THEMELESS MONDAY: [ ACROSS LITE][ PDF]
PROGRAMS: [Across Lite] [Adobe Reader]
If you’ve been paying attention to my puzzles, you’ve probably spotted the odd two-or-three “Mr. Robot” references in the cluing. I sometimes can’t help myself. I get into Thing X first, and then Thing X appears in my puzzle. We’ve seen this with other shows I’ve binge watched, music I’ve listened to, and, uh, that umbrella category that we shall call “stuff you have to buy/learn about when raising a lovely daughter.” But I digress. So, I’m into “Mr. Robot” right now. Liz is too. We’re all in. In fact, I would have/should have bought the f society mask to wear this past Halloween if I’d remember to get one earlier than the afternoon of October 31st.
So why do I bring this up now? Well, if you wish to remain spoiler free, I suggest stopping now.
Last week’s episode was pretty damned amazing, even if it was built around the cliched editing gimmick that the show looks like it’s just one continuous take. You know, like “Birdman” from a few years ago. Anyway, it didn’t distract too much from the intense episode, but while I was reading about it afterward, I was completely struck dumb that the term for this editing is in fact some high-level crosswordese word: Oner. Stumbling upon this factoid was something akin to seeing Bigfoot rummaging through your garbage. It exists! Only in this case, oner doesn’t mean a humdinger, but in fact an honest-to-goodness film-making technique. Mind blown.
File that one away for future crosswords.
Share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.
I introduced this sense of “oner” in a NYT puzzle two years ago (https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/15/2015&g=14&d=D) and it’s been clued that way a few other times. To clarify, a oner has to do with shooting, not editing. But yes, this icky crosswordese has evolved into a common (though specialized) filmmaking term. I’ve been hearing it for years on the official “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” podcasts, shows where they love showoffy shots like that…
You might want to consider using “oner” as a clue with the answer “hapax”.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hapax-legomenon-hapaxes?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=keywee&kwp_0=540851&kwp_4=2011662&kwp_1=840853
Nice link Louise. I’ll be looking for HAPAX in a puz someday.
It has to do with shooting AND editing. A “oner” is never one shot. It is a seamlessly edited series of long takes.