More than thirty years ago, when I first began solving the NYT Xword puzzle, every puzzle was a challenge. As the years went by, my skills improved, and eventually I was solving all the way through the week. Now, with the onset of Alzheimer's, I find myself slowly moving in the opposite direction. Fridays and Saturdays are increasingly difficult, and today I was able to fill in less than half of the grid. But here's the good news: I really enjoyed that half of the grid!
@archaeoprof I wish you well…… keep at it, finding joy in half a puzzle is a miracle and a half.
@archaeoprof You've just one-upped Milton BERLE with your punchline! Bravo and thank you, sir. I can't tell you how much I admire your humor in the face of this predicament. May you continue to enjoy even if just half a Saturday puzzle for many, many years to come. All my best to you, and please continue to share with us your archeological and travel stories!
@archaeoprof Forget about Alzheimer's and keep on 'truckin'. Working half of this puzzle is more than your average joe on the street would even try to do. Keep reading and writing, talking with friends, and take your Vitamin B-12. Stay busy and you won't have time for Alzheimer's—and shame on you for giving up on the puzzle before you finished it. Bet you could have done it if there hadn't been a "diagnosis" that you probably couldn't. I'll be 90 this summer, and I say to hell with it. I'm forgetting names sometimes, but so far, the house keys haven't been in the refrigerator, and I'm still having a lovely time most of the time. I'm not giving in and you shouldn't either.
Lots to love about Natan's latest puzzle. The grid is a case of "opposites attract." Where else would: LOLCATS cross STUNTDOGS? (Do I hear a SOUNDBITE?) WEDDINGBANDS cross BREXIT? (IN LOVE or MOVE ALONG? Take your pick.) And perhaps my favorite ... BLOODSTREAMS cross RARECOINS (could have been/should have been clued as "They're out of circulation") Truly a missed opportunity.
@Henry Su Nice catch on the clueing opportunity for RARE COINS.
@Eric Hougland Thank you. (Echo) Thank you.
@Henry Su I admit I was trying to fit "coins" in 3D but reluctantly gave up once I entered 30A. Definitely a missed opportunity! ................................................
This was just impossibly hard for me, and not in a personally enjoyable way. I can do a hard puzzle, sometimes, but today the clueing was not on my wavelength, I did not know most of the trivia (proper names, quotes), and some of the non-trivia answers were completely alien to me, too (STUNT DOGS? Is that a thing? Apparently so. But how do you get that from the clue?). My being Polish fairly played a huge part in not knowing most of this stuff (I mean, you may be shocked but I don't really know who Robert Frost was, just as you probably don't know Cyprian Kamil Norwid) so I'm sure the intended audience had it much easier. Saturdays are supposed to be hard, so I'm OK with my failure (at first I resorted to lookups and autocheck, but then I gave up and revealed the puzzle when I was left with a few crossing mysteries in the middle - so a huge failure it was indeed), but being OK with it does not mean I enjoyed the experience.
@Andrzej It was really hard for me too, especially the sports clues. I had to Google a few things. I resisted STUNT DOGS for a while, because although they exist, it's not common terminology. Then I got the clue ("toy" is a category of dog breed) and I appreciated it more. Definitely the most challenging puzzle this week! (for me)
@Andrzej Agree that the trivia was way too obscure for those outside the US. This turned into one of my quickest finishes as I felt entitled to Google so many entries. I didn't even recognise the BREXIT date, like, I expect, 99% of the population despite that wasting 7 years of our lives.
@Andrzej As I filled in BULLPEN, I was actually thinking "That guy in Poland is probably struggling with this one."
Glad to see I’m in good company struggling with today’s offering. An excellent puzzle; crunchy, headache inducing but ultimately satisfying as the white space starts to fill in. It was looking bleak first pass; I had a few small fills like NAE and HALVA, but that was it til I hit the horned sheep. Being the next door county and having lived there for 2 years DORSET was a RARE gimme. A couple of long entries at 18 and 30d finally got the ball rolling, but it was still an (enjoyable) slog. Must we talk about BREXIT? It’s a great clue and perfectly good Xword fodder but oh, the distress it raises here is genuine. I immediately recall the sickening shock I felt on waking to the news that my country had shot itself in the foot. My kids and probably their kids will pay the price of the stupidity of some of their compatriots for years.
@Helen Wright many of us here in America were/are sick about it too for you ☹️
Tonight’s episode of Funny Wrong Answer: I had - - - - O - NS for the “common party store purchase”, and my brain went with AIRHORNS! Haha, what a way to make the party chitchat even more impossible to hear.
@Cat Lady Margaret I (very) briefly wanted VUVUZELA....
@Cat Lady Margaret I was mystified for the longest time, because here in Michigan a "party store" is more like a liquor store with a smidgen of convenience store items tucked inside.
Sometimes you have to bail to save your sanity. But you won't know, until you check the answers, whether you made the right decision or not. Will you discover that with just a little more grit, just a little more stubbornness, just a little more determination, you could have solved the darned thing? Well, in this case, a resounding no, and my sanity is thanking me. I'm too shell-shocked from wrestling with this to expend the energy it would take to list my wrong answers and the answers that were completely unknown to me. Suffice it to say that I successfully filled in the NW corner and the SW corner and nothing else. I did have WEDDING RINGS running down the center-right of the grid...but it was wrong. A struggle that I abandoned because it really wasn't fun for me at all. I applaud those of you who solved it with no cheats -- I'd say that's a really impressive accomplishment.
@Nancy I'm glad I'm not alone. Obscure and just no fun at all.
@Nancy I struggled with this and finally gave up, too. There was just too much I didn't know, and bailed on the puzzle after filling in less than a quarter. Not fun at all. I also find it hard to believe that someone could have solved this in 15 minutes with no lookups.
"You don't have paper money anymore?" "No, I said I'm using coins for a change!" ("And I mint it!")
@Mike That's one way to exchange currency -- euro so hip ... or is that HEP?
@Mike What a card! I have to give you credit for that. No help from the emus, though.
@Mike Hard cash is better for deposits some places, like in our West Bank of the Mississippi. We have a lot of liquid assets, if you're interested. Also a lot of satisfied customers. 〰〰〰〰〰 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆〰〰〰〰〰
Funny how on some Saturdays I can think laterally throughout most of the puzzle, but not in one section. That was the NW for me with this puzzle. Or maybe it was plopping in some wrong answers (pEsci instead of BERLE and Assert rather APPLAUD - darn you “Put” for fooling me once again into thinking present instead of past tense) and then not being able to get rid of them until I absolutely had to. Ah well, that’s why I’m not a speed solver. That and my inability to type, or think, very speedily. But I’m proud of myself for taking a break. And when I came back, just like clockwork . . . Nothing. So I took another break, came back, deleted everything up there and started from scratch with my thinking cap readjusted, and this time spelled KABUKI correctly, which made a big difference because not many first names begin with a “U.” Ultimately, it all came together up there. TLDR: True Saturday test for me. BANG UP job, Natan!
* ARGUED not APPLAUD Speaking of STUNT DOGS, we watched “Wizard of Oz” recently on a big screen. Toto’s performance was a revelation - so expressive. She stole the movie for me. ……… …. .
@Puzzlemucker NW was the last for me, too. The old HiP/HEP check held me up. Seeing BERLi did not get me to BERLE automatically despite being driven over to my Uncle Jack's house to watch Uncle Miltie on Tuesday nights once upon a time. We did not have a TV set until I was 12.
Whew!! Burned a few calories with that puppy! Took me forrrrrrrevvverrrrr. I think it was close to 90 minutes! Huzzah! Hoping this will silence the cacophony of “puzzle is way too easy now…” But, how I love to be challenged and emerge victorious! I hated it, but by golly I loved it…
This is a grid with pop. That was my initial impression – “Wow, nothing rusty here, what interesting entries everywhere!” But let me back it up – and pardon the cross-nerd in me – after looking at some data on XwordInfo. It turns out that a quarter of this grid’s answers have been used less than five times in the 80-year Times crossword history. That’s one out of four answers! That’s serious zing. Then there’s the beauty. Look at that five-answer center stack, including prime answers SOUND BITE, FORTHWITH, and MOVE ALONG, not to mention four stellar clues among the five. There are gorgeous answers elsewhere as well: PAUNCHY, KABUKI, MAROON, and BANGUP. And lovely clues, including my favorite, [Unusual change] with no question mark, for RARE COINS. All in a grid stiffened with plenty of bite. And bonuses: • BITE over DOGS. • Four double-L’s in the first three rows. • The PuzzPair© of ARK and PAIR. • NUNHOOD, which immediately brought to mind an outstanding feature of certain “Handmaid’s Tale” costumes. Standout Saturday, Natan, popping with energy and lit up with sparks. Bravo, sir, and thank you!
@Lewis The PAIR you seem to have missed was TATA and SEEYA. But I agree, the puzzle was a standout.
@Lewis I really enjoy these comments. They add a lot to the depth of my appreciation for the puzzle.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," always makes me remember long walks with the dog. Nice crossword.
Dock Ellis didn’t claim to be on LSD, he was on LSD. He famously kept uttering the words, ‘no no’ over and over during the game. And to this day, No-No is the most common nickname for a no hitter.
@Bobby Wales I just read his Wikipedia page, it is a wild ride! I highly recommend. What a character.
I had the pleasure of working with Natan Last in a JASA puzzle class on Zoom during the pandemic . So happy to see his puzzle today and what lively cluing ! From Kabuki to non starters ( Bullpen ) to " later " and even the Cheshire Cat a wonderful blend of trivia , old KULTUR and new culture . Thanks Natan- great solve !!
Although this was crunchy, it was totally on my wavelength. My parents swear we were at the Dock Ellis game.
A sound I started to think I'd never hear. This one was out of my league and I would never have finished it without four or five searches with the know-it-alls Google and Wikipedia. I would say I learned a lot, but I knew a lot of the fills, but did not recognize the chosen paths to find them. Impressive construction, Natan Last, the hardest puzzle I've worked in years. Thanks, and next time I see your name on a puzzle I'll be prepared to suit up for another super challenge. Bring it on.
@dutchiris I far surpassed your 'four or five searches' with a whopping seventeen 'cheats'. I was relieved to finish, but finish, I did.
Good puzzle, really liked the factual answers like kultur, Leone, Brexit, Allie B. Latimer -- never heard of her but a good crossword always teaches you something. As for Dock Ellis, the LSD no-hitter is just one of the two historic events that will forever enshrine his name in baseball lore. The other one is being the pitcher who gave up Reggie Jackson's mammoth home run in the 1971 All-Star game when Reggie propelled one into the light tower atop Tiger Stadium's right-field roof.
Came for the crossword. Stayed for a dog balanced on a rolling basket during a show in Siliguri, India, in 2013.
Later getting to this than usual, but I had to comment. This is the best sort of puzzle. 80% of the time I was sitting in despair, the other 20 was truly rewarding. When I finish one like this without lookups, it's going to be a good day.
Without many lookups, I would have never solved this in a million years.
Relieved to see that for once I'm not the only one who struggled with this. Needed some googles in a couple of places but pondered and chipped away and worked the crosses and somehow managed to finish it. 15 letter find today was in the clue for 17a: THEROADNOTTAKEN And that led to a couple of interesting puzzles (and some other 15 letter finds). One was a Thursday from January 4, 2001 by Nancy S. Ross. Two other 15 letter answers in that one: STOPPINGBYWOODS ONASNOWYEVENING And... the other puzzle was a Tuesday from February 24, 1998 by Bill Ballard. Two of the 15 letter answers in that one: STOPPINGBYWOODS ONASNOWYEVENING* And the other 15 letter answer: ROBERTFROSTPOEM *And those two 15 letter answers have been paired up in a total of four puzzles. I'm done. ...
My limited TV viewing (years before there were satellites, 100% TV ownership, etc.) makes some things very difficult... The very last thing into the grid was the comic. True Confession: PhysDau gave me PAIR where I had LINK for the BlueTooth. I needed a lot of help from the crosses for the names. My favorite character in BlueBloods uses 29A all the time. I felt silly floundering over the spelling of the power tool maker, especially after all the time spent at Lowe's and Home Depot. ELMO is NOT a 'monster.' But the BOT who critiques Wordle IS. Early on this foggy morning, I am looking forward to tomorrow's family ZOOM, connecting Seattle, Cincinnati, and Madison, MS....
@Mean Old Lady Elmo is actually technically a monster in the Sesame Street universe. Most of the fuzzy characters are
@Mean Old Lady Loved: "ELMO is NOT a 'monster.' But the BOT who critiques Wordle IS." What about emus?
Wow that was a workout. I always feel dumb when I struggle mightily to come up with a 3 letter answer and it's just a common cross-word like TSK or LEI. Silly me! I felt like the corners were 4 separate puzzles so it was extra hard. I was sooo tempted to do a lookup but persevered and finally it all fell into place with EVO and HEP. Thanks for a fun puzzle, Natan!
Proper Saturday puzzle from the reliable Natan Last.
I like Saturdays where I’m too tired to make a dent on a Friday night and then tackle with fresh eyes and coffee on a Saturday morning. I knew it was KABUKI but wasn’t sure I was spelling it correctly, so, when I had just the Northwest left, I briefly hopped over to Google for a spell check. But I caught myself. ‘Not so fast, Striker! You haven’t given this section a good look, this morning. Get back in there!’ 5 minutes later, bumped BERLi for BERLE and, bingo, bulls eye. Right around Saturday average. Loved this puzzle. Thanks, Natan Last!
@Striker I got KABUKI right off the bat, but couldn't get any of the crosses with it. I thought perhaps "non-starters" belonged in some kind of junkyard...LOLed when I finally got BULLPEN.
I found this to be a delightful Saturday puzzle: Just difficult enough to reward patience and persistence, not so difficult as to be frustrating. Seemed like I’d be stumped by many clues on my first pass, but just plugged away at it, filling the grid in section by section.
Wasn't sure I was going to find holds in this one, but then it fell section by section. I find that one of the hardest but most useful things to be able to do is go back and review which things you've already entered that may in fact be wrong. (ringS for BANDS, in my case today.) Thank you for the fun and the crunch, Mr. Last! I cannot read the word FORTHWITH without hearing it in Det. Reagan's voice. Regarding the photo ahead of today's column: I knew before reading the caption where it would say the picture was taken, because that little fellow is an Indian Spitz - a breed not recognized in the US but which we would be smart to welcome. We have one, a rescue from Bangalore by way of New Jersey, and although he is as barktastic as they come, he is also the most sensitive and loyal little guardian I've ever known; if he thinks I'm upset he will wrap his paws over my shoulders and give me an actual hug. They're the prettiest cream color as well - slightly unusual for a spitz, which is more often a purer white. 10/10 do recommend.
I never fail to find it fascinating how different one’s experiences of these crosswords can be! I sailed through this one, until, like Caitlin, I got stalled in the SE; nevertheless, while not a PB, I finished well below my average time. While yesterday’s, which most seemed to find a breeze, took quite a bit more time than today’s, although, surprisingly, it did also come in below my Friday average. That was one of those satisfying solves which at first seemed to me impossible, but which, bit by bit, I managed to bulldog my way through— only to find others deemed it easy! So imagine my surprise to discover a Saturday I found relatively easy was a stumper for others! Ya never know….
@Darcey O’D The site xwstats.com rates the puzzle as “Very Hard,” based on the site’s users’ median solving time as compared to their average Saturday solving times for the preceding 60 days. I expect the people who have accounts there are generally faster than the average solver. But as of 9:40 CST Saturday, the median solving time is 20:09. I expect that will get longer as the day goes on.
Proud/Embarrassed to be able to pull BERLE from memory with no helpers. Amazing trivia recall with no idea what I’ve had for breakfast.
@Dave H - I had no idea who the answer was, until I had the B and the L -- and then an image of BERLE as Louie came into my mind. So, it was there, although I never would have remembered that Berle was in Batman without the prompt. Minds are weird things.
Amazed myself with this fun, challenging puzzle…. I did some of it and then left it for five hours to do a walking tour of Paris. When I came back, I picked it up and low and behold — the answers just fell into place “click click click” ….and I was done with STUNTDOGS capping off a rare no-look up Saturday solve! Great puzzle!
Tough one for me, but solved it without aid, Had to guess at the letter common to the rapper and the Mitsubishi, but SEAN and EVO made more sense than STAN and TVO. Tough crossing that one, at least for me. Too many proper nouns for my tastes, but a solid enough Saturday puzzle.
If you have 4.5 minutes to spare and are curious, here's a quick and entertaining primer on Doc Ellis's LSD no-no: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14</a>
@Bill in Yokohama Wow! Great story, great graphics. Thanks for the link. I had heard about the game but never knew the details. > > >
@Bill in Yokohama Wow! Great story, great graphics. Thanks for the link. I had heard about the game but never knew the details. > > > Apparently, I need even more filler to get my comment through. I hope this will satisfy the ravenous (or is that emunous?) gatekeepers.
Not listening to Mr. Paul, but totally paying attention to you, Mr Last! Excellent Saturday. And by that I mean there was no way I was getting through this one until I did. My favorite kind of late week puzzle. I love to suffer but I do need to eventually prevail. Thank you.
Great cluing and some extra chew is what I expect from Natan Last and as always he delivered. Talk trashed? for SLUR (23 A), Conversation piece? for SOUND BITE (24 A), and Unusual change (30 A) for RARE COINS, were just a few of many gems . After an easy week, this really hit the spot. Thanks, Natan, I needed that!
I solved this one in the morning as was my wont for many decades (and certainly before on line solving), and what struck me as a very challenging puzzle went reasonably smoothly with only a couple of minor missteps (mention instead of ARGUED, e.g.). Either I’m more of a morning person than I thought, or I was on the constructor’s wave length. I’ll guess the latter. From Freud to Lewis Carroll I found many things within my KEN. So many clever gems of clues which created mini aha moments throughout the puzzle, most of which have been mentioned below. And any puzzle that includes FORTHWITH is aces in my book.
Wow, that was a proper Saturday challenge! Especially the SE quadrant, with those nasty WEDDING ringS. Also, a rapper and a breed of sheep, and sync before PAIR. Resisted STIHL for "power tool" for way too long, but clearly chainsaws are power tools. I have one of theirs, and it's excellent.
This puzzle was such a great combo of difficult and satisfying that I came to the comments expecting to see nominations for Puzzle of the Year!
Good Saturday, imo. LEONE as currency, NUNHOOD, and the book “what KATY did” were all unknowns to me, but logical, so provided rather than required crosses (well, it’s a Xword, so a little of each). TAXCUT gave me BREXIT (nice demagogic cross). Exactly the kind of puzzle Natan usually delivers.
I always love reading through the comments when I complete a puzzle. Sometimes puzzles just click with certain solvers, and sometimes they don’t. This one was a rough go—but hey, it’s Saturday, and I’m not complaining. It’s been well over two years since had a solve time exceed one hour. This is the crunchiest puzzle I’ve done in a long, long time. I wasted way too much time holding fast to some of my incorrect entries: “shy” for COY “weddingrings” for WEDDING BANDS “noe” for NAE I figured 38A must certainly have something to do with an imminent and dire warning about Covid. STUNT DOGS, LOLCATS, STIHL? All new to me— and lastly, I thought I off to a great start with KABUKI, but I couldn’t come up with any Freudian word that started with a “K”. That flummoxed me for way too long. -and it’s raining Mr. Nast- a tip of the Hatlo hat to you. Definitely a huge challenge for yours truly today!
@James Morgan Mr. “Last”- my apologies-
@James Morgan You had me looking for a clue involving Thomas Nast, you rascal.... Emus Emulsify
Whew. Tough one for me, and didn’t do my average any favors, although I made it through in the end without lookups as always. Not for the first time, not on Nathan’s wavelength. Lots of super obscure (to me but I imagine to others) trivia. The SE was particularly bad on this front. Frankly, I don’t care about a discontinued Mitsubishi sports sedan and never will, and don’t have much more time or brain capacity for British sheep breeds, or imaginary currency in a video game, or brands of power tools. For me, the sheer dullness and difficulty-for-the-sake-of-difficulty of those entries more than outweighed the clever cluing of the open middle. To be clear, I’m not saying the cluing was unfair. Once I had the crosses, I could suss out DORSET and RUPEE for example, and EVO came from the crosses themselves. (And I exempt KATY from my kvetching: while I didn’t know the book, the clue gave me just enough to go on.) The problem is that with that kind of trivia I don’t really care about the answers when I’m done. It’s just: okay, I finished the puzzle. Now I can get on with my day. A slog, not a joy. I realize all of this is idiosyncratic. YMMV as always. Glad to see that many others enjoyed this.
@Nat K Agreed. I'll just note that it is not just us against the puzzle/constructor but us against the entire internet. I'll put down $10 that the constructor had never heard of a DORSET horn sheep before making this puzzle!
@Nat K I hated lolcats, the tortuously clued stunt dogs and the video game reference and had never heard of Sean Paul but thought this was a very good puzzle. I'm always surprised when people complain that a puzzle has too much trivia. All puzzles require some factual answers and I would much rather see actual trivia take up space rather than the plague of odious Oreos, egregious epees and just plain annoying aseas that mar lazier constructions.
This definitely made up for how easy the last few had been. I had HIP instead of HEP and BERLE was way, way before my time so I had to check the column to finish, but the streak remains intact.
@Hugh - same here. I only recognized the name "Berle" after a lookup, and since I'd had "HIP" since very early on, I had no clue why my puzzle was still saying something was wrong. I checked every single across clue against my answers and thought "all of these are right!" I followed that with a thorough but non exhaustive check of most down clues and I was once again totally flummoxed as to what might be incorrect. I probably spent 8-10 minutes methodically checking every answer again before finally realizing 14D was the only one I even had a shred of doubt about. Still a very fun and satisfying puzzle!
Good fun, this. Pretty brisk for a Saturday, though I too wrestled a bit with the southeast corner.
Same as Caitlin, I had big trouble at the very end in the SE corner. Could not come up with the ending for WEDDING to save my life, because could not get past wanting Vows, which were not long enough. BREXIT when it finally emerged earned me a self-inflicted head slap. And somehow I knew DORSET. And there must have been something written fairly recently about Dock ELLIS, because somehow I knew that, but have no idea how. And I join Laura Stratton in thanking Natan for this lively and solvable puzzle.
@Vaer As wrong as my TAX CiT was, the X gave me BREXIT very quickly, despite my inability to remember how long ago something like that happened.
I was lucky to get a very early (<5 minutes) fill of the full NW — must have just been on the constructor’s wavelength today. The rest took a lot of pushing and a few “leave the app for a few minutes then come back to it” moments. But with a foothold, even in a grid like this, it eventually comes! Didn’t know a good number of the proper names, but crosses eventually got me covered. I made a mental note to change HiP to HEP if the sound didn’t go off on completion, and sure enough, that was the one change required. Thanks to Natan for a great puzzle.
Thanks to frequent encounters with the constructor, both here and at the New Yorker, I’ve come to expect a quality puzzle whenever I see his byline. !!! !!! !!!
@Steve L I haven't forgiven you for stomping on my Hoffa jest yesterday. (I imagined him hiding between UNION and TEAMSTERS....sorta.... as in 'Why else would I refer to Hoffa if not for my awareness of the REProbate's history?"
Am I the only person in the world who has never encountered (or never locked into memory) this legitimate (dictionaries tell me) alternate spelling of HEP? Never in a million years would I have suspected HIP to be wrong. Sorry, I don’t know Milton BERLE, and ‘Berli’ didn’t scream unreasonable when it was a proper noun at issue. Just ruined what would otherwise have been, for me, a memorable and fun puzzle. I don’t think I’ll soon forget that you can be HEP to some things and not to others.
@Hub yes, you are the only one. Jk! Both HEP and BERLE are oldies, like me, though Uncle Milty’s heyday was a bit before my time. He’s in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which can be seen on TCM from time to time, with a lot of other old-time comedians and Spencer Tracy.
@Hub at the ripe old age of 57 (😉) even I am not old enough to have experienced HEP when it was in popular usage, or seen Milton BERLE in his heyday, but at least I knew them from older movies (especially musicals) and syndicated TV. I can easily understand how anyone 40 or below might never have experienced either. Soon (if not already) even “hip” (which was probably out of fashion as a slang term by the early 80s) will be as unknown as HEP to the younger set. But try and remember HEP for future reference, it is not an infrequent visitor to the NYTxw. 🤓 If the movies I watched as a youth are to be believed, a “with it” guy (who was probably a jazz musician) might be known as a “hep cat”. 😊
@Hub, I'm not yet 50, but HEP was one of the only things I filled in on my first pass. I must be an old soul, or maybe it's just my love of old movies about jazz and HEP cats. Sadly, I second guessed myself and deleted it, filled it back in, deleted it again, ... The Northwest nearly ended my streak, but I both shook my fist and raised my hands in victory when HEP was my final fill. Here's a link to an interesting NPR piece on the original hipsters and HEP cats: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/3dybta5p" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/3dybta5p</a>
The proper nouns killed me on this one (including having Berli and not seeing Berle). Needed lookups for Allie, Ellis and Sean Paul (two of them confirmations as I hunted down my i/e error.) Overall a satisfying solve even if out of my wheelhouse.
Nice, crunchy Saturday puzzle; elegant & satisfying. TBH, yesterday seemed a bit more difficult to me, but as always, “your mileage may vary “!
@Patrick I completely agree that yesterday's felt more difficult. But maybe that's because today's clues were SO MUCH FUN.
Loved the puzzle, but wish the cluing had been a little less strained.
Really? I know NUNHOOD ever heard of the word, "nunhood". Methinks I should consult a dictionary FORTHWITH. Nice chewy puzzle, Nathan. I'll enDORSET.
@Linda Jo - Try to remember it if you do Spelling Bee! 🐝