The fact that this was a Monday puzzle, and a very straightforward one at that (which is to say a perfect one for a newcomer to try his or her luck on), it's a bit anticlimactic to announce the following, but here goes: This puzzle marks the 3000th consecutive solve in my NYT solving streak. Every solve has been a clean solve; in other words, there have been no lookups of any sort. The solve might have been even longer if I hadn't been doing my puzzles on other media when the NYT web interface came out (Puzzazz was an app that worked for the NYT puzzles way back then, and never was unable to handle an oddball theme; Across Lite was my go-to before that), but 3000 puzzles ago was when I started in the NYT interface, and so it's a 3000-day streak today. (What I'm saying is that I was already doing them without lookups before the streak started, but I don't have documentation for how long.) I have been solving for over 40 years. If you can't imagine doing 3000 puzzles in a row without help, keep in mind that these days, with all the resources that exist that didn't when I was starting out, you can become good much faster than when I was new to this. My solves are rather fast these days because that's my natural pace now. Solving fast allows me to fit them in every day without fail, even on busy days. I savor them afterward, among good company here at Wordplay. Happy puzzling to all!
That's an impressive streak, Steve, congrats!
@Steve L What a milestone! A heartfelt standing ovation for this amazing accomplishment. Kol HaKavod! Here's to another 40+ years of puzzling, and to as many years of your very much appreciated and admired presence in Wordplay! Thank you for being a tireless helper and educator. It's not taken for granted. Salud!
Keep going, Steve! May emus speed your way though the comments.
Sending love, peace, and a speedy recovery to Mr. Shortz. Puzzles are one of the greatest things in the universe, and his passion for them has inspired me deeply.
@Mike -- Perfectly said, and I echo your sentiments. Godspeed, Will!
Best wishes to Will S. for a quick and full recovery. As for many of us, he has been a welcome presence in my life for over thirty years, both as the NYT Xword editor and as the Puzzlemaster on NPR’s Weekend Edition. Congrats to Steve L. on his remarkable milestone! And finally, welcome and congratulations to Samantha on this auspicious debut. 80s redux with BANANArama’s “Cruel Summer : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ml3nyww80" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ml3nyww80</a>
@Puzzlemucker I'm going to spare you a link to Raffi's Apples and Bananas which was in heavy rotation in the late 80s/early 90s when my older nieces were young.
I feel like I still consider myself among the ranks of newbie solvers, but this was the 52nd Monday on my streak. In commemoration of my whole year of puzzling, just wanted to say that this puzzle was a joy - and my new fastest solve time.
@Rachel Congratulations on your Monday streak, and thank you for sharing your success story with us. Now I'll be rooting for your Tuesday streak!
@Rachel Congrats! A memorable puzzle day for both of us 🙌🏻
@Rachel Funny enough, this was also my 52nd Monday, and one of my fastest times as well! Congratulations!
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Refrain from going on road trips? (3)(2)(5)(3) 2. They who shall not be named (6) 3. Simple bucket (5) 4. Unusual change (4)(5) 5. Missing work? (6)(3) ARE WE THERE YET? OTHERS LAYUP RARE COINS STOLEN ART
@Lewis 5. Missing work? Just over a year as a solver and that is my favorite clue ever. Perfectly positioned to cross the theme answer at just the right square… the square that was, in fact, missing WORK. I don’t often LOL at a puzzle but I did in this case. Next level construction and clueing. Top it off with the incredibly clever STOLEN ART for the solve. Really well done.
The lower court says I shouldn't eat bananas, but I'm going to a-peel. (They hear a bunch of these cases.)
@Mike Sounds like a step in the ripe direction.
@Mike Another stellar effort at punmaking comes to fruit-ion.
@Mike Expect a split decision. 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌 / 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌
Beautifully executed puzzle, I enjoyed every last bit of it and licked the bowl when no one was watching. I read the NPR release on Mr. Shortz's stroke. I was under the impression that he suffered it this weekend and was glad to be disabused of that assumption: he suffered the stroke on Feb. 4 and has been recovering, apparently successfully, over this last month. Strokes must be particularly concerning for a Person of Words since they can affect language use, vocabulary, recall, access & retrieval, etc. From his message he is doing well and hasn't lost any of his superpowers. Thank God! All praise to Steve L. for becoming a member of the 3,000 club. That's really amazing, to have done it all without a single lookup. Next up, the Pete Rose club, if I can make an ANALOG to baseball, where 3,000 hits puts one in a very small rarified group of mainly Hall of Famers, with the exception of Charlie Hustle. He had 4256 hits, far and away the most of anybody. That's only 3 1/2 years of puzzling to go, Steve! Recently saw a CMU Tartans football game where cheerleaders attempted to rouse the crowd by shouting: Go Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S Og Sananab! S-A-N-A-N-A-B Needless to say, we were not particularly stirred by those winged words. Og Sananab, Will Shortz! Same to you, Samantha Podos Nowak!
@john ezra I may get to Pete's record, but I can shoot for Caitlin Clark's 3685 career points record first...although she's going to extend that total, and can get 35 or more in one day!
@john ezra I got to the end of Sunday's puzzle only this morning (Monday), and so read your comment about the Red Caps rather too late to comment over there! You wrote: "As I rarely take trains I'd be interested to learn if there are still red caps and if a racial element is still associated with the term." While RED CAP didn't instantly come to mind when I read the clue, once I got the answer, I grinned happily, because just the day before I had once again relied on their excellent service! I can report that the institution is very much alive and well with Amtrak -- along the northeast corridor and likely throughout the system. For only the "cost" of displaying your ticket and a cash tip, these -- mostly men, almost entirely people of color -- will assist you and your bags at major stations such as NYC and Boston. (As for whether there's still a racial element associated with the term... Speaking for myself, the modern Red Caps are simply and equally a part of the hardworking Amtrak staff who keep things moving. But I admit to an NYC bias in my perspective!)
No Polish heritage of today's constructor was mentioned in the column or constructor notes. However, Nowak is the most common surname in Poland. It is the equivalent of the English name Newman. "Nowy" means "new" in Polish, and -ak is a traditional ending of names that derive from everyday words, akin to the better known and more common -ski/-ska (for another example of a name ending with -ak: Marczak is a surname relating to the month of March, marzec in Polish). Interestingly, all Polish common nouns and most proper names are gendered (stół - table - is a boy, in a way, and szabla - saber - is a girl, while łóżko - bed - is neutral). The -ak names, like Nowak, are no longer subject to this rule, but they used to be. In the past, Nowakówna was the daughter of a man called Nowak, and his wife was Nowakowa. This tradition was only phased out in the second half of the 20th century. The second most common surname in Poland is Kowalski/Kowalska (Smith): Kowalski would be a man and Kowalska a woman. Can you imagine how hard it is to introduce gender-neutral language into Polish? Some efforts are being made, and rightly so, but it is much harder than in English. One of the ways to recognize somebody is American-Polish is by their name, because in English the Polish surnames drop the female gendering (all American Polish names keep the male form - how about that for misogyny?). You would never be called Maria (Mary) Kowalski in Polish - it would always be Maria Kowalska.
Also, Jan Nowak and Maria Nowak, or Jan Kowalski/Maria Kowalska, which used to be the most common first name/surname combinations (Jan=John), are typical placeholder names in Polish. When one needs to use a generic name, eg. in instructions on how to fill out a form, Jan/Maria Nowak/Kowalski/Kowalska are the most popular choice. You would think that these names would be used the same as the American Jane/John Doe - to describe a person whose name is unknown, but no. In Polish the police would be seeking the identity not of a Jane Doe, but... Of NN (short for "nazwisko nieznane," which just means "name unknown").
@Andrzej As you see my surname is the female form of my husband’s Slovak name. In theUS, I use his name.
Fun debut! Of course my brain instantly went to what the unsplit bananas could say… “Aw, my gram only likes knitting me sweaters. I’m so jealous of those SCUBA NANAS!” “He’s determined to get rid of his pasty Maine skin in one day at the beach. He’s a CABANA NAYSAYER!” “We’re trying to get folks interested in EVs, but so many of them seem to want a SUBURBAN ANALOG.” “We bought sandwiches for the creative staff of Hadestown. Would you like a CUBAN, ANAIS?”
Delightful debut, Ms. Nowak -- a very creative idea, with perfect execution. A pleasure to solve and a delicious party to boot, with CAKE, COLA, and BANANA SPLIT. I remember when I attended one such birthday party for a 10-year-old, back in the 80's. One of the kids asked me the time. "A quarter to eight," I said. "Huh?" "Fifteen minutes to eight," I translated, and, to cover all the bases, spoke a little louder in case the problem was my tone of voice. "What?" And then the light went on for me: "Seven forty-five." "Ah, thank you." His mind only registered time as numbers on a digital display, not as the face of a clock! But back to the puzzle... Coincidence or not, I also loved the nod to yesterday's, with 1A being EIGHT. A nice continuum. And a great start to the week. Thank you, Ms. Nowak!
@sotto voce Oh, I meant to mention that too, I loved seeing eight in the first spot there after yesterday's fun puzzle. Coincidence or not, it sure made me smile!
@sotto voce It was indeed a total coincidence, and one that made me smile too. Thanks so much for your kind words - so glad you enjoyed!
Mr. Shortz, may you heal well and have a speedy recovery! We miss you. RE: emus I am very fond of emus and have a friendly emu who lives in a small farm near my home. When he/she is not in the barn, but out and about, the dogs and I greet with a bark and wave to say hello. We are often graced with a long neck nod and a fluff of feathers. I notice references to emus in the comments. Is there a back story? I gather it has history. I would love to hear it. Thank you for a lovely Monday puzzle. Very nicely done.
@Bonnie Ann If I remember right, it stands for electronic moderation units, which moderate the comments for civility. But they also seem to monitor the comments and weed out (or severely delay them until a human moderator looks at it) very short comments, especially from people who comment frequently. So people add spaces and a little joke about emus at the end if they're doing a very short message to get it past the emus. Hips don't lie, but do emus?
@Bonnie Ann Whether it's true or not, the commenters here have named the censoring software that screens comments the Electronic Moderation Unit, or EMU. Since it's a bit finicky and flighty, and likes to eat short comments that may or may not show up later in the day (or the next morning) when humans have reviewed and approved them. So, in efforts to avoid their comments non-appearance, many of us extend the commentary to appease the emus and hope for the best.
@Bonnie Ann The commenting software's automated moderation can look askance at short comments, especially if a person enters multiple ones in short order. I'm not sure of the etymology, but this is referred to as the emu eating your comment. So frequent commenters especially will pad a comment with an emu reference to lengthen it to avoid automatic zapping.
I like that the three NYT answer debuts all are mass-media related: Movies (MCU), television (HBO MAX), and social media (IT’S A MATCH). I also liked some of the filled-in grid’s bonuses: • SHUTS up. • EAT over CAKE. • SPLITS abutting HIPS, as doing the former stretches the latter. • In the nag-nag department, NAG of SNAG abuts the NAG of NAGANO. • The lovely sing-song quality of a quartet of three-syllable answers with the accent on the middle syllable: NAGANO, BANANA, SUBURBAN, CABANA. I especially like the playful theme and skillful execution of it from a new crossword voice, boding well for this pastime we love. Congratulations on your NYT puzzle debut, Samantha, and thank you for a splendid outing!
AQABA is, in my experience, one of the most strikingly beautiful places on earth. Desert on one side and shimmering blue water on the other. and Jordanians are remarkable people, kind and strong.
I hate to be a NAYSAYER... so I won't be! Thanks for a BEAUT of Monday puzzle! I enjoyed it! Even if it did make me a bit wistful because we haven't been on a proper vacation in so very long. I would love to take my preferred AISLE SEAT to somewhere where we could enjoy a NAP in a CABANA, then sip a gimlet or a screwdriver, hey, I'm on vacation, why not one of each!? Maybe I'll order up a BANANA SPLIT, while I'm at it! 🍌🏖️🩴🌊😎🍌
@HeathieJ Once again on very much the same wavelength! Waves, sand, balmy breezes... Would sure love a beach vacation about now!! We haven't been on a proper vacation in so very long, either. Here's hoping we each can do so in the near future! In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the lovely distraction I get here. :) P.S. Love what you did there at the start of your comment! Emus, is that enough for you??
@Samantha Very nice debut, and fortunately it did not drive me BANANAs, but I did like your BANANA SPLITS. It's always nice to see new constructors appear, and I hope we see more of your work in the future. Thanks! @Will Shortz Hope you got prompt treatment and best wishes for a complete recovery. I've enjoyed your work since I subscribed to Games magazine way back when, and with the Crosswords since mid-2016.
Will- I hope you realize how many people are rooting for you and how much we appreciate what you do for us to make our lives a little more fun and a lot more interesting. Take good care of yourself now so that you can return when you are ready and we can keep this puzzle journey going as a team with an admirable leader. Wishing you the best!
Great debut, Samantha! Here’s to a speedy recovery, Will.
I found the first two thirds to be Monday easy and fun with the BANANA SPLIT theme but struggled with the last third, not a problem, didn’t mind it lasting a bit longer at all. Yet again very impressive debut and Samantha is another new constructor I’ll be looking forward to seeing more from.
Congratulations on your debut! I loved the theme. So excited for you! Wishing Mr. Shortz a speedy recovery as well
Congratulations on a sweet debut, Samantha. I'm sure your family will be thrilled to see your name on the puzzle today.
Terrific and very clean debut and hope to see more from Ms. Nowak. Best wishes for a speedy recovery of our chief enigmatologist.
Nicely done, Samantha, an elegant Monday debut. I do appreciate a construction where the tIPS don't lie. Thanks, and see you again soon, I hope. 🎂 - Even emus have birthdays.
Dear Will Shortz: We are thankful for you and pulling for your recovery.
I forgot to mention earlier how rare and wonderful it was to see an end-of-the-week clue – [Gimlet or screwdriver] for TOOL – on a Monday. Brava, Samantha on that terrific clue! Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to have caused a flap in the comments, so I say to the NYT team, let’s have more end-of-the-weekers early in the week in the future, please! Et tu, emu.
@Lewis I completely agree with you and I’m so glad you returned to add this comment. The four crosses for TOOL were nice Monday-easy, so what a great way to introduce a tough clue/answer pair. If this were to become a regular early week practice, it not only would make the puzzle a little more interesting for more experienced solvers but also introduce new solvers to the importance of relying on crosses where specific knowledge may be lacking. I also noticed the lack of “flap” in the comments on this one.
@Lewis My favorite clue of the puzzle! I was so glad the editors kept that one in despite it being a Monday.
Sending all my best to Will. We appreciate you very much, and hope your recovery is full and smooth! 💜
Cute theme and an enjoyable solve. Tumbled to it fairly early, but went dim-witted in a couple of places and it was just a bit on the slow side for me. Quite impressive for our constructor to find multiple workable splits. Glad to see another new constructor. Looking forward to more from Ms. Nowak. Some of the split word puzzles have been mentioned already. Glad to see that the one I stumbled across today hasn't shown up yet. Quite an amazing puzzle - I'll put that in a reply. ..
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Sunday puzzle from October 30, 1998 by Charles M. Deber with the title: "Fractured phrases." In that one the 'split' was a blank square. Ten theme answers and, of course, the use of the blank square meant that every across theme answer had to cross a down theme answer, so there were 5 acrosses and 5 downs. In that one it was... LAM_BCHOP crossing BANA_NASPLIT Some other themers: BECO_MESEPARATED (crossing) HEAR_TBREAKS DIVISIONOFL_ABOR crossing PARTCOM_PANY UPPE_RCUT crossing RIPC_ORDS Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/30/1988&g=59&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/30/1988&g=59&d=D</a> ..
@Rich in Atlanta I think we had a similar experience today - I greatly enjoyed this puzzle and solved it smoothly, but in a longer time than my Monday average. It may have been an easy puzzle, but solving it took some thinking, which was exceptionally nice on a Monday. A wonderful effort from Ms. Nowak.
Sending get-well wishes to Will Shortz! We love you.
A cute and original idea, very nicely executed. It didn't give me anything puzzling to figure out, theme-wise, but then early week puzzles almost never do. What it did give me was a smooth, junk-free grid with some interesting fill like NAYSAYER, AISLE SEAT and ANALOG. There was even one late-week-worthy clue. OK for the screwdriver, but did you know a gimlet was also a TOOL? I didn't. Better than the typical Monday puzzle, I thought.
Congratulations on your NYT debut, Ms. Nowak! Nicely done!
Fun, smooth solve! Your love of words comes through, Samantha. Congratulations on your NY Times debut! I too love words and do Wordle and Connections with my mom and my daughter in addition to the daily crossword. But my favorite word game by far, since I was a kid, is Boggle, so it made me smile to see it in your constructor notes. I play it with one of my closest friends every time we see each other and I even have photos of unplayed Boggle boards ready for use in case I meet someone else who is into the game when I’m on the go.
@Rachel Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed the puzzle - and to meet a fellow Boggle afficionado :)
A perfect Monday. Congratulations, Samantha! I hope your next puzzle will somehow illustrate an ice cream or root beer float. Get well anon, Will!
I have not yet finished this puzzle and now I have decided to savor it! I am 🍌🍌🍌s over the cleverness of this puzzle! Thank you for all the work and thought in this one! I am still just a Monday puzzler, but I am trying other days as well and I am constantly amazed. I usually learn something new daily!
Ok, so I finished the puzzle and then immediately started singing, "Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today." My mood brightened and I began singing louder and more animatedly. Thank you Ms. Nowak for such a fun beginning to my week! And congratulations on your delightful debut!
Well, that was a smashing debut! Hope all the family enjoyed your creation! Can’t resist a little BANANA humor: "My mother always used to say: 'The older you get, the better you get, unless you're a banana.'" ~ Betty White
@Kate As I get older, my favorite Betty White quote. "When someone asks me how I'm in such good shape for being so old I tell them it's because I live in a two-story house and am forgetful." Yep, me too....
Just going to add my congratulations to Samantha on your debut. Super cute and enjoyable puzzle! I’m a chocolate girl, myself. And also to send healing wishes to Will! You have many people pulling for you!
Delicious! A great debut, a marvelous Monday, and a wonderful way to start the week! Thank you, Ms. Nowak!
Best wishes to Mr. Short for a rapid recovery. Thank you Ms. Novak for your charming Monday debut. Please return to us soon.
Off topic for the puzzles, but something I think would really be appreciated by the music lovers, educators, and humanists here in the Wordplay commentariat, the Oscar nominated short (40 minutes) “The Last Repair Shop” is an amazingly well put together documentary. I hope some of you will make time to watch it! <a href="https://tinyurl.com/3mknjc8h" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/3mknjc8h</a>
@David Connell Thanks for this. Just watched it. Wonderful. That school districts are cutting music programs just to save money is criminal. The enrichment that music can bring to our lives is priceless.
@David Connell , that was fantastic, down to the last pizzicato. Thanks for sharing!
@David Connell I loved it. Thank you for the link. My granddaughter is studying music therapy in college. Music is her passion and profession.
Great debut puzzle! Clever theme and a satisfying Monday solve. Thanks, Samantha!
Well done Ms. Nowak, well done!
Ack I was sailing through this, well on my way to a personal best. But I put UMNO for 55D and never gave it second thought. Then 56A looked like I_SAMATCM. Hmm what's this about Turner Classic Movies? I never used Tinder so no help there. Is this some acronym for Instagram? Then finally - Duh! But 2 precious minutes were lost.
Finally broke 5 minutes. Probably could get below 4 minutes if I could type more accurately on a smartphone keyboard.
Tripped up by trying to cross LIPS with LANDCAR
Congrats to the constructor on a silky smooth Monday debut, and wishing Will Shortz a speedy and complete recovery!
Wishing a quick return to health for Will!
That was a perfect Monday offering; light but with lots of good filling. I had to look back at the puzzle once I got the revealer, which gave me an extra sprinkle of joy. I haven’t eaten ice cream for years, but BANABA SPLIT was alway my go to as a kid when on holiday (the only time we were allowed ice cream). I would have a scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry to make a Neapolitan. Thanks Ms Nowak for a sweet puzzle and a forgotten trip down memory lane.
@Helen Wright BANABA?? BANANA Doh.
Bananas? Yer Banana-y. Sayer Banana Splits. Banana Log. Banana Is. Like a hep cat poem. Bananaism. Thanks, Samantha. My favorite ice cream flavor is coffee.
Very nice debut puzzle! Simple, clever theme and solid fill. My fastest ever Monday solve, at 6:17. I'm amazed that many folks solve these in half that time, since I don't think I ever needed more than a second or two to decide what to type here. My only mistake was SODA instead of COLA, and fixing that was very quick. That said, my typing is definitely a limiting factor when it comes to speed solving. Maybe I need a neural link installed, so I can just think the answers and skip the typing ... UHNO---I'll pass on that.
@Xword Junkie 6:29, and I thought I was fast as well.