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Relative difficulty: very very easy
Theme answers:
- NEONATAL NURSE (19A: Hospital worker tending to newborns)
- MECHANICAL BULL (31A: Bar attraction with a saddle and horns)
- TECTONIC PLATES (42A: Segments of Earth's lithosphere)
Cutco Corporation, known prior to 2009 as Alcas Corporation, is an American company that sells cutlery, predominantly through multi-level marketing. It is the parent company of CUTCO Cutlery Corp., Vector Marketing, Ka-Bar Knives, and Schilling Forge. The company was founded in 1949 by Alcoa and Case Cutlery (hence "Al-cas") to manufacture stainless steel knives for Alcoa's WearEver Cookware division. Alcoa purchased Case's share in the company in 1972, and Alcas became a separate private company in 1982 after a management buyout. In 1985, the company acquired Vector Marketing Corporation.The company has been the subject of criticism and lawsuits for its business practices, and has been accused of being a multi-level marketing company. The Los Angeles Times claims that Vector meets the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) definition of a multi-level marketing company which is "businesses that involve selling products to family and friends and recruiting other people to do the same" because they sell their product through person-to-person sales. Salespeople are generally young and recruited from high school or college. Students are hired to sell Cutco products (mainly kitchen knives) to customers, starting with their friends and family. Vector's recruitment tactics have been described as deceptive, and they have faced numerous lawsuits over their pay structure and treatment of its salespeople, who are mostly independent contractors instead of employees. Vector claims they are a single-level direct selling marketing company, not a multi-level marketing company or a pyramid scheme as its detractors claim.
• • •
Do these things "rock you?" Well, not me personally, but they rock ... one. I don't think of a NEONATAL NURSE's primary job as being "rocking," but I guess holding the babies and soothing them in some way is probably part of the job, sure. "Rocking," though, seems very specific. Are they rocking the cradles? Do neo-natal wards have rockable cradles? NEW MOTHERS or the equivalent might have made more sense here, but I can't say NEONATALNURSES wasn't an eye-catching answer. I wrote it in thinking "huh, a triple 'N' theme, this should be interesting!" As for the other themers, yes, bulls and earthquakes will indeed cause you to sway, if not fall, if not hurt yourself. Those answers work just fine. And I enjoyed remembering the anthemic Queen song. The rest of the fill was largely filler. TIM WALZ is an interesting full name to squeeze in there, though at the moment all it does is remind me of the Siege of Minneapolis (ongoing). Would be nice if Walz and other elected officials had any kind of answer for the violence being perpetrated by the federal government. Give a bunch of weak, poorly-trained, sadistic CLODS (37A: Buffoons) automatic weapons and body armor, set them loose to terrorize ethnic Somalis and other non-white immigrants (so—virtually any non-white person), and let them know in no uncertain terms that they are above the law ... and presto, you've got yourself your very own Gestapo. That is what ICE is at this point. Bizarre to pretend otherwise. Buncha dudes too incompetent and cowardly for actual war, doing their little war cosplay games in American cities with live ammunition, gleefully, boastfully hurting people. You're either into it or you're not, but ... Gestapo is the correct analogy. As for me: look, I don't even like ICE in my water (12D: Bartender's supply). F*** ICE. Abolish ICE.
On to more pleasant things now.
Bullets:
- 36A: 1985 mystery film with three different endings (CLUE) — this movie is very silly and very enjoyable. I don't think I saw it when it initially came out, but I did watch it just last month as part of my "What Would I Have Seen 40 Years Ago?" movie-watching project. Just to give some structure to my (prodigious) movie-watching habit, I decided that once a week I'd just look at the movie listings for 40 years ago and then watch whatever movie I'd see if those were my options. In the first two weeks of this year, I've watched Ran and Brazil. Which is to say there were some *really* good movies in theaters 40 years ago. As for CLUE, it's no Ran, but it is entertaining. It's got Martin Mull *and* Madeline Kahn (something Ran cannot claim—though why they never remade Ran with Martin Mull and Madeline Kahn, I do not know—I'd've seen that sixteen times)
- 9D: Yogi, once (BEAR CUB) — this is a hilariously tortured example of successive clue rhyming. You've got 8D: Yogi's pose (ASANA) and then ... this clue, immediately after. If you had to write a hundred BEAR CUB clues, you'd never use Yogi. Only the proximity of this yoga clue is going to suggest to you "hey, what if Yogi was ... little? I know we never ever see him as a BEAR CUB, but ... I mean, he must have been one, right? Cartoons don't have actual lives, but ... still ... it's implied. Let's do it!"
- 52D: Many men on dating shows (HUNKS) — is this true? Also, do people still say "HUNKS?' Unironically? I was honestly looking for a more modern word. HIMBOS? HIMBI?
- 44D: Pet sitters? (LAP CATS) — they are pets who sit (on your lap). I think you are the sitter, technically. Cats rarely sit in laps. They lie. Or flop. I had LAP here and had to wait for crosses, as LAP DOGS is not only a possible answer, but probably the more common phrase (LAP DOGS define a certain kind of small dog, different from most other, larger dogs, whereas LAP CATS ... any cat might be a lap cat. Most cats I know have, at some time or other, been LAP CATS. It's almost redundant).
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| [Pet sitters?] |
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Easy, yes. I needed a lucky guess for the TCHALLA/HOLLA cross, otherwise smooth sailing. Didn't use the theme; in fact, I only understood it after the fact.
ReplyDeleteThat was my experience also, except that I have never, ever heard of CUTCO, so it's a good thing it came easily from the crosses.
DeleteIs HOLLA supposed to mean "Holler"? I was hesitant to put in HOLLA because I'm so used to putting in the Spanish HOLA.
I seem to be after the fact most of the time It’s frustrating. By now I should be sharper. Oh well. It’s still a fun start to the day
DeleteClassic MG? MGA, yep. MGB, for sure. MGS, nope!
DeleteAgree with Rex, very easy, but fun. The TIMWALZ clue was amazing, under the circumstances!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteVery easy. No overwrites, no WOEs. I don't know how I knew T'CHALLA (4D) and CUTCO (33D) but somehow I was able to fill both in with out all the crosses.
Caution: Wet floor, which I was confident of until I saw LAP CArS and realized that SLOfS, LMlO, etc were wrong. But that was the only hesitation--when We Are The Champions didn't fit WE WILL ROCK YOU went right in, and all of a sudden the themers made sense. T'CHALLA was not a problem for me. And neither was CUTCO; my brother's friend sold us a set of knives right when they got out of college, and 30 years later I still have a few of them. Good knives--and as far as I know Benji never had to recruit anyone.
ReplyDeleteEasy and enjoyable puzzle! One very very silly mistake had Wall instead of Walz except I'd never heard of GenL.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would like to add that I am in complete agreement with Rex on ICE. Such a shameful chapter in our history!
DeleteCUTCO, EDGECOM, INTERSLICE, COMPUGLOBALHYPERMEGANET… all extremely valid crossword entries
ReplyDeleteBuy him out, boys.
DeleteMy money is in ConhugeCo.
DeleteVery easy with hesitation only on CUTCO (?) and MECHANICAL BULL, because I saw the three Ns in NEONATAL NURSE and was looking for some alliteration involving BRONCO.
ReplyDeleteCUZCO would be a way more interesting entry than CUTCO, but I'd rather have this grid over ADZ crossing MCAT, ELDEN Ring, and CUZCO.
Has ELDEN ever appeared in a NYT puzzle? It looks like prime material for modern crosswordese. All that comes up on Diary of a Crossword Fiend is one instance of ELDEN and one full ELDEN RING, both from Jonesin' crosswords.
Right? Surely BUCKING BULL somehow?
DeleteEasy, with one exception, TCHALLA crossing HOLLA. I could guess at the former, but HOLLA annoyed me. Who says that, does anyone? It seems so random and made-up. Hola maybe, or Hello, or even Hiya.
ReplyDeleteI guess you’re no holla back girl. That’s bananas.
Deletelol
DeleteHolla has been part of pop culture for, what, 30 years?
DeleteTotal Natick for me
DeleteAgreed, very easy, although I consider the cross between TCHALLA (come on) and HOLLA something of a Natick. Luckily, no other letter besides H seems plausible, so yeah, guess I'll go with it and... done.
ReplyDeleteThe cluing for BEAR CUB strikes me as sketchy. So of course there's Yogi BEAR, but that's a cartoon bear, not a real bear, and as far as I know, not once in the series did he appear as a CUB, so the clue is trying to get us to infer that he had to have been a cub once, being a bear, even if only a cartoon bear. Sorry guys, really not buying it. Not until someone can unearth an episode where Yogi appears as a cub. Otherwise, being an imaginary bear, I can imagine any back story for him I dang well please, for example he emerged from his mother's loins fully formed and wearing a tie, or invented by Martians in a lab and sent to Earth, etc., and it's unfalsifiable. (Sure, I'll humor you and go along with your own back story, just to get the puzzle done, but I think the clue has gotten too cute for its own britches.)
I like many of the grid entries, as words and phrases, but some of those clues are moo-cow simple, and could have been better. I'll leave it there for now.
Bear Cub struck me as just the right amount of cute. Not technically accurate, I suppose, but certainly parsable, and required a tiny moment of thought, with (for me at least) almost a chuckle. Give me clues like that over “Awards for ad agencies” any day!
DeleteThe video that effectively ended Billy Squier’s career. Such a shame. Great 80’s song.
ReplyDeleteYour comment intrigued me so I watched the video. And now your comment rings true. That "choreography" just wow.
DeleteBasic - early week offering. I thought NEONATAL NURSES was the highlight - don’t quite understand the shade. Oddball grid layout is not appealing - tends to minimize the spanner.
ReplyDeleteJohn and Linda live in OMAHA
Liked BEAR CUB, SCONCE and NICHE. WALZ was unfortunate. Overall fill was workmanlike and mostly clean. Quick to finish this one.
Help Save the Youth of America
Pleasant enough Tuesday morning solve.
Waylon
I sing "Hello in There" with a woman who plays cello, which makes a nice duet with guitar. Lately she won't do it though. "Too sad".
DeleteSide note on ASANA. In a recent puzzle, YOGA was clued [Discipline for the flexible]. Well, yes, it is, so it passes as a clue. But it is misleading, as it implies that yoga is only for bendy people. In actuality, it is also for the non-bendy, medium-bendy, and everyone else. It brings benefits to all.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that too Lewis, thanks for bringing it up. You needn’t be able to do full “splits” to do yoga and I find yoga stretches of particular benefit as I’ve gotten older. Heck, there is even “chair yoga” these days.
DeleteI’ve tried yoga classes a couple of times and found it exceedingly boring. Not for me that’s for sure!
Delete9-D Yogi again?! Repeated? I thought, "Surely this must be a constructor Boo-Boo."
ReplyDeleteRex had it super-easy, I thought it was pretty much standard Tuesday fare. CUTCO is almost comical, even better so because I’m guessing the only people who have heard of it are the people hawking their stuff and the people who are annoyed by the people hawking their stuff.
ReplyDeleteBATIK was also new to me and of course I needed every cross for TCHALLA.
I bought a set of knives from my daughter’s high school classmate 30 years ago. Still use them.
DeleteThey are great knives. We broke the tip off a 30 year old one and they replaced it for free.
DeleteConcur. Cutcos are legit knives, absolutely steal. Bought some from a friend who needed help expecting nothing; still use them daily almost 20 years later. I’ve been given knives since then that cost 3-5 times as much; none were better than the Cutcos. Also didn’t realize people weren’t aware of them.
DeleteMisread the clue for 4 Down as birth *place* of Black Panther and was proud of myself for knowing Wakanda, which of course didn’t fit. Otherwise, a very zippy morning solve.
ReplyDeleteWas checking the comments to see if anyone else made that error, and I see you beat me to it! Who knew they had the same amount of letters?
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteWelp, today we get a 14x16 grid. With 40 Blockers. A wonky grid week? We'll see, I guess.
Anything Queen is good. Liked how the Themers WILL ROCK YOU. A gale force wind will do it, too. A curved base chair. A heavy metal band.
Liked puz overall. Easy, fun theme, light -ese/dreck. A double-L fest, with seven of them in the grid. (Again, weird what the ole brain notices.)
Have a great Tuesday!
No F's - OH NO
RooMonster
DarrinV
I have to say that Tuesday puzzles have especially shined recently, with sparkling themes that made me go “Oh!” rather than “Oh.” Like today's.
ReplyDeleteThe best kind of riddles, IMO, are those you struggle mightily to crack, but remain impervious to your efforts. Finally, you cave, then get the answer, and it turns out to be SO OBVIOUS, you wonder how in the world you missed it.
That’s the best way to be gotten. And that’s what I got today after leaving the reveal blank and trying to guess what it was.
Speaking of sparkling, three of those theme answers are NYT debuts, and the fourth (MECHANICAL BULL) is a once-before. Nate also beautified the grid, with NICHE, SCONCE, ADEPT, and BATIK.
SERENDIPITY WATCH. Rare sighting of seven double-L’s, plus, a rare-in-crosswords five-letter palindrome (SOLOS).
Creating this theme out of that iconic rock song title – well, that’s prime constructor mind, Nate. Congratulations on your NYT debut, and thank you for this!
Yes, very very easy but I found it crisp and enjoyable, overall.
ReplyDeleteYes, Cutco is everything that Rex says it is, BUT they make darn fine knives! I’ve had mine for 35 years.
ReplyDeleteAnd even better scissors! We have gradually replaced every pair of scissors in our house with Cutco after being forced to watch a high school friend of our kids demonstrate them. Fortunately, you can just buy them directly from the company.
DeleteI initially heard about Cutco around 2000 from my daughter (in college then) who said a lot of students sold them. She didn’t want to sell them but said they DO sell very high quality cutlery. Interestingly…an actual brick and mortar Cutco store opened within a few miles of me about two years ago. So…maybe they have transitioned from “pyramid” or maybe it wasn’t as “pyramid-y” as others? I mean, good luck on “door to door” sales with demos in this day and age!
DeleteAgree, easy. Always enjoy a non-standard grid, whether wider or narrower, like todays 14x15. I especially enjoyed the range of meanings for "ROCK" put in order... from gentle and baby-size, to rough and human size, to catastrophic and global. Awesome contrasts, all one word!! Fun puzzle, great theme, thank you, Nate! : )
ReplyDeleteIt's 14x16
DeleteRoo
My sister-in-law started selling CUTCO knives after college and approached us. I knew our friend Donna had some, so I asked her how she liked them. She said they were great --- that she received them as a wedding gift and they've lasted longer than the marriage. We bought some, still have them, and they are very good.
ReplyDeleteWe still have the set of Cutco knives our friends' son sold us when he was in college 30 years ago. We've even bought a few more. Expensive, but worth it. Cutco's policy is: Dull knives? Send them back and we'll sharpen them. Not able to sharpen? We'll send you a new one. The co is located in Olean NY.
ReplyDeleteI sold Cutco knives one summer during college about 20 years ago. I still use the knives, and so do my parents and relatives. I was fired for having a keg party in the office one weekend that got out of hand. I still don't recall why the manager left me with the office keys that weekend. Anyway, it was a delight to see my former employer in the puzzle today!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think it is fair to call ICE the Gestapo. The Gestapo was a relatively small organization that pursued its terror by targeted action. ICE is a bunch of underqualified violent oafs sent into strong areas of opposition to intimidate with more or less random violence. ICE is the SA.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thought this was a pretty quick, fun puzzle.
Agree about Gestapo. ICE is more like the Brownshirts but with Gestapo authority. Great puzzle-- fast, clever, good revealer. More Tuesdays like this one, please
DeleteFun stuff when you can stir up conversation over the undrawn childhood of a cartoon icon. Also interesting to see folks come to the defense of a “famous” company that I had never heard of. I recognize the sales pattern tho, having been recruited in my youth at various times to sell encyclopedias, vacuum cleaners, and hairbrushes to my family and friends. Result was one vacuum cleaner sale to my supportive parents…Fortunately I am well versed in the classics and knew TCHALLA and WEWILLROCKYOU right away…
ReplyDeleteIt annoyed me that they clued BALI as 'Indonesian getaway spot'. As if it only exists for the resort hotels and the people who stay at them. It also annoyed me that they clued OVAL as 'egg-shaped' as it eggs were two-dimensional. I have to go to two meetings now, I suspect I'll be getting annoyed at everything at those too.
ReplyDeleteStarted out like OFL thinking this would be a triple N puzz or at least three things starting with the same letter, the MECHANICALBULL got rid of that one. Similar no-knows to others--CUTCO, TCHALLA , and HOLLA. I blame not knowing HOLLA for living in the wrong part of the country.
ReplyDeleteOur first-born son spent two weeks in the NEONATAL ICU and the NURSEs were fantastic. He turned out just fine, gracias a Dios.
Our cat has decided to become a LAPCAT. I figured out his age yesterday which turns out to be 96 in people years. The LAPCAT stuff is understandable.
Nice Tuesday, NH. Not Hard, but with some good stuff --The "Yogi" BE___ was a nice misdirect. Thanks for all the fun.
THETA isn't used as a symbol in geometry; it's not introduced until trigonometry.
ReplyDeleteThat’s interesting. I do recall something like ∠ABC being standard notation, but that was 60 years ago. I have no idea what the current state of affairs is though. Maybe Rex could ask one of his colleagues in the Math dept, lol.
DeleteFWIW Google response to “ is theta used in geometry “.
DeleteYes. Used to represent angles
A couple of Tuesday morning CLUEs for Hidden Diagonal Words (HDW) in today's grid:
ReplyDelete1. Pass out (5 letters)
2. Canaanite fertility deity (4 letters)
(answers below)
Our son got conned into selling Cutco knives when he was i high school, and it definitely was a high pressure, multi-level marketing scheme at the time. He sold knives to family and friends and earned some decent money, but didn't yield to demands to become another stone in the pyramid. But here's another side of the story: my wife and I still have those Cutco knives 20 years later, displayed in a wood block exactly like the one Rex pictured. We use them every day and we have mailed them off to the company several times to be sharpened. They sharpen them AND replace any of them that they deem in need of replacement--all for free (including the shipping back to us). So the marketing scheme sucks, but the product itself has been really good.
I was working with a buddy in my days in NYC on a Broadway musical version of CLUE; we were strategizing about getting the rights when we heard the movie was coming out. Sort of put a damper on that project.
Very easy Tuesday indeed. And I'm not sure cartoons have an infancy, unless a cartoonist decides to give them one (I'm looking at you, Muppet Babies). Never heard of T'CHALLA. Didn't like RUN AT or GET AT, especially since they almost abutted one another. Boo, ICE!
Answers to HDW CLUEs:
1. ALLOT (off the A in 23A, moves toward the NW)
2. BAAL (I'm mostly these days cluing only Hidden Diagonal Words of 5 or more letters, but I was taken today that the last 2 letters of BAAL happen to be the first 2 letters of ALLOT)
What is lede? Is that like lead for a journalist?
ReplyDeleteThe opening sentence or prargraph containing the main idea (for a journalist) is indeed spelled LEDE.
DeleteExactly! From much earlier days in journalism, but still used today. The theories as to its etymology are worth looking up!
DeleteRex, maybe you would remember Cutco next time if you think back to Homer selling Slashco knives door to door. ("Handle first, handle first.")
ReplyDeleteVery, very easy. The only thing I think of when I think of Tim Walz (yes, even today) is his son proudly saying "That's my Dad."
ReplyDeleteBack to the puzzle - thank you, Nate & congratulations on your debut :)
Headline in the MN Tribune today is that tribal leaders say ICE is detaining natives. Yes, Native Americans are being treated as illegals. Unbelievable. I suppose maybe their skin was darker than your average Scandinavian.
ReplyDeleteI thought the puzzle theme today was cute. I dated a mechanical engineer in college and he did a project to design a mechanical bull. I don't remember how well he succeeded but those contraptions always remind me of those days.
Nate Hall, thanks for a fun Tuesday puzzle.
Yep, fairly easy, breezy, and fun Tuesday with a pretty clever theme. I found Rex’s discussion on HUNK/“himbo” interesting and it set me to thinking…really the only neutral way to express appreciation of physical attributes is to say “he or she is a very attractive person.” So to me, (a woman) I’ve often had female friends say a guy is a HUNK. A HUNK can be super smart or dumber than a box of rocks. Maybe same for calling a woman a “knockout”? On the other hand, terms like “bimbo”/“himbo” imply a lack of depth/intelligence. I hope you enjoyed my VERY important public service announcement on HUNKs/himbos/knockouts/bimbos. But see also…”arm candy.”
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t in the best frame mind when I began this downs-only Tuesday. My hockey team had just lost, again, and I was beginning to think they they were trying to tank in order to get a better draft pick. It was that kind of game. Ugh. And then came the double ugh of the top central section. 4D, a Marvel Universe character named TCHALLA crossing 17A HOLLA. Isn’t it just HOLA with one L? Is there a difference? (I see from a post-solve lookup that the double L version is an old English greeting similar to hello.)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Yogi clue at 9D. Hated seeing CUTCO at 33D. Weren’t they the company that used desperate students to guilt-trip their parents and their parents' friends into buying overpriced mediocre knives. (Well look at that, Rex has made it his Word of the Day, and I think I got it right.)
And NIA Da Costa? Who? Wasn’t really a problem for me because I just filled it in from the downs, but why not Ms. Vardalos. It’s Tuesday, after all.
Theme was solid enough, though it failed to really rock me. Like I said, not in the best frame of mind. Mea culpa.
I enjoyed the yogi's ASANA next to Yogi the grown-up BEARCUB. (Which also led me down a little rabbit-hole. Did you know Yogi Berra's real name was Laurence? https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-yogi-bear-you-dont-know/ ) And I was surprised the author was so judgmental about dating show guys that he called them all PUNKS... until I looked at the Across clue. I think the only time I've come across that type of HUNK lately is on the side of a pickup truck for College Hunks Hauling Junk.
ReplyDeleteI'm 84. I've never known what brand of knives I use. They've always been "...the ones in the drawer over there."
ReplyDeleteCUTCO has just received millions worth of free advertising without paying a nickel. I'm going to stick with the ones in the drawer over there.
All rather cute and chuckled at the revealer. But entered Neonatologist before neonatal nurse.
ReplyDeleteSolved downs only. Rare Tuesday feat for me.
ReplyDeleteSo why had every woman ever to win the Democratic nomination for President picked a running mate named TIM? I hope the next one learns from this.
ReplyDeleteI'm not hip enough to see the link from HEYO to HOLLA, but once I had the TCHALL, it had to be an A where they crossed.
Having two large Indonesian island in the puzzle was nice. Less so was the RUN AT / GET AT dupe.
I'm with Rex and THT on Yogi; there's no evidence he ever was a BEAR CUB.
Is an MCAT one of them LAPCATS? I don't know 'cuz I ain't familiar with no MCAT. Now scat, that's a horse of a differnt color. You might ask, is scat a logical humor? Seems funnier than MCAT.
ReplyDeleteI guess after GENZ we had to go to a number + a letter, hence GENOA.
Who takes over when the professor is absent? THETA.
I'm already dreading TV during the months before the midterm elections with all those RUNAT ads. They're enough to give you a heart RUNAT. And speaking of RUNAT, what's GETAT doing in the same neighborhood?
Turns out Melville was ambitious and high energy as well as very dismissive of cows. Hence his South Seas bromances, TYPEA and OMOO.
Remember, a cook with a CUTCO is just OK.
This puzzle rocked! I understand that the constructor has turned over a new leaf. Thanks, neo Nate Hall.
I appreciate and respect that you made your position on the Renee Good murder public. It’s not a surprise that this is your take - not at all. Public figures, especially those with an audience like yours, often remain silent. So kudos to you. On the other hand, I doubt you have many magats among your readers. They are getting stumped by the solitaire tic-tac-toe game on foxnews.com.
ReplyDeleteTerry Sadowski
DeleteI live in a blue state. The Democrats have overwhelmingly majorities in both houses of the state legislature. It shocked me the other day when a state senator introduced a resolution condemning ICE in that killing the leadership deemed it controversial! And sent it to a committee. Part of the problem is that too many voters even in Blue States listen to the constant stream of lies emanating from the White House and Fox News etc. But state universities in red states are where teachers get in trouble. In Florida and Texas at least, his comment could get him fired
Not every MLM sells trash. While the business model is suspect, products like Tupperware, Pampered Chef and Cutco made really innovative, high-quality products that LASTED!
ReplyDelete"F*** ICE." I felt that. Thanks for saying it for us.
ReplyDeleteNice debut by Nate Hall. I had JAVA for BALI at first, then later put in JAVA for 58A (Coffee, informally). Is there a term for that? Deja clue? Fun puzzle, thanks and congrats, Nate.
In other news: IU won, da Bears beat the Packers, and Aaron Rodgers lost. I take my joys when I can get them, no matter how small or inconsequential. (@Beezer Yay!)
Thanks PH! It’s been pretty unreal!
Deletethis is a really fun puzzle not sure why only 3 stars its not brain surgery but the theme answers are Rockin and on point
ReplyDeleteHad a surprising kealoa today with TYPE A. I read the clue “ambitious and high energy, say,” had _YPE_ already in there, and thought, “That’s not quite how I’d describe HYPED, but I guess that’s what the word ‘say’ is doing?” That and misreading the Black Panther clue as “birth place” and thus confidently writing WAKANDA were my biggest fumbles.
ReplyDeleteYep, very easy and much easier than yesterday’s for me. No costly erasures and NIA, TCHALLA and CUTCO, were it for WOEs.
ReplyDeleteDelightful/amusing theme and reveal and very little junk, liked it a bunch!
Always nice to have a TuesPuz that ain't completely off its rocker.
ReplyDeleteAnd this one definitely rocks.
staff weeject pick: Not ICE -- agree with @RP's anti-ICEstapo rant. Let's go with MGS -- Booker T. would approve.
Primo weeject stacks, NW & SE, btw.
some fave stuff: TIMWALZ. ASANA+BEARCUB back-to-back yogi clues. TCHALLA spellin challenge. Different [but only slightly reduced] 14x16 puzspace.
Thanx for rockin us, Mr. Hall dude. And congratz on a real clever debut.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
... and now, for the usual [and aptly] reduced follow-up ...
"Runtpuz Flensing" - 7x7 12 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
I started off trying down clues only but gave up very quickly when 3 of the first 6 were names. The left half of the down columns contain: GENOA TCHALLA ELLA ELLEN CUTCO INCAN TIMWALZ EVAN. Most of them were Unknowns; that was pretty bad, however the acrosses were a little better.
ReplyDelete12 down "Bartender's supply": hmm... ALE, GIN, RUM, RYE, so many choices.
I've never heard of CUTCO so I can't say "I've had them for 37 years!" But when my younger brother went to Thailand in 1986, he did bring me back a nice BATIK that has hung over my bed since then.
I enjoyed the four examples of ROCKing - and thank you, @Anonymous 8:17 for pointing out the progression from gentle and baby-sized to seismic and global, tied together with a ROCK song. NIce! I also liked the today's array of fauna - a Black Panther, BEAR CUB, CORGI, SNAIL, BULL, and LAP CATS.
ReplyDeleteHola. {Spanish for HOLLA?}
ReplyDeleteOh brother, another speed record. I am so smart. π
We are in Phase 4 of our life with knives. Our first set was whatever was in the drawer. An odd collection of knife-esque metal objects designed for bread, steak, boxes, screw driving, door props, or theatrical shows of murdery-ness while preparing meals. To call them knives was a stretch. Then we had the butcher block knives that all matched and appeared to be useful, but after one week of cutting into cheddar cheese they became as dull as our former knife-like implements and they stayed on the counter attracting our disdain for a decade. Then came Cutco. They were expensive, but they will come to your house and sharpen them and of course try to sell you another one. These were wonderful for the most part. But then Phase 4. These come after too many hours watching Food Channel. These come with prices you'd think are joke prices on the internet. I am not allowed to touch these knives. They don't go in the dishwasher. They have their own cases. They seem to be able to cut through anything just by thinking about it. I'm pretty sure they're thinking about me sleeping in the bed in the other room and waiting for their moment. They're really good at slicing open your fingers. If you want to see your own bones, they'll help. And a potato, well forget about it, it's doomed.
❤️ LAP CATS. I miss all mine.
π© GET AT, RUN AT ... SPLAT.
People: 8
Places: 4
Products: 8
Partials: 5
Foreignisms: 1
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Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 26 of 74 (35%)
Funny Factor: 2 π
Uniclues:
1 Hire a young person to explain colloquialisms you should've run across 30 years ago.
2 That stinky glow of handing out awards for doing your job.
3 Instead of heavy metal, they play heavy meat.
4 "Bappity pappity meeeower zip zip and finally kerchug." (approx.)
5 Lesbian comedian from outer space says, "Holla!" with a glowing green appendage.
1 WIN HOLLA AIDE
2 CLIOS AURA
3 ALT CARNE BAND
4 MG'S PITCH
5 ALIEN ELLEN WAVE
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: How the cannibal with a preference for aged meat filled out his menu. ATE FOURTH YEARS.
¯\_(γ)_/¯
@Gary. Love your knife progression tale. We too began with cast offs from other peoples knife drawers but then I started working in restaurants and had access to restaurant supply firms. The preferred cutlery of the time (early 70s) was German and my first purchase was a 10 inch Henckel's (now more commonly known as Zwilling) chef's knife; a monster; thick handle, big bolster, heavy stainless blade. For years it my go to instrument for breaking down large poultry. I still have it and my wife, inexplicably, favours it for chopping herbs. She's like that - kind of weird.
DeleteAnyway, I don't want to get too knife nerdy here but I will say I have never bought a whole "set" of knives. I don't buy stamped steel (ala CUTCO), only forged (holds an edge better) and sometimes stainless but mostly, these days, I look for carbon steel. I just like the way it sharpens up - and I do sharpen my own on Japanese water stones to about 4,000 grit. " They seem to be able to cut through anything just by thinking about it." I test them by ripping out a page of an old New Yorker, holding it out in front of me and effortlessly cutting it into confetti. It's kind of a joyful experience.
Good for you for keeping them out of the dishwasher.
Definitely Rex and commenters covered the emotional spectrum today. But Gary's four-part knife saga was a tour de force. Thanks for the levity.
DeleteLike many, we cringed entering ICE, despite the innocuous clue. And "Heyo"? Ok, maybe a regional term. But my initial reaction was thinking of Ed McMahon reacting to Johnny Carson, but a four letter answer? And Ed would bellow it out as Hiyo, with a greatly elongated ooooooo.
I’ll never forget the first time I could afford a gorgeous German knife. Like you a monster Henkel’s. Ooooooooooh-sublime. And having learned how to sharpen at an early age (mentioned it in my post), it has served me well. For a very long time, now just for big jobs. I have a divine 8” Miyabi. Fabulous every day go to. I love the comfortable handle and the balance.
DeleteWhat a surprise! Several years ago I was sitting at the breakfast table trying to think of a theme concept that would "excite" the NYTXW editor and finally get one of my puzzle submissions accepted for publication. I decided to go ultra simple and suddenly, kaboom, the idea hit me. It was right there in front of me --- tableware!
ReplyDeleteSince I have an interest in geology, the first themer to come to mind was TECTONIC PLATE. (I clued it as "Shifting piece of the earth's crust".) Then three other tableware items formed the basis of the remaining non-tableware themers.
I sent in the grid and clues (back then submissions were by snail mail) and waited for a reply. And waited. And waited. And then, success! I finally got my first NYT crossword accepted and it was published Mon. Oct. 11, 2010.
So today's TECTONIC PLATES is, as @Lewis 7:51 points out, a debut but only in it's POC (plural of convenience) form. Yeah, we only get one NURSE and one BULL but multiple PLATES.
How do neonatal nurses fit with this theme? The neonatal nurses I've seen do amazing work in the NICU: giving medication, starting IVs, administering feedings, working with specialized medical equipment, educating and communicating with new parents, etc. I don't associate them with rocking the preemies!
ReplyDeleteYikes - back of the Kids Menu placemat easy. Is it truly the end of challenging crossword culture?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rex that ICE is now a highly politicized and a deliberately violent force. Whatever training they receive encourages violence. They certainly aren’t taught anything about the rule of law. And group think encourages even more violence. I disagree with Rex if he thinks any governor can do anything more than Walz is doing to stop the violence. The Federal Government is in control of immigration matters and attempts through the courts (the only means available- Republican in Congress have been complete cowards so far) has met with limited success. Tragically, the extremist majority on the Supreme Court has frequently backed the wannabe dictator.
ReplyDeleteThe Gestapo proper was a relatively small force, part of a much larger security apparatus Hitler created many security offices which eventually came under the control of Heinrich Himmler. But in occupied countries, people didn’t make fine distinctions about who were torturing them. They tended to call them all the Gestapo. From the German for Secret State Police. I think it is appropriate to say ICE is acting like the Gestapo
Really liked the theme. Someone pointed out the rocking went from gentle to very powerful.( I would guess that nurses do on occasion Rick babies in neonatal wards)
The bear cub answer was fine by me. The cartoon character is of course meant to be a human drawn to look vaguely like a bear always on 2 legs. Nothing realistic about it.
Got a Tuesday personal best of 2:41 today, my first sub-3:00!
ReplyDeleteAbolish ICE,
ReplyDeleteFound this one easier than yesterday but that's not a complaint. Any time I can get in a themer with no letters at all (NEONATALNURSE) I kinda jump for joy. And I found this puzzle very enjoyable. Had to guess on the TCHALLA/HOLLA crossing as did some others in the group, but no other real holdups. I think MECHANICALBULL also fell with no letters so another skip in my step. And that was a spanner! Nothing wrong with easy stuff if it all turns out to be very cool fill.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was cute and the revealer landed - good stuff.
Adding to the fun was @Gary's knife saga. Our kitchen drawer looks to be very similar to yours.
That Billy Squre vid...ooof. That's the same guy who did Lonely is The Night and Stroke ME??!! I'm trying to unsee what I guess were his dance moves... I did like his hits back in the day...
I understand that this is a debut - Congrats Nate and thanks for this! It was fun!
Oof. My creepy coworker at NFL Films launched his half-wit son at me 15 years ago. I bought a bagel knife/ spreader, the cheapest thing I could.
ReplyDeleteMost of my other co-workers flat out refused his pitch.
melt ICE
ReplyDeleteEven with my blurry vision, I blazed through this absolutely without stopping. Even the theme answers failed to slow me down. However, as I neared the end, and glanced at the early dull grid momentarily, I thought, “No idea, but I’m about to find out.” Pretty darn clever theme and reveal, and it made me smile. I always like an early week without a ton of three and four letter junk and while it was all obvious, it wasn’t junky. Not even CUTCO.
ReplyDeleteThe elders among us will recall CUTCO. Every state fair I ever visited in my youth and as my husband and I camped our way around the US included a CUTCO booth with well trained demonstrators.
There were no kitchen stores back then or food tv to introduce us to how the pros work, but Mr. Melke, the baker down the street during my early years had the most glorious block of knives and a gigantic table made of thick wood, and of course all the huge mixers and ovens of a 1940s commercial bakery. He taught me that the table was a “bench,” and most importantly, he taught me how to love, use properly and to sharpen all of the knives. With his accent from The Netherlands, he patiently taught me anything I wanted to know about his craft.
Consequently, from the age of five, I wanted a set of “real knives in a block just like Mr. Melke’s.” We received one as a wedding gift from my Gran in 1974. A full CUTCO set in a block. Not hand honed German blades but certainly better than my hardware store or tag sale blades, and I felt the love every time I pulled one out of the block.
That was high class in 1974 when ground beef on sale cost $0.89 a pound and we could get gorgeous, double cut loin pork chops (again on sale) for under $2.00/lb. That was special occasion dining on a “high” Illinois teacher’s salary of $9,000 for 12 months. Larry got the extra 2 months because marching band went for the 8 week summer session. That and what I could save from teaching private lessons was our “camping money.”
I still use the block and the one really excellent tool in the set: a sandwich tool. Stainless tongue-shalped blade, wide.at the end and tapering towards the handle, serrated on one edge. Perfect to spread liberal amounts of mayo (in my case), or everything needed for a robust PB&J, and it cuts through a big BLT on thick slabs of homemade bread without creating an avalanche where the ‘mater slides out the side.
The vector system allegations against CUTCO are (given my age) recent - and sad. But I have no brand loyalty, only memories of the love I always felt in the kitchen of our home.
My daughter learned how to use knives with that set, and she still has “the big knife” in the “extra tools drawer” in her own kitchen. I found it by accident just the other day and asked her if she wanted to donate it. She gave me the “you’ve lost your mind” look.
When she was three, my daughter asked if a Great Gran was better than a regular one. I tried to explain generations. What she understood was “So a Great Gran is just better than a regular one,” and from that day on, Gran became just “Great.” So, in response to my question, she said, “Are you kidding me? All Great’s love’s still in there!” Of course it is.
That's a lovely story. Thank you!
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