Field of DraftKings and FanDuel

If this comment is not posted within a reasonable time, I will resubmit it with two words blanked out.

I started easily enough in the SW: ARIA and WELL were gimmes, and Eeyore – with the crosses –gave me POOH, but my northward motion was stopped in its TRACKS by BAcLAVA before BAKLAVA.

In the SW, I was delayed by PORN before SMUT and EXTRAS before SCRUBS. When I eventually worked my way up to 35A, I already had POOH STICKS and QUIDDITCH, which revealed the “revealer”. Regrettably, the theme wasn’t very useful, as the two remaining themers were completely new to me.

The NW corner, with AL ANON “who” – unlike Al ROSEN – was unknown to me, was filled after looking up ANN. I met my nemesis in the NE, where I had nEtCAM before WEBCAM, did not know CALVIN BALL (though I guessed CALVIN correctly) and couldn’t figure out the answer to 13D. When Google didn’t help, I clicked “reveal word” and was given GEL, which allowed me to fill the NE corner correctly and complete the solve – without music.

Any idea why THREE entries from 2010 are now at the top of the column/blog??????????

This was so far outside my wheelhouse, I'm surprised I finished.

* I've seen the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip a few times. I remember that one of them is a dog.
* I saw the original "Star Wars" when it first camed out. I remember it had a lot of special effects and a rather amusing bar scene.
* I read "Winnie the Pooh" c. 70 years ago. I remember nothing, but know the names from XWPs.
* Didn't read any "Harry Potter" but saw one of the movies; don't remember which, but I'd see another. I remember QUIDDITCH.

The problem was, even when I got it, I didn't get it. Even though I got QUIDDITCH from the clue, I had to piece together the other themers, which I thought were made up for the puzzle (and I thought that was an inconsistency). I kept looking for something punny or otherwise wordplay-y. Only when I read Deb's column did I realize these FANTASY SPORTS were actually *in* the works mentioned.

The clue for 46A sums up my experience.

Very much liked CONTRETEMPS and KICK ME. Didn't know ANN Wilson or Al ROSEN. Wanted EMBARK ON, but it didn't fit. After I changed BLOG to VLOG I was perfectly happy with TV TAPE, until I came here and saw that it wasn't really A Thing.

None of the above is a criticism of the puzzle itself, which is fine, but just not mine.

So congratulations on your debut, Matthew, and I hope you'll be back soon. But in another wheelhouse, or up a different alley.

I had BLOG forever, but didn't like TB TAPE, but tried it anyway, until I thought of video log.
I'm guessing TV TAPE is either a blank tape to record a TV show, or a recorded show.

I've been doing archive puzzles to pass the time now and then. I had been working backward for a while and though, that's stupid, I should start with the oldest ones in case the drop off.

Wow, some of those clues are dated. After all, the oldest puzzles are from the first year of Clinton's presidency. No, young'uns, I am not going bats. Hillary's mate, Bill, was once president a long, long time ago. I am not kidding!

Anyhoo...another thing i noticed is, despite having to go through mental cobwebs to recall someone like Lena Olin, was just how easy the puzzles are and there doesn't seem to be the weekly difficulty progression like now. I'd say, the difficulty of the '93 puzzles are Tuesday level. Wednesday tops.

This puzzle, for me, was a wonderful example of the value of Deb's advice to keep plugging when you are confronted by a lot of clues that you don't know. I am learning to fill in guesses and then erase them if they don't seem to be working out. By painstakingly working alternately across and down, I was able to fill in enough spaces one way to get the crosses. Since Winnie the Pooh was an integral part of my childhood, I had a dim recollection of the game of POOH STICKS, and my granddaughters' infatuation with Harry Potter allowed me to dredge up QUIDDITCH, once I had the Q.

Best of all, after I finished the puzzle, I got out "The House at Pooh Corner" and reread Chapter VI - "In Which - Pooh Invents a New Game and Eeyore Joins In." It has made my day and makes me realize, once again, why the Pooh books remain such classics. Thank you Mr. Sewell for bringing back some wonderful memories.

The Maine and Chicago families gather around their individual computers ans iPads tonight to draft their favorite NFL players to once again participate in ESPN's Fantasy Football. Grandpa John has won two of the first three seasons ans hence the winner receives the Grandpa John World Class Championship Trophy.

Congrats to Matthew Sewell on his debut puzzle. I was completely plugged into his wavelength today. Nearly every answer slipped right into place, including the themers and the reveal. Well, except for the totally contrived TVTAPE. Cool stuff like ROCOCO, UNCAS, and CONTRTEMPS more than make up for it, though.

One of my standard lines when we eat out: "I never met a dessert I didn't like--except for FLAN." I'll have the BAKLAVA instead.

The POOH STICKS were a Welsh pop-rock band that released a number of albums in the late 80s and early 90s. They never really caught on commercially, but did develop a cult following with their punch power-pop and penchant for borrowing song titles (not the songs, just the titles) from other acts. Try out "Let the Good Times Roll" for a sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G6w34rH25g

5D:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITs-YX1yQ7o

I didn't really know most of the theme answers, but was able to solve anyway - the sign of a really good puzzle!

I can give additional perspectives on VLOG. In the Deaf Community (those who use sign language as their main means of communication), the VLOG is the preferred media choice for "blogging". Since American Sign Language (ASL) is not a written language, written blogging doesn't work particularly well for this population. VLOGs are preferred simply because they can use ASL - and be understood by their intended audience. For non-ASL users, like myself, it is helpful if these VLOGs are also captioned.

This comment is not posted about an hour ago and has not yet appeared.I am reposting it with two possibly offensive words blanked words blanked out.

The preponderance of pop-cultural names took this puzzle well above Wednesday difficulty for me.

I started easily enough in the SW: ARIA and WELL were gimmes, and Eeyore – with the crosses –gave me POOH, but my northward motion was stopped in its TRACKS by BAcLAVA before BAKLAVA.

In the SW, I was delayed by __R_ before __U_ and EXTRAS before SCRUBS. When I eventually worked my way up to 35A, I already had POOH STICKS and QUIDDITCH, which revealed the “revealer”. Regrettably, the theme wasn’t very useful, as the two remaining themers were completely new to me.

The NW corner, with AL ANON “who” – unlike Al ROSEN – was unknown to me, could be filled only after I looked up ANN. I met my nemesis in the NE, where I had nEtCAM before WEBCAM, did not know CALVIN BALL (though I guessed CALVIN correctly) and couldn’t figure out the answer to 13D. When Google didn’t help, I clicked “reveal word” and was given GEL, which allowed me to fill the NE corner correctly and complete the solve – without music.

Actually, Daniel Okrent himself has acknowledged that a league pre-dated the origin of his own. See the letter here:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/25/the-mail-from-the-may-25-20...

Isn't it qidditch?

Fantasy baseball's been around since at least 1961. I've been a player.

http://www.strat-o-matic.com/products/baseball

Today, FANTASY SPORTS is a gambling driven craze that's the focus of intensive and ongoing litigation. Proponents, Draft Kings et al, state skill outweighs chance. Opponents disagree. The amount of money at stake is astronomical. The dough that's risked and exchanged is real, that is a point both parties cannot deny...I finished in the NW. As others, I raised an eyebrow about 1d. The cartridge gets inserted into the VCR, but it does TAPE from the TV. I've learned, from coming to this space, clues are not definitions..."He stopped on a dime. Unfortunately the dime was in ROCOCO's pocket." This is the conclusion of Firesign Theater's "Cut 'Em Off at the Past."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrdOArwpqis

Thank you, Matthew Sewell, for your highly original, fresh, fun, whimsical take on FANTASYSPORTS. Off the top of my head I can't remember a debut that I've enjoyed more. (Although GOBS does bring to mind GOBSMACKED! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

Seriously, revel in your accomplishment today, you totally deserve it. I am so looking forward to your next!

UNCAS though portrayed as a hero may be something else. UNCAS' actions to satisfy his goal of leadership read like stories of Putin and a Presidential candidate who shall not be named. UNCAS' story is interesting reading.

TVTAPE and ENTERON are stretches but one or two rotten apple do not spoil a puz.

Never a FANTASYSPORTS player but the literary and film made this solvable pour moi.

Pleasant Wednesday fare.

Meant to say that I think of CONTRETEMPS as 'awkward situation' more than as it is clued. Anyone else?

NW was slow for me, until I realized it had to be TVTAPE. Never read The Last of the Mohicans, but the movie sure was good.

Thought this was a very clever idea and a good puzzle, even though I didn't know any of the theme answers or the reveal from the clues. I think I could have figured out the reveal if I'd stopped to think about it, but I just saw a couple of names I didn't recognize and moved on. I also remember the activity from Calvin and Hobbes, but had forgotten what it was called. QUIDDITCH was familiar with some crosses, though I don't know from whence. I'm guessing it's come up before.

What others have said about TVTAPES and I didn't know VLOG either, but it was the only thing that made any sense. It took me a while to work out some of the north; I don't care to admit some of the places where I went dim, but it all came together eventually. Loved seeing CONTRETEMPS, though that seemed like the blandest possible clue.

Congratulations to Mr. Sewell on a fine debut. Looking forward to more.

For anyone else out there who also lacks familiarity with this term:

Kitsch is the contemporary form of the Gothic, Rococo, Baroque. -- Frank Wedekind

In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble. -- Alan Perlis

If I'm researching something strange and rococo, I'll go to the London Library or the British Library and look it up in books. -- Ben Schott

If not for the scandal, I would not have gotten the Reveal....FANTASY came quickly, but I was trying to come up with the specific sport...
A lot of near-Naticks for me.
Wanted cassette or something for the VCR!
UNCAS was killed, leaving his father Chingachgook (mangled spellig, I know, which is why Twain called him 'Chicago') to mourn him, so I think that HE was 'The Last of the Mohicans.'
Very few gimmes--ANSEL and ROCOCO were certainly welcome! Despite my love affair with CALVIN and Hobbes, I did not recall the game, and the Pooh books were not part of my childhood.

Not knowing three of the theme sports and totally bamboozled by the 2D SOUNDTRACKS clue (I was looking for a religious-based musical word)(and excellent misdirect, Matthew! Keep that up!) -- this puzzle had crunch for me. Fortunately, I like crunch. That NW corner was so crunchy my solving molars got a good workout.

I like RAMPS (wild onions) abutting ONION, and GEL next to WET. Appealing answers, I'm my opinion, are CONTRETEMPS, BAKLAVA, and ROCOCO. The cluing, aside from the one mentioned above, was mostly direct; I would have liked some more subtle/clever clue entries.

Nonetheless, very happy to see such a competent and spirited debut, and to have a new name to look forward to. Maybe one day, Matthew, you'll find yourself on my scantily-populated Fantasy League of Constructors.

Congratulations Mr. Sewell on your NYT debut. This went pretty quickly despite my lack of familiarity with fantasy games used as themers.

Liz found this easier than yesterday. I found it almost Saturday hard. FANTASY SPORT not really in my wheelhouse. This is not to say that it wasn't an impressive debut with lots of interesting entries. Again like Liz, I'm not usually a desert eater, but love BAKLAVA. I'm also fond of OSSO buco and anything with soubise sauce.

CONTRETEMPS is a great word, and it was good to see ANSEL Adams again so soon. I'd be happy to see Matthew again with less fantasy in the puzzle.

Enjoyed enjoyed this puzzle (except for the tape that I refuse to recognize!)... Wasn't familiar with AL-ANON (I guess fortunately, after looking it up), and had forgotten the name of the last Mohican, but easy enough with the crossings. Typical Wednesday time.

It took me back to the years I took great pleasure in introducing my boys to C&H, StarWars, and Pooh (not in that order), and in turn having them get me hooked onto (at least the first three volumes) of HP.

I have always tried to be cognizant of the trends in popular culture without really having to experience them all. This puzzle goes a little too deep, in my opinion. I never connected with CALVIN & Hobbs, but I liked Star Wars forty years ago, I missed out on the Harry Potter media steamroller, and had a good friend who used Eeyore as her avatar. I'm all for FANTASY, live it up! I'm sure there are solvers who reveled in this stroll down memory lane. But the reality of this solve today left me digging through the drawer for the ANACIN, again? I have watched PBS for years and POV never showed up on my screen. Perhaps I should have placed a TV TAPE in my VCR and notched out a few hours to take it in. Aren't DraftKings and FanDuel online betting sites? Nothing like harshing your FANTASY with a losing wager.

The Jesus Christ Superstar album was most certainly NOT a soundtrack. The album came first, before the play and movie.

Technically, a kilogram is a unit of mass, not weight. The metric unit for weight is a newton.

Better yet, while the imperial unit analog for the newton is the pound, for the kilo it's a slug.

• 1D: I had never heard of TV TAPE. I’m guessing that this is the tape wound up inside of a VCR cassette.

Hi Deb,
You had never heard of TV TAPE because -- as one poster would say -- it is Not A Thing. But -- anticipating the response of another poster -- it is also *not* a phrase that has come to be used for something that is not a thing.
The tape is called videotape, whether it is within a cassette or -- in the old days -- on an open reel-to-reel recorder. Even on TV news, the anchor says "Let's go to the VIDEOtape." I covered the industry for decades; the only place I have ever seen (or heard) TV TAPE is in your link to puzzle usage.

Martin, I had lunch today. We were eating on the balcony of the Gallery at the University Club overlooking Lake Michigan, the park. the various institutions like the Planetarium, etc. It was very pleasant. I told Charles I wanted more.

As for the puzzle, i had enough.

.
.
I was pleased to see ANSEL Adams photographed Yosemite rather than painting it with OIL. Also confirmed: EDISON, with his many patents, was more oriented to the world of commerce than Tesla. I wanted Volumn for VLOG, but it wouldn't fit.

ANACIN was a gimme; a glance at the crossing clues put ANAkIN right in my line of sight (that is how I solve, while working on a word, I quick-glance at the crossing clues; the go-through-one-clue-set-followed-by-another method is reserved for Saturdays).

There was other fun stuff here, and funny stuff; and my solve time was quicker than my Tuesday or Wednesday averages. Didn't know the sauce, but ONION is easy enough, unlike TVTAPE. Deb, inside a videocassette, one finds videoTAPE, which is wide and sturdy.

However, I'm not really on board with having so many squares of a daily puzzle be occupied by things that don't exist. I guess I'll take Deb's word for it that people in the real world play QUIDDITCH and POOHSTICKS; but only the latter is from a literary series worthy of attention. Aren't there enough real things to put in puzzles?

The folks who object to names in crosswords and who also self-identify as "un-sportsed" were not enjoying this, I presume. And I will side with them if they say the revealer clue was one of the least revealing ever.

Funny thing happened on the Leaderboard yesterday: Under "First", I was listed as 102. I've never been above 101 (it only lists the first 100 players). Also spotted okrent the other day.

So much faster than yesterday’s puzzle for me! I loved seeing CALVINBALL (especially) and the others. CONTRETEMPS is such a great word. And BAKLAVA. Just BAKLAVA. And FLAN's not bad, either. I’m definitely a dessert person. On the other hand, TV TAPE seemed kinda forced and awkward, and I tried to cram SET OUT ON into 30A.

I never read any Winnie the Pooh, but I know POOHSTICKS from the TV show “To the Manor Born” and I always hear it in Penelope Keith’s voice.