are badgers posing above almost every doorway.

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  26. Anonymous9:25 AM

    i don't know how one can even read the clues in 3:30! quicker than average for me, but wow. never gonna be that fast.

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  27. Bob Mills9:26 AM

    Not ss annoying as most rebuses, but not a lot of fun, either. I kept trying to locate the HAND answers on an imaginary clock, instead of just filling in the word where it belonged.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:13 AM

      For now on don’t do Thursdays and bore everyone with the same complaint EVERY week!

      Delete
  28. 3rd time I've tried to post this...
    I'm back in Massachusetts, the home of the bean and the COD, after 10 days in Prague and Krakow, where I did the puz on my tablet instead of pen and paper. and it insisted on keeping track of my time, and my no. of days in a row completed. Is there a way to turn that off? I guess I am a naturally competitive person, having those counters makes me want to work faster, and finish things I don't really have any interest in finishing. I was at a conference, doing puzzles during lectures that were in fact intermittently interesting. And at home I often get a puzzle to the point where I'm missing a couple of bits, rap stars, TV shows I never watched, whatever. At home I just stop. but the silly web program was making me think I ought to look them up, to keep my 6 day streak. Annoying.

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  29. Tom T9:38 AM

    Clue for the Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) of the day:

    Gooey substance in Scotch and Soda?

    Answer: MUD (begins with the M in T-STORMS, 20A)

    Scotch and soda
    MUD in your eye
    Baby, do I feel high
    Oh me, oh my
    Do I feel high
    Dry martini, jigger of gin
    Oh, what a spell you've got me in, oh my
    Do I feel high

    People won't believe me
    They'll think that I'm just braggin'
    But I could feel the way I do
    And still be on the wagon

    All I need is one of your smiles
    Sunshine of your eye, oh me, oh my
    Do I feel higher than a kite can fly
    Give me lovin' baby, I feel high

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXH10In1AFY

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  30. Anonymous9:42 AM

    Anybody else have kOAla before COATI? That was the only thing that held me up. The revealer was clever and actually did what it was supposed to do is it confirmed my rebus suspicions! Fun puzzle!

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  31. Tuesday easy, yes, UH[HAND]ME took care of the trick and just whooshing after that.

    We had the most incredible TSTORM on Tuesday evening. I think it's called a microburst. On our side of town the tree damage was immense and some roads are still closed. I mean 4 foot diameter trunks snapped. It rained so hard we could not see out the windows and blew so hard we decided it was not smart to try to see out the windows! Branches flying by, the road a torrent of mud. But you only hear about the south!

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    Replies
    1. Hi-
      I was actually paraphrasing today's "Word Daily" which is "holophrasis" and is defined as "The expression of a whole phrase in a single word". The example they gave was "howdy" for "how do you do". I think I'm more likely to hear "howdy" than "howdy do", but that may be regional.

      Delete
  32. Well, I love both jazzy jones gals and find today’s Christophers having great writing skills. Easy grid today with those early rebus placements; as others note having a coast on rebus Thursday isn’t a bad thing.

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  33. E. Gerry10:08 AM

    I will not tolerate sacrilege in the New York Times puzzle. The COD is the Massachusetts statehouse is not just any old cod; it is the SACRED COD. Please show some respect, NYTimes.

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  34. For a few dreadful moments I thought the alliterative drink might be SCOTCH-SODA. Years ago I noticed that the Japanese term for gin & tonic was "gin-tonic" (at least, when they're speaking English, no idea what they say in Japanese), so maybe this was like that. I hated the idea though, so I didn't even put in SCOTCH until I had SCOT from the crosses. So I worked my way down, and puzzled over what had to be EASIER SAID THAN DONE. Clearly a rebus, or similar trick, but how to do it? So I peeked at the clue for the revealer and thought of HANDs. I should have known it was singular from the clue, but I wasn't sure until I came to CHANDELIER, where I had all the crosses except the rebus; this also showed me that it worked down as well as across, and I went back and filled them all in. Since I solve in the printed paper, I couldn't actually get all those letters into the box, so I drew little stick-figure HANDs instead. This made me really like the MINUTE in the revealer. I think it's nice that you have to change the pronunciation, but opinions on that may differ.

    Other than that, the most fun was putting in ROOT CA____ and saying 'Wait! maybe it's not CAUSES but ROOT canal!' That didn't make sense, but was fun to think.

    Some other small points: I don't think ETERNE and forever are the same part of speech, though I guess you could make them both adjectives. As for UBER-X I hesitated; when I used to use Uber more that was an upgrade; basic Uber was for only two people. I guess that has gone the way of the small cup of coffee.

    Finally, it was nice to see UNTO for the second time this week.

    And, as a current Massachusetts resident, it's always nice to see the Sacred COD. That might be tougher for those outside New England.

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  35. Anonymous10:11 AM

    Like many others here I got the rebus clue early, at the intersection of REDHANDED/HANDYNASTY. I had skipped guessing on “alliterative” mixed drink because, somewhat like @Southside, I tend to think of something like “lavalavalua” (hmmm…Kahlua drink?). At any rate, then I could backtrack to get SCOTCHANDSODA. The rest of the puzzle fell quickly after that!

    Excellent funniness from @kishef and @Andrew! I have the same sentiments as @Roo. I guess when solving puzzles is your third job, you take it very seriously…

    As for the new format…ugh, but I’m trying to keep an open mind! This format is why I never commented via my phone, but whatever. I have to keep pulling down my keyboard to check for typos! (Hi, @whatsername !)

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  36. Not a very original theme idea, but top marks for making all four crossHANDed squares work nicely. The across themers are especially good.

    Other good entries: ROOTCAUSES, DEFACTO, STRIVE, GOESBAD, DDAY.

    Hybrid bathtubs are obviously common, but is SHOWERBATH really a term?

    Mr. Adams's initial use of UNclE at 5-D skeeved me out, because, given the clue, all I could imagine was Tommy's Uncle Ernie. Eew, time for a SHOWERBATH.

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  37. There's a wonderful statue of Lou Costello in Paterson, NJ, where he was born (altho he was raised in Asbury Park). It's not far from a pretty spectacular waterfall. LC is holding a bat, as a reference to the classic routine.

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  38. Anonymous10:33 AM

    Wish I could say that HANDSUP was hands down the best entry. As Nixon said "I could say that, but it wouldn't be right."

    My favorite person for odd jobs swears like a sailor. I guess she's HANDY NASTY.

    I tried to order housemade ricotta in a restaurant the other night, but the waiter said there was just no WHEY.

    I'm shaking my head at the mind that says, "What would be a clever way to clue NIGHT?" and comes up with "Ill-advised time for an ocean swim." Do you suppose he/they considered "Ill-advised time for reading a sun dial?" Or "Ill-advised time for cloud watching?"

    Anyway, it was a fun puzzle with a great revealer. Thanks, Christopher Youngs.

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  39. Meh. Is this a Rolex or what? Four hands? Even my favorite word ENNUI can't save this one. And then we getta read the how-long-it-took comments on top of the way-too-easy comments. Congrats dudes out there going fast on something easy. You're like Kramer beating up the other kids in karate class. Here's your green belt.

    Propers: 11 (sigh)
    Places: 5
    Products: 3
    Partials: 4
    Foreignisms: 1
    --
    Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 24 of 78 (31%)

    Funnyisms: 0 😫

    Tee-Hee: Handy.

    Uniclues:

    1 Use Arnaz early week and Asian late week.
    2 What makes an opera scream.
    3 "Yeah, more grapes. Woo hoo."
    4 Shakespearian after hours.

    1 CLUE DESI
    2 CHANDELIER GOES BAD
    3 CRUS ENNUI
    4 NIGHT THEE

    My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Dear Carry-All: I love you. You prepare me for all eventualities on my trek to the grocery store, but according to the fashionistas of recent decades, you're tacky and unnecessary. But I will promise you this: Their painful mischaracterization will not daunt my devotion, and you and I will move forward in life with our keys, and mints, and nail clippers, and Kleenex, and two KN-95 masks, and a checkbook. That bump on my hip is a symbol of our substance over style, and no one will take away my affection for you. No one, except maybe the TSA. WROTE FANNY PACK.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  40. I should mention that the Sacred COD, which has hung in the House chamber since 1784, was actually stolen in 1933, allegedly by a group of students associated with the Harvard Lampoon. Here's along with a photo of the COD.

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  41. Nice write-up, Christopher! But I have to speak up for EVO Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia, who changed things a lot, mainly for the better.

    I've known for years that the Spanish word for sword is spada (unless it's espada) but I never knew why until today's puzzle.

    Also, about COATI, isn't that a nickname for COATImundi? I've always thought so.

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  42. I just read all the comments (or a lot of them, anyway) from yesterday about the new format. On my computer, at least, I click the link I bookmarded years ago and come to the side, which looks exactly as it always did. Yellow background, a picture of the puzzle with some keywords, Rex's comments (or a guest's), and all the other elements--archives, FAQ, donate button, picture of a Natick sign, etc.

    But when I open the comments the same way I always do, by clicking a link at the bottom of the day's post, things have changed. I can see only three changes, though:

    1) buttons to expand or collapse all comments
    2) An AI-written summary of the comments at the top, in blue (Facebook started doing this a week or two ago)--annoying, but easy to ignore
    3) A reply button after each comment, which I guess sends your reply to be right after the original comment, a helpful feature.

    Oh, another one -- there's no longer a "jump to comment box" button; but it's easy enough to collapse all comments and scroll past them quickly.

    So I can live with it--but there may be other things that I'm missing.

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    Replies
    1. It is not an AI written comment, It is the summary that Rex posts at the top of the blog to get Google seaches for clues to find https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/

      Delete
  43. @jberg, thank you for the photo of the COD. Besides the Massachusetts COD and Wisconsin's multiple badgers, I wonder how many other state houses feature animals. It would be fun to see more photos.

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  44. Bud and LOU are Abbott and Costello and their “Who’s on first?” routine is a classic. That has to be what 33A is referring to.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:25 PM

      Of course. I’m hoping he’s kidding.

      Delete
  45. Nice writeup Chris, thank you!

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  46. ... apologies for previous comment if you prefer Christopher to Chris (can't seem to edit it)

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  47. Well, let's see..I started this late last night. SCOTCH seems to be missing something in its middle. It's soda, right? Let's fit this in. Oh, of course! UN [HAND] me you brute!. Cute. So we're are going to go around sniffing for a bunch of rebus hands. I did. But before sniffing, I wondered why anyone puts soda water in a good scotch. Whose idea was that?

    I got to the COD before turning in. I would finish this up in the morning after a drink of Peet's. So I'm really wondering (as I pull the sheet covers of the bed over my head) why anyone would want to hang a carved COD in their chamber. A COD? Will I have nightmares?

    Morning finishing up part two....I still wondered about that COD thing so I looked it up and it symbolizes the sea and the fish and the ocean and everybody in Massachusetts who fishes and eats COD. It's actually more complex but for some strange reason, I will always remember this carved COD.

    My biggest little challenge was trying to figure out where HAND would fit in the EASIER SAID THAN DONE slot. I made it harder for myself because I don't know what most primes are and I didn't know you shouldn't swim with the cods at NIGHT. So the prime is ODD and NIGHT is true. got it.

    Another pause with SHOWER BATH which I've never heard said in my entire life of living.I had HEAD.... Finished up with WHEY and stared at the reveal....MINUTE HAND. I felt really let down. That is such a blah reveal. Light bulb moment and a smile and pat on my back when I decided to pronounce it MY NEWT. Another fish! Cute, and I even liked JAWA whatshisname.

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  48. Anonymous1:15 PM

    I've got to HAND it to Mr. Youngs. I don't usually like rebus puzzles, but this was actually fun. And no annoying little circles or shaded squares!

    Where are the TSHIRTS, TBONES and TNOTES?

    My only quibble is MED. Yes, people say "med school", but condensed words require appropriate clues if they're crossword fill.

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  49. Nice Thursday rebus. SCOTCHANDSODA, HANDYNASTY, and CHANDELIER were all pretty good but EASIERSAIDTHANDONE was great. And,of course, as noted by various commenters, MINUTEHANDS was brilliant with its 2 pronunciations.

    A note about CRU. It's more complicated than M-W says. ( cru (noun) plural crus - A French vineyard producing wine grapes). Jancis Robinson, in the third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, devotes 4 pages to this word. Seems it's not just any old bunch of grapes.

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  50. Yikes! I guess I’m worse at navigating new format than I thought! My comment went through as Anon 10:11. Apparently Blogger defaulted back to (not Google) unbeknownst to me. Ah me.

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  51. Anonymous1:49 PM

    Was there any way for me to understand that ‘Redhanded’ (8 down) was abbreviated? I’m new to the crossword and thought there might be clue to that this was a shortcut.

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  52. Anonymous1:58 PM

    Was there some way for me to understand the answer to 8 down was abbreviated from red handed to redhead? Not sure if there is a context clue I’m missing. I’m new and only in week two. I didn’t see this referenced in the NYT article about solving. I wouldn’t be anonymous if I could figure out my Google pw.

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    1. Anonymous3:11 PM

      It’s a rebus, which means you enter multiple letters into a single square. You do this by selecting the “rebus” option on the keypad within the app or online. So the answer isn’t abbreviated, it is fully REDHANDED, you just have to put the full word HAND into the appropriate square. Welcome to crosswords! This is the type of trickiness you sometimes encounter on Thursdays and Wednesdays.

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    2. Anonymous6:51 PM

      Thanks for the info. I was so confused. Very helpful!

      Delete
  53. An opportunity was missed. By putting an image of a HAND instead of the word itself in the appropriate squares, this could have been much closer to how rebus (Latin for "with or by way of things") is used everywhere else (The Rebus Principle) rather than being what is actually a verbis (Latin for "with or by way of words") puzzle.

    So far the changed comment page format has a score of 1 to 3 for me.

    One positive change: Replies appear directly under the comments in question instead of later in the comment thread. Without the "@Commenter [time]" info, the latter chronological appearance can be confusing.

    Three negative changes for me: 1) There is no "Preview" option. 2) When I click "Publish", I'm not sure if that was successful. And 3) the avatar images, which were very small in the old format, are now MINUTE, as in miniscule, and barely discernible if at all.



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  54. Anonymous3:25 PM

    I wanted Little Hand as the revealer. Would have fit well with the rebus.

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  55. Look at the Theme Answers above. In this puzzle there were 4 cells where you should enter the word HAND. It's called a rebus puzzle, and Thursday puzzles almost always have a gimmick of some sort. When I first encountered a rebus puzzle I cursed aloud (HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?!?!) .... but over time you start to recognize them.

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  56. I wish I could say that HANDSUP was hands down the best entry. As our second creepiest president once said, "I could do that, but it wouldn't be right."

    Gotta love a mind that thinks "What would be a good clue for NIGHT? Maybe opposite of day? Perhaps Living Dead time? No, I've got it. Let's go with Ill-advised time for an ocean swim." Perhaps sometime we'll see DAY clued as well-advised time for an ocean swim.

    Count me in the show of HANDs liking this rebus puzzle and hoping to hear from @Anoa Bob that this wasn't technically a rebus. Anyway, thanks, Christopher Youngs.

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    1. Anonymous5:38 PM

      "... our second creepiest president...": love it!

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  57. Does anyone know when the term rebus was first used in the NYTXword to describe something that is not really a rebus?

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    Replies
    1. I've asked this here before and no one seems to know.

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  58. "Oh cool. 'Mixed drink with alliterative name' is clearly ROB ROY. OK, I see "SCOTCH" (and something) so the Thursday trick must be using a nationality (somehow) to stand in for the long themers (kinda)."

    A few moments later...

    "Oh, it's NOT that?? "Hand" rebus? Oh, OK..."

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  59. Re yd about new format... on my phone it hasn't changed. Always preferred this to whatever it is on computer, as it shows replies under the OP. Neater and easier to follow. I'll see if it changes tomorrow..

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  60. Anonymous7:37 PM

    Commenting late in the day, but had to jump in on the cod discussion. No wonder a sacred cod decorates the Massachusetts State House. Turns out that the cod was a big reason Europeans journeyed to America, and the reason they could. In time, the cod became a central cog in a trade cycle involving sugar, rum, and slaves. Ugly stuff. I ran into this in a riveting read (really!): Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky.

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  61. Anonymous8:52 AM

    Why this fascination with 'odd' primes. Did you know that the only prime divisible by three is 3!

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  62. Is there a word that describes a word like “breakfast?”

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    Replies
    1. Just a compound word: break fast, as in you've fasted all night.

      Delete
  63. How does "Thread component" get to POST?
    I don't know.
    THIRD BASE!

    One of a few underHANDed CLUEs today. Wow, they make vegan cheese (now there's an oxymoron for ya) with CASHEWs? What a price to pay for avoiding dairy! I couldn't afford to be a vegan.

    Despite PARR and OBOE being gimmes, I could get no farther in the NW. Slipped down to SLEEP and COATI. which led to ENNUI, UNTO, NEMEA and STRIVE. Next thing you know, I had the revealer, got the dual meaning of MINUTE, and started looking for the HANDs. Not long after, there was REDHANDED/HANDYNASTY (love the respacing, Chris), and I was off.

    Too many letter add-ons for my taste: TSTORMS, TCELL, UBERX, DDAY. Weird CLUE for NEVER. Par with one R.

    Wordle par.

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  64. Naticked in the NE with JAMA and MELD but otherwise the answers here seemed to be HANDed out on a silver (or STEEL) platter.

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  65. @spacey, think there's bit of misdirection here - believe it's comments POSTed as components in an email or social media thread.

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  66. Burma Shave1:51 PM

    EASIER EVENT

    I NEVER take THEE blame,
    AND LOU SAID, “I command,”,
    so THAT NIGHT I CAME
    in A MINUTE, DONE by HAND.

    --- MRS. BESS GUNN

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  67. Anonymous4:51 PM

    Easier than yesterpuz, hands down!
    And across!

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