THEME: noneWord of the Day: HOT-DESKING(3D: Office-sharing system, in modern lingo) — Hot desking(sometimes called “non-reservation-basedhoteling”) is an office organization system which involves multiple workers using a single physical work station or surface during different time periods.The “desk” in the name refers to an office desk being shared by multiple office workers on different shifts as opposed to each staff member having their own personal desk. A primary motivation for hot desking is cost reduction through space savings—up to 30% in some cases.Hot desking is especially valuable in cities where real estate prices are high.Research has demonstrated that while there may be cost savings in office space hot desking has significant negative impacts on both productivity and staff morale. (wikipedia)
Enjoyed this one despite never having heard of HOT-DESKING, which turns out to be one of these horrid dehumanizing workplace efficiency capitalist bulls**t things that I wish didn”t exist, but oh well. You gotta get your “modern lingo” from someplace, I guess. I couldn”t even make sense of the clue on that one, honestly. I figured it was some app-related thing like Slack, where coworkers shared … work things … or maybe there was some other app or weird office system whereby you share gossip or trash the boss or whatever. I dunno. I do know that at one point I absolutely had HOT DESTINY written in there. By the way, if anyone develops an intra-office gossip app and tries to call it HOT DESTINY, me and my non-existent lawyers are coming for you. Who is Chris O”DOWD? (21D: “Bridesmaids” co-star Chris). Is he that guy I”ve seen in *lots* of things but I still somehow don”t know what his name is? The Irish guy? Who”s in the TV version of “Get Shorty?” Or in that one show … the show … I watched once … damn it, what was that? (looks it up) “Family Tree!”? Yes! He was also in “The IT Crowd,” which Netflix really really Really wants me to watch, but which I have never watched. Annnnnyway, yeah, I know his face very well. His name, apparently not so much. Thus, NW corner was a bit of a bear for me. NE wasn”t much better until I used EDEN to get HOOD and SITE and SHARP and then REUP OIL UP (not so great, the UP/UP crossing) and FLOP and finally whooshed down the grid with SLIP OF THE TONGUE (7D: Possible insight for a psychologist). Things were much easier from there on out.
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Stayed at the bottom and took care of the SW, then went up to the center and *dammit* why didn”t I look at the long central Across clue earlier!?!?!? (35A: Musical alter ego of Donald Glover). Total Gimme!! Gah! If I”d somehow *started* there, who knows how much quicker I could”ve slayed this thing. CHILDISH GAMBINO, kapow! Then down into the SE where only RANDI (???!? ugh more modern biz-ness billionaire tech Facebook-adjacent stuff I don”t care about, it”s ****ing dystopic, I swear) slowed me down (44D: Businesswoman Zuckerberg, sister of Mark) (if she”s legit famous, you do not need that “sister of Mark” bit). Finally finished up back in that little nook in the west, at the bottom of HOT-DESKING, where two little wrong answers, stacked (EENY over SAG instead of TINY(37A: Minute) over SOG (!?) (39A: Go soft, in a way)), had to be sorted out, and then I was done. Normal time.
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Overall, there”s very little junk in this one, and lots of fun to be had in the medium-range and longer answers, particularly WEIRDED OUT, DEPLORABLE (wink!), KNEEBOARDS, JOKE WRITER, STRIKES OUT, etc. ANDCO is a FLOP, IMHO, but very few other things made me wince (20A: End of some business names). Thorniest clue, for me, was actually 11D: Packed with plasticware, perhaps (TOGO). I imagined “Packed with” meant “Chock full of” and I couldn”t imagine anything just crammed full of plasticware except maybe the upper drawer in my kitchen by the Brita. That seemed an unlikely crossword answer, though. OK, that”s all, see you Sunday.Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld P.S. the Bucks are the NBA team from Milwaukee, in case the NBA AGENTS clue was inscrutable to you (34D: They get big bucks from big Bucks).
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Posted byRex Parkerat12:00 AM
Labels:Hemant Mehta,Saturday
124comments:
jae12:24 AM
Easy-medium. My only erasure was aveS before JCTS. Most of the trivia was in my wheelhouse but I needed a few crosses to dredge up CHILDISH GAMBINO. Plenty of sparkle with some fun long downs. Liked it a bunch, a fine debut.
Anonymous1:19 AM
Curious whether Rex has a hissy fit over the other crosswords he solves or if it’s just kabuki theatre for his audience here. Nah, everyone knows the answer to that one.
Jason2:37 AM
Better clue for 15d:One who just had the best week ever.And it looks like there's some HOT-DESKING going on at the NSC.KAG2020
fkdiver5:40 AM
A thoroughly enjoyable solve. Not familiar with HOT DESKING but I know “hot racking” and “hot bunking” so it wasn't hard to infer. The UP/UP cross is a very minor glitch in an otherwise fine themeless Saturday.
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Lewis6:50 AM
My rhyme for the day is: This was a bear but it wasn't unfair.As I look over the completed grid, there are only four answers alien to my wheelhouse — HOTDESKING, CHILDISH GAMBINO, ODOWD, and RANDI. That should be pretty easily overcomable through crosses, and they are all fairly crossed. So why was this so tough? Tough tough cluing. Clues as oblique hints from all angles. At least, tough for me. And yet, as I look the clues over, they make perfect sense. It's an art to make clues like that, and here, in his NYT debut, Hemant has demonstrated that he's got it — it either flows effortlessly out of him, or he recognizes the just-right clue when it finally comes to him after much mental grind-work.What a promising first puzzle, and how I look forward to more from you HM!
Suzie Q7:10 AM
Fun and impressive debut. I loved weirded out and learning strigine for owls. Too bad Childish Gambino means nothing to me and the clue was no help either but still gettable. Hot desking sounds horrible because I love my privacy. Crossing mount and steeds caught my eye.I will be watching for this constructor's name in the future.
Anonymoose7:18 AM
A few nits:56A, Clue and answer were both slangUnfortunate clue for 34D. 42D was weak.Otherwise Keen and NEAT puzzle
Lewis, I found this tough…but doable with some patience .My first and only entry for quite some time was SALAD days. Memories of being young, innocent and very poor. Images of only eating cheap and awful iceberg lettuce with maybe a little tomato and a cucumber. I guess I was green in judgement.I can't help but think that DEPLORABLE needs a basket in front of it. I'm thinking that Hillary didn't get any help from a PR PERSON when she coined the phrase. Maybe a JOKE WRITER?By taking my time and getting up from my comfy chair from time to time, I was able to get a word here and there. SLIP OF THE TONGUE was my first long down. Loved it and I loved myself for getting it. I've never heard of CHILDISH GAMBINO and needed ever single down to get him/her. Why did I want STANDISH? I had my one Google at ODOWD and then another at JETT. These names get me every time. Had the BOARDS at 38A and wanted to somehow fit in boogy. Left the middle and headed south. Had BURGER and wanted TUNA. I once had a BOCA BURGER and they taste like cardboard. I put a ton of mayo and mustard and pickles and tomatoes and real lettuce but nothing changed. Never heard of RANDI – I wanted Renee but the wonderful TUDE changed my ways. BLUE MOON is the only beer I actually enjoy so I was happy to get that in.NOOB TUDE BBOY SNOT…Fun!Really nice job, Hemant…..Hope to see you more often.
QuasiMojo7:40 AM
MEH. Took me a while to get a lot of this because it was Weirding me Out. Never heard of this Gambino fella nor his real name. Price Range Ina shopping guide? Huh? That JCTS clue had my petticoats in a whirl. What on earth is a Boca Burger? I hope it's not made of Raton! Plus NBA Agents is one of these increasingly common sports abbreviation answers that are the epitome of junk fill. Sort of green paint that's caked and dried and sitting in a garage waiting for the dumpster.To the late-day posters who ask questions like “Does it bother anyone that…?” etc — you may wish to read the comments. Yes it does bother some of us. And we already posted about it. TA!
amyyanni7:56 AM
Love it! Thought Rex wouldn't like the two answers that end in OUT, just as he noted the two ending in UP. Delighted that he found it fun. The related answers were a nice touch (BLUE MOON/BOCA BURGER MOUNT/STEEDS). Congrats Hemant, if you check in here. Come back soon!
kitshef7:57 AM
Much better handling of the uninferrable name today. Yesterday we had one crossing an obscure company, a foreign word, a formation nonexistent out of crosswords, and a TV character. Today the main threats are OTOS, which is bad, but which most Saturday solvers have seen so many times they are sick of it, and ODOWD, who I happen to know but which is bad. However, with CHIL_ISH in place a ‘D’ is mighty alluring … unless you happen to think of ‘L’ first. And Rex you really need to watch The IT Crowd.Beyond that, there were a fair few unknowns (to me) today, RANDI, clue for HOOD, KNEE BOARDS, SOG, but all were crossed fairly.
Hungry Mother8:12 AM
Just slogged along as usual on Saturday. I try not to overthink my answers at the end of the week, so I end up with answers that I don’t understand. This doesn’t bother me because I know I can’t know everything.
dcrone018:17 AM
really got my salad tossed on this one.
Pepper8:24 AM
Why kabuki?
Pepper8:25 AM
“Never heard of this Gambino fella” is a GEM lmao
Pepper8:27 AM
The only Zuckerberg that matters is Donna!!!Was afraid I wasn’t going to finish (I’m BABY) until, same as Rex, CHILDISH GAMBINO really got the ball rolling. Thanks Donglover!
Laura8:34 AM
Hot desking is ranges from dehumanizing to unusable. I appreciate the rant. The puzzle was tough but had a couple fun clues. Ligh and dark nearly felled me but was a smile when i got ot.
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tompdavis”Salad days” are one's own naive youth. It's from Shakespeare, and the original sense is more along the lines of “green” (unripe) than in actually buying/eating salad (which isn't exactly the cheapest option these days anyway).
