I often pun it up, but in honor of this puzzle, I just want to say how wonderful it is that animals get to be in our lives and how much joy they can bring us. I cherish Ginger Cat, my very purr-fect pet (hey, a pun after all: what a meowth-ful). In some strange way, she even teaches me a great way to be human: wide-eyed curiosity, dedication to rest, and the constant pursuit of treats. Sending love to you and all of the animals in your life today! (Even the emus too, I guess.)
@Mike I'm sure many others share my sentiment: my day isn't complete until I've found your Comment. Laughter is good for the soul.
I grasped the first part of the theme immediately with 9D, and gasped when I saw the second part at 70D. Jeff Chen has outdone himself in "tech support" for John Rippe's theme. This was delightful solve with a meaningful theme. Bravo! Bravo! Emus are not endangered.
How clever to use a “before and after” format to visually represent not only species at risk of disappearing, but also the success of work being done to protect them. And very timely for the puzzle to appear during Earth Month. Congratulations to the constructors for creating such a fine puzzle. And thank you, John Rippe, for the important work you do.
Well, I was moved by this, I, an animal adorer and bleeding heart. The puzzle itself got me thinking about disappearing species, but then John Rippe’s notes did me in, where I learned that the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the species listed as threatened or endangered. I suddenly went still, bemoaning what a world would be like minus so many species, followed by a deep gratitude for the work this act has engendered. And deep gratitude for this puzzle, which brought it to my attention. What a brilliant puzzle design to get the point across. It is a technical marvel, but more than that, it is the product of John’s love and passion, and Jeff’s kind generosity (and talent) in helping to implement it. So, for me, this was more than a brain pleaser. It was a thought provoker and heart pleaser. And deeply moving. Thank you so much for this, John and Jeff! Bravo!
Thanks so much to both constructors for today's puzzle. I enjoyed it very much. Jeff Chen, if you're reading these comments, I want to express my thanks for your years of hard work with xwordinfo. I very much miss your daily commentary, but respect your decision to discontinue writing in. Here's hoping that you write the occasional commentary. I can't speak for the community but I'm really sure you are missed by many people. Thank you.
Correction on 123A - MPs in the UK are Members of Parliament, sitting in the House of Commons, and are never lords (with or without a capital letter). If a peer wants to sit in the House of Commons s/he has to give up the peerage. Those sitting in the House of Lords are Members but not Members of Parliament, see: <a href="https://members.parliament.uk" target="_blank">https://members.parliament.uk</a>/
@Kathy. 1). Children of peers have the title lord or lady but are themselves commoners, and so entitled to sit in the Commons. 2) In the NYTXWord world, where clues are pointers, not definitions, members of the Lords can be seen as parliamentarians, and so, loosely, MPs.
I needed to read the explanation but that is quite something as far as puzzle construction goes! It’s been about 30 years since the wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, and I followed their progress for years. I am going in May in hopes of seeing them again. In the meantime, I monitor eagles that have nested in an urban park, as part of a citizen science research project. So, yes, this theme feels powerful to me. Thank you!
I was wishing the “after” words could capture the sadness of having those creatures be vanished. So here is an elegy of sorts: Where has our CAST of characters gone? Even the ones with CAMO may not escape the humans. The MITE and tick have their place in the scheme of things. Can the PORE and gill and stoma and lung adapt to coming changes? Can GENAtics (sorry) save them from us and us from ourselves? Let a WORD of hope be shared, but also the work and will to go with it: ALL’S well that ends well.
May I be the first NPR listener here to say, "Welcome back, Will!"
Nice puzzle, and I loved the theme, but I'll admit that I filled in the words without figuring that theme out completely. I had to go back once I was finished and carefully look at the BEFORE and AFTER clues to see what was going on. So I'm really glad that I did that, since it was such a meaningful theme.
Congratulations on your NYT debut, Mr. Rippe! I’m glad the incomparable Jeff Chen was will to help you bring your thought-provoking theme to fruition. Thanks, gents.
Why am I so sure that the Mozart opera is "Cosi Fan TUTTI?" I always get that one wrong. Fun theme, happy to see all the animals. Also, a nod to the elephant clue for LAOS. The national flag used to have three elephants on it, but the commies changed it when they overthrew the monarchy in 1975.
@Grant I made the same mistake, which took a few minutes to find at the end. And it left me wondering what the heck IVEREST was supposed to mean. It’s not even grammatical! “I have rest”?
@Grant You think that because one of the themes of the opera was adapted to make "Tutti Frutti" the 1950s hit for Little Richard.
@Grant I get thrown off because of the Squeeze album of my youth titled Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (which has cover art depicting a tea cozy, a fan, and a tutti frutti dessert). My limited Italian sometimes helps me out, but that cover art lives on in my brain...
Fun puzzle and thanks to John Rippe for a worthy cause. LikeJeff, I greatly admire people who work at saving our incredible planet. I have to say though, I found 74A kind of cute within this puzzle and absolutely loved the clue!
What a truly delightful puzzle. I really loved the theme and the construction. It's so clever and beautiful! Elegant.
Wow. Just - wow. Really memorable* puzzle and amazing feat of construction. *But for me, also one repetitive reminder of my memory problems. Even after I finished I've had to go back and look at it over and over again to be able to recall exactly what was going on there. Was REALLY surprised to be able to finish this one successfully. Sometimes better to be lucky than good. That's all on me - this is just one wonderful puzzle. Oh... and answer history search today was inspired by ROE. That's been an answer 658 times and couldn't help but wonder how often it had been clued with 'Wade.' Well - 42 times specifically and a few others with a roundabout reference. And... ROEVWADE has been an answer 5 times, though the first time was in 2017. I'll shut up now. ..
Rich, Speaking of ROE, readers of the Friday comments who didn't check back late in the day may have missed the constructor's report of what clue he had submitted for that answer. The thread is in the link: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/3ub8rl?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/3ub8rl?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a> emus did not eat the thread
Beautiful theme, and close to my heart. I have donated time, money, and art to numerous wildlife conservation causes over the years. It never feels like enough (and sometimes makes me feel hopeless) so it's nice to have this reminder that progress has been made. I thought the puzzle was pretty clever, and many of the clues made me smile. Some of them stumped me pretty good!
A theme that's memorable—and fortunately not in memory of… There are species that we've lost, and some in critical condition that some of us are trying to save; and the earth has suffered because of the imbalances created. But as long as we have people that are trying to keep species from disappearing, zoos that participate in the programs to keep species' populations growing and healthy; I hope we can eventually restore some of those species back to their natural habitats. I have to admit that I missed most of the AFTERs—I worked mostly the acrosses through there, so I didn't put the connection together until after reading the column. Very impressive puzzle, and although a lot of people see this as negative, I see it the other way because of the successes that the programs have had. It's true that there is much more to do, and we all need to do our part to ensure species survival. Thanks, John and Jeff.
Thank you, John Rippe, for the very important work you do. As for the puzzle, I thought the execution of the theme was brilliant. Of course, with Jeff Chen as a co-conspirator, I would expect nothing else. I have to admit that I ignored the Before and After part of the clue until post-solve. When I saw the CAMOflaged animals disappear, it felt like a magic act gone wrong. I appreciate everyone who works to make sure that doesn't happen.
With today being Masters Sunday I thought iron deficiency was going to be about using too short of a club.
A solid puzzle with a nice theme. Personally I was glad it wasn’t as taxing as the last couple of days. I spotted the endangered animals pretty easily, but as is so often the case, the secondary theme eluded me completely. I looked at the before and after clues and said to myself, “must be something going on here,” and then proceeded without making much of an effort to figure it out. Just call me captain oblivious.
Thanks, John, for your work with endangered species. Thanks to both of you for a truly enjoyable crossword. Crunchy, but very satisfying. Loved the clever theme!
One of the most brilliantly constructed puzzles in recent memory, illustrating a positive and impressive theme. Well done.
One of the cleverest puzzle I’ve seen, and that is saying a lot as we’ve had so many clever ones.
Having ventured to the path of totality last week, I thrilled to see “eclipse” in today’s juicy puzzle at 92D, I think. I got goosebumps again, just remembering the moment when I took off my glasses to bathe in the cold dark beauty, and marvel at the bright red protuberance bulging from the lower edge, and the brilliance of a suddenly-visible planet, which disappeared from view again four minutes later. Jupiter? Venus? I went for the house party, but was unexpectedly moved. Anyone else go? I still feel extra-energized in an inchoate way; I planned to file for an extension, but instead got my taxes efiled. I need to move, and it feels great. Though I obviously still make mistakes, I SUNSPOT them, smile, and move on.
I'm retired now, but the company I worked for for years was heavily involved with the ESA and all the other environmental legislation of the 60s and after; and I am wearing an old company T-shirt (ESA-themed!) while I am doing the puzzle. I totally missed the Before and After elements as I was solving it and thus the theme seemed a little Meh! as if they had backed into it and had found a post facto LION and RHINO etc. So the theme, much appreciated by me, was a lot cleverer than I had thought. Nice one, gentlemen.
This was a great puzzle, and when I understood the theme and began dropping in the AFTER answers it hurt my heart to almost feel those animals disappearing before my eyes. I'm amazed how emotional it felt. Bravo!
SAGA often crops up as an answer in crosswords, and aptly describes my solving experience of Saturday's puzzle. I usually prefer to convey my solve time in relative terms, but I am going to just go ahead tell you -- 2:41:08 -- because I am not ashamed of such a long solve time, just proud that I solved the puzzle at all without any help. Even after filling in the puzzle I still had to track down an error: HOTpICS --makes sense, right? -- instead of HOTMICS. So happy now that I can move on.
@Jim If it makes you feel any better, hot pics added about 30min to my solve. Slowest solve in ages, but enjoyed the hunt. Today's took half the time.
@Jim Saturday was a tough solve! I finished this morning. Expected the the icing answer to be a plural. Expected the DL answer to have an abbreviation. And never played Padiddle either as a child, parent or grandma. We played a ton of other games, and sang songs from musicals. Nowadays, though, those crazy kids are mostly looking at their tablets, rather than out the window.
Like many of you, I found this to be a lovely puzzle. Sadly for me, I did not figure out the before/after part of the theme until I read the column. Very cool! I did pick up on the circled letters and that helped me fill some of them out but no advantage was had for me by the after. I also didn't have a problem with any of the "after" entries, other than PORE at 75D, for which I kept acne for quite a while. I was quite slowed down by keeping ups instead of DHL at 37A and capital instead of OTTOMAN at 24A. When it came down to the wire, I had to remove it because I was pretty sure of CORPOREAL. A few tough crossings for me led to just a few lookups—can't wait to someday go a whole week without lookups! My favorite was CHINA SHOP for "A bull market it is not!" EATS IN / EAT SIN reminds me of Fargo Season Five... Ole Munch. I love that show and it was an excellent season. The last episode and final scene just blew me away with its grace and strange beauty. Anyone with me? Also, since Jeff Chen was part of this puzzle, I'm excited to announce that I just picked up his "Best Puzzle Book for Adults" for some long days of air travel I have coming up. A little nervous too because I don't know the last time I have seen or used a pencil... I don't dare use a pen at my newbie stage of puzzling! Anyhow, it's beautiful and robust! Not like those thin Variety puzzles I used to do a million or so years ago. Looking forward to digging in, once I buy a puzzle. 😊
@HeathieJ Ugh! That last line was supposed to read once I buy a pencil! Have puzzle, will travel!
@HeathieJ I suspect your week without lookups is not very far off, and I hope you'll let us know when it happens. You might even earn a cup of smug. ;)
Pretty breezy even for a Sunday, but it's hard to argue against the importance of the revealer.
While I caught the animals in the circles, the full theme didn't hit me until I read the column. I always think it is a tragedy what we are doing to our environment (I include myself in this. I can't live in late capitalism and not be part of the problem), so any attention brought to it is massive. I found this to be a fun solve with some interesting fill and no sweat. My time would have been slightly faster if I didn't have such fat fingers, but what can you do? I guess I could put my fingers on a workout regimen. Anyway, I hope everyone, after being bummed out by this puzzle, can enjoy their Sunday.
I saw the species names in the circles early on but didn't get the before/after connection until all they were all filled but one. But it gave me CAMO so that was nice. As a foreshadowing to todays's theme, we saw two bald eagles performing a mating ritual on Vashon Island yesterday.
Huzzah! Gold star - didn't have to go back and search for corrections. Born in '59, I was so much a part of that generation that was really passionate about cleaning up pollution, not littering, recycling. It's so sad to see where we are now. I also cannot believe that after 50 years we have not done the research that would make recycling really viable. A huge failing IMO.
Really, really enjoyed this puzzle! HOW CLEVER!
Kudos to the NYT for including a contemporary, globally important issue in the crossword puzzle! I actually didn't know that any species in the world could be listed under the ESA. For a full list of foreign (outside of U.S.) species on the ESA endangered or threatened list, see <a href="https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-foreign?statusCategory=Listed" target="_blank">https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-foreign?statusCategory=Listed</a>
I thought I was "saving" the CAMO, PORE, CAST, etc. from the Before clues and didn't truly get it until I got to 104A. It makes a lot more sense now. A typo on the very last row kept my time above average. Highly pedantic note: Apollo missions and later programs officially used Arabic numerals; launch vehicles used Roman numerals. For example, "Apollo 11 was launched on a Saturn V rocket." A majority of the crewed mission patches did prominently use Roman numerals (VII, IX, X, XII, XIII, XVII), but they aren't official. (The Apollo 15 patch has a moonscape background with an XV semi-hidden among the craters.)
@Kimble Thank you for bringing up this distinction between the use of Roman and Arabic numerals with the Apollo missions. I had not been aware of this previously, but a brief bit of research confirms your assertion. Interesting to me is that in the many times Apollo missions are referenced to in clues, Arabic numerals are always used. As answers, this is not the first time Roman numerals have used: four times for Apollo I, once each for Apollo VI, VII, and X, and twice each for Apollo XI and XII. The last times I saw these occur were in the puzzles of 9/17/2020 and 8/19/2018. I’m curious if there were any comments in those columns. Nice pickup!
An excellent Sunday puzzle! Such an important theme, many thanks to John Rippe's efforts in protecting fish and animals. I did rack up a few cheats, eleven in total. Maybe I got too impatient in some cases, could have been fewer. I loved the wittiness of the clues, too. Thanks to both John and Jeff for this puzzle!
i felt silly not being able to figure out what the gimmick for "after" was, but the animal names made it easier to solve the "before". Loved the CHINASHOP clue, haven't heard of that idiom for a decade. Only nitpick is the second misuse of ROE this week in the NYT crosswords, it is not a garnish nor a delicacy in Japanese cuisine. It came to my mind as a possible answer but I almost didn't want to enter it for 119A as I thought it would have been too farfetched :(
@Tristan I've seen it on some sushi, usually sprinkled on top with some kind of drizzle (I avoid those ones because I don't like roe). Maybe it's only a western thing... the clue mentioned sushi, not Japanese cuisine. Sushi in our part of the world is not traditional.
@Tristan Perhaps it's different in Singapore or the rest of Asia, not using roe as a garnish but in many of the places here in the US there are items on the menu where it's definitely a garnish. But I suppose it really depends on whether garnishes are considered expendable decorative embellishments or are really essential components of a dish that would be incomplete without them. And whether there are menu items in Asian sushi restaurants that have roe on top. Is "garnish" the problem word and not "roe"? Is garnish something optional and removable that would not effect or distort the enjoyment of the dish, like the maraschino cherry atop a sundae or the sprig of parsley atop a lamb chop?
Tristan, Regarding your ROE nitpicks. Today's clue: I eat both tobiko sushi and maki with tobiko garnish. Are you saying the latter is not authentic? Friday's clue: It said "Seafood delicacy." No reference to Japanese (or any other) cuisine. Also see my reply to Rich about the Friday ROE clue.
This was an amazing puzzle! No obscure or bizarre clueing, just clever engineering. Well done! Jim and Sara
Fun puzzle! Sad that I didn’t understand the AFTER parts of the clues until I came here but it was very enjoyable nonetheless!
A fun puzzle that highlights a critical law. My only nit to pick is that golden goals are scored in extra time, not overtime, because association football aka soccer can't do things like anyone else. So the answer should be INET, not INOT.
Eric, NCAA soccer was one of the last to get rid of "golden goals," and they were scored in what was called first or second overtime. My daughter was a keeper. My other daughter is a mid.
@Eric (Second attempt.) Who said anything about soccer? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_goal" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_goal</a> The golden goal is a rule used in association football, rugby league, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sudden death. Under this rule, the game ends when a goal or point is scored; the team that scores that goal or point during extra time is the winner. !!!!
@Barry Ancona I suspect that both your daughters are “keepers” and that neither is “mid”.
A very meaningful underlying theme, although as pointed out, the execution allows for a number of "freebie" entries. This certainly sped along the solve for me. I have to admit that I did not fully catch the before and after idea as an illustration of the disappearing species. I was glad to get that from the column. A slight nit concerning 59D - while Jacques Offenbach was indeed born in Germany, he spent his life in Paris and became a quintessentially French composer. In fact, all of his many operettas are written in the French language so I had trouble associating the word ACH with him. I think that ZUT! would have been much more appropriate! Loved the clues for CHINA SHOP and CREASES!
@Andrew On the off chance you're not trolling us about Offenbach, take a gander at this Google map of just east of Frankfurt, Germany: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/34hutk6n" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/34hutk6n</a> That's not the city of Jacques Offenbach. ZUT alors!
@Andrew And I took it to mean “ach” can be found in the word “OffenbACH…been doing too many cryptics lately, I guess.
What a creative and enjoyable crossword this is! I love it when figuring out the theme actually helps me solve the puzzle. Thanks for the fun.
Timely story on CBS news about the fraud of plastics recycling. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/critics-call-out-plastics-industry-over-fraud-of-plastic-recycling" target="_blank">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/critics-call-out-plastics-industry-over-fraud-of-plastic-recycling</a>/
This was such a wonderful puzzle! I really loved it!
I enjoyed the puzzle but this is another one where I filled out the entire thing before REALLY understanding the BEFORE and AFTER notations. The circled animals were fine but I didn't realize the connection with the leftover letters and the AFTER clues. I'm up early you see and maybe not quite awake yet..... :)
This was fun to solve and a great timely theme on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the ESA. I don't always notice grid patterns, but I looked after solving this one and I wonder if anyone else saw what seems unmistakeably like a great smiling horned something!
@JB Hmmmmm... ink blot test. I see a moth or butterfly (many of them are endangered as well) ......................................... Definitely not an upside down emu
@JB I say it's a GIRAFFE. Not a emu
I usually. don't pay much attention to circled letters, Probably because to do so it overburdens my aged brain. Today I regretted that after I cheated by checking words. Had I instead glanced at the circled squares I would have solved faster and enjoyed it more. Thanks for the lesson learned and the fun of being challenged, and the VERY important theme.
I'm worried about microplastics in the water supply, and I am upset because I love those little poly-vinyl alcohol pods. I liked the little tiny circles in this puzzle too, it was fun. This week, one of my dogs killed a squirrel in my yard, and I was happy for the dog, but annoyed that I had to clean it up. It was the only time recently that I wanted to get remarried. Until I walked outside and saw a hawk pick it up and fly off a way with it. It is so amazing how that works.