Food for Thought
Food
is a problem in America: too much, not enough, or not getting to the
right people: but thanks to one of our regular solvers there's at least
a partial solution to that last one, as we'll see at the end of this
theme explanation. Today's constructors are veteran Rich Katz, who has constructor chops, but is new to the Corner and Katy Steinmetz, a former journalist for Time Magazine. This is also Katy's debut in the LA Times, but if she is anything like her namesake Charles, we can expect her puzzle to be brilliant.
Our
constructors have stretched their foodie clues into in the language idioms (no
circles, no stars, and no reveal -- these fills are the 4 longest
phrases, so these must be the themers right? ...
17A. "Let's pass on the supersize": NOT A BIG DEAL. I was afraid that this South Park clip would be NSFC
("Not Suitable For Crosswords"), but was relieved to find that it's
ok. It's really a shame that some people think only of themselves ...
28A. "The chef made this as the plat du jour, right?": ISNT THAT SPECIAL.
47A. "I don't want my latte to be a venti": THATS A TALL ORDER. Now here's some real FOOD FOR THOUGHT -- why can't we eliminate childhood hunger in America? Why is THAT A TALL ORDER? And a special CSO to PICARD for alerting us just last week to a much more important Jeff Bridges film than TRON -- A Place at the Table ...
Here's Picard's comment to last week's Thursday review and here is the link to No Kid Hungry: End Child Hunger in America, a campaign started by Jeff Bridges. And a CSO to Wendybird, who is already a monthly contributor.
61A. "We recommend takeout": ITS GOOD TO GO. I'm full, so let's wrap this up and take the rest of it with us -- here's the grid ...
1. "You said it!": YEAH. So you agree then?
5. 2,000 pounds: ONE TON.
11. Question marks: IFS.
14. Vogue rival: ELLE. Today's French lesson: SHE. ELLE is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, and society and lifestyle. This month's "It girl" is Victoria Ceretti. Rumor has it that SHE and LEO are an item.
15. __ press: small appliance: PANINI. A panino (Italian: [paˈniːno], meaning 'small bread', 'bread roll') or panini (pl.) is a sandwich made with Italian bread (such as ciabatta and michetta), usually served warm after grilling (in a PANINI press no less) or toasting. We're out of counter space for another gadget. We just use a toaster oven.
16. Carnival locale: RIO. Today's Portuguese lesson: "river" and a mononym for the city in Brazil, which we visited just last week.
17. [Theme clue].
19. "Parks and __": REC. Parks and Recreation (also known as Parks and REC) is an American political satire mockumentary television series starring Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks Department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 episodes, over seven seasons ...
20. [Wake me when it's over]: SNORE. Hold in there folks, we've got a lot more clues to cover. 😀
21. Summer hrs. in St. Louis: CDT.
22. Burkina __: FASO. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 20,321,378. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
26. "There just wasn't any alternative": I HAD TO. "There's always an alternative" -- of course it may be wrong!
28. [Theme clue].
32. Fibs: LIES.
33. Dethrone: OUST.
34. Meadowland: LEA.
35. __ of attrition: LAW. This article describes Law of Attrition as a phrase that defines the rate at which an object or person will wear out over time. It states that every system deteriorates eventually, at a rate based on the combined additive effects of many small causes. The Law of Attrition applies to everything, even mechanical objects like cars and machines. It sound a lot like an application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, an important law of physics that states that the entropy (disorder) of a system increases over time.
36. Loc. of the Met and the Mets: NYC.
37. Darts player's asset: AIM. For an American, Ted Lasso turns out to have an unexpectedly good AIM (as Ted is quick to point out this scene contains a bit of ungentlemanly language) ...
39. A-one: TOP.
42. Take to court: SUE. Or one who starts a fist fight (a tad ungentlemanly as well).
44. Fades away: EBBS.
46. Formally turn over: CEDE.
47. [Theme clue]
51. Trained retrievers?: VALETS. 😀
52. Itsy-bitsy: TEENY. This version of the old Brian Hyland classic is rated completely G and these kids are really enjoying themselves completely clothed ...
54. [Snicker]: HEH.
56. Channel that airs floor debates: CSPAN. A great place to watch paint dry.
60. Score better than a bogey: PAR. A CSO to all the duffers on the Corner.
61. [Theme clue]
64. Compost bin bit: PIT.
65. "Door's open!": COME IN.
66. Made like: APED.
67. Bro kin: SIS.
68. Rings mournfully: KNELLS.
69. What's more?: LESS. This perped, but I had to look up what it meant.
Down:
1. Desires: YENS.
2. North Carolina college town: ELON. Finally a better clue than you know who. Seems like a nice town.
3. Palo __, California: ALTO. Today's Spanish lesson: "tall stick", and the name of a famous Redwood Tree.
4. Publishing family: HEARSTS. The family started with George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891), who made his money in the mining business. His son William Randolph Hearst Sr. (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human interest stories.
 |
| William Randolph Hearst circa 1910 |
5. Maker of Infinite Shine nail polish: OPI. A CSO to Lucina! It lasts forever. This one is called Makeout-side ...
7. Most-cooked parts of a roast: END CUTS.
8. Drew a conclusion?: TIED.
9. How reporters might act: ON A TIP. Beginning in June of 1972 a series of tips regarding the most famous political scandal in modern times were provided to Washington Post investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, by a tipster known then only as Deep Throat. Woodward and Bernstein eventually wrote a book about their investigations called All the President's Men, which was later made into a film ...
10. Nada: NIL.
11. Exposed to ultraviolet light, say: IRRADIATED. UV IRRADIATION can be used as a means of sterilizing surfaces, liquids, air, and rooms and was recommended by the EPA during the COVID19 pandemic.
12. Quinceañera, for one: FIESTA. The honoree at the celebration of a young Latina's 15th birthday. The celebration is a FIESTA, but the word Quinceañera proper refers to the young lady.
.jpg) |
| Quinceañera at a fiesta in Santa Fe, NM |
13. "Love it!": SO COOL.
18. Out of shape: BENT. Also murder mystery slang for a corrupt cop.
22. Watch part: FACE.
24. "Hey, sailor!": AHOY. I'm tempted to sail with this, but I won't. 😁
25. Spigot: FAUCET.
27. Bridge feature: HELM. Also Levon HELM, the drummer and singer for Dylan's old backup group The Band (a CSO to CanadianEh!), . Here he sings The Weight, the enigmatic song by Robbie Robertson from their debut album Music from Big Pink...
28. Feeling green, perhaps: ILL.
29. "Chandelier" singer: SIA. Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. I found the Chandelier video to be a bit too acrobatic, but Snowman was kind of cute ...
30. Some phone messages: NEWS ALERTS.
31. Where a groom may walk down the aisle: STABLE. 😀.
36. __ egg: NEST.
38. Beachy spot: ISLE.
40. "__ to My Family": 1994 hit for The Cranberries: ODE. One of the rewards of reviewing crosswords is renewing old friends ...
41. Part of rpm: PER.
43. Four Corners people: UTES. UTE are the indigenous, or Native American people, of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin.
They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and
Colorado. In addition to their ancestral lands within Colorado and
Utah, their historic hunting grounds extended into current-day Wyoming,
Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. The tribe also had sacred grounds
outside their home domain that were visited seasonally. The
contemporary number of UTE members is only about 3000, but they are still very active in businesses such as cattle raising, oil, and natural gas.
45. Body wash option: BATH GEL.
46. Chandelier glass: CRYSTAL. A clecho to 29D?
47. Streaming options: TV APPS. For people into really small screens.
48. State with two official languages: HAWAII. English was the second, the first was ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, (pronunciation.) The latter was used in Hawaii's public education system starting in 1840, but was later banned after the overthrow of the Hawaii government
by private interests in the United States in 1898. Beginning in 1985,
after the number of native speakers had dwindled to less than 3 dozen, efforts got underway to revive the speaking of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. In 2010 the census reported that 24,000 households identified Hawaiian as their dominant language.
 |
| Ashton Kutcher |
50. Like most music, once: ON CD. I have scads of these, mostly classical, but also in many other genres (except RAP). But I rarely listen to them, except during fund drives for WBJC.
55. Vampire played by Elizabeth Reaser in the "Twilight" films: ESME. Vampire movies don't really cut it for me, but if you feast on this sort of stuff, this article on ESME in the Twilight Saga Wiki might keep you enthralled for several lifetimes!🧛
 |
| Esme Cullen played by Elizabeth Reaser |
 |
| Pope Francis |
59. Gestures of assent: NODS.
61. "Gross!": ICK.
62. Sesame __: OIL. Sesame OIL is a key ingredient in the dish Pine Nut and Corn Stir Fry, inspired by a picture in one of C.C's reviews. The sesame oil is used to sauté the pine nuts.
63. Switch positions: ONS. This review has officially switched OFF.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
I started off on
ReplyDeletethe wrong foot, putting “Amen” where “Yeah” should go, but the perps soon corrected me. I enjoy this sort of theme, giving new definitions of well-known phrases. I always find that clever and entertaining. This time was no exception. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteHand up for putting AMEN in the corner. (Isn't Amen Corner a thing?) Also tried ACT before LAW -- perhaps confusing CONtrition with ATtrition. That dart player CEDEd his ARM in favor of his AIM. Yay, Wite-Out. Isn't "IT'S GOOD TO GO" the slogan of some fiber product? I enjoyed this one. Thanx, Rich, Katy, waseeley, and Teri.
ON CD: I've ripped all of our CDs to the music server -- over 12,000 cuts. Any one of them accessible in seconds. But in the mornings (like right now), its job is streaming Morning Edition from our local NPR station.
FIW, missing with ESMo x KNoLLS and IS iT THAT SPECIAL x iEWS ALERTS. Hand up for amen->YEAH; also war->LAW.
ReplyDeleteToday is:
NATIONAL VITAMIN C DAY (on Sundays we get our dose of vitamin CC. Or maybe vitamin Bayou Tony)
NATIONAL HUG A NEWSPERSON DAY (hope the scales don’t rub off on you)
NATIONAL SCHOOL LIBRARIAN DAY (there has to be a decline in their numbers. I still remember being an assistant, and shelving items according to Dewey)
NATIONAL BURRITO DAY (the Flying Burrito Brothers was a fun country rock band, and would be great Saturday fill)
NATIONAL CHICKEN CORDON BLEU DAY (Cordon Bleu translates to “Blue Ribbon”)
NATIONAL WALK AROUND THINGS DAY (there may be “days” that are dumber, but I don’t recall reporting any)
I think ASHTON's greatest accomplishment was becoming Demi Moore's boy toy. Can I apply for that job?
Seems to me that ELON is usually clued as the college town, or the college.
I had a boss who would react to any smart aleck comment with "aren't you SPECIAL."
Our yacht club hired a Mariachi band to play for our club's season opening day celebration. They Americanized Guantanamera lyrics to "ONE TON tomatoes." They got great tips that day.
Off to Zoё's vet appointment for routine vacs and tests. And I think the vet's boat payment is due.
Thanks to Bill 'n' Teri for the fun review.
Creative theme today- with clever food clues for the in-the-language phrases
ReplyDeleteIT"S GOOD TO GO reminded me of this Taco Bell commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLQI-dzqog0
But I've got to go to an early work meeting so
Thanks Bill & Teri - such a fun and informative blog - one of my favorite scenes from "Ted Lasso" and to Rich & Katy for the amusing puzzle
and welcome back Irish Miss from yesterday!
Took 9:55 today for me to get my order straight.
ReplyDeleteStruggled with the bottom-left corner (pit, tvapps, & valets) and in the middle-left too (Sia, is it v. isnt, act/law).
I didn't know today's actress or her role (Esme), but I knew today's Spanish lesson (nil).
"Isle" was next to a clue that used "aisle." I did enjoy the stable clue. "Irradiated" was interesting.
Thank you for Bill & Teri's Excellent Adventure.
I was thinking IT'S "FOOD" TO GO util BATH GEL made it 'good'. The puzzle was super easy with ESME being the only unknown solve by perps, now that I remember OPI.
ReplyDeleteON CD- I've never had a CD player in my car. The old Mercury had a tape player I never used and the new Toyota doesn't come with one.
FIR. Didn't get the food theme till I got here.
ReplyDeleteI also threw down amen at the start but soon saw the error of my ways.
One nasty spot was the crossing of heh and Esme. Did not know her, and hah was also a viable answer. A good WAG steered me right.
Otherwise, this was a typical Thursday puzzle, and very enjoyable.
Took me 12:30 to finish today’s four course entree. DNK ESME or SIA but they perped. I’ve finally committed Burkina FASO to memory, maybe I can do the same with “Quinceanera”, as it has appeared as a clue a couple times lately. Patty may be the most famous of the HEARSTS, for a somewhat dubious reason. All in all a solid puzzle with a nice theme, thank you Rich and Katy.
ReplyDeleteBill & Teri ~ thanks for your time and effort in putting together your blog, your writings are always enlightening and entertaining! “Situation Normal All FOULED Up” would be acceptable for CW’s 🤣
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI'll join the Amen crowd and the not knowing Esme group, as well. Other than those two stumbles, the solve was smooth and enjoyable. This type of theme is a little more interesting and challenging than the add/subtract a letter/word, IMO, and the focus on food/drinks added tightness, as well. My favorite C/A was Trained retrievers?=Valets.
Thanks, Rich and Katy, and thanks, Bill and Teri, for a super informative review. Favorite clips were Over The Hedge, South Park, A Place At The Table, and Ted Lasso. Jeff Bridges is a favorite of mine and Ted Lasso was one of the most enjoyable series that I've ever seen.
I appreciate everyone's warm welcome back sentiments and am glad to be back! 😉
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Clever and quick.
-Diamond dealer’s assurance: IT’S THE REAL THING?
-Westmoreland’s “War of attrition” strategy in Vietnam did not succeed.
-I will repeat my complaint about the lazy, overuse of the adjective AWE(some)!
-C-SPAN: those “debates” never seem to change any minds and occur in a mostly empty chamber
-There’s a familiar KNELL at a football game: “It's not a church bell, it's the opening to AC/DC's Hells Bells. It's played on Third Downs and anytime we pin the other team within their own 10-yard- line.”
-What a joy to be able to say again, “What Irish said!”
Irish Miss@8:31 AM I missed you yesterday and I still miss you. It's great to have you back!
ReplyDeletePhil @7:55 AM Thanks for that acronym translation. I should have thought of that.
ReplyDeletePublic Service Trivia...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteEasier ’n’ faster than yesterday. FIR but theme wise is there a connection between DEAL, ORDER, SPECIAL TOGO? (the last one’s a country🤔). OIC food stuff ….Was close with OBI but what’s a banini “press” ohhh a “sangwidge” press
“Hey Sailer” ”new in town?” way too long. 😁…. From the clue didn’t expect the HEARSTS to be plural
ONCD is a frequent enough answer I don’t hafta dawdle over it any more. Liked the “groom” clue. Does any one remember the “Twilight” series? 🧛♂️🧛♀️🧛♀️ “so” early 21st century
Our bishop of Rome (NY) is named “Doug” ….. Act “of attrition” ?no wait, that’s “of Contrition” … (DO) “Trained retrievers” almost put gofers
Alternate to sod…..CEDE
Series that “blew away” lots of viewers…“This is ___”….AWES
Belongs to Dudley Do-Right’s GF….KNELLS
Woke up to a winter wonderland and it’s still snowing polar bears and penguins!!
Gah! 😖
FIR but had serious doubts about surviving the southwest. NEWS ALERTS was the hardest for me -- I don't have those activated on my phone -- but getting that helped with VALETS, and then TV APPS. Bill, these aren't necessarily for small screens. Our "smart TVs" have home screens with APPS just like a phone, where we access Hulu, Netflix, etc.
ReplyDeleteLike others, DNK ESME and SIA, but the names were WAGable with support from perps. SO COOL to come out on TOP! Thanks, Rich, Katy, Patti, Bill, and Teri. I thought it *was* a BIG DEAL!
Nice outing today. Had to really work at it, but it made for an enjoyable morning. Lots of unknowns, (For me, anyway) but perps, WAGs, and WiteOut took care of things. BLOWS AWAY had a totally different meaning during my Army days!
ReplyDeleteHusker Gary @ 10:02 -
ReplyDeleteI applaud your last sentence, and second it!
Hola!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rich and Katy! This puzzle filled quickly but then I went back to bed! It's always a bit disconcerting to see two unrelated consonants, oh, TV, not so unrelated.
That SW corner remained blank when I left but immediately filled after I got up. TV APPS was slow to emerge.
POPE Francis is to be admired for all he does at his age.
I know of SIA only from crosswords.
Yes, OPI is exactly what I need right now. I haven't been to the salon in a long while. Since they raised the prices so much I don't go as often as I used to.
Today is my granddaughter's actual birthday which we celebrated Tuesday.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
CED, thanks for the PSA, but what I really wanted to know is whether it floats after it has been digested.
ReplyDeleteGary, you probably already know this, but AC/DC originally wanted to record a 2,000 pound bell at Loughborough, England. However, when they struck the bell, all the pigeons living there fled, making enough noise to make the recording unsuitable. By the time the bell stopped reverberating, the pigeons had returned. AC/DC commissioned a 1,000 pound bell for more than $10,000 US. They slowed the playback of their new bell to sound like the Denison Bell in Loughborough. They toured with their 1,000 pounder, using it wherever the venue could handle that much weight. In live performances, the bell was an octave higher than heard ON CD.
In crosswords I'm always appreciative of nearby perps, and that was the case with this puzzle. But today I needed to also resort often to wags, such as in the south in the neighborhood of ESME, HEH, and BATHGEL.
ReplyDeletei had quite a few cross-outs, so my puzzle is pretty messy. Like others evidently, it started right away at 1A, with AMEN.
Thanks, Rich and Katy, for a clever and entertainimg puzzle that i somehow ended up FIR.
NaomiZ @11:24 AM Thanks for your comment on TV APPS. I guess I didn't think of that because our current TV has a below average IQ. 😀
ReplyDeleteI too immediately filled amen for 1a. Oops. I was slow getting the theme. A few unknowns like SIA and ESME. Finally I finished.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the groom and the VALETS clues.
It’s a beautiful day today, sunshine, no wind and 70s temps. It doesn’t get better than this.
Thanks, Rich and Katy for your brilliant puzzle! It was a fun solve, for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks, also, to weaseley for a thorough recap. I wasn't tracking on the LESS clue until I clicked on your link. Nice one!
This was an enjoyable FIR for me today. Several amusing mis-directions such as STABLE and VALETS.
ReplyDeleteAs always, I love Bill and Teri’s tour - routinely educational and entertaining. A Boy Named Sue always makes me laugh.
The best part of today’s C’word Corner is having Irish Miss back among us.
Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Rich and Katy, and waseeley and Teri.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed and enjoyed the Redefined food themers.
Plenty of inkblots today.
Tee changed to HEH.
You’re GOOD TO GO was too long. ITS fit
Last to fall was the mid west coast. I hung on to I bet THATS SPECIAL for too long. But I was pretty sure of SIA and finally saw ISNT
Tolls was too short and not mournful enough. KNELLS rang appropriately.
I fought the S on HEARSTS. I thought the family name should be singular, but I will concede that the family members are plural.
AGES entered immediately today after yesterday’s error with aeon. And I waited for YEAH rather than AMEN.
STABLE was a great misdirection.
Thanks for the CSO. I had nearly forgotten The Band.
Wishing you all a great day.
I think Johnny Cash's funniest lyrics were in One Piece at a Time. Seems he worked on an assembly line in Detroit, and stole parts over time to build himself a new Cadillac. 'Course he ended up with only one tail fin, and one side had two headlights while the other had only one.
ReplyDeleteHe was asked:
"Uh, what model is it?
Well, it's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56
'57, '58, '59 automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67
'68, '69, '70 automobile"
The song said that "the title weighed 60 pounds."
Great puzzle, maybe even a little too easy.
ReplyDeleteOnly 3 unknowns for me (an all-time low): OPI, SIA and ESME—3 things every teenage girl probably knows.
Was sure it would be a FRENCH press
Fav clue: [Wake me when it’s over] = “Snore”
SNAFU isn’t deemed inappropriate, eh? (if you know what it stands for) Does that mean FUBAR is ok too?
Silly me. I took a quick look at the byline and thought that Rich Koz was the constructor. Some of the answers almost worked out what with references to vampires, Hearsts, pits, knells and gross.
ReplyDeleteArizona Jim, "Felix Unger, Bad Ass Roommate?"
ReplyDeleteSeveral comments about the CW being easy for a Thursday, but I didn't find it to be easy. But, then again, I'm probably the worst CW solver here. I did EVENTUALLY manage to FIR, and once I did, I came to appreciate how clever so many of the clues were. "Where a groom may walk down the aisle" was my fave. But MANY clever clues. Thanx, RK&KS, very clever CW. Thanx too to Bill for the, as always, fun write-up.
ReplyDeleteJinx at 11:43,
ReplyDeleteUm, er,
I was just trying to post a silly link related to the theme (sort of...)
But, to suggest that the result might float? Well,
that's the kind of thing that might get MI6 involved...
CED, now you've done it. I gotta watch that movie after all these years.
ReplyDeleteJinx@1:57. Love, love, love "One Piece at a Time"!
ReplyDeleteAlong with KS, 7:47am, I too was caught out in that vague (not Vogue or ELLE) crossing of HEH and ESME— and lost the 50/50, which cost me a FIR. Oh well…it was still a “tasty” cruise through the squares; like Monkey, 12:14p, I also got a good grin out of the clues for STABLES and VALET! Nice stuff, Rich & Katy — thanks!
ReplyDeleteAZJim, just use the less-colorful word “fouled” for the F in either SNAFU or FUBAR, and you’re safe; the father of an early surfing friend in HAWAI’I, who was a general in the Army, told me that trick 🤣
====> Darren / L.A.