"Past and Present" - December 24, 2020

[Colin]

I had same thing back in the summer with my bathroom faucets. In the end, it was easier to disconnect the plumbing (h/c and waste), lift out the sink (with faucets) after cutting the silicone seal and then saw through the nuts on the workbench. Saved a few bandaids on my head too!

I watched a couple of videos and laughed. First video the water shutoffs actually worked which they never do. And the nut twisted off by hand. HA

Second The guy drilled out the nut from below.

The plumber is coming on Wednesday. I want to see how he attacks the problem

Oh boy! I hope it doesn’t turn into this type of week for you, Bob...
https://open.spotify.com/track/6KGSH77A ... zVW8utuynQ
... the relevant song starts about 2 mins in, after some very old British humor!

[ReB]

After rebooting my brain with Bob's "Hints for Solving Meta Contests" and then concluding that the key hint for locating the meta answer letters (i.e. Matt's present to us) was "UNDER THE TREE", I noticed OAK and then ELM a little ways down. For confirmation, I searched for the next three-letter tree name that came to my mind, which was FIR, and after spotting that one, I went down until I noticed ASH - and that was gin.

The biggest distraction for me was the use of PRESENT in both the title and four clues. (PAST though was a bust, so I didn't go very far down that rabbit trail.)

But there was one nice Christmas touch associated with that distraction - the combination of 36A and 33D (two of the "present" clues) formed a little cross (or perhaps star) in the middle of the puzzle, which could also be seen as an ornament at the top of a "Christmas tree" (if you look at the whole grid as a helicopter view of a single tree sloping up from the base to an apex).

[eisense]

I posted in last week’s thread, but for anyone who cares: I had posted about modern technology that retained elements of forerunner technology (such as the 9-minute snooze interval on iPhone). I knew there was a word for it but couldn’t remember it. I came across it while reading an article online: skeuomorphism

The Wikipedia entry spends time on the topic as it involves Apple:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph

Interesting. The word I was thinking of when you originally posted was "Steampunk." And although the article doesn't mention it, I see it mentions "Retrofuturism" in the Design section. And Steampunk is a type of retrofuturism. So it seems steampunk is a subset of skeuomorphism.

Now if someone could please tell me how to untie the knot in my tongue....

Somewhat related is "retronym" coined by William Safire to capture the class of new names one had to give to items that had been replaced by technology advances. The analog watch is the classic example.

[LadyBird]

But there was one nice Christmas touch associated with that distraction - the combination of 36A and 33D (two of the "present" clues) formed a little cross (or perhaps star) in the middle of the puzzle, which could also be seen as an ornament at the top of a "Christmas tree" (if you look at the whole grid as a helicopter view of a single tree sloping up from the base to an apex).

I noticed that little cross in the middle as well. But I thought of it as ribbons crossing a present. So another rabbit hole was trying to follow those ribbons.

[HunterX]

I posted in last week’s thread, but for anyone who cares: I had posted about modern technology that retained elements of forerunner technology (such as the 9-minute snooze interval on iPhone). I knew there was a word for it but couldn’t remember it. I came across it while reading an article online: skeuomorphism

The Wikipedia entry spends time on the topic as it involves Apple:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph

Interesting. The word I was thinking of when you originally posted was "Steampunk." And although the article doesn't mention it, I see it mentions "Retrofuturism" in the Design section. And Steampunk is a type of retrofuturism. So it seems steampunk is a subset of skeuomorphism.

Now if someone could please tell me how to untie the knot in my tongue....

Somewhat related is "retronym" coined by William Safire to capture the class of new names one had to give to items that had been replaced by technology advances. The analog watch is the classic example.

Ah. Well I then have a steampunk-smartwatch, a retronym I just created as my contribution to the world of skeuomorphs. I treated myself to a present this month--a smartwatch, after refusing for years, and sticking by my old-fashioned solar atomic-clock-receiving watches. (The latter having killed all the batteries in my ancient battery-powered watches.) I was finally satisfied sufficiently with a new arrival on the smartwatch scene, and sufficiently bored of my last pandemic-toy. Of the many watch faces I've downloaded for it, my favorites have (simulated) tourbillons and/or are a (simulated) skeleton watch.

[Commodore]

I watched a couple of videos and laughed. First video the water shutoffs actually worked which they never do. And the nut twisted off by hand. HA

Second The guy drilled out the nut from below.

The plumber is coming on Wednesday. I want to see how he attacks the problem

Oh boy! I hope it doesn’t turn into this type of week for you, Bob...
https://open.spotify.com/track/6KGSH77A ... zVW8utuynQ
... the relevant song starts about 2 mins in, after some very old British humor!

Mister Colin, you have sent me down an entirely different and enjoyable rabbit hole. Where did you find these fellows? They are brilliant. The British version of Tom Lehrer and Ogden Nash. Gnow, I cannot get their GNU song out of my head. Happy Gnu Year!

[mheberlingx100]

Has the winner of the mug been announced?

[LadyBird]

Has the winner of the mug been announced?

I keep hopefully checking my junk email holder!

[Nlobb]

Me too!!!

[Prozach]

The easter egg for me was the word "ETZ" as part of GETZ in NE. Well, the Word ETZ means TREE in Hebrew. Isn't that something?

[Joe Ross]

If you're not on ZOOM, you're missing a dissertation on bladder capacities, mechanics, & health.

[Dplass]

If you're not on ZOOM, you're missing a dissertation on bladder capacities, mechanics, & health.

LOL, kind of glad I chickened out at the last second.

[Colin]

The plumber is coming on Wednesday. I want to see how he attacks the problem

Oh boy! I hope it doesn’t turn into this type of week for you, Bob...
https://open.spotify.com/track/6KGSH77A ... zVW8utuynQ
... the relevant song starts about 2 mins in, after some very old British humor!

Mister Colin, you have sent me down an entirely different and enjoyable rabbit hole. Where did you find these fellows? They are brilliant. The British version of Tom Lehrer and Ogden Nash. Gnow, I cannot get their GNU song out of my head. Happy Gnu Year!

Back in England, my parents, brother and I would listen to the Family Favorites show on BBC radio every Sunday lunch-time. Flanders and Swann were regular requests and The Gasman Cometh song is one that later got merged with Led Zeppelin, Beatles, etc in my eclectic music memory. Anyway, it’s great that you enjoyed it - who’d have gnown!

[Bill Bovard]

A belated Sunday report as I was attempting to replace my daughter's kitchen sink faucet - unsuccessful as that nut that holds it on was rusted forever and needs someone with a sawsall to cut the faucet off.

On a positive note, we have several new muggles including Arthur Q. Wells, Guy Wyo and collegecrossworders (not sure which college). we welcome all of them.

We have 7 now keeping Isaac company and 183 on the shore

New to the shore since yesterday are
cbarbee002 (I think)
and copperriver

Making their way to the shore are
EVJ
maprasad
Arthur
Debbie
Colin
Amanda Hugginkiss
Nlobb
phofer
Plymouth Rock
Ann
Guy Wyo
Brian M (who was there but forgot to post
Cosmo
ADS
Crest
Jarrod
horsesense
collegecroworders (by the way how many of you are there and what will you do if you win the mug)
Fishoutowater - who had one of the better lines after getting a nudge
flamingbear
Lyman
KscX
norrin2
Bic Mac
Henry Paul
and Susie G

Good luck to all winning the mug

Woo-hoo, you have an excuse to buy a sawzall!

[Arthur Q. Welles]

Ashore! Give me a Guinness.

Another close neighbor. Welcome to the clan. Always great to have more muggles.

I live in Littleton and we have several others in close proximity.

Nice to know I have some neighbors here on the forum. Glad to have found this community, I've been doing puzzles for 30 years but I've only recently been introduced to metas.

[Joe Ross]

A belated Sunday report as I was attempting to replace my daughter's kitchen sink faucet - unsuccessful as that nut that holds it on was rusted forever and needs someone with a sawsall to cut the faucet off

Woo-hoo, you have an excuse to buy a sawzall!

I propose something from the KNUCKLE-BUSTER© WRISTSNAP® 2020 line by DeWALT.

[DrTom]

If you're not on ZOOM, you're missing a dissertation on bladder capacities, mechanics, & health.

We put the P in Public Forum!! That is our cystem and scope of influence and your in trouble if you don't sphinc that's true.

EDIT: I forgot to say, ureter with us or against us!

[DrTom]

A belated Sunday report as I was attempting to replace my daughter's kitchen sink faucet - unsuccessful as that nut that holds it on was rusted forever and needs someone with a sawsall to cut the faucet off

Woo-hoo, you have an excuse to buy a sawzall!

I propose something from the KNUCKLE-BUSTER© WRISTSNAP® 2020 line by DeWALT.

Wow, whatever happened to the good old blowtorch. Great for loosening up rusted nuts and for giving one a reason to replace the entire wooden cabinet the sink is in! Also give the room that pleasant fireplace smell.....

[MikeMillerwsj]

Belatedly and briefly catching up here, with apologies for the holiday-week delay. (Always a delightful surprise to see the unexpected directions this discussion takes... plumbing techniques is a new one.)

A big turnout and an unusually high success rate: 1813 entries, 95% correct. One more Thursday contest right around the corner for the holidays. Congrats to this week's winner, Adam Beerman of Somerville, MA. And a safe, happy, and mug-filled 2021 to all!

[DrTom]

Belatedly and briefly catching up here, with apologies for the holiday-week delay. (Always a delightful surprise to see the unexpected directions this discussion takes... plumbing techniques is a new one.)

A big turnout and an unusually high success rate: 1813 entries, 95% correct. One more Thursday contest right around the corner for the holidays. Congrats to this week's winner, Adam Beerman of Somerville, MA. And a safe, happy, and mug-filled 2021 to all!

But Mike, when we cover "plumbing" we do it for several different iterations of the art! Of course you HAVE to be on the Zoom call for that.