Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Congratulations on your debut, Justin. Your perseverance paid off with #36, and I'm looking forward to #37. As for Joel's editing, I want to put in my vote for a big thumbs up. It's seems to me that he hit the ground running in very challenging circumstances and is doing a terrific job. Before Will Shortz had to take a leave, commenters often compared him unfavorably to Eugene Maleska. I guess it come with the territory.

My last to fall was the L of LUSAKA and WILLYLOMAN. It's been too long since I read 'Death of a Salesman' and I just didn't remember the capital of Zambia. I thought I might have to do an alphabet run but, lo and behold, LUSAKA suddenly rang a bell! How perfect. The joke's on me. Some puzzles make you feel smart and cultured, either because you know the answers or because you're learning them. This one did it for me. And I was quite surprised by the rich fill and cluing, what with it being a Tuesday. This was a very tight, strong, and interesting offering, Mr. Werfel. THANK you!

Congratulations on your NYT debut, Mr. Werfel! Nicely done!

I quote: “Features of deerstalker hats” are EARLAPS. And what’s an earlap? It’s an earflap, with the F gone who knows where. Sam Corbin, a great journalist anticipates the reader’s question and answers it. You delivered. And made me laugh. Thank you!

I dunno about you but, for some strange reason, I felt conditioned to solve this one. cc: emu handler

The sound of a bell has always seemed a pealing to me. (I'll still ring one from chime to chime.)

I’ve been refraining from commenting on this, but Joel Fagliano has a LONG way to go before he takes full control of the prestigious role of the NYT XWORD editor. There are so many words and clues and glue that would never pass muster. EARTHA, LUSAKA, ALTI, ICEBAG (that’s not a thing….seriously, who has ever said “i need an ice bag”?), EARLAPS, HAULUP (very rarely used), API all on a Tuesday? This is definitely not the first complaint I’ve had with the editing, and it definitely won’t be the last. I really want Mr. Fagliano to succeed, but a lot of works needs to be done.

Honestly, I loved this puzzle! When EARFLAPS didn’t fit I was like, “Please God, I can’t handle a rebus on a Tuesday morning…” So I was spared the rebus and I learned something new. In fact, I learned several new things from this puzzle! To Joel and the rest of the NYT puzzle team, you guys are doing great and your efforts are always appreciated. If we as solvers are missing Will, his team must be feeling that tenfold. Keep on keepin’ on. You got this. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

I have run a analysis program on this puzzle which gives some metrics about its suitability for the NYT on Tuesday. The Heitzel-Norman coefficient for proper nouns is 16.7, which is slightly about the 14.8 average for Tuesdays, but well within the 13-20 guideline. The Planck-Einstein probabilities for NATICKS was 0.097. Anything under 0.1 is considered acceptable risks, except for those who actually *live* in Natick. And the Sapplestein continued fraction for under-documented words is 107 over 316, which is a tad high or a Tuesday, but there have been several Wednesdays with scores in the range of 90-120 over low 300s, so it's not too out-of-line. Finally the Lifshitz parameter for annoyance is 12.2, which is probably too high for the most accomplished puzzle-complainers. Now we can all debate this puzzle with the hard numbers in mind.

Last week, QUANDARY was in a Strands game. I discovered then that I didn’t know how to spell it correctly, as I have always pronounced it (and heard others pronounce it) as two syllables. It was nice to put my new knowledge to use so soon.

Super fast solve today. I also thought EARLAP was an error. I didn’t know that was a thing! Perhaps I’ll make some lap jacks for breakfast before donning my lip lops for the beach! Jk, it was not an issue. With the exception of the reminder of LEEATWATER and his “Southern Strategy,” the clues and answers were quite straightforward. I learned about Mr PEALE through crossings. Good puzzle!

I’m being picky, but Willy Loman isn’t a “door-to-door” salesman of the ilk that rings a bell… he is a traveling salesman, yes, but he sells to department stores… he “vital in New England,” ya know. Is there a bell involved? Perhaps, but I still find this clue to be imprecise (though solvable).

This one goes out to ad absurdum... Photo Deciphering 101: (Also known as 'What on earth is Sam's message to us mortal souls') - Begin with the title. "Sound of Enlightenment" (a reference to 58D clue.) - Notice the photo is of Long Island SOUND - Notice, too, that the sky is awash with light. ENLIGHTENMENT -This brings us to (Long Island) Sound of En(light)enment. -Which, ironically, once deciphered, brings us back 58D answer: AHA! Now I get it! ;-)

“Remember this!” (THE ALAMO) I hope this helps others learn more about puzzle nuances. I asked in yesterday’s comments about the clue “Call me!” (CAB) and @Lewis kindly explained it by writing, “ When you have a clue with an exclamation mark but no quotation marks, that clue refers directly to the answer. So the answer to [There's the rub!], for instance, which has appeared in the Times puzzle twice, is SPA, and that's what "there" refers to (a rub is another word for a massage). In [Call me!], the "me" refers to the cab.” I find it funny that “Remember this!” was a clue today. I will remember that.

I thought this was a well put together puzzle with a cute theme (even if, as some have noted, WILLYLOMAN wasn’t really a bell ringer). I didn’t have much trouble with the answers that seem to be bothering some solvers, except LUKASA, which was easy enough from the crosses. One man’s Natick is another man’s gimme, I guess.

For those who thought LUSAKA was too difficult, whether straight out or as a cross, I recommend a game I play called World Geography by Atom Games. It's readily available, at least in the Google Play store. It doesn't take long at all to play a round or two and it's somewhat addictive in a really fun, non harmful, and educational way. I started it about a year before I started the crosswords, which was about 10 months ago now, and it totally helps my crossword game! Before I was playing that, I would also have not known LUSAKA so easily. (Although I wouldn't have considered it a terrible puzzle because I didn't know something...) 😉 But more importantly, it really helps me understand the world better and put so much of the news I hear in a more robust context. What more could you ask for than fun games that actually teach us stuff, like the geography game and NYT crossword puzzles!? I'm in my early/mid 50s and I find so many things that either I never knew or I possibly forgot--and I rejoice at the learning! As a kid, I aced geography (and most of my non-math classes) because I was always a good test taker but I didn't care a whit about geography and purged those rote learnings from my mind..... and now I have a second chance when I actually do care! Loving it! Cue the, "The more you know..." music. 😊 😊

From the Useless Knowledge Dept.: The building in the photo is the Hercules Pavilion. The bust (Hercules, himself) is from the U.S.S. Ohio. Local lore (or lure, perhaps) has it if you kiss the brow of Hercules, you’ll be married within a year.

Justin Werfel, your debut grid is wonderfel! As to the naysayers, cover your ears and ignore them! Such a kerfuffle just overlaps The joy you'd hear when an akita yaps, T'will char good cher to aches and ash. Less chides, more AHA! Less rants that tank, Give awful much smaller and much more to thank! Don't amp a post into Fodder for that hated lance ... "IMSAD" ergo "this grid be dammed" A rebuttal could haul up That halters your ram! (Mayhaps you'll need that mental ice bag now!)

Four esoteric clues that cross each other ATWATER LUSAKA EARTHA AKITA Destroys the grid and way too difficult for a Tuesday

CHALUPA may be a Mexican snack, but in Polish, spelled CHAŁUPA and pronounced very differently (along the lines of ha-woo-pah) it is a traditional village house.

I really enjoyed this one! I flew through it with a new Tuesday personal best with only slight hangups because I briefly thought it was QUASIMOtO, easily corrected on crosses, and I blanked on ALTI... again, easily handled on crosses. Fun theme! Loved PEALE in there to support it! I'm seeing a lot of varying mileage out here about it though, which is always fair, but I don't think liking or disliking a puzzle makes it great or terrible.... Just varying mileage. Sometimes it jives and is in my wheelhouse and sometimes not. Maybe I don't know enough to know what a terrible puzzle is but it never occurred to me to think one is terrible because I didn't like it or struggled with it. I struggle with most and sometimes I love them more for it. But, I guess I don't know who the ultimate judge of great or terrible puzzles is though. 🤔 I presume it's an emu of unusual size and wisdom. Let us all now look to that Almighty Emu, who bestows upon us all Oreos and naticks according to their great pleasure.

Hey, What do Justin, Joel, and Ivan have in common? Da-dum-di-dum-da -di-dum! More great debuts! More great editing! More happy solvers! (I'm happy, hope you are too!)

I loved this puzzle! Clever theme. Congratulations on your debut, Justin.

I'm afraid I don't get or agree with all the griping. There were a few clues that took some thought for me, like LUSAKA and IVNPAVLOV (I wasn't certain of his first name), and one I just didn't know (I would have gotten PEALE more easily if it had been clued with "Norman Vincent ___________"), but really, I consider everything in the puzzle to be well within the cultural context of the puzzle. I was delayed a little bit because I was looking for a trick to fit in my misspelling of WILLY--forgot that he spelled it with a Y--and although I never heard of EARLAPS it made perfect sense. Still, Lee ATWATER, EARTHA Kitt, AKITA for the thousandth time? How are the not at the fingertips of most solvers? Almost exactly halfway between my Tuesday best and average, some real effort was involved, but ultimately a reasonably challenging Tuesday in my view. Thanks!

"You can ring my beh-eh-eh-eh-eh-ell, ring my bell" anytime, Justin! Well done! (That's from the Anita Ward song, in the off-chance anybody didn't recognize it.) Looking back at my first sentence, I'm wondering if that's a little weird. As many have noted before, there really ought to be a way to edit our posts before submitting them!

A few brief hesitations waiting on crosses, but no problems getting through this one. It's been a long time (an ERA?) since I read "Death of a Salesman", but I did remember WILLY LOMAN. Took a bit longer and crosses to get ATWATER. I've definitely been wearing the TEES the last few days (90s °F)—the heat's been AWFUL. Getting the revealer led to getting a nice AHA moment. Nice debut, Justin, and thanks!

Ridiculous that so many people are calling LUSAKA obscure. It's a world capital and city of millions! That's hardly a natick (which btw has a population of 37K).

The shaggy dog story Justin refers to, in case you're interested, has two punchlines worthy of Munster Mike. The first: "I don't know, but his face rings a bell." The second: "I don't know his name, but he's a dead ringer for his brother."

FYI, Willy Loman is not a door-to-door salesman. He represents a company by selling, or trying to sell, its product at various places in New England, such as Boston,where his son catches him in a hotel with a mistress who is a secretary at one of his buying customers.

ATWATER crossing WILLYLOMAN crossing LUSAKA? On a Tuesday? C’mon..

Problem: In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is NOT a "door-to-door" salesman. He is a traveling salesman who represents a manufacturer and sells not to individual households (like Fuller Brushmen used to do) but to retailers--stores and such--in his territory. To say he "rings a bell" is inaccurate if the phrase is meant to suggest that he shows up at the doorstep of a private home and, well, rings the bell.

Clever, enjoyable puzzle. The proper nouns did not bother me at all. Congrats to the constructor and his patience in submitting 35 puzzles before being selected.

Congratulations Justin on a fine debut! I also put HUNCHBACK in there - oops. Also struggled with LUSAKA. But ATWATER was a gimme, and once I figured out how to spell EARTHA, she fit in quite nicely as well. Well done - I hope to see more of your puzzles!

Well, all I can say is, "Attention must be paid!" to this new NYT constructor. Well done. No gripes here.

I may be lucky if I am the only one in this community to have spent time in Lusaka, but I do think the complaints were unkind. I LIKED memorizing capitals. And we had LOME just the other day.

Reading the comments here reminds me of my days listening to complaints about chemistry quizzes. "It's too tricky." "I didn't know I had to know that." "You mean 'apolar' and 'nonpolar' mean the same things?" (Taken directly from a NYT puzzle a couple months back.) "This was too difficult for this point in the semester." "I have never heard the word 'stoichiometric' and I don't think it exists. I've never heard anyone use it. It's made-up." I am glad I don't live in a world as cut-and-dried and unsurprising and blandly perfect as one they seem to prefer--that world would be boring."

Man, I got to the first themer and was curious so I went to the revealer and solved it so quick I thought the rest of the puzzle might be pretty easy. Boy was I wrong! I needed every brain cell for it. I was thrilled to see EARTHA KITT! She reminds me of my grandma. And I loved the ERAS clue. This felt like a Wednesday puzzle with a Tuesday theme.

Willy Loman was not a door-to-door salesman. He was a traveling salesman. He sold shoes to shoe stores and department stores. Willy would drive or take a train to his destination and book into a hotel. (One of the great scenes is when one of his sons decides to surprise him and finds him with a woman in the hotel room.). Willy would visit the stores in the town by appointment, and show the samples he had brought with him. The buyer would place an order. Willy would write it up and the shoes would be shipped to the store. Willy would get a commission n the sale.

QWASIMODO/HAWL UP added thirty seconds. Seemed perfectly fine when I typed them in. Time for some coffee. Fun puzzle!

A few minor speed bumps on this otherwise pleasant Tuesday. I add my voice to the growing chorus of “What the heck are EARLAPS?” I was similarly stymied by Death of a Salesman’s cross with the Zambian capital—a bit of an obscure proper noun crossing for a Tuesday, to my taste, but somehow LOMAN dredged itself out of my distant memory for the solve. Despite those minor nits to pick, the theme gave me a hearty chuckle, and I’ll forgive quite a bit in service to great wordplay. A solid debut for Mr. Werfel!

Fun puzzle, just a few seconds slower than my Tuesday personal best.

I'm just happy that I spelled QUASIMODO right on the first try...

It was neat that hunchback fits for QUASIMODO. Don't enjoy the WILLYLOMAN x LUSAKA cross. Is Death of a Salesman common high school reading somewhere or what am I missing for this to be a Tuesday clue?

This felt like every other clue was knowledge/trivia /name based. One of the worst Tuesdays ever.

See how fun crosswords are when there are no rebuses or other gimmicks? The last 4 or 5 puzzles have been delightful.

Thanks, Justin! A smoothly filled Tuesday, yet fresh and largely free of crosswordese. Only unknown to me was was Zambia's capital, LUSAKA, and that was filled in readily by the crosses. You're so veiny, you probably think this song is about you, emu, don't you.

Going to go against the grain here, did not enjoy this puzzle. While the theme rings true to each character, the theme clues does not actually help solve the others as they are all proper nouns. Having to recall Pavlov's and Willy's full name is not satisfying fill. This problem is further exasperated by the over use of proper nouns in this puzzle and several proper noun crossings. A much more satisfying theme clue would of helped hint to fill in the characters full names. A better puzzle does not have proper noun crossings. Glad others enjoyed but this one missed the mark for me.

For all those who are complaining that Willy Loman never went door-to-door and thus could not possibly fit the theme, I will note that in the text, the character himself notes about an effective salesman: "[...] when he walks into a business office his name will sound out like a bell and all the doors will open to him!"

The L at LOMAN / LUSAKA was a complete Natick

EARLAP? C’mon, it’s a flap. I spent ages trying to work a rebus in there! A little chewy for a Tuesday, but no real issues (other than the above nit). Although the only name I actually knew was the incredibly supple Ms Korbett, the crossings filled in easily enough. Unusually for my geographically challenged brain LUSAKA was a gimme. It took me an embarrassingly long time to actually understand the theme, I think because Father Christmas doesn’t actually ring a bell over here. Oh, and my Shiba was not impressed at the inclusion of his much larger cousin. He’s stalked off to raid my plastics recycling container in search of a cream carton he might not quite have liked clean yet. A fruitless task I fear. The mere opening of said carton top has him reacting in the classic PAVOLVian response.