I can never remember if it is NEMEA or NaMEA where Hercules slayed THE BEAST. If I HAD TO, I could probably find that INFO in an INTRO CLASS. WHOA, what an IDEA! (Sorry, this WENT TOO FAR)
Oh, Sam, false dichotomy. Since when have creative expression and math/logic been separate endeavors? Where would music be without rhythm? Where would physics be without creative speculation?
@Warren Completely agree. And aside from the broader "false dichotomy," there is my own self, with a love of words *and* numbers, half creative, half logical -- everything I do, everything I am, easily moves between left and right brain. I would venture to say the constructor herself, in her notes, proves such fluid co-existence!
Intro class to dogs in Disney films: "Dalmatians 101" (But I hear the teacher's ruff.)
I flew through and flowed with this puzzle, loving every minute of it. I found the solve to be absorbing of my attention, and got a wonderful kick out of numbers as clues. Of course, for "Mini maker", I tried to fit in JOEL FAGLIANO but had to make do with BMW. (In any case, to do justice to the Mini Master, the clue would have had to solve to LAMBO.) Seeing "Manspread" made me laugh, remembering when my older brothers were 14 and 13 years old with a sudden quite exaggerated SPRAWL. Until then, I had been assigned to the middle of the backseat of the car. As I started getting squished and having to balance my feet on that middle hump, I finally rebelled and started running to get to a window before they could get there. A sweet victory over the powers that be, and I still cherish it. But back to the puzzle, thank you for what to me was a very accomplished one, Ms. Capassakis, and congratulations on your debut!
@sotto voce Just a side note: can you (or anyone) explain the compulsion to manspread? Frustrated subway rider
I love the fact that Czech seems to be an obscure language of choice for NYT crosswords - I'm guaranteed to get at least one answer right on those days! 😄
@Veronika It feels great to know some of the stuff that was supposed to be a puzzle's crux, doesn't it 🤩 KAREL was a gimme for me, too 👍🏾 To balance things out, I had to look up the names of the Marx brothers - the only Marx I know is not quite Karel but Karl 😉 . . . Emu in Polish is emu.
😎 🎶 Veronika in disguise with diamanty 😉
I always enjoy the process, but sometimes when I finish a crossword I realize I have a big grin of delight on my face. This was such a puzzle. I can't choose a favourite clue because I enjoyed so many of them.
The clue for 53Down is special to me — when my boyfriend and I met almost 9 years ago and told each other our last names (Smith and Jones, respectively) we both thought we had given the other an ALIAS ! Turns out we just have to opportunity (if we ever sue each other) to create the case name that every single law professor of mine used as an off the cuff hypothetical — Smith v Jones.
Overheard as the crowd exited "Live and Let Die": [Dum di–di dum dum . . . ] "ALAS, these BOND flicks are NOT what they used to be!" "IDONTSEEIT." "For your INFO, the PEAK was with SEAN. Now it's any OLE Brit who can say BOO and passes a "stare down a gunbarrel INTROCLASS." "DEAR CHAP, IHAD no IDEA you'd put Connery on a MARBLE pedestal. Mayhaps the last of my CANNABIS OREOS might ease THEBEAST in you?" "Harumph. Exactly what I'd expect from you, ALDO you SEEM to think fine ARTS involve Fernando LLAMAS strumming a BANJO!" "WHOA! You WENTTOFAR, you old LEECH. This is the last time you'll MOOCH a film pass off me!" "DOSE that mean I'm stag for the next one - ThunderBAWL?"
@Whoa Nellie Perfect. And extra points for Thunderbawl. I did think the franchise WENT TOO FAR with a BANJO playing OGRE from North KOREA as the villain named ALDO LEECH, especially that scene where a team of trained attack-LLAMAS TRAP him in his ASTOR Martin, and having laid SIEGE to him are just about to put the KIBOSH on the CHAP, when suddenly he's on a SLED going down the PEAK with the llamas shouting behind him and hurling CASABA melons, then next thing you know he's in a very familiar casino (they've gone FULL CIRCLE) where he BLUFFS Aldo Leech into twisting the deadly OREO Q gave Bond, releasing the deadly BLUE gas...a single SPASM from Aldo and the movie is over, except the inevitable scene on a SHIP where Bond and his latest love interest SPRAWL on a bed while his bosses struggle to reach him...
Yay, yay this was my day. Personal best time with a puzzle really in my wheelhouse. I loved it. I nearly leaped out of bed when I saw 35 across! Finally, my husband’s Slovak heritage proves helpful! I knew it was KAREL right away, which helped with other crossings. Czechia and Slovakia were one country for many years, Czechoslovakia, until their 1993 “Velvet Divorce.” Like Portuguese and Spanish, many words in the two countries are the same. Hubby says Slovaks can understand Czech, but Czechs can’t understand Slovak. Portuguese people say the same thing about Spanish, which I am finding true. ASADA, OLE, SENOR, and CHICA were gimmes (see above). Interesting to learn about CASABAs and mullions. Enjoyable Wednesday puzzle and a fine debut!
@Pani Korunova At first I was worried because I knew Passover wouldn’t fit in NW corner. I started wondering if there were other Seder holidays. Purim? No I ultimately had to look up synonyms for Passover and TIL about PESACH. I had MaryJane for CANNABIS but it soon became clear that wouldn’t work. Even though Portugal decriminalized drugs in 2001, this girly is not interested in puff, puff, passing. My vices are more like enjoying a smooth *vinho tinto* from the Douro Valley.
I think it’s difficult to get the level of difficulty right on a Wednesday, but today’s puzzle seems just about spot on, so a nice debut. Looking forward to more from E. M.
Thank you for a fun Wednesday! I’m surprised how many comments saying they were unaware of the 420 cannabis reference…. My birthday is 4/20 so i am very familiar with the cannabis (and Hitler) connotation! It’s been a running joke in my life since about middle school when some of the boys first discovered pot Happy Wednesday everyone :)
Long time puzzler, first time commenting. Interesting ideas re diff between numbers and words - suggestion that numbers are more factual, words more interpretative? I loved the combination, I think numbers are also interpretative. Sometimes I like doing sudoku, recently more words. (I like the new NYT Strands puzzle.). Thanks for keeping my brain (somewhat) sharp.
@Deborah Streeter Welcome to the NYT Xword comment forum. It's a great place to hang out, learn and have fun while "sharpening the saw".
Well, it was a perfectly fine puzzle, but to me, this was more like a themeless that just had some clues that were numbers. There's nothing unifying about the numbers except the fact that they are indeed numbers.
@Steve L They are numbers that are shorthand for something specific - I don’t think there are many numbers that do that. So in American colleges - typically any class that is a 101 is an intro class for a department (intro to biology, physics, economics, etc.).
Here’s my 411 on this little gem- A jolly good time. Congratulations on the debut! 10-4, good buddies. …
What a nice little puzzle. And my cousin the SEA SLUG featured at the very top of the article! Well done! It's also nice to see my very distant relation, the LEECH in there as well. I mean, at least we're both protostomes. And any puzzle with Béla Fleck is totally cromulent, too. I wonder if FLECKTONES have ever appeared in the puzzle? I have to chuckle that so many people are clutching their pearls about 420. It's not 1936 any more, folks!
@CaptainQuahog Apparently 420 is provoking quite a bit of *madness*. According to xwordinfo no cites for FLECKTONES but 18 for FLECK with spot, mark, dandruff the most common. There was a pro golfer in the late 50's who got a couple of nods.
I enjoyed the numerical clues in this puzzle. My only real stumble was mopup for sponge instead of MOOCH, but I was able to sort that out in a reasonable time. I did like seeing virtuoso banjo player (banjoist?) Bela Fleck make an appearance in the clues. Although a master of traditional bluegrass music, he has done much to make the banjo an instrument that’s comfortable in a variety of musical settings from African music to jazz and everything in between. His album with Chick Corea features spectacular playing by both of them. His wife, Abigail Washburn, is an accomplished banjo player too. Proving that opposites attract, he most often plays in the three finger picking style popularized by Earl Scruggs, while she plays the older clawhammer style. Both of them whether together or apart are worth a listen.
@Marshall Walthew Without detracting from Bela Fleck's virtuosity on the BANJO, I think (and I think Beyoncé would corroborate) that it is risible to state that Mr. Fleck has helped make the BANJO comfortable in African music. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycwtqqhV6UE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycwtqqhV6UE</a> (That's Rhiannon Giddens on the BANJO intro. Ms. Giddens is also an educator about the African origins of the BANJO and African American contributions to the origins of country music.)
@sam corbin kibbutz is actually hebrew, emphasis on the second syllable. perhaps you’re thinking of the yiddish word, kibbitz, emphasis on the first syllable. always seder right thing for their emusement
@Laurence of Bessarabia Oof, what a goof. That's been updated in the article -- thanks for catching it!
Surprised that more people got stuck on "420" than "mullion." I guess everyone has their weaknesses!
Most people use a mallet to tenderize tougher cuts of steak. Not me. I send chuck, dressed in a skirt, to yoga class. An hour of carne asana, I pose, does the trick. (I’ll show myself out.) cc: emu handler
In my book this is a 10. Clueing was just right for a Wednesday—challenging but with enough places to get traction. Once I realized that “I have to wash my hair” was a FIB rather than a lie, 007 was clearly BOND, and the theme fell into place pretty quickly. But I’d guess that the set of people who recognize 666 has limited overlap with the set that recognizes 420.
@Doug I knew right away that 420 had something to do with marijuana, but I needed a cross or two to see CANNABIS. There is a spur highway off Route 66 that goes from Gallup, New Mexico, to Monticello, Utah, that we’ve driven many times over the last 30 years. Until 2003, it was designated as U.S. 666, but it’s now called U.S. 491. I’ll bet you can guess why it was renamed.
Even though I saw the theme quickly enough, and got BOND right away, I learned today that INTROCLASS and Dalmatians have the same number of letters. 35A should have been easy for any veteran solver, used to filling in RUR or CAPEK as the situation arises. Nice touch for 12D--the clue comes pre-loaded with the expected complaint! I found it a bit challenging for a Wednesday, but definitely a good one.
Count me in as a satisfied solver today. Managed to avoid lookups by getting NEMEA and PESACH out of a dusty corner of my brain which always manages to amaze me (How DO I know that?)...thought it was perfect for a Wednesday. At first the only quibble I had was that I wanted a revealer just to nicely tie the theme together. After reading the notes, I am relieved that they opted not to use "numeronymns" which I am quite sure is NOT in any dusty brain corner and would have had me stumped.
It’s always interesting to learn something new in doing the NYT crossword puzzles. Today it was discovering that 420 is associated with CANNABIS. According to Google, this is why: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/part-party-part-call-to-action-a-look-at-pot-holiday-4-20" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/part-party-part-call-to-action-a-look-at-pot-holiday-4-20</a> Other numbers freighted with meaning: 10-4: originally in radio communications but now more universally understood in everyday speech. 30: end of a newspaper story or report being submitted.
@Strudel Dad Love your wordplay, "freighted with meaning" . . . "To different lands for different sins we roam, And, richly freighted, bring our cargo home, Nobly industrious to make Vice appear In her full state, and perfect only here." Charles Churchill, "The Times" <a href="https://allpoetry.com/The-Times" target="_blank">https://allpoetry.com/The-Times</a>
Well, I'd have to say that this added up to a nice puzzle. Congratulations on a fine debut, E. M., and hope to see more from you. A little trouble here and there, but then, this is a Wednesday, and I expect a few challenges. PESACH was not familiar, but I may have heard it before. KAREL was the same, and I don't follow baseball enough to remember which teams are in which divisions. Did know of Béla Fleck, and got to see the Flecktones when I lived in Kansas City.
A very fine debut indeed, congratulations! Confidently plunking in CHIld (oh serif, where art thou?) for Nina cause no end of consternation but I soon put the KIBOSH (pronounced kai-bosh!) to that. Many thanks.
Congratulations on a fun NYT debut, Ms Capassakis! I admire your persistence and I expect we’ll see you back here soon.
Good puzzle, but the Karel/Nemea crossing was brutal. Karol/Nomea? Just two very unfamiliar words made that a bit tricked up.
@Elijah Bush I only know NEMEA from crosswords, but wasn't confident of the spelling, so I had to run the vowels when all my other answers seemed correct! (Initially entered NIMEA)
Thought this was on the hard side for a Wednesday. I thought of SPASM right off for "Twitch", but didn't write it in because Twitch was capitalized, and I thought it might be some sort of dating app or other kind of app I hadn't heard of. I also thought the trick today might be that the answer to the "ceramics, cinema," clue might be CART. As in "C"ART. Sometimes I tend to outsmart myself. HARPO straightened me out to the much simpler ARTS. Another stupid car to flummox me. I had to wait to see if it would be an aMc or a bMw. It was hard to see CANNABIS, which in my grid began with an N. I had CHILD instead of CHICA for "Nina". Did I know that CANNABIS is called 420 for some unknown reason? Of course not! It's bad enough I'm being assaulted by that vile smell every time I walk out the front door. I don't need to know all its nicknames. (Yes, Dear Reader, I will go into a brief rant every time that vile stuff is mentioned in the NYTXW.) A new clue for OREO. Bravo! This puzzle made me have to do a lot of thinking and I very much enjoyed it.
@Nancy Your instinct was not misguided. Twitch is a computer app where video gamers can post video gameplay, as in, how to kill this monster or how to solve that puzzle. Or just to show off their high score. A friend of mine is on it.
@Nancy I’m with you on the CANNABIS front.
Perfect challenge level for a Wednesday and a great palate cleanser after today’s brutal (and IMO unfair) Connections puzzle.
@Adam When I was stuck on today’s Connections, I hated it. Then I figured out purple and now I love it, despite having broken my little streak of perfect games.
@Adam Oddly today's Connections was easy for me. That's what I love about these confounded puzzles!!! LOL
Finally, a clue for “atonal” that I don’t take exception to. Though singing atonal or serial music can be challenging, once it is inside the singer’s voice it holds a great power, as though it were etched or even tattooed. I’ve often introduced atonal singing by way of Stravinsky’s “Anthem (The Dove Descending)”, a beautiful setting of a poem by T.S. Eliot (TSE, of crossword fame). <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp2uhUERfOU&pp=ygUedGhlIGRvdmUgZGVzY2VuZGluZyBzdHJhdmluc2t5" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp2uhUERfOU&pp=ygUedGhlIGRvdmUgZGVzY2VuZGluZyBzdHJhdmluc2t5</a>
@David Connell Sounds like you’re describing the great voice of Jan DeGaetani. She specialized in this kind of music.
@David Connell - the more I consider this clue, the more I love it - and wonder, was it the constructor or the editor who gave it to us? Any keyboardist, any instrumentalist, can hit any note in any sequence, simply by pressing “this key, that key” or “these keys, those keys”… it is only the singer who must internalize the ultimate externality, in executing atonal music. I love this clue.
Thanks E.M., Off to the garage for a pre 420 celebration. To the rest of you: I see Emus there.... as well as amber waves of grain and purple mountains.....
Dalmatians! That fits. I'm sure I'm not the only one to gleefully fill in 17A wrong. Then I thought of 76 and 110 instruments. They were followed by rows and rows of the finest virtuosos. I'm taking you in on a 502. Devouring maidens out of season.
@Linda Jo "76 Trombones" is SUCH a feel-good song for me.
@Linda Jo thanks for the increasingly rare stan freberg reference. brilliant. <a href="https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=St" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=St</a>.%20George%20and%20the%20Dragonet%20lyrics&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:3b8a5e43,vid:VL1SkUb8aU0,st:0
A quick step this time instead of a Wednesday waltz in three-quarters time. Fun and exhilarating, it left me panting, over all too soon. That's not to say the clues were always easy, but once you get into the rhythm of it, the grid is a whirlwind. Congratulations on a lovely debut, E.M. Capassakis. I predict a number of delightful puzzles coming our way from you. Thank you!
First Wednesday in quite some time that I didn’t complete (without lookups). Some fun clues, but that NW corner had its way with me. Good for my humility!
Fantastic fun fill and really glorious little theme. What a debut!
Failed at KAREL meeting NEMEA. Ignorant of both Czech and mythology, apparently. Had KAROL, which also derives from Charles. Tough crossing, that one. Got the rest of it right, but another short streak bites the dust. Congrats on the debut!
@Xword Junkie Yep, me too. Not a nattick, just a Venn-diagrammatic point in my areas of ignorance. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed the puzzle--a fine debut. Separately, I feel like the Times has been publishing more themed puzzles without revealers lately. To the folks who've been doing this for longer than me, are the editors leaning away from revealers these days?
@Xword Junkie KARoL would be the Polish way to spell that name. Our word for king - król (our ó sounds like your oo, thus "król" sounds something like the English world "cruel") derives from that name, because of Charlemagne, Charles the Great. Your word for our król, king, shares its etymology with other Polish and old-Polish words: książę (prince) and kniaź (Rutenian prince). Enough of boring trivia.
Nice debut, EM! I love the fact that there is no revealer. And I’m probably not coining this, but (as I noted below in response to another comment) I guess you could say, “It’s always 4:20 somewhere…” if you were so inclined.
Nice debut, E. M. Hopefully we'll see more from you in the future. I had straw before LEECH at 44A but otherwise a smooth and quick solve.
@Nancy J. I was thinking "Yecch" or something similar for "That sucks!" But the LE were already in.... had to laugh when I finished the word entry.
Am I so ensconced in my musical bubble that I was alone in thinking that 34 across simply HAD to be and yet could NOT be “HEY”—from the Cure’s 1980s hit “Hot, Hot, Hot!!!”? Listening to the correct song on Spotify I, of course, recognized it, but would have never pegged it in the 80s. An enjoyable and quickly solved puzzle. Thanks!
Raising my hand for knowing what a mullion is, as I've replaced several of them over the years. Our cabin in the North Country still has some of the original windows, with PANEs of wavy antique glass. Women's shoes and handbags, not so much.
@Grant My house is 90 years old, with the original windows. I‘ve rebuilt a third or so of the windows. There’s nothing more frustrating than spending hours to get dried-out glazing compound off the old wavy glass and then break the pane. (Our sashes are one over one, so the panes are big.)
Great job! And I learned something new today. Never heard the word mullion before! Thanks for the vocabulary lesson!
@Paul M A new word for me too, Paul. I looked it up and learned more about window and window panes than I knew there was to know. Karel was new to me, too. I enjoy learning the language clues. I knew asada, chica, and of course, Sean. Nice puzzle today. Thank you NYT. (To Mr. Shortz) May you be healing nicely, and resting peacefully Mr. Shortz. Emus are eager for your return to health.
This is a comment on the mini: I'm slightly irritated at the clue "meditation teachers" for "yogis". While yogis do use aspects of meditation in their practice, and I'm sure some do teach it, I would by no means classify them as meditation teachers solely because they do yoga. A true meditation teacher? Monks. Perhaps gurus.
@JJ Gurus was my first fill. 🧘🧘 <----- Yogas, Emu. Try to be calm.
It felt tough for a Wed but I’m ok with that :) Great puzzle!
KAREL crossed with a sports reference put the KIBOSH on my ability to finish the puzzle without peeking at this article. Fortunately, that clue and its answer were mentioned!
Loved the puzzle and the constructor notes. Thanks E.M. for both!
Really enjoyed this one. I've heard KIBOSH pronounced with both a long and short "I", but I'm not sure I've seen it in writing and so I spelled it KIBaSH. That made it hard for me to see our ole pal OREOS and slowed me down a tiny bit. But for the most part this was a very smooth fill. By now I know NEMEA from crosswords. I know PESACH because New York. I know mullion from multipaned windows of my childhood. I know KAREL from R.U.R. In short, this was very much in my wheelhouse. Congrats on your debut, EMC.
@Bob T. My dictionary says KIBOSH has a long i. I probably have been mispronouncing it all this time.
Mullion is a jumping off point for a simple observation. Every day, we interact with things that have names, real names - not just “only in crosswords” names. Everything has a name. I am constantly amazed at the number of people who are here to post about a _word-based_ game, who simply can’t accept that things they see every day actually have words, have names, attached to them. And then take the time to come here and complain about the fact. Words are good friends. Next time, shake a few more hands, get to know some folks. jamb muntin mullion lintel frame panel rail threshold stile light Next time you open a door, take a second to look at it.
@David Connell - Yup -- this is a perennial issue here in the comments. People who *insist* that a word is not a word merely because it was new to *them*. Or that a definition of a word is invalid because, although they know the word, there were not aware of all of its definitions. Or that they know a word is a word, but because *they* have not used it in along time, it is old and no longer a word, or for some other boutique reason, invalid in a puzzle. Then there are the people who sole joy derived from doing the puzzles appears to be coming to the comments to trash it, for whatever reason they can find, no matter how insignificant or -- in many, many cases -- invalid the criticism On of these poor souls a few months ago exclaimed that his entire day was *ruined* because of a word found in that day's puzzle. Can you imagine how vacant a life one must lead, if ones entire day is ruined by the appearance in a puzzle of a word you don't like, probably for some invalid reason?
How happy I am to be home from a grueling day at work: super busy morning at the hotel, but at least we didn't have to 86 anything on the menu. And what an enjoyable puzzle to come home to! To celebrate, here's a little song by Anton Webern*, "Wie bin ich froh!," which--challenging though it might be--is not beyond the abilities of Sophie Negoïta: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGp54Pg8YOk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGp54Pg8YOk</a> *Webern, along with Bartok and Janacek, was a composer much admired by the parents of Bela Anton Leos Fleck.
@Bill - ah, memories. Our ear-training teacher required the advanced classes to learn “Wie bin ich froh” by heart. Once it’s in there, it never departs. und leuchtet so