A good constructor will view small words that might just be “fill” as an opportunity to craft a creative clue. That happened today at 23A. The answer was COB, and the clue was “Bit of detritus from a Thanksgiving meal.”
It generated a good amount of blather, some of it from me. First, Rex questioned the connection of corn to Thanksgiving:
“I couldn’t get COB [quickly] because I’ve never had corn on the COB for Thanksgiving in my life. I’ve seen COBs as Thanksgiving decorations, but the only vegetables I’m eating on Thanksgiving are potatoes and green beans. I’m not saying the green beans are traditional. I’m saying that’s what we’ve always eaten and I would spurn your corn as non-canonical.”
I chimed in with an aside and then my two cents:
My favorite use of the word “detritus” (from the clue for COB), was by the late Bart Giamatti in his 1977 essay “The Green Fields of the Mind.” He guides us through a half inning in the crucial final game of the season. His Red Sox are behind, of course, but mount a rally. This sentence comes after a ground ball finds its way through the infield for a single.
“‘The aisles are jammed, the place is on its feet, the wrappers, the programs, the Coke cups and peanut shells, the detritus of an afternoon; the anxieties, the things that have to be done tomorrow, the regrets about yesterday, the accumulation of a summer: all forgotten, while hope, the anchor, bites and takes hold where a moment before it seemed we would be swept out with the tide. Rice is up.’
******
“Wasn’t corn part of the first Thanksgiving dinner with the Indians and Pilgrims? Maybe that’s where the COB comes from.”
[Before I go on about corn, I am thrilled to note that one of the Anony-mice said the Giamatti quote was “gorgeous” and thanked me!]
Commenter Conrad said: “One of the joys of New Jersey is our corn. From midsummer to early fall we get some really wonderful corn at our farm stands. As a result we’ve become jaded and disdain all but July-to-September Jersey corn. At other times, no corn is good enough, so it’s never a Thanksgiving feature.”
J. Alden pretty much resolved the issue with:
“Written records from Plymouth colony report that the pilgrims planted 20 acres of ‘Indian Corn’ during their first year. ‘Indian Corn,’ the precursor to our modern corn, was a dry corn – not the sweet corn that we would eat right off the cob today. The practice was to remove the corn from the cob, grind it into cornmeal, boil it, and pound it into a mush – often served with molasses. So unless the pilgrims let the corn go unpicked, that corn mush would most certainly have been served at the harvest festival, and the cobs would have been the detritus.
“Even today throughout New England (and, perhaps beyond) ‘Indian Pudding’ – the mush with molasses and, in a bow to modernity, some whipped cream on top – is served as a dessert in homes and restaurants – not uncommonly at Thanksgiving Dinner, as well!
Ingredients
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter a 1½-quart casserole dish.
- Bring milk to a simmer in a double boiler over high heat.
- Slowly combine cornmeal to the milk. Cook for about 15 minutes, whisking frequently, until the cornmeal is smooth.
- Slowly add the molasses, then remove from heat. Add brown sugar, butter, eggs, salt, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then stir until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the greased casserole dish. Bake for 2 hours or until the pudding is firm and the top is browned.
Whenever I send a recipe to Sam, I add on a final step: “Throw the resulting slop in the trash and go out for pizza.”
My favorite clue/answer today was at 17A: “Partner who’s deep undercover?” Answer: BLANKET HOG.
Are you a “lasagna hog?” Do you know why I ask? Because a commenter pointed out that I’M A LASAGNA HOG is a palindrome with GO HANG A SALAMI.
Down south that’s a phrase you use when you’re upset with someone. You say “Go hang a salami,” and they typically respond “Go f*ck yourself.”
55A was “Hand-held device discontinued in 2011,” and the answer was PALM PILOT. Egs chimed in with: I never felt the need for one of those PDA devices back in the day. When someone would ask me why, I’d say “God is my PALMPILOT.”
I also thought at 59A, “Just keep doing what you’re doing” is a great clue for DON’T MIND ME.
(One more!) And at 11D, “Misidentification in the DC Universe” is a great clue for IT’S A PLANE.
Good puzzle, Evan Kalish!
From the “Life in Texas” Department. In Brenham (TX) maybe they should have named the Department of Public Safety something else. Thirteen people were injured there today, and one died, when the driver of a stolen truck intentionally rammed it into the DPS building. The driver backed the truck up and was trying to ram building again, but that effort was thwarted by first responders. He had been denied a Commercial Drivers License there earlier. Officers speculated that he was miffed about that. Ya think?
The first round in the battle of trans rights vs Nassau County went to the good guys. The County filed a pre-emptive lawsuit seeking to prevent the State from challenging its anti-trans policy. A federal judge held it lacked merit.
“This decision is a tremendous victory for justice and the rule of law, but our work here is not done,” said Alexis Richards, a spokesperson for NYS AG James. “It’s past time for Nassau County to rescind this order and treat all our communities with the basic respect and dignity they deserve.”
Dream on, Richards. Good start, though.
We’ve never seen Phil this upset. He sent in shots of this beautiful young Korean pop star, Park Bo Ram, along with the terrible news that she is dead at age 30. What?!
So far all we know is she was drinking with two friends and went off to the bathroom. When she didn’t return, they found her leaning over the sink, unconscious, in cardiac arrest. They called for help, but she’s gone. Park was about to release an album celebrating ten years in the profession. Very sad. You can see her appeal in this 30-second clip.
We’ll let her pretty smile light our way out tonight. See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 