What the Hack?
Today's constructors are Laura Dershewitz and her partner in crime Katherine Baicker. This is Laura's first visit to the LAT, and Katherine first appeared here on May 19, 2022,
reviewed by my partner in crime Malodorous Manatee. Laura's and Katherine's theme is all about HACKS. But what
exactly is a HACK? It turns out to be quite a
mercurial term with a least a dozen different meanings, many with
no apparent connections to the others. Today we tend to associate
"hacking" with computers, but the term apparently
predates modern computers by many years. In their reveal for the themers our constructors seem to be
exploring two usages of the word HACK, separated below by the
conjunction AND ...
58A. Tricks to improve productivity, and the tricks used to form the answers to the starred clues?: LIFE HACKS. (my italics). The first usage, "Tricks to improve productivity", can be illustrated by this popular O'Reilly Book on Microsoft Word:
The second usage is, "the tricks used to form the answers to the
starred clues": LIFE HACKS. This commonly implies "tricks to
improve the productivity of one's life" but then riffs on that phrase with the
"black hacker" meaning of
surreptitiously altering a program or program data. Our constructors effect a hidden insertion of the word
LIFE in the middle of each two word
themer to transform it from a funny clue into a commonly used phrase. Here
are the themers with the [LIFE HACKS]:
17A. *Paperwork for a UFO pilot?: ALIEN [LIFE] FORM. The subject of much debate this days. It seems to be commonly believed that they're "out there", but highly unlikely that they could be "down here".
23A. *Fast fashion?: ACTIVE [LIFE] STYLE. I've never been much of a fashion plate, but this is one STYLE I need to wear more of.
36A. *House of worship known for raucous parties?: WILD [LIFE] SANCTUARY. These seem to be shrinking world wide, especially in the Amazon rain forest (scroll down or hover over the menu on the left to navigate; also the sound track takes a few seconds to load).
47A. *Office scale?: WORK [LIFE] BALANCE. Something that even us retirees can use more of.
Here's the grid, with the themers before the [LIFE HACKS]
Across:
1. Catch a glimpse of: SPOT. Or a SPOT of TEA, a popular drink on the Corner. Just last week, in a visit to one of our old neighborhoods, Teri and I discovered a new tea room called Emma's Tea Spot. Amid the British themed decor, I encountered the slogans below popularized by Queen Elizabeth II during WWII. At this writing she is still "Carrying On" at age 96!
5. "__ Great Heights": single by The Postal Service: SUCH. The Postal Service was an American indie pop supergroup from Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis on background vocals. They were active on and off from 2001 to 2014. Here's "Such Great Heights" from their album Give Up (lyrics)
58A. Tricks to improve productivity, and the tricks used to form the answers to the starred clues?: LIFE HACKS. (my italics). The first usage, "Tricks to improve productivity", can be illustrated by this popular O'Reilly Book on Microsoft Word:
17A. *Paperwork for a UFO pilot?: ALIEN [LIFE] FORM. The subject of much debate this days. It seems to be commonly believed that they're "out there", but highly unlikely that they could be "down here".
23A. *Fast fashion?: ACTIVE [LIFE] STYLE. I've never been much of a fashion plate, but this is one STYLE I need to wear more of.
36A. *House of worship known for raucous parties?: WILD [LIFE] SANCTUARY. These seem to be shrinking world wide, especially in the Amazon rain forest (scroll down or hover over the menu on the left to navigate; also the sound track takes a few seconds to load).
47A. *Office scale?: WORK [LIFE] BALANCE. Something that even us retirees can use more of.
Here's the grid, with the themers before the [LIFE HACKS]
Across:
1. Catch a glimpse of: SPOT. Or a SPOT of TEA, a popular drink on the Corner. Just last week, in a visit to one of our old neighborhoods, Teri and I discovered a new tea room called Emma's Tea Spot. Amid the British themed decor, I encountered the slogans below popularized by Queen Elizabeth II during WWII. At this writing she is still "Carrying On" at age 96!
5. "__ Great Heights": single by The Postal Service: SUCH. The Postal Service was an American indie pop supergroup from Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis on background vocals. They were active on and off from 2001 to 2014. Here's "Such Great Heights" from their album Give Up (lyrics)
9. Shelter org.: ASPCA. This dog Bennie has been following me around YouTube for months and I thought it was time that we got acquainted (a CSO to PAT):
14. "Take it!": HERE.
15. Wind with a range of roughly three octaves: OBOE. Here's the 2nd of Robert Schumann's Three Romances for Oboe and Piano:
15. Wind with a range of roughly three octaves: OBOE. Here's the 2nd of Robert Schumann's Three Romances for Oboe and Piano:
16. Pulse: THROB.
19. Emotional states: MOODS.
20. Mobile game?: PHONE TAG. I recently spent 4 days playing telephone tag with a technician to schedule the installation of a new CPAP machine. I can breath much easier now.
21. Sauce thickener: ROUX. A ROUX is flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. A roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth. Here's Teri's recipe for Velouté Sauce from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. This cookbook makes a great wedding gift. Plus it has hard to spell recipes like Vichyssoise and Bouillabaisse!
22. Suffix with ether: EAL. Ethereal is an a word with a least three meanings. Here are the first two, courtesy of the Oxford Languages Dictionary:
ETHEREAL was also the original name of a free software product (now called Wireshark) generically known as a "packet sniffer", a device that enables techs to decode network traffic to
troubleshoot problems or to monitor and detect intrusions by
HACKERS
(was this a themer I missed?). The name probably derives from the root
ETHERNET, a low level network service that most software "sniffers" can decode.
27. Drag through the mud: SMEAR. As in SLANDER.
29. CPR provider: EMT. Emergency Medical Technicians perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, among other services.
30. Manner: WAY.
31. Snap at, say: REACT TO.
35. Mug: FACE. The association of the words MUG and FACE, probably derives from the Scandinavian word MUGG, a "drinking vessel". In the 18th and 19th centuries, mugs produced in Staffordshire, England were often decorated with caricatures on the face of ceramic jugs. This may have led to the term MUG as a synonym for an ugly face and where we get our term MUG SHOT. Here is a typical 19th Century MUG, alias a TOBY JUG. Looks SUSPICIOUS doesn't he?
39. Tech leader?: NANO.
40. Country songs: ANTHEMS. Before the Star Spangled Banner was officially declared our National Anthem in 1931, our anthem was considered by many to be America the Beautiful (lyrics):
27. Drag through the mud: SMEAR. As in SLANDER.
29. CPR provider: EMT. Emergency Medical Technicians perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, among other services.
30. Manner: WAY.
31. Snap at, say: REACT TO.
35. Mug: FACE. The association of the words MUG and FACE, probably derives from the Scandinavian word MUGG, a "drinking vessel". In the 18th and 19th centuries, mugs produced in Staffordshire, England were often decorated with caricatures on the face of ceramic jugs. This may have led to the term MUG as a synonym for an ugly face and where we get our term MUG SHOT. Here is a typical 19th Century MUG, alias a TOBY JUG. Looks SUSPICIOUS doesn't he?
40. Country songs: ANTHEMS. Before the Star Spangled Banner was officially declared our National Anthem in 1931, our anthem was considered by many to be America the Beautiful (lyrics):
41. Go (for): OPT.
42. Wonkette founding editor __ Marie Cox: ANA.Ana Marie Cox (born September 23, 1972) is an American author, blogger, political columnist, and critic. The founding editor of the political blog Wonkette, she was also the Senior Political Correspondent for MTV News, and conducted the "Talk" interviews featured in The New York Times Magazine from 2015 to 2017.
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Ana Marie Cox |
43. "__ welcome": YOU'RE. An archaic phrase meaning "NO PROBLEM".
52. Pester: NAG. A terrible instance of Equine appropriation!
53. Booker Prize-winning author Murdoch: IRIS. Dame Jean Iris Murdoch DBE (15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious.
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Dame Iris Murdoch, DBE |
54. Really cheap: FOR A SONG. Among many other works, composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) wrote over 600 SONGS in his all too short life of 31 years. Despite the fact that they are considered masterpieces of German art song, it's doubtful that he was ever paid more than a pittance for any of them. Here's his hauntingly beautiful Gretchen am Spinnrade, written when Schubert was only 17 and set to a poem from Goethe's play Faust. Gretchen is sitting at her spinning wheel pouring her heart out for her lover Faust, who has abandoned her. Notice how the piano accompaniment evokes the sound of the spinning wheel's treadle:
56. Inelastic: RIGID.
59. "Yay me!": I RULE.
60. "Can't argue with that": TRUE.
61. The Met __: annual NYC fundraising event: GALA. Sorry, but all the hits on this topic wanted me to pay them money to see their advertising. As Bloggers don't have an expense account, I swiped left.
62. Some spa treatments: PEELS. I think we were treated to one of these recently. It doesn't sound very APPEELING to me.
63. Tear to bits: REND.
64. Actor Mapa of "Ugly Betty" and "Doom Patrol": Alejandro "Alec" Mapa (born July 10, 1965) is an American actor, comedian and writer.
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Alec Mapa |
Down:
1. Board book subject: SHAPES. Despite having dozens of these around the house for the grandbabies, I didn't know they had a formal name. I guess being made of boards, the pages are hard to REND. Here's Harper Collins Publishers re The Best Baby Board Books of 2022.
2. New York suburb near New Rochelle: PELHAM.
3. Camden Yards [sic] player: ORIOLE. As of this writing the O's are at the bottom of the AL East ladder. However my cardiologist, who is one of the team's cardiologists, and who is an expert in these matters, informs me that they will be really AFIRE in 2 or 3 years. To think that I'm just 2 degrees of separation from all of the Orioles! Unfortunately I don't know any of their names this season. A hand up from anyone who does? Oriole Park at Camden Yards (the correct name) is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year (but I doubt seriously that that picture was taken in 2022)
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Oriole Park at Camden Yards |
4. __ Choice Awards: TEEN.
5. Icy center?: SOFT C. Not ICKY.
6. WWII sub: U BOAT. "Unterseeboot", auf Englisch "under-sea-boat", today's German lesson. The occasional capture of U-BOATS by Allied warships was extremely helpful in the breaking of the ENIGMA machines used by the Germans to encrypt their communications. This article tells part of that story.
7. Short-legged dog: CORGI. One of my sisters has a CORGI, a rescue dog named Deidre. She was probably abused by a previous owner and she doesn't like men. So I don't get to pet her.
8. Clothing line?: HEM. Ho, hum, hem.
9. Not more than: AT MOST.
10. Stain-removal brand: SHOUT. It's triple acting!
12. Fish sticks fish: COD. Much better baked in EVOO with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and fresh Italian herbs, served over rice.
13. Core muscles: ABS.
18. Closed in on: NEARED.
21. Off the beaten path: REMOTE. Is REMOTED the opposite of 18D?
24. Forage plant: VETCH. VETCH is a well known legume also known as "common vetch" or "tares". Its scrambling, smothering growth habit and frost tolerance make it a very useful winter cover crop or green manure. It is one of many types of forage crops.
25. Like some lingerie: LACY. Some of the CAMIS we've seen for the past two weeks were LACY.
26. Retina locale: EYE.
28. "Collapsed in Sunbeams" singer Parks: ARLO. Another ARLO! Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho (born 9 August 2000), known professionally as Arlo Parks, is a British singer-songwriter and poet. Her debut studio album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, was released in 2021 to critical acclaim and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Here's the song Hope from that album (lyrics):
32. Yoga postures: ASANAS. Here are explanations and familiar names for the 7 poses shown below:
33. Waterway with locks: CANAL. Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveying water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxis). They can be thought of as artificial rivers. A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways.
34. Explosive letters: TNT.
35. Burkina __: FASO. We saw this in Pam Klawitter's puzzle just this past Sunday. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of 274,200 km2 (105,900 sq mi), bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest. Note that MALI and NIGER are also landlocked (and sure to be fills in a future puzzle):
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West Africa |
37. Fascinate: INTRIGUE. Teri and I are armchair detectives and are INTRIGUED by British murder mysteries.
38. "Sure, I guess": UM YEAH. "Well you don't sound sure!"
39. "I don't have all day!": NOW. The MD's on the corner don't say that. They say STAT!
42. Stomachs: ABIDES.
44. West Coast petroleum giant that merged with Chevron in 2005: UNOCAL. Union Oil Company of California, known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century.
45. Really get to: RANKLE.
46. Arachnid incubator: EGG SAC. When I'm tilling in the garden and see a Wolf Spider with an EGG SAC, I do my best to avoid killing them. All those eggs will hatch and grow up to be natural enemies of the various pests in the garden.
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Wolf Spider with Egg Sac |
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| Northern Krill |
49. Pumped up: AFIRE. A stoneware kiln is really "pumped up" when it reaches WHITE HEAT, approximately 2380 degrees Fahrenheit.
50. Devoid of joy: NO FUN.
51. 2015 boxing film directed by Ryan Coogler: CREED. Creed is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Coogler from a screenplay by Coogler, Aaron Covington, and contributions by Sylvester Stallone. This is a film about people who really BELIEVE in boxing. I'm not really qualified to say more, as I've not seen any of the Rocky films. However I have climbed the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art several times over the years and have great respect for anyone who can run up and down them. Creed is the 7th film, but not last, in the Rocky franchise (see next clue for details).
55. Multigenerational tale: SAGA. For example, the Rocky franchise.
56. __ tide: RIP. Here's how to escape from a RIP TIDE ...
57. Hot temper: IRE. Anger.
58. USPS unit: LTR. Letter.
As always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and for constructive criticism (and for the Velouté Sauce recipe).
waseeley
Cheers,
Bill
Laura Dershewitz and Katherine Baicker, you both are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the Comments section below. We'd love to hear from you. Oh and Laura, I'm curious as to whether you are one of the authors of this book?
Laura Dershewitz and Katherine Baicker, you both are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the Comments section below. We'd love to hear from you. Oh and Laura, I'm curious as to whether you are one of the authors of this book?
45 comments:
FIWrong. Spent way to much time trying to figure out the gimmick, even after I gave in and read the reveal.
Couldn't spell INTReGUE/INTRaGUE.
Tried BAND < BIRD < WILD. BANK < WORK.
I dislike add-a-word mainly because I do so badly with them. This one was especially hard since it was inconsistent on adding LIFE to the start or end, and if there's any common, in-language pairing with SANCTUARY or BALANCE, I'm not aware of it. ALIEN LIFE/LIFE FORM (or ALIEN LIFE FORM)
ACTIVE LIFE/LIFESTYLE (or ACTIVE LIFESTYLE)
WILDLIFE/? SANCTUARY ? (or WILDLIFE SANCTUARY)
LIFE WORK/? BALANCE ? (or ???)
LIFE HACKS
Some people will REACT TO my FACE
As if I were a monster who'd chase!
The rest, I guess,
Keep emotions suppressed.
But which ever it is, I just grimace!
LIFE has enough pains in store,
Why add on a new PROXY WAR?
I'm thankful I'm here,
And not somewhere out there!
But I hurt, I'm so sorry. Please, no more!
{A-, B.}
Good morning!
Didn't know what a "Board book" could be. Was thinking corporate board. Tried to thicken my sauce with AGAR before ROUX finally showed up. ARRO / ARLO. BAltimore POst? bIrD SANCTUARY? Nope. Bzzzzzt. WAPO should've come to me immediately. It's still early, and we were awakened at 1AM by a wrong number. That's my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it. Thanx, Katharine, Laura, and Waseeley.
VETCH: Dw likes the variety that begins with a K.
FIR. Erased, then steted, LTR and TRUE. Erased for good high for NANO,river for CANAL, and AMPED for AFIRE. Too many show biz and literary unknowns to list. I knew of Bert Parks of Miss America fame, but not ARLO. The best oldies radio station announcer in these parts is named Mike ARLO. Caught the "no life" gimmick before getting the reveal, and did know LIFE HACKS.
Superpowers fight proxy wars because direct war would mean the end of the world. Besides, what are they supposed to do with all that armament that is becoming technologically obsolete or reaching the end of its shelf life?
The late John Prine knew what to do when he r4alized he was having NO FUN.
Unocal was a major sponsor of the Dodgers when I used to go to the games. The big orange "76" sign was prominently displayed next to the scoreboard. They used to give away small round replicas for fans to put on their radio antennas. Made your car easier to spot at any lot other than at Dodger Stadium (becuse nearly all the cars there had them).
After I finally figured out the missing LIFE I was able to FIR at SOFT-C abutting U-BOAT. I've never heard of a Board book or The Postal Servie (band) or their SONG but knew it would be either MUCH or SUCH. SHAPES was all perps. I'd already filled ALIEN FORM ACTIVE STYLE, and WILD SANCTUARY before I realized that LIFE would fit in the center of each. I'm glad because the term LIFE HACKS was alien to me.
ROUX- a sauce thickener or my BIL's wife's maiden name-Roux.
ANA, PELHAM, VETCH, CREED, ALEC, ARLO- other unknowns filled by perps
WAPO and other papers don't report news these days, just their opinions disguised as reporting. Same with 'news' stations. I read the WSJ and the comics section of our local paper. Unless a child is killed by a stray bullet most murders reported by the Times-Picayune are reported in the 'B-Section'. The most true to form news comes from Dilbert, Pearls Before Swine, or Beetle Bailey.
Enjoyed this creative theme- once I got the reveal answer it made the solve much faster- definitely worked this differently than my usual NW to SE and instead solved NE then SW then SE and last to fall was NW.
I had to change POST to WAPO and AMPED to AFIRE by perps.
Off to the salt mines - my WORK (LIFE) BALANCE is definitely out of whack recently.
Thanks Bill, Teri for the fun blog and to Laura & Katherine for the amusing puzzle!
My father was in the task force that captured the UBOAT (U-505) now on display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Sheesh, don't mean to kVETCH but today is a toadal disaster....so many empty ⬛ s mocking me. 🤨 Finally accepted a DNF, not due to just the many unknown Proper Names. Couldn' thaw the "icy center" of my brain. Why bother but inkovers: peak/SPOT, mixed/SMEAR, kids/TEEN, alive/AFIRE, Post/WAPO (?)
Just when you think there can't be a new clever clue for oreo, no, I mean OBOE!!
Whatsa "Wonkette"? "Board book"?
On to Friday and better luck I hope 🙄
IF I need a crack legal team how about Dershewitz & Baicker? 😉
Way too hard for a Thursday.
Ray - O at 8:37am. I think I see your problem Ray. You're suppose to fill in the WHITE squares, not the BLACK ones. 😆
Oy. This CW was 50D: NOFUN. Too difficult for me. Is it Saturday already? DNK BOARD BOOK, PELHAM, or TEEN (as clued), ALEC, ARLO…. Did not know a lot. Started with 1A ESPY, PEEK, SPOT. Finally remembered it’s the ORIOLES that play in Camden Yards, which eventually worked out the NW. But this entire CW was far too much struggle. I did FIR in 36, but Oy! No fun. And never did figure out the theme, and after filling the CW cells I looked….and looked…. And still couldn’t suss the theme until Bill ‘splained it. I’m sure this is a fine, witty, tricky, well thought out CW. Just too damn hard for me. So….no fun. Oh well. Thanx Bill for the enlightenment, and the great write-up. That dog adoption video is a real tear jerker.
I hacked my way through this in 9:09 today.
So many unknowns: A NY suburb; Arlo someone; a Booker prize winning author, but I hadn't even heard of a Booker prize before; Actor Mapa someone (what's "Doom Patrol"?); an editor, which may be bad in and of itself, but when you consider the clue is an editor of something called "Wonkette"?.... Just makes it seem like the intent was "No Fun."
Good Morning:
Seeing “Such”, the second across entry, clued as “—— Great Heights”: single by The Postal Service, set my mood (grumpy) which grew darker and darker with the numerous other common, ordinary words clued with proper noun references, to wit: Iris, Gala, Oriole, Shout, Creed, Ltr, and Teen. I find this tendency so unnecessary and annoying that it ruins what otherwise would be a pleasant solve. For me, this is an issue that even Thumper can’t ignore.
Thanks, Laura and Katherine, for a mid-week treat and thanks, Bill, for brightening my day with so many interesting and enlightening learning moments. A return visit will allow me to enjoy all of the links and visuals that didn’t come through. Thanks to Teri, also, and a belated Happy Birthday! Paella, no less! Kudos to Teri!
FLN
Kent, thanks for dropping by. Hope to see more of your work soon.
Have a great day.
Surprise of the day: a Thursday FIR! I'm pleased this streak continues. The puzzle started out slow, but finally the NE corner began to fill. The NW was my last area to finish with PHONE TAG. For some weird reason I thought it was one of the themers even though it didn't have an asterisk. Silly oversight that made me spend extra time there wondering how it fit. Thanks, Laura and Katherine for everything!
I enjoyed the new fill (ROUX and CORGI) and noticed the return of OBOE and ASPCA today. And I enjoyed your review, waseeley. Thanks for all the extras you and Teri gave us. (Hope you had a wonderful birthday yesterday.)
Big Easy, I am fond of the comic strips too, needing a daily dose of humor for balance. For example, two hours after I walked through the store parking lot to walk home yesterday, a man was shot and killed there. News happening close to home. Be safe everyone!
What a conundrum. So many proper names that I didn't know. No fun.
After plenty of P&P and time, FIR, TA DA! Oy vey! In reading Bill and Teri's excellent recap, I found I left a blank and didn't return to it. A mental ABC run would have filled it. The S in SUCH and SOFT. Blanks are much easier to find in the online version. I use pen and paper.
Google is filled with life hacks, usually just called hacks these day. Clever ways to solve practical problems. OTH Hack in the reveal means to HACK out or chop out the word LIFE. I liked the puzzle and the theme, but agree that name fests are boring and annoying. Why can't constructors find common nouns to replace the proper nouns.
"No problem" sounds quite insincere to me. When I hear it I do not find it as satisfying as you're welcome.
IMO we should have kept America the Beautiful as our anthem. It is easier to sing and prettier.
Have a nice day. Our weather again is lovely, not too hot and not too cold. Blue skies.
You would think the puzzle would be made easier by the fact that obviously "life" is what's needed here, but I actually found it quite challenging. There were a lot of proper names I didn't know. For one example, our esteemed editor made the clue for "Arlo" much more obscure than necessary, IMHO. And whoever heard of the Washington Post being abbreviated "Wapo"? But through P & P, I finally won the day. FIR, so I'm happy.
On TV news the acronym, WAPO, is often referred to.
Time-consuming Thursday. Thanks for the workout, Laura and Katherine, and waseeley (and Teri).
Officially a DNF because I had to resort to Google, but I did get the LIFE HACKS theme.
Let me count the stumbles.
Espy changed to SPOT. The old-fashioned word of the day (like Wordle) was AFIRE.
Ether ended in EAL, not Net.
Hand up for Bird before WILD.
The “icy center” was not an Arena. (I would have loved that clue!)
Neap tide did not fit, and I entered Ebb (and wanted the beautiful music). Nope, it was RIP (to go with REND).
I had Bravo before I RULE, and Amen before TRUE.
UM Okay changed to YEAH.
I had the IGUE ending for 37D, but took a minute to change my pronunciation and see INTRIGUE. Crazy English language.
A Google search was required for the unknown and unperpable (there’s a new word!) to me PELHAM, ORIOLE (no hand up here for knowing any names as I didn’t even know the team name associated with Camden Park- where is DH when I need him?), CREED, UNOCAL (I only know the Canadian CW favourite ESSO).
I even required help for the meaning of USPS! OK, Postal Service (as in 5A clue for SUCH). I was stuck on US Pharmacopeia’s units.
I also struggled for the first letter of ASPCA. We just use SPCA.
WAPO was meaningless to this Canadian. Lightbulb moment when I came here.
I have two location CSOs today at 2D and 33D, but they are very obscure.
I noted ANTHEMS and FOR A SONG, FACE crossing LACY.
Yes d’o, I thought of K VETCH and smiled at the crossing REACT TO.
waseeley, your SPOT of tea and mention of Elizabeth II could also link with I RULE and CORGI (but we had the Tiara yesterday).
Wishing you all a great day.
Musings
-LIFE HACKS are all over the web
-Obscure cluing for ARLO, ALEC, ANA and IRIS were no problem with solid crossings
-“Be careful of him today, he’s in a MOOD!”
-My wife taught me how to make a ROUX for chipped beef on toast
-She also taught me what stains justify using SHOUT when I do laundry
-SMEAR – A candidate for governor here was accused of being a pedophile because he had judged some teen beauty pageants
-I got hooked by this movie on TMC
-A colleague would ask for a favor and when I asked her, ”What’s the magic word?” She would say, “NOW!) :-)
-When I had kids at Cocoa Beach, I told them to be aware of RIP tides and jellyfish.
Thanks YR for amplifying the theme - LIFE is HACKed out of the themers.
I don’t think my CBC news mentions WAPO. LOL!
Congrats ATLGranny on your FIR..
From Yesterday, Re: chin cleft...Irish M et al...
I wondered if Archibald Leach, sorry ...Cary Grants's chin cleft filled in as he got older and fatter..😄
From these photos, just the opposite. Almost looks like he air brushed it out as a young bloke
YR @10:14 AM Interesting. I interpreted HACK as covert alteration of the common phrase. I think your interpretation that the word LIFE was HACKed out of it was better.
WAZ....These ◻ not these◼, right, I keep forgetting.. thanks for reminding me..😄
But don't give any of our young whipper-snapper constructors any bright ideas
🙄
When I was on a mystery bus ride for square dancers we spent a long time in the Pelham, NY area. The bus driver got lost there. Finally a passenger who had been to the Pelham area before redirected him, a man who was desperate enough to take directions from a woman after being lost a long time.
The last few times I have been on Zoom my camera wouldn't turn on. I could be heard and I saw everyone else. I looked at the hacks on the internet with no good result. I have been touting the online Geek Squad, so went to them. There service quality has changed. After taking over my computer, the rep chatted that my problem was solved and discontinued the session. The camera still did not work and EDGE was inoperable and two of my email addresses had stopped working. I was left worse off.
Best Buy's in-person Geek squad is only 10 minutes away. They replaced the missing applications in 40 minutes, but said the only way to fix the camera was for them to send my computer in. No thanks. I guess no one needs to see my mug when I Zoom. Apparently the online service has been outsourced to an inferior company, according to the rep who serviced me.
Right out of the shoot I FIW on pORGI/CORGI. SUpH didn't make sense. A quick alpha run would've saved the FIR
I did catch the X on ROUe. The latter is another xword fav- syn. for CAD.
I was stuck in Texas. Couldn't get REND to perp it seemed. Then I put it down, picked it up and LTR,TRUE and even CREED fell. Same, same for SoCal
What makes it a "Board" book? The size? SHAPE?
post/WAPO is another that didn't fit. Wasn't there a Trib in the past?
(Bitter)VETCH is old, old xword lingo.
I too thought it was hard, we've had difficult Thursdays lately. Not having a clue about the themes didn't help. NtSo Postal Service song(LTR I could get), ? Parks,? Mapa.
Then again, UncleFred, a 36 min. FIR is excellent. I'll be starting Fri soon. I resisted the temptation to warn about Thurs being hard
WC
YR, you can get an external camera that will work fine for $25 - $30. They plug into your computer's USB port. If your USB ports are all being used, you can easily expand their number with a device that acts kind of like an extension cord with extra receptacles. It's cheap too.
WC @12:07PM THE pages in board books are literally that: very heavy cardboard that a tot can't REND.
Hi All!
Thanks Laura & Katherine for the fun puzzle. My first corner solved was SE so I got the reveal early and the theme at WORK-BALANCE.
Here's 100 more LIFE HACKS.
Thanks for the extensive expo, waseeley. I recognized SUCH Great Heights but I really loved the NANO-manufacturing facility images in the video. I use Wireshark nee Ethereal all the time.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: PELHAM, ANA, ALEC, ARLO, FASO, IRIS
Fav: The Dude ABIDES
{B+, A}
I'm a bit of a Corner Contrarian today - I didn't find the puzzle above Thursday-hard nor terribly tedious (though the NW was last to fall). I'm surprised some didn't know The Met GALA -- it's the annual ridiculous-fashion show.
YR - That's how I interpreted the theme - LIFE hacked out of the phrase.
Subjenius - all the cool-kids call it the WA-PO. //The Trib is Chicago Tribune, WC.
HG - re: Life Hack #5 in your link... Who's got an analog watch these days? :-)
I use these to keep my computers from going to sleep.
YR - per Jinx, cheap / decent USB camera.
WC - Board books are for toddlers - each page of the book is stiffened 1/8" cardboard. Here's one our kids loved.
Cheers, -T
Started really slow, then once I got the LIFE HACKS, I FIR, with the help of perps.
My heart melted when I watched that shelter dog adoption video. Thank you waseelee.
Hola!
Thank you, Laura and Katherine. I think. My grid is riddled with wite-out and too many to list. Board book I interpreted as HOA Board which is, of course, the rules and regs. But I soon discovered it was a kid's SHAPES book. That's something very common in this house with a two-year old in residence.
SOFT C no longer tricks me.
It was many, many years ago that I saw the movie IRIS.
Camden Yards is not familiar to me, but ORIOLES perped in seven letters. I don't know WAPO either and that ARLO is totally unknown as well.
One of my cousins gave me the book, COD, about the way life changed in New England with COD fishing. I'm sorry to say it was a bore.
I like clothes LACY and with sparkles. Lots of sparkles. Even my license plate has a sparkly frame.
Thank you, waseeley. I would like to say I enjoyed this puzzle but in fact, I enjoyed your narrative more.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Late to the party,
Got the theme but the NW was a personal Natick slogfest...
HG thanks for the very useful life hacks, I am definitely going to use the garbage bag in the closet idea!
find your own silly life hack here!
I typed in belated happy birthday Waseely cake & this it what Google came back with.
(I kinda like it!)
Gotta go see Anon-Ts 100 life hack link (act7ally 200) but had to disconnect as I had YouTube plus several Safari windows open which slowed the hack website to a crawl. Anyone got a hack for a slow iPad?
Thursday toughie for me, but they all are. Still, many thanks, Laura and Katherine, for a great job. And always like your comments, Waseeley, thanks for those too.
Well, I got off to a good start with OBOE. Never played one, and think they don't THROB. But they certainly create music with a good MOOD.
And then, a bit further down, we got more music with those ANTHEMS. If they were played at a GALA, it would probably cost MORE THAN A SONG to attend.
I'm not crazy about getting into water, so I would avoid taking a U BOAT to go down a CANAL.
Finally, I love pets, but have never had either a CORGI or an ORIOLE. I was pretty much a dachshund person until a coyote took out my last one, and it just didn't feel safe to have them in my home anymore. But I miss my doxies.
Have a great day, everybody.
Like Anonymous T, I didn't find this puzzle to be all that hard, although I did not get much enjoyment working it nor satisfaction solving it. I'm kind of at the point where I have stopped caring about the proper names; by that I mean when I solve one of them (whether the name is in the clue or is the answer) I simply don't give a damn. I'm like, "Oh okay sure fine whatever." On the other hand, clues/answers like "Country songs" ANTHEMS I find to be rather clever, and they elicit in me thoughts like "That was neato."
Maybe I don't know cooking, but I have a nit with ROUX being clued as a sauce thickener. Of course, I have made ROUX hundreds of times but always in stews, gravies, soups, and gumbos. I consider these to be main dishes, not sauces, unless one considers gravy to be a sauce. Sauces, such as Hollandaise, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, various dipping sauces, etc. I have always thickened with cornstarch. No big deal; it is a crossword puzzle after all, with plenty of the usual concomitant leeway.
I, too, prefer "You're welcome" to "No problem."
I remembered Burkina FASO from Pam's puzzle this past Sunday. I find it to be more or less worth remembering because it is an entity that will probably still be around long after the many brief popular fads are gone and forgotten (even though it is a country in Africa where it does seem nations come and go and change their names frequently).
Jeez, I'm turning into a grumpy geezer.
Good wishes to you all.
Yes! I definitely prefer, "you're welcome" any day to "no problem." I really wonder how that got started.
Jayce - the ROUX base thickens the sauce /gravy /chicken-stock in gumbos & stews. Your definition of sauces (mayonnaise, catsup) is an interesting distinction I've never thought of --- hmmm, there is A-One Steak, Worcestershire, and the like that actually have 'sauce' in their title.
And, I agree -- ANTHEM's [RUSH!] wordplay was fun and the names grinded entertainment to frustration.
Jayce & Lucina - "No Prob[lem]" is akin to "Dude, you don't have to thank me - I do this for everyone." [see: holding a (non-badged*) door open, helping someone reach stuff, etc] Sorta like when my buddies in Aberdeen & Perth reply: "No worries [mate]."
Cheers, -T
*there's the anti-HAKERer in me ;-)
Lucina @ 3:12 PM For the record, I prefer "You're welcome". But for those who prefer "No problem", or those who are sitting on the fence, here is Merriam-Webster's nuanced (and rather long) exploration of the history of this controversy.
-T @ 3:43 PM. I think I'm starting to like "Rush"!
Late to the party after a very busy morning and afternoon.
It's nice to see both Geddy Lee and John Prine referenced in the same thread.
Interesting the Webster article called out My - My G... Gen.. G..Gen-(X)eration [early The Who].
Many of us Gen-Xers were raised by hippies [even though they vote wrong now* ;-)] and have a "give unto others" | "just be nice" | "hate hurts" attitude.
//we're also realists and knows where our money goes... I saw interest rates in the '70s
Weseeley... I'm sorry to tell you there is no 'like' when it comes to RUSH. You LOVE 'em, HATE 'em (DW can't stand Geddy's voice), or just appreciate Neil's [Ayn Rand inspired (in those days)] lyrics.
Dr. of English DW is in the last camp - she'll read the lyrics but won't listen to the syncopated rhythms. She's missing so much :-(
Cheers, -T
*"Don't vote Liberal == no heart; don't vote Tory == no brain - falsely attributed to Churchill, IIRC :-)
Sigh. I'm a traditionalist, no doubt about it though I realize that every generation brings about changes. How far removed are we from "thy", "thee" and "thou"?
I thought of PELHAM - not because of knowing much about NYC suburbs (I remembered New Rochelle from The Dick Van Dyke Show) but vaguely remembered the movie "The Taking of Pelham 123" was about the highjacking of a subway in NY- so with a few letters I filled it in fairly confidently. Looking it up later I realized it's been made 3 times 1974, 1998, 2009:
https://www.filmstories.co.uk/features/examining-the-three-takings-of-pelham-one-two-three/
Jinx and AnonT, thanks for the suggestion. My son, Dave, and I think I have a software problem with my computer camera. I have read that sometimes Windows 10 or 11 can interfere with the camera. Maybe this software problem would interfere with an external camera, too. My computer was new just 18 months ago.
Hi Y'all! Well, it's Thursday and things got difficult. Filled last half of the theme entries and waited. Perps, WAGs, & red-letter to fill unusual or unknown words. After the reveal, I thought I got the theme but was not sure. Thanks, WESeeley & Teri.
DKN: SOFT C, PROXYWAR, EAL, WAPO not Post, UNOCAL, COD, WONKETTE.
Being a farm owner, I did not think VETCH (A legume) was a forage crop. I thought it made deer sick and caused some controversy from State Wildlife & Parks. We never grew VETCH but I've seen fields of it grown and plowed under to improve the consistency of depleted fields & add nitrogen to the soil.
Thank you Laura Dershewitz and Kathryn Baicker for a challenging Thursday puzzle. I did complete ... but it was too complicated and I didnt enjoy it as much. Anyway. And some answers I didnt understand.
Thank you Waseely and Teri for a explanatory and interesting review blog. I am still a lil confused why the Icy center, is a Soft-C. Meta clue.
Didnt know many of the proper names, ..... but I saw. "The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3" .... in 1970 or so,it made me s--t scared of coming to the USA ...... for a while, anyway.
Two weeks ago, I was in Greenwich Ct., and the town next door Port Chester, is half way cut by the NYS/Conn. state line ....
ROUX or a soup thickener can be made with a lot of neutral food materials .... I often use corn starch, or tapioca starch, or enriched wheat flour, ... or even mash potato flakes ( also handles extra salt errors - )
... powdered coconut, powdered barley or millet .... other more exotic grains and compounds.
It is quite late, have agood day tomorrow, you all.
Vidwan - you can use corn starch among other things to thicken a dish post-steeping. A ROUX (fat & flour) starts it. Maybe Justin Wilson can explain.
//I saw Justin on Louisiana PBS when we moved to Shreveport. Not the Galloping Gourmet I was used to on Midwest's Saturday afternoons ;-)
Cheers, -T
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