I started an origami company but it folded.
I wanted to open an eatery in a certain Chicago area, but competitors ... KEPT ME OUT OF THE LOOP
I thought my line of port-a-potties would be a hit but it turned out NOBODY GAVE A CRAP
We tried to open a bowling alley, but we couldn’t… GET THE BALL ROLLING Our shipping business was a non-starter because our old bosses insisted we… THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX The beach blanket bingo start-up failed because we kept trying to… BOIL THE OCEAN I’ll put a pin in it for now. Clearly I’d need to circle back with Lustig and Shortz for a touchbase because my attempts are just the low-hanging fruit. Awfully fun puzzle. Thank you!
@Mimi Clearly you've spent even more time than I have at conferences and training seminars and office-wide meetings :) I don't think I ever ran into BOIL THE OCEAN - maybe that's new since I retired. It's very colorful though!
@Mimi, Having just scrolled through various stabs at additional themers, I have to say that yours are really SPOT ON!
I make candles, but I'm always working for the wick's end. (That reminds me, I need to file my wax return.)
@Mike You better taper off. My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light! Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892–1950
I wanted to be a podiatrist, but my career got off on the wrong foot.
Here’s a few more: “I tried starting a new professional baseball league, but I couldn’t … GET TO FIRST BASE.” “Next, I thought I could achieve success in the alchemy business, but I couldn’t … GET THE LEAD OUT.” “Then, I tried my hand at importing a balm for chapped hands and feet, but was unable to … FLY IN THE OINTMENT.”
Strudel Dad, Those are FUNNY, but unlike Mimi's earlier offerings, your punch lines aren't (in my experience) phrases actually used in BUSINESS, which is, as I understand it, the theme of the puzzle. Canadian emu?
Great idea, John. I loved this. Here are a few more suggestions, adding to the ones other commenters have supplied: "I tried to turn my land into a vegetable farm but I ..." (17) DIDN'T GET SEED MONEY "I wanted to open a company that offers harbor tours but we ..." (14) LOST OUR CHARTER "I was going to cash out my interest in the cattle ranch but I ..." (15) SAW MY STOCK SPLIT
@Henry Su Good ones! That last one sounds very messy, though.
“I tried my hand in the crossword game but I couldn’t…” GETMYPOINTSACROSSORTHOUGHTSDOWN cc: emu handler
@Steven “…. but…” IT WAS TOO BLACK AND WHITE
@Steven That would require a pretty daunting 31x31 grid.
I had to abandon my watch repair business because I just never had the time. I couldn't get my pants factory manager to focus on getting some zip in our business. She was always skirting the issue. My career as a belly dancer came to a standstill when I no longer had the guts for it. My career as a hairstylist was cut short from shear incompetence. My dominance as an ice skater fell through, but I knew I was skating on thin ice. Plans for the skyscraper I designed fell through because of poor highering practices. (Yes, Virginia, for the nonbelievers there is an anti Claus.)
@dutchiris 😆👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Tried construction, but got discouraged having to start at the ground floor. Considered being a hotelier, but there was no room for advancement. Thought I’d do a job-share as a math tutor, but couldn’t figure out the division of labor. My butcher shop failed because I couldn’t meat the demand. My job with Amazon ended because they couldn’t deliver on their promises. Being a funeral director turned out to be a dead-end job. Tried working as a personal trainer, but the responsibility was too weighty. Being a swim instructor was a washout: different strokes for different folks! Applied for a job as a seamstress, but someone else had it all sewed up. So that’s the story of my Checkered career; now I drive a cab!
I wanted to start a superior Formicidae farm But I couldn't get the fine ants-ing. 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜
I was sad about not getting any dates while attending BYU, but then my Bishop told me there was nothing wrong with being a PROVOLONE
I innovated a substitute for T.P. but it fell through the cracks.
I tried to open a rug cleaning store, BUT RAN OUT OF STEAM Fun puzzle theme and creative clueing!
As Obi Wan Kenobi would say, "Hello there." I finally tried my first full NY Times crossword on 1/20/24. I've enjoyed Wordle, Connections and the Mini Crossword and consider myself "skilled" at those (if it's a skill), and I get mad when I don't solve them (has never happened with Wordle, though). So I finally took the plunge to the full crossword. Goodness, friends: I gave up. Do the crosswords advance in difficulty as the week progresses? Was it too bold to start on a Saturday? I've heard this community is "the nicest place on the internet" (according to Deb Amlen's 1/21/24 headline piece), so this is also my very first comment. I'm also in the process of writing my 4th book this year and speak 6 languages. I love words, books, language, and word play! Lucia from San Francisco
@Lucia Welcome, Lucia! That was bold starting with Saturday but what the hey?
@Lucia They do get harder as the week progresses. Try a Monday and see how you do. Nice to have you here!
88D and 94D reminded me of the time I opened a Swiss cheese shop, an endeavor for which I was holey unprepared. Fun puzzle, thanks John.
I tried my hand at cruciverbalizing, but I didn’t have a clue. Nice Sunday-funday. Thanks for a silly, light-hearted punny romp! Go Bills! 🦬
John is a wordplayer. Can you figure out the answers to these clues he’s come up with in the past?: 1. [Checks for ticks?] (7) 2. [Mean dude] (7)(3) - - - - - - - SYNONYM AVERAGE GUY He also has A1 constructing chops. In a prior Saturday offering, he had the following gorgeous triple-stack of spanners: SOMETHING TO HIDE ANYTHING YOU WANT NOTHING PERSONAL Today he shows his talent for creating a catchy theme, evidenced by multiple emulators in the comments. Plus, I found it had enough rub to rub my brain’s tummy, I loved the marvelous original clue [State lines?] for an answer that has appeared more than 600 times in the Times (ACT), and I smiled at the PuzzPair© of BIB and SPOT ON. I don’t know what to expect next from you, John, and that is a very good thing. Thank you for a fun outing today!
First EURIPIDES in the Saturday puzzle, now SATYRs — do I sense a theme? You know, one of Euripides’ plays, Cyclops, is the only extant full example of a SATYR-drama we have. And when I say SATYR-drama, I mean racy romp. Silenus, SATYR extraordinaire, is hanging out by Etna, doing some light cleaning, taking Dionysus’ name in vain, lamenting all his TSURIS, and bossing his sons around as they tend Polyphemus’ sheep. Along comes Odysseus’ ship. Silenus flags him down and tells him he and his sons have been imprisoned by Polyphemus. Next ensues a lengthy, bawdy back-and-forth that belongs not in PLATO’s cave but in a man cave: No stone is left unturned till Euripides has exhausted every sexual innuendo he could think of. And then Odysseus frees them all. The end. The point of the play? Why, what the high school “health” class is all about, of course. The Greeks were no prudes. A fun Sunday (love, love, love puns) and I look to a continued Greek theme tomorrow.
@Sam Lyons In Murder on the Orient Express, everybody kills the man. In The Odyssey, Nobody frees the sheep.
@Sam Lyons “Something familiar Something peculiar Something for everyone A comedy tonight! … “Something that's gaudy, Something that's bawdy-- [PSEUDOLUS] Something for everybawdy!”
Some themers for those with less ambitious career plans: “I tried to start a dog walking business, but a frisky puppy . . .” NIPPED MY DREAM IN THE BUD “I then figured I’d try my hand at street busking, until a competitor . . .” THREW MY HAT IN THE RING “So I started a bicycle food delivery gig, but I kept . . .” FALLING LIKE DOMINOS At last, I followed my passion and became a full-time poet, but I had no readers because . . .” MY FEET’S TOO BIG
@Puzzlemucker Which, of course, reminded me of the Fats Waller classic, “Your Feet’s Too Big.” Watching him perform it is a treat. “Say, up in Harlem, at a table for two, There were four of us, me, your big feet and you…” And, Waller’s ad lib, “Your pedal extremities are colossal.” The music was written by Fred Fisher, with lyrics by Ada Benson. <a href="https://youtu.be/in1eK3x1PBI?si=LWZh2n9cTyymaNJ1" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/in1eK3x1PBI?si=LWZh2n9cTyymaNJ1</a>
The themers came easily, it was some of the cleverly clued surrounds that took some work. Nicely done and thanks. "I tried my hand at auto repair, but it was . . .": AWRENCHINGEXPERIENCE
I applied to be on the staff of emus. They rejected me, because MY RESUME WAS TOO SHORT. So I went and padded it out with some part time jobs during high school. And some references from people who are probably dead by now. And a mission statement of what I hope to accomplish as an emu.
@Cat Lady Margaret -- Hah! Good one!
This won’t stand up to the fine examples already offered, but here goes: I wanted to open a produce stand… BUT I COULDN’T BEAR FRUIT Creative puzzle, JW!
Pleasantly difficult, indeed. It felt like more of a challenge than most recent Sundays have been. I had several areas where I had to go back and think about the words and try some different combinations before things clicked. And areas where I just couldn't think of anything, or the actual answer just wasn't jibing with the way my brain was working. LOCALE for backdrop, for example.
A super fun, punny Sunday! I enjoyed this one a lot, even the clues that confused me amused me in the end. The comments section was the cherry on top, so many clever cruciverbalists!
Hey all, Be sure to check out @Deb Amlen’s great piece in The Morning (the daily online news-of-the-day column of the NYT) on the communities in this and other Gameplay forums. Given that The Morning and the NYXT/Wordplay are two of my favorite sections of the Times it’s nice to have them come together like this! And thanks @Deb for the great column — here’s hoping that it inspires a new influx of solvers (and commenters)!
@Nat K Sweet! Deb's piece is even called "The Nicest Place on the Internet" 😍 Here's the link: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/briefing/new-york-times-games-community.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/briefing/new-york-times-games-community.html</a> You'll let that through, right? Nice emus...
A very enjoyable puzzle. But I must say that I am unlikely to be an investor in any business venture that Mr. Westwig proposes... ;-)
@Will That reminds me of an appropriate song for this puzzle: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/s9rbct3w" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/s9rbct3w</a>
Fun puzzle. Halfway between my best and my average. I blipped over the themers to start. When I got enough crossing letters to clue me into the first one, the rest rapidly fell. I really liked STRAUSS, which took me a hot minute to figure out as I kept running through jeans brands in my head. I also really appreciated BUSINESSSCHOOL with its three consecutive S's and BAREESSENTIALS as well.
@Eric I also liked the 3 consecutive vowels in RITEAID
YOLO is also one of the seven California counties whose names are written with four letters.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Mat have add some emu food. My balloon business... WENT BUST. OK, emus?
Fun! Had to try a couple: I tried to start a shoe store but I... LOST MY FOOTING My startup dreams were dashed when I learned... UNICORNS AREN'T REAL
I liked the theme and found the puzzle on the easier side, yet enjoyable.
@Aaron It wasn't as hard as some Sunday puzzles, but I still needed six cheats. So many witty clues and answers, though. Great fun!
Enjoyable Sunday puzzle. Not too hard, not too easy. Why did it take me such a long time to figure out purchase printout? I kept thinking about why one would buy a printout? Also I liked the two Yiddish words starting with the same t. Fun. I even knew about kiting checks, don't ask me how.
@Asher The Yiddish word for TUSHIE is תּחת "tuchus", from the Hebrew "tachat", meaning bottom or below. TUSHIE is an English modification thereof. TSURIS is also found in the English dictionary, but is not altered from the Yiddish. So while TSURIS is Yiddish, TUSHIE is Yidd-ish.
Kind of a tough one for me, but managed to work it out. The theme was on the verge of dad jokes so it should have been right up my alley, but I wasn't really catching on to all of the theme clues and just had to go to - "ignore the clue" mode in more than a couple of places. And... more than a couple of the theme answers were not familiar phrases for me (56a and 92a notably). But, I see that most everyone else enjoyed the theme so I'll defer to the majority. Puzzle find today was vaguely inspired by 62a. Anyway... a Friday puzzle from April 12, 1996 by Manny Nosowski. Three fifteen letter across theme answers: BRONZESTARMEDAL SILENCEISGOLDEN THESILVERSCREEN But... what I thought made it particularly clever is that those three theme answers were all crossed by one down answer running right down the middle: TINLIZZIE That's it. ..
Great puzzle and outstanding comments section today. You guys are all hilarious, and well-deserving of the lovely praise bestowed by our own Deb Amlen in the Morning Newsletter from today: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/briefing/new-york-times-games-community.html?fbclid=IwAR3v9IQiU41um9EY1RRcfLh0NzZ-BomJS-zLHT8TlmDc6uTLJ-RxriA9CFM" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/briefing/new-york-times-games-community.html?fbclid=IwAR3v9IQiU41um9EY1RRcfLh0NzZ-BomJS-zLHT8TlmDc6uTLJ-RxriA9CFM</a>
For a success story, my demolition business broke the bank! The emus are hungry today!
A very punny puzzle. I liked how cleverly the themers used business cliches. I solved it in good order, with my only blips being trying bus before CAB and egg before ROE, which slowed me a bit at the very bottom. I liked seeing Bill Withers’s Use Me in the puzzle. Although he’s known for his two big hits, he’s got lots of other great songs, including Use Me and Grandma’s Hands. He’s very soulful and often overlooked.
@Marshall Walthew Use Me actually reached higher on the Billboard Hot 100 (2) than Ain't No Sunshine (3). Lean on Me was Withers's only number 1 hit.
@Marshall Walthew Have you seen the documentary about him, "Still Bill"? It is so good, he was just an amazing guy from Slab Fork WV. All his songs were hits to me.
Holy moly, my quickest Sunday time EVER - 14:25!!! I usually aim for sub 30 mins but apparently this puzzle really ticked my boxes!
@Elizabeth Birch Wow! Smokin’ fast!
Thank you John Westwig for the fun Sunday solve. TIL that cheese is slang for money!
I took a look at Al Bundy's business training and can only conclude that THERESNOBUSINESSLIKESHOEBUSINESS I know, TOO LONG but not long enough for the emus
I had some struggles, especially in the Southwest and the Northeast. I sat on tie instead of BIB for a very long time! I ended up beating my average by about 25 minutes, so that was cool. My average is embarrassingly long, so this isn't really a brag! Haha! I enjoyed the themers quite a bit! Got a lot of good chuckles out of them. When I just read them to my noncrossworder business owner husband, he completely cracked up! He actually did a spit take at one point because I started reading them while he was taking a sip of water.
As someone who grew up in a household where Yiddish was frequently spoken, I can remember all the times my mother yelled at me for giving her TSURIS. She'd then spank my TUSHIE to put a point on it. Loved this puzzle.
Fun, clever theme. Thanks, John! Keep 'em coming.
Great themers, and I enjoyed the contributions from everyone else. What a talented group! 7 D reminded me of this: <a href="https://darksimpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Seymour_Butts" target="_blank">https://darksimpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Seymour_Butts</a> I immediately put in TUcHus for 79 A, and felt even more certain after entering TSURIS, but PERSON set me straight.
It was a bit odd that 78D and 100A lit up together (on the iPad app), as if one was clued off the other, when they were not. Perhaps they were initially co-clued, but did not survive Shortz?
I opened a dive shop, but quickly FOUND MYSELF UNDER WATER. Then I invested in a print shop, but I couldn't MEET THE MARGIN CALL. Yes, I enjoyed the puzzle, and it helped that I went to BUSINESS SCHOOL. I had a Marketing prof who never missed an opportunity to remind us that he graduated from Wharton.
Sunday PR, for me! Needed a fun, funny, mellow puzzle after that stressful Niner game. By the skin of our teeth, folks! As they say in Wordle, “PHEW!” Thanks for the good times, John Westwig!
@Striker If the Packers still had Mason Crosby…sigh.
53A I have never seen this interpretation of Ralph, either. However, at the end of his audiobook, William Golding says that what a book is about isn’t necessarily what the author put into it or what the teacher says it is. The “right” interpretation is what the engaged reader gets from it. My students love to hear this.
@KS my wife will enjoy hearing this. She’s quite literal as many of us engineers can be, and when it came time in her high school English class to discuss Watership Down, she just thought it was a nice story about rabbits.
@Todd A nice story about rabbits? It’s a tragic story about rabbits. 🤓 I get that you’re saying she didn’t see the allegory behind the rabbits, which is funny, but I was sad enough while reading it that I never want to read it again.
My balloon business,,, WENT BUST. ..................................................
A cold morning, so the emus slept in until now. (This was the first attempt at a 7 pm post.) --------------------- ---------------------- emu tracks MUNI, not BART