Homer betting against Lisa is a retread of the sentiments of the third season episode “Lisa the Greek.” In that one, Homer bets on football based on Lisa’s hunches. Back in this episode, Will Shortz and Merl Reagle appear in a minor-league setup-punch line cameo.
The hidden message crossword by Merl Reagle appeared in the New York Times Magazine on November 16, the airdate of the episode. To solvers not aware of the “Simpsons” connection,* the puzzle just has a corny pun theme: celebrity’s last names are changed to words and clued accordingly. Thus, “Hall of Fame golfer who invented the all-plastic club?” is ARNOLDPOLYMER. Ha, ha, I guess.
Revealed on “The Simpsons” are the two ingenious messages. Moving from the NW to the SW of the puzzle is the message, “DUMB DAD SORRY FOR HIS BET.” And reading the first letters of all of the clues gives the message, “DEAR LISA YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY REALLY REALLY REALLY HAPPY SORRY HE TOLD ME I NEEDED A HUNDRED FORTY FOUR LETTERS WHAT WAS MY POINT AGAIN OH RIGHT BOUVIER OR SIMPSON I CHERISH YOU.” It’s as if Homer exists in our world—maybe he never escaped from the 3-D episode “Homer³”—and was able to convince Shortz and Reagle to hide the messages.
Each theme layer added to a puzzle makes that puzzle exponentially harder for a constructor to fill. The abundance of foreign words (SEHR crossing SOTTO?) and initialisms (IOC next to SWA) can be forgiven in this case.
As much as he is featured in “Wordplay,” Merl Reagle is rarely seen in the New York Times (six puzzles in the last fifteen years). In fact, his last two NYT contributions have been this “Simpsons” tie-in and the puzzle seen in “Wordplay” (solved by Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart, et al). At his regular gig, this Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer puzzle is overtly about “The Simpsons.”
*It’s hard to write about “The Simpsons” because the official name has the “The” in it. That fragment should technically read “not aware of the “The Simpsons” connection.” Ugh.
November 16, 2008--image from Diary of a Crossword Fiend.
2 comments:
I decided season 11 is the cut-off point, where I can sit and watch episode after episode without getting bored.
And, although it seemed like a good idea, I really hate the new episodes where Homer and Marge dated in the 90s instead of the 70s. they're weird! Especially Homer's haircut.
I forgot to mention that BART and DOH are in the puzzle as normal fill.
Post a Comment