Strudel Dad

For those who found this a tough Wednesday crossword, maybe it might be best described as a cereal killer. 🤪

Ditto on BEGOT rather than BEGAT. Sort of a BEGOTCHA?

Nathan, you really hit it out of the park with this one.

I RAYS a glass to an enjoyable Wednesday crossword.

Another clue that might have fit: George Burns’ comedic partner: GRACIEALLEN

Just had to chime in here with a comment that will occur to just about; namely, that this Monday puzzle was nothing to sneeze at.

The clue for 29D reminded me of an incident that happened when I first moved away from home. Back then, one could ask Ma Bell for a phone number that was relatively easy to remember. As soon as the number was assigned to me, I began getting frequent panicked “wrong numbers” in the wee hours of the morning. Turns out that my phone number was only one digit different from the local VD clinic (as they were called at the time). Fed up, I called Bell to ask to have my number changed, which they did. The very next day, I got a phone call at 1:00 am from someone trying to reach the VD clinic. I asked the caller how he got my number. The caller said he dialed my old number and got a recording that said, “That phone number has been changed to xxx-xxxx”, which was my new phone number. I had mistakenly agreed with Bell to have call forwarding! 🤪

Here’s a few more: “I tried starting a new professional baseball league, but I couldn’t … GET TO FIRST BASE.” “Next, I thought I could achieve success in the alchemy business, but I couldn’t … GET THE LEAD OUT.” “Then, I tried my hand at importing a balm for chapped hands and feet, but was unable to … FLY IN THE OINTMENT.”

For most of my lifetime, the $10 Canadian banknote has had a purple hue. When Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI, the banknotes were re-designed to show her likeness on all of our paper currency. It wasn’t until 1969 that portraits of past Canadian Prime Ministers began to replace the Queen on all but the $20 bill. John A. MacDonald graced the $10 bill until his image was replaced by that of Viola Desmond in 2018. She was our version of Rosa Parks; a symbol of the fight against racial discrimination. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive.

“I can’t believe I mis-spelled the tree whose name comes phonetically between “tee” and “vee”, he said, sheepishly.

This was FUN ‘N GAMES.

For anyone who wants an accurate distinction between “champing at the bit” and “chomping at the bit”: <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BMPfKq2_XgQ" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BMPfKq2_XgQ</a> No mare splitting of hairs. Hope I didn’t rein on your parade. Certainly not my intention to stirrup trouble.

The clue to 42D reminded me of a recent occasion when my wife and I were in a restaurant serving Tex-Mex cuisine. I looked over at the foursome sitting at the table a few feet away and was amazed — I suppose I ought not to have been, given they all appeared to be Gen Zs or younger — to see all four were simultaneously engrossed with their smartphones. I took a photo and sent it to Sam with the caption, “Text-Mex”.

What do you have when a great white gets the measles? A DOT IN THE SHARK.

My legal background nearly led to my (figurative) DEMISE, which I knew as a noun but not as a verb. In English — and hence Canadian — common law, DEVISE is a verb used to mean transfer by will of an interest in real property (in contrast to BEQUEATH used to refer to a transfer by will of any other kind of property). Otherwise, a TARIFFic lot of fun for a Wednesday puzzle.

Hmm. Yesterday’s title of Wordplay — “Punch lines” — would have been equally apt for today’s.

I’d rate this Tuesday Xword puzzle a 2 on the Mohs scale of hardness. I had almost no treble at all with it. I’ll give my brain a rest — at least forte winks — until tomorrow evening, as I expect a major challenge with the Wednesday Xword.

Lots of fun with this one. Not my PB for a Wednesday, but still managed a time much faster than my average. A case of putting the petal to the mettle? …… !!!!!! Emus, begonia!

5D got me to thinking about the true origin of the concept of the “blind carbon copy”. I didn’t have the patience to spend long enough to explore the web as fully as I might, but I did find one comment suggesting that the term pre-dates the internet, which is what I had always thought. Back in the good(?) old days, when we used carbon paper to make duplicates of letters prepared on a typewriter, one would simply add the letters “bcc” to the carbon copy intended to be sent to someone (B) other than the intended recipient of the original letter (A). In this way, B would know about A but would realize that A would not know about B. Speaking of typewriters, I am reminded of an incident when Sam was quite young, but old enough to be comfortable with the use of computers and their peripheral devices. She came into my office at home and was fascinated by an IBM Selectric typewriter sitting on a desk. She wanted to know what it was. I fed a sheet of paper in and turned the machine on. Then I began hitting a few keys at random to show her how it worked. I went back to my desk and listened as Sam experimented with the keys. Then she caught me off guard with her question, “Dad, how do you make it print?”

70A (“Went clickety clack”) reminded me of an incident when Sam, about age 9, came into the room where I was working at my computer and, spying a long out-of-use IBM Selectric, asked me what it was. I went over to the machine, inserted a sheet of paper, turned the machine on and hit a few keys to demonstrate. I went back to my computer as Sam began hitting a number of keys. After about a minute, she called over to me, “Dad, how do you make it print?”

Re 31A, in a former life, I worked on the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Canada. It was just as its name implies; a huge tract of farmland in the middle of the city where dozens of research scientists worked, seeking ways to breed animals in as efficient a manner as possible. Chickens were one such group and I learned that there were very skilled workers called “chick-sexers” most adept at quickly determining the sex of a newly hatched baby chick. Armed with this knowledge, I happened to be in the audience at an improv evening. One of the performers wanted to demonstrate the group’s facility in creating sketches on the spot, asking the audience for ideas. He asked for someone in the audience to name an occupation. Being clever, so I thought, I called out “chick-sexer”. Quick as a flash, he shot back, “It doesn’t have to be your job!”

Thought I would chime in with a Bach-Handel compliment on the puzzle.

Tremendously enjoyable, even though it took me FOREVER to solve. I was quite sure that “Assembly line” had to be something like PRAISEBETOTHELORD, but nothing was fitting in. What added tens of minutes to my solve was being so sure that 36A was JAMS. Not to mention DOG (quite the clever pun for “Hound”, thought I) rather than NAG. Though I was not familiar with UCONN, as a Canuck it wasn’t hard to get there since we have only three territories (as opposed to our 10 provinces); I doubted there was a homophone for NORTHWEST (which wouldn’t fit anyway); and I was having NUNAVUT. Got a chuckle out of 1D in light of the raging controversy on one of our national newscasts reported on a few days ago — must have been a slow news day — about the hole-less bagel (which of course is a contradiction in terms) that was being produced by Canada’s most famous bakery, St. Viateur, evidently as part of a promotion with Kraft’s Philadelphia Cream Cheese that would allow a bigger schmeer, leading, presumably, to higher sales for the cream cheese maker. Lots more I could add, but I really should go to bed, now.

GI never had as much fun with a Monday puzzle. Worth a gold seal (if not a navy or ultramarine one). A most admira(b)l(e) debut! Thank you, Jack Scherban. You’re a real trouper. …… !!!!!! Emus, Dismissed!

Very impressive debut, Ms. Muchnik. I wonder if anyone else arrived at the answer to 9D in the odd manner that I did. I took the clue to be a reference not to a book of maps but rather to the image of the Greek god from whose name the term derives: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology</a>) !!!!!! ……. Emus, begall!

Thought of a few added examples: Clue: “Side line?” Ans: FRIESORONIONRINGS Clue: “Main line?” Ans: FORYOURENTREE Clue: “Trap line?” Ans: WHEREWEREYOUTHENIGHTOFTHEMURDER Clue: “Land line?” Ans: FASTENYOURSEATBELTS Clue: “Bee line?” Ans. CANYOUUSETHEWORDINASENTENCE Clue: “Crow line?” Ans: MINEISBIGGERTHANYOURS Clue: “Flat line?” Ans: SORRYNOTFUNNY Clue: “Bread line” Ans: CANYOULENDMEATWENTY Clue: “Hot line?” Ans: ITSLIKEANOVENINHERE Clue: “Open line?” Ans: ONENOTRUMP

One thing I can say about this community of commenters is that they drive me to look into things about which I might otherwise never have thought. For example, comments about 36A. (As an aside, I must say firstly that while I have heard of a “herd mentality”, I have never heard of this particular expression.) But on to my point. I think, but am not certain, that someone commented, in the context of this clue, on lemmings. That drove me to explore the web to see if there is known, if not well-known, term for a group of lemmings, which led me to this: The myth that lemmings plunge over a cliff -- or that they commit mass suicide in other ways, like drowning -- is apparently just that, a myth. It was created (one hears) by Walt Disney's brother, who thought it made a cool visual effect. That this is all a myth is apparently well known to biologists (any out there?), but not to the common person (indeed, my Webster's Collegiate makes reference to it). Therefore, I propose "a slander of lemmings."

Kinda Tiny Tim singing voice? FALSEFALSETTO Kinda mimicking songbird? MOCKMOCKINGBIRD

My name for today’s crossword puzzle: “A Sense of Entitlement” Rhea-lly!

A fun puzzle for a Wednesday. Plenty of punny mis-directs like the clues for IMAC, TYPEO, BONE, MITT, RUG, EARS, ELS, TOGAS, AGES and RTE. Puzzlemucker’s description of a recent experience in a card tournament reminded me of an unforgettable incident in a Las Vegas casino my wife and I visited when Sam was literally a babe in arms. We were walking on a red carpet taking us through the casino on our way to our hotel. (Clever folks who design hotels containing casinos. Not unlike the designers of drug stores whose main entrance invariably makes you first walk through the cosmetics departments.) We paused briefly in front of a bank of slot machines, taking a step off the carpet. We were immediately accosted by a security guard who told us that no-one under 21 was permitted in the casino!

For me, one of the toughest Wednesday puzzles I ever tried (although I’m a mere novice in the midst of all you veterans in this community) — mainly because of so many unfamiliar terms in the NW corner, for which APLOMB hardly describes my approach to it. And that’s even after I recognized the shaded squares for L, O, V and E spelled out appropriate words. My time was so much slower than my Wednesday average that I am almost ready to describe it as my personal Valentine’s Day massacre — a phrase with which I immediately associate one of my favourite movies of all time: the incredible Billy Wilder comedy, “Some Like it Hot”. Wikipedia tells me this little tidbit about the movie: “The film was produced without approval from the Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code) because it features cross-dressing. The code had been gradually weakening in its scope since the early 1950s, owing to greater social tolerance for taboo topics in film, but it was enforced until the mid-1960s. The overwhelming success of Some Like It Hot is considered one of the reasons behind the retirement of the Hays Code.” Of course, were I not a NYT crossword puzzle enthusiast, though a Johnny-come-lately one, I wouldn’t have learned that either. Apologies for all this rambling. Happy Valentine’s Day to all.

To Dutchiris: When you started your comment with these questions: “How any times can you look at a typo and not see it? How long can you stare at a finished puzzle that refuses to be acknowledged as done?” I thought you were in the midst of composing a new verse for Bob Dylan’s classic, “Blowin’ in the Wind” for us cruciverbalists.

To Harry Zheng, I raise a glass and say, “Hear, hear!” A puzzle that failed to dupe me. ….. !!!!! Emus, begone!

Actually, Sam, the conventional — I won’t say only — meaning of C.O.D. — is “cash on delivery”. Of course, it won’t be long — maybe we are already there — before people will say, “Cash? What is that?”

Always fascinating to learn something about the constructors. Jess Shulman has a degree in electrical engineering! Slid quite naturally into a career as a Certified Professional Editor — Who knew there was such a thing? — and, as she describes herself on her website, a writer, communicator, book lover and language nerd. Maybe there is hope yet that I may one day construct a crossword puzzle for the NYT.

Sam’s names of a few assortments of animals were fun to learn about. It prompted me to do a little research on the web to uncover these: Murder of crows Parliament of owls Bale of turtles Crash of rhinos Gaggle of geese Business of ferrets Exaltation of larks Dazzle of zebras Convocation of eagles Ambush of tigers Skulk of foxes Skein of geese (in flight) Cackle of hyenas Pandemonium of parrots Knot of toads

I enjoyed reading about how the constructor couple planned out their crossword. However, if you want to learn what truly brilliant planners they are, check out the story of the plans they had for their wedding venue that went awry at the last second: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/495wt8xm" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/495wt8xm</a> Emus: Times up!

Oy! My PW for a Monday. I will put it down to my having taken a ham-fisted approach to 37D.

A quackerjack of a puzzle for a Monday!

Kudos to all who had so many elucidating comments about the Oxford/serial comma. Quite a contrast to listening to a presidential press conference that could occupy so much time and have nothing intelligent to say.

No doubt it will be just a matter of time before someone in this community once again bemoans the ubiquity of the answer OREO in the NYT crossword puzzles. (I am speculating that it is due to the crosses facilitated by a four-letter word that has this many vowels.) While it may be common knowledge south of the border, I was fascinated recently to hear about the history of the OREO cookie; particularly that it was a knock-off of an earlier cookie comprised of intricately embossed chocolate wafers sandwiching a sweet white filling. The original was a cookie that went by the name “Hydrox”. The story is engagingly told by a former advertising man, Terry O’Reilly, in a weekly radio program on our Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) called “Under the Influence”. The story is told in written form here: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/the-best-selling-cookie-in-the-world-is-a-copycat-brand-1.7080582" target="_blank">https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/the-best-selling-cookie-in-the-world-is-a-copycat-brand-1.7080582</a> But O’Reilly is such a consummate story-teller on the radio, I would encourage you to listen to him in a podcast of this particular episode from January 11th. In fact, you would enjoy all of the episodes of this radio program that has been on the air for many years.

As I pun-loving Dad, I had as much fun reading the Constructor’s Notes as I did solving the Thursday puzzle. Congratulations on both counts, Kareem Ayas! May the Force — or July the 18th — be with you.