This is a masterpiece. I had no idea what was going on until the final across clue.
One L of a crossword! no L's in emus
I do note that since 38A is a plural, it actually has more than one L. That's the Blue Line, not the emu line.
Bravo, Marshal with one L! What an absolute gem of a debut! 😍 This puzzle was f̶l̶a̶w̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶u̶n̶b̶e̶l̶i̶e̶v̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶... ...um.........it was cool.
@Adam I supposed Marshal with one L more completely introduces himself as: Marshal with one L and Herrmann with two Rs and two eMs.
This creator should get paid more than whatever the going rate is for a Tuesday puzzle.
Remarkable construction, without the clunkiness that usually comes with remarkable construction. The difficulty felt right for a Tuesday with a solid fill and cluing. Incredibly well done!
impressive theme and a fun solve to boot. great debut, marshal!
Like sudoku or a magic square but with one letter. Very impressive. Totally flew under the radar. Loved the last clue as the revealer for a total facepalm moment. In shore, that was one “L” of a puzzle… I’ll see myself out…
Upon uncovering ONEL – my last answer – my reaction, broken down: • “Really?” • “Really!” • [Jaw drop], [Forehead slap] • “Never saw that coming. Well played, sir!” • “Oh, clever, clever idea!” • “Tough to construct!” • “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!” Hats off to you, Marshal, on a stellar puzzle, no less a debut! You had me at the cross of BILGE and BULGE, then conquered me at ONEL with your simple knock-me-over-with-a-feather theme. Congratulations on your debut, and thank you for a wow puzzle!
@Lewis Wasn't your first (and second) reactions "Realy?"
Hi, @Lewis! Several of my short replies to you today have been emu-blocked, even with padding. Perhaps they will show later today. Maybe the emus are pissed that Ogden Nash never wrote a poem about them.
Wow, not much to say, other than this is brilliant. What a fun one to work out. The constructor definitely did not take the L here.
Today’s puzzle sets the record for most L’s in a single puzzle (15x15 only). Here is the info for this puzzle and the previous record holder: 39 Tue Jan 16, 2024 15 x 15 Marshal Herrmann 35 Mon Jul 18, 1994 15 x 15 Wayne Robert Williams
@Steve L Okay, so I’m curious now. How is it that you know this?
After marveling at the theme, I went back to some clues at random: “Whole bunch” “Criminal records” “Classic photo magazine” “Green vehicle” Oh my gosh, did he ONE-L the clues too?? Turns out, no. But I bet he could have!
You had me at the Ohm's Law clue, my resistance was futile. I amped it up and powered through it. Brilliant piece of work, Marshal!
@Call Me Al So, Mike the Punster has competition, eh? Brilliant. Is that AL or Artificial Intelligence?
@Call Me Al C'mon, please tell us: Are you a Paul Simon fan, or are you our new overlord? I've been wondering about that for a while now.
When the cushion manufacturer was sued, it was a pillow case. (Both sides rest.)
Loved last puzzle. One-L limit left puzzler laughing. Greatly modeled, completed quickly.
This was cheeky magic. A totally ordinary and doable puzzle and right at the end you find there has been a unifying theme, or at least a unifying L-ement, if you will, that you had failed to notice. I feel quite cleverly out-clevered.
I’m a one L who starts spring classes in the morning, suffice to say the theme for this puzzle was a mix of a laugh and a reminder that I’ve got a 9am property class.
@Grace Flashing back to The Paper Chase. Hope you get a kinder Kingsfield with the same stds. Best of luck. Start building that network.
Well, color me impressed! Even with such a restricted palette, Marshal (with ONE L) managed to create a masterpiece. I didn't get to the reveal until almost the end, and at no time was I suspicious that something was going on. That's how smooth and unforced the fill was. I especially liked BOOTLEGS for Criminal records? and the clue for FOWL at 21 D. Oh, and did I mention this is Marshal Herrmann's NYT debut?
@Nancy J. I agree. I thought “criminal records?” was a great clue for bootlegs. My favorite.
So clever and fun! When I got temporarily stuck in one corner, I sudokued it by adding exactly one L to each missing word based on information I had, which was enough for me to get the rest!
Very clever - enjoyed this one! Well done!
Very impressive construction, especially with such perfect cluing difficulty for a Tuesday.
I typically only comment when I have been slain by the day’s puzzle as a way to vent, but I have to comment on the “simple” brilliance of today’s offering. I’m sure it was incredibly difficult to construct, and it brought a smile to my face realizing that the constructor had managed to adroitly fit a single ‘L’ into every answer. Bravo!
@KidA I will simply “ditto” everything you said here. Fun, fun, fun.
Very impressive construction—it's difficult enough to create a crossword, but to limit all the answers to include one L maximum and minimum is quite an accomplishment. Great NYT debut, Marshal, and thanks!
Wow! What an "Aha" moment on this one! A superb Tuesday, and a superb puzzle all around. Exemplary construction, SELFFIVE notwithstanding. (But the puzzle is otherwise so delightful that I can forgive that one.)
Marshal may only have one L but you more than make up for it with the extra R and N in Herrmann. Early week puzzles are fun to try and speed solve, but the problem with a speed solve is you miss the beauty in the detail of a puzzle. In my rush to finish, I only read the first half of the revealer clue and didn’t realize the staggering feat Marshal Herrmann pulled off with the Ls On one hand, I’m proud of myself for instantly knowing ONE L with only half the clue. That answer completely stumped me a couple times last year but now it seems to be another bit of crosswordese I have added to the vault. On the other hand, I think I’m ready to chill on always going for a PR on Mondays and Tuesdays. Would have had way more fun with this if I took my time and I don’t think I really care to try to topple my records anymore. Would rather enjoy the calm before the late week storm. Thanks for the fun puzzle, Marshal! Amazing work. Congrats!
And here I was, solving the across clues first, and wondering at all the Bs clustered in the middle. I didn’t even notice the L until I got to the revealer. BULGE crossing with BILGE made me laugh for some reason. A very enjoyable puzzle, even without the reveal, because there were some great clues. Well done!
What a fun puzzle!!! I don't comment often, but I just wanted to give kudos to the creator for such a great idea, well-executed. I loved it!!!
@Jen F Agreed!! The theme was so awesome and impressive.
Where can one find the list of winners to this year's Super Mega puzzle? The instructions mentioned the names would be published on Jan 15. Did I miss it?
nearLy poLeaxed -- marshaL's quaLity puzzLe withheLd reveaL untiL Last cLue! 😃
Lovely puzzle, clever, clean clues, easily doable. Congratulations Marshal! ......................................................... ......................................................... ..
@Janine Sadly, "lovely" is TWO-L. ;-) Are emus FOWL?
Wow, a Wednesday level difficulty though I was still able to come in just under my average with no lookups. At first, I wasn't happy about all the proper names (NEALE, OLAF, OLIN, LOEW, and especially LOOK next to ELIE), but I got the revealer right away, and wow, the puzzle popped for there. It's like a Sudoku for L's. I can appreciate how tough this must have been to construct. Going back, there is none of the usual crossword glue, and instead some great entries like SELFFIVE, FLAKED, and my personal favourite, BOOTLEGS. All in all, a very fun and satisfying solve.
brilliant crossword, very nicely constructed.
One of my favorite reveals in a long time. Bravo!
Still no announcement of the Puzzle Mania contest winners, even though the Times said they would be published yesterday on the Wordplay blog. It would be nice if someone from the NYT would acknowledge the delay!
@JB <a href="mailto:Crosswordeditors@nytimes.com">Crosswordeditors@nytimes.com</a> Here's their email. Send them a message. Emus begone.
A fun one! In my typical Tuesday fashion, I did a once-through all the across clues before looking at any downs, so I got the revealer with a little less than half of the puzzle done-- and I was both impressed at the idea and aided by the instruction-- as a handful of initial hunches were quickly "corrected" by the reveal. Congrats on the debut, Marshal with ONE L.
I solved ONEL as the very last clue and was absolutely blown away. Well done, Marshal with ONE L! 🤌🏻
Triumphant debut, MarshaL! Lucky for me, I was skipping all around the grid and came to the revealer early on. It added a whole new dimension to the solve! Now, about SELF FIVE... I can only picture it if it's done in the mirror, right? Right? (I might not have cracked it were I not looking for that ONE L in the answer.) But I have no complaints. This was an ingenious puzzle. Thank you!
@sotto voce There's a famous gif of Tina Fey high fiving one hand with the other hand, presumably from 30 Rock.
@sotto voce My prior post on self five got emued. It may show up. I think of Barney Stinson, of How I Met Your Mother, as the classic self fiver. He also introduced as variations the “Angry Self Five” and the “Mental Self Five.” Here is a list of his 28 high five variations (I think “Prayer Five” is my favorite). <a href="https://how-i-met-your-mother.fandom.com/wiki/High_Fives" target="_blank">https://how-i-met-your-mother.fandom.com/wiki/High_Fives</a>
Wonderful theme execution! All crossword construction is impressive to me, but something like this is especially impressive, extra especially since there was very little filler, mostly strong clues.
For me a perfect Tuesday follows a perfect Monday. I did get to the reveal when I was less than halfway through and it helped a lot. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been to make the theme work, and hope to see more from Marshal.
I also would like the answer to the Super Mega puzzle. I was supposed to be announced on 1/15/24. Where can I find the answer?
What a beautiful puzzle! I’d filled in most of the top half when I thought “there sure are a lot of L’s in this puzzle” and then I looked. Exactly one L per answer! A Tuesday puzzle where every answer is a theme answer. And a debut no less. Can’t wait to see more from you!
I’ve never commented before, but this was the most fun Tuesday I can remember (not that I remember a puzzle for more than an hour or so, but…). Bilge crossing bulge, bilks crossing bilge—delightful. I didn’t even notice all the L’s until I hit the revealer, last clue solved. But what a feat, and what fun!
Feelings: superLative… unreaL… eLaborate… sLy… Light… Ultimately: compLete.
Haha, oops with “ultimately” — I couldn’t even do it in a formless post.
Quite a puzzle and a memorable theme. I really have no idea how common or uncommon One L answers are, but after reading the comments I have to agree that this must have been quite a challenge to construct. My solve - very smooth except for the NW corner. Never heard of TFAL and that just had me doubting my other answers and pondering alternatives for a while. Finally just went ahead and filled it in. Puzzle find today was inspired by the reveal - and I'm a bit surprised no one else has mentioned something like this. Anyway... a 23 wide Sunday puzzle from February 3, 1991 by Jeanne Wilson. The 'reveal' was a pair of answers in opposite corners: LINESFROM OGDENNASH And, there were two 23 letter theme answers: THEONELLAMAHESAPRIEST THETWOLLLAMAHESABEAST One more puzzle find that I'll put in a reply. ..
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: This resulted from a search for answers with three or more consecutive L's. A Wednesday puzzle from March 21, 2001 by Greg Staples. Here are the clues and answers for the theme answers: Blithe fish? : CAREFREEEEL South American misfit? : ODDBALLLLAMA Elvis movie sequel? : BLUEHAWAIIII Forbidden tea? : TABOOOOLONG I'm done. ..
@Rich in Atlanta I was just thinking of Ogden Nash's rhyme because of the ONE L MARSHAL we have here today..... Dillon is the two-L Marshall... Someone should do something with that...
Really nice puzzle and fun theme. I did look sideways at SELFFIVE so ... off to Google and there it is.
@Allen See everybody? That's how it's done! A quick check before lodging a complaint is all it takes.
It was too tricky for me to come up with a comment that had ONE L in each word, so I can only imagine how difficult this crossword was to construct. Bravo!
What a wonderful Tuesday -- clued with the cleverness, wit and imagination you usually don't find until later in the week. I loved the clues for BLTS (not, hard, but funny!); BOOTLEGS (clever and fiendish); RULE (requires the solver to think); FOWL (nice pun, and I was looking for a species of bird); and LAST HOPE (also requires the solver to think). Make the clues fun and interesting and I'm always a happy camper. As for the theme: very clever and hard to pull off, I'm quite sure, but if ONE L had gone awoL, I wouldn't have even known the theme was there. And wouldn't have missed it since I found the puzzle an early-week delight even without it.
Really cool puzzle. Blew my mind when I got to ONEL
An L-oquent debut, I'd say. One to remember! L L L L (More Ls, if you need some for your next puzzle, Mr. H. Loved this one. )