We welcome constructor Joe Hansen, who made his NYT debut on
April 14, 2020; got another puzzle under his belt there on October 12, 2020; and has also published in the WSJ -- now he's ready for
the big time! His theme for this puzzle ...
DEPENDS ON HOW YOU SLICE IT
... and Joe swears by it in his reveal:
36A. Instruction before
an oath, and a feature of 20-, 31-, 43-, and 54-Across:
REPEAT AFTER ME.
... suggesting that the meanings of the fills for his punny theme clues depend on how they're parsed:
20A. Line dance that's actually a hustle?:
CON GAME CONGA or
CONGA ME CONGA.
43A. Singer DiFranco, as portrayed in Japanese cartoons?: ANIME ANI or ANI ME ANI.
I thought this theme was pretty clever. Here's the grid:
Across:
1. Boast: BRAG. "Mine is better" is a mind game that even animals play:
5. Mil. truant: AWOL.
9. Witch played by Elizabeth Olsen in Marvel films: WANDA. It looks like the Marvel Universe has replaced OPERA for the GEN* generations. The googleverse seems divided over whether DIVA Wanda Maximoff (aka The Scarlet Witch) is a heroine or or a villain:
14. "Othello" villain: IAGO. In Verdi's OPERA Otello, derived from Shakespeare's play, this guy is definitely a villain:
16. Dude who might ask, "Have you tried turning it off and on again?": IT GUY. The last resort when the 3 finger salute doesn't work.
17. Some agts.: G MEN.
18. __-steven: EVEN.
19. Sparkly stone: GEODE. Here's how GEODES form.
 |
| Amethyst Geode |
23. "What's your point?": AND. ... AND we might ask the same about this clue of Joe.
.
24. "Sick!": RAD. It use to be GOOD and then it was BAD and now it's SICK.
25. Quiets: HUSHES.
29. "Coming soon" ad: TEASER.
31. [Theme clue]
33. Like many mountain roads: TWISTY.
35. Hotmail provider: MSN. Microsoft Network, a web portal run by the company originally founded by Bill Gates. Their IT GUYS often resort to strategy 16A when they're stumped, also known at "Getting out of the car and getting back in again".
36. [Theme reveal]
41. Mint alternative: GUM.
42. Blood line?: ARTERY. They are also life lines, which with the VEINS, comprise our amazing cardiovascular system.
 |
| Anatomy of an Artery |
47. Girls in the family: NIECES. We have seven. One of them is an RN who interned at the clinic that produced the article for 42A.
51. Emotional strain: STRESS.
52. Request: ASK.
53. Regret: RUE. In addition to its extensive use in crossword puzzles, it is also the common name of the herb Ruta graveolens. Native to the Balkan Peninsula, it is known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, and is grown as an ornamental plant and medicinal herb. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluish leaves, and sometimes for its tolerance of hot and dry soil conditions. It seems to have multiple-personalities, cultivated as a culinary herb, and to a lesser extent as an insect repellent and incense.
 |
| Common Rue |
58. Bear in the WWF logo: PANDA. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment.
62. Like items at a thrift shop: USED.
63. "How fun!": OH BOY.
64. DoorDash link: MENU. DoorDash, Inc. is an American company that operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It went public in December 2020 on NYSE and trades under the symbol DASH. They were a major life line to many during the COVID pandemic. It looks like they might also be helpful if you contract the munchies.
65. Cuba libre ingredient: COKE. The origins of the Cuba Libre cocktail can be traced to 1900 and to a U.S. Army captain who was stationed in Havana during the Spanish-American War. Here's a recipe with a dash of history.
 |
| Cuba libre |
66. Becomes more friendly: THAWS.
67. Support, with "up": PROP.
68. Cabbage unit: HEAD.
Down:
1. Member of the genus Panthera: BIG CAT. Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae
that was named and described by Lorenz Oken in 1816, who placed all the
spotted cats in this group. The classification of the genus was
revised in 1916 to include the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard on the
basis of common cranial features. The genus name evokes the black panther, which is actually a leopard with large amounts of the dark pigment melanin in the animal’s fur and skin.
 |
| Black Panther |
3. Meeting guide: AGENDA. I've used this before, but I can't seem to get it out of my CABBAGE UNIT ...
Here's the only biographical info I could find - in a capsule review to her book Voices of the Gong.
5. Beyoncé song that samples Schubert: AVE MARIA.
6. Greeted wordlessly: WAVED.
7. Intl. oil group: OPEC.
8. Longtime NBC host: LENO.
9. Ralph of "The Simpsons" who said, "Me, fail English? That's unpossible": WIGGUM.
10. "You can relax now": AT EASE.
11. Oxfam, e.g.: NGO. Oxfam is a Non-Governmental Organization.
12. Disappointment: DUD.
13. Sailor's yes: AYE.
21. "__ having fun yet?": ARE WE. I am. I hope you are too.
22. School org. for top students: NHS. The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achievement), leadership, service, and character.
27. Otherwise: ELSE.
28. Govt.-issued ID: SSN.
30. Valvoline rival: STP.
31. Classic arcade name: ATARI.
32. Uber alternative: LYFT. We tried UBER in New York, but they couldn't get to you any quicker than the cabs. We did use LYFT during an anniversary get away to Washington, D.C. just prior to the onset of the pandemic. They arrived promptly, were reasonably priced, and we liked the service. But then DC has a lot less traffic than NY.
34. Suffix meaning "land": STAN. E.g. the land of the AFGHANS.
36. Litter's smallest: RUNT.
37. Mideast title: EMIR.
38. Started to freeze: TENSED UP.
39. "Get Out" actress Alexander: ERIKA. Erika Rose Alexander (born November 19, 1969) is an American actress, writer, producer, entrepreneur and activist best known for her roles as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1990–1992), and Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom Living Single (1993–1998). Her film credits include The Long Walk Home (1990), 30 Years to Life (2001), Déjà Vu (2006) and Get Out (2017), in the role of Detective Latoya.
 |
| Erika Alexander |
41. Tank filler: GAS.
44. Grassy expanse: MEADOW.
45. Op-ed pieces: ESSAYS.
46. Sch. with a Phoenix campus: ASU. Arizona State University is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the U.S. Paul Davies, one of my favorite physicists, is on their faculty.
49. California city on Humboldt Bay: EUREKA. Humboldt Bay was unknown to non-natives until explorer Josiah Gregg discovered it in 1849 and named it for the genius Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859), a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science.
50. Like some 40-Down bread: SEEDED. Specifically with caraway seeds, the source of its characteristic rye flavor.
52. __ acid: AMINO. The constructor's favorite acid - short, three vowels, and linked to two of their other favorite acids: RNA and DNA.
55. Skate park feature: RAMP.
56. At any time: EVER.
57. "No __ luck!": SUCH.
58. Cauldron: POT. I've made a few POTS over the years, but never any CAULDRONS, which are usually made from iron. You'd need a special clay body called flameware, with ingredients that make it resistant to thermal shock when the ware is exposed to direct flame. The body has low plasticity and is thus difficult to throw, it tends to warp, and it doesn't work well with glazes.
59. "That feels nice!": AHH.
60. Org. with Cavs and Mavs: NBA. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks are in the NBA Central Division and Southwest Division, respectively.
Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
39 comments:
I understood the gimmick (which might be called “me time”) from the first themed fill. It also didn’t hurt that the reveal was placed in the middle of the puzzle, making the last two themed fills that much easier to get. I didn’t find this puzzle all that difficult, and thought the gimmick was pretty clever. FIR, so I’m happy.
Robinson CRUSO charged fees quite tidy,
As a business consultant on efficiency.
He'd try to amend a
Faulty AGENDA.
He set an example, with all work done by Friday!
He TENSED UP and STARTED TO FREEZE.
An officer nearby tried to put him AT EASE.
That worked for a while,
The the Sarge, with a smile,
Made him walk two miles on his knees!
AL'S MEALS was easy, the revealer fell quickly, and the only real troubling spot was the NE. W made sense for _ANDA/_IGGUM, but does it still count as a Natick? (I'll do my usual "here's how you can make this grid at least slightly better" shtick and say that WASTE ITEMS GETIT as NE acrosses would remove the Natick anyway). NHS WIGGUM HAMM were all unknown, luckily HUSHES (crossing all three) was right.
I got a time I'd expect on a Tuesday. Turns out the solve felt longer to me than it actually was.
Good morning!
Thought of BRAG at 1A, but what BIG CAT begins with a B? So, d-o went with CROW and COUGAR. (Have I ever mentioned...?) He also went sideways with COla/COKE. Was thinking Mad About You when I saw Mad Men, so it was HUNT rather than HAMM. Already had the "ARIA" part of the Madonna song, then wondered what an AVEM ARIA could be? D'oh. How can d-o go wrong? Let me count the ways... The W and N in WANDA were my final WAGs. Thanx, Joe and Waseeley. (Isn't WWF the World Wildlife Fund?)
D-O @5:46AM Thanx for fixin' that D-O.
SG @4:04 AM I wish I'd thought of that. 🤔
FIR, somehow. Trouble in Maine. I was sure "oxfam" was some kind of soup, I only know the main characters of The Simpsons, and had to finally give up agate for GEODE. Also erased all meals for ALS MEALS, lime for COKE, (I've never snorted lime, nor have I ever smoked cauldron), warms for THAWS, and aah for AHH.
Couldn't figure out how a PANDA got on a rasslin' league's logo.
I was gonna wag wise about Crusoe getting his work done by Friday, but OKL beat me in time and eloquence.
Thanks to Joe for the workout. I didn't hate it enough to add your name to my "don't bother" constructors list. And thanks to Bill and Teri for providing much needed clarification.
Liked the theme! Never watched The Simpsons, but feel like I’ve learned most the characters through crossword.
FIR, but it was a workout. The NE gave me fits, especially with the crossing of two proper names, my least favorite CW thing, and I knew neither of them.
Got the theme half way through, and that helped with the bottom of the puzzle.
Today's puzzle took 6:05 for me to see "me."
I didn't know today's actress (Erika), or the song (Ave Maria) as clued by today's female singer (Beyonce), but knew today's female character (Wanda).
I knew "Wiggum" as the policeman on The Simpson's, but didn't know he had a child.
I enjoyed seeing Eureka last summer after visiting Redwood National Park.
Fun theme from Joe today - only hesitation was on A SURE MEASURE because A SURE was two words and all the others were one word or one word names with the ME inserted.
9A WANDA was a gimme as I really enjoyed the series WANDAVISION where Wanda transports herself into different sitcoms over the years like the Dick VanDyke Show, The Brady Bunch, etc to create a idyllic homelife
That helped with filling in WIGGUM since- like Anon at 703- I have never watched the Simpsons
I know most of the characters from crosswords - but Ralph WIGGUM is one the lesser characters as far as frequency where as Moe, Apu, Otto, even Homer's D'oh are frequent flyers.
Gotta get to work - thanks Bill & Teri!
Hola!
Sigh. I'm so lacking in current culture and so did not know WANDA or WIGGUM and left them blank which is something I hate to do but it has been happening more and more lately.
REPEATAFTERME. Oh! Now I get it.
I'll take a CSO at ASU, my second Alma Mater.
GUM and WIGGUM? I'm surprised.
Somehow, I don't associate Beyonce with AVE MARIA.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Sometimes you feel like an idiot because you can't see the forest for the trees. I'd filled CONGA ME CONGA, by perps wondering if a game was also named CONGA. Duh! It's a CON GAME. I noticed the REPEAT AFTER ME when I filled ALS MEALS. last fill was a WAG to finish two unknowns-WANDA & WIGGUM. HAMM, ERIKA, NGO- others filled by perps.
Never seen a Marvel film, seen a Simpsons' show, knowingly listened to any punk rock music, or really know any Beyonce music by name; Her name is always in the news and she has a sister that lived in NOLA. ANI DiFranco still does.
HAMM- I missed all 92 episodes. ERIKA- missed those Cosby shows too.
LYFT- when we go to NYC we order a 'limo' from one of those 666 or 777 numbers. Cheaper than a taxi.
Good Morning:
The theme was clever enough, but not very challenging for a Thursday, IMO. Typically, my unknowns were proper names: Wanda, Wiggum, and Erika. I stumbled over Techy/IT Guy and Tum/Gum, both short-lived, thanks to perps. I, too, would never dream of a Beyoncé/Ave Maria connection.
Thanks, Joe, for a smooth solve and thanks, Bill, for another outstanding review. I enjoyed the Dr. Seuss video with one of my favorites, John Lithgow, narrating. Ditto for the Mad Men clip, as I binge-watched all of the seasons just last year. That series portrayed that era and its mores with perfect precision. The video of the non-pianist left me scratching my head, but the breadth of the menu for Al Pacino’s Pizza was jaw-dropping. Thanks, also, to Teri, your gal Friday!
Another snowstorm due late tomorrow. I guess Mother Nature and Old Man Winter have decided that it’s time we pay the piper!
Have a great day.
Musings
-What a clever theme! I plodded through the NE (WANDA/WIGGUM) but “got ‘er done”.
-I love these two-layered gimmicks. I saw the “beginning and ending word the same” idea but it took the reveal to see the very satisfying ME in the middle.
-One IT GUY where I sub has only five classes and the other four off. I always take his job first.
-Some TEASERS show the few good scenes in a real stinker
-Panthera – I’m not immune to learning
-I did extremely well on standardized tests but never made The National Honor Society because homework didn’t really interest me and my grades were “meh”.
-We loved UBER in D.C. Parking alone at our hotel would have been $35/night.
-That CRUSOE is not our three-syllable Anonymous T
-I was raised on grilled cheese sandwiches on Wonder Bread. DW’s use of RYE changed all that!
-Bill, I enjoyed your write-up and smart music choices.
FIR with an echo theme: the first word is repeated "After Me", the initial clue mentions "hustle" and got me looking for more Found GAMECON but nothing inside the "Pacino" clue or in ANIMEANI. So I sought that which more that was not there. 🙄
Only able to fillWIGGUM cuz I knew WANDA. Most of the rest of the fill was not complicated.
NHS: I wuz the prezadint of ours. 🤓
"I Wanna be Sedated" ...Jackson (Michael) wouldn't fit.
Said good bye wordlessly to the right to a lawyer i.e....WAVED
My grandkids claim I'm _____.... ATEASE
Two sailors in agreement see ___ to ___...AYE.
My Deli sandwich is leaking, the mustard is "coming thru the ____ ...RYE
Saw "The Whale" yesterday. A brilliant film, joins my list of the best I've seen. Brendan Fraser incredible for both acting and enormous (and he was enormous!) physical demands of the role.
Thank you, Joe Hansen, and thank you, Waseeley
OK, I am now fully convinced that (at least for me) it is easy week, although this one put up some stiff resistance in the NE corner. I could picture Ralph WIGGUM in my mind's eye and had the last three letters. That area fell after remembering an article I scanned (from a link here?) about WANDAvision, and then police chief WIGGUM came to mind. Yes, his son is Ralph.
Anyway, I got ALS MEALS first just because I don't solve in any predetermined order. Shortly after that, CON GAME CONGA fell and the theme pattern was recognized. I'm sure theme recognition is aided, along with solving ability, when you solve three to five crossword puzzles every day.* Then the perfect reveal, REPEAT AFTER ME was proof positive.
CON GAME CONGA and ANIME ANI were my favorite theme answers.
I am more familiar with EUREKA, Missouri than the one in California, but there is a series on the Magnolia network called "The Craftsman" that often features clips of the scenic town in California.
What are those kidney beans and cough drops? doing in Bill's ARTERY image ?
* Except on the weekends. And I totally whiffed on the Auto Correct theme that Dash T blogged a Sunday or so ago, breezing right past two key elements of that theme - shift and gears. That was a tough puzzle to blog. Hard to describe what what happening, but he nailed it.
Nobody else could see "Beyonce" and read it as "Madonna." What a talent!
A breeze today, except for the NE corner. When AT EASE fell, it was a d'oh moment for this ex GI. The usual bunch of pop-cul unknowns, but fairly perped except WANDA & WIGGUM.
D-O @10:00 AM Well after all MADONNA is an epithet for the lady prayed to in the AVE MARIA 🙏
Tricky Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Joe, and waseely and Teri
Officially a FIW, but I did get the theme early in the game. That helped the solve
But I arrived here to discover that the Bear was not V AND A (my cauldron was a Vat, which also gave me AH BOY)
I also always think of Edi instead of ANI. And I really wanted STAN instead of Stad. (I think of those SSRs like Kazakhstan)
I noted RUE and “disappointment”, but it turned out to be DUD.
Also WANDA and PANDA (ok I had Vanda).
I thought THAWS was going to go with 38D “started to freeze”, but TENSED UP matched STRESS better (but we also had AT EASE).
I thought of the usual aorta before ARTERY.
Unknown names perped as they should.
Hand up for Bad before RAD.
Wishing you all a great day
Good Morning! Good Thursday puzzle.... mostly. Thanks Joe, and welcome.
Got all but the NE... again. This corner has got me two days in a row.
DNK WANDA or WIGGUM, so downhill from there. Got AYE then filling techy instead of IT GUY stopped me in my tracks.
Looked for the Italian word for meals and found pasti, but that wouldn't work, so never got the theme until I read the recap. Thanks, Bill. And thanks for the GONG performance. Fascinating!! I see thing here on the Blog I would never think to seek out on my own.
I support NWF on my visa card, so I knew the PANDA. Very unhappy that Amazon shut down AmazonSmile. I used it to support Lab Rescue. Apparently, donations that make people feel good about spending did not fit Amazon's agenda....
OH BOY! I see that 43A was part of the theme. ANI should have been a given. D’uh!
D-O & Waseeley, Just checked my card. The PANDA is in the Logo for NWF and the WWF. Apparently different, but similar.
Amazed to get the NE mess with WANDA and WIGGUM correct. But OH JOY was not correct. The cross did not help me.
Totally did not get CON GAME until I came here. Thanks!
We saw this BIG CAT in Madagascar.
But it was not in the wild. Someone had just caught it and put it in a pen for us to see. They were going to release it later. If you saw the movie Madagascar, this BIG CAT features in a big way. We only watched the movie after our travels.
From Late Last Night:
Wilbur Charles Thank you for the kind words about me and my MARDI GRAS KREW MATES. My artist friend Ann did it as a major labor of love. She married one of my friends from grad school who had the income to support her big art projects. He is the KREW MATE in the tall black scary puppet. Sadly, they divorced some years later. I think she was married and divorced several times. Even more sad to lose her to cancer while she still had lots of big art in her.
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR after a cheat or two
Clever theme and a very informative recap, as always, Mr. Bill and Ms. Teri
Woke up this morning and saw snow on the nearby mountains (4,000')
CSO to my partner Margaret (ASU); her son is an instructor at one of the Phoenix campus sites for Arizona State University
Tuesday come on a Thursday this week. I enjoyed this CW very much, and managed to FIR in what (for me) is record time for a Thursday. (I said earlier I wasn’t gonna post my times anymore but 11 minutes is absolutely unreal for me for a Thursday, so I’m gonna BRAG a bit.) The theme is clever, and managing to put 5 theme fills into a starboard grid is quite the accomplishment. And only 8 names, by my count. Thanx for this fun CW, JH! Bill, another masterful write-up, fun, entertaining, informative. Thank you so much for all your effort.
&$@%# autocorrect: that was supposed to say “standard grid” not “starboard grid”.
Fun Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Joe. And I always enjoy your commentary, Bill and Teri, thanks for that too.
Wonder if the IT GUY enjoyed being AWOL until the GMEN showed up to check out the MENU at AL'S MEALS, and ordered a COKE to go with their sandwich. This made the IT GUY a bit ill aT EASE and he TENSED UP a bit. But his boss in the group WAVED at him and asked him what food he'd recommend, and this THAWed his STRESS and so he survived his AWOL and VAPEd an e-cig to comfort himself.
Have a pleasant day, everybody.
All in all it was easy except for the NE. I missed the Wanda/Wiggum cross, like many of you. I liked the theme, and having it revealed early speeded the solve. I had BITCAT. What? Then it became BIG CAT. For geode I was looking for a gem at first. They can be called stones, too.
FIR Thursday and a big relief it was. Pretty fast and easy. Thanks, Joe, for a debut puzzle here with an impressive theme.
The second half of the themers (especially after the reveal) was automatic fill. My only WO was changing vat to POT (Hi, C Eh!) And the W in WANDA and WIGGUM was a WAG for me too, as you earlier posters mentioned. Some days you just get lucky.
Thanks, waseeley and Teri, for the review, both entertaining and useful as we've come to expect from you all. We appreciate your work.
Hope everyone is doing well today!
Gary, I was worse than you. I never tóok a book home in HS or did homework at home. If I did it in class, fine but that was all I would do. I would ace most tests but get a B or C on the report card for not doing homework. But chemistry, physics, and advanced math teachers gave me A's. They weren't concerned with busy work.
Terrific theme, wonderful puzzle...definitely put a smile on face! Thank you, Joe, and waseeley for the review!
A Hansen PZL, introduced by waseeley..
This was a pleasant challenge, not too tough, occasionally tricky, with only one write-over (COKE for COLA).
Did not realize that AVE MARIA is now identified as a "Beyonce song"...
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one to a side.
The near side offers an anagram (12 of 15) that designates, in politically incorrect fashion, low or parasitical persons, generally female, who resort to poetry to celebrate their dissolute lifestyle.
I speak of...
"SKANKER BARDS"!
WWF, yep, I too thought rasslin
Did I think the theme was clever ? ME too
Along with honors classes I was in a gang. I noticed one was allowed one book. So I took my French book home; Mrs Riley was not to be ignored
AT EASE in drill is just a different form of Attention! Rest! allows one to be at ease in the sense of "Relax"
OMK I saw SPANKER BARDS and envisioned a Lady of the night who recites poetry while delivering
Am I the only one who found this difficult? I worked it reverse circumferential. Since the witch wasn't zeNDA I WAG 'ed WANDA
I don't think not I knew a single pop-cul ref save AL
WC
I liked the theme gimmick in this puzzle, which I thought was very imaginative.
Um, a PANDA is not a bear.
I was looking for an actual species as a "Member of the genus Panthera" and put in COUGAR at first. Frankly I was disappointed the answer was simply BIG CAT.
Both of our grandchildren are graduates of ASU in Tempe.
Good wishes to you all.
I never would have gotten a FIR without the ME theme. Still needed Waseely's write-up to see the puns. Thanks, Waseely & Teri! I especially liked the GONG performance.
BobCAT before BIGCAT.
"I Wanna Be Sedated" is on my playlist for long runs.
CSO to my DD (dear dog), MEADOW.
Unclefred@11:32. I missed your post when you said you weren't going to post your times anymore. I always like seeing your times because I am usually just a bit longer than you. Seeing your times helps me gage my progress. I'd be happy to see you start posting them again...but that's just my 2-cents.
DNF! I couldn’t figure out the NE corner. Glad to see that I’m not the only one who didn’t know WANDA or WIGGUM, and I’ve never watched ONE minute of The Simpsons. I’ll say no more….
I did get the theme answers. In fact, 35A was one of my first fills. I tried RAISEYOURHAND, but I quickly saw that it wasn’t correct. Figuring out that it was REPEATAFTERME, I was able to get the other theme answers. I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did as quickly as I did had it not been for the theme.
Well done, Joe!
Thanks, Teri and Bill!
I don't usually watch The Tonight Show all the way to the end but tonight Steven Spielberg was fascinating! I've never heard him speak before and John Williams, too! I wish I had thought to record it. And I did not realize The Fabelmans was autobiographical. They are such geniuses.
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