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Animal whose crabeater variety does not, in fact, eat crabs / WED 6-3--26 / 1990s feminist movement rooted in punk rock / Research institute where radio astronomy began
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Constructor: Jiahe Men
Relative difficulty: Easy (8:36)
THEME: TRIPLE THREAT — Many an EGOT contender … or what's spelled out by this puzzle's shaded squares?
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: ANT (Insect that has reportedly passed the "mirror test" of self-recognition) —
Hey besties, welcome to another Malaika MWednesday! Congrats to Jiahe on his debut puzzle for the New York Times!
- I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS
- I loved this entry
- RIOT GRRRL
- PAD SEE EW
- BELL LABS
- CHESS SETS
- DEAD TREE EDITION
- The letters that spell out "OR ELSE" (a standard threat) appear in triplicate
Word of the Day: ANT (Insect that has reportedly passed the "mirror test" of self-recognition) —
The mirror test is a behavioral technique developed in 1970 by American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. to determine whether an animal possesses the ability of visual self-recognition. An animal is anesthetized and then marked (e.g. paint or sticker) on an area of the body the animal normally cannot see (e.g. forehead). When the animal recovers from the anesthetic, it is given access to a mirror. If it subsequently touches or examines the mark on its own body, this behavior is interpreted as evidence that the animal recognizes its reflection as an image of itself, rather than another animal.
A 2015 study found that individual ants of these three ant species would attempt to clean themselves after being exposed to a mirror and seeing a blue dot on their bodies. [wiki]
• • •
I thought this theme was very clever. When I hear a phrase with a hint of wordplay, I immediately jot it down to brainstorm later; I have "triple double" written down, but TRIPLE THREAT has never occurred to me! I am familiar with the term, but I wonder if others are. I probably would have written a more definitional clue, like [Performer skilled in singing, dancing, and acting ... or etc etc] rather than assuming every solver also knows what an EGOT is.
(Although I will admit, that term appears very frequently in crosswords.)
 |
| Shoutout to EGOT-er John Legend... although is he a triple threat?? |
There is a nice added layer here. I could imagine a totally valid puzzle where the letters T, H, R, E, A, and T all appear in triplicate, spelling out the revealer literally. Here, though, we have the jump to figure out that "or else" is a threat. The theme density is impressive! Eight entries are part of the theme, and two of them cross others. That probably explains some of the rough fill: OH HI / OR SO / ALTA to open the puzzle was a tough start for me. EAU, SHAKA, IDYL, ITAL, INOUT, and NYY were also not my faves to see in a grid.
 |
| I wondered if this movie would blow up enough to make it into crosswords, but I think it was too indie |
I spent what felt like a long time (it was probably sixty seconds) considering a rebus because I wanted "act natural" where we instead of ACT CASUAL. That led me to consider if the two are perfectly interchangeable and I'm going back and forth on the answer. I feel like they're 99% interchangeable but not quite exact synonyms. RARE BIRD didn't fall into place for me either; I've never heard of that before though the clue made it easy enough to get.
 |
| I had an insanely good negitoro handroll for lunch over the weekend and now each day that I don't have one for lunch I yearn for it. Do you guys have a favorite handroll spot in NYC? 👀 |
Bullets:
- [Product of the internet that might be "dank" or "deep-fried"] for MEME — This felt insanely "How do you do, fellow kids" to me. That terminology is like a decade old, no?
- [Cheese in the Czech dish smažený sýr] for EDAM — People like to toss around varying definitions of "crosswordese," I myself no longer have one (though I think I did once). If I did, I would want it to encapsulate this solving phenomenon: When I see the word "cheese" in a clue, it's EDAM. I don't read the rest of the clue, it's EDAM. The clue functionally reads as "blah blah cheese blah blah blah" to me, and, whether the entry is obscure or not, foreign or not, trivia or not, vowel-heavy or not, that feeling while solving is what makes the entry feel like crosswordese to me.
- [Literary character who hopes to get whale soon?] for AHAB and [Pequod, e.g.] for SHIP — Two Moby Dick clues in one puzzle!! I have not read it, but plan to this summer. My friend jocularly refers to getting really into Moby Dick as d*ckmaxxing. Rex, if that joke is a hair too far for your blog I will delete expeditiously!!!!
- [M.L.B. team for "Mr. October" and "Mr. November"] for NYY — The New York Yankees had Reggie Johnson (Mr. October) and Derek Jeter (Mr. November)
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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131 comments:
Am I the only person who got thrown off by the spelling of “Idyl”? I’m used to two L’s. First it was emend yesterday, now this!
Wow, I get to comment in the evening before. Thanks Malaika!
Theme wise, am I missing something? EGOT is Emmy + Grammy + Oscar + Tony, which is 4 awards. Why clue that as a TRIPLE THREAT? Isn't an "EGOT contender" a quadruple threat?
Also not a terribly exciting theme. RIOT GRRRL seems specious... it's no fun without the multi word gimmick. PADSEEEW filled itself in entirely from crosses, never heard of it and I couldn't believe it was correct... but I really don't get out much lately, Asian food wise. (Still yet to try BIBIMBAP, which I first saw here.) The other themers were fine, nice triple letter combos. And I think I've only ever seen DEAD TREE EDITION hereabouts. Am I too old for this?
Only one Unknown Name: PERRY who isn't "Katie ___" or "___ Mason". Really?
I have tried several times to read moby dick, the last time being less than a year ago. The writing is beautiful, stunningly so. But the cruelty proved to be unbearable.
*Reggie JACKSON
Medium for me.
No costly erasures.
I did not know PADSEEEW, SONG, PERRY, and DDAY (as clued).
I did know CARLY, SADIE, and RIOT GRRRL.
@Malaika - how about the Latin “rara avis” ?
Clever idea, some sparkly theme answers, not much junk, liked it.
Never fully grasped the theme, but the music sounded after I (reluctantly) typed in PADSEEEW. Apparently the "triple threat" in EGOT terms is someone who acts, sings, and...dances (???).
Great write up, as always, Malaika! I enjoyed the joke, and your definition of crosswordese. One small thing, which I am sure others have pointed out (or will). It’s Reggie Jackson, not Johnson.
Lovely write-up. And indeed, Malaika expanded my knowledge of the definition of TRIPLE THREAT, which I have only heard before in terms of American football: Back in the Carolina Panthers’ most recent attempt at the Super Bowl in 2015, Cam Newton was our TRIPLE THREAT quarterback: one who excelled at passing, kicking, and running. (The running game eventually killed his career, with way too many injuries.)
The southerner in me enjoyed seeing HOT TODDY, along with its clue, and I thought that, in addition to the excellent themer Malaika already pointed out (I’M TOO OLD FOR THIS), DEAD TREE EDITION was great—it’s the kind of term I use when I confess my preference for hard copy while being slightly self-deprecating about it. CHESS SET was fine and BELL LABS was blah, but I enjoyed learning about RIOT GRRRL, which I was apparently slightly too young for in its day (having hit my teens later in the 90s, and in the opposite corner of the country). Looks like something worthy of checking out in retrospect.
Unlike Malaika, SHAKA was my favorite entry in the whole grid.... brings me back to Hawai'i (where I went last year) and some awesome memories. That S was my letter in the grid, cuz I couldn't remember if it was cHAKA or SHAKA. Tried the C first... oh well. I don't consider that a DNF the way some of you purists do. Anyhoo... the disconnection between the 4 awards of EGOT and the TRIPLE THREAT messed me up a little, but I guess since Emmies and Oscars are both for acting, and you figure a Tony winner has to dance as well as sing, it's all correct. Yeah, it was fun, multilayered. Probably didn't need the shaded squares (yet again). There should be an option, a setting, where you can choose not to see shaded squares. 11:04 for me, I would call the medium I think. That NE corner with ACTCASUAL, LAHORE, and ASSAY definitely took me a couple minutes. Thank you, Jiahe, and congrats on your debut!!!!
Very Easy. No overwrites or WOEs. The Easy-ness made it difficult for me to like.
* * _ _ _
The closest I came to an overwrite was at 64A, where I resisted IDYL because the clue didn't say "(var.)". According to Messrs. Merriam and Webster, "idyl" is a variant of "idyll".
Cute enough midweek theme - overall well filled - slightly trickier for me than Malaika. Liked the split revealer and the two spanners.
Sleater-Kinney
RARE BIRD, HOT TODDY and SNACKED ON are fantastic longs. The grid layout does force some questionable shorts - Malaika summarizes nicely. BAH, ITAL, REC etc are unfortunate.
Minor THREAT
If you’re in Queens Malaika - Tomoni on Jackson Ave in Woodside has killer rolls.
Hot TUNA
Enjoyable Wednesday morning solve.
106 Beats That
Huh. I just left a comment yesterday about not wanting to see any more puzzles with 6 across themers, and then this comes along, with the revealer in the Downs to boot. However, I noticed the strain on the grid more yesterday, and the long Downs RARE BIRD, HOT TODDY and ACT CASUAL are solid (although the one-two-three punch with OHHI OPI INOUT at the start... yikes). The themers are way more interesting today.
I'm familiar with the answer RIOT GRRRL specifically because of it showing up in other puzzles where the theme involved triple letters. I've seen one where the tripled letters spelled out TRIPLE.
Too easy for a Wednesday, and it's not just because of the shaded squares giving away free letters.
Rex, if you're reading this, would you have rated the puzzle 3 stars? Would've been fitting.
Have never heard the term “dead tree edition” before. I was a mess in the bottom middle. Thank goodness for iris and eye to get me out finally.
Oh, I really really liked seeing the theme echo ODDDUCK in the clue for RARE BIRD!
Didn’t find this that easy because as an older puzzler much of this modern jargon is unknown to me. Don’t know SHAKA and RIOT GRRRL and several others.
This was a great Wednesday puzzle. Most of the themers were 🔥 and we get a real aha revealer. Beautiful work.
At least ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The triple threat are the disciplines required to win the awards - Singing, Dancing, Acting. Not the awards themselve
Mr October is Reggie JACKSON. Not Johnson.
Soy demasiado viejo para esto.
Really great puzzle with a thicket of theme material and a cool look to those shaded squares. The opening salvo of OHHI, ORSO, ALTA, PEONS, and WOOT were inauspicious, but things picked up quickly afterward thank goodness.
Never heard of RIOTGRRRL and the Wikipedia page makes it sound like I missed nothing I needed to know. I've also blocked PADSEEEW from my consciousness as it's Thai food related and I find nothing to enjoy in Thai cuisine except most of the time in restaurants they also offer sesame chicken that's not horrible.
Hand up for ACT NATURAL.
MEMEs are not a "product of the internet." Sheesk. Memes are products of lonely boys in their moms' basements similar to comments produced by our beloved Anonymoti here.
Nice to know there are scientists and researchers out there working with ANTS to see how fab they look in a mirror. I'm too sexy for my exoskeleton. That's the guy who brought back the potato chip, you know, me.
I continue to find our big blue marble a fascinating mystery. Fourteen million people live in LAHORE and I've never heard of it. Looks like a fun place to visit.
I'd never thought about the unnecessariness of buses and taxis in Cars. Good clue.
❤️ DEAD TREE EDITION. Southern cough syrup.
People: 8
Places: 2
Products: 6
Partials: 8
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 26 of 76 (34%)
Funny Factor: 4 🙂
Tee-Hee: Angler's stick.
Uniclues:
1 Bicycles {ya know, because they're so lowly they can't afford a fun automobile}.
2 The dude at the weed store.
3 I better sing this quick kids / in days I'll be a memory kids / I might just be a peon kids / but I've lain with the queen oh yeah / and we made a gazillion kids / though two weeks from now I'll be dead kids / but my queen will live on for forever almost kids / she'll probably forget me I dread kids / like I've forgotten those drunken barbabes kids / who got high on the spray from True Value kids / but I've lain with the queen oh yeah.
4 Radio ahead to the Vogons and tell them to come home as Earth will destroy itself.
1 PEON'S WOOT CARS
2 THC MA'AM? REP
3 ANT EON SONG (~)
4 RECALL SHIP
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: "Dear End of Times: We're delighted to tell you we're coming -- especially since we're already living in your house." ARMEGEDDON RSVP.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In my experience, one eventually gets TOO OLD to read print comfortably, so one comes to prefer to read digital versions, which you can enlarge.
That was my last letter too. I first went to Hawaii about 30 years ago. We landed late at night and took a shuttle bus into the city. The bus driver gave us a little "Welcome to Hawaii" talk, showing us the hand sign and telling us to hang loose--but he never told us what the sign was called, which I just learned today.
Oh, sterling theme, with its triple-letter visuals, which are fun to look at, which seamlessly relate to a topic that comes from left field – EGOT contenders – and which has a surprise ending, where the triples don’t spell out THREAT, but rather a particular threat!
That is complex, entertaining, and standing-O worthy, IMO.
Furthermore, those theme answers have zing on top of looking cool. Look at them! Okay, for many, maybe BELL LABS is meh, but see my reply below.
These triple-letter answers aren’t easy to find (though there was one last week in ROSSSEA), and to come up with this punchy bunch and have them fit grid symmetry requirements – that’s admirable.
And even with this dense theme (a sky-high 76 letters), bringing in lovely answers HOT TODDY, RARE BIRD, and SLY NODS, well, bravo!
A most promising debut, Jiahe, and I will eagerly look for your name atop a puzzle up the road. Thank you for a splendid outing!
I struggled with it. The theme didn’t seem intuitive to me, at least while I was solving it. And I’m not familiar with RIOT GRRRL and PAD SEEEW, so I had to rely on crosses and hope for the best.
That NE section was basically a blood bath for me with the propers ALTA, LAHORE, CARS (as clued), CARLEY and THE COPA. Probably a good example of the wheelhouse effect there as the Manilow tune was the only one I knew for sure.
It looks like I’ll be in the minority today, so probably a wavelength situation.
BELL LABS jogged a memory I haven’t thought about in many a decade. That company produced science films that teachers showed in elementary school, films that riveted my attention, and that's saying something, because my mind was usually wandering. Maybe here’s why – I found out post-solve that many of them were directed by Frank Capra!
Hey All !
*Personal note to start - Seems like whenever I submit a puz, one beats me to the punch. I have a puz in, waiting on a response, that has a similar Theme idea, albeit a different approach. This has to be the fifth or sixth time this has happened. Woe is me! 😁 I'm sure I'll be getting a rejection email soon.
That self-pity aside, did enjoy this puz. Once I had a couple of the TRIPLEs, I figured the rest would follow that pattern, so whenever I got a Down with any of the shaded square bunches, I just filled in all three with the same letter. Really helped with RIOT GRRRL, and especially PADSEEEW, which is a previously unheard of food here. Dubious to try something with EW in its name! Har.
Funny clue on CARS, a MEME I saw once asked, "Why are there sidewalks in the movie CARS?" And another funny MEME was (paraphrasing, as the ole brain is not remembering exactly), "It would be difficult to sing the Birthday song to Tu Youyou." Ah, the Internet. The most powerful thing to gain all kinds of knowledge, and we watch memes and cat videos with it.
Puz played easy, helping with some unknown names, like SADIE and PERRY. That band 4 Non Blondes was a one hit wonder. Too bad, they had decent music.
Always wondered why the online WOOT had zeros instead of O's, ala W00T. Anyone?
Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
I took the triple to suggest that the EGOT contender already had three awards, waiting on the fourth. But this explanation probably makes more sense.
Enjoyed the puzzle, and found the constructors comments at wordplay to be very endearing.
The one thing that did not work at all for me was the revealer. Most EGOT winners and near-winners are not TRIPLE THREATs. They are single threats; writers or composers or producers. A few are double threats, like director/producer or actor/singer. The are people like Elton John, Steven Spielberg and Tim Rice.
I think I just accidentally posted half a line, sorry.
Once I got the revealer, I was expecting more of a threat -- like ORca, maybe - but I couldn't figure out what started with ORE, had to get the other themers first. At first OR ELSE felt anti-climactic, but it has since grown on me.
The trouble with RIOT GRRRL is that it can be spelled different ways; 3 Rs or 2, sometimes pluralized--which means you have to get one or two other themers to see that it has to be a triple letter. And then, unlike the other ones, the triple letters are all in one word. I don't think you can avoid that, if you have to have an R, so you would have to find a different threat to build around.
It doesn't matter for the solve, but barn owl, barred own, and crabeater SEAL are species, not varieties. A variety is a subdivision of a species, so you can't use it as a synonym for one. You could use 'kind' or 'sort' if you didn't want to use species for some reason.
Tough clue for BELL LABS. I would have gone with Unix developer.
Didn’t think about how much this theme was made for you with the triple letters, Lewis! It was solid, and I’m delighted to see your joy.
Haha, @jberg and Dr Random…in MY case it was the fact that delivery became sketchy at best and the delivery we weren’t getting cost an ungodly amount. But…fair point jberg…I do LIKE being able to enlarge!
I get “idyl” but I’m not sure how else you would spell “emend”…?
Heh, I guess you don't play Spelling Bee! ;-) Seriously, I think I see IDYL and IDYLl equally frequently.
Wow Rex…very cool!
Haha…we are kindred souls on Thai food, but possibly for different reasons.
Amen!
You don't say? Out of curiosity, did you ever see the physics experiments of Julius Sumner Miller in your early years (or even in your later years)? He looks like a stereotypical mad scientist (great bushy eyebrows, a shock of hair) with a strong Down East accent, but damned if his videos aren't compelling.
After my brain was overstimulated by PLAYOFFFEVER, CNNNEWS, some music by MOTTTHEHOOPLE, and a STIFFFINE traffic ticket, I calmed down by doing something dull: making an INAPPPURCHASE of some SCOTTTOWELS.
@Malaika
I listened to the Moby Dick audio book last year and recommend using the recording even if you're a dedicated reader -- it's a real slog. There are 135 chapters and 100 of those are irrelevant to the plot and like reading Wikipedia edited by someone with a rudimentary knowledge of the topic. The unexamined animal and human cruelty is annoying at best. The very beginning is great, and the ending is spectacular, so there's that. If you are looking for good writing from the same period, I'd scurry you away from Melville over to Hawthorne.
@RooMonster 7:20 AM
Not just cat videos, but cats befriending alligators videos.
I’m so glad to see that both Malaika AND Rex liked/loved this puzzle…very sparkly for a Wednesday (or any day)! Like others, I really liked IMTOOOLDFORTHIS (funny to me because people who often say that aren’t really “old” and DEADTREEEDITION (as a retired environmental atty, I carried a lot of guilt on continuing THAT for as long as I did, even though I recycled).
I learned about PADSEEEW…and I really kind of hate the fact that my constitution or makeup can’t tolerate the “heat” of Thai food because so many people enjoy it! My friends that love it have taken me to very authentic places, and I’ve found that promises of “mild” um…don’t pan out. Let’s just say I LIKE the first few bites…then I break into a sweat…well. It’s a non-starter for me so let’s just say the EW part fits for me…or maybe “whEW”!
Not all EGOT winners are TRIPLE THREATs, and vice versa. Steven Spielberg, for example, recently joined the ranks of EGOT winners. Ever seen him act, or sing, or dance?
Otherwise, a terrific Wednesday puzzle, Jiahe, and lovely write-up, Malaika!
M, I also think of EDAM first for cheese in a puzzle, but the Czech reference made me go in reverse for a moment since EDAM is Dutch.
Re: yesterday's who/whom discussion: Driving back to Jersey from PA yesterday, on Route 78, the GPS lady warned us of an object on the road ahead. But as I approached it, I could tell it was a subject.
Yankee fans of a certain age will also remember when George dissed Dave Winfield by dubbing him Mr. May.
Bad old joke du jour: I treated myself to a small box of animal crackers but was very disappointed. A warning label on it said: Do not eat the contents of this package if the SEAL is broken. I opened it up and, sure enough, the elephant, giraffe, and lion were all fine, but the SEAL was broken! I had to throw the whole damn thing out.
WOOT was new to me. I guess the kids all WOOT WOOT WOOT for the home team now.
PS…thanks Jiahe Men…great debut, and great puzzle!
Overall, thought this a fun puzzle with nice wordplay/theme. One nit—elks spend a lot of time in open areas and just hide along the edges of forest to be near the dinner table so I don’t associate them with forest wanderers. Maybe an age or geographic thing to be familiar with RAREBIRD (from “rara avis” as pointed out earlier in this blog). Same with DEADTREEEDITION. And wow, HOTTODDY brought back memories—this puzzle spanned some generations…
This one put up more of a fight for me than I would have normally expected on a Wednesday. The theme activity here is very deep and very impressive, but some of the fill had me struggling and some of that work didn't yield a lot of joy. Malaika pointed those out in her great write up.
Despite that, there was a lot to like, and like very much. The themers were all top notch and as @Lewis pointed out, a lot of fun to look at. They also didn't put up too much resistance other than DEADTREEEDITION which is new to me.
I love it when I look at my entries and say, "well there's no way *that* can be right! LLL, no way! RRR, no way!" and with a bit more playing around, it all falls into place. That happened six times today!!! That was a hoot that made me say WOOT! On top of that, two of the themers were spanners, great stuff.
Some non-theme fill was very nice. ACTCASUAL is stellar and SNACKEDON is cute. HOTTODDY is a contender as well.
I'm learning that I will never, ever, ever remember any name, big or small, in nail polish. That three letter word gets me every time and I need every cross.
Learned some cool new things in LAHORE and SHAKA. Along with some things I'll likely forget after I hit "PUBLISH" in a second like CARLY Rae Jespen and Linda PERRY. No judgement, just don't know 'em and not my cuppa. Maybe I should give them a listen but I wish them well. Though they did gum up my SE and NW for a hot minute...
Jiahe, I understand this is your debut - Congratulations!! Thank you for this, this was indeed impressive. If this is how you're starting our right off the bat, I'm psyched to see what else you have in store for us!
Perhaps a shade north of Medium for me. So, I had some trouble getting into it, but it really grew on me, especially with the aha! of the revealer. And I have to admire how the constructor worked in those TRIPLEts. The only one which felt like "cheating" is RIOT GRRRL, where it just happens to be artificially spelled that way, but the others span two words and two of them are fresh, in-the-language phrases that span all the way across (I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS and DEAD TREE EDITION). I'd forgotten about PAD SEE EW (when PAD Thai obviously wouldn't work, I was temporarily out of ideas). On reflection, I'm going to give GRRRL a pass -- you try to find a natural entry with three Rs in succession. Looks to be hard.
I love the phrase TRIPLE THREAT, and feel they just don't make them as much as they used to. Perhaps especially on the male side: boys don't take dance lessons as much as they used to. At least, I don't think they do. But I love the idea of someone who just does it all, and earned their rightful place through untold tons of hard work and rehearsal and sweat. You know who's a fun triple threat? Christopher Walken.
It's been decades since I last had a HOT TODDY. I think I shall have to rectify that soon. Funny, I didn't know that this drink has a place of honor in the South. I did know that it was developed in British-ruled India around late 1700s, early 1800s. If they hadn't done it, someone else surely would have invented this elixir. Mmmm...
Have a splendid day, y'all. That's what I plan to do.
Impressive with all the theme entries, both across and down.
But can sum up this puzzle with the sentence "I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS, despite my solving puzzles on line and not the DEAD TREE EDITION (except on Sunday)".
The shaded squares made obvious the triple letter configurations, which helped since we've never heard of RIOT GRRRL or PAD SEE EW (though the clue made the PAD part obvious).
Like Malaika, seeing "cheese" in the clue, and (bonus) with the AM filled in, I entered EDAM without hesitation. My wife (after reading the entire clue) pointed out that it was a Czech dish, so how could it be a Dutch cheese. They are both in the EU, that's how!
But with the good comes the not-so-good: twenty three-letter words; and way too many "___" clues for my liking. The price to pay.
As for NYY, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry isn't what it used to be. Nevertheless, I can't see the letter combo "NYY" without a reflexive cringe from years of sporting animosity. The Red Sox never did "conquer" Reggie J (yes, Jackson), but in 2004 got the last, and forever, laugh on Derek J. OTOH, at least today's puzzle didn't also contain the all-too-familiar, and loathsome A-ROD.
Honestly my biggest complaint was the clue for ELK
You know you're scraping bottom if you get an ARSENIC.
How Stallone signals agreement: SLYNODS.
In @Rex's absence I feel ethically bound to point out that the triple letters occur across two words in every themer except RIOTGRRRL. I don't care, and no one else seems to. But @Rex would have.
Personally, I'm too focused on the TRIPLE THREAT of War, Famine and Pestilence oozing out of the ballroom-less White House these days, so this was a great break. Thanks and congrats, Jiahe Men. And thanks also to you, Malaika, lfor another delightful glimpse of your off-beat mind.
Like several others, I had RIOTGRRRL and PADSEEEW filled in from crosses and thought "those are real things?". Guess so. The G in girl showed up by guessing SONG, for which there must be a better clue than a random Chinese dynasty. I mean, really.
Took me more than a beat to parse ORELSE, which given the reveal should have been blindingly obvious. Hello to SADIE and Ms. PERRY, nice to meet you I'm sure. Also learned a new clue for crossword staple ETON today. Am familiar with both RAREBIRD and the mildly admonishing DEADTREEEDITION, which implies that TREEs have died so we can hold a newspaper in our hands, shame on us. Also share some reservations about an EGOT winner connection with a TRIPLE threat, as others have noted.
Cleverly done, JM. I Just Might have learned a few things from this one, if I can remember them. Thanks for a fair amount of fun.
In academic medicine, a triple threat is someone who’s an outstanding, clinician, educator and researcher.
17 across puzzle. No 🎈for me.
I must respectfully disagree with many of you for all the accolades given todays entry. I found it full of trivia, crosswordese and proper names. The first three entries are OHHI, ORSO and ALTA.
Sorry, but I completely disagree with the 'triple threat' for EGOT contenders (even taking into account that it qualifies with 'many' so as to imply it's not all of them).
According to Wikipedia, there have been 22 'competitive' EGOT winners (meaning none of the four awards was an 'honorary'/'lifetime achievement'/etc. award). Half of those 22 are writers/composers and/or producers (is anyone claiming Steven Spielberg is a great singer/dancer/actor???). Of the rest, many are pretty much 'single threats' (e.g., they may have been great actors, but John Gielgud, Helen Hayes, and Audrey Hepburn all got their Grammys for "spoken word" recordings not for singing; Viola Davis got hers for "Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording"). Elton John and John Legend both won their Oscars for 'Best Original Song' not for acting (John Legend at least has a few acting credits, Elton John I don't think so). I could nitpick more, but most EGOTists are not triple threats.
John Legend is a TRIPLE THREAT in that he sings, plays piano, and has the good sense to be married to the incredible Chrissy Teigen! (He might dance? act? I don't actually know his career that well...)
Yeah triple threats are fantastic Broadway performers. Your best bet at being an egot is to be a composer or musician of some kind.
A nice Wednesday although I found the theme a bit muddled. I get that the triple letters spell out a TRIPLE THREAT but it seems like a stretch to apply that label to “many“ EGOT winners. RIOTGRRRL and PAD SEE EW were foreign to me. Maybe I’M TOO OLD FOR those.
Dammmn!!!
Very classy of you, RP.
Note to Constructor Jiahe Men: I forgot to say congratulations on your New YorkTimes debut. Very impressive! You should print and frame the post from Rex Parker at 6:33. In all the years I’ve been reading his blog, I’ve seldom seen such high praise for a puzzle. Well done!
Triple threat comes from football. A player who can pass, run and kick.
Songing, dancing and acting? Pfft.
Bashing Moby Dick? 100 irrelevant chapters? Your status as a blowhard is well known, but now you’ve realed yourself an ignoramus as well.
Late morning, perusing the comments and not seeing this already: in addition to triple threat being sings, dances, acts, the triple threat in the puzzle is OR ELSE, OR ELSE, OR ELSE.
Cool :-) does publishing not fall in anywhere? I suppose research, if outstanding
I was expecting to see LAHORE as a Tee-Hee, It was for me when I first ran into it as a kid and how I remember it.
"John Gielgud, Helen Hayes, and Audrey Hepburn all got their Grammys for "spoken word" recordings not for singing" <-- another way to look at it is this: a TRIPLE THREAT can be anyone with recognized ability in all three of acting, singing, and dance, whether or not they ever won a big award for any one of them. Thus, a great many people who have significant background in e.g. musical theater would qualify, cutting a wider swath than the much stricter criteria you appear to be applying.
One can earn an EGOT as well through writing, directing, producing, etc.
My association with EGOT refers to that collection of awards. Not being aware until today that it primarily refers to winners of all four awards, I can't imagine I've consistently misinterpreted the context, to think it meant the awards and not the winners.
With this definition of EGOT, many triple threats have won any of these awards.
Also, if any e.g. won the Grammy for spoken word, rather than singing, It doesn't negate them being a triple threat.
Thanks, @Lewis, for sharing about Capra directing those science films. So much enrichment awaits in post-solve searches!
I didn’t pick up on the triple esses in ROSSSEA last week but I did notice all the double-THREAT entries today, 12 I think (not counting the themers, obviously): OHHI, WOOT, SEE, PERRY, DDAY, HOTTODDY (a quadruple THREAT!), ASSAY, ALL, ACCEDE and NYY.
It’s a basic feature of the theme—it’s in the theme description. Everyone sees it.
I agree, the key word is EGOT *contender*. If you've got all 4, you're an EGOT *winner*; if you only have 2, you're not really (yet) a contender; but if you have 3 (and are thus a TRIPLE THREAT), you're for sure a contender.
Yeah, you'd imagine that ODDDUCK came up in the initial search for themers, didn't make the cut, but kept as a nice clue
In the clue's context, a triple threat is "a performer who excels at acting, singing, and dancing." Most EGOT winners, as well as most people who are 'one away' (three earned awards) are absolutely NOT triple threats in that sense, so cluing triple threat as 'many EGOT contenders' really isn't great.
On a 'regular' clue I wouldn't complain so much, but **this is the REVEALER clue** for the theme!!! In that context, the clue should really be spot on, but I don't think it was.
Overall, I did like it (OHHI at 1A had me bracing for the worst, but I ended up liking it overall).
Another theme ignored, shaded squares ignored. Solved with a shrug.
Chrissy Teigen?
A better option would’ve been his classmate Elizabeth Mitchell. You know her better as Elizabeth Banks.
Hurrah, hurrah Pennsylvania!
Au contraire, 13 of 28 EGOT winners are actors followed by 10 composers and 5 directors.
tht. That Cristopher Walken clip was a treat!
I've tried three times to not be anon. I may be a Luddite but I'm not a loner.
Former newspaper journalist here, and I can report that my colleagues and I would jokingly use DEAD TREE EDITION to distinguish the print edition from any digital formats.
A mishmash of names and pop culture trivia (OPI?! ANA?! ORA crossed with PERRY?! PADSEEEW?! CARS [as clued]?! CARLY?! ) that was so frustrating I crumpled up the paper and threw it away.
2 themer no-knows, but still ... Primo original puztheme and revealer! Agree with the @RP star-ratin.
My 2 no-knows were RIOTGRRRL & PADSEEEW. They got easier to get, once I realized what the gray stuff was doin.
staff weeject pick: OPI. M&A can never seem to remember my nail polish brands -- or Chinese dynasties, for that matter.
honrable mention, of course, to the ORELSE Triplets.
some fave stuff included: HOTTODDY & its clue. ACTCASUAL. RAREBIRD. HASAGO. AHAB clue.
The ohso-clever TRIPLE THREAT had a clue that baffled m&e a bit, at the time. Startin to make sense to m&e now, tho ... singer/songwriter/actor/director, a la Cher, etc.
Thanx [and WOOT] for the fun, Mr. Men dude. I hear that the AAA did feel slighted a smidge, tho. [Also the UUU, if there was sucha critter.] And congratz on yer brilliant debut.
Masked & Anonymo2Us
p.s.
Runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
p.p.s.s.
@Malika darlin - Superb write-up. M&A also writes down them interestin phrases -- mostly for runtpuz use, alas. All my NYTPuz submissions lately have gone nowhere. If only they'd finally decide to modernize, and use runt-rolls & ??-marker clues ...
M&A
Same stumbling block here, but I figured SADIE is a name and CADIE is notb (unless someone has the old fashioned name Cadwell or Cadbury)
@Anonymous 12:23 PM
No, not 'au contraire'; please read my post! I clearly referred to 22 *competitive* EGOT winners. Your list of 28 includes "Non-competitive EGOT"ists (at least one of their awards was a 'special' award, e.g., the Oscars both Harry Belafonte and Quincy Jones received were the "Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award" *not* 'best song/actor/director' or something similar).
Even going with the group of 28, according to Wikipedia, only 12 are actors, not 13. The NCEGOTists do add some actual triple threats (Barbara Streisand, Liza Minelli). And, as I mentioned earlier, the majority of the actors on the competitive list may have been great actors but were/are not 'triple threats' by any stretch of the imagination.
Doh!... I just now realized I completely missed the triple OR ELSEs! I've gotten so I mostly ignore the circles lately. And I should read the clues and the writeup more carefully.
Avoid Cormac McCarthy then. Or at least proceed with caution.
I'm not religious but "Amen"
ACTnormAL for me until I needed EAU for the Seine.
Triple threat in baseball is hit, run, throw. Or a player who has an abundance of 3-base hits.
I was also shaking my head while working the NW corner. Pretty bad. But things picked up when I moved on. Turned out to be a very good puzzle.
For some strange reason I looked up 3D. I always thought a hot toddy was based on rum. That's what my parents called their alcoholic cold remedy. Wikipedia does cite grog as a rum-based alternative, or maybe my parents were just improvising. My dad liked rum.
I was surprised to read that some people had never heard the term DEAD TREE EDITION. I'm sure I've read it here in the comments numerous times and, when we were developing our digital version of the newspaper we always distinguished our stuff destined for the digital edition from stuff for the dead tree version. Very "in the language" phrase for me. Like @jberg I have trouble reading some printed material and am thankful that I can bump up the type size on my laptop.
Gotta go. My dentist is expecting me. Well, apparently my regular dentist is holidaying so I might not have to endure the regular tsk-tsking about my lack of oral hygiene. Or maybe this one will be worse.
God, I hate going to the dentist and admitting that I only floss periodically (when necessary) and not the recommended 6 times a day (set your watch/timer, Les. You can do it!) It's like being sent to the principal's office. The worst is when my oldest son, a medical doctor in Australia comes home for a visit and, when I light a cigar or make an Old Fashioned, proceeds to lecture me about my shitty lifestyle. Is there a course in Med School called Sanctimony 101?
Any doctors or dentists out there? Feel fre to yell at me. I'm used to it.
The word amend has a similar meaning to emend
Riot Grrrl is specious? It might be weak since the 3 consecutive letters don't break across two words. But it is hardly specious, it was a wonderful musical/cultural movement of the 90's empowering women to have musical careers outside the male dominated industry.
I also enjoyed the moby dick joke, as well as the write up and the puzzle. I'd give the puzzle 3.5 stars and Malaika's write up 4.5 stars (could be longer).
RIOT GIRRRL is a great answer, “specious” is nonsense (I’m not sure what that word even means in this context)
@ChrisS, I did NOT mean the Riot Grrrl movement itself is specious! It's just a weak way to get 3 Rs, crossword theme wise.
Sorry that Riot Grrrl is not your cup of tea. But was an important addition to rock and roll culture with many great bands coming out of it.
The clue is many an EGOT *contender*
The clue is contenders, not winners
When the dental technician asks me how often I floss, I always say "not as much as i should". I bet they know that anyway.
A lifelong northerner, I have been drinking hot toddys for 50+ years. Given them initially by my parents (also life long northerners) as a cough wracked teenager.. People were more relaxed about alcohol then, & it was likely better than the codeine cough syrup of that time. So I was surprised it is considered Southern.
I loved the Cars clue
Thank you! Exactly. It's odd that some here seem offended rather than curious about unfamiliar cultural references and ideas, when success here means knowing more. This isn't a final exam, fellas
I appreciate the tender hearts who prefer not to sic pooches, tase streakers or be reminded of Epstein-class billionaire villains
I think all dentists, and certainly all dental hygienists, have to pass multiple courses in tsk-tsking. You can never be a good enough patient; there's always something you need to be doing better than you are now. (Sorry, dentists out there. But it's true.)
Oh, very cool that you're a puzzle constructor. I'll have to watch this space to learn if you've been unmasked here
Surely I can’t be the only person out there who enjoys both crosswords and Thai food? That one was fun because I knew it had to start with “PAD” and just had that there for a while before I realized what the whole thing had to be
srsly - six (6) [VI] times daily? eek, I guess I don't always appreciate what I learn in Crossword Land
Had to solve on the phone which makes it hard for me to properly appreciate this very fine Wednesday puzzle. I prefer DEADTREE solves. Excellent puzzle and enjoyed the write up Malaika
ROOting for you!
Yup, I know the clue says "contenders" not "winners"!
Use a bit of logic. If the vast majority of the winners are not 'triple threats' (and they're not!), why is there any reason to believe that most of the contenders are?
Malaika
ItARA AVIS usually as a partial has appeared more than once in the Times puzzle Latin. Rare bird is the translation. Rare bird I have heard fairly often. But I am old. Maybe it’s dying out?
Liked the review. Thanks.
SHAKA/SADIE was a quasi-natick for me as I’ve never watched/been interested in “Stranger Things” and I only vaguely have heard of “Shaka.”
Ii agree. A contender with 3 of the 4 is a triple threat to become an . EGOT.
Crossword puzzles are word games. The fact that triple threat is mostly used in football is not a defect but a plus. It is part of the gimmick. Happens all the time in crosswords.
Bob Mills as someone said before, the key word is contender. A contender for a n EGOT mostly would have three already. So a triple threat. Sounds plausible to me.
Beezer
I now mostly do the puzzle in the app though I still get the dead tree edition. You are absolutely right that delivery has become awful. I actually hate the app but it’s the only way I can do the puzzle lying down.(I need rest due to long term illness) I do admit my eyes aren’t getting better so enlargement is a plus!
Conrad
FWIW IDYL when it appears in the Times it is usually (always ?) spelled that way. Crosswordese where 4 letters are more helpful to constructors I guess.
Barry
On the other hand, Malaika didn’t know the old expression rare bird I am in my seventies and that helped. I thought the puzzle was balanced. Alta the Copa Bell Labs ( it hasn’t existed for decades) Ahab and DDAy.
Anonymous 10:23AM
Quite the attacker. Ad hominem anonymous. Gary will enjoy it immensely!
Liveprof
Since it was a word in the middle of the sentence, it took me a while to notice made. In reverse of course. Very sneaky!
Bell Labs gave us the transistor, and my MacBook would fill a room if it needed vacuum tubes to work. Hats off to Bell Labs!
@melle
You mustn't read these comments often, or regularly, as I regularly brag (much to the chagrin of others here, I'm sure) that I wrote a book as well! A Sci-fi time travel-ish book called Changing Times. Search for my game, Darrin Vail, wherever you get your books online!
And one day, I will get a puz published! From God's ears to the publishing team at the NYT. 😁
RooMonster #Humblebrag Guy
I've waited late to see if any others thought that the TRIPLE THREAT reveal and its "Many an EGOT contender" clue is problematic. I see I have lots of company.
I've read all the attempts to rationalize how they do go together and they are all well thought out and well stated but I don't find any of them convincingly compelling. Maybe it's because of my very limited knowledge of all things EGOT related but I've never seen THREAT, TRIPLE or otherwise used in this way to refer to people who might be contending for an EGOT.
That said, I still enjoyed the solve overall. I had no idea about the GRRL and the Thai food, but the others I liked, especially the two grid-spanning Acrosses. The clue "Don't look suspicious!" and its answer ACT CASUAL is top notch in my book. Yeah, I too tried ACT NATURAL at first but think that CASUAL works even better.
Liked the puzzle. On the easy side.
Thai food some discussion in the blog. . About ten years ago a Thai place opened, a very short walk from my apartment.Apparently aimed at people who live less fire. (They would raise the heat if asked.) I liked it but some thought the food bland. It was killed off by the pandemic. Beezer maybe try less authentic Thai?
Mr. October was Reggie JACKSON.
melle. I have tendency towards exaggeration … so maybe only 4.
Assuming this is kitshef posting as anonymous, you said "Most EGOT winners and near-winners are not TRIPLE THREATs. They are ...writers or composers or producers." Nope.
I read earlier today that John Legend has some dance moves he sometimes incorporates, but I didn't get the impression he had extensive training in that area. I've seen him in an acting capacity -- seems alright. Won't weigh in on Chrissy Teigen vs. Elizabeth Banks. I'm thinking either could be a quite a catch.
@Anonymous 6:56 PM
No, I am not kitshef. And your "quote" is highly misleading, that is NOT what I said.
1. I said HALF of the 22 'competitive' EGOT winners were composers/writers/directors/producers:
Per Wikipedia,
1. Richard Rogers "Composer and producer"
2. Marvin Hamlisch "Composer"
3. Jonathan Tunick "Orchestrator, music arranger, composer, and conductor"
4. Mike Nichols "Director and comedian"
5. Scott Rudin "Producer"
6. Robert Lopez "Songwriter and librettist"
7. Andrew Lloyd Webber "Composer and producer"
8. Tim Rice "Lyricist, librettist, and producer"
9. Alan Menken "Composer and producer"
10. Benj Passek "Composer, lyricist, and producer"
11. Justin Paul "Composer, lyricist, and producer"
12. Steven Spielberg "Director and producer"
Others who actually act/sing/dance are:
13 Helen Hays, 14. Rita Moreno, 15. John Gielgud, 16. Audrey Hepburn, 17. Mel Brooks, 18. Whoopi Goldberg, 19. John Legend, 20. Jennifer Hudson, 21. Viola Davis, 22. Elton John
I have also mentioned that in the performing arts, a 'triple threat' is a person skilled at acting, singing, and dancing.
2. The first 12 that I listed above aren't demonstrably good at singing, acting, and dancing (maybe Steven Spielberg is, but if so, we don't know). They are thus NOT triple threats.
I also listed several of people who meet at least one of the 'triple threat' skills but don't demonstrably meet at least one (e.g., four actors who as far as I know don't sing, but won Grammys for spoken word/audiobook work; Elton John is not an actor). I love Mel Brooks, but I have never seen him sing or dance. So we're well over half of the winners. If you look through those with three of the four awards, you'll see the same thing (probably a lower percentage of non-performers than among the winners, but very few "triple threats").
A long time ago there used to be a 3 comment limit on this blog. Has that gone by the wayside?
Re the puzzle; I too was unhappy with the TRIPLE THREAT for a 4 award achievement. But the solve was kinda cute & fun so there is that.
Reggie JACKSON
My actor/director/teachers of the arts kids tell me that identifying someone having 3 of 4 for the EGOT awards as a TRIPLE THREAT is not yet widely used in the industry and that its primary meaning is an artist with advanced singing, dancing and acting skills. But since Gen Alpha makes up something new multiple times a day (an hour?) and gets it out on “The Socials,” anything can now apparently mean anything.
I love animals and live w a wonderful German Shepherd; but Cormac McCarthy was wonderful.
When he was an older guy, I once met Frank Gifford, the great triple threat halfback from USC and the NY Giants. I told him how much I enjoyed watching him play and commented that at one time he was the best running back in America but that he must hear that all the time. He replied "I just don't hear it enough.".
Today was for me one of the tougher Wednesdays.
I love the comment on EDAM, I wonder if we can add some others and make the label catch on like NATICK. 4-letter something something Gaelic => ENYA; 4-letter yadda yadda capital => OSLO; 4-letter some kind of edible treat-related thing => OREO, etc. EDAMs all.
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