Charming first encounter in a rom-com / MON 10-14-24 / Entertainment news show since 1996 / Give 50% effort on, slangily / Winner of an annual Southern pageant / Default camera mode / Condiment often faked with green dye in sushi restaurants / Parents known for bad puns
Monday, October 14, 2024
Constructor: Dana Edwards
Relative difficulty: Very easy (solved Downs-only)
Theme answers:
- ACCESS HOLLYWOOD (17A: *Entertainment news show since 1996)
- MISS MISSISSIPPI (24A: *Winner of an annual Southern pageant)
- "WELL, WHOOP-DEE-DOO!" (41A: *"Yeah, so what? Big deal.")
When a player reaches double figures in four of the five statistical categories — points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks — he or she has achieved a quadruple-double.
For example, if a player has 10 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks, this would be a quadruple-double.
The NBA’s official definition for triple-doubles notes that “reaching double figures in steals or blocks is extremely rare,” which explains why there have only been four quadruple-doubles throughout NBA history.It’s worth mentioning that no NBA player has ever recorded 10 blocks and 10 steals in the same game. Hakeem Olajuwon came the closest against the Seattle SuperSonics on March 10, 1987, finishing with 38 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocks, and 7 steals. He’s the only player in NBA history to record at least 7 blocks and 7 steals in the same game. (sleeper.com)
The world's first cat café, "Cat Flower Garden" (貓花園), opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998 and eventually became a global tourist destination. The concept spread to Japan, where the first one named "Neko no Jikan" (lit. "Cat's Time") was opened in Osaka in 2004. Due to Japan's land size and population, many residents live in small apartments or condominiums which do not allow pets, making cat cafés a very popular destination for young workers looking for the companionship and comfort offered. Tokyo's first cat café, named "Neko no Mise" (Cat's Store), opened in 2005. After this, the popularity of cat cafés boomed in Japan. From 2005 to 2010, 79 cat cafés opened across the country.I didn't think they'd caught on in the States so much—I've never seen one—but it looks like I need to get out more because Google tells me there are at least three within a reasonably short drive from me, in Syracuse, Ithaca, and someplace called Plains, PA. I know bodegas have cats, and I love it when bookstores have cats, so I assume I would enjoy a CAT CAFE. Then again, I actually have cats, so I don't need to go out to have cats with my coffee (🎵"cats with my coffee and..."🎵)
Bullets:
- 5A: Guitarist Joe of the Eagles (WALSH) — the puzzle really needs to get a new WALSH. That's twice in eight days for Joe WALSH (who appeared as his full name back on Sun., Oct. 6). What's wrong with M. Emmet WALSH? One of the greatest character actors of all time—absolutely deserving of occupying the WALSH chair once in a while. Watch Blood Simple, you'll see. Forget your Eagles guitarists and your Super Bowl-winning football coaches and your America's Most Wanted hosts ... It's M. Emmet! Best WALSH, hands-down. RIP, Mr. WALSH (d. Mar. 19, 2024):
- 40A: Princess in the Mario games (PEACH) — damn games have been around for decades and I still don't know the characters beyond Mario, Luigi, and maybe Wario (?). I see "princess" and "(video) game," I think ZELDA. Grateful that I wasn't even looking at Across clues today.
- 13D: Parents known for bad puns (DADS) — weird phrasing on this clue. At first, I was looking for a couple, like the RAYS or the LEES or whatever, some couple with a three-letter last name. I was like "Who are these famous parents known for their bad puns?"
- 10A: Summertime specification at Starbucks (ICED) — first of all, I have learned that ICED coffee people drink it all year round. People coming into the cafe (maybe even the CAT CAFE), middle of winter, ordering ICED drinks. I'm not even surprised by it any more. I get asked, in January, "you want that hot?" I wanna just point to the ice and snow outside and say "what do you think?" but instead I just accept this stupid world where "hot" is not the default and say "yes, thanks." Second, this puzzle is really going for it with the clue alliteration today. [Summertime specification at Starbucks], [... kittens and cappuccinos] [Barbecue bite with a bone] ... but it's really the "S"s that are out in force today: [Superlative suffix], [Sport with skulls], [Small smooch], [Stifle, as a sound], [Sloshed, in slang]. Guess you gotta do something to amuse yourself on these easy days.
63 comments:
If Loren Muse Smith were still around she would applaud that "people are just going their own way and spelling it how they want".
Has anybody heard from @LMS? I wrote asking how she fared with Helene and haven't heard back.
I've never thought much about how to spell 41A, but WHOOP DEE DOO seems reasonable. It prevents the middle syllable from being pronounced "deh" as in "blanc de blancs" and the final syllable from being pronounced as "dough."
At 48D I had -UT- and thought that (movie) cameras might default to mUTe mode.
In Colorado I saw a ton of elks, also a lot of mooses, sheeps, deers and often cast a line to catch fishes.
Didn't use the theme, as the puzzle was Monday easy.
Just got power back on Saturday morning down here in Sun City Center (near Tampa) for first time since Wednesday night. Thanks to those who prayed for us; we were lucky for the second time in two weeks, but our neighbors near the shore were hit hard again.
Hello from Lewis in Asheville, your long-lost correspondent, still wrested from communications by Hurricane Helene, with spotty cell service and no wi-fi, and still without water flowing from our spigots.
This is hardly an adverse situation compared to that of many in the area, but it, in addition to the many tasks related to helping ourselves and others, has kept me from posting here, to this Crosslandia community that I sorely miss.
Just to let you know that when regular internet returns, so shall I. It may be days; it may be several weeks. I have been keeping up with the puzzles and with tracking the clues, so that when I do come out with the “Best Clues of 2024” list, there will have been no omissions due to solving gaps.
Wishing you all well, and looking forward to the day, when I can rejoin the conversation.
So glad to hear from you! You are a bright start in the crossword galaxy!
I liked PETCO, CAT CAFE, TOTO, some ELKS and even a MACAW. Definitely a pet-friendly day (except maybe for the ELKS, I would imagine they might be difficult to domesticate, but probably not impossible). I think I’d rather have a pet horse, although that sounds kind of weird as well. Maybe I should go back to contemplating how one spells DEE.
WHOOPDEEDOO is right - surprised this one made it past the editor. Too contrived and forced - the revealer is not a thing and as Rex mentions MISS MISSISSIPPI is whatever.
ABC
Bigger problem here is that the theme is so intrusive the grid becomes segmented and the overall fill suffers. Loads of gluey 3s and 4s - the worst being the YEAS - ANTIS plural pair.
Nice to hear from you @Lewis. The continuing stories of despair resulting from that storm are heartbreaking - stay strong.
Not an ideal start to the puzzling week.
THE TUBEs
Downs-only here, had sLAm as my Criticism, which gave me the plausible CATCAsE and ELmS. Didn’t love it, but couldn’t see FLAK.
...there's nothing else among the Downs to cause any trouble today.
DNF downs-only, with ITWASI and AIRPOP not coming to me. I should have run the alphabet on _OGA, but the only thing that came to mind was YOGA. The crosses just weren't enough for me to get the popcorn allusion, though it's obvious in retrospect.
To say a quadruple double has only happened four times "in NBA history" ignores the fact that steals and blocks were not tracked until the mid-seventies. Wilt Chamberlain probably had four just by himself that are not counted in those four times.
You know what the plural of ELK is? It’s ELK. Unforced error in that corner where CAT CASE/SLAM/ELMS or CAT CAGE/GLAM/ELMS would avoid the issue.
Same side eye as OFL to the DEE part of WHOOPDEEDOO but no other real complaints. ITWASI reminds me of the old joke-
St. Peter-Who's there?
Hopeful entrant-It is I.
St. Peter-Great, another damned teacher.
I knew it would be QUADRUPLEDOUBLE after reading the clue. It seems like triple doubles are becoming more common.
I may stop reading the Monday commentaries as they seem to be for the downs-only solvers, a group that does not include me..
I liked your Monday very much, DE. Didn't Exactly elate me, but a very good one for newer solvers, and I'm sure there are lots of them, although not around here. Thanks for all the fun.
@Lewis-hang in there. Everyone here is rooting for you.
That's EXACTLY what I had. No happy music, so I had to go to the acrosses to find my error. :)
Same here
“I get asked, in January, ‘you want that hot?’ I wanna just point to the ice and snow outside and say ‘what do you think?’ but instead I just accept this stupid world where ‘hot’ is not the default and say ‘yes, thanks.’
At least they ask! Half the time if I forget to specify I get iced by default. I’m not usually a grump about such things, but this is one cultural development I am irrationally irritated by.
If you lived in the Boston area (even as far away as, say Natick), you'd have seen CAT CAFE in the news a plenty, as there was major drama a few years back when a cafe opened in Brighton that appears to not have actually taken the health of the cats into account and also treated employees very poorly.
Living in the former home of Miss America, I laughed at Miss Mississippi. Every year, you knew Miss Mississippi would be a contender for the crown, could probably score the equivalent of a quadruple double (talent, gown, swimsuit and interview).
Just out of curiosity, do you folk who don't understand iced coffee in the winter go three months without soda?
Looking forward to your return. Be well.
I got quite a bit downs only but had to look at some across clues because I couldn’t figure out that basketball thing.
I’m happy that you safe as well
Hey All !
Pretty neat, four 15's. With a funky Blockers pattern. Also, repeaters. Shout out to @Lewis who counts these things as the Resident Alpha(whatever) (dang memory...) Alphadoplitotter?
Fill surprisingly good, considering all the Themer spots to work around.
Couldn't squeeze in a whole ass, so we get a HALF ASS. Har.
Another Monday. WELL, WHOOP DEE DOO.
Try to make it a good one.
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Matt WALSH has a couple of fairly popular movies, What Is A Woman? and Am I Racist? And if his mock docs (documentaries that mock - there are rom-coms with MEETCUTEs - why can’t be there be moc-docs?) are too right-wing for NYT acknowledgement, there’s Matt WALSH who played the much-maligned press secretary on Veep. Either way, a Welcome Matt to replace the worn-out Joe (once again).
Am currently enjoying my morning ICED coffee that I brew and refrigerate before Diva’s final WHOOP-DE-DOODOO walk of the night. Word of caution to those ordering that @ *$ (at Starbucks - get it?) - unless specified, virtually all you get is a Venti cup of ice! So I order my ICED coffee with no ice - admittedly, a ridiculous sounding order, but they don’t understand when I ask for it “neat”…
Hey, if I were married, could say ICED coffee that me and the MISSUS SIPPI! But not worth it for a rom-com bad-dad pun.
@Lewis Good to hear from you and best wishes for a speedy return to normal!
Downs only, Monday easy. The acrosses just kept popping in. Like @Rex ITWASI took a hot second but no trouble with DADS, AUTO, etc. Never read the across clues, so ACCESS HOLLYWOOD left a bad taste because the only thing I know about it is... the tape. If I had read the clue for the revealer it would have been no help, but it just filled right in; certain letter combos just must be.
I don't get coffee in stores; ridiculously expensive. But the hot or iced thing makes me think of people from the south who want "hot tea", whereas, to me, that would be the default. I sort of recall learning that "regular" coffee in the south is what we call black coffee here.
Good to hear from you Lewis :)
There's a very popular CAT CAFE not far from me. A local no-kill shelter provides them with 10 cats every month and all 10 are adopted by cafe customers, who get to take them home at the end of the month to make room for 10 new ones. Patrons love it, especially those in no-pet buildings or who have spouses who are allergic. They go after work and have a coffee and get their kitty fix.
About a year into doing these daily, and this was my first ever downs only solve. So easy or not, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself today!
Yes I was with my daughter this weekend who grew up a none coffee picky eater she was drinking iced in the morning now I know the reason
Plenty of cat cafes in SE Asia where I live
Two days in a row I’ve had trouble getting the happy music rechecked several times could not find any errors today I closed out the app on my iPad reopened got the music probably got it the same way yesterday but didn’t realize it
Hidden Diagonal Clue from the grid today:
Opposite of unskilled?
Funny how one blanks on things. Working downs only, I found it as Rex said very easy (or at least easier than usual by my standards). I was down to only two blanks spaces, looking at the down answer, Cook without oil, as corn kernels (23D), with _ I _ POP in place, and could not come up with AIRPOP! Pitiful. Sigh.
Oh well, here's the answer to the HDW clue, Opposite of unskilled?:
EPT (begin with the E in 46A, EST, and move to the NW)
If you begin with that same E (46A) and move to the NE, you get a QUintUPLE string of E's, which seems appropriate for today's theme. And just north of that, beginning with the S in 33A, HERS, you'll find a QUADRUPLE string of S's.
I know, I know, WELLWHOOPDEEDOO.
Mañana es el día de mudarnos a nuestra casa real, por fin.
Love this theme and the reveal. CAIN and ABEL all murdery in the same puzzle. DQED is when you get the MEH VANILLA MALT. I dislike the phrase MEET CUTE as they're never cute. Nikola Jokić is the center for the Denver Nuggets and knocks down triple doubles like they're easy, so I suspect he might be the fifth QUAD someday.
Propers: 4
Places: 1
Products: 3
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 17 of 72 (24%)
Funnyisms: 2 😕
Tee-Hee: HALF ASS. SHROOM.
Uniclues:
1 In other news, the anti-pirate parent's league of Seton Hall have successfully lobbied to have all shoulder-based birds banned from athletic activities.
2 Critics contend the bird attack cited in the anti-pirate parent's league of Seton Hall arguments is unusual.
3 Novocaine shot in the left cheek.
1 NCAA MACAW DQED
2 PECK STILL RARE
3 HALF ASS DEADEN
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Survive a 4th-grader's birthday party in a small town. ENDURE PIZZA HUT.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Super duper easy. The theme was fine. I knew Rex was going to call out Whoop-De(e) do(o). I also thought it looked weird. But I really thought a lot of the phrases/words in this puzzle were absolutely cute. Loved:
ASKAWAY
CATCAFE
MEETCUTE
ITWASI
(all very cutesy and quaint)
even HALFASS &
THETUBE. (this is one where The makes it better.)
I miss your daily dose of sunshine! May the world repay you in kind
@Lewis dude would savor all them doubles. Hope he gets to see it.
staff weeject pick [of only 9 choices]: EST. Crossin PESTO at its EST.
fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {March Madness org.] = NCAA.
Other fave stuff included: HALFASS. CAIN & ABEL. YEAS & ANTIS. SHROOM.
Thanx for doublin up on us, Mr. Edwards dude. And congratz on yer full-ass debut.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
This is why I am here today, to say no on ELKS unless referring to members of the Elks Lodge. Maaaaybe those guys graze.
My revealer was going to be FOUR DOUBLES or something like that, so I guess I was thinking of baseball. I'm not sure I've heard of a QUADRUPLE DOUBLE -- so let's see if I can guess what it might be. And, no, I haven't read either Rex or y'all -- would I cheat like that?
So the DOUBLE means a two-digit number of whatever the feat is -- a number of 10 or above.
And now for the feats: # of Points. # of Assists. # of Rebounds. And...?
Is the fourth stat # of Three-point shots made? # of Blocked shots? Or # of Foul shots? I'll go read y'all now and find out.
An easy, perfectly pleasant puzzle with a very guessable theme.
No on ELKS, unless referring to members of the Elks Lodge. Maaaybe those guys graze.
Easy. Simple theme, beginner friendly, spot on reveal, very little junk, and some nice long downs. Liked it.
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #950 was pretty easy for a Croce, except for the NE which for some reason was pretty tough for me. YMMV, good luck!
Lewis makes a very welcome appearance today as the Anonymous right below Bob Mills. (If you've collapsed the comments, you won't see the times of the postings either.) Glad to see you back, Lewis, however briefly, am glad you're safe and in good spirits, and can't wait until all the many lingering problems post-Hellene problems you're coping with are resolved.
WELLWHOOPDEEDOO said MISMISSISSIPPI upon seeing IDAHO.
Typical Trump election strategy: COOS
Being a saint is fine, but I SWEARSIN is funner.
After conversion therapy, I'm a straight guy, although I WASABI.
Fun Monday. I did it using only Acrosses and Downs. Thanks, Dana Edwards.
A perfectly fine Monday. Congrats on your debut, Dana :)
Croce vacation catchup:
945, which you said was 'one of the toughest', I thought was medium, but I did have a one-square DNF at the cross of 20A and 8D.
946, which you had as 'medium', I have as 'pretty much average'.
948, which you had as 'medium', I have as 'very hard, with a murderous top third'.
950, I agree was pretty easy, but my problem area was the SE.
I never comment and I came here to say the same thing! The plural of elk is elk!!!!
ELKS graze in the Rockies. I've seen them. What's your problem? So what if they have a lodge? You came here twice to lodge that complaint?
Repeat that 4 times for a QUADRUPLE DOUBLE .
BTW, from Merriam Webster:
plural elk, also elks.
The plural of elk is elk, dammit.
@lewis I too am looking forward to your speedy return! You are sorely missed.
Btw - my big holdup was GURUS. I wasn’t 100% on “IT WAS I” and I wanted A_R to be AiR. ARR didn’t really occur to me, and wanted S_T to be a vowel in the middle, so GURUS was my last to go in.
Though the puzzle was labelled as "very easy" I gave up after 30 minutes of frustration and little progress. As a longtime teacher of students from pre-school through medical school, I would NEVER label an intellectual task as "easy" or "very easy." If one struggles with the "very easy" puzzle it damages one's self esteem and decreases motivation to try that task again or one that is harder. Even a qualifier would help such as "very easy for lovers of NBA."
For all who commented on ELKS: the Canadian Football League team in Edmonton changed its name from "Eskimos" to ELKS a few years ago. At the time, there was much discussion about whether ELKS was the correct plural of Elk. The team stated that their research showed that either Elk or ELKS was correct. My only issue is that now we get to listen to Elk mating calls from the crowd; maybe it's the rut the team is currently in?!
@Eggs... I'm still laughing at your last lines. I was smiling big already but "did it using only crosses and downs" was brilliant.
Ha! I'm a noob who thought it didn't post the first time so did it again. Because yes! It's that important! 😆😆😆
Got my pr for a Monday today. (3:28) Easy indeed.
@Kitchef - thanks for catching up. Re: #950 I knew 2.5 of the long downs in the SE which helped. In the NE I had trouble seeing 10d, 16a, 26a, and 22a…tough corner for me.
Thanks for remembering LMS. She’s one of the cleverest and funniest posters. I miss her and think of her often especially when enjoying some @Gary J silliness here.
I too wonder about LMS. Sent her a couple of IM’s on Facebook over the past six months and I’ve not heard anything. She last posted on Facebook in December 2013
Dan Sachs
Well I never drink soda. So I guess I go 12 months without it. I also never drink “cold coffee “ as we Rhode Islanders used to call it
But more to the point, it is an age thing. Even a few years ago, especially in winter “coffee “ = hot coffee “ so I never had to specify. For older people, it is weird to see millennials et al ordering cold coffee in winter.
Good to hear from you, Lewis. Sorry things are moving slowly but good to know you are safe. What a nightmare for you.
Almost got the Spanish today. My guess was “tomorrow is the day we have final closing on our house.” The closest I’ve come to guessing right yet. I’m so proud!
@Whatsername 10:42 PM
Woo hoo! I try to write them without help and then see if Google translate agrees. Most of the time I'm terribly wrong.
Good one but it oughta be @*$$$$$
I check the comments every day to see if you have returned. Glad to know you are well!
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