"A Sticky Situation" - November 7, 2021

[BarbaraK]

me. Thanks Will! Really quick solve because I hit Google immediately. I have never seen the show so it was a good thing I did. BTW, did anyone else have an issue with 56D?

I believe 56D is one of those things the young-uns say.

My issue was with 34A. I think "integral" is overstating it. Usually important certainly, but not absolutely necessary. Some airplanes don't even have them.

-aviation nerd

[woozy]

I didn't like 59-D but found it acceptable. Nouns are frequently verbed (and have been for 50 years) and "to X (transitive verb) = to cause [implied subject] to become X" where X is noun or adjective, is a standard form of verbing and in this case I've heard it done a few times. (which isn't to say I approve of it.)

[woozy]

Actually last night I heard a "young-uns-ism" that made my skin crawl. A restaurant owner in an attempt to be hip, young, and casual said "So we collab with the neighborhood to make a community". "Collab"??? You aren't typing or texting. You are speaking. You are making sounds through your vocal chords by exhaling breath. There is no need and nothing to gain by abbreviating. So you just say "we collaborate with the neighborhood".

[oldjudge]

I know the English language is something that continues to evolve. That doesn’t mean, however, that I will like, or personally adopt, the changes. As for 34A, I’ll go with Barbara every time in this area.

[KayW]

thanks to Google - and to Will, for a "gettable" puzzle

[benchen71]

Done and dusted. Thanks for the puzzle, Will.

[C=64]

This is one of those metas that feels more like a themed puzzle that's missing an entry revealing the theme.

[auee89]

Agree about 56D… I don’t get it.

Likewise, don't see this one.

[lbray53]

DINO ME! I can see why the show does not appeal to everyone but we loved it.

[AnswerPfinder]

Hi folks!

Really glad to hear that most folks are getting this one without much difficulty! Thanks for all the positive feedback!

Just stopped by to apologize for 34-A. My bad - I've updated the Crosshare clue to something more accurate!

And for what it's worth, Merriam Webster has adopted the definition I used for 56-D: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/other . New definitions and uses for otherwise unexciting words are one of the many things I love about crosswords!

*Edited to put answer URL in spoiler tag.

[BarbaraK]

Just stopped by to apologize for 34-A. My bad - I've updated the Crosshare clue to something more accurate!

Thanks for the update instead of (or maybe in addition to:) the eye roll I more rightly deserved.

[Bird Lives]

BTW, did anyone else have an issue with 56D?

A youngjudge would not have asked. It's increasingly being used as a verb. I think the idea, though not the verb, goes back to Edward Said's 1978 Orientalism. I think that the verb form emerged only in this century.

[Bird Lives]

I didn't like 59-D but found it acceptable. Nouns are frequently verbed (and have been for 50 years)

Stephen Pinker says, "I have estimated that about a fifth of all English verbs were originally nouns." It's only the new ones that we notice and that bother us. Nobody winces if you say, "It's raining" the way they might if you say, "We're dialoguing." I'd guess that often these words that purists declare to be wrong gain currency because they express an idea better than anything else. Like "hopefully." I don't like "critique" as a verb, but I have to admit that I can't think of another word that captures its precise meaning, certainly not "criticise."

[woozy]

The problem with "we are dialoging" is twofold. One) we have a perfectly good and simply verb: talking and 2) the reason people say "dialoging" is "dialog" sounds like a technical jargon word as so the people saying it are attempting to sound more official and we find that irritatingly pretentious; these are people who *are* fully aware talking and discussing exist.

Argh, I had a response to your astute observation about Said's "Orientalism" but the server timeout ate it. (I made a funny joke about WSJ vs. SJW.... well, I thought it was funny..... ne'mine.)

(But I have heard and even used 59 D more often than I would have thought. And I'm not much of a young-un anymore.)

[Wendy Walker]

I have never seen this show, but I have friends who swear I'd love, love, LOVE it.
Thanks, Will, for an EZ one, much needed by my hurting brain and sagging meta mojo.

[CPJohnson]

Never saw the show, but, off the couch, thanks to Google. Thanks, Will!

[joequavis]

As always, thanks for the puzzle Will. I will say, though, that this falls into a category of puzzles that I don't particularly enjoy...the exo-meta. They rely on outside knowledge and typically involve the following steps:
1) solve grid / identify theme answers
2a) know what the answer is
3a) Google to confirm (if necessary), OR
2b) Google the right combination of things to obtain the answer

Or maybe I just agree with @C=64 that this is really a themed xword missing the final tie-in entry.

[Dplass]

As always, thanks for the puzzle Will. I will say, though, that this falls into a category of puzzles that I don't particularly enjoy...the exo-meta. They rely on outside knowledge and typically involve the following steps:
1) solve grid / identify theme answers
2a) know what the answer is
3a) Google to confirm (if necessary), OR
2b) Google the right combination of things to obtain the answer

Or maybe I just agree with @C=64 that this is really a themed xword missing the final tie-in entry.

I couldn't agree more. I prefer metas where the physical letters of the answer are on the page (or directly derivable thereof.)

[Darth]

Why am I saying "Dino me"? Ah, it's one of those nouns becoming a verb!

[hoover]

I guessed the meta answer (confirmed by Googling) just based on the comment thread.