Sunday, March 24, 2024

This week has been tumultuous. I’m not referring to war, politics, March Madness, or turbulence in my personal life. No, of course, I’m talking about the Wordplay comments section. If you were to tell a non-crosswording friend, “Hey, I’m feeling a little shaky because things got really heated in the crossword comments this week — accusations of betrayal, elitism, wokeism, ignorance, and intense battles over whether Uh-oh is one word or two,” they would likely burst out laughing or question whether you have been getting enough sleep. One wonders what Walt Whitman would have made it of it all. From “Song of Myself” (loosely connects with the theme) Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.

I keep seeing complaints every time there is a reference to anything related to our LGBTQ+ fellow humans. Do you think if you go through life with your head in a hole, that everything you don't like or understand will go away? I think most posters here are of an age where they would understand object permanence. It's exhausting to read those ridiculous comments, so why don't you just stop? Expand your friend network, get to know people who aren't like you, and maybe you'll feel less stressed about the whole thing.

104 Across He literally jumped the shark on "Happy Days" The answer is wrong.... The answer the puzzle wants is "Fonz" But he isnt Fonz...He's "The Fonz" or "Fonzie" The Hague The Bronx The Fonz That's how it works.

I'm always awestruck by the puzzle creators' eclectic and sizable wheelhouses compressed into grids of all sizes, with these gimmicks and themes woven into them. These clues are humbling and serve to remind me just how much I can stand to broaden my own range of interests, and gently stretch my active vocabulary to process the contexts of even the most deceptively simply-phrased clues. I was thus thrilled when I caught on to today's micro-puzzle, and it looked like I was about to make a personal best time, when... a single typo hidden amidst this dense grid of letters threw my time off, considerably. My hat is off to John Kugelman for an esoteric, yet solvable (if only by crosses), Sunday grid. Kudos, too to editor Joel Fagliano's tireless and timeless work, particularly filling in for convalescing Will Shortz. All my best to all.

This is John’s third puzzle in seven months in the Times – not too many constructors can say that these days. Props on that, sir! I love John’s persistence. Here, he finds a language quirk – how an apostrophe can morph a phrase’s meaning – likes the quirk, and GOES ALL IN on it. According to his notes on XwordInfo, he wrote a computer program, which spit out 70K theme answer possibilities, and read every single one of them, to cull the list down to the 162 he found interesting. That. Is. Dedication. Props on that, sir! I’m embarrassed to say: • I didn’t realize that JELL-O had a hyphen. Seen it all my life, but this never registered! • I’ve heard/seen “mise en place” before, but never bothered to look it up. Today I did, and I will not forget the meaning because it so well describes my approach to cooking. Two lovely clues that have never been used before in any of the major venues – [Pool side] for STRIPES, and [Can’t not] for HAVE TO. I loved the fantastic dook of YOKOONO, and the gorgeous evocative phrase that was the clue for WISPS – “smoky tendrils”. Plenty of treasure to be mined in your grid, John, not to mention sufficient bite to happify my brain. Thank you for all the effort you put into this!

Apologies if I'm not the first to say it, but... There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who know binary and those who don't. . . . . Ε to the power of μ

During a recent discussion of shrinkflation, it was said that some candy bars contained “fewer snickers” than they used to. To repurpose that phrase, I found that the themers here had the full complement of snickers! When I was done, I announced: PUZZLES OVER!

This is the first puzzle in years that I decided I did not care to finish. A real disappointment for a sunday, which I look forward to all week.

Well.... two day losing streak for me. Can't remember the last time that happened. And this is absolutely the worst I've ever done on any puzzle. Did not have one single theme answer filled in correctly. Anyway - never caught on to the trick and it never occurred to me to ponder the puzzle's title. Not a complaint - that's all on me. At least I was, uhhh... very puzzled by this one. Quote Scarlett O'Hara. See you tomorrow. ..

After yesterday, it was really nice to have a puzzle with clever but sensible clues.

I needed some 10-15 lookups, and autocheck, to complete the puzzle. It was actually harder for me than yesterday's puzzle - themes such as today's are extremely cryptic to me, and on top of that most of the trivia was US-centric (which is fine, given this is a US crossword, but objectively fine can subjectively feel not so). The clue for UMPS I still don't understand, even after checking the meaning of "homebodies". I know what an ump is, but I don't see a connection with the clue. The clue for STRIPES mystified me - but it was explained in the column. ISUZU finally came to me, just as I was about to google it - it is a pretty niche brand in Poland, best known for failure-prone diesel engines in their horribly ugly pick-up trucks. Pick-ups are not very popular in Poland, and Toyota, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and several other auto makers offer much better ones than Isuzu. Over here vans are much more common than pick-ups as utility vehicles in small business and agriculture, and many people just hitch trailers to their regular cars - or tractors, in the countryside - because it's cheaper than getting a specialized vehicle. When I was a child in the 80s, horse-drawn carts were still a staple of Polish agricultural transport, but I can't remember when I last saw one of those. It must have been the early 90s. I am also glad to have remembered GIL Scott Heron from a feature in The Guardian - I actually don't know any of his work, but his name is lodged in my mind.

Approaching 80 so headcanon was not in my repertoire before today. Nonetheless I just celebrated 65 years of solving beginning with the times I traced the puzzle so I wouldn't make a mess for my mom! Quite enjoyable today for sure.

Very enjoyable. Like Caitlin I especially liked plant's evidence, with hold's water a close second. Didn't love Set's at ease since that's pretty close to sets at ease, but it'll do. Deage is a debut and it's such a horrible little word I doubt we'll be seeing it again soon. Not sure where Caitlin was going in the gameplay column with her explanation of how to read "fudge's facts" -- like “I am delicious” or “You deserve a little nibble of me, go on" -- but maybe I'm too tired to get her quips; I just thought the ingredients of fudge, that is, the FACTS about fudge, include sugar and cocoa. I can also see I'm overthinking AND underthinking it at the same time. Evel - Leap - Buses -- I still remember him jumping 14 buses! What a character. There's also quite a bit of military or martial language in the puzzle, too: Pillage, Leads, Takes Orders, At Ease, Rout, Enola, On Leave, Sirs, and some slightly related ones including Lose To, Dove, Tsars. One can't call all this a mini-theme, more a word-set that WANTS to be a mini theme. It's all about MEN'S GREED. Simoleon -- a dollar -- is apparently a portmanteau of "simon" -- an old English coin worth sixpence -- and "Napoleon" a French 20-franc coin bearing the image of Napoleon III. It is the currency used in the game SimCity. Don't try to deage your simoleon by polishing it, that will lose its value.

This was a fun puzzle - a tad easier than the last two days, but still a wee bit sticky in places. I found that most of the themers made me think an extra beat before I said aha. I liked FUDGEFACTS even if it was a bit of a stretch. I liked seeing Gil Scott Heron get called out in the puzzle. The acerbic The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and Whitey On The Moon remain just as poignant today as they were when released.

Jet lag in Iceland for spring break is a fun way to solve my second ever Sunday on a Saturday! Strong puzzle, no complaints. Now off to hopefully spot some northern lights!

A relaxing way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon, leisurely strolling through this richly clued puzzle, like shopping at a flea market. Some interesting finds, a few of the usual fillers, and some really terrific treasures. A lot of lucky guesses, but no look-ups, and a pleasure to solve. I came out the other side on a bit of a high. Thank you, John Kugelman.

I put the wrong gasoline in my car. I was a fuel to do so. (Oil get better at that.)

So glad people include answers in their comments! This puzzle was hard (I thought) but I was able to finish it with a little bit of help. Thank you.

The area below the definitely correct GIL and WILLA took almost as long as the rest of the puzzle. I was stymied by the clever clue for GOLF SHIRT, my inability to see FUDGES FACTS, my unfamiliarity with poker slang, and my perpetual inability to remember that ISUZU still exists. I may also have had a typo in POOLS RESOURCES, but since I have trouble reading those long Down answers, I can’t be sure. I didn’t know that YOKO ONO had a dance hit, but the reference to her age made that a near gimme. (Madonna would have fit, but since she’s less than a year older than I am, I never thought of her for that answer.) After yesterday’s challenging puzzle, it would have been humbling to have to peek at the answer key to have finished this otherwise breezy puzzle. But ditching AcUra and trying ISUZU broke that last area open. Thanks, Mr. Kugelman!

Just weighing in late on Saturday's puzzle. That was a tough one for me. Way above average time. I'm proud of my gold star today!

This has been my favorite Friday, Saturday, Sunday run in a while. Sunday's can be too quick, but I had to think a bit to parse this one. A few early mistakes held me up. I had WISEAcrES at 33A for a while. I'm not sure if other people use that term much, but my father said it frequently, so I just popped it in there without a second thought. It really doesn't even mean the same thing, so I should have thought twice about that. With G in place at 51D, raGU was the only brand I could think of. For some reason, I read Finish behind as Finnish behind and was trying to thing of a slang word for rear end in Finland. Finally, abide at 32D did me no favors. Of the themers, FUDGES FACTS and FUELS SPECULATION were favorites, but there wasn't a dud in there. I'd like to see more puzzles from John Kugelman.

Did no one comment that this puzzle has every letter of the alphabet? Once I got APEX, JELLO and ISUZU I started looking, and there was IQRANGE down near the bottom. And also E, M, & U sprinkled liberallly throughout!

Very absorbing to solve as the theme answers did not come easily to me. As Caitlin points out lots of tricky cluing. Got a kick out of 101 D and A solving to RON RICO. Pina Colada, anyone?

I just really really loved this puzzle, it was a lovely walk through a garden of thoughts. I literally giggled when I realized the HOLDS WATER (my first theme). My last clue Do people need braces to fix their GUMS? no, their GAMS? Nope, it's their GAPS (and now I learned what a HASP is). Thanks so much for this delightful start to my day.

Nice to see Gil Scott-Heron, godfather of rap, clued. Not sure all that many rappers know this.

wow what a sunday! as a gen z reader, I got HEADCANON, NON for non-binary, TUPAC, OSAGE, SEAN ASTIN and ASNER right away. that was a really great clue for headcanon and i got it right away. lots of misdirects in this one for me, it took me 35 mins and i got stuck at the northeast (WILLA vs nilla, SLOPS vs spews, PILLAGE vs luggage)! that was a really great workout and it felt good to solve it!! great job john!!

Have been ON LEAVE from the comments due to some home improvement drudgery—but also because of the general tenor of the discussion starting on Thursday and oozing all the way into today. No problem with complaints, but it can just sound so mean and not very constructive at times. And Deb being criticized for some mild nits when she’s mostly accused of being a “cheerleader “: 🙄. Anyway, yesterday’s Ezersky offering was a killer and a humbling reminder that I’ve got some years to go before joining the ranks of the superstar solvers around these parts… As far as today goes, I’ve become a bit of a “git’er done” Sunday solver (except when tricks are involved), but I did have trouble wrapping my head around the themers today. Also, very solidly on team THE FONZ.😁 Back to the coal mines…

HEADCANON was one of my favorite entries. Having read (and written) my fair share of fanfiction, it was pretty obvious to me. I expect the general solving populace would find it esoteric. GOLFSHIRT also came quickly. All in all, an enjoyable theme

What a truly delightful constructor note, especially in comparison to yesterday's!

Hmmm. A bit of a mixed bag for me. Never quite felt on John’s wavelength, but that’s neither here nor there. I also like a Sunday that really flows, and somehow the grid construction of this one prevented that — the corners felt unusually (for a Sunday) cut off from the rest of the grid. Again, maybe just me. Really liked learning about HEAD CANON and fascinated to go down the rabbit hole of the BASQUE language, so those were two nice additions to my knowledge. I do have a bit of a bit to pick with SETS AT EASE. I don’t think it works, because “AT EASE” is not a noun — so it can’t be possessed. Sorry, but it really doesn’t work. It is an adjectival phrase. And it was material, because once I had “SETS…” I saw the possibility of “…ATEASE” but resisted it on the basis that it didn’t fit the pattern. I think this may be what @johnezra and others are getting at too — but I don’t think the problem is that “SETS AT EASE” is too close in meaning to the clue, I think the problem is that “SET’S AT EASE” simply does not work grammatically in the way that the other themers do. So I think the editors missed a trick on that one. Ah well. It’s just a puzzle and I still had fun and even learned something. YMMV.

There is no FONZ. There is either FONZIE or THE FONZ. Woah.

Missed opportunity for the trifecta: Millie Bobby Brown, who plays EGGO-loving Eleven in Stranger Things, also played ENOLA Holmes.

That was by far one of the least enjoyable puzzles I've eva done. BTW the puzzles have been dumbed down tremendously by the use of slang, foreign language, curse, social media words

This one came right in on my average. Not too easy, not too tough. Managed to figure out and "get" the theme answers, so that was good, too. Thanks, John. Although the quoted action has become a meme for TV shows hitting their peaks and declining in quality, Milwaukee still loves Arthur Fonzarelli: <a href="https://www.visitmilwaukee.org/about-milwaukee/the-bronze-fonz" target="_blank">https://www.visitmilwaukee.org/about-milwaukee/the-bronze-fonz</a>

Hello, folks! I admit that even as the words were forming, I didn’t think of LAILA ALI soon enough because I was unconsciously seeking a male undefeated champion. Love her and the clue. I was thoroughly floored listening to the language the BASQUES speak, especially knowing that it is close to the language of cave dwellers in that region more than 14,000 years ago. Fascinating! Did it sound like any language you’ve ever heard? Domingo feliz!

Fun theme! But a substantial nit to pick- That earworm, about a couple who are both actively planning on cheating on each other, who just laugh when they realize, is one of the most impossible songs to get out of my head. And, what a ridiculous song! Hate the song. Angry it is in my head for three days, at least. But, happy. Fun puzzle.

Totally delighted by the debut of HEADCANON! Geeks of many fandoms have this in our frequently-used vocabulary, so I'm guessing I'm not the only one feeling seen today.

Yuck. Slow and nonsensical. Not fun!

Great puzzle! But tough for me. I had to laugh when I realized that ‘wiseacres’ was not the correct answer. As if I had just spoken to Andy and Opie.

A fun and refreshing Sunday puzzle! I think I may be recovering from Friday and Saturday. I didn't quite get the theme until I read the title (I keep forgetting to do that on Sunday) and I had "polo" instead of GOLF SHIRT for too long, but it was mostly painless, phew! I was impressed with the theme once I got it, kudos to the constructor!

Whew. After yesterday's bloodbath this was a relief. Less than half my time yesterday, well below my Sunday average and about halfway between my Friday and Saturday averages. Still, there was enough there to have fun with, so no complaints here, particularly now that I have freed up an hour (not quite) in my day. Thanks!

This puzzle took me forever — that is to say, I made myself keep at it for more than two hours; longer than I have ever had the patience to keep at a NYT Crossword before giving up — and even then I was unable to finish because (shame on me, I guess), I have never read any of H. G. Wells’ works and never heard of HOLLA as a slangy greeting. (I guessed HOLLO). Nor did it help that I had AGAPE instead of AGASP for the longest time. None the less, I very much enjoyed the punningly distracting clues for several of the non-theme answers: TEAMO GOLFSHIRT SPARES

I wish Will a speedy recovery!

Well, the only error I made was thinking that a "swinger's attire" was a WOLFSHIRT I suppose Mr. Scott-Heron's mama shoulda named her son GIL

Another terrific puzzle. Thank you!

Anyone able to shed light on why the two circled letters in the Mini spell 'DO'?

Did any of you other "Modern Lovers" have DODGE in there for a bit for 63A? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o90YWFlXdk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o90YWFlXdk</a>

A very rare puzzle where I was pretty much on the constructor’s wavelength, plus I hit a few lucky guesses. This despite a fair sprinkling of US based knowledge (UMPS, DORIS, JELLO to name a few). Got the possessive theme with FUDGES FACTS. I’m quite the pedant when it comes to the correct usage of the apostrophe. My kids eye roll when I text with full, grammatical sentences. I will not kowtow to the trend for shortening words and phrases or, gods forbid, replace them with numbers. I didn’t know I knew the basis of the BASQUE language, but it was a gimme. After struggling with most of this week’s puzzles it feels good to sign off with an enjoyable but doable Sunday. Oh, one unexplained crossing; I don’t know what either TEAMO or MADD is/are?

This wasn't a fun a puzzle for me. Too many unfamiliar terms. The theme entries were meh.

Late puzzle find - another one where the reveal was all in the title. A Sunday from April 20, 1997 by Charles M. Deber with the title: BAR NONE. One clue/answer example: "Ballet dancer's cookout? :" YSHNIKOVSBECUE Showman's good buys? NUMSGAINS Some other theme answers: KLEYSRACUDA TLETTSITONE RYMORESON TOKSCAROLES Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/20/1997&g=23&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/20/1997&g=23&d=A</a> ..