Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with today's recap of a puzzle by Katie Hale. The theme of this creation seemed to me to be simultaneously a tad "forced" (but, hey, it's a crossword puzzle) and quite clever (which is the stuff that keeps us coming back to solve them day after day). Let's go straight to the reveal as it seems, with a nod to Maria, to be a very good place to start:
38 Across: Classic demonstration, and a way to describe the relationship between each starred clue and its answer: TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE. A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE of something is, as the clue says, a classic or perfectly illustrative instance of something. In the case of today's puzzle, however, our puzzle setter has creatively combined abbreviations used in texting with book titles. TEXT and BOOK. The TEXTing abbreviations form the clues and the BOOKs form the answers. One might say that we are dealing with Literal (literary) examples:
Here are the four places where the theme is employed:
16 Across: *LOL OMG: THE DIVINE COMEDY. LOL and OMG = "Laughing Out Loud" and "Oh My God" in text-speak. Either/both could be a reaction to something comedic. The reference is to this book:
22 Across: *CU soon: ON THE ROAD. CU = "See You" in text-speak. As in, e.g, "I am on the road but will see you soon." The reference is to this book:
51 Across: *SRY: ATONEMENT. SRY is text-speak for "(I'm) Sorry" and atonement is the act of making amends for one's misdeeds. The reference is to this book:
62 Across: *TMI: NOTES ON A SCANDAL. TMI = text-speak for Too Much Information. The reference is to this book:
In each instance the perps were a big help in sussing out the correct answers. Here is how the completed grid looks (please ignore the yellow and orange highlighting as it is a product of the Crossword Nexus solver and in this instance has no meaning):
, , , and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
37. Old-fashioned before: ERE. Able was I ERE I saw Elba.
42. Indifferent review: MEH.
43. Queues: LINES. British English.
44. Fission target: ATOM.
45. Hindu title: SRI. Remember this guy?
47. Place for a paraffin body wrap: SPA.
49. __ choy: BOK. The vegetable.
8. Make a lasting impression?: ETCH.
9. Green arboreal snake: MAMBA. Was Rosemary Clooney singing about a snake?
10. Had to scramble to get out the door, perhaps: OVERSLEPT.
11. Calf-length skirt: MIDI.
24. Palm fruits: DATES.
28. Number of suspects in Clue: SIX. The answer was going to be a number three letters in length. One, two, six and ten were the suspects.
30. "Alligator Boy" in a 2021 Netflix animated film: ARLO. Unknown to this solver.
31. Judge to be: DEEM.
32. Places for taking notes?: ATMS. We can take banknotes out of ATMS (Automatic Teller MachineS).
33. __ garden: BEER. Hands up for those who first tried ROSE.
34. Put on display: EXHIBITED. One of those clues where the verb can be either present or past tense.
35. Accord maker: HONDA. Not as in treaty or pact.
36. Barinholtz of "History of the World, Part II": IKE. Ah, the TV series not the movie.
39. Chaps: BLOKES.
41. Polite address: MA'AM.
52. Kids' batting game: T-BALL.
53. Fertile spots: OASES.
54. __ Bauer: EDDIE. Me and EDDIE have a clothes relationship.
55. Gets warmer?: NEARS. As in the kids game Hot And Cold.
56. Chaucer works: TALES. Yet another book reference.
39 comments:
This puzzle wasn’t too tough, especially for a Friday. The hardest thing for me to get was the “k” in “Malek.” Other than that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR without erasure. You would think that I would have enjoyed completing this Friday puzzle under those circumstances, but you would be wrong. Best approximation is MEH.
Today is:
ROSA PARKS DAY (true American hero)
WORLD AIDS DAY (treatment pioneer Magic Johnson is still going strong)
NATIONAL EAT A RED APPLE DAY (what do they have against the doctor?)
NATIONAL BARTENDER DAY (make mine a virgin boilermaker, please)
NATIONAL PIE DAY (thought that was March 14)
ANTARCTICA DAY (this one leaves me cold)
FAUX FUR FRIDAY (not always worn by faux people)
DAY WITHOUT ART (Paul (Simon) likes his days without Art)
BIFOCALS AT THE MONITOR LIBERATION DAY (hey buddy – you need to get your eyes examined!)
Didn't see the book connection to the theme answers, just example phrases. Didn't really understand NOTES ON A SCANDAL, but now it makes sense.
PETA's world HQ is about a mile from my house. Generally, nice neighbors.
FLN - Big Easy - Stones are jazz now? So to get a ticket in hand, I would have to shell out what - $300? I would love to see a breakdown of who gets what from the concert. Probably TMI. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson, JINX CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
Thanks to our MalMan for the fun review. Welcome back!
Good morning!
This one took some pondering -- just right for a late-week pzl. D-o recognized the themers as book titles, even if he failed to read the full reveal clue. There were a few unknown proper names, as clued -- ABEL, IKE, ARLO, MALEK. But the perps were kind, so no foul. Thanx, Katie and Mal-Man.
ONBOARDING -- back formations are the theme of this weeks A Word A Day. Don't know why, but this one reminded me of Johnny Cash's "he was speeched and honored" in The Ballad Of Ira Hayes.
OUGHTA -- "Really must" seems excessive. To d-o, "oughta" seems more closely related to "not gonna."
BAUER -- It was the maiden name of my paternal grandmother.
ATMS -- There are several Aggie alums in our town, and many of them fly the school flag. It's a large T bracketed by A and M. It reads "ATM."
AVIA -- I've got an almost-new (ie: less than a year old) pair of Skechers. This morning I noticed that the tread on the right shoe has almost totally separated from the shoe body. I'll try to glue it back together, but I'm not hopeful.
Places for taking notes, had ARMS before I had ATMS. My misspent youth.
FIR. Seemed like a typical Friday puzzle. Several unknowns for me, mostly proper names (yuk, ugh) that there would be no chance of my ever knowing. I knew all the books except "Notes on a Scandal".
This was challenging and the fact that I finished pleases me.
Good Morning:
I agree with MalMan that the theme was clever but also a tad shaky in translation. All of the titles are familiar but the only one I have actually read is Atonement. I saw the movie Notes On A Scandal but didn't realize there was a book, also. As usual, the unknowns were all proper names, i.e., Abel, Ike, Arlo, and SNICK. The straightforward theme was a nice change of pace from the usual add/subtract a letter. My first thought at ___ garden was Rock, but I waited for perps to give me Beer. I found some of the cluing uneven, difficulty-wise, and the six fill-in-the-blank clues lowered the bar even more so, IMO.
Thanks, Kate, and thanks, MalMan for the fair and balanced and informative critique. As always, all of your puns brought chuckles and smiles but the Socially Inept Cat walking away on her Faux Pas cracked me up!
BobB @ 6:54 ~ 🤣
Have a great day.
Malodorous Manatee marshalls in the month. "Rabbit, rabbit" as they usta say here. Welcome back. Thanks, Katie Hale
Ngl TBH FTW, so Obv Np, but still SMH, cause Iykyk, and Iydkydk. LOL!
Three gridspanners. I like gridspanners. I also liked the juxtaposition of TEXTBOOK. Well done, Katie.
I also like the term BEER garden. Biergartens originated in Bavaria. Here's one we had fun at just NE of Austin: Walburg German Restaurant
I'd only heard of two of the books. The first two. As MM wrote, perps were heavily relied upon.
We just had Rami MALEK on Tuesday? He was great (Oscar winner) as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody (really good movie if you like Queen's music).
ABEL (The Weeknd) is a Canadian (Scarborough - on the east side of Trono). Obligatory SO to CanadianEh!
NAW, never heard of Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh. Might make for a good name for a CW clue someday. Or not!
Tesla EXHIBITED their new Cybertruck in a race against a Porsche 911, while pulling a trailer with a Porsche 911 on it.
SNICK is new to me.
RN, I'm at EOJ on these comments. No cap, so FN, TGIF. TTYL.
The puzzle was a breeze in spite of the ridiculous theme. Yet another example of a constructor trying to "out-clever" all other constructors...and failing.
Took 7:47 today for me to close the book on writing the text.
The unknowns today for me: snick(?), Amy, Abel, Arlo, Ike, & Ionia.
I knew today's actress (Toni, from "The Sixth Sense").
Maybe that's a good omen for this Weeknd....
TTP, the best beergarden I've visited is in the English Garden in Munich. Best beer, best garden.
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Katie and MalMan.
I FIRed in good Friday time and saw the TEXTBOOK theme.
Perps were friendly for any unknown names.
Two inkblots: Hims (I thought Patti might be testing us) changed to MOMS, and Baton changed to HIT IT (yes there is no middle O in one, two, ,SIX or ten.)
The Wknd is a Canadian (thanks TTP), but I needed perps for his name. Abel is usually clued as one of the biblical brothers.
IKE is usually clued as DDE.
I thought of Nope before NAW.
Thanks for explaining SNICK, which perped but was still unknown to me.
The clue for HIRE still has be scratching my head. “Send” doesn’t seem the best verb to use.
Wishing you all a great day.
Good Morning! I saw Katie Hale’s name and proceeded with trepidation. I am not usually on her wavelength, but when the NW came together, I forged ahead. Today’s puzzle was clever and fun to work. Thanks Katie!
No WOs – Yea!!
ESP for ABEL, ARLO, IKE and SNICK.
MalMan, your riddles and jokes are a hoot! Your review was a delight to read.
Think of a new hire being sent to training on the company rules, especially, & culture.
Not a bad offering for a Friday. FIR. Knew the clues were textspeak and proceeded appropriately. Didn't know they were all book titles. The reveal was spot on.
Wanted an hErb garden before BEER appeared, but I wasn't far off since hops are herbs. My hand is up for BoyS before BEDS. We are lucky it was only a green MAMBA, the black ones are the nastiest and deadliest.
Katie gave us a complex problem today and MM a complete solution. Many thanks to both for their efforts.
Dance with the one that brung ya.
Smart.
I couldn't disagree more with the anonymous poster who deemed the theme 'ridiculous'; I thought it was tremendously clever and well executed. Coming up with original themes that are fun to solve is *not* easy. I tip my hat to you, Katie!
IFIR, but needed perps for most of the proper names, not MALIK however since he’s been making frequent appearances lately.
I was puzzled by HIRE clued as send for onboarding(?)
MM generously cleared up some unknowns. So, no complaints.
Thanks Katie for the easy for a Friday FIR. IMHO this puzzle must have had very HUMBLE ROOTS.
And thanks MalMan for the explication, all the dad jokes and the GIFfy review.
Some favs:
19A GAP. Yeah, but did you TURN ON and TUNE OUT first?
61A DEA. Does their LOGO inspire perps to get high to generate more business?
68A BEDS. Hand up.
28D SIX. But that makes FOUR suspects MM, with only THREE slots to pin them on.
33D BEER. No I got BEER right away, although the correct spelling is BIER.
Cheers,
Bill
FLN
I posted this question late last night: Has anyone heard from Yellowrocks? We haven't seen her lately, or maybe I missed her.
Desper-otto, I wasn't familiar. So I looked it up. I spent plenty of time in the big brewery bierhalles and tents during my Octoberfest vists. We slept in our sleeping bags somewhere nearby (maybe in the English Garden), but I don't specifically recall where. Seeing the biergartens in the English Garden public park reminds me of being able to buy bottles of bier from sidewalk vending machines in Mannheimn and Ludwigshafen.
CanadianEh, I had(have) the same reservation about the clue "Send for onboarding" for the answer HIRE. I agree about the disconnect. If it had been "Send on to onboarding" or "Send off to onboarding" I would have found it slightly more acceptable. But I don't think either is implied in the clue. So even with those additions, barely.
It's one of those clues that I think IM was referring to when she said "too cutesy." I think that perhaps the clue author just wanted to work the word onboarding into the clue. How about, "Process step before onboarding?", but then it would need to have the gerund, so HIRING, and that wouldn't work either. The clue "Employ" or "Contract with" would have been more acceptable alternatives for the HIRE answer.
Anonymous at 9:47, she's a smart cookie. I don't think she fails to understand what onboarding means. The issue is the verb usage. It's clunky.
Hola!
"Clunky". That is an apt description. Otherwise, I liked having to think through this puzzle. That is always a plus for me.
Some parents is a vague clue, but once I had MIDI, MOMS went in.
So, ARLO Guthrie has been displaced by a new model.
IMO, TONI Collette is a really good, though underrated, actress whom I first saw in Little Miss Sunshine.
Since someone asked about Yellowrocks, I sent her an e-mail but have not received an answer. I'll check again.
Last night I received word that one of my nephews had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. This morning the report is that he has four blockages. I am praying that the damage is minimal but it does not sound good. Asking for prayers for him.
Have a fine day, everyone!
Musings
-Husker Gary here, I’m subbing and forgot my MacBook at home and so I am soldiering on with this PC.
-This was a challenge and still fun to do
-GAP YEAR: I was in a gated community. OK, (I was in jail)
-Our transitioning student here has chosen the name ASH
-Disney QUES can seem to be endless
-The DEA agent in Better Call Saul came to a violent end in the desert
-I’ve had “buttoned up” students who really LET GO on the stage
-Thanksgiving can be ruined by VOICING your opinion
-T-BALL is great when young pitchers cannot throw strikes
-I had a student last year whose name was EDDIE. I called him Fast Eddie and of course he had no idea of the reference to the Paul Newman character
-ONBOARDING for new teachers is hit and miss at best.
I tried looking for Yellowrocks last post, but the search function on the Blog is next to useless with my Ad overloaded IPad..
If anyone has info on Yellowrocks,
We are concerned...
I came to the Corner today to thank Katie Hale for a really enjoyable, and doable, puzzle ... only to discover that I didn't really *get* it until MalMan explained the books in the examples. Even better! So clever. Everyone is weak on something -- actors, film and TV are not my strong suits -- but hey, I knew SNICK, and perps in general were generous. FIR and liked it.
Snick crossing malek?
I dunno if "42" is the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but 42A is the answer to this puzzle...
In case you wanted to learn something by reading a book, here is a textbook example...
The clues for ETCH, ATM, and IVORY were great examples of the kind of clever misdirection that makes a puzzle fun. Unfortunately, the rest of the grid, not so much. I'll have to Echo Irish Miss on this one. And...meh too, Jinx!
I can describe my feelings about texting abbreviations in one word-MEH. When did people get so lazy. The only reason I managed to FIR ( a C.C. abbr.) is due to perps. When I write a text I dictate it to my phone so autocorrect doesn't change the words, proofread it, and then send it. SRY is one I've never seen.
After finally filling OUGHTA the middle of the puzzle opened up. Wanted SHOULD but it wouldn't work.
There's no ASH left on my GAS grill or under my griddle.
ABEL, TONI, ARLO, IKE- unknowns
Never heard of SNICK or "Clarissa Explains It All", NOTES ON A SCANDAL, or 'onboarding'; thought it might be a naval expression- embarking or disembarking. Getting 'on board' is usually the bosses way of telling others to get to work as a team. Maybe after he HIREs someone he brings him 'on board', but the process? 'Onboarding'-NAW.
Jinx- for that $300 you have to BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR. But there are thousands of people who buy tickets for all 6-7 days. Total attendance last year was 475,000. First it was ARETHA cancelling TWICE due to health problems; then it was the Stones cancelling twice to health problems. Jagger is 80, Richards is 79, Ron Woods is only 76.
What JDB said. I FIR, which is a nice start to the weekend. I thought the theme was clever, and I don’t think it’s ever been used before. I liked the “textspeak”, which is sort of for younger folks paired with classics that most of the older folks know. Of course, all ages in the Corner are savvy in both!
I do agree with several that the “onboarding” clue was pretty obtuse. I liked the misdirection of ATMS.
Thanks, Katie, for a nice Friday challenge. Mal Man, your puns crack me up. You must keep Valerie laughing and groaning in equal measure! Thanks for the great tour.
I recall a post from YR from quite a while ago that indicated her lack of desire to continue posting was waning, due to her feelings about disagreeing with other posters. I may not be expressing it the exact way she did, but that was the gist of her comment.
Lucina, I am hoping for all the best for your nephew.
Thank to everyone for their kind comments. The next time I get an 01 of the month assignment I will try to remember the rabbit.
Bi Easy,
Onboarding is the vogue term popularized by HR professionals for bringing a new employee into the fold. It's about all of the "things" that need to be done to bring a new hire into their workplace environment. Things that might include getting a key or cardkey to open the doors, getting assigned to an office or a cubicle or a workstation, filling out required forms, maybe signing non-disclosure agreements, being educated on the company's history, culture and values. Being educated on the company's drug and alcohol policies, being educated on the company's policies regarding discrimination, being educated on personal and business conduct guidelines, using company resources for personal benefit, perhaps also to expected standards of attire and personal hygiene, etc etc.
Could be more, could be less, depending on the position and the responsibilities. So it is new employee orientation, the provisioning of resources, the filling out of all of the personnel paperwork, and all of "things" that need to be done to bring a new hire into the workplace environment. Generally, I would think that the larger the company, the greater the number of to-dos and requirements in the onboarding process. Yeah, it's a real thing.
MM, "Dudley" used to make a point of "Rabbit, Rabbit" every month, as did Lemonade and a few others. I'd never heard of it before this blog, and it seemed to be more common among the New Englanders, so perhaps regional.
IMHO this was a clever Friday jog through the park.
I’m getting used to the editor replacing well known proper names with obscurity such as Abel and Arlo … but I guess it broadens my base of modern knowledge; even if it is annoying.
Thanks Katie for a fun friday.
….kkFlorida
Lucina - prayers for your nephew.
Big Easy - On the local (crossword-favorite) Ocala radio station, they mentioned that there is a problem getting tickets for the Stones concert in nearby Orlando. Seems the AARP web site wasn't designed for that much traffic. I thought it was a joke, but they claim that's where the tix were sold.
TTP - When I hired on at the Phone Factory I had to sign a document that I 1) was not a member of the Communist Party, and B) I did not support the overthrow of the USA government by force. I heard that it was a standard document used every place considered to be a defense operation.
Finally a few breaks
Unusually easy for a Friday and I kinda got the theme. Seen the film “Atonement” didn’t know it was a novel.
Thought I had seen most of ETHAN Hawke’s films, guess not. “Fatal
Flaw of some Greek heroes” claustrophobia inside a wooden horse?. “Calf length”, no higher than a young cow. Bavarian husband “I never promised you a BEER garden” (anyone know where you can buy those seeds to grow your own 🍺). OK, OK I’ll stop now. But you’ll still need a “can of worms” to go “fission”
RAMI “Malek” recent frequent CW visitor. He was strange but good in “Mr. Robot”. Thought “CU” referred to a university and almost put
ONTHEQUAD and….. thought it said “battling game”
BAk choi: “bakery Aroma perp or BoK: Odors? Neither, OVENS. Chaucer’s “Canterbury TALES” like Boccaccio’s “The Decameron” but not THE DIVINE COMEDY
“Tesfaye/Weeknd” huh?
What a week TGIF 😲
Charlie Echo said very well pretty much what I would say about this puzzle.
Irish Miss, was this it? This is, as far as I can tell, her last comment, in late Sept:
"I have been AWOL, mostly because I lost so many texts. Many, but not all times, when I tried to highlight to edit the text erased itself. Yesterday I discovered that if I just highlight one word and it disappears, I can highlight while holding down CTLR. This problem happens in WORD and emails sometimes, too.
Another reason is that often I have a contrary opinion and feel it is not friendly to voice it."
Then Jinx suggested that she might try a CTRL+z to undo the accidental erasure, but she didn't respond, and nothing after that.
Jinx, I hear ya and understand. My longest employer used to require that we take annual courses that dealt with some of the topics I covered above. Then, certify in writing that we had read and understood the material. You couldn't even get to the certification form unless you passed the in-course quizzes successfully. And if you failed to complete your annual certification, you were subject to termination. They meant it.
TTP @ 3:43 ~ Yes, that is the post I was referring to. Thanks for taking the time to find it. 😉
Currently I have not checked and have no need to, but public school teachers are required to take classes to continue their certification. OTH, my Community College certificate is a lifetime one and so I guess I could return to teach there if I wished. No. I do not wish! I loved teaching but age is against me though I am in fairly good health, I feel myself becoming weaker though, thankfully, not incapacitated.
I liked Katie's TEXT&BOOK theme!
FAVs: Bandleader's cue, clue for BAIT, and clue for BEDS
IIRC, Katie lives in the UK where they call "BOK choy" "pak choy".
OMK. You accidentally posted your comment for today's puzzle on yesterday's blog.
Thanks for your terrific recap, MalMan! Hand up for enjoying your puns! Also, liked the Blues Bros meme today!
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