I've never commented before I've done the crossword before. I just wanted to pass on my best wishes for a full a speedy recovery to Will Shortz. He's responsible for such an enjoyable part of the day. Get well soon Will.
@Daniel A hearty second. Thank you for sharing your gifts to make the world brighter, Mr. Shortz, and wishing you all the best!
Well, just like the thrill of the odometer rolling past a very round number and then, a minute later, it's just that number and one, today my streak is a regular un-round number again. But let me take this opportunity to thank the more than 100 of my fellow Wordplayers who recommended my post yesterday, and a couple dozen who added great comments as replies. I'm glad that so many of you think of me as a guide and a crossword educator, since that's what I aim to be. Happy puzzling, everyone!
@Steve L I did not have a chance to get onto Wordplay yesterday but happy 3K to you. A nice round number indeed. I also have an odometer running from when I started using the app. I've got to say, having the app has given me a much-needed daily consistency that I never had when I had to grab a newspaper to solve the puzzle.
Steve L, Congratulations on your crossword completion milestone. An amazing streak. I know I could not continue to solve under that self-imposed pressure. Perhaps you don't feel any pressure, but I wonder has there ever been a moment where you thought "OMG, I may not being able to finish this one!"? Does not seem to be the appropriate time, so I will postpone the discussion on education style.
When my niece was in the 3rd or 4th grade, she was sitting in her classroom when there was some sound in the hall. Some special needs students were walking by and her teacher started to unkindly imitate them. She scolded him, saying, "Mr. C.! There but for the grace of god GO you or I!" We only learned of this when her teacher, assuming she had told her parents, brought it up at a parent-teacher conference and apologized. I love her as my niece, but I'm even more proud of her as a kind human being.
@Nancy. J That there’s some high-level parenting. She’s a mighty one! … …
@Nancy. J What kind of teacher does that? As the son of two teachers, I am appalled. But good on your niece for stepping up. It takes a great deal of courage to challenge a teacher at that age.
I did not get the theme, but silly Polish me rarely does, because understanding puns is much more difficult than mastering the grammar, syntax and vocabulary of a foreign language. Today I was confused by the theme because I saw no connection between a PIGSTY and a hole - which is strange, in a way, because in Polish the word hole (dziura) is also used to describe an unpleasant place (however in Polish the meaning is usually quite narrow, and reserved for a small, drab and dreary town or village, where nothing exciting ever happens). Still, I enjoyed the puzzle and solved it in nigh-record time without any lookups.
I spent as much time trying to figure out what the theme was as I did solving the grid — maybe more. I saw PUNCH as FRUIT DRINK, but didn’t see the other theme answers as HOLEs. I finally gave up try to understand the theme and read Wordplay. I don’t know how I would reword “collective hint” to make it more obvious to imperceptive people like me, but “collective hint” didn’t work for me.
@Eric Hougland "Hole-istic hint" perhaps?
Hah! I tried so hard to figure out the revealer before uncovering it. Tried every angle to see what the theme answers had in common, looked at first words, last words, hidden inner words, first and last letters, possible synonyms. Nothing. Nothing came. So, I uncovered the revealer, saw its meaning -- so simple and perfect -- and with a “Dang!” and a “D’oh!”, I just shook my head and wondered, “Why the heck didn’t I crack this?” That is the sign of the finest riddles, the ones that best you fair and square, that flummox you with something right in front of your face that you don’t see. Oh, I loved this. Great one, Christina. Props and high respect. And amazing props for coming up with this theme in the first place, hearing “three-hole punch” and morphing it into this! Often when I uncover the reaveler, it results in an “I see”, or an “Ah, there’s some cleverness there,” but this one hit me with a wow and a pow, a combo of humor, wit, and surprise. A great, great crossword moment. Thank you, Christina, with thumbs sky high.
Didn't get the theme until reading the column. After reading it... Just the water for me, thanks. cc: emu handler (p.s. A small existential crisis I faced with the Comments functionality initially down when Wordplay was up: "Does the crossword exist if no one can comment about it? Do I exist if I can't post my weekly absurdities?")
@Steven I tried to figure out the theme on my own, but I eventually gave up and came here. >>>
Well, I'm taking a chance here, having not read any of the crossword blogs including Rex, nor any of the comments on any of the blogs, but I'm prepared to take every nickel I have in the bank and bet that... NOBODY guessed this theme, much less the revealer. Not Rex, Jeff, Deb, Sam, or Rachel. Not either of the Patricks, nor Erik, nor my collaborator Will nor David S. The theme is so...subtle! After seeing the revealer, I still didn't get the connection. I thought and I thought some more. And then, finally... AHA!!! But even if this had been a themeless -- which is what I solved it as -- it would have been terrific. No junk at all -- I'm looking for a name and I'm darned if I see one. And such a smooth grid! A splendid Tuesday -- with the ace well hidden up the sleeve. Nice one, Christina!
I just buried some Gatorade, lemonade, and limeade in my back yard. Now I have a three punch hole. No help from the emus.
Ms. Iverson's revealers usually prompt an AHA!! Today it was a HUH?!
Three holes, two holes, what's a hole between us? The theme was above my pay grade yet it all solved neatly and I had my fair share of fun, so themes the breaks. Got to musing that if I was at a barn dance and Conway Twitty was the headliner, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the opening act was a newcomer named Taylor Dweeby and his band. Dweeby opens for Twitty! I'd go see that. This here prosthetic robo Lego arm Mr. Aguilar invented, what a great little factoid! One wonders how the Aguilarm would do with a CURL BAR, would he eke it out or GO LIMP? Or can it roll dice, cook eggplant parm, or even simply fold down an unruly lapel? What's Aguilar working on now: a working Lego brain? That might not be a logical fallacy. The proximity of curl bar and pig sty caused the first two lines of a song I overard long ago when the kids were watching TV show where a pig named Pearl was feeling depressed and out of sorts. The song began, What's bugging you, Pearl? What's puttin' your tail in a curl? Never did find out if Pearl cheered up.
@john ezra ‘Themes the breaks’, john ezra, our fine feat herd friend? And ET AL that ff’ed? My suggestion is that you stand up and take your punish meant like a man!!!! !!!!! !!!!!
"There once was a hole where the comments should be, and now at last it's been filled. Hooray!" This was what I posted as soon as the comments finally came up, but the emus didn't like it and will probably release it in 24 hours. I'm just giving a heads up so everyone can rest assured I'm not crazy when the OP shows up, making no sense at all. :-)
@sotto voce From my experience, easily over half of the posts that do not post right away never post at all. And as far as I could tell the only issue with those posts was that they were brief. And so, with that in mind here is some more blah, blah, blah, to keep the emus at bay. I once wrote a comment to post Yes it was shorter than most. I waited a while But I must reconcile It probably ended up as toast.
I'm not sure what everyone in this column is saying. The theme was very clear once you got the revealer. I thought it was very clever! Well done!
@Paul M I couldn't agree more. I looked at the themers for a few beats, confused. When the penny dropped, I groaned out loud. In a good way, of course.
@Paul M I agree that the theme was clever and found it fine, but it might have been a little harder than most Tuesdays to catch. If you imagine a person at a Mon/Tues only level at this point, that person might think they have a beef with this puzzle. But beyond the possibility that it’s a Wed puzzle in Tues clothing, it’s not the puzzle’s fault.
@Paul M It's almost as if different people think in different ways and notice different things. Who knew? . . . . The emus did, maybe.
Theme didn't really land for me today, but fun puzzle overall.
@Ern Did you get it, and just didn't like it? Or did you just not get it? (I thought the theme was fine, and am surprised that a couple of commenters already have said tht they didn't get it.)
When I consume fruity drinks, I get punchy. (We'll have to go our beverage ways.)
I thought the theme was a bit of a stretch as it was full of holes.
I spent a (perhaps embarrassingly) long time with the spelling "kebab" rather than KABOB. I was pretty sure it had to be TAYLOR at 42D, so you'd think that seeing "kebob" and "hem" that were clearly wrong would've gotten me to fix the single letter error faster than I did, but I spent probably 2 minutes of my 10 minute solve time staring at the one word and trying to figure out what was going on. Despite that, I enjoyed today's puzzle. The theme was a fun little bonus.
Puzzle was straightforward enough but I needed "Wordplay" to explain the theme even after I solved it.
@Bob Adler Yes, me too. I don’t think I would’ve got the theme without Sam’s column, but the puzzle itself was pretty easy. Didn’t get a PB, but definitely under my average time.
I got the puzzle's "punch line" but I had to reread the clue for the revealer to catch the modifier "collective." Holey moly, that's clever. YO, fun fact. If you visit Chicago, there is a chain of BOBA tea bars called TE'AMO. You can even get a FRUIT DRINK there.
I solved this one without needing to pay any attention to the theme, and frankly without ever figuring out on my own how the theme answers fit the revealer. So I got a frisson of pleasure upon having it explained to me in Wordplay. Very clever, and it’s good for me to be reminded occasionally that I’m not nearly as smart as I sometimes convince myself I am.
I just noticed: 42D is "Swift to fill a concert hall" is a bit inaccurate. It should be "Swift to fill a stadium". Ninety-six thousand in Melbourne a few weeks ago. Yes, Melbourne, on the other side of the world. Not bad for a girl from a small town in Pennsylvania.
@Steve L And she fills stadiums in a pretty cool way, and for cool reasons. Being able to fill a stadium is not good in itself (I visited ruins of stadiums in Nuremberg that had witnessed much sinister and despicable spectacles), but doing it to make people's lives better and more fun is truly awesome. . . . Swift emus.
@Steve L I think "concert hall" was a gentle hint to the answer, it is early in the week after all. 😉 .........................................
Very fast Tuesday, though I didn’t get the theme (on me because it was constructed very well). As I learn Portuguese with no Spanish language background, it has been a blessing and a curse for my crossword solving. For instance, BOLA was a blessing since it’s the same. I knew that Portuguese’s amo-te was flipped around for Spanish but I struggled to think of YOTEAMO on the first pass. Crossings allowed the 💡. I stumbled on the kebab/kebob/KABOB combo but I also loved the extra Tuesday crunch! Congratulations, @Steve l, on an amazing streak! What a feat! My journey toward consistency has been helped by committing to a streak, but it’s early days for me. Since I’m up every day at 4-5 am (GMT), why not use the time well? 🤷🏽♀️ Ok, it’s time to make the donuts. Have a great day, all!
@Pani Korunova I froze for a moment when I considered which spelling of Kebab/KABOB was required. Then I remembered my surprise when almost 20 years ago I was getting into a huge MMO roleplaying game, in which your character may consume food, and one of the food items was called a KABOB (a spider meat KABOB of all things...). I have never seen that spelling before, as in Polish the word is spelled kebab, from the Turkish kebap. The shock at the American spelling made me remember it for almost two decades now ;).
Oooh, this was a sparkly one for sure! 🎆 I’m one of the ones who didn’t get the theme (but then again, I rarely do). Irrespective of my own puzzling flaws, the playful and joyful spirit of this one shone through. Thank you Christina!
Love getting to the reveal, scratching my head, squinching my nose, and then AHA!! 💡 Very clever! Lovely Tuesday.
Killers of the Flower Moon was a lovely OSAGE story I recently watched. Once you get past the initial EEK of a 3 hour commitment, you’ll be glad you gave this AWARD-winning movie a watch.
@JE Agree. A three hour commitment seemed daunting but I couldn't think of a better way to spend that time!
Thankfully understanding the theme wasn't required to solve this one. I was counting the holes in the letters and everything.
Ms. Iverson, you're way smarter than I could ever be, or even hope to ever be. The theme is so clever that it went right over my head, but for the PUNCH part of it. Still, I had a fabulous time with the solve, and found the clueing and fill quite refined for a Tuesday, with some nice crunchiness. You always bring us your best and it's really appreciated! (For this puzzle's soundtrack, here's HOLE with "Doll Parts" -- <a href="https://youtu.be/RD9xK9smth4?feature=shared" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/RD9xK9smth4?feature=shared</a>)
Ooh,…. three “holes” and a punch. On the face of it I had no idea how they all tied together. The clever revealer turned out to be the punch line, so maybe Christina really gave us the old “one-two”. Good one, Christina. Perfectly captioned photo for the “Signs of past stitches” clue. Good one, Sam.
Relieved to see that I'm not the only one who was (appropriately) puzzled by the reveal. Worked in office (programming) for many, many years but didn't recall that device.* And... it took a bit of pondering to see how it related to the other three theme clues, but I finally got it. *Probably just my memory. A quite appropriate puzzle find today. THREEHOLEPUNCH has only been an answer in one other puzzle - a Sunday from September 5, 2004 by Patrick Merrell with the title: "At the company picnic." The clue for that answer in that puzzle was: "The secretary brought ... " A couple of other clues and answers: "The network technician brought ... :" COMPUTERFREEZES "The mailroom clerk brought ... :" FOAMPEANUTS "The copy-room worker brought ... :" DOCUMENTJAM Don't think I would have had much of a chance with that one. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/5/2004&g=89&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/5/2004&g=89&d=A</a> ...
Straightforward ... but the theme eluded me. Once I read Wordplay, I got it (of course). VERY clever ... with the 3 "hole" themers followed by the one "punch" themer. Thank you, Christina!
@Bonnie Yes, I had to read the Wordplay explanation twice, and only then I got it, fun puzzle !
TIL I've been pronouncing EKE incorrectly MY ENTIRE LIFE! (crawls back into my hole to punch myself in embarrassment) ...................................................
@Janine eek! can you fill us in on your alternative pronunciation?
@Janine So I gotta ask: Just how did you pronounce it? Eh-KAY? EE-kee? Emu?
@Janine but now you have a great (if self-deprecating) story!
I often solve a puzzle without noticing a theme. With this one, in the end when I stared at the filled puzzle, the revealer winked and said get it? which of course I did. But the theme was extraneous to the pleasure of the solve. The puzzle didn't need it and neither did I. Confident clarity of the cluing is the revealer of a skilled constructor. STYLE THRUoughout, so her day job came as no surprise. Thank you, Christina. Do come back soon.
I did not get the theme, and didn’t love it when I read the column. However, my first thought upon solving 54A was of Jim’s costume on The Office. Seeing that was the inspiration makes me love this puzzle.
There’s something very satisfying about using a THREE-HOLE PUNCH. Aligning the paper and then pressing down on the lever or bar and hearing that very particular crunch. Then the paper lines up so nicely when you place them in a binder for, say, your book report, syllabi, or tenure and promotion documents (back in pre-digital days). Sadly, this was not my experience with this puzzle. I got the bit but it was the stretch to connect the answers. Yes, they all had holes, but not really. A donut has a hole, but not so much a sty and empty space. And ades are not really punches. But what do I want for a Tuesday? I guess I want a satisfying crunch!
@PK A "hole" is a slang term for a living space that's a PIGSTY. "Ades" are made from fruit, "punches" usually have a mix of flavors, sodas and even alcohol sometimes, but a FRUIT PUNCH is definitely related to ades. Not sure why you didn't see the connection between "hole" and EMPTY SPACE. (There's a hole in my heart since you left me) However, if you just didn't enjoy the puzzle, that is valid too. :)
@PK A pigsty and a logical fallacy do not “have” holes. They _are_ holes.
Finally got HOLMES/LOIRE/OSAGE (crossing proper nouns got me again, although HOLMES should have been more obvious). But I wasn't done, and after hunting through and then checking the answer key, it discovered that KeBaB should be KeBOB and finally KABOB. Can anyone explain HAM to me?
@JS Ham: a showy performer; an actor performing in an exaggerated theatrical style
@JS To "ham it up" is to overact or "be a ham" is an over-actor (or, in the case of the clue, be a theatrical sort). cc: emu handler
@JS Perhaps it’s only on this side of the border, but a HAM is an actor who over-emotes.
For 40A, thought “Wind in the Willows” and immediately banged in “mole”, the only four letter central character. Made that corner interesting shall I say. Graham didn’t write about emus.
I got the theme, and it’s a fun twist to have the revealer refer to the set of themers rather than each individual one. But prior to getting it, it was: “Huh? There’s a LOGICAL FALLACY involving a THREE HOLE PUNCH!?! I must find out more!” So here are some possibilities: “This three hole punch makes holes right on the edge of the paper. There must be something wrong with it.” “The other party wants to regulate gas ovens. Next thing you know they’ll be coming for your three hole punch.” “You say there should be a special tax to buy a three hole punch. Do you want children to go hungry!?” “Many people are saying that a three hole punch isn’t enough; you should really get a four hole punch.”
@Cat Lady Margaret Old joke: What do you call three holes in the ground? Well, well, well.... That's a three-hole punch line. !!!!
@Cat Lady Margaret FWIW, when my kids were growing up they used an adjustable 6-hole punch to accommodate A3, A4, A5, A6 notebooks. North America seems fixated on the three ring binder, but not the rest of the world. I suspect some of our foreign readers may comment on this . See: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y5zh8w92" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/y5zh8w92</a>
@Hardroch - years ago, someone in my office brought in European made two-hole binders along with the accompanying two hole punch. They were wonderful - you punched the long side of the paper (any size paper would work!) and held the whole stack in place with a clamp. They never caught on in my office (too expensive, too different), but I still have a few and a punch. I’m surprised and delighted to see they are still available: <a href="https://www.bindertek.com/advantage-classic-2-ring-binder-2-spine" target="_blank">https://www.bindertek.com/advantage-classic-2-ring-binder-2-spine</a>/ Good place for storing photos of emus?
Smooth solve followed by a groan when I went back to look for the meaning of the revealer. That was the cherry on top of yesterday's banana split.
Unusually challenging for a Tuesday but a nice meaty puzzle. Love the clever theme.
I had little success with the north half of the puzzle. So I moved on to the south. That suited my brain much better. Worked some crosses and got the revealer, quickly found the PUNCH, and the HOLE (PIGSTY) and figured THREE would get me one of the remaining solutions, but where was the clue for the fourth? There is no fourth word in THREEHOLEPUNCH, at least not to my eyes. It took crosses to turn the lights on for me: three meanings of hole. I like that kind of joke! My sweetheart speaks Spanish, I don't. I've heard TE AMO, but the YO is foreign to me. So I saved the Y in Amy until every other square was filled. Done! Fun! Thanks Christina!
@Randolph Amy Sedaris, David Sedaris sister, is a very funny lady. Growing up in that family must have been pretty wild.
@Randolph In Spanish, the verb ending (in this case, the O in AMO) usually indicates clearly what the subject is. Unless needed for clarity or special emphasis, the subject pronoun is omitted. But it sometimes it's natural to leave it in: --Nadie me ama. (Nobody loves me.) --Yo te amo. (I love you.)
@Jeff Does "big toy" get their way with New Zealanders as the language police? Here in the US, they tell us to say "Lego" for the plural, but no one pays attention. PS. Did you see the kerfuffle in the Sunday comments about a local NZ word in the plural? The whole thread was eventually pulled, and by that time, I was convinced the original poster was pulling our legs...
Mentally grousing at a too-simple solve I was stopped dead in my tracks at the revealer. Huh? What? Oh! A *wholly* entertaining experience. Guess I'll finish the bottom two rows now. Many thanks.
I love that EMERY / EMORY were clues respectively for Monday / Tuesday. Fun!!
I haven’t done Tuesday yet but last week’s were all so easy until Friday-Sunday. I wasn’t sure if I’d comment on it this year but I thought that last Friday’s and last Sunday’s were both Puzzles of the Year for 2024!
Excellent puzzle!!! One of my favorites ever! Well done!!!
“A place for wax” - I had EAR down for an unreasonable length of time.
Enjoyable but somewhat deceptive puzzle…. As others have said I think the theme was a stretch. I get the theme: Three Hole Punch as in three answers that are “holes” and one that is a punch but a couple of answers don’t quite mean “hole”. Yes, EMPTY SPACE could easily be a hole but although PIGSTY could be a hole it is a stretch… LOGICALFALLACY seems more like an oxymoron but again one could stretch to make a rabbit hole.. But “ades” are not really referred to as a “punch”… Also the Spanish “I love you” is Te Amo” which I knew but since it didn’t fit I was forced to search for other options before thinking of the Yo addition… Tricky… lol
@Darren Maybe it's regional, but when I refer to a dump or a sty as "what a hole", people around here know what I mean with or without the he double hockey sticks. "There's a hole in your logic" is a phrase I've heard. (Never directed at me, of course!)
@Darren eh, “ugh, this place is such a hole” and “there’s a hole in your argument” seemed clear to me 🤷♀️
HO, HO, HO, and a bottle of . . . punch? The theme did seem a bit rum to me, but I did finish the puzzle, so no complaints. Fresh fill, little glue, no Naticks. Wondering what story John will come up with for the three holes. I can see a pirate motif, but I don't have the mental energy this morning to flesh it out. And is LOGICAL FALLACY a debut? Or just the m.o. of emus running AMOK.
@Linda Jo LOGICAL FALLACY has been in two previous puzzles. You won’t see it often because at 14 letters, it doesn’t fit well in a weekday grid.
Solved this one easily enough, but needed an extra minute to spot a typo. Seems I typed FRUITDRIKK. Or maybe it was BARKDANCE. Took me another ten minutes to finally understand the theme. A LOGICALFALLACY is a "hole". EMPTYSPACE is a "hole". A PIGSTY is a "hole". And a FRUITDRINK is a "punch". Which, collectively, yield ... THREEHOLESANDAPUNCH. I'd definitely have rejected this one, as I found the theme forced, uninteresting and a bit off. Some of fill was decent, and I liked the triples BOBA, BOLA, ROBO and ANI, AMI, GOI.
tried the new game, Strands, in the absence of Farcebook this a.m. I don't think I'll get hooked, not my thing. Feels like a cross between word search and Connections. Strands #2 “She’ll have a ball” 🔵🟡🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵
@Linda Jo I had to use one hint since I didn't see the title and was finding random words. I'm thinking it will be way down the line for me, after xwords, Connections, Wordle, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Sudoku, and the news. If at all. I do the xwords at night, and the others over two cups of coffee in the morning. I think that's plenty! :-)
@Linda Jo Strands #2 “She’ll have a ball” 🔵🟡🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵 I thought today’s was slightly more challenging and interesting than the first one. But I’m not sure if I will add it to my daily game routine (assuming it makes it out of beta). Your description of it is accurate. If you figure out the theme early on, it’s easy to avoid submitting words that don’t fit the theme.