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Relative difficulty: Easy (~8 minutes)
THEME: SERENDIPITY — Happy chance, as illustrated by the four invention stories at 17-, 24-, 36- and 44-Across
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: CONTE (Old French tale) —
Hey friends! I'm glad to see you all for an off-schedule Malaika MWednesday. I solved this puzzle while listening to orchestral covers of pop songs from Bridgerton. I love these and could listen all day long.
- [In 1968, Spencer Silver at 3M Corporation was attempting to develop a superstrong adhesive ...] for POST IT NOTES
- [In 1928, Alexander Fleming at St. Mary's Hospital in London found mold in his cultures of staphylococcus bacteria ...] for PENICILLIN
- [In 1945, Percy Spencer at the Raytheon Manufacturing Company noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted close to a magnetron ...] for MICROWAVE OVEN
- [In 1943, James Wright at General Electric was attempting to develop synthetic rubber for the war effort ...] for SILLY PUTTY
Word of the Day: CONTE (Old French tale) —
Conte is a literary genre of tales, often short, characterized by fantasy or wit. They were popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries until the genre became merged with the short story in the nineteenth century. Distinguishing contes from other literary genres is notoriously difficult due to the various meanings of the French term conte that span folktales, fairy tales, short stories, oral tales, and fables. [Wiki]
• • •
I'm really curious to see what y'all think of this puzzle. This type of theme, where there's simply a list of words with zero wordplay or raison d'etre, is not my favorite. In fact, I taught a class on creating crossword puzzles on Sunday and emphasized that this type of theme would not be successful if they're trying to get published. Oops!! Sorry guys. Go ahead and make your lists!!
Part of the lackluster feel to me is that the revealer is just a random entry. It could have been anything, right?? It could have been "good luck" or "pure chance," or "happy accident." There's nothing especially fitting about the word SERENDIPITY (it doesn't even have anything to do with inventions) except that it had the right number of letters to fit symmetrically in the grid, so it doesn't feel like a fun reveal. Similarly, I haven't heard someone say MICROWAVE OVEN in like a decade (it's just "microwave" in my circle) which makes it feel like they just needed a correct number of letters with that phrase as well.
Another thing that I found odd is the phrasing of the clues. I associate that styling, with the italics and the ellipses at the end, with a wacky clue / entry combo, and was expecting that, and then very surprised to not see it materialize. At the very least, I would (grammatically) assume that an ellipsis indicates a partial sentence. So I'd think that the clue for (e.g.) "chocolate chip cookies" would be: In the 1930s, Ruth Wakefield played around with a recipe and invented... and then the entry would fill in the blank. (That's one of my favorite invention stories btw, tragically left out of this puzzle.) I really don't get why the ellipses or the italics are there at all! I would have phrased, e.g, the first clue as just: [In 1968, Spencer Silver's experiments with superstrong adhesive resulted in this common office supplies]
The fill was nice and smooth, and I liked seeing DETECTIVE, and CHINESE with that clue, but overall, the puzzle felt very meh. Really curious to see if you guys felt the same way. I am also open to the possibility that I have a bad attitude right now because I learned the hard way last week that I have an allergy to PENICILLIN. It was harrowing.
 |
| Benoit Blanc!! Probably my favorite DETECTIVE right now |
What else? I used to always point out when a theme only involved white men. I guess I can do that here. But it seems like the people who care about that notice it on their own, and the people who don't care roll their eyes when I rant about it. *shrug*
Bullets:
- [Alternative to fries, maybe] for SLAW — I had "tots" here for ages. I genuinely cannot imagine a situation where you offered a choice between fries and slaw. Fries or a salad?? Absolutely! Or if you are at a barbecue place getting a plate, I guess you can choose your sides and both are options. But you should absolutely be allotted more than one side, and slaw and fries simply do not occupy the same conceptual space while planning out a plate.
- [Answer to the riddle ending "How many are going to St. Ives?"] for ONE — Can one of y'all explain this to me please
- [Many first-time smartphone owners] for TEENS — Had a hilariously un-self-aware moment when I angrily thought "I can't believe teens have smartphones!" and then remembered that I got mine at age sixteen. Oops!! I probably shouldn't have had it though!! And now there are kiddos getting them at age thirteen. Definitely bad vibes.
Three points of self-promotion, which I'll bury after the signature:
1) I constructed a themeless puzzle for the Boswords spring league! The league has already started (Rex has a link to it below) so I'm not sure if you can still register. But if you already have, keep an eye out for my puzzle! I can't say when it's coming, alas-- it's a surprise!
2) I will be at Crossword Con and at ACPT on April 10, and I hope you come say hi to me if you see me! As far as I know, I am the tallest woman to construct a NYT crossword, so I should be easy to spot. (If that's wrong, please tell me.)
3) Back in December, I published a cute little book of easy crosswords. I probably told y'all about this when it came out, but I'm newly excited because my friend sent me a picture today of someone solving on the train!! So exciting.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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Easy but fun. I liked the theme more than Malaika did, even though the revealer didn't specify "accidental inventions." Seeing PENICILLIN and SILLYPUTTY as examples is worth a laugh.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting criticism of STRIPY (I think Rex would have cited it). Is it a real word?
Good question on STRIPY. Seems like I may have used the word before. Seems like the term “striped” based on “stripe”…more, um, discrete. So (in my mind) STRIPY would convey a less discrete, uniform pattern than being “striped.”
DeleteApparently so according to Merriam-Webster.
DeleteInteresting write-up Malaika, especially your analysis of the theme. I tend to think of the themes as a necessary evil required my Shortz and company, so I probably have a different perspective (and lower expectations) than you do. I’m usually satisfied if a) they are not too convoluted, and b) they hang in the background and compliment the solving experience rather than overwhelm it. I think today’s theme was successful in that regard.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t encounter any real difficulties while solving, in fact this one wasn’t really much tougher than yesterday’s offering. The first thing that came to mind was REC center instead of HALL, and I was not familiar with the meaning of TUN, which was kind of interesting. It’s unusual to encounter a new three letter word that’s not an abbreviation or something similar.
It also looks like the constructor deserves bonus points for keeping the proper names and other PPP to a minimum, which is always a positive in my book.
"As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with _____ wives." He went alone, presumably.
ReplyDeleteOr he and his wives, their cats, etc. were all going the other way.
DeleteHe had seven wives but was going the other way!
Delete"As I was going to St. Ives by myself," just doesn't scan as well, lol
DeleteIt's a children's ditty. It's a ditty designed to misdirect - comically. It's easy to look up and reference. Why is this so hard?
DeleteI consider myself the Grouch Marx of crossword puzzles: I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member. I'm not a very good puzzler AT ALL and I shouldn't be able to breeze through a Wednesday puzzle in 16+ minutes. There should be a LITTLE sweat. But not on this one. I can't really take pride in it because it is, by definition, too easy.
ReplyDeleteNice write up.
ReplyDeleteFries or slaw comes up all the time.
Here’s the St Ives info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_was_going_to_St_Ives
SoCal CP
Agreed. I've seen the fries/SLAW option many times.
DeleteOur favorite burger place gives you a burger with a choice of one side - fries or coleslaw or salad (potato salad, tossed salad or caesar salad) or, for a little extra money, mashed potatoes or sweet potato fries or baked potato or rice. Sounds pretty good, huh? And their burgers are the best anywhere. I would give you the name of the place, but I don't suppose that's allowed.
DeleteI’m up way too early which is why I get to make the first comment! It’s also possibly why I actually liked this puzzle so much—not awake enough to have my radar (was that also discovered by seeendipity?) fully functioning.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love learning all this!
Deletemagnetron, not magnetometer
DeleteWelcome home, prodigal son. What jail or mercenary assignment has kept you away these many months?
DeleteI already felt smarter after doing this puzzle, but now my brain is overflowing with fascinating facts. And I always love learning more about General Taylor since he was born in my hometown. Thanks for sharing all that.
DeleteThank you! Great post.
Delete'Serendipity' played a role in each of the inventions in that they were all accidental discoveries that led to the invention named. Post it notes were from glue that was meant to e strong but was weak, same as with silly putty. Microwave from the chocolate bar melting, penicillin from accidentally leaving an experiment out, and voila, the theme. Still a list, but at least a relates list? Not sure of the subtleties of crossword publishing
ReplyDeleteI didn't love the theme, but I felt it was pretty common to refer to "serendipity" in this context. It turns out there's a Wikipedia article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity. And maybe as a generational thing, I found the cluing intuitive because some of these are stories I've heard over and over -- or may even have seen in Ripley's Believe It or Not, which used to be a big deal once upon a time -- so I read the italics and ellipses as "Here's the beginning of the story -- cut to the punch line." (Similarly, I feel like arguing that "MICROWAVE" is no more natural for "MICROWAVEOVEN" than "CONVECTION" for "CONVECTIONOVEN" would be -- but I think it's more that I'm old enough to remember when consumer-grade microwave ovens were new and controversial.)
ReplyDeleteDidn't know "microwave oven" sounded off to younger folk. I remember around 1971 when they first put microwave ovens into convenience stores, and as a young bachelor I made many a meal of a zapped burrito from 7-11. Or was it U-Totem?
Delete36D: first commercially marketed in the 1967 by Amana (Raytheon's consumer product division) and known as the "radar range" until the mid-late 1970s when, as a consequence of cheaper prices and mass marketing (and after people finally became convinced that they didn't have to wear protective vests when using), it became known simply as the microwave oven (and, as Michael points out, later just the microwave in popular parlance).
ReplyDeleteFun fact, the vast of majority microwave ovens in the world are manufactured by a single company (Midea Group in China) to the specifications of the consumer product company that will market it. The consumer product company then merely adds its own casing and branding before telling you all the reasons why their brand is superior to all others.
I vaguely remember the term radar ranges but never grokked that it was a microwave. I do remember my 1st encounter with microwaves was at Expo67 in Montreal. The burger it produced was bad. The puzzle was easy no complaints about the clues or answers. Good write up Malaika.
Delete@Chris S. Neither Perry, Paul Drake or I were fans of burger, either. Though we did respect him.
DeleteWhen is saw TAPE crossing POSTITNOTES and PETRI crossing PENICILLIN, I was hoping for an extra layer to the theme. That didn't happen, but it was still fun.
ReplyDeleteA hand up here, Malaika, for noticing mid-solve that the puzzle leaned heavily into white maleness. Particularly noticeable after Sunday’s puzzle. Also, it promotes the half truth that inventions are the work of individuals, which is often (usually?) not the case, if you look at the big picture. Otherwise, I kinda like this sort of theme, with its perfect examples of SERENDIPITY.
ReplyDeleteMy allergy to PENICILLIN was discovered more than half a century ago, but I still remember the discomfort and blanch a little when I see the word. I can only imagine how your experience, much more recent, made you react to that word today. Fortunately, now that you’re in the know you can easily avoid it. But you won’t be able to avoid a lifetime of listing it on medical intake forms over and over.
Oh, and spotting someone in the wild with your book must be just the greatest feeling. Kudos!
I had a reaction to Penicillin as a teenager and thought that that lasted a lifetime. Then I read an article that said you could outgrow the problem, so I got a test and found out I was no longer allergic. Unfortunately, I was in my 70s when that occurred but I still had many years when I was able to use Penicillin as an antibiotic.
DeleteA puzzle can be easy. It can be fun to do. One can learn from it.This puzzle had it all.🎈🎈🎊🎊
ReplyDeleteI happen to really like this type of puzzle, and I bemoan the fact that - as Malaika notes - they are less likely to be accepted. NYT seems to prioritize overly ornate themes over clean fill.
ReplyDeleteThat said, this felt much more like a Tuesday puzzle than a Wednesday, both in difficulty and in theme.
I love both the word SERENDIPITY and the concept, and it was the perfect revealer here, although I agree that the theme clues were not very zippy, kind of dull. An easy fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThis felt like a Monday. At 7:22 easily my personal best for a Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteAs I was going to st Ives I met a man with seven wives. Every wife had seven sacks. Every sack had seven cats. Every cat had seven kittens. Kittens, cats, sacks and wives. How many were going to st Ives? My number is 555- and the answer call me in five minutes or you can say goodbye to one school in the New York Metropolitan area.
ReplyDeleteThe issue was "How many are going?" not "What did he find en route?"
Delete“As I was going.” “So how many are going!?!?” “Just the guy!!” “Well how do I dial just one?” “555-0001!!!” And the day was saved. But my favorite puzzle was the water jugs one.
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDelete@Malaika, nice to see your book out in the wild. Unfortunately, mine isn't really anywhere to be found. Secret? 😁
Probably gonna be answered a million times, but, the St.Ives is a riddle. It quite long winded, but became more popular in the general populace after being featured in Die Hard 3. See also, the 3 gallon and 5 gallon jug riddle. (Which has two solutions, actually.)
Nice puz, people accidentally finding something that they became famous for whilst looking for something else. Do we know if they ever did find their original thingies?
42 Blockers, due to the (@M&A) Blocks of Themedness. Normal max is 38. Still plays like a regular Blocker puz, since the Blocks of Blockers are on the sides.
UP dupe alert! ON UP, LET UP. Aw, NUTS!
Enjoyable, quick solve today. Good fill, interesting theme.
Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
No F's - That's just SILLY.
RooMonster
DarrinV
Hey @Roo--I've become a limo driver! Regular job driving my 90-year old friend to and from her water aerobics, book club, some other things. Even took her to her summer place in RI. Interesting woman, and pays well.
Delete@pablo
DeleteNice! Thinking of going back myself, but it's kind of a different way out here. Did it for 14 years, and would probably still be doing it if not for COVID.
Good luck, drive safe!
Roo
Hi Malaika,
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry to hear about your penicillin allergy. I also have medication allergies and it is annoying to say the least. I don’t mind puzzles like this one. I enjoyed learning about each accidental invention, maybe because i worked at one time in a research lab.
Cerebro eléctrico.
ReplyDeleteFastest Wednesday ever. I am just brilliant at knowing SILLY PUTTY.
I did not know about the St. Ives logic riddle, but I prefer the also correct answer of 2,802, but it seems less crossword-worthy.
I looked up the Manet painting after the solve and I gotta say it's not for me. I wonder when Wikipedia tells me that a piece of art created a great controversy in 1865 ... what did that look like? I am assuming a handful of wealthy white people penned harumphing OPEDS (similar to what goes on on this blog everyday). I would bet the average guy in Paris knew nothing about the painting, the painter, or the controversy.
❤️ OHO.
😫 STRIPY.
People: 5
Places: 4
Products: 5
Partials: 6
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 22 of 74 (30%)
Funny Factor: 0 😫
Tee-Hee: MATE.
Uniclues:
1 Political leader from the cabbage patch.
2 Biblical figure interestingly prefers salty women.
3 Coffee that saves your soul.
4 Shut the whining down.
5 Snorkeler.
1 SENATOR SLAW
2 LOT SERENDIPITY
3 MESSIANIC LATTE
4 TAPE ON UP EMO
5 ATOLL DETECTIVE
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Abandoned Captain Kirk in a dinghy. LEFT IOWAN ASEA.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Glad to see you back!
DeleteNo, there is one corect answer. And its one.
DeleteYou couldn’t be more mistaken. Janet’s work caused massive
Deleteand highly publicized scandal. As for your conjecture that the response was a bunch of Op-Eds, that’s not the case either. In fact, his work often had to be hung high because the public tried to attack it with canes, umbrellas, and at least one tossed boot.
@Gary
DeleteNot to be a noodge, but ...
1) Only the Man was going to St Ives. The riddle starts "As I was going to St Ives I met a man with seven wives". He just met the one man who happened to have seven wives, with seven sacks, with seven cats, with seven kittens. The wives, etc. weren't there, just the one dude.
2) Your math is off regardless. It's 2402 if everyone/thing were present.
😁🤪✌️
RooMonster Like I've Never Been Wrong Before Guy
No rooster. Your math is off.
DeleteGary’s humor is off but his arithmetic is correct.
@Okay Darrin
DeleteI guess we're doing this:
Dude going to St. Ives 1.
Other Man (maybe going to St. Ives) 1+1=2.
Seven wives (maybe going to St. Ives) 7+2=9.
Each wife has 49 cats (going where're the wives goeth) 49x7=343 + 9 humans = 352.
Each of 343 cats has 7 kittens (going all over the place probably but most likely St. Ives in the end presuming everyone sticks together) 2401 kittens + 343 cats + 9 humans OR 2753.
Plus the riddle conclusion forces the inclusion of the sacks (so 49 of those) or 2802.
So yeah, the lame-o answer is ONE because nobody cares about the fate of polygamists, or cats in sacks, or even the sacks since there's more plastic bags waiting for you out there, but it's 2802 if you love kittens.
ADIN really messed me up. Not a word (phrase?) I know and something I will almost certainly forget for next time. Otherwise an easy breezy Wednesday and I thought the theme was fine.
ReplyDeleteAD IN is the phrase. All tennis games must be won by at least two points; AD IN means that the server now has a one-point advantage after breaking the tie called "deuce". If the tie-break point went to the receiver, the result is called Ad Out.
DeleteI blanked out on adin too.
DeleteBerndo. tht
DeleteI learned ADIN solely from crosswords. It is old crosswordese. Hasn’t been around much lately I put it in immediately. Thanks tht for the definition, which after all these years, I still wasn’t clear on. (Tennis score 4 letters adin, five letters, which is rarer in crossworld, adopt is all I knew)
For MICROWAVE OVEN, play this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0
ReplyDeleteGenerally I would agree with Malaika that the relationship of the clue to the answer should be included in the clue. In this case, however, that would have made it way too easy. Figuring out that we were looking for cases of SERENDIPITY was about the only challenging thing in the puzzle. Fortunately I knew what Fleming invented, and it fit, so I could figure out the other three.
ReplyDeleteIf I were Rex, though, I would point out that having one inventor name Spencer _____, and another named ________ Spencer just left Alexander Fleming and James Wright hanging there. Tut tut.
I thought this crossword was rather linear. Honestly, the entire grid felt like a singular matrix. It had zero determinant and provided absolutely no basis for a challenging solve. I tried to find a unique solution, but the clues were so linearly dependent that the null space of my interest just kept expanding.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hamnet (yesterday's discussion) was shown at the Epiphora conference, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.
ReplyDeleteWas hoping to see PRINGLES in the grid today, as a nod to the late Mitch Hedley. He said they were inadvertently invented by a company intending to produce tennis balls. Potatoes were delivered by mistake and they just said, What the hell, cut 'em up.
MANET: Didn't we meet at the community center for games and activities?
ReplyDeleteMan B: I don't RECHALL. But perhaps it was the RYE marina.
Manet: Well, why don't you join me for a COARSE of CHINESE SLAW?
Man B: Sure. I'll say grace, then you say amen.
MANET: I already AMEND.
Man B: Well for all I care you can say ADIN.
Manet: That would BESETS of tennis. You should really try the RECHALL for that.
I think SERENDIPITY is spot on with the possible exception of SILLYPUTTY, which history has shown did not really benefit the war effort. But I liked the way-too-easy puzzle. Thanks, John Guzzetta.
And I always enjoy a Malaika write-up. I love knowing what music you listened to while solving and what the highs and lows (like PENICILLIN reaction) of your days have been. Thanks, Malaika.
For me, your best write up ever, Malaika.
ReplyDeleteVery Easy, I verily say to you. Fastest Wednesday in I don't know how long, but exceptionally smooth, making it enjoyably (not annoyingly) easy. Or it could just be I'm in a good mood, because I can see an argument made that it appeared on the wrong day of the week. Was it MESSIANIC that tipped it into the Wednesday bucket?
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the cluing for its educational value, and (sorry to inform you, Malaika) SERENDIPITY is a perfectly apt revealer. Also, regarding her review: I've seen a choice between fries and SLAW many times, especially where barbecue is on the menu. I have no conceptual difficulty there. I think I like cole SLAW more as part of the sandwich, though, as opposed to a side by itself.
That'll be it for now.
A side by itself is not a side.
DeleteAs the occasional etymologist on this blog, I must give a big shout-out to serendipity. One of my favorite words, and it is most appropriately used in this puzzle. From etymologyonline.com:
ReplyDelete"faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries," a rare word before 20c., coined by Horace Walpole in a letter to Horace Mann that is dated Jan. 28, 1754, but which apparently was not published until 1833.
Walpole said he formed the word from the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip" (an English version was published in 1722) whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of" [Walpole].
Serendip (also Serendib), attested by 1708 in English, is an old name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), from Arabic Sarandib, from Sanskrit Simhaladvipa "Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island."
Attention was called to the word in an article in The Saturday Review of June 16, 1877 ["An ungrateful world has probably almost forgotten Horace Walpole's attempt to enrich the English language with the term "Serendipity." etc.]; it begins to turn up in publication 1890s but still is not in Century Dictionary in 1902.
Very interesting information; thanks! (But do you mean for that first definite article to be an indefinite one?)
DeleteLess crunchy than yesterday’s offering but I got a kick out of the serendipitous discoveries, especially about Silly Putty. On the other hand, I’m not sure that finding out that chips of chocolate in a cookie dough would be delicious was actually “serendipity” as much it was a D’OH moment for bakers around the world. It would be if the ingestion of the cookies cured the common cold. Just my take. ;)
ReplyDeleteI guess it IS too bad that the only females listed today was Miss EWE of Roquefort fame and Jessica TANDY.
Beezer FWIW
DeleteThe discovery involving chocolate chips had nothing to do with chocolate chips per se. The researcher discovered that the magnetron could melt the chips, and thus it could heat up lots of other food. . That led him to develop the microwave oven.
My D'oh moment was confidently writing in CLOSEST for the Mercury/sun clue and thinking to myself, who gets this wrong? Who out there is stumped at all by this clue ... and it was me, I was apparently stumped. The crosses cleared it up quickly but still ..
ReplyDeleteYou weren’t the only one. That was my first entry too.
DeleteI think I knew all these origins except POSTITNOTES, so after POSTITNOTES gave away the game, the rest were even easier. Very whooshy (too easy?) Wednesday, I think my only brief pause was at MESIANIC, which is easily the best word in the puzzle. I use SERENDIPITY with some frequency, but MESIANIC pretty much never.
ReplyDeleteHey Malaika--Welcome to the penicillin allergy club. Mine was discovered when I was very young, i.e., a long time ago, when I developed hives. Not recommended. Now you'll have an answer when you run into that "Any allergies?" question. I always add "and cilantro", but that's a genetic distaste, not a real allergy.
Puzzle was OK but not nearly as good as the stuff I've learned from the comments today. There's some SERENDIPITY. Thanks for the new info and the reminders, JG. Just Good enough to provide some fun, for which thanks.
What an interesting theme! Like Malaika, i thought the marquee clues were oddly presented, and I was initially expecting some wacky play on words. Then - not being a fan of wacky clues or answers - I was glad to see it was not. Possibly the most I’ve ever learned from doing a single crossword puzzle. Thanks, John G. for the trivia lesson.
ReplyDeleteSERENDIPITY is exactly correct here, as it generally refers to discovering something good while looking for something else. That’s more than just “good luck.”
ReplyDeleteIn that light, MICROWAVEOVEN (with the OVEN part) is exactly correct because the idea for a kitchen appliance came while working on radar transmitters. “Microwaves” are used in many applications, including telecommunications, radar systems, guidance systems, surveying, and ovens, among others, so identifying it as an oven as opposed to a data transmitter is important.
Radar itself was allegedly discovered by serendipity, as the story goes. British scientists were working on a “death ray” in the 1920s and 30s and discovered that when they pointed the beam at an aircraft it didn’t destroy it, but the reflected beam could be used to calculate the distance and range of the target. RADAR = RAdio Detection And Ranging.
The magnetron in the clue refers to the “cavity magnetron” which was a British invention and one of the most important developments of World War II. The U.S. and Britain decided to share highly guarded industrial secrets via the Tizard Mission during the war. They discovered their radar achievements were very complementary and when combined gave the Allies a decisive advantage. Radar’s importance to victory was second only to submarines. While the cavity magnetron was almost as secret as the Manhattan Project during WWII, today there are billions of them, one in every MICROWAVEOVEN.
Speaking of WWII, General McAuliffe’s famous one-word reply to the German surrender demand came as the 101st Airborne Division was surrounded during the Battle of the Bulge. NUTS was a polite way at the time of actually saying F#$& YOU. Brigadier General McAuliffe was the assistant division commander, while his boss Major General Maxwell Taylor was in Washington (the Ardennes was supposed to be a quiet winter front, which is why the Germans attacked there). General Taylor wad a masterful self-promoter, rivaled only by General William Westmoreland; those two as much as anyone in power thought that an American war in Vietnam would be a good idea.
John X…I enjoy “serious John X.” I kinda didn’t like that other John X. ‘Nuf said.
DeleteWhen I was in college, my friend and fellow ChemE student needed to leave a note for someone. She pulled this little yellow pad of paper out of her backpack, stuck it to the door and wrote on it. Her dad worked for 3M and they were handing out these pads for people to try out. Beta test for POST-IT NOTES, I guess.
ReplyDeleteWith MI in place (and because I hadn't really read the whole clue for 36A, just "chocolate"), I was ready to try M and Ms or MIlk something there but crosses eventually got me to re-read the clue. D'oh.
Today's TV channel of choice isn't Tbs, but TCM.
John Guzzetta, nice Wednesday puzzle, thanks!
Yes, easy and easier than yesterday’s for me.
ReplyDeleteNo costly erasures (I don’t count fixing typos) and CONTE was it for WOEs.
No junk, a science history lesson, a delightful reveal, liked it quite a bit more than @Malaika did.
Thank you, Malaika! i always love your MWednesdays, and i really appreciate that 30 Rock suggestion today. (i’m excited to buy your book!)
ReplyDeleteNot impressed with the puzzle… My favorite part was slaw, which I often order in place of fries… Healthier and tastier
ReplyDeleteEasy breezy puzzle. Loved the serendipity theme. One blank out was adding, otherwise very straightforward.
ReplyDeleteFor me this was much easier than yesterday's puzzle. I like the theme and don't understand Malaika's comment that SERENDIPIY "doesn't even have anything to do with inventions." Of course it does: Each of these inventions owes its existence to a stroke of serendipity. And it was fun to read about each of them. Also, although today we may refer to a "microwave," when Percy Spencer's invention was first presented to the public it was certainly referred to as a microwave oven. So that answer is perfectly valid.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of CONTE or TUN, so I learned those words today.
McAuliffe's "NUTS" warrants a little more investigation, so I'm going to go look that up now.
FYI:
ReplyDeleteKey Details of the "Nuts" Incident:
Context: During the Battle of the Bulge, the 101st Airborne was surrounded by German forces in the strategic town of Bastogne.
The Ultimatum: On December 22, 1944, German officers demanded the surrender of the US troops.
The Response: Upon reading the demand, McAuliffe initially muttered "Aw, nuts," and subsequently typed "NUTS!" as the official written reply.
Meaning: When German officers asked for clarification, they were told the phrase meant "Go to hell".
Significance: The reply boosted morale and became a defining moment of American resolve during World War II.
Allegedly the Germans didn’t initially understand what that meant.
DeleteMcAuliffe was great and very brave, but it was Patton who saved his bacon.
The analysis today reminds of when someone sees a movie that they just don't want to qualify as having worth. Say, a movie like "Taken", and they complain the movie had no "plot.". Yes, it has a plot, it's just not subtle, nuances, or serpentine.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle clearly had a theme. Not every crossword needs to spell "elitist" in the missing black squares in a spiral based on the Fibonacci sequence.
On the St. Ives thing: The wording only says “As I was going to St Ives…”
ReplyDeleteIt does not say the man, wives, sacks, cats, or kittens were also going there. They were just people the speaker met.
So the only person definitely going to St Ives is the narrator.
1 across was one of my last answers, which feels silly as an English professor, but in my head these were two independent clauses, and my brain just refused to allow a run-on sentence. But of course, it doesn’t specify that they’re independent, so it’s fine.
ReplyDeleteHaha! One of those situations where “too much knowledge” can screw you up. Luckily for me…that wasn’t a problem. ;)
DeleteSo glad I'm not the only one who still remembers and adheres (mostly) to the old rules! Yes, I guess you need a comma after a subordinate clause, the clue is right. (Hey, look what I just did!) But I didn't fill in COMMA till nearly the end.
DeleteRaised by my Gran, whose first language was German and my mother the English teacher at a tome when students still diagrammed sentences, count me in the club that spent way too long “diagramming” all the possibilities! I knew I wouldn’t e alone.
DeleteOh my gosh you guys, I thought the puzzle was really fun and interesting! Especially the fun fact about how the microwave oven was first conceived. (And you do need the word oven, because a microwave is also a thing.) And serendipity was the perfect revealer, not a random descriptor. Yeesh! Any crossword puzzle where you learn cool stuff that you wanna share with your boo is a good crossword puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteAs I was going to St. Ives, how many explained "one" to Malaika?
ReplyDeleteSTRIPY?
ReplyDeleteNothing serendipitous about that.STRIPY?
Nothing serendipitous about that.
I hope the microwave oven was just serendipity and didn't result in other damage. I mean, he didn't INTEND to make an oven, but I keep wondering what other parts of his body might have been affected if he was close enough to melt chocolate.
ReplyDeleteHe always wondered why he could never have children...
I thought the same thing. Yikes!
DeleteYo, and thanx, unscheduled Malaika darlin. Well, since y'all asked for my semi-precious opinion ...
ReplyDelete1. Easier than snot puztheme. The only thing I couldn't get from a letter or two was SERENDIPITY.
2. The wordy puztheme clue/answer anecdotes were at least slightly interestin. And lost a few precious nanoseconds, readin the whole things. But, ...
3. Pretty drought-stricken, on humor. No puztheme humor or revealer humor. Zero fun ?-marker clues. The anecdotes had no antidote. [Maybe, as Malaika said, that's why this kinda puztheme should be a last resort ...]
4. Did have the Jaws of WedPuzness, at least. [yo, @Roo]
5. Hi-lite for M&A: POSTITNOTES anchored in place by TAPE.
staff weeject picks: The OHO-->ONO-->ONE word ladder.
primo weeject stacks, NW & SE, btw.
Thanx for the "inventive" puztheme, Mr. Guzzetta dude. It had nice tones of MESSY-SONIC & NUTS.
p.s.: Who invented the PETRI dish? Were they lookin to make a portable toilet for their pets or somesuch?
Masked & Anonymo4Us
The traditional understanding of the rhyme is that only one is going to St Ives—the narrator. All of the others are coming from St Ives. The trick is that the listener assumes that all of the others must be totaled up, forgetting that only the narrator is said to be going to St Ives.
ReplyDeleteBalalaika, I loved this puzzle I loved finding out the serendipitous origins of those inventions. I'd heard about penicillin of course, but I think now the others.
ReplyDeleteANd how could you call serendipity "lackluster"? It is one of the most lustrous words ever.
The word *accidential* has the same number of letters as SERENDIPITY. Just sayin …
ReplyDeleteMaybe there's a subtle joke in there, but I'll bite:
DeleteWas the spelling "accidential" accidental? You're right that "accidential" like "serendipity" has eleven letters. It's not a word I recognize. Should it be?
So does coincidence! Is that serendipitous?
DeleteYes, easy. I could hardly believe my finishing time, much more like a Monday and I was not pressing for speed. Thought the clues and answers were very apt and the theme/revealer well done, tho I did not really need it for the solve. Re the white male issue, I think in this case it was pretty much of an historical issue more than a constructors bias—that was the set of characters monkeying about in labs at the time. Why that was true is a different issue. I have a very mild allergic reaction to penicillin, but serious problems with other drugs, so can empathize with folks caught unawares by bad reactions.
ReplyDeleteNo one seems to have responded to the St. Ives question, and it's too long to type here, but if you search "St. Ives riddle", you will see it.
ReplyDelete**HAND AND ARM RAISED HIGH**
ReplyDeleteI care, Malaika! Thank you for pointing it out. I usually notice the all white male brigade, but didn’t this time and I deeply care. NEVER stop pointing it out!
I had the same feeling about the phrasing of the clues as @Malaika - the syntax didn’t seem to fit somehow. @jberg makes a good point about that though, and I agree the extra “puzzlement” was welcome.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to learn the SERENDIPITous nature of the discoveries, though, and SERENDIPITY seems an apt reveal.
I noticed a PrePonderance of “P”s in the grid, and 3 of the 4 themers plus the reveal contained ONE each.
Plus, SENATOR reverses to form ROTANES, which are apparently some kind of hydrocarbons. Might be too obscure for @Lewis tp count it as a rare-in-crosswords 7-letter semordnilap, though.
ART is 84. But here he is 80.
<a href="https://youtu.be/VEZIcmV8_Cw?si=Vh-XTTZyS2wqytx_>More ART and more than ART.</a>
I thought this was a really cool puzzle - loved learning about the inventions and very few names. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteits happenstance and serendipity combined - these were accidental discoveries that made history wonderful puzzle overall
ReplyDeleteEasily my fastest Wednesday, finished in 5:52! Being a stem guy, I was well aware of the origins of Post-its, Microwave ovens, Silly Putty, and penicillin. I finished 90% of the puzzle across only, so yes, far too easy for a Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of this puzzle. I had a few words left to fill in and I just stopped for no other reason than I didn’t think it was worth finishing.
ReplyDeleteI happen to recognize all the discovery stories. But I enjoyed the puzzle. And I agree serendipity is a great and appropriate revealer. I say microwave oven. I guess I am ancient. The description plus …… didn’t bother me. Maybe because I did know what was going on. Malaika’s reaction seemed a reflection of her age. I liked the write up anyway. I know a woman invented white out correction fluid but I don’t think any serendipity was involved. I suppose that product is now outdated.
ReplyDeleteFun fact--that woman was Bette Nesmith, mother of Michael Nesmith who became famous with The Monkees.
DeleteTo your comment about the clue “microwave oven” sounding dated; it’s true that we all call it a “microwave”, but the scientist who noticed the melted chocolate didn’t go on to invent the microwave. Microwaves themselves occur in nature as high frequency light waves, so I would argue that “oven” was a necessary part of the clue (see also vacuum (cleaner)) 🙂
ReplyDeleteI had a great time with this one. I had much more fun with it than @Malaika. I thought the revealer of SERENDIPITY was spot on and I loved learning all the cool ways this list of things came into being.
ReplyDeleteAs @Malaika said, the fill was indeed nice and smooth, I may have scratched my head a bit at "STRIPY" but nothing made me groan.
Add me to the list of those being allergic to PENICILLIN. I'll add that any time I need to list it on a medical form, I misspell it in any number of different ways, as I did here on my first try. While the discovery of my allergy was not a pleasant experience (though I was in first grade so my parents handled it all) It does make for some nice fill in the grid. The other themers also look quite pretty.
So a fun solve while learning some cool stuff, thanks John!
Wish the ACPT didn’t conflict with Orthodox Easter; didn’t anyone check this?
ReplyDeleteHere’s the st ives info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_was_going_to_St_Ives#:~:text=similarly%20plausible%20destination.-,Answers,are%20coming%20from%20St%20Ives.
ReplyDeleteI’m not a great solver but I thought this was a Monday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSeeing a Malaika byline always makes me happy. This was a good one for a Malaika Wednesday, scheduled or not. I have been thinking about you, M. It’s been so warm here in the Bay Area that we are all suffering with seasonal allergies about a month early. The up side is that we already have four varieties of lettuce, kale, spinach and a load of herbs coming up nicely in our container farm and we set our tomato plants in last Sunday! Hope to see some tomato pictures from you again this season, Malaika!
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was fun. I knew all of the allegedly serendipitous inventions. The highlight of the theme entries for me was being of the “Silly Putty Generation.” I think we all got the iconic “egg” the same year. I overheard a teacher commenting to a colleague on the playground, “I must already have a couple dozen of those eggs locked in my contraband drawer and I’m running out of room.” My favorite thing about the stiff was the smell and “copying” comics and stretching the putty afterwards to make the pictures look weird.
The reveal was the only answer I slowed even a tad to enter. However, for a very easy solve, the fill and clues were, in my opinion much better than the usual very, very easy puzzle lately.
As for the Post-It Note, The year before those went on the market, I was a law librarian for a private firm in Oklahoma City. I had been working at the OU Law Library during my Masters and headed to law school the next year.
No firm in Oklahoma had a professional librarian in 1979, and the youngest lawyers in the firm that hired me pushed the idea of a “real librarian” because their research loads were heavy and they all came from law schools with magnificent libraries and highly professional law librarians who made their law school life easier.
For about a year, all the interns and young associates leaned on me for help to “look smart” by using me to organize research projects, do the pretty arduous work of crafting Boolean searches. This was long before full text searching and WestLaw and Lexis were just becoming part of the legal research landscape in law offices. Using computer data bases was expensive.
Anyway, I was buried in research and commented to a gaggle of lawyers in my office all wanting immediate help that if only I had a way to stick notes on the pages of the books without tearing them, I could bring stacks of books to you and save me hours of work having to type my research outlines.
About a year later, a summer associate (a 2L from Yale) had a bunch of these identically sized little square yellow slips sticking out of a stack of Pacific Reporters. I saw him open one, turn a page and noticed that the note didn’t fall out. I headed to his table to chide him for using tape or glue on the books. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he was making notes on the yellow papers, tearing them off a tablet of them and sticking them on a page. The Yalie told me about the happy accident and fave me my first pad of POST-IT NOTES. Well, at least I had a really good idea. I doubt I have ever used a Post-It product without thinking that it was my idea, not an accident!
Good fun today.