I would bet there is some solver out there who, like me a few months ago, had never successfully completed a Friday with no lookups or help, who came to this comment board triumphantly Only to find it full of posts about how "easy" it was. Don't listen to them, excited person. A Friday is a Friday and gold star is a gold star. Stay excited. Stay enthused.
@Francis Doing a Friday puzzle without any help is no simple achievement. Well done and here's to many more 🥂
@Francis I've done some Fridays and Saturdays without lookups, but today I needed quite a few for the multiple trivia entries, and I've also noticed I am never on Mr Mehta's wavelength. This certainly was not an easy puzzle for me.
@Francis Thank you for this. 4 years ago I only tried Monday puzzles. As covid wore on, I slowly ventured deeper into the week despite all the help needed. Now I solve daily - with pleasure! Who cares if this was “too easy”, I’m proud of all I’ve learned since 2020.
I finished this puzzle very close to my PB time with nary a hint nor a lookup, but I am not disappointed that it was too easy for the following reasons: It was full of unusual and interesting fill. Plenty of clever and misdirecting clues (the one for INHD being a favourite) I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of solving. Even the crossing of two unknown proper names didn't phase me today, as I was able to easily guess the correct letters. In conclusion- one of the best straightforward, seamless themeless Friday crosswords ever! (imho)
@Janine I’m totally with you. Kind of easy but pleasant challenges.
@Janine I think we had the same experience. It was tough enough but didn't send me to Google and I didn't have to sleep on it before I finished it, so it felt good. Were your proper names DANA and ABE? Those were my personal Natick. The A was the last square I filled, and I tried an I first. I do feel like I should know the longest serving Japanese prime minister. I've seen him in crosswords before. Maybe this time he'll stick.
Me: okay, the puzzle is done, but what is GOD IM? What is GODIM? Why is no one talking about that in the comments? Also me: Ohhhhhh. Yes, I did indeed (temporarily?) GO DIM.
Some fun and clever clues here, enjoyed! Is there anything more humblebraggardly in a NYTCW comment section than complaining that a puzzle was too easy? “More like a Tuesday puzzle amirite!?” Fie on that 😉
@ds Well, only if one is a lone "humblebragging" voice; in this case it's more like a simple (and benign) observation / consensus..... Modest emus....
@ds Not necessarily bragging… I think this would be the case today whether your Tuesday average time is 5 minutes or 45 minutes.
If I was one of those "sophisticated" mice with a phony British accent, plump from cheese wedges at various art openings, fundraisers, and CMA awards parties, I would refuse the canapés. "Dahling," I'd squeak, "Cahn't you see I'm on a diet? I'd like to lose tan grams." And if I was a Navy cadet, I'd take my shore leave in San Francisco, take a cable car up near the Mark Hopkins, avoiding the tidal wave of tourists along the Embarcadero, and, because you have a nose for wine, order a glass of a good French cru at the Top of the Mark. If I was Adele I wouldn't be losing sleep over snide remarks. It's just those scamps in science lab who fell in love with you and have posters of you in HD taped to their dormroom doors, the one of you in a kilt in Oslo, showing your delts as you lift your hands up, holding that high C note impossibly long. Those boys need a proctor to tell 'em what to erase. We all grow up. When I was Twenty One I would cram for tests the night before, barely eked out a degree. And now I'm the type who reads ahead. *For mice, of course, the CMAs stand for the Country Mouse Association awards. They're in a FEUD with another group called the CMA -- the City Mouse Association, which also gives out awards. One day the country mice and the city mice will get along, but right now there are a lot of wedge issues.
This was far too easy for a Friday. I liked the fill and some of the clueing, but the lack of difficulty left me very unfulfilled, and rather disappointed. After an easy Thursday yesterday, I hope tomorrow's puzzle is more challenging, and worthy of a Saturday.
Didn’t get the happy jingle. Ah. “CRAp” for “stuff” was wrong. Can you tell I have a house full of teens?
Interestingly, the clue for 41A could also have been "Hill's partner in country music." Here are Tim and Faith on what's probably their most famous collaboration, other than their three girls: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVoidB50x8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVoidB50x8</a>
@Steve L Does anyone ever refer to the country duo as "McGraw-Hill"? (They could...)
@Steve L Thanks for the link. I know I’ve commented on this before, but quite a while ago I mentioned my appreciation of David Alan Coe’s version of the “Perfect Country and Western Song”. I don’t remember the context exactly, but you referred me to “Wait in the Truck” by Hardy. It is still one of my favorites, and I often exit my car now in my adopted State of South Carolina using that line. Thanks for this! <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mr3v69xk" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/mr3v69xk</a> state
Oddly fast today on this one—half my Friday average. A simple straightforwardness to this puzzle.
The Fawdon Wagonway was an English cable car system that started operation in 1826. Another was inaugurated in East London in 1840. The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway started in New York in 1868, five years before cable cars started running in San Francisco. The grip used in San Francisco cable cars was an innovation in 1873, but the cable car itself was nearly a half-century old at the time. I thought my father was cool for commuting to work on SF's Clay Street cable car line, but in later years he and Stepmother #4 made Tony Bennett's ILMHISF "our song" and I cringed whenever they played it.
@FB You know that you totally blow me away with the depth and breadth of your knowledge. I’ve mentioned this before. But now you are getting into a new area. Step mother #4 is something beyond most of our experiences. Perhaps you could share a little more about this. You have got to understand that many people across the country (like me) would love to get more of a clue about you. Perhaps consider just a little sharing. Like, when and where were you born? That can’t be too difficult, I’ll shut up now…
Fact Boy, Andrew Hallidie's introduction of the grip in San Francisco, which meant that cars could actually stop for passengers to get on and off, made it a considerably more practical means of urban transportation than the earlier systems. ............................
@Fact Boy How do I get you on my bar trivia team?
oh i liked this puzzle ~ a smooth solve, no heavy lifting i loved CTRLALTDEL! btw, today marks my 1610 day streak, nbd happy friday, everyone!
Congratulations, @artlife! That’s quite an accomplishment!
@artlife WOW! Thats a serious streak... It translates to close to 5 yrs! I barely manage a day streak M-F at the best... 5 yrs would not even be in my dream! Congratulations, yes, agree that quite an achievement. Have a good day everyone
Oh Pandora. All those ills in that box: a TIDAL WAVE of FEUDS, SNIDE REMARKS, and LOSING SLEEP. Was there no LEGIT FALLBACK PLAN? Could someone READ AHEAD to find how this turns out? Maybe we should just CTRL ALT DEL the whole business? Down there at the bottom: HOPE.
Lots of “Whee!” today, with a dominos-falling feel, and yet there were plenty of roses to stop and smell: • Lovely wordplay clues, such as [Arm raisers] for DELTS and [Comes out on top?] for BALDS. My favorite was the fabulous [Very clear, as a stream] for INHD, an answer almost always clued prosaically. • For spark, lovely longs – 14 – seven of which were NYT debuts, my favorites being FALLBACK PLAN, SNIDE REMARKS, and CTRL ALT DEL. • The shorter lovelies DOTTY and SCAMP. • Sweet to see IDO twice in the twelfth row, and DROP down. On top this is a magnificent serendipity, IMO, but to appreciate it you need to know that Hemant is a well-known atheism activist through his books, blog, and appearances at atheist-centered events. Thus, knowing how Hemant has cut theism out of his life, I smiled when I looked at the filled-in grid and saw GOD abutting I’M ON A DIET. Hemant, after having just seven puzzles in the Times, you are one of those rare and special constructors whose name atop a puzzle spontaneously makes my heart light up. Thank you for a breezy, sparky, splendid outing today!
@Lewis Always interesting to know more about a constructor. (Rabbi) Harold Kushner has noted the interesting fact that people can be so angry at god for not existing. Given the evils enacted in service of theism, one understands, except for the energy expended when there are so many more important questions to ask... like, when's the next puzzle coming down the pipeline? Family directives were "Never discuss politics or religion," and we've seen that proven again and again.
"Oh boy. We're going down a ramp again." "Hey, enough of your slide remarks." (I was inclined to post that.)
@Mike I sensed a different slant on this one....is this one of those "slippery slope" issues?
@Mike Chute, ladder roll, I say. 🛝 🛝🛝🛝🛝🛝🛝🛝 Emu, some for your chicks.
How’s this for serendipity? Waiting for my wife to finish some work so we could do the puzzle today, I jumped into the archives and alit on the Saturday from December 21, 2013. It turns out to be a clever tribute by Todd Gross and David Steinberg for the 100th anniversary of what is believed to be the first published modern crossword puzzle, by the young Brit Arthur Wynne in the New York World. <a href="https://www.niagara-gazette.com/archives/happy-100th-to-the-crossword-puzzle/article_735f7d42-1c4f-51bd-bdaa-27f4659bb157.html" target="_blank">https://www.niagara-gazette.com/archives/happy-100th-to-the-crossword-puzzle/article_735f7d42-1c4f-51bd-bdaa-27f4659bb157.html</a> Curious about this history, I looked up the first NYT crossword, from 1942. Scanning the clues, I noticed 126A was “Anguillid”. Could this be the first sighting of our now-old friend, EEL? It was. A quick dive into the Wiki rabbit hole, identified eels as “catadromous”, a word I never heard of, but immediately loved. And, just an hour later, “catadromous”, shows up at 4D! “Oh, the places you’ll go” in crossword land!
@Tom B I always appreciate when someone mentions an interesting puzzle way back in the archives that I'd never find on my own. That's a neat one, although (as usual, going that far back) I had to get some letter checking help to get through it.
@Tom B "the places you'll go" Approached correctly, a crossword is like one of Frost's gorgeous trails.
Easiest Friday in a long, long time. Felt like an easy Wednesday. Hope for a challenge tomorrow.
Might be time for me to return to my home planet. I know I'm always bringing up the rear in this group, but was still surprised to see that almost everyone else found this unusually easy. I just couldn't get anywhere with it. Didn't have much filled in when I finally gave up. Oh well... For no discernible reason, I went down a different path today thinking about - spelling and pronunciation. Specifically, was thinking about the 'bew' sound in... debut, beauty and imbue (for example). Might spend some time thinking about other alternatives. Feel free to chime in if you're so inclined. See you tomorrow. ..
@Rich in Atlanta Don't forget moo, taboo, tattoo... And, of course, emu.
@Rich in Atlanta Hey Rich, don't feel so disheartened. I don't know how long you've been doing crosswords, but I myself am relatively new (day 166 and counting on my streak), and not too long ago I couldn't even solve a Monday without researching half the answers. I am one of those that found today relatively easier than other Fridays I've done, but I still had to look up a few clues (e.g. 40A: TANGRAMS and even 30D: AVILA) just to move things along more quickly. I attribute today's easier feel for me to recognizing some crosswordese and anticipating some of the misdirection that tend to come with Fridays. For example, early in my crossword solving journey, I would never have guessed URNS for 58A (never heard that term used outside of cremating human remains), and 44D: IN HD appeared in the crossword somewhat recently, so I tuned in to that answer right away. All that to say, I think you belong on this planet with the rest of us. Hope some of these puzzles start to feel a little more intuitive for you as you continue to play.
As a “I’m just here for fun” solver (ie relatively terrible in this company), I thoroughly enjoyed being able to solve a Friday with no help in reasonable time. Sure, it wasn’t riddled with esoteric vocabulary or 17th century historical references, but the joy of completing a Friday, even if it was too easy for the lot, is a high I can ride until the inevitable humbling of tomorrows puzzle. 💁🏻♂️ great start to the weekend. Thanks.
@Harrison Don't overestimate "this company". I can usually do Fridays and Saturdays without a lookup, but yesterday I walked out to my car having forgotten my shoes. No one is that much smarter than anyone else--something the great physicist Richard Feynman said.
@Harrison Glad you had a satisfying experience. That's the beauty of doing these puzzles - no nitpicking required. Have a joy-filled weekend.
Much too easy for a Friday, more like a Tuesday or Wednesday.
Well, at least I found the puzzle easier than usual for a Friday, but didn’t expect quite such a chorus of disappointment that it was too easy to be enjoyed at all. As always I wonder what day the instructor had in mind. I liked it a lot.
Another vote from me for themeless Wednesday. That would give a home to perfectly good puzzles like this one. With that change, the community would be able to focus on the puzzle itself instead of the day of the week. It's not fair to the constructor, who I imagine might come here to see what people thought of their puzzle, to see comment after comment about an editorial decision.
For the record, and speaking as an annoying pedant, the three guards in the opening scene of Hamlet are Bernardo, Francisco and Marcellus. What those two Italian guys and one Greek guy are doing in Denmark (besides guarding the battlements), I’m not quite sure. Marcellus enters last in the scene (along with Horatio—Hamlet’s school chum), and in the Globe Theatre where it was originally performed, Marcellus most likely came from the stage right entrance—audience left. Therefore, the third guard from the left is Marcellus. And now you know.
@PK I knew it! I knew someone was going to address that! God, I love this little corner of the vile universe.
Enjoyable Friday, 11:44, 7 minutes faster than average. Had a few where I went astray, but crossing told me where I went wrong. Nothing wrong with a slightly lighter lift on a Friday.
Pretty sure that was too easy for a Friday. Could have been a Themeless Thursday or a Wednesday. New PB for Fridays that I’m unlikely to meet again.
@Selective Walrus Agreed! Not quite a Friday PB for me, but my time was about my Tuesday average time. It was quite a bit faster than half my Friday average.
CTRLALTDEL was an instafill, and quite a rewarding one at that. Much better than being forced to do a three-finger salute because your computer has locked up. This puzzle didn't feel particularly easy as I worked my way through it, but I ended up finishing well under my average but a bit above my record. The rating of the difficulty of a puzzle will always be subjective to the solver. I've blown through puzzles that others have struggled with, and vice-versa. To me, the day of the week is a rough guideline of difficulty, not an objective measure etched in stone. There are many weeks where I've struggled mightily with a Friday and made steady and joyful progress the following day with the Saturday puzzle. And that's okay.
Sorry, fun, but way too easy for Friday.
I was stuck at "Almost there" for a long while until I realized, CRAp! "Stuff" isn't a noun here, it's a verb. I was able to CRAM in my final letter and get the gold star. And with that my Doctor's orders were out of the pEDS ward and were instead the more sensible MEDS. Phew!
@Gregg Same problem here, I found and fixed my one actual typo, then set to more flyspecking and kept overlooking this error because I was sure I needed to fix SNIDERE MARKS. I was trying to shoehorn "scissor marks" or something in there, and finally remembered that I didn't understand PEDS. Would have been a very quick solve if not for that.
Not quite a personal best but close. Yes, it was easy for a Friday but so what? It was an enjoyable jaunt, with interesting fill, I saw little glue. The only clue i had to work at was IDOLS, having no clue what Survivor is, other than I presume a tv show? I tried tools first, but that clearly didn’t work with NOSE. Ditto who we’re talking about at 45D. Didn’t halt me for long though, being confident with my answers to 22 and 46D. It works for me that it’s a fast solve today, I’ve got a packed day ahead with guests arriving later, so a cake and casserole to prep.
@Helen Wright You remind me that I did not 'get' IDOLS either. Haven't seen "Survivor" and can't see what use an IDOL would be if these folks are out there in the wilderness with next to nothing. I'd want to find some Deepwoods OFF.
@Mean Old Lady Survivor is a survival reality show (less raw survival, more reality drama) where contestants have compete in events as tribes. Losing tribes go to a tribal council where they vote one another off. The immunity idol prevents a person from being voted off. It’s great fun, one of my favorite shows!!!! 😁
So smooth that the real challenge was overthinking the clues but no complaints with this fine puzzle. I don't really pay much attention to day of the week assignments and just take them as they come. I was quite sure that the answer to "Get a rise out of?" would be wAKE because of the ? but that gave me pause at wALDS. TANGRAMS (never hoid of 'em) more than made up for IMONADIET. Did I like this puzzle? IDO!
I'm going to ignore the comments from veterans complaining about it being too easy. This was a fun puzzle for me. I was on the same wavelength as Hemant and able to correctly solve longer entries like FALLBACKPLAN without crosses! I enjoyed NIKES, CABLECAR, and TIDAL WAVE as well.
@Sam I had "kicks" before "Nikes" on 1A. But the other clues pointed me in the right direction.
@Sam Believe me, the first Friday those "veterans" got was probably a bit easier than usual, too. Soon you'll be doing them, and reading in the comments about how hard it was.
Here I was feeling that the puzzle, Mr Mehta’s constructor notes, and Deb’s column were all delightful. Is it Friday? Who cares? Well, obviously many commenters do. I love this community and appreciate all who contribute, but today I was grateful for Lewis, john ezra, Fact Boy, PK and others whose commentary transcended difficulty level or day of the week. YMMV.
Pretty darn easy for a Friday, as others have noted. I did enjoy it though. A nice puzzle. No junk. Sometimes an emu just showing up is enough.
Hi, please note that Cadets are at West Point for the Army. Aspiring mariners at the Naval Academy are Midshipman. They are not called Cadets. I do not think that term is used anytime in the US Navy — except maybe for the Army-Navy game!
@Luanne Where does the clue say “US Navy”? Besides, a Midshipman may not be a Cadet, but he or she is nevertheless a cadet. !!!! !!!!
Luanne, NAVYCADET was discussed here earlier today. Take a peek: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/3v311a?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/3v311a?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a> Emu cadets.
This is the first Friday puzzle (other than Easy Mode) that I have ever finished! I needed a little help from Google, but when I do, I do so in order to learn something new. For example, I now know the capital of Punjab and I know a few things about it. Fascinating. By the way, if you're constructing a crossword and need "dad jokes", visit a local Scouts meeting. They're rife with them. Funny thing, as it were: I don't actually find dad jokes funny despite the fact that I love word play. I find if curious what stimulates our funny bone and what doesn't. Oh, and now I want an ICEE Make sure your friends and family know you love them. Life is too damn short not to. Peace be with you.
Whew! So glad "cutting lines" was not SNIPERMARKS! Emu target here.
Not complaining at all, as I was delighted to run through this puzzle. I thought this was how it felt to be on the same wavelength as the creator. It felt great. Turns out it was just an "easy Friday". Great fun, though.
Delightful puzzle exclaimed ko and I agree, I think some confuse smooth and concise with easy. If you wish I can adjust your MEDS, Note: That is a SNIDEREMARK. My brother loves Cheese-its so CHEESEWEDGE took awhile. Thank you Hemant. Nice job.
I really enjoyed this puzzle! It was a good one for me to jump back into after not being able to finish the last few. I should say, it's not that I couldn't finish them (I still will), just that there were many travel distractions. Our trip home from Honduras went from what was supposed to be a 12 hour trip to a 35 hour one with an extra hotel stay. Plus, the most turbulent ferry ride I've ever had from our island to the mainland. You'd think all the delays would have helped me finish the puzzles, but my head wasn't there. Plus, it's a lot to travel internationally under normal circumstances with my dear MIL, who is pretty advanced in years and dementia, but with all the delays and confusion of this one, it was pretty rough. She had a great time while there, though, so 'twas worth our exhaustion! Anyhow, puzzle! This was a lovely one for me. Fun to puzzle out but breezy and well under average. Favorite answers: SCIENCE LAB (student mixers), and FELL IN LOVE (smitten), HOPE (Pandora's box), FEUDS (long rows), GOD, I'M ON A DIET!!! (just kidding but I liked the stacked placement of GO DIM and the thought of yelling GOD, I'M ON A DIET! if someone is too desert pushy), BAKES (get a rise), and CHEESE WEDGE (cursor shaped food). So, obviously, I liked a lot. 😊 I find that I really dislike the frequently seen APE or APED. I can't identify a real reason and I always know it right away, but I wish it would make like a banana and split!
@HeathieJ Right! The use of APE and APED has always bothered me, too. Like you I can't say why.
@HeathieJ Totally agree with you. APE, APED, ODE, ERE, OREO occur repetitively and seem like crosswordese inside baseball instead of genuine entries.
@HeathieJ I just hope everyone here caught what you just wrote about going on vacation to an island off of Honduras with your elderly, demented MIL. Anyone who thinks they just had a difficult day today, please just reset. I can’t even imagine. More power to you…. — — — — — — — — — — — —
I think I stumbled on a word that caused my comment to be grabbed by the emus. When I composed my comment I did not think twice about it, but i can see in some contexts why it might be subject to scrutiny. The word sounds like “kahn spear a see”. I thought since this was my third personal best in three weeks that this might be one.
@Jim I see your original comment was released about an hour ago complete with the conspiracy word. My guess is that the brevity of your original note may have contributed. I’ll pad this one a bit as a test. It’s about 11:30 AM Eastern right now. Testing, testing, testing…. — — — — — — — — — — — — I hope this is enough to sate the ratites, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough…
@Jim My personal theory? Somehow, sometimes, a comment gets "lost". I don't know how. Maybe a message queue gets messed up, or there's a tricky race condition going on, or there's just some sort of bug (there are bugs, many, many of them, in all code) that is causing it. It seems to be correlated with message length, as it generally happens with short replies. But I have no idea why that would be.
CTRLALTDEL is perhaps my favorite string in long while. Off on a long road trip; glad the puzzle was somewhat easy.
Only four lookups today and finished 7:02 faster than my average, so I’m happy. Loved 44D - genius cluing! I also wondered what a “godim” was - a musical term, maybe? But then it dawned on me. 🤦♀️ Now I’m off to read about how basketball 🏀 was once so violent, it had to be played in a cage! Yikes! I bet emus play basketball like that!
@Cherry I too needed only four lookups. It was a rather enjoyable puzzle!
Friday PB for me, like many others, but quite fun. I look forward to more puzzles from this constructor, feels like I might be on his wavelength.
Fun puzzle! But I did it almost three times as fast as my Friday average. While I’m sure there are those out there who are excited to get through a Friday puzzle (and to you: congratulations! that was me not all that long ago) many of us look forward to a challenge towards the end of the week. The past couple weeks have seemed way too easy, with today just the most extreme of the bunch.
Most surprising clue/answer combination today? My vote goes to: "Very clear, as a stream" = IN HD.
@archaeoprof Yes, that one was tricky, but my vote goes to SNIDEREMARKS. I came to Comments to hear about that clue, I was thinking about cutting line on a pattern, and "Gee, I didn't know those lines were called spider marks", I was way off, and that's the fun of it :)
10/10 crossword. Excellent word play, no crazy niche knowledge required, just a clever, fun brain teaser. I wish more puzzles were like this one!
Jammed through this as quickly as this week's Wednesday. Fun, but I spent longer trying to figure out yesterday's TOAT than I did on this whole puzzle.
Easy breezy, only thing that tripped me up was the BAKE/BALDS crossing. Must have tried every consonant in the alphabet before I got it
@Steven M. Ditto. I had a similar experience. If you bake an emu, will it rise?
This felt like a Wednesday. No challenge, no grit, no bite. There was nothing *that* terrible - I’ve never seen Survivor, don’t care about the CMAs or ADELE’s music that much, but that’s just my contrarian tastes I guess. But there was no clever world play here, nothing to think about, no “a-ha” moments. Another letdown after a weak Thursday.
@Alexandra I thought SCIENCELAB and "Place for student mixers" was clever word play. Likewise CTRLALTDEL for "'Three finger salute' for a reboot"; clever and rhyming. As far as ADELE is concerned, anytime a clue has anything whatsoever to do with a singer and it's five letters, I just automatically put in ADELE.
I've assumed that's an editorial decision to ease up a little these days. You can always jump back to a crunchier era via the archives wormhole. I'm just finishing up 2002, and find the challenge level of the late nineties / early aughts pretty consistent and satisfying.
I've felt that way a fair bit of late, and assume it stems from an editorial decision to ease up a little. You can always jump back to a crunchier era via the archives wormhole. I'm just finishing up 2002, and have found the challenge level of the late nineties & early aughts pretty consistent and satisfying. And I tell myself that exercising the memory by trying to dredge up decades-old pop culture and news references must be healthy in some way.