Katherine Baicker has had 3 LAT outings and Ross Trudeau has had 10, plus 54 with the NYT, including a collaboration with his Dad, whom you may recognize. I think this is the first time Katherine and Ross have teamed together for the LAT and for today's theme they present us with 4 iconic mascots on a
FAST TRACK
TO THE TOP
But let's begin at the bottom:
58A. Marketing
strategies, and what the mascots in this puzzle have all been given?:
SALES PROMOTIONS.
17A. Mascot who pursued the Hamburglar:
DETECTIVE BIG MAC. He started out as a beat cop who
always got his HAM and was eventually promoted to the rank of
 |
| Detective Big Mac |
23A. Mascot with a goatee and a string tie: GENERAL SANDERS. This humble COLONEL leveraged his good looks and Southern charm to get promoted to the rank of
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General Sanders |
36A. Mascot "born in the Sea of Milk": ADMIRAL CRUNCH. He started as CAPTAIN CRUNCH and his gimmick was a free whistle in every box. He was quickly promoted to the rank of
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Admiral Crunch |
50A. Mascot who says, "I want to eat your cereal!": MARQUIS CHOCULA. He started out as a lowly COUNT but was promoted to royalty because he was willing to work night shifts and he really sank his teeth into his job:
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Marquis Chocula |
Here's the rest:
Across:
1. Intro courses?: APPS. APPetizers?
5. Female turkeys: HENS. Their mates are called
TOMS.
9. Features of some islands: SINKS. These islands are not in
el Océano (see 45A), but in the middle of your kitchen:
14. Attract: DRAW.
15. Lotion ingredient: ALOE. SNORE. Oops, next clue!
16. Sleeper's rumble: SNORE. May be a sign of sleep APNEA. A sleep study can confirm whether you have it, but in my experience they are elaborate affairs. Basically they bundle you up in a cocoon of wires and sleep sensors and expect you to sleep comfortably while they monitor you overnight. Somebody could make a bundle if they invented reusable, wireless sensors, e.g. bluetooth enabled.
[Theme clue]
20. Dutch cheese: EDAM. Crosswordcheese.
21. Right at sea?: AYE. Whatever you say Admiral! See also 57A.
22. So last year: OUT. "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months" - Oscar Wilde.
[Theme clue]
28. Flying fig.: ALT. ALTitude.
29. Carve up a black diamond?: SKI. A former haunt for Malodorous Manatee. These days he likes to lounge in the lodge sipping hot toddies. 😁
30. Currier and __: IVES. Currier and Ives was a New York City printmaking business that operated between 1835 and 1907. Founded by Nathaniel Currier, the company designed and sold inexpensive, hand painted lithographic works based on news events, views of popular culture and Americana. The corporate name was changed in 1857 to "Currier and Ives" with the addition of James Merritt Ives.
 |
| A Brush for the Lead |
33. Shade tree: ELM.
35. Service charge: FEE.
[Theme clue]
41. Choice indicators: ORS. RNS and MDS are not options.
42. English pronoun: SHE. See 24D.
43. Excursion: TRIP.
45. Océano contents: AGUA. WATER. Spanish lesson #1.
47. "Sorta": ISH.
49. Estadio cheer: OLE.
[Theme clue]
55. Samantha Bee's former network: TBS. Samantha Anne Bee (born in Toronto, Ontario on October 25, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actress, and television host. A CSO to CanadianEh!
 |
| Samantha Bee |
 |
| Mountain Time Zone |
57. Left at sea?: PORT. See 21A.
[Theme reveal]
64. With 40-Down, legal scholar played by Kerry Washington in HBO's
"Confirmation": ANITA. and 40-Down HILL.
Confirmation is a 2016 American television political
thriller film, directed by Rick Famuyiwa and written by
Susannah Grant. The YouTube trailers were way too political, so you'll
have to settle for this:
 |
| BUT IN THIS CASE IT DIDN'T! |
65. Past regulation, briefly: IN OT. Over Time.
66. Smooch in a lift: SNOG. LIFT is Brit for elevator. As long as the two of you are alone it's not a PDA.
67. Cat collar dangler: ID TAG. If you're really attached to your pet you can have them micro-chipped in case they get lost and lose their ID TAG. We're next!
68. Affixes a patch, say: SEWS.
69. Hushed "Hey!": PSST.
Down:
1. Verb on a dipstick: ADD. But not too much. You
might blow a gasket.
2. Paid intro?: PRE.
3. Protected, in a way: PATENTED. Both PATENTS and TRADE MARKS are protected by the USPTO in Alexandria, VA,
where I worked for a couple of years. They are one of the few
government agencies that pays for itself through the fees it collects
for research and licensing.
|
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Greta Thunberg |
5. Ones who work with bowlers and boaters: HAT MAKERS.
|
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Bowler
Boater |
6. Yalie: ELI. Nicknamed for this guy:
|
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Elihu Yale |
|
|
Artist rendering of a Supernova Image credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss |
9. Govt. stipend: SSI. Supplemental Security Income. A tip 'o the hat to TTP for pointing out my confusion between SSI and Social Security benefits. Here's the difference. Both are administered at the SSA Headquarters in Woodlawn, MD, about 2 miles from our house ...
|
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Social Security Headquarters |
10. Dutch banking giant with an orange lion logo: ING.
The ING Group is a Dutch multinational banking and financial
services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial
banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset
management, and insurance services. With total assets of US $1.1 trillion, it
is one of the biggest banks in the world, and consistently ranks among the
top 30 largest banks globally. Here's their logo:
12. Alison in the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame: KRAUSS. Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at 14. Here's her song Down To The River To Pray used in the soundtrack to the 2000 Joel and Ethan Coen film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
13. Chip off the old flock?: SECT. Clever clue.
18. Sonata and Cadenza: CARS. This one really had me stumped for a while. Sonatas are solo pieces, e.g. for piano or violin, whereas a cadenza is usually a virtuoso solo interlude within a larger orchestral work, such as a piano concerto. But the second movement of Beethoven's Sonata 32 published in 1822 has an incredibly virtuosic passage that I think qualifies as a cadenza. It was almost 70 years ahead of its time and is reminiscent of ragtime piano. This 2 minute interlude is popularly known as the "boogie-woogie" variation. Take it for a test drive and see if you don't agree:
19. "__-Hur": BEN. Ben-Hur is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. It was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It won 11 Academy awards and it even has an EPIC trailer ...
23. Missing segment: GAP.
24. Spanish pronoun: ELLA. SHE. Spanish lesson #2. A bi-lingual dupe with 43A?
25. Singer/activist Downs: LILA. Spanish lesson #3. Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968) is a Mexican singer-songwriter/activist. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. Here's her Zapata Se Queda
26. French Lord: DIEU. Not the aristocrat, the poor guy. French lesson #1.
27. __ planner: EVENT.
32. Affaire de coeur: AMOUR. LOVE. French lesson #2.
34. NYC FC's org.: MLS. The New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference.
35. Just-brewed carafes of coffee, e.g.: FRESH POTS.
37. Kirkuk's country: IRAQ. Kirkuk (Arabic: كركوك, Kurdish: کەرکووک) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located 238 kilometres (148 miles) north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, and Assyrians.
 |
| Iraq |
39. Salad topping: CROUTONS. CROÛTONS. French lesson #3 (you get extra points for the ^)
40. See 64-Across: HILL.
44. Storied cause of royal insomnia: PEA. In case you slept through it ...
45. Radio setting: AM BAND. AM FM and ALARM were too short.
46. Like the streets in some period pieces: GAS LIT.
48. Nocturnal call: HOOT. Another CSO to Ray - O. This makes two weeks in a row.
51. Strike caller: UMP.
52. Elba of "The Suicide Squad": IDRIS. Elba is definitely not risk aversive. The Suicide Squad is a 2021 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team Suicide Squad. Imagine that.
_poster.jpg)
53. Curling target: STONE. Also called "Chess on ice", curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. Oh and BTW, according to this article, the Olympic rules actually call the target area a house.
 |
| US Olympic Curler Vicky Persinger |
55. Taiwan's first female president: TSAI. Tsai Ing-wen grew up in Taipei and studied law and international trade. She later studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, with her thesis titled "Unfair trade practices and safeguard actions", and was awarded a Ph.D. in law from the University of London.
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Tsai Ing-wen |
60. Old futon problem: SAG. A new clue for old crosswordese?
61. Lower a pitch?: MOW. "Pitch" is a term used by the groundsmen for the NYC FC (see 34D)
62. Figs.: NOS.
63. "__ Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band": SGT. The clue didn't indicate if it was just for the first track or the eponymous album. This link will take you to the play list and you can click Play all to cycle through the whole album (with 1 sec ad blips) or you can pick and choose what you like. Enjoy!
Cheers,
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
I found the gimmick of this puzzle to be very clever, and after I got “General Sanders “ I understood what it was all about. Therevv be were a few proper names that were difficult to suss, including the Taiwanese prime minister, but on the whole the puzzle was fair and solvable. FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteRemove “vv be” from the above post and it will make better sense!
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGot the theme, but found the solve to be a slog. Tried ABCS at 1a. (Have I ever mentioned?...) Got 'er done, but it wouldn't call it fun. Thanx, Katherine, Ross, and Waseeley.
SNORE: I remember a hospital stay when I was wired up to a portable, WIFI-enabled EKG for constant monitoring. I ripped those leads off the first day. It took the "constant monitors" two days to figure out it wasn't working.
FIW. NE corner did me in. Never heard of detective Big Mac, so I guessed bagman.
ReplyDeleteAnd since when is social security a government stipend? I paid into it my whole working life, and am getting my own invested money back today. So am I to call my stock dividends a stipend too? Come on!
See clue 9D SSI for a correction to my original annotation. My thanks to TTP for pointing out the difference between Supplemental Security Income and Social Security benefits.
ReplyDeleteLike KS, I've never heard of DETECTIVE (or Beat Cop) BIG MAC but I managed to FIR after changing OLD to OUT for "So last year". Getting SECT for "Chip off the old flock" was a great clue and fill. Thankfully Alison KRAUSS was in an earlier puzzle this week; unknown previously. NE was the last to fall.
ReplyDeleteI caught the PROMOTIONS after GENERAL and ADMIRAL were filled by perps on Katherine & Ross's CRUNCHy puzzle. LILA and TSAI were unknowns; ANITA HILL was unknown as clued but all four were perps. MLS for "NYC FS's org."- I had zero inkling what the clue was about but the perps worked for the crosses. TBS was a WAG for Bee.
SNOG in a lift? Hopefully it's not a glass elevator and not one of the newer ones that have cameras.
SWEDE- her 'arrest' was a staged event for publicity; prearranged with the police.
SSI- it is a "Govt. stipend". It stands for SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME and is for disabled adults. It's also one of the most abused federal programs due to all the phony claims.
BE, would you like to try for OFFICER BIG MAC? Detectives are officers that have been promoted.
DeleteGuessing the mascots seemed hopeless. Two Captains: One Army the other a Sea Captain(hence ADMIRAL)
ReplyDeleteI just slogged away and yes "Islands"(in the kitchen), MOW, NOS/SNOG were all V8s
Duran's "NO MORE" was "no mas" vs Sugar Ray Leonard
No German today but plenty of French,Spanish and English slang. FC gave away the soccer and pitch.
Remarkably well crafted xword and given a detailed write-up by waseeley
As usual, FIR on the tough one, FIW on early weeks xws
WC
Good catch, TTP. I saw it as the disability SSI which is a stipend
Took 9:28 for me to finish this - major - pain.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, I really enjoyed the theme, once I caught on (which wasn't too quickly), and its execution.
I looked it up, his name was "Officer Big Mac".
"Sgt." Pepper seems to be anomalous, given the other military rankings.
I didn't know or care for the foreign words, especially French (amour) crossing Spanish (agua) and then French (Dieu) crossing Ives (wasn't sure if it was with an I or a Y; and, not sure why I even knew the answer at all).
I resisted "stone" because I don't consider that the "target." The stone is pushed.
The dartboard is the target, not the dart itself.
I was not thinking of kitchen islands. That was my last answer.
FIR, getting my WAG at TSAI x TBS. After an alphabet run I eliminated all but C, P and T for the network. The president's name seemed most likely to start with the "T", so there you go. Erased colonel SANDERS, which gave me the gimmick. Also erased lamb for SECT, and amore for AMOUR. Waited for NOVA (e/S).
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in college I saw Harlan Sanders, all spiffed out in his white suit and string tie, getting out of his Cadillac and walking into a Lexington bank. I remember being surprised that he drove his own car and wore his TV ad getup. Maybe he liked Walt Disney's imperative: "keep the mouse before the people."
I only remember Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar from that ad campaign. And I knew Cap'n Crunch and Count Chocula from the ads, but I never tried their products.
After getting the theme, I have the ear worm Lieutenant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band stuck in my head.
Thanks to Katherine and Ross for the tough Thursday challenge, and to Bill 'n Teri for the fine review.
After thanking Katherine and Ross, it occurred to me that Katherine Ross played Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. What a coinkidink!
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ. Mrs Robinson was played by Ann Bancroft. Katherine Ross played Elaine Robinson.
DeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteThe first notation on my crossword-comment pad is SINKS? I honestly never gave kitchen islands a thought, in fact my first entry was Sands, before Sinks perped in. I guess this particular “island” fixation prevented thoughts of any other interpretation and I was ready to do battle about Sinks, even further muddying the waters by thinking it referred to Sink Holes. Talk about convoluted thinking! Oh well, mea culpa, constructors. I liked the theme a lot but Officer/Detective Big Mac was totally unknown, as were Anita Hill, as clued, (Unaware of HBO’s Confirmation), Krauss, Ella, Lila, and Tsai. My only w/o was Old/Out and my only complaint, as usual, is the number (28) of three letter words, far too many to go unnoticed, IMO.
Thanks, Katharine and Ross, for a fun solve and thanks, Bill and Teri, for the always informative and interesting commentary and links. Unfortunately, none of the video links would open, but maybe the glitch can be corrected for later viewing.
FLN
Pat, thanks for dropping by and sharing “your” Nadia’s story. She deserves all the loving care and attention that you’re giving and I hope someday she finds a forever home. Thank you for everything you do for all creatures, great and small. ❤️
Have a great day.
I echo all the objections noted above by others. This puzzle was a slog in spots. Many of the clues were very misdrective in nature. Had a hard time getting my thinking into the same groove as the creators.
ReplyDeleteMissed the T in Tsai as I had the BS and went with C. Liked the fact that Mr Elba had his given name in the puzzle rather than his surname.
But, I wish my paper could print the letters with accent marks properly.
Lee, That's right! If not for bad memory I'd have no memory at all. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI think my brain has a failing parity bit.
ReplyDeleteCounted 9 proper names, knew 0. Never heard of stone for a curling target.
ReplyDeleteSherry @9:46 AM. I agree with you and others re STONE. I think it was a constructor/editor mistake.
DeleteNot sure where I rank on this one but I did manage a FIR in 18:03. Couldn’t figure out what APPS meant till I read the review, didn’t know Samantha Bee or the Taiwanese President so the T in the TSAI/TBS crossing was a WAG after first having CBS. Nice Thursday challenge with a clever theme, thank you Katherine and Ross. Never sure who is responsible for which clues, the editor or constructors, but this had some good clueing, especially liked the one for MOW.
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent write-up Bill and Teri, Thursday’s are always educational! SSI is definitely a stipend, not to be confused with retirement benefits, not even funded by payroll deductions, definitely one of the most abused government programs, all it takes is a slick lawyer and some paperwork, I’ve known perfectly able bodied people who scammed the system.
A HAT MAKER is also called a milliner.
Musings
ReplyDelete-My islands had SANDS not SINKS and my two bad cells didn’t seem so wrong
-If you did not need an eraser, I am impressed.
-My sleep study score was a very high 33. With the apparatus, it now averages below 5
-I took a summer class where my roommate’s SNORING made me demand and new room
-MILLENERS also make bowlers and boaters and fit
-A recent documentary on the Hubble space telescope called them NOVAE (NO vee)
-My friend’s wife got threats when she had to deny SSI to some applicants
-Chip off the old block/SECT clanged off my ear
-The EVENT planner for our wonderful all-school reunion says she mostly hears complaints
-Electronic UMPS represent the Brave New World of baseball and are coming soon
Calgary summer hours : Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). Winter hours : Mountain Standard Time (MST)
ReplyDeleteSaturday-ish, thought the SW would do me in. Had pet id even though I figured the "futon" would SAG..then I realized I'd seen "Confirmation" (it wasn't about a Catholic rite of passage) and corrected the fill with ANITA. Then I simply guessed at MOW (No idea what that means) crossed with INOT (also no idea) until the reveal...over time🙄
ReplyDeleteComplex challenge totally helped by perps from the long puzzle-wide obvious theme answers. But didn't appreciate the upgrades of each rank and filled Colonel SANDERS too fast...
"Work with bowlers and boaters": haberdashers too long
SNOG but don't SHAG in a (Brit) "lift" 🙈
DIEU is français for God, "Siegneur" is "Lord"
What a swooning woman said about ____ , "Able was I ere I saw Elba"....IDRIS.
ROSS's Dad is the cartoonist and his Mom is Jane Pauley the journalist.
Sorry that's spelled Seigneur
ReplyDelete⚜
You got me today, Katherine and Ross, FIW! My problems were caused by putting in baNKS, thinking like Irish Miss of oceans rather than kitchen SINKS. The perps there didn't help today. When I read the review by waseeley (and Teri) I finally got it. Of course. I had seen SSI and ING plenty of times. Later I found another error: not knowing Samantha Bee's network or Taiwan's first female president, I had cBS and cSAI (Hi, Lee).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I got the theme just fine, thanks to perps in part. Understood the PROMOTION part after a minute when I couldn't fill "cap'n" and "count" in the spaces. Thanks Katherine and Ross for a worthy Thursday challenge!
Thanks for your excellent review, waseeley and "sidekick." I liked your Oscar Wilde quote. And I needed your explanation of CARS since I too was puzzling over a musical meaning for it.
Good one, Jinx, "bad memory!"
I thought it was "block" at first too, Husker Gary, but eventually noticed it was flock when I had enough perps to see SECT was the fill.
Have a good day, everyone!
FIR but had to drop in here to understand why. Thanks for explaining it all, Bill! My biggest sticking point was STONE (not really the target of curling) crossed with INOT (where I wondered if past regulation meant in Old Testament). It's always fair, in my eyes, if I can FIR, but much nicer to understand why, with support from the Corner.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t a Curling stone the target if you’re trying to take out an opponents stone from the scoring area, much like shuffleboard?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 10:19 AM was me, naomiz (somehow signed out of my account). I yield to YooperPhil, who has a better grasp of curling than I do. My usual curling targets are ribbons.
ReplyDeleteATLGranny
ReplyDelete-Thanks for the gentle correction. The pun got right by my speed reading.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Katherine and Ross (of father-son fame like our Pierre-Justin Trudeau PMs!), and waseeley and Teri.
ReplyDeleteOfficially a FIW today. My islands had rings as I was totally misdirected out of the kitchen. And this Canadian did not know your American SSI (but hey, I have learned SSN,). Canada has OAS for seniors; our plan that you pay into during employment is called CPP (Canada Pension Plan) (which seems to better differentiate it than the American designations IMO).
Double FIW as I wagged C instead of T for that TBS TSAI cross. I know Samantha Bee but not her American station (although I see some of you Americans did not know it either).
I did get the PROMOTIONS theme. I saw SGTS as an Easter Egg.
I didn’t remember Officer BIG MAC to confirm that promotion.
Misdirection with SECT, APPS (I was thinking of the AP high school courses), MOW, GASLIT (I wanted Cobbled).
I see I had another FIW at SNOG. I was thinking of the British Shag and entered Snag. I might of known that wouldn’t pass the censor test. And Big Easy’s glass elevators or cameras!
My ETA turned to ALT. Hand up for waiting for perps to decide NOVAS or Novae.
PORT and AYE clue twinning was great.
Re STONES: Anon@8:04- this refers to curling, not darts. STONES are thrown and swept down the ice with the intent of being left in place as guards or to score, or to hit an opponent’s stone out of place (that would be the target).
I’m a long way from Calgary to take that CSO. Maybe LfromAlberta would like to claim it today.
FLN- thanks AnonT and Michael for responding to my late posts. Great story, AnonT re ADAMS and Rush.
Wishing you all a great day.
Posted while I was composing:
ReplyDeleteRay-o agrees with me re activities on a British lift.
Yooper Phil beat me to the curling STONE target explanation.
Clues a bit confusing. I would take "aye" more as a "yes". Right is starboard.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning! DNF. Nope, not today. Wanted 1A to be IOI (101), then slogged into the rest of it. I got the EAST top to bottom, most of the center and more blank than fill in the West. But I did get SINK - thanks to HGTV & MAGNOLIA! Though I have a general dislike for clues ending in "?"
ReplyDeleteWhen SANDERS wasn't Colonel & CHOCULA wasn't Count, I was out. Perps weren't working & didn't catch on to the theme.
I'm thinking STONE is a target because the opposing team tries to knock the other team's STONE out of the circles. Maybe?
Thanks Bill & Teri for lifting the fog & congrats to all who finished.
CEh! @10:47 AM Thanks to you (and Phil) for that explanation of the STONE as target. I had thought that the fill was wrong, but you have a "Canadian Edge" on this one (my knowledge of "Chess on Ice" is pretty much NIL) -- IIRC "O Canada" is the anthem played most often for the Gold winners on the Olympic victory stand.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Echo @10:59 AM AYE you're RIGHT Charlie. Another example of clever misdirection in this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was a bit of a slog though I did know the cereals. My granddaughter likes CHOCULA so it's in my pantry and I was thinking Cap'n CRUNCH not ADMIRAL but it was easily filled.
I see, too, that the ranks are placed in ascending order. That's a nice touch.
AGUA and the slow diminishing of it along with the growing population is a big problem here in the Southwest. Lake Mead is almost completely dry.
CSO to my great-grandson at CARS. He loves them and has a large collection of toy CARS and trucks.
When I visit my friend in San Raphael I also meet with her friend who is a SWEDE and a wonderful cook. We often go to her house for breakfast.
I learned SNOG from reading British novels.
Sigh. IDRIS Elba. Need I say more?
One wite-out at UMP. I had REF first.
I don't subscribe to HBO so any references to it are guesses for me.
A few months ago on one of Sunday Morning's episodes, Jane Pauley interviewed her husband, Gary Trudeau. Since she is a highly accomplished professional it went very well.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
I liked all the clever, difficult clues, and the theme. When I confidently entered Colonel SANDERS and it didn’t fit, I entered GENERAL and everything fell into place. Didn’t know the BIG MAC fellow, but perps helped.
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle and review.
Woo hoo, the sun is shining this morning.
Hi Y'all! Groan! 38:05 minutes to fill this, finally resorting to red-letters. Interesting challenge, Katherine & Ross.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bill & Teri, for making sense of some of this.
Never heard of the "Confirmation" movie but, boy, do I remember Anita Hill. I had a scheduled newspaper interview with the city manager. When I arrived, he said, "Sit down. I want to see this." This was TV coverage of the actual Clarence Thomas hearing. Manager's aide came in & I sat through that disgusting farce for about half an hour before walking out. I could have written a very racy newspaper story just listening to those local yahoos! The married City manager later created a scandal absconding with another man's wife and his aide married a woman younger than his kids in another big scandal.
"Legal scholar " threw me at first but HBO account of testimony
ReplyDelete"Anita Hill‘s story will be brought to life in the(2017) HBO film Confirmation, with Kerry Washington taking on the role of the law professor who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment."
Re. STONE. Curlers target the STONEs previously pushed to score points and block the opponents targets(as YP explained)
Gary my xword is an inky mess And… It's 'Flock' as in the SECTs that chip off from same. Very clever clue(as ATL explained)
WC
Much harder than a typical Thursday, at least for this non-American who only knew Sanders and Cap'n Crunch among the themers. The NE was very rough due to the BIG MAC part and three unknowns (SSI, ING, KRAUSS) crossing SINKS. Also a Natick at _SAI/_BS. After solving I realized that I've heard of ING, but I definitely wouldn't have gotten it from the clue. Clever theme, though.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss @ 8:56 - I didn't notice the amount of 3-letter entries but that many shouldn't even be allowed. I guess there's too much theme material? Especially with the 14s and central 13 forcing MORE black squares into the grid. All the short fill and we still get _BS/_SAI.
Promotions?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, at Burger King...
CED @3:14 PM I think you meant Burger Emperor.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteI saw Ross's name and knew I was in for some evil cluing - and he came through. Thanks for the fun Katherine & Ross.
I really liked this theme (once I got the gimmick) - very clever.
Fun expo, Waseeley. I knew it was you when you referenced the Phreaker Capt'n Crunch.
WOs: started TWEEN -> SWEED, Old -> OUT, Pact -> PLEA
ESPs: SINKS | KRAUSS, ELLA, IDRIS, IN OT, DIEU
Favs: c/as for PEA & SNOG
Scroll near the bottom and you'll see Officer Big Mac.
Interesting story, PK.
Gotta run.
Enjoyed reading y'all.
Cheers, -Tony
Okay, I gotta say:
ReplyDeleteDIEU means "god", not "lord." "Lord" in French is Seigneur. "The Lord God" is Le Seigneur Dieu.
In curling, the STONE is not the target. The stone is pushed toward the target, which is called the "house." If the answer really were HOUSE, I think that would be a pretty clever way to clue it.
What the hell are APPS?
I think Greta Thunberg is more "notable" as being an activist than being a Swede.
Sheesh.
Anyway, I liked the "promotion" theme.
Good wishes to you all.
~ OMK
ReplyDelete____________
DR: Three diagonals, all close by.
The center diag uses acronyms in its anagram (13 of 15), based on the old superstition that one may decode one ‘s future in the lines of a fungus.
“r.r. l. TOADSTOOL r. h.
FIW but enjoyed the PROMOTION theme and Waseely's NOVA review!
ReplyDeleteFAVs: Right at sea & Left at sea; Lower a pitch?; and Features of some islands
Just for the curious about waseeley's reference to Phone Phreaking and Cap'n Crunch...
ReplyDeleteTo add to Bill's expo, John Draper figured out that the whistle in a box of cereal would fool the phone-switches -- free pay-phone calls could be made by blowing the toy into the mouth-piece. Here's an interview [58:58 - There's an Apple tie-in re: The Woz].
The 2600Hz frequency of the Cap'n Crunch whistle was perfect for hacking calls.
And to this day, there's a hacker publication called 2600 [It's mostly amateur-hacking but still fun stuff]
Cheers, -T
Jinx @ 9:44 -- maybe it was checksum error? I know my brain gets foggy betimes.
ReplyDelete