Hi all, thanks so much for solving! Will and I are frequent collaborators, please check out the links in the constructor notes for more puzzles from us.
@NorahS Looking forward to your next creation!
I just saw a no-hitter! It was pitcher-perfect. (But the coach grades on a curve.)
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. One in a mullion? (4) 2. Petty person? (6)(5) 3. Moved cross-country? (3) 4. Speaking volumes? (5)(5) 5. Hill-adjacent field, in brief (4)(3) PANE ANIMAL LOVER RAN AUDIO BOOKS POLI SCI
For our overseas friends: This Thursday is Opening Day for most of our baseball teams in North America. (The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have already completed a two-game series in South Korea.) In baseball, the defensive players are the ones positioned in the field. In this capacity, they are called FIELDERS. The PITCHER, who throws the ball to the BATTER, is one of those FIELDERS. The CATCHER, who crouches behind the BATTER to catch the ball if the BATTER doesn't hit it, is another one of the FIELDERS. The BATTER is the only offensive player on the field until one of them gets on base. Then, the BATTER is a RUNNER. One of the odd things about baseball (I believe cricket shares this characteristic) is that unlike other sports, the defense has the ball. After reading those constructor's notes, I was picturing a beer league (a recreational league sponsored by local bars) in which the BEER PITCHERS pitch to the BEER BATTERS. PS: To our British solvers, sorry that JACKET POTATO was too long for 3D.
@Steve L Thanks Steve, it is all the 3 letter fiddly ones like TDS et al that are so vexing in the more difficult puzzles when searching for crosses. The cricket stuff was learned by osmosis from childhood, endless radio broadcasts of matches in the background of summers past. In Aus in winter they kick behinds for one point :)
@Steve L , That's a useful wrap up for the non American solvers. I didn’t actually need it as even though I’ve lived in the UK over half my life I still speak American ( and remember baseball terms)
@Steve L I think that was a very well put together description of the basics of “positions” in baseball without going into too much detail. I would just like to add that our overseas friends may occasionally run across the term “position players” which refers to all the defensive players on the field except the pitcher. Occasionally a position player may be called on to take over pitching duties (usually) much to the delight of entertained fans.
TIL the name of the state fish of Hawaii and went down that rabbit hole. Though edible, it's not offered in restaurants. Thank goodness. If the humuhumunukunukuapua'a were to be on a menu, I'd probably say, "I'll have the number 4. Thank you." This puzzle was delightful to solve, and I did so slowly to enjoy the fill. Still, it wasn't slowly enough and ended much too soon. Congratulations to the constructors for your NYT debut as a duo. You've created a very fine puzzle! To Sam, my appreciation for posting the video. A very peaceful song which I hope translates into a very peaceful week to all here.
“Spring has finally sprung in New York.” Oh man, Sam. Way to rub in the difference between The City and the state. I just snowblowed (snow blew?) more than a foot of the wettest, most obnoxious snow that I have ever snowblowed (snow blown?) off of our driveway. Last week I planted grass seed in a t shirt. (Don’t, do not, ask me why I put the grass seed in a t shirt.)
@Warren Thanks for reminding me why I am such a fan of the Marx Brothers’ movies: <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NfN_gcjGoJo" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NfN_gcjGoJo</a> !!!!!!! …….. Last night, I shot an emu in my pyjamas …
Ah, baseball, how I was a rabid enthusiast in my youth. I remember how in junior high classes I’d covertly listen to World Series games on my transistor radio tucked in my desk on low volume, as I rested my head sideways on the desk to hear it. Give me a puzzle that triggers meaningful memories, and I’m immediately grateful. Build on that with lovely long verticals (IT’S A DRY HEAT, BAKED POTATO), palindromes (EYE, POP, ENE), ingestibles (BABA, PANCAKE, WATER, CARROT, AHI, POP, BAKED POTATO), symmetrical answers that sound like letters (EYE and WHY), and a serendipity like VOterID abutting VOID – and I’m a fan. Is today’s puzzle a lovely little box of joy for me? IT IS. Thank you for this sprightly offering, Shannon and Will, and congratulations, Will, on your NYT debut!
Another reason why I love Monday through Wednesdays in Crosslandia: SAM. For starters, look at the picture she gave us today, the underwater musicians, an image playing off the clue [Reef composition]. Wordplay right from the start. Sam sprinkles wordplay throughout her columns, and I never know when it’s going to come, only that I’m going to like it, in a range from a groan underscored with pleasure to an out-loud “Hah!” So right off, the she's is an entertainer. She’s also a color commentator, throwing in facts, interesting and sometimes from left field, like today’s Hawaiian fish, accompanied by Don Ho. Furthermore, she delivers what she’s supposed to deliver: Explaining clues and themes. But it’s never dry; it’s like she’s your buddy, sitting across the table from you. She’s one-of-a-kind, her words are saturated with humor and wit, and, IMO, she’s not to be missed. What a marvelous chaser to the puzzle. Sam, you’re a gift, a day-brightener, and I’m so very grateful for you.
@Lewis "For starters, look at the picture she gave us today, the underwater musicians, an image playing off the clue [Reef composition]. Wordplay right from the start." You don't expect Sam to limit herself to a mere one level of wordplay: those musicians are making PITCHES under WATER. (Perhaps an ARIA or a DUET(t)O.)
@Lewis Agree about Sam. I enjoy her writing. I can imagine it is no easy task to make the columns interesting day in and day out, but she manages to do so. Emu emu. Emu. Emu emu emu.
@Lewis Well shucks, this is a day-brightening comment of its own!! (And it is going into a desktop folder labeled "compliments," because that is a real thing that I have)
I enjoyed the puzzle, but it was a surprisingly slow solve for me, at 12 minutes, which is slower than my Tuesday average, and equal to my Saturday best. I did not have to look up anything - I just had very little filled in on the first across pass, and while the down pass was much better, I needed some time to figure out the answers to some of the across clues on the second pass. Of course I did not realize there was a theme, at all - Polish people and baseball are an exotic combination 🤣
@Andrzej Polish people are actually very good at playing baseball--at least some of them. But only once they've moved to the US. Some of the best players in the major leagues have come from Polish backgrounds. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Polish-American_Sports_Hall_of_Fame#Baseball" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Polish-American_Sports_Hall_of_Fame#Baseball</a> Among these are some of the all-time greats: Stan Musial was considered one of the greatest hitters ever. He was a seven-time batting champion, a three-time National League's Most Valuable Player, and a 24-time All-Star. Bill Mazeroski, a seven-time All Star and an eight-time Gold Glove winner (for the best FIELDER at his position), was best known for hitting a home run to end the 1960 World Series. Greg Luzinski was a four-time All-Star and an RBI (runs batted in) champion. (RBIs are when a BATTER's efforts allow a run or runs to score, whether the batter or another base runner does it.) Phil Niekro was known as the greatest PITCHER of all time of the knuckleball, a pitch that's almost impossible to hit or to learn how to throw. A five-time All Star, ERA leader (earned run average; a measure of the average number of runs allowed to the other team not based on fielding error) and five-time Gold Glover. His brother Joe was also a very successful player. Carl Yastrzemski was an 18-time All-Star, three-time batting champ, an MVP and a Triple Crown winner (batting average, home runs and RBIs). Yaz got over 3000 hits and won seven Gold Gloves.
@Andrzej I know you're not fishing for compliments, Andrzej, but I will never NOT be impressed by your solving skills. Your commentary is always worth reading, too.
Ahoy and ahoj (Slovak) are homophones and synonyms, though in two languages. It seems like a phony word, but it is really their greeting. When we first started dating, I thought my husband was talking like a pirate but he was just saying “hi” in his language! I’ve enjoyed hanging out with fellow EXPATS this weekend. My friends here hail from all over the world, which is a lot of fun. The term “expat,” is often discussed. Aren’t we really immigrants? The Portuguese people call us all estrangeiros so, tomayto-tomahto 🤷🏽♀️ Have a very good week!
@Pani Korunova "Ahoj" was one of the few intelligible phrases uttered by Krecik (Little Hedgehog), the famous Czechoslovakian cartoon character. No Western cartoons were broadcast in Poland until the late 80s, but ones from other Soviet-influenced countries were. The Czechoslovakian cartoons were the most popular, much more so than Polish ones. I even have a Krecik t-shirt (a slightly counter-cultural one, as Krecik is standing on a barricade wielding a Molotov cocktail), and once I was praised for it in Germany by a young man who apparently was into pre-1993 Eastern Bloc cartoons, all made before he was born.
@Andrzej Haha! My husband always says that Polish people are the funniest and most cheerful people in Central or Eastern Europe! He watched so much Polish TV growing up, he speaks Polish better than English. Have a wonderful day
You know the coffee is kicking in slowly when you spend 30 seconds wondering what a BAND B is.
@Steve I’m way past coffee time, and I STILL don’t know what it means.😅
Haha, I don’t know from baseball, but even I know that: You don’t swing your bat at a pancake, You don’t fling a fistful of water from the mound, You don’t stand behind the batter and dream about where your life went wrong, You don’t pester some guy named Nathan by grabbing him in your mitt. Maybe an opportunity for a new game with new rules??
@Cat Lady Margaret After this Friday/Saturday gnarliness, and a good long Sunday, the clue for PANCAKE BATTER seemed too direct. Maybe “drop a car on the on-deck circle?”
Terrific Monday! It’s probably entirely coincidental, but the two long vertical entries are both theme adjacent. A pitcher who throws fast brings the HEAT. One of the many slang terms for a home run is tater, which of course is slang for POTATO. The beginning of baseball season always reminds me of “The Old Man and the Sea.” As a kid I played baseball and worshiped players (Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose) in the same the way Santiago worshiped Joe DiMaggio. Now my response to the game is mostly “What’s the DIF?” But the arrival of Opening Day still brings a slight thrill.
@Puzzlemucker Here are some more Hemingway titles that relate: The Sun Also Rises - All teams are even on opening day. The Torrents of Spring - April showers bring rain-outs. To Have and Have Not - Big budget teams and Others. A Farewell to Arms - Your best pitchers get injured. Death in the Afternoon - A walk-off homer ends your World Series plans. (See: Giants beat Dodgers 1951.)
I just googled and read about Will Shortz. Sending him good vibes and wishes for a speedy recovery. Come back soon, Sir.
I wonder if the humuhumunukunukuapua’a could survive in Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Massachusetts. Probably not, considering it is a subtropical reef fish. But I just wanted to post that.
@CaptainQuahog Nieprawdopodobieństwo is Polish for improbability, and Konstantynopolitaneczka would be a little girl from Constantinople. Not quite as impressive as yours, but not bad either 🙂
@CaptainQuahog That's funny, I instantly thought of Lake "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fishes in the middle." But I couldn't remember how to spell it.
That was fun and fast, a new personal best for me for Mondays. But it wasn't too fast to enjoy it! I especially enjoyed the theme and the clues for WHOA at 61 across! Thank you, Norah and Will! Now to go back and try to finish the Saturday puzzle... What a tough one! But it also came on a day when it was impossible for me to focus on it or take more than about 15 minutes, which certainly wouldn't suffice. I hope someday I will be like @Steve L and not wonder if I can finish a puzzle but when I will... I think I got that right, apologies if I'm a misquoting. Right now I'm still wondering if I can finish the Saturday one. All the best to you all for a great week! Yours truly, A lifelong midwesterner who will never--ever--call soda a pop... But who will continue to call a water fountain a bubbler!!* 😁😉😁 *Possibly with the exception of life and death situations... Or the promise of mega millions of SIMOLEONS!!
@HeathieJ Wisconsinite from birth here, ditto on soda and bubbler—except I thought bubbler was limited to Wisconsin. I guess St. Paul is close enough.
The puzzle was a "grand slam." I did this while eating my dinner at my "home base." "BTW, before dinner I took a vote of the family on what to eat and we agreed on chicken, thus, we conducted a "fowl pole!"
I got it on the crossing but DIF is missing an F. Particularly if you want to compare two files…
@Andrzej Polish people are actually very good at playing baseball--at least some of them. But only once they've moved to the US. Some of the best players in the major leagues have come from Polish backgrounds. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Polish-American_Sports_Hall_of_Fame#Baseball" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Polish-American_Sports_Hall_of_Fame#Baseball</a> Among these are some of the all-time greats: Stan Musial was considered one of the greatest hitters ever. He was a seven-time batting champion, a three-time National League's Most Valuable Player, and a 24-time All-Star. Bill Mazeroski, a seven-time All Star and an eight-time Gold Glove winner (for the best FIELDER at his position), was best known for hitting a home run to end the 1960 World Series. Greg Luzinski was a four-time All-Star and an RBI (runs batted in) champion. (RBIs are when a BATTER's efforts allow a run or runs to score, whether the batter or another base runner does it.) Phil Niekro was known as the greatest PITCHER of all time of the knuckleball, a pitch that's almost impossible to hit or to learn how to throw. A five-time All Star, ERA leader (earned run average; a measure of the average number of runs allowed to the other team not based on fielding error) and five-time Gold Glover. His brother Joe was also a very successful player. Carl Yastrzemski was an 18-time All-Star, three-time batting champ, an MVP and a Triple Crown winner (batting average, home runs and RBIs). Yaz got over 3000 hits and won seven Gold Gloves.
@Andrzej The above comment was in reply to something you said about Poles and baseball not mixing...I then could not find your original post and my reply. So either I've been dreaming, or for some reason, it was taken down. Anyway, Major League Baseball is playing two games in London this June, involving my New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. That should be a hop, skip and a jump for you, so maybe you'd like to get a look at what the game is like?
Steve, But only once they've *moved* to the U.S.? The five major leaguers you mention were all *born* in the U.S.
The clue for 48 Down (state fish) reminded me of Dave Barry's discussion of the indigenous language of Hawai'i. He explains that when the courageous ancestors of the first people crossed the Pacific Ocean to populate the islands, they encountered a fierce storm that washed many of their consonants overboard.
I'm pretty sure I've seen Will's byline elsewhere; it's nice to see him finally get here, and hope we'll see some solo work sometime. No trouble, though I wouldn't call it a walk in the park. Glad I took a swing at it. I think Shannon and Will scored big on this. Thanks
@JayTee Will has puzzles everywhere! This is our first for the Times, but we've published in a whole bunch of outlets together. Our favorite is AVCX, where we are both editors for the midi division <a href="https://avxwords.com" target="_blank">https://avxwords.com</a>/
Other baseball references: ROPE: line drive POP: short high hit hot POTATO: drill practicing throwing ball around infield TATER (Potato): home run CUPS: protection for family jewels TAGS: how you get out AXE: special handle on bat for better grip DRY HEAT: several baseball tournaments use this name
I would have liked a revealer for this one, not because I needed it (this was one of my fastest ever Mondays) but because if I didn't read the wordplay column I wouldn't've recognized the baseball connection. I zoomed through the puzzle and knew that all the long answers were two words, the second on ending in 'ER' but didn't see the theme (and didn't think/need to look for it?) which is unfortunate because the themes are the most fun part for me.
@Emma I agree. The puzzle breezed by so quickly that I thought it was a themesless puzzle. Plus revealers are fun. They are often my favorite part of a themed puzzle. Still, this was a well constructed puzzle and once Wordplay told me the theme, I smiled.
Once again, within a few seconds of my first Roger Bannister - will I ever break the 4-minute Monday?!
@Bill in Yokohama How do you enter so quickly? Just a rhetorical question, apparently your fingers are quick as your mind. Good luck on your sub 4 quest! I was under 19 minutes, moving my fingers as quick as I can, and they didn't slow my mind much. And that is working the puzzle on a computer with a keyboard and track pad. Enjoyed it greatly.
Fun puzzle and a mostly smooth Monday solve, except... got completely stuck in the SE corner for quite a while. All because I was completely unfamiliar with SPANX and trying to think of something I knew that would fit with the possible crosses had me pondering down there for a good long while (and PROXY wasn't dawning on me right away either). And I can't look up anything on a Monday puzzle. Finally got it. I already posted one puzzle find in a reply below. The other one... ...a Sunday from June 19, 1966 by Anne Fox with the title: "Paterfamilias." A couple of theme answers: MADEAFAUXPAS POPGOESTHEWEASEL MYHEARTBELONGSTODADDY POPTUNES POPOVERS Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=6/19/1966&g=53&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=6/19/1966&g=53&d=A</a> ..
Spring has indeed sprung - my bluebirds have returned! (I have a nesting box in the back yard for them.) The only problem is that there's a super-aggressive robin that keeps driving them away. I've never seen such territorial behavior before.
@Grant - A friend here in Maine saw his first bluebird a few days ago. Robins can be very aggressive, including against other robins. The bluebirds can usually hold their own, and once they've nested would probably chase away the robin. Your best bet is to clear out any nest built in the box by a robin until it gives up, and hopefully the blues will take it over. Robins aren't cavity nesters, so I would be surprised if they did nest in the box. Is that what is happening? Also, how large is the entrance hole? And is there a perch? (No perches for bluebird boxes!)
So, here’s an amazing coincidence (and I don’t say this as a diss or a comparison, this was a fine Monday puzzle and a great debut): literally immediately after solving the puzzle I did an archive puzzle from April 3rd 2017, which just happened to be next as I go back in time in the archives—and it had EXACTLY the same theme. What are the chances of that?!?
@S Actually I just checked, the archives go back to 1993 so assuming I could have done any archived puzzle at random and assuming these are the only two with that theme, the odds are about one in 11,315. Maybe I oughta play the lottery today.
SP, This one and that one are hardly the only early April and late March puzzles with baseball themes. Take me out to the emus...
@Barry Ancona Not just baseball themes, literally the end of the clue were baseball positions. When I said EXACTLY the same theme I meant it.
Congratulations on your NYT debut, Mr. Eisenberg! Thanks to the both of you for a fun Monday puzzle.
Anyone notice that that there were two kealoas in the puzzle: BAN/BAR and YAP/YAK? I did my usual of writing in BA- and YA- and waiting. Of course on a Monday, you won't have to wait too long and I didn't -- the crosses were easy. Still, the noble kealoa -- finally getting its due after all these years -- always makes a solve more interesting.
@Nancy I entered YAK initially, although noting that I couldn't think of a "representative" that started with K. By the time I got the X in, I was able to see my mistake. By the way, "kealoa" is a new word to me. Thanks for expanding my (crossword) vocabulary.
It seems a post I made at 0740 (EDT US) this morning, which generated a very interesting thread on voting systems in the US and Poland has been taken down. I have no idea why as the conversation was not only civil but factually informative with contributions from Andrzej, MAR1 and another who's handle I can't recall. I had a post removed just the other day that was equally inoffensive. What gives NYT? Here's my original post from this morning: Congrats to Will Eisenberg on the NYT debut. The is Shannon Rapp's second NYT, a collaboration with Rebecca Goldstein last September. That puzzle was the one where I finally realized what a *Hamburger Menu* is. In partial response to the very nasty comment last night I wanted to say a few words about VOTERID. I'm an election worker and we are not permitted to ask for ID. However the check in equipment is equipped with a scanner and many voters will simply hand over their drivers licenses which is a blessing, especially when we are busy, as it vastly streamlines the process. Of course, it is a small town here and practically everyone will know the voters or may be related to them. The chances of voter fraud are nil in actual practice. Great puzzle and many thanks.
@John Well, that's a bummer. I enjoyed the discussion while it lasted, at least. :( :( :( c'est la vie d'emu?
John, It must be a fledgling emu who doesn't understand that any civil words in the Wordplay comments are to be considered on-topic. After all, we're supposed to do words here.
Was out of town and only just finished the Saturday puzzle and thought it was great with only a few minor problems. It was way over my average but I was able to slog through it with no look ups in just under 32 minutes. Sam and Byron Walden consistently deliver the best Saturday-level puzzles and I congratulate them for their efforts.
@Seymour B Moore Congrats! I'm still feeling burned by that one.
I grew up in Phoenix. My parents liked to assign household tasks like piecework to presumably keep me and my siblings out of too much trouble during the summer school breaks. In 1990, the task was renailing or replacing roof shingles at $0.10 apiece. My brother and I were up on our tar shingle roof, in full sun in the middle of the day when the temperature broke the record at 122F (50C). That was not a pleasant day. I can't say I'm a huge fan of 90-degree temps with 98% humidity either, now that I live in a different climate, but even when IT'S A DRY HEAT, I find anything in the triple digits is just plain painful, and Phoenix hits 100+ degrees at least a hundred days a year. Some two dozen years of that was enough for this certified non-desert rat! However, many regions of Arizona are temperate and mild and Flagstaff, AZ is one of the snowiest cities in the US with average snowfall of over 100 inches! It's a wacky state!
@MAR1 I remember that summer. One of my computer buddies had an annual golf vacation with his son scheduled in Phoenix. They decided not to break the tradition despite the ominous forecast. He said that they were the only ones on the course and the resort's beverage cart just rode along with them. Water and Gatorade. They knew to eschew the alcohol. When I asked about the "dry heat", all he said was "125 degrees is HOT!". (No emphasis added though I may have omitted an adjective.)
Didn't get around to reading the Saturday comments until today. Here's a late perspective from an average solver. I used to not even try the Saturday puzzles because they were beyond my skill level. A few months ago I decided to start trying them again. I got through a bunch of them with only minimal help (cheating). This last Saturday was hopeless for me - I thought it was an order of magnitude harder. My conclusion is I think the Saturday puzzles are easier than back in the day, but his last one was a throwback to the more difficult era.
@Dave - the height of Everest should not be adjusted to your taste or abilities. Nor to mine.
Being an EXPAT I am not familiar with Mr Fielder. This name also was hard (at least for a Monday) to complete from crossings, as for me – as for another commenter – DIF(F) was missing an F and I tried "IT'S A DOG HEAT" first, having never encountered the DRY version before. Getting stuck on a name like that is my least favorite crossword challenge. Seeing the theme earlier than I did would have helped though and the rest was a fun and quick fill, so IT IS what IT IS.
@Joerg Not being a SHO subscriber, I had no idea who the FIELDER was, but I knew it would be part of the baseball theme. So many streaming options! I YAM what I YAM.
I found this just a bit trickier than usual for a Monday, never heard of DREAM CATCHER or NATHAN FIELDER, but very enjoyable as the theme did gradually appear. I was a Brooklyn Dodger fan many years ago. Like others, looking forward to more from Shannon and Will.
Hi Sam! About your lead photo: If you consider sound, and therefore music, to be vibrations conducted through a medium, then underwater is a great place to perform music, as our friends the whales well know. Now, we air-breathing humans can only pretend to play the brass instruments, but was the harpist really just pretending? If so, here's one doing the real thing, with an aquatic rendition of an appropriate song by a certain 4-letter crossword staple: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axr5J_PLdFU" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axr5J_PLdFU</a>
@Bill I note that the CORAL Reefers were Jimmy Buffett's backup band. Apparently, they're still performing as a tribute act. Reefers for the emus.
Enjoyed the puzzle! 26D. My connection to that phrase is from the movie "Aliens." Alright sweethearts, it's Monday, another glorious day in the Corps!
Huzzah!! I finished Saturday's puzzle! I started yesterday, but did not get far at all. Quite the opposite! I truly did not think I was going to be able to finish it but I took a recovery day off today after being out of town for a stressful family situation, so I've just relaxed and plugged away. I haven't read the comments but I see that there's 555 comments so must have been a lot to talk about, or, as Sam says in his constructor notes, quite polarizing. I don't want to rehash any hard feelings, if so, but I'm super excited that I finished it! It was super hard for me and took a long time... More like when I first started doing crosswords about 9 months ago. But that's okay because I feel a tremendous amount of satisfaction and in the end, I actually really enjoyed it. I liked all the misdirects and wordplay. Perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment, but it was fun! I had one lookup - THUNBERG. I try to avoid lookups these days but I wasn't getting anywhere. I had a few scattered answers after a few go rounds and finally just looked her up to get a toe hold. It worked, I was able to fill out the rest of the NE and get in the groove. The SW was my hardest. I feel like I should maybe be mad about DOGNAP but I absolutely loved it!! BAI and THALAMI came via the crosses. At about 3/4 through, I did one puzzle check but had so very little to remove. So proud! I hope one day I can do a hard one like this without any lookups or puzzle checks! Again I say, huzzah!!
@HeathieJ Huzzah indeed! I can remember being intimidated by Saturdays, especially the ones with spanner stacks. I got Greta THUNBERG right away, because the bio entry sounded exactly like the sort of annoying thing she would say.
That was fun and fast, a new personal best for me for Mondays. But it wasn't too fast to enjoy it! I especially enjoyed the theme and the clues for WHOA at 61 across! Thank you, Norah and Will! Now to go back and try to finish the Saturday puzzle... What a tough one! But it also came on a day when it was impossible for me to focus on it or take more than about 15 minutes, which certainly wouldn't suffice. I hope someday I will be like @Steve L and not wonder if I can finish a puzzle but when I will... I think I got that right, apologies if I'm a misquoting. Right now I'm still wondering if I can finish the Saturday one. All the best to you all for a great week! Yours truly, A lifelong midwesterner who will never--ever--call soda a pop... But who will continue to call a water fountain a bubbler!!* 😁😉😁 *Possibly with the exception of life and death situations... Or the promise of mega millions of SIMOLEONS!!
Really enjoyed this puzzle - 3 seconds shy of my current PB, which I didn’t realize until after completing (I was simply enjoying the solve) :’) Looking forward to more puzzles by Shannon & Will Did anyone else stare at 48D and attempt pronunciation in your head 10 times?
Ditto on Wisconsinites and soda (and bubbler!) but the one time I visited Arizona in the summer it was a monsoon season and it was a wet hot all day and all night. Blech!
A bit quicker than usual for me. I didn't even notice the theme. I did, like Nancy, notice the two kealoas. May or may not be able to stay online long. We've a new, upstart internet company installing fiber optic across the County and today they're digging up our street. Existing utilities are so poorly mapped that they've caused water, cable, and power outages in many neighborhoods. Progress doesn't always seem like progress.
Very nice to have a slightly more difficult puzzle! Fun, and still easy enough for beginners.
Today’s puzzle was more interesting than most Mondays! A little more challenging, fun theme, but very solvable. Would love to love to see more like this.
BAND B? I didn’t get that 1D and 23A were one solve for the longest time (3 minutes). Nice Monday, with a little crunch. 36A and 47A were complete unknowns to me, but the crossing clues were so OTN I flowed right through it… except for 1D.
I don't really get why a dark green avocado would be considered "ripe." They're commonly dark green when purchased -- and hard as a rock. Takes a few days in the fruit/veg basket or bag to ripen enough to eat, but they don't change colors.
HEK, Within the confines of the crossword, I think the clue and answer are fine. In the Food section of The Times, I'd expect more detail, such as: <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-an-Avocado-Is-Ripe" target="_blank">https://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-an-Avocado-Is-Ripe</a> do emus eat them?
@HEK I thought the same thing. As an aside, the quickest way to encourage unripe avocados to soften is to put them in close proximity to other ripe fruits, especially bananas.
Nice easy, breezy Monday offering. Didn’t know the names, but the crosses filled the spaces for me. POP was what we called fizzy drinks in Northern England. I think they still do but I haven’t lived there for a long time. These days I think coke is ubiquitous. That or the generalised ‘soft drink’ which incorporates everything from water to tomato juice.
Nice Monday puzzle from Shannon and Will, and my congratulations to Will on his NYT debut. May there be many more from both of you.
well done - witty and on point good work!!
I don't usually attempt the Monday or Tuesday puzzles, since they are too easy. But I attempted this one since I felt so burned by the Fri, Sat, and Sun puzzles - I wanted to get my confidence back. I still got it, as Ralph Malph said, but there's a big difference between the "meh" feeling of finishing a Monday puzzle in ten minutes and the deep satisfaction of finishing a really challenging Friday puzzle in 35 minutes. Here's hoping the new puzzle editor finds The Magic Threshold as the week goes on.