Crossword Nation : 2018-12-18 : Week 394 : THAT'S HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES!

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Time: 8:17

I suppose it didn't slow me down much, but I had no idea what was happening with the theme answers in Liz Gorski's Crossword Nation today. Eventually I figured out that the eponymous cookies were of the TOLLHOUSE variety and those cookies are crumbled, which is to say made into wacky anagrams.


  • "Investigator for the head of England?" LOO SLEUTH. OK, I got that one on my own.
  • "Concierge or bellman?" HOTEL SOUL. I don't get this one. Is this a Gogol reference? Like, how serfs are called souls in Russian and these workers would be like serfs...I'm over-thinking it.
  • "Amer. production of a Shakespearean tragedy?" US OTHELLO. Check.
  • "Have no tickets left for Don's 'Live at Polynesian Palace' concert?" SELL OUT HO. I needed to use the anagram to place that final H, because even with all those extra clues within the clue, Don Ho is still not someone who comes to my mind ever. 
The crossword answer HAG will always be read by Simon Pegg in "Hot Fuzz." 

I didn't know how to spell MUUMUUS before, but I probably need a point of reference other than Homer Simpson working from home. Now, to see if there are any CRONUTS lying around my office...

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