Am I noticing correctly that this is the first daily puzzle edited by Joel Fagliano, not Will? Many of us have heard that Will has been recovering from an illness, but this is a first. Two things: 1) @Will: your legion of fans are pulling for your speedy recovery; 2) @Joel: Congrats and thanks for holding the editorial banner high!
@The Whip Yes i noticed too. A quick google search suggests it’s been 11,072 days since Shortz’s first editorial byline on November 21, 1993. I hope he starts a new streak soon!
Yes, the puzzle was easy-breezy for a Thursday, but I was engaged all the way through, enjoying every bit of it. Many thanks to Mr. Martinovic for a very clever Pi Day tribute, and to the editing team for choosing to run it on the appropriate date despite the lack of trickiness. Further, I loved learning the interesting fact about Einstein and Hawkins, and it wowed me that such great minds were connected to 3.14 as a date of the birth of one and passing of the other. Cue the Twilight Zone music. I don't celebrate Pi Day, but it always puts a smile on my face. Maybe it's because I love numbers and math, and Pi has astounded me since the first encounter. Or maybe it's because every 3/14, I call my dad and wish him a Happy Pi Day since "father" in Portuguese is "pai," and pronounced exactly the same, he he. Last but not least, thank you to Joel Fagliano -- we couldn't have asked for a better sub while Will Shortz heals. But to Will Shortz I say: please know that with every puzzle, every day, best thoughts and wishes are being sent your way. That's every. single. day.
@sotto voce * Hawking, not Hawkins . . . . . . That's it, emus. Just a correction.
My love for numbers like pi and e is irrational, but constant. (It's even transcendental.)
14A missed a chance to tie in with the theme: “Invitation suitable for today’s date”: EAT UP! I think I may do a raspberry cranberry combo. Each serving approximately π/3 radians. I’d ask you all over, but that would be a bit irrational.
Most readers here may be aware of this, but for the few who may not, an interesting factoid. MIT traditionally sends out its undergrad admission letters on Pi Day. Often, the letters are released at 6:28 PM, known as “Tau Time” (Pi x 2). An exception was made on March 14, 2015 (“Super Pi Day”) as that date reflected the value to five decimal places (3.1415). The letters were sent out at 9:26 AM, the next three digits. I’ll see myself out….
@Hardroch In case anyone missed the significance of Tau Time, there have been arguments made that a “purer” irrational constant would be 2 pi, or Tau. A “Tau Day” has been proposed which would be June 28. For a cute discussion, see: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/4cc495ur" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/4cc495ur</a> — — — — — — — —
Loved it. We are empty-nesters, but when the house was full, most Friday nights were Movie-and-Pie-Night. We took turns choosing a movie and a pie that (somehow) related to the movie. Moneyball and apple pie. Casablanca and Key Lime. Halfway through the movie, we’d pause, fill plates and bowls with pie, and finish the movie. But once a year it was *Double-Movie-and-Pie-Night” 3/14!! Pizza pies (usually, though once shepherd’s and once chicken pot pies) at the start of the movie, the dessert pie halfway through. Then, carb comas with everyone snuggled on the couches. I believe all agree it’s our favorite family tradition. We still keep it up, though it’s rare to have the brood home… Happy Pi Day, all! Double-pie if you dare!
@CCNY Wow! I'm willing to travel! (We raised two math-lovers, but I'm sorry to say I never did a lot with Pi Day. We waited for the right time to harvest blackberries (July, August) and the apples (October) though every so often I would pick green tomatoes and put those in a pie. Yum! )
The editors of the various NYT games should get together on a standardized dictionary. The word RIATA has been used many times in crossover puzzles but for some reason it is not acceptable in the Spelling Bee. I could say the same about Dado and a few other words as well. it would be nice if you picked one dictionary and stuck with it.
@Paul I find that irksome too. It’s especially galling when I need a word to get to genius and the bee refuses to allow a word I’ve been using in NYT crosswords for decades.
@Marshall Walthew Glad I’m not ALONE in that frustration! The SB does have some odd omissions, and very odd inclusions, sometimes.
It’s unfortunate how easy that puzzle was. Now my personal best Thursday will never be beaten until another unnecessarily easy puzzle comes along on a Thursday. Reasonably fun, but the slavish adherence to the pi day theme put an otherwise easy puzzle on what should’ve been a much harder day.
@Selective Walrus It would be a nice frill for solvers if there was an option to _not_ count a day's "best" value into the permanent record. Then, each person could eliminate puzzle scores they thought were out of line _for them_.
@Selective Walrus I've been keeping tracks of my bests in a note separate from the app. Today was about 10 seconds faster than previous, which I had noted as "6 July 23 (theme helped)". And looking at my Thursday PB trajectory, there have been other changes over a couple years. All that to say, I suspect within a year you'll encounter another Thursday which seems out of line with expectations and becomes your new best Thursday.
@Selective Walrus Allow us to bask in the glory of your magnificence, if it pleases you, o mighty one! Ye who hath smote/smited/smitten all manner of such cremulousness in the legubrious worlds of the crepuscular lexicography! Fill our flasks with thine noble wisdom! We doth beseech thee! Verily and forsooth!
I've been busy with tax season and while I squeeze in time for the puzzle and Wordplay, I haven't had time to read the comments here from all you "wordy" people (which I miss!) I'm posting today because not only did I enjoy the puzzle, I have reached a streak of (drum roll) 314! On Pi Day! See you in mid-April!
@SuzyQ 🤣 That is really funny! You must have been planning that for a long time, 314 days, to be specific.
@debamien As a math teacher, I had several students challenge themselves to memorizing over 100 digits of pi. Thanks to a rousing cheer from our alma mater I can always remember 5. Sine, Cosine, Cosine, Sine 3.14159 Go Science!
@Alyson I don't think we had that cheer back in my day at Science, but I like it!
@Alyson We used to have a cheer when I was in engineering school, cheering for my team (the Betas): Tangent, Secant, Cosine, Sine 3.14159 Go, Betas! Hit 'em with a Log! Am rather unclear why we were the Betas, not the Alphas. . .
That was easy as pi, but lots of fun. Today i learned that Albert Einstein was born on March 14th and that Stephen Hawking died on that date. Nicely done, Jeffrey.
Me, confidently entering characters from This is Spinal Tap after seeing the mini Stonehenge.
@Lars That was my first thought! “Have you ever seen Stonehenge? The triptychs are 30 feet high!”
Have only been doing this for a month or so and this is the first puzzle that I’ve felt was really quite nice and pleasurable to complete. Not that I haven’t enjoyed others—this one was just a step above maybe. Congrats!
@Sean Wecome! And try our solving guide, which I’ve linked to in the column.
My apologies if someone has already linked to this Editor’s Note, but I couldn’t find it in today’s comments: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mrkbfctw" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/mrkbfctw</a> To Will Shortz, best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. We hope you’ll be back to work soon. To Joel Fagliano, good luck in your new role. I’m sure you’ll do great. And to Everdeen Mason, thank you for seeing that Mr. Fagliano gets the credit he deserves.
I can't believe I am saying this but I think I am actually jonesing for a rebus....
I finished this puzzle in my average Tuesday time. I never thought I would say this, but I would have enjoyed a more challenging puzzle on a Thursday. I suppose being on the constructor's wavelength played its part, still... This seemed too easy. Then again, I will always take too easy over too hard 🤣 . . . Shoo, emu.
Looking for a bit of a challenge, I just did the Sunday puzzle from May 22nd, 2022. For once even I was wowed by a grid's construction - the themed entries must have been extremely hard to incorporate into the grid, and the gimmick actually made the puzzle fun and interesting, which has not always been my experience. The clueing was great, too. One of my favorite puzzles, that one - and I've done close to 600 of them, since June 2023: all the current ones and some from the 2023 and 2022 archives.
The amazing coincidence of Einstein's birth and Hawking's death both occurring on Pi Day is akin, in long odds but delightful symmetry, with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, long-time rivals and later pen pals, both dying on the same day, July 4, 1826 -- and, for the perfect icing on that cake, that date being the 50th anniversary of the signing of the document -- the Declaration of Independence -- to which they were both so indelibly attached. The universe gives us some fantastical stories. I wonder, if you gave Einstein, Hawking, and Euler the task of calculating the odds of both of those coincidences, which one would hit the buzzer first.
@Mark And Mr. Adams uttered his last words "Jefferson still lives" not knowing that his old friend and political rival had died earlier that day.
And I'll add one more to that symmetry group. Mark Twain was born when Halley's comet was passing Earth and died when the comet returned some 75 years later. He made the statement during the year before his death: I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: "Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together".
Working around the grid constraint, Jeffrey managed to come up with some pretty good fill. Fun and fast. Hopefully we get a nice tough one tomorrow. 40 A was a missed opportunity to clue it as Mathemetician Lovelace. It would have been especially nice for women's history month.
@Nancy. J I thought yesterday felt more like a Thursday and today’s a Wednesday. I’m hoping for a Friday Friday tomorrow. 😬
I really enjoyed Deb's story about the Indiana Pi Bill. Legislative humor, indeed.
Not my best (Thursday) time, but I did complete it in 13:42, which is kind of an anagram of 3.142, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Paul You made me go back and check my time. 13:52! i wish I'd raced thru just a bit faster. But this was still 15 min faster than my Thurs average, so I can't complain. Happi Pi Day!
I had not heard the term "purple prose" before today's puzzle, but was able to figure it out. Upon finishing the puzzle, I decided to do a Monday from the archive and randomly settled on Feb 2, 2004. Wouldn't you know "purple prose" was almost in the exact same position! Apparently it's a term I'm meant to remember.
e to the x dx dx e to the x dx Secant Tangent Cosine Sine 3.14159 It's my favorite pi day poem
@yogafan did you go to Rice? I learned it there with a couple of additional lines.
Very cute theme for 3/14. I actually counted out the rows and columns like the clue asked (riase your hand if you did as well). Not being an American, it took me forever to find my mistake as I had GReY rather than GRAY (I wouldn't think of ADA as a Canadian). I really felt like I was on the constructor's wavelength with this one, because it solved more like a Tuesday, probably close to a personal best. I started the puzzle hoping for a rebus, but now I'm hungry for pie.
As a budding constructor I am in awe of the beautiful theme and grid today . To those who thought it was too easy for a Thursday - just enjoy the beauty of the puzzle . Stats like speed of solving are truly meaningless if you can't enjoy the process . Now to have some pie ! As an addendum , this year I enjoyed my first slice of huckleberry pie right outside of Glacier National Park - best slice of the year !
Ahem. Having lived and worked in schooner-rich waters for so many years, I cannot allow 1A to go without nitpick. There is no rule that a schooner is defined as having two MASTS. There are now, and have been, many, many schooners with more -- the most MASTS I am aware of had seven (7) MASTS. It plied the waters here in Maine a long time ago. There is at least one schooner operating in Maine right now with four (4) MASTS, and one with three (3) MASTS. There have been other three-MASTed schooners in the recent past, and I have been on them. Those of you who have driven along US 1 in years past will probably remember the hulks of the famous Hesper and Luther Little, which were stranded in the mud alongside the highway in Wiscasset. Both were four-MASTed schooners, although the Luther Little had no MASTS for a very long time, and one MAST was missing from the Hesper for many years before it finally rotted into the sea. But it did proudly sport three (3) of its original four (4) MASTS for a very long time. Is the clue OK? I suppose so. But the clue would have been better had it referenced a hull plan that always has two MASTS, such as a yawl or a ketch. And that's my HARRUMPH! for the day.
CaptainQ, Harrumph? I'd say what yawl did was a kvetch. Schooner of beer for the emus.
Managed a personal best time on this quite easy-for-a-Thursday puzzle. I enjoyed it well enough, but was hoping for a *bit* more struggle than I got.
I loved the concept and the irrational (mathematically) but rational (thematically) linking of Hawking and Einstein. The rest was pretty easy for a Thursday but, hey, it's pi day, And thanks to Deb for that hilarious history of the Indiana Pi Bill.
@Ed The Indiana Pi Bill? Is that a bird?
FYI, the Atlantic has published a review of Anna Shechtman's new book, "The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle." I particularly like this observation from the reviewer, Sophia Stewart: "The lexicon of crosswords, particularly highly visible ones like the Times’, is a public-facing compendium of that shared vocabulary. As both a pastime and a public good, the ideal crossword puzzle is not a test of highbrow sensibilities but, to use Hirsch’s term, an opportunity to improve one’s cultural literacy. It should encourage and reward familiarity with a wide range of cultures, preoccupations, and ephemera. In this way, crosswords might also serve a pedagogical function: to not just affirm what one already knows but beget new knowledge." Gift link here: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/03/riddles-of-the-sphinx-crossword-anna-shechtman-book-review/677720/?gift=SLYL4QvJgPu-vHa9bpkaBTXlIvAGV8sQDxd3kVu1oqk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share" target="_blank">https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/03/riddles-of-the-sphinx-crossword-anna-shechtman-book-review/677720/?gift=SLYL4QvJgPu-vHa9bpkaBTXlIvAGV8sQDxd3kVu1oqk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share</a>
@Henry Su Ms Stewart puts it very well. It’s a bit sad to see the number of comments here from which one can infer a resistance to “new knowledge’ and “improve[d] cultural literacy.” Regularly solving the NYT crossword (and others) has taught me a lot of things about worlds that are different from mine.
@Henry Su I just picked up a library copy of this book and am excited to dive into it!
I didn't notice the π in the grid and I didn't know that it was also Einstein's birthday. Euler's identity is just beautiful. Bringing together the irrational constants π and e as well as the imaginary number i in one equation is breathtaking.
We usually celebrate pi day by pampering our cat Pye (short for Pyewacket). Her name comes from an old Jimmy Stewart movie called “Bell, Book, and Candle,” in which a cat puts a spell on people. The cat in the movie is Siamese; ours is a black American Shorthair. But Pye charmed us at the shelter 8 years ago, so we think she’s pretty aptly named. Happy pi (Pye) Day!
@Cherry One of my fave movies! But it was Kim Novak, the witch, who cast the spell. Pyewacket was just her "familiar," who helped her carry them out. Elsa Lanchester and Jack Lemmon were also featured in the movie. My seal-point Siamese ("Meow-Ling") never seemed interested in hexing, alas.
I recently did a puzzle from the archives that clued APU as, “‘The Simpsons’ character who claims he can recite pi to 40,000 places.” (9/29/2017 by Damon Gulczynski.) Apu is a naturalized U.S. citizen who holds a Ph.D. in computer science. He graduated first in his class of seven million from “Caltech” (Calcutta Technical Institute) before going on to get his doctorate at Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. In the May 6, 1993 episode”Marge in Chains”, Marge is arrested for shoplifting some liquor from the Kwik-E-Mart. During the trial, Marge’s lawyer questions the reliability of the store’s proprietor (Apu). On the stand, he says he has perfect memory and that the 40,000th digit of pi is “1”. Check out this link for the back story of “Pi in the Simpsons”: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/4r67bj53" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/4r67bj53</a>
@Hardroch And yet he is the character who many people believe should be deported from the show. Talk about Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Hofstadter published his book in 1963 and died in 1970. Wonder what he would say today.
As Europeans, PI DAY would be July 22 (i.e. 22/7) for STEPHEN HAWKING and ALBERT EINSTEIN. (Einstein did become an American citizen in his later years.) If this puzzle had been held until July 22, it would have run on a Monday. Would that have been a better placement?
@Steve L Well, this is the "New York" Times. I know that both the newspaper and the crossword have national and international appeal, but the crossword is still NYC- and American-focused. That's why we get regular clues about things like Astoria, the tri-state area, NYC mayors, etc. So maybe non-American solvers would have understood the theme a bit quicker, but that's not what this puzzle is. It's also why we'll never get a puzzle themed around Canadian Thanksgiving, but we get an American Thanksgiving puzzle almost every year.
I did it in 3 minutes and 14 seconds. Just kidding, but it was a fast one. Had my pizza today, a day early. Loved the layout and knew the theme right away.
Conceptually brilliant. Just everything was so well thought out. The grid art. The notable scientists that came and went in this day. The dimensions of the grid to fit the number. My goodness. What planning. And what execution. Even OHO which I wasn’t a fan of, at least had grid symmetry. Certainly not the hardest puzzle. But gets my vote for puzzle of the year, thus far. For observation and execution. Masterclass Jeffrey.
Loved the grid and was really impressed by the clever theme and always like lots of theme related entries. Not theme related, but enjoyed learning who said “Courage is knowing what not to fear” 22D. Hopefully I’ll remember that. I won’t be complaining that it was too easy
@suejean I won't be complaining, either. This puzzle was more fun than many I've solved recently. Yes, the quote was nice.
You can’t please everyone and today ‘everyone’ is me. Nothing wrong with the grid; smart clues, clever concept. But to someone as numerically dyslexic as I am, even the mention of anything maths based brings me out in a cold sweat. I had no idea what the shape in the grid was (Tori gate?), I have no idea today is Pi day (not sure it’s a thing here?) and I have no clue what 3/14 means. Doesn’t help that we write our dates the other way round to the US system. See? Onto a complete loser for this poor, numerically challenged soul. I salute the constructor and everyone who got a kick out of the theme. I did complete, thanks to great answers like PURPLE PROSE, plus I did work out the scientists, but the joy was lost on me. Ah well, onwards and upwards. PS. Please, please don’t anyone try to explain Pi to me. I’m quite serious; any maths based discussions trigger awful memories of the complete misery that was years of evil maths teachers, including one that used to throw heavy chalk board cleaners at me when I couldn’t answer a question. Sadly his aim was better than my reactions; he actually concussed me once. Wouldn’t get away with it today.
@Helen Wright I know exactly how you felt! Poor teaching has many victims who were never saved.... And bad teachers blame the students, which adds to the travesty. So sad!
@Helen Wright So sorry you had such awful math teachers. It makes me think of my beloved Mr. Murray Saiken who taught algebra at Meyer Levin Jr. H.S. in the 1960's. He had a wry sense of humor and would tell us that, "You have to scrutinize the hypotenuse ." When the bell rang, he would tell us to, "Pass out quietly." What delicious memories of a special man on this special day!
Well, opening the puzzle was a π in the face! No clowning around here, but it was a fun puzzle, with a bit of meat to it, and lots of variety in the clues and answers. Nice to see that the puzzle is in good hands with Joel subbing for Will, who I hope is proceeding quickly on the road to recovery. Thanks, Jeffrey!
Just came here to say I finished in less than half my average Thursday time; so I know this is easy for a Thursday puzzle. (but still feeling pretty proud of myself!)
Usually I struggle with Thursdays, fine them more of a chore than a game, but this puzzle was an absolute pleasure! From the grid design to the clever clues, I enjoyed enough to share with my husband and friend group chat this morning. After reading the constructor was an engineering student, I wasn't surprised that I was vibing with the clues - any engineer will have BADDREAMS about EULER. Thanks for an enjoyable start to my day! Will have some pie later to celebrate a Thursday record.
@Megan And it would have fit just right at 20A! Sigh
Happy π day! Loved this puzzle. Baking a chicken pot pie tonight for celebration.
@Remi copying you! I like Alison Roman’s the best!
@Remi I was just wondering what I should make for dinner tonight! Thanks! Are emus edible?
A clever and very enjoyable puzzle. But the sloppy phrase "center around" (35 Down) annoys me wherever it appears. And I'm not alone. " 'Do not write center around,' The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage says, 'because the verb means gather at a point. Logic calls for center on, center in or revolve around.' " <a href="https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/center_on_revolve.php" target="_blank">https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/center_on_revolve.php</a>
@Charlie agreed. I noticed that as well, and the formation does rankle. I've always felt the best phrasing, despite the Times' own Style Guide suggestions that you cite, would be "center(s) UPON". The puzzle editors do have a role, and I should think this to be an example of one of their responsibilities.
Good puzzle, but I particularly want to thank Deb for sharing the great story of the Indiana Pi Bill in today's column :-)
Yes, it was easy, and yes, I smashed my Thursday record, but it was still a lot of fun. I appreciated the grid art, the placement of PIDAY, the inclusion of Euler, IPAS and ALES both, etc.
Like so many others, this was a fun breeze. I’ve long known that ALBERT EINSTEIN was born this day as he shares a birthday with my brother. Happy 60th B (and Pi) Day, Andy!!
Going to be a bit of a grump here and say that while I’m a math teacher and astrophysicist by training I fell out of love with the puzzle once MAHER was mentioned, due to his smug misogyny, and then it felt pretty glaring how many men were referenced versus the one actress, including STEPHENHAWKING who had some fraught issues with women too (I did get to meet him once in grad school and got a hit of that seeing his aide). And I’ll defend the one thing everyone else seems not to like: OHO. I thought it was cute that after putting in aha the answer to gotcha turned out to be OHO. He got me!
@Rosemary McNaughton Emmy Noether died a month too late to be considered, unfortunately.
Three point one four one five nine. Come on boys, hold that line. I used to be a math guy, so I caught on pretty early with this one - noting the clue for 7d and then verifying that there were 14 rows. Not quite a record time for me, but close. Couldn't help but think about another old math joke (pies are round), and went and did a search for PIRSQUARED. That led me to a fun puzzle - a Thursday from March 27, 2014 by Jean O'Conor. In that one the symbol for PI was a rebus in two squares, with the down answers being (PI)RSQUARED and (2)(PI)R. And the answers that crossed the symbol were: LIFEOF(PI) and MAGNUM(PI) Here's the link to that one: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/27/2014&g=21&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/27/2014&g=21&d=D</a> ..
@Rich in Atlanta Yep....as every Southerner knows: Biscuits are round Pi R squared... But: Why was six afraid of seven?
As an engineering nerd, I LOVED this puzzle. TIL Hawking died and Einstein was born on this day. And to include them to plank PIDAY on the sides?? Not to mention all the other math references. Simply amazing!! Thank you and congrats to Jeffrey!!
What a fun puzzle! Just finished it, as I had a hike this morning and just got back. I finished it quickly and no doubt there will be some “too easy” complaints. It was perfect for me today with a full docket, and I was grateful to see that mathematical expertise wasn’t required. Even English majors are familiar with Pi Day, and with the two well known scientists. And I laughed out loud when I read Deb’s account of the Indiana Pi Bill. What a treat! 🤣 Thanks, Jeffrey Martinovic, and Deb Amlen too, for making my Pi Day so much fun.
One of my daughters, born on 27 August, worked for several years as the regulator of taxicabs at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. She seems to have been predestined mathematically for this job, since her birthdate, 8/27, is a combination of two cubes. A mathematical taxicab number is the smallest number expressing the sum of two cubes n different ways, e.g. 1729 a.k.a. Ta(2), the sum of the cubes of 1 and 12 and the cubes of 9 and 10. She started work at SFMTA in 2008, the year in which the largest known taxicab number, Ta(6), was discovered.