Cooking Lessons: In cooking, Stock (also known as Fond), is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many dishes, such as soups, stews and sauces. There are four basic kinds of stock: White Stock (Chicken), Brown Stock (Beef or other meat/bone source), Vegetable, and Fish Stock. The classifications refer to the contents and method used to prepare the stock, not the color.
20-Across. Be too afraid to: CHICKEN OUT OF.
28-Across. Add extra protection: BEEF UP SECURITY.
43-Across. Ask leading questions: FISH FOR ANSWERS.
And the unifier:
48-Across. Noncash corporate benefits, or what a cook would call the starts of 20-, 28-, and 43-Across?: STOCK OPTIONS.
Across:
1. Desert hill shaped by wind: DUNE. Also the title of a 1965 Sci-Fi novel by Frank Herbert (Oct. 8, 1920 ~ Feb. 11, 1986).
5. __ bene: NOTA. Today's Latin lesson. Nota bene, abbreviated as N.B., is a Latin phrase meaning "note well" or "take special notice." In legal documents, the phrase is used to highlight important details or draw attention to key pieces of information in a document.
9. Tax deadline month: APRIL.
14. Breakfast chain that serves stacks: IHOP. International House of Pancakes
15. Gem with milky iridescence: OPAL. Australia is known for its beautiful opals. Hi, Kazie!
16. Ecological community: BIOME. According to National Geographic, a Biome is "an area classified according to the species that live in that location. Temperature range, soil type, and the amount of light and water are unique to a particular place and form the niches for specific species allowing scientists to define the biome."
17. Daughter of Katie Holmes: SURI. Suri Holmes (b. Apr. 18, 2006) is the daughter of Katie Holmes (b. Dec. 18, 1978) and Tom Cruise (b. July 3, 1962). [Name # 1.]
18. Fictional sleuth Wolfe: NERO. Nero Wolfe came on to the scene in 1934 when the detective novel Fer-de-Lance, by Rex Stout (Dec. 1, 1886 ~ Oct. 27, 1975) was first published. Nero Wolfe later became a television series in the 1982, which starred William Cannon (Sept. 27, 1920 ~ Feb. 11, 1994). [Name # 2, fictional.]
19. Conked out: SLEPT.
23. Restaurateur Matsuhisa: NOBU. [Name # 3.] // And 3-Down. Wrap for a tobiko maki roll: NORI. // 11-Down. Filling in a tobiko maki roll: ROE. Funny story. I recently ate at NoBu in Vegas. It was incredible expensive. There were five us and we ate on the cheap. We each ordered only one sushi roll each, so the total bill for all of us was probably the standard bill for most of the restaurant's diners.
24. Red Sox div.: AL EAST. As in the American League East in Baseball.
32. Walks quickly: LEGS IT.
33. Arterial blockage: CLOT.
34. House mem.: REP. As in a member of the House of Representatives in Congress.
35. Doesn't stick the landing, say: ERRS. I was not familiar with the expressing "stick the landing." Apparently, it means to succeed and do something well. Hand up if you knew this expression.
36. Tennis great Shriver: PAM. Pam Shriver (b. July 4, 1962) was active in the 1980s and 1990s. She also played in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. [Name # 4.]
37. Pirelli product: TIRE. This company has been in business since 1972.
38. Responded to a growling stomach: ATE.
39. Superstar: IDOL. Idol appeared in last week's puzzle, too.
41. Plato's hometown: ATHENS. Athens, Greece, that is. [Name # 5.]
46. "That's true about me": YES, I AM.
47. Wee bit: WHIT.
54. "__ luck!": LOTSA.
57. Verdi tragedy: AIDA. This opera, which makes frequent appearances in the puzzles, is a tragic opera set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The opera was written by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813 ~ Jan. 27, 1901), with the libretto written by Antonio Ghislanzoni (Nov. 25, 1824 ~ July 16, 1893). It was later made into a musical by Elton John (b. Mar. 25, 1947) and Tim Rice (b. Nov. 10, 1944). [Name # 6.]
58. Water repellent?: MOAT. Cute clue.
59. Easy-to-read font: ARIAL. This is Arial Font. This is Times Font. This is Courier Font.
60. Word with bed or engine: TWIN. As in a twin bed or a twin engine.
61. Podcaster Klein: EZRA. I am not familiar with Ezra Klein (b. May 9, 1984). Apparently, he is an American journalist and political analyst. He his the host of his own podcast called The Ezra Klein Show. [Name # 7.]
62. 1983 Streisand title role: YENTL. Barbra Streisand (b. Apr. 24, 1942) portrayed Yentl in the musical drama of the same name. The musical was based on a story by Nobel Prize recipient Isaac Bashevis Singer (Nov. 11, 1903 ~ July 24, 1991) about a young woman who pretends to be a man in order to continue her studies. [Names # 8 and 9, one real, one fictional.]
63. Some video game inhabitants: SIMS.
64. Quakers, e.g.: SECT. As in a religious sect.
Down:
1. Ultimate equipment that weighs 175 grams: DISC.
2. "Not happening": UH, UH.
4. Magnificence: EPICNESS. Yup, that's a real word that means The quality or state of being epic.
5. Only: NONE BUT.
6. Bare one's soul: OPEN UP.
7. Root in Hawaiian cuisine: TARO. We see both Taro and Ube in the puzzles.
8. Baseball family name: ALOU. There were several brothers and their sons who played in major league baseball. Felipe Alou (né Felipe Rojas Alou; b. May 12, 1935) is the oldest of three brothers. he was the first Dominican to play regularly in the Major Leagues. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Oakland A's, the New York Yankees and, after he retired from playing, he managed the Montreal Expos. Matty Alou (né Mateo Rojas Alou; December 22, 1938 ~ November 3, 2011) played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants. Jesús Alou (né Jesús María Rojas Alou; March 24, 1942 ~ March 10, 2023) was the youngest Alou brother. He played for the San Francisco Giants, the Houston Astros, the Oakland Athletics, and the New York Mets. [Names # 10, 11, and 12.]
Felipe's sons, Moisés (né Moisés Rojas-Alou Beltré (b. July 3, 1966) and Luis E. Rojas (b, September 1, 1981), also played baseball. [Names # 13, and 14.]
9. Big name in vodka: ABSOLUT. Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. It comes in many flavors. [Name adjacent.]
10. Steal: PILFER. Fun word.
12. Little scamp: IMP.
13. "__ that sink in": LET.
21. Nobel Peace Prize winner Annan: KOFI. Kofi Atta Annan (Apr. 8, 1938 ~ Aug. 18, 2018) was was a Ghanaian diplomat who was the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations. He served in that position from 1997 to 2006. In 2001, he and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. [Name # 15.]
22. Filled tortilla: TACO.
25. Better ventilated: AIRIER.
26. Rears, at sea: STERNS.
27. Hunts and pecks on a keyboard: TYPES.
28. Wodehouse character Wooster: BERTIE. Sir P D Wodehouse (né Pelham Grenville Wodehouse; Oct. 15, 1881 ~ Feb. 14, 1975) was a British writer and creator of Jeeves, the butler to feather-brained Bertie Wooster. [Names # 16 and 17, one real, one fictional.]
29. Door to the street: EGRESS. Most of us would just say Exit door.
30. Teatro alla __: Milan opera house: SCALA.
31. Horror movie street: ELM. The trees on this street are 32-Down.
32. Like shade trees: LEAFY.
36. "__ favor": "please," in Spanish: POR. Today's Spanish lesson.
37. What are a-changin', in a Dylan song: THE TIMES. [Name # 18.]
39. "Possibly not even that": IF AT ALL.
40. "__ arigato": Japanese "thank you very much": DOMO. Today's Japanese lesson.
41. Fireplace accessories: ASH PANS. Makes for easy clean-up.
42. Foolish one: TWIT.
44. Show derision to: HISS AT.
45. Ego of "SNL": NWODIM. Egobunma Kelechi Nwodim (b. March 10, 1988) is an American actress and comedian. I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in years, so didn't recognize this name. [Name # 19.]
49. Movie musical starring Judi Dench and Idris Elba: CATS. I never saw the movie Cats, but I did see the musical. That was enough. [Names # 20 and 21.]
50. Fuzzy fruit: KIWI. Also a small flightless bird from New Zealand.
51. Seep: OOZE.
52. Rat (on): NARC.
53. Win shares in basketball, e.g.: STAT.
54. Put down, as sod: LAY.
55. Mine deposit: ORE. A crossword staple.
56. Tuna container: TIN.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
43 comments:
I could hardly believe someone could be named “Nwodim” but that’s what the perps demanded. There were some other obscure names too, but none quite as egregious as that. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Is it really Tuesday? This name-fest seemed late-week to d-o. (How's that for a hyphen-fest?) EPICNESS? Really? Don't think I've ever heard of an ASH PAN before. William Conrad was the original Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke), back in the radio drama days. It took an alphabet run to get that T at the MOAT/STAT crossing. But I did get it, so crisis averted. Thanx, Seth and Hahtoolah. (I thought fond was the stuff that sticks to the bottom of the pan. Add wine or other deglazing liquid to create a tasty pan sauce.)
Same as the guy above, never heard the word epicness or ash pan. If you watched the Olympics gymnastics, stick the landing would have been very familiar as it was said quite frequently.
Took me 26:22 for the FIR after correcting “AC”TIONS to OPTIONS, have heard of ash cans and ash bins, but never ASH PANS. SURI, BERTIE, EZRA, DOMO and of course NWODIM all needed perps, as did the famed restaurateur NOBU (I nominate this clue/answer as the worst so far of this young week, with Ego of “SNL” a close second). Thank you Seth for the Tuesday challenge, to Patti for making it even more challenging, and to Hahtoolah for dissecting it.
Good Morning, Crossword friends. So it isn't just me that this Tuesday puzzle was more of a Thursday-level puzzle.
D-O, if you click on the link I provided in the first paragraph, you will see that Fond comes from Foundation and is the Foundation or Base and is a legitimate term for culinary stock liquids.
QOD: The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder. ~ Alfred Hitchcock (Aug. 13, 1899 ~ Apr. 29, 1980), British film director
FIR. If I thought yesterday was
a little crunchy, today was definitely late week difficulty. Crunchy would be an understatement.
I got the theme, and thankfully that helped the solve. But the proper names were most annoying, like Nobu, Ezra, and Nwodin. Really?
This puzzle was definitely NOT enjoyable at all!
FIR, but erased hops for ERRS, eat for ATE, yenta for YENTL, and tell for NARC. Didn't like this puzzle for a Tuesday, and wouldn't have liked it on Thursday or Friday either. Better puzzle for People magazine. I did like "water repellent" for MOAT, though.
Thanks to Ha2la for the fun and funny reveal.
Thanks for the confirmation everyone that this puzzle was way too convoluted for Tuesday. Not awful, but I hate getting thrown for a loop this early in the week.
Good Morning:
How you end up with Nwodim in your grid is today's mystery. That was the only proper name unfamiliar to me, although I guessed at Nobu, not really knowing his last name. I went astray at Nova/Idol, but the grid more or less filled itself in with helpful perps. I thought the reveal was going to be a basic food reference,
but, instead, we were treated to a cute play on words. Fish For Answers is the weakest, IMO, as Fish For Compliments is the most common phrase. Legs It is awkward sounding vs Hoofs It.
Thanks, Seth, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the fun and facts and many chuckle-worthy comics. My favorites were the ones for Moat and Hiss At. Just the other day, there was a picture of Suri in a New York paper, dressed in a tank top and cut-offs to beat the City's heat. Hard to believe she's 18.
Have a great day.
I truly dislike this new format for posting, as well as reading. 😝
A little crunchy for a Tuesday, but I filled it faster than yesterday's puzzle. I thought the theme was great. It would have been difficult to include vegetable stock with this gimmick..
Hahtoolah, thanks for the funny cartoons, especially THE IRS / it's THEIRS.
I often see Ezra Klein on talk shows. He had a column on Today's NYT editorial page. With a few perps to suggest them, most names were not difficult.
Only NWOODIM was new to me, although I know EGO from SNL. EGO is pronounced EGGO and is short for EGOBUNMA. Being a Nigerian name it is just unfamiliar , not odd.
AS_PA_S had to be ASH something, so N made sense. I wish I had one when I had a fireplace. The only part of building a fire I
disliked was cleaning up.
_HIT, had to be C, S, T or W. WHIT fit. I only needed to guess EGO's final letter. My one bad cell.
I am more familiar with legs it than with hoofs it. My mother used to call walking shank's mare.
I too truly dislike this format.
As for this CW. Not my favorite. First, I had to use SIRI, not SURI to fill in the NW corner. EPICNESS, really.
What others said about the names. NWODIM is very unfair. NARC, never heard of this, I had tell.
I love KIWIs, the fruit that is. Speaking of TWINs, I consider Bob Dylan my TWIN. No I don’t look like him, but we were born on the same day and year.
My goodness, Hahtoolah, you outdid yourself this morning with LOTSA really funny cartoons. Your recap was worth the price of admission.
Good Morning! I thought today’s puzzle was a bit crunchy for a Tuesday, but I did see the theme which helped fill a few boxes.
Learned something new (always a good thing). FOND in English (the one I’m familiar with) is the browned bits in the bottom of the pan which is the basis of many broths. FOND in French is STOCK. Hmmm…
The best Nero Wolfe was with Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton, back when A&E was actually Arts and Entertainment. Now their shows are pretty trashy.
ESP: EZRA, SIMS, NWODIM
A fun tour today. Thanks, Hah2lah!
Like yesterday, another DNF. Monday and Tuesday should be the easiest challenges of the week. Lotsa blanks and fatal errors but reading all your comments don’t feel so bad now 🥺
“ tobiko maki? What? Sounds like a Japanese film star “Podcaster Klein”? Matsuhisa”? Who? What does “doesn’t stick the landing” even mean? 😟. I had Siri instead of SURI (“Siri, who is SURI’s famous father?”)… LEAFY, at first I was looking for a kindova tree like ELM. Had ASHcANS cuz andirons was too long
WEES: EPICNESS? In a Tuesday level puzzle? NARC, rat on?
SNL : “Ego”, I always fast forward through the performers’ introductory credits so I only remember the well-known names
YENTL 🎼 “Papa can you hear meeeeee”🎶 (wonder which BR she/he was allowed to use 😉)
“Quakers, etc.” oats or sect? 🤔 …. Thought it said “Breakfast chain that serves snacks” not “stacks”. 🥞
Here’s just two:
Have a headache? There’s a ____ that…. PILFER
They wont drink from the well. They find the _____…WATER REPELLENT.
Kudos to those who completed the puzzle. Only made enjoyable at all by H2LH’s cartoons
Meh. Another crossNAME puzzle. Managed to FIR, without a feeling of accomplishment or any enjoyment. Not only obscure names, but words like "lotsa" and "epicness" grate on me. The only ashpans I am familiar with are located under the firebox of a coal-burning steam locomotive. At least we had Ha2la to pump the enjoyment back into the day! Liked the "fishing for compliments".
You can throw this puzzle in the "ash pan". ASH PANS. SURI, BERTIE, EZRA, NWODIM and NOBU. Definitely not Tuesday material. I always hate crossing obscure names. Not a fan. GC
Wow! How many truly obscure names can one fit into a single CW? This is a Saturday-on-a-Tuesday CW. I FWH, but had to rely on Google for far too many obscure names, of which NWODIM took the cake. Two days in a row that the CW was far more difficult for the day. The theme was terrific, and, yes, I got the theme, but putting it together with this many obscure names ruined the CW. I still don't understand "Win shares in basketball, e.g." is STAT. What does "Win shares in basketball" mean? NOT an enjoyable CW. I hate having to look things up to fill a CW. Thanx for the fun and informative write-up, Hahtoolah.
As for the blog comments format, I am fine with it. Just exactly what is it that so many people don't like?
Oh, I meant to comment that I also had too many write-overs to list. Quite the mess.
Hola!
Thank you, Seth, for the challenge today. I sashayed along pretty well until I met NWODIM and since I no longer watch SNL, that is unknown. I do, however, watch MSNBC so EZRA Klein is well known. SIMS is also meaningless to me. I had no idea that Judi Dench and Idris Elba were in CATS. That must be a British version. It's too bad that ELM and LEAFY were not connected by clues. I also don't play video games so SIMS is alien to me, too. I've never heard of NARC as clued. Again, thank you, Seth, for the fun and H2la for even more fun. I'll see you all at the end of the week. Happy trails to me and my friend! Have a good week, everyone!
I like it. I read others' opinions before I post anything and the replies stay in place.
Not an easy puzzle for Big Easy today. A DNF. The SE had a few holes. With a name like NWODIM, I couldn't force myself to fill WHIT. And with THE TIMES and OOZE in place I was thinking EZRA (unknown) but NARC and STAT wouldn't make it. I don't consider a FIR if I accidentally fand correctly fill unknowns WAGS. The rest of the puzzle filled in normal Tuesday time, with SURI, CATS, NOBU, EPICNESS, DOMO, & BERTIE all coming via perps.
ASH PAN was an unknown item, changing CAN to PAN after the STOCK OPTIONS fill. Agree with Acesaround.
Yikes; a solver of today's puzzle had better be steeped in Japanese cuisine and language. One tobiko maki clue was bad enough, but two?
The NW section seemed to resemble Natick central, with gems like NORI, SURI and NOBU all crossing each other. And the glue tying them all was EPICNESS! That's a word that has all the credibility of Mr. Trump's BIGLY.
With all the names--obscure and otherwise--running rampant in this puzzle, today's effort struck me as more a crossNAME puzzle than crossWORD.
I don't get "superstar" as a clue for IDOL. The two are not synonymous. I can think of countless superstars in all sports who have been jerks.
Despite the puzzle's mildly satisfying stock theme, overall I'm afraid I found it a bit distasteful.
The epicness of this puzzle could not be measured as it had none.
I grappled with a DNF, because of the 1A DUNE clue’s inclusion of word “desert.” I’ve been to Oregon Dunes on the Pacific coast several times and have been to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado once. Those aren’t in deserts. I finally had to concede that “mesa” was the wrong answer, especially knowing that NORI was the wrapping at 3-D, and I got my FIR.
It was indeed a crunchy puzzle for a Tuesday, but the theme was serviceable and only EPICNESS and the win-shares (what?) clue for STAT really bugged me.
I actually do watch SNL and knew who Ego NWODIM is. She’s of Nigerian descent, as many, many Americans are these days. She’s been in crosswords many times, though usually with her first name, and she’s been very prominent in Xfinity ads. Not egregious! Yellowrocks described this entry well. I admit, however, that in contrast to Ray-O, I try to learn the cast’s names by trying to name each one along with the announcer as the intros proceed, and that I admit I muffed Ego Nwodim many times before I got it down. She’s arguably the biggest female star on the show these days.
I advise Jeopardy contestants to be extremely knowledgeable about “Presidents” (especially their dates served) and “Shakespeare.” I think SNL regulars in crosswords are sort of the same thing. They appear. We have to know them.
The format is growing on me. I was afraid it would be like Facebook, with the ability to reply to a reply, then someone can reply to that. Nope, although there can be multiple replies to a post, once is as far as the indentation can go.
I find it easy to scan for replies, since Blogger drops us off at the top instead of the bottom like it used to. Few comments are indented, making it easy to scan for new replies. And maybe I'll be less confused when someone replies without referencing what's being replied to (by typing "Jinx in Norfolk @ 11:33, you don't know what you're talking about" for example.) I miss preview, but I'll just copy, delete, paste, edit and post as a replacement. No biggie. Just more junk in the "deleted posts" stack, but that's not in my lane.
Uncle Fred @11:35. What I don’t like about the new format: when I want to post, and I tap, the space disappears and for the first few letters I type blind; with the old format, posters’ avatars appeared on the right and were very noticeable; with the old format the number of posts was prominently displayed at the top, now nothing; i find the font not as pleasing to the eye as the previous one, this one looks cheap; and finally I liked the rectangle I could type in, with this one I feel unmoored. There, that’s my answer to Uncle Fred.
The fills at 10D (PILFER) and 13D (LET) allowed “nIchE” to fit nicely at 16A, but other perps demanded an erasure in FAVOR of BIOME. I.e, NICHE>BIOME. Hands up for “Niche” first.
Hi All!
I'm back from Blackhat | Defcon and put back into high-alert :-)
Thanks Sean for the Thursday-level puzzle. Thanks Hahatoolah for the very fun Tuesday review.
WOs: UH no, ToRO, can -> TIN, ASH cANS.
ESPs: All the names save KOFI, ALOU & NWODIM (yes, I still watch SNL)
Fav: MOAT's clue.
I see, in my absence, Blogger reverted to the "new" comments page. It's OK but harder to pickup avatars with the little circles.
I enjoy'd your Ray-apropisms :-)
Cheers, -T
Musings
-A natick for a finish at the very bottom for me after a perfect day for golf.
-Carping about obscure names seems to be tilting at windmills. NWODIN? Really?
-Grandson had a “tasting platter” for $165 at NOBU two weeks ago in LA
-QE II’s father, Edward II (Albert) was known as BERTIE
-How astronauts would have made an emergency EGRESS if there were problmes on the shuttle launch pad
-We’re off on our third trip to Lincoln this week.
FLN: sumdaze, thank you for your research into right clicking on an iPad. I’ll experiment further.
I liked the theme and the clue for MOAT. Had TELL before NARC. Held my nose at EPICNESS.
I had a professor at Stanford named STERN, from whom none of us learned much. All he did was read his notes, which we could all see were yellowed with age. His monotone voice put us to sleep within 15 minutes.
I kinda like the words EGRESS and PILFER.
CATS, as with most of Andrew Lloyd Webber's works, pretty much contains only one memorable song.
Good reading you all.
@Jayce - any insight on yesterday's earthquake out there? I know it was small(ish) but what did your sensors get b/f hand?
Rose, your observation about Fond, "Learned something new (always a good thing). FOND in English (the one I’m familiar with) is the browned bits in the bottom of the pan which is the basis of many broths. FOND in French is STOCK. Hmmm…" made me chuckle.
It reminded me, and made me chuckle that:
The American definition of a crepe is a thin pancake, and
The French definition of a pancake is a thick crepe.
Anonymous T, our earthquake monitors are mostly offline now, due to total lack of money. But yes, they were mostly smallish temblors.
TTP, that’s funny about the crepes.
Ergo: crepe = pancake?
Or Pancake, ergo sum crepe.
I'm Prof M. New format made me incognito
Thanks to Seth for this Tues. challenge! FIW (I forgot "Ultimate" referred to frisbee and could not place SURI nor her mom.); but I liked the play on the word STOCK. Also fun to work in NWODIM in a grid. We usually see her clued for her last name.
Hey, -T. Welcome back! Did you score any of that Crowdstrike SWAG? I read an article that said people were lining up for it.
Hand up for still not understanding the clue for STAT.
Hand up for liking the clue for MOAT.
Thanks to Hahtoolah for the bonus fun! FAV: FISH FOR compliments and The IRS comic.
Ditto. We seem to be at the mercy of discombubulation.
"-Carping about obscure names seems to be tilting at windmills. NWODIN? Really?"
Sure, but we can hit windmills.
LOL - No CS swag for me, sumdaze... The line was too long and my mission was to talk to as many vendors of products similar to those we use but may replace in the near future. I did get a cool CloudStruck sticker though :-)
Blackhat is #corp$. Defcon is #hackers and way more fun.
Want a story?
I was waiting on a burger and another guy (waiting on his) said, "I am such a proud father. My son just medal'd in Paris. Put out your arm." And he put a "Team Sam" wristband on me.
It was Ray Redacted (of Darknet Diaries fame). He'd just few in from Paris for Defcon. His son, Sam, won Bronze and set a world record in climbing.
You meet the coolest people at Defcon. #HackThePlanet!
Cheers, -T
-T@9:59. Great story! I remember seeing Sam compete. He set a new WR during the Bronze competition. Those climbers are so fast. It's bananas.
-T@9:59. Oh, and CloudStruck is LOL. Delta employees should wear pins that say that.
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