If I saw that clue I’d write a letter to the crossword editor. As longhair75 noted the dog is in the Thin Man films. It’s owners are Nick and Nora Charles. The Thin Man is a character in the first movie (and the book it was based on.)
In crosswords, Obama will always be more popular than Trump, And thank Farrar for Tolkien who gave constructors the orc.
A papeer in Baltimore had a column about comics which also included the NY Times puzzle “oreo watch.”
Sorry. The clue is typically given as:
“The Thin Man” dog
I have no idea what the Thin Man is, nor who Asta is other than when I see the words “Thin Man” and “dog” or “terrier” in a crossword, ASTA is the answer, so my brain just saved the clue as “The Thin Man’s dog.”
My wife and I have a friendly competition with the daily puzzle, which I don’t find challenging at all. I rarely lose, and usually just run away with it. I like doing the Sunday NYT puzzle, which is usually much more difficult. She will engage with the Sunday regular crossword, which longer and somewhat more difficult than the daily, but won’t try the NYT puzzle. I always opt in and eke out a win, usually with a bit of cheating.
Once, just once, I would love the answer for this to be “FOIL” as a wee bit of a misdirect, as EPEE is expected with that clue and four letters. It apparently has been used that way in the pre-Shortz era, but none of the Shortz-era clues (used 24 times) for FOIL reference fencing.
And the Ent.
The Sunday NY Times puzzle is typically at about Thursday level in terms of difficulty (maybe even down to a Wednesday sometimes). NY Times puzzles, for those who don’t know, generally increase in level of difficulty from Monday through Saturday (and my solve times as saved on the NY Times app bear this out, with them getting longer and longer through the week.) Thursday also has the distinction of usually being a tricky/gimmicky puzzle where the “themers” (theme answers) may include rebus answers (multiple letters in one square), numbers or symbols in spaces, answers that may snake in from orthoganal clues, etc. But also often, they just follow the normal crossword rules, but the theme clues have a more devious level of trickery or wordplay in them.
I typically find the Thursdays the most fun day of the week for NY Times puzzles. But they can be frustrating if they are using a gimmick you don’t glom on to.
Another crossword junkie. So far, great observations I can identify with.
Some others:
Ocala Florida and Olean NY are near the center of the crossword universe.
Never knew “ete” meant summer in French.
I’ve met many a fellow human that had strong assertions, but never met someone who admitted to Aver something.
Also, apparently Jai Alai is making a comeback.
And OLEAN is also these days (as in since the 2000s) clued as a fat substitute brand. (Though it seems OLEAN hasn’t showed up in a NY Times crossword since April, 2017, where it was clued as the fat. I could have sworn I’ve seen it more recently, but I have been playing a lot of archived NY Times puzzles, so perhaps that’s where I saw it.)
And Olean NY is where the USMC fighting knife (KA-BAR, or “kay bar”) is manufactured. Olean NY is stamped right on the blade; and on the other side is stamped USMC.
Here’s an image, zoom in to the base of the blade to see KA-BAR OLEAN NY:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Olean+NY+KA-BAR&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=svin&sxsrf=ACYBGNTVDVCiN2NHnDOAjM8xstbVz8pHdA:1577561104659&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFrISKidnmAhXIHc0KHYUQCCoQ_AUoA3oECBQQAw&biw=768&bih=922#imgrc=c9QPNkkRjCe41M
If you ever record your own songmix, then right after “El Paso” you should have “El Paso City.”
~VOW
One thing that as a computer geek irks me is the creators still think IBM makes PCs. It’s been 15 years folks.
Being stuck in time where they expect people to know who Nick and Nora are explains some of that.
I don’t have a problem with Nick & Nora’s dog, because I’m a big mystery fan, and it was the same dog in the book.
But…FDR’s dog? (I think it’s FARA. I could be wrong.)
Yes, Fala.
When’s the last time, outside of a crossword puzzle, anyone has referred to a Western as an OATER?
When was the last time, except in a xword puzzle, anyone referred to K-12 as “ElHi”?
I know the question was mostly rhetorical, but while I’ve never heard it in conversation, I have seen it in print. This October 23, 2019 Chicago Tribune (paywalled) article actually uses it in the line: “The 1948 John Wayne-Montgomery Clift black-and-white oater was the final feature at the hometown cinema […]” ETA: Actually, it’s a Lake County News-Sun article, hosted at the Tribune website.
Cool! Was Clu Gulager in it? Jack Elam? Ida Lupino?
I believe ELHI is the preferred term on ETNA and ELBA.
When Maleska was the editor, the Sunday puzzle was often at about a Friday level of difficulty, which made it terrific fun.
I dislike Thursday puzzles, more or less for the reason you mentioned, which is getting the rebus or whatever can be hit or miss. And I have literally solved Thursday puzzles where I didn’t understand the gimmick until I was done. 
I look forward to Friday and Saturday the most, otherwise I think I’m mostly solving for speed, to bring my average down or make a new record. My favorite of all would be a Friday or Saturday with really long entries and few clues.
One other NYT puzzle I like, if you subscribe to their app, is the Spelling Bee. it’s kind of like the game Boggle, and a good time filler.
When I was a little kid, I remember my mother calling magarine “oleo.” And the package containing it was typically labeled “oleomargarine.”
Ask a kid today “What is oleo?” and you’ll get a confused look.
~VOW