Not satisfied to only cover the story in print, NPR addressed the controversy on the January 14 edition of its “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” program. The episode is notable because it features Will Shortz speaking on the record, admitting that the usage of “illin” has changed in the 20+ years since the Run DMC song he used as his point of reference. Strangely, Ms. Smolinski is neither heard nor referenced by name.
On January 17, the story became a question on social media trivia app QRANK.
Now the Canadians are involved
As you can see in this toronto.com article, my native Canada has joined the discussion.
Huffington Post phones in an article
Instead of bringing something new to the discussion, the Huffington Post decided to just post a link to the story on BoomBox.com. But it is fun to imagine lost Gabor sister Arianna Huffington reading this headline aloud:
What Does Illin’ Really Mean? Julieanne Smolinski, Will Shortz Debate
EW claims Mike D "disses" WShortz
Entertainment Weekly’s Music Mix blog recaps the events of last night’s game changing “Colbert Report” segment, going so far as to claim in its headline that Will Shortz was on the receiving end of an old skool Beastie Boys dissing. The post also makes a passable “cross swords” pun, making me wonder why no headline I’ve seen so far as included the phrase “Cross Words” in it.
In the greatest moment in this saga (so far), Mike D of the Beastie Boys appeared on “The Colbert Report” to settle the debate once and for all.
NPR manages to make the story even whiter
Because NPR is the authority on hip-hop culture, it joins the discussion with the wonderfully-titled “Beef Erupts Over Crossword Guru’s Hip-Hop Slang Clue”.
Possible cast for the inevitable movie.
Emma Stone as Julieanne Smolinski
Christoph Waltz as Will Shortz
Damon Wayans Jr. as T.I.
