Parting Thoughts

Oh, my. There's going to be letters, isn't there.

As for me, I applaud both Mr. Ginsberg and Mr. Shortz for pushing the crossword humor envelope.

Jokes are little Darwinian memes. They compete amongst themselves to reproduce through retelling, they evolve, and when everyone has finally heard them, they show up as gags, er I mean as quips, in crossword puzzles. That's always been my problem with quip themes. If they're funny, they're already common currency. The Matt Ginsberg example in today's Sunday, July 13 puzzle (answers) distinguishes itself by being of questionable taste so that's a big plus. Not just for me, and I have the server logs to prove it. My most popular blog post of all time is What's your Offensiveness Index?

Who originated this joke? I remember it as a common email signature tag back in the 1990s but I had no luck tracking down the creator. Feel free to claim it's you. As far as I can tell, nobody can dispute you. Anyway, tell me what you think, both about quip puzzles in general and also ones that make you scream in terror or at least groan.

This is Mr. Ginsberg's fifth puzzle, all in 2008. I still remember his "1/64 of a checkerboard, maybe: Abbr." clue in January. There are some fine clues today too. "Take heat from" is UNARM. "Veiled comment" is, of course, I DO. I didn't know the word SPLIFF but I'll be sure to use it now. DEMESNE is the "Lord's land" or the area around an estate. Hale-BOPP is the one comet nearly everyone has seen. Charles Dickens is a favorite of word lovers like me and his shortest novel is HARD TIMES. Even if you've never read any Dickens, you're familiar with some of his opening passages. Hard Times begins with these wonderful paragraphs chock full of sage advice for crossword solvers:

“NOW, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!”

THOMAS GRADGRIND, sir. A man of realities. A man of facts and calculations. A man who proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four, and nothing over, and who is not to be talked into allowing for anything over. Thomas Gradgrind, sir — peremptorily Thomas — Thomas Gradgrind. With a rule and a pair of scales, and the multiplication table always in his pocket, sir, ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you exactly what it comes to. It is a mere question of figures, a case of simple arithmetic. You might hope to get some other nonsensical belief into the head of George Gradgrind, or Augustus Gradgrind, or John Gradgrind, or Joseph Gradgrind (all supposititious, non-existent persons), but into the head of Thomas Gradgrind — no, sir!

Update: Some readers have inferred that I thought Mr. Ginsberg was taking credit for the quip himself. Not at all. Constructors quote famous gags all the time and the presumption is always that it's a third-party quote.

I've also been asked in email if I would have loved the crossword if I hadn't already known the gag. The answer is yes but to be clear, I loved it anyway. It's a solid and entertaining puzzle. I'm sure it's more fun for people who haven't heard the joke.

Finally, PhillySolver (who else?) dug up some biographical info on our constructor. It was written a year ago, before Dr. Ginsberg's first NYT publication. It's an interesting read.

Comments

[PhillySolver]

I lived in London in the 1990s and this quip was known to me and was attributed to the British Comedian, Bob Monkhouse. I only mention it so I can press the envelope of offensiveness by offering a few other lines from him.

"They laughed when I said I was going to be a comedian. They're not laughing now."
"I came home and found that my son was taking drugs - my very best ones too!"
"I can remember when safe sex meant a padded headboard."
On his visits to Princess Grace Hospital for treatment after being diagnosed with prostate cancer--"I've been in and out of Princess Grace more often than Prince Rainier."

I liked the puzzle except I got completely crossways with it down in Texas. Took me ten minutes to figure it out after completing the rest in 22 minutes. I liked the STREETCAR clue and the clever ones you mentioned.

[JimH]

Funny stuff, PhillySolver.

And thanks for pointing out the STREETCAR clue. I meant to highlight that one as well but I guess I got too carried away with the Dickens.

[Linda G]

I'd heard the quip before but couldn't remember the punch line...then wanted the RIDERS in his car for too long.

I've been without internet service since Tuesday. Jumping from a Tuesday puzzle to Sunday was tough...I'm a bit out of practice.

Loved STREETCAR...the very best clue of the puzzle.

[Matt Ginsberg]

Thanks very much for the positive comments, Jim!

Will and I spent some time discussing the idea of a quip puzzle on a Sunday. He said that he had taken it because the quip made him laugh (it was new to both of us when we saw it), and because the word count was low. In general, though, he said that he tends to avoid them.

Linda, always wonderful to hear your voice.

[joon]

hey, that's the same matt ginsberg who wrote GIB? i should have guessed. eight years ago some friends of mine won a bunch of money from ginsberg when they defeated GIB in a human-vs-computer teams match at the summer nationals in toronto.

i generally find quote themes unpalatable, and this one was no exception (it was both hard to figure out every letter, and unsatisfying to get because i'd heard it before). but the puzzle overall was pretty good, because of the quality of the fill (and a nice low word count of 132). another thing that surprised me about the theme (and not in a good way) was the middle entry being three letters long.

on another controversial topic, how do people feel about hitler making an appearance in today's puzzle?

[LaurenB]

I like the NOT in the middle of the grid. It emphasized the word appropriately.

And where would crosswords be without evil dictators like IDI, SESE, and their ILK? I'm not sure Hitler actually invented the big lie, though.

[jannieb]

Quip puzzles are always more challenging for me than straight-out theme puzzles. I had heard this one before but for some reason, had a devilish time parsing the beginning of it. The NW corner and Texas were the trickiest for me. In the NW, I had "arid" for way too long so the quip was trying to start with "Do_I_" and made absolutely no sense. Some great cluing today, as already mentioned.

[ArtLvr]

Fascinating info on the puzzle's author! Thanks, Philly...

I'm not sure I liked the black humor that emerged during the solving, though -- especially since I'd done most of it last night and only got to the phrase "screaming in terror" in a fresh go on this lovely Sunday morning. Jarring. However, it was well-constructed and had some unusual fill.

∑;)

[Wendy Laubach]

I knew (and liked) the joke very well, but like others had trouble figuring out the exact words, especially the beginning and end. I, too, was stuck on "ARID" for a while. Great puzzle.

Surely we can't be offended by the mere mentioning of the name of Hitler? He was scarcely brought up in a approving context. It's no good forgetting that people like him existed and even rose to power, or how they did it.

[KarmaSartre]

I don't find words or names offensive, as they are just symbols. The thing they represent may offend, but those things are never in a puzzle, just words naming them. Big difference for me.

Really enjoyed the puzzle. Really struggled in the Upper Left. As HOMEGIRL was a command I used to give to my beloved Bearded Collie, Poochinella, it was tough to commit to.

Looking forward to the Puns and Anagrams....

[Mary Parent]

Here's the problem. Uncle Fester is not Morticia's uncle. He's her brother in law. Fester is Gomez's brother. Gomez is Morticia's husband. Voila! Fester is Morticia's brother-in-law. Uncle Fester is the uncle of Pugsly and Wednesday. Uncle Fester's niece is Wednesday.

[joon]

mary, there are two different genealogies depending on the version of the show:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Fester

In the original sitcom of the 1960s, Fester is said to be Morticia Addams's maternal uncle, but in all other filmed and animated content he is Gomez Addams's brother, making him uncle to Wednesday and Pugsley.