I love the cleverly cryptic clues, especially those for CUT OFF JEANS and TWO DOLLAR BILLS. It took me an embarrassingly long time to parse O PIONEERS. The second high school graduate in the last 3 days. Wow! Congratulations, Luke. Very impressive! #TINA and #MILLIE BOBBY HASH BROWNS
@Anita HASH BROWNS is funny. But all the theme answers were first names, weren’t they?
The punctuation expert joined the rock band. He plays the symbols. (And then he dashes off.)
@Mike Can we quote you on dot? Do emus ever fall into a comma? 💤💤💤
@Mike I note that Guns ‘n’ Roses has a bass player called Slash, if you’ll pardon an oblique reference
@Mike I think we should all be careful about what we say near a hot Mike. Period. Something about the way emus
For those who are getting wound up in TV TAPE, please remember the creator of this puzzle is at high school! I’m not saying that to let him off the hook for a vote you disapprove of, but because at his age, a VCR looks like a Stone Age hand axe, so it’s not surprising if something has got lost in the sands of time. I think TV TAPE is actually pretty accurate. Great puzzle, kudos, keep em coming.
TV Tape? TV Tape? I mostly enjoyed this puzzle but that is one of the most awkward answers I've ever seen. VCR medium is TV Tape. Wow. Pros: Nice, fun theme that revealed itself right on time after minimal confusion. Glam rock is a great clue. Overall a well made puzzle. Cons: Who the heck is Buck O'Neil? (Sigh, sports guy of course. I would have preferred Buck Owens or something.) TV TAPE! ;)
@B I would have preferred Buck Owen’s, too, but given MLB’s recent decision to include the records of the Negro Leagues into the major league record books, it’s certainly a timely reference. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_O'Neil" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_O'Neil</a>
@B Buck O'Neil is a baseball answer but his inclusion here is also history. O'Neil was one of the great Black players cruelly denied a chance to play in the majors.
Fun! These don’t quite measure up, but it adds to my fun: (Biden + DiMaggio)/2 Kafka Dvořák nanoNewhart, dinkyDylan AVERAGE JOES SEPARATE CZECHS BITS AND BOBS
CLM, Don't be sad; two out of three ain't bad. emu meat loaf?
@Cat Lady Margaret Those are pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good!
Re 19A: but a flightless woodpecker is a RATATATITE.
DONT YOU love it when the fills reveal the clues and make you laugh? I could use a month of Sundays like this one, a SERENE solve that SOOTHES my SEISMic nerves—just enough SPINS to make me take a few steps back, but no DASHED HOPES. Looked BACK, SAW I had to abandon my fez and put on a TAJ, (a word I only thought of with Mahal —"YES I DID"), and never noticed before that "My Antonia" has the same number of letters as "O PIONEERS." But "IT IS SO" satisfying when I see what TRIPS me up and I say "AH I SEE" (even though I like your answer better). Ever see so many QUOTATION MARKS?? Thank you, Luke K. Schreiber, a lovely puzzle, and Princeton will be lucky to have you this fall. Please don't forget us though. If you have a little time on your hands and want to cook up another puzzle, we'll be waiting.
BUCK O’NEIL! He’s on my somewhat eclectic (and presumptuous) list of people I am sad I will never have the chance to meet. The Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City was his baby, and it’s not to be missed. It’s quite worth the trip. I liked the theme clues — they triggered less verbal parts of my brain!
I truly enjoyed this puzzle. Mr. Schreiber made me fight for every inch of real estate, especially in the upper right section with the binary and decimal look-alikes and the AUTO REFRESHES ? punny clue. There really seemed to be no “filler” clues with each one being thoughtfully crafted. I particularly liked the theme clues because each was like a puzzle within a puzzle and the answer could be reasoned out rather than retrieved from memory. This puzzle took a bit longer than my Sunday average, but I enjoyed every minute. Thanks for a good and fun challenge.
A star is born!!!! For a high school senior to come up with this sophisticated, clever, imaginative, varied and thoroughly grown-up puzzle is astounding to me. Every themer clue was a delightful little puzzle in itself -- and it was great fun to figure out every single one of them. And the grid is so wonderfully free of the kinds of things we're told that today's high-schoolers are so completely into. There's almost no pop culture at all, few proper names, nothing having anything to do with screens or textspeak or anything of that ilk. If I see a hint of the constructor's special interest, it might be in solving the problems of climate change -- to which I say Bravo! I think you're going to be one of the great constructors, Luke, and I'm putting this superb Sunday into my running list for Puzzle of the Year. Hope you have a great time at Princeton.
21A TVTAPE was the groaner of the puzzle. As someone who grew up during the VCR era, that term was never used by anyone anywhere. I'm sure it was commons parlance in Western Podunkia. Hey Earl. Put that darn TVTAPE into the playing machine.
100A (DASHED HOPES) sure did make me smile!! This was a very enjoyable solve with some especially clever clues. Though I still do not understand how 21A (TVTAPE) is the answer for VCR MEDIUM. I grew up with a VCR, and I never heard anyone ever use the term TV TAPE.
@Hope Levav My undergrad degree is in Radio-TV-Film, and I mostly studied video production. I have never heard anyone say TV TAPE, either.
EEYORE and ELROY and a fun theme to puzzle out. What's not to love? Welp, maybe TV TAPE. Clowns to the left of me. RATITES to the right.
@Vaer It wasn’t until I started reading Wordplay that I learned the word “ratite.” I like your subtle reference to “Reservoir Dogs.” (I used to have a coworker who had a Mr. Blonde action figure, with a detachable right hand so you could pose him with or without the straight razor.)
I’m not holier than thou. I’ll accept TV tape. And while I’m watching it, since I didn’t have time to make a real pot pie, I’ll just heat up a TV meal. (I for one welcome our high-school overlords - nice puzzle :)
Good theme. The gimmick was quickly obvious to me, but the individual answers took a while to sus out. All very clever
Loved the theme! Just had never heard of like half the people in the clues so I kept thinking I was missing something. (That’s not a complaint, I’m happy to learn.)
Clever and fun puzzle! Today I learned about “beeramids.” Why didn’t I learn this in college? I want a tuition refund!
Can't believe I'm the first to say that movie rip-off should be SODAS.
@RozzieGrandma Fountain sodas anywhere are way overpriced. That’s one reason I avoid them.
@RozzieGrandma not to mention - do they even DO ticket stubs anymore?
@RozzieGrandma I looked at the clue, then the answer squares and realized there was no way to get popcorn into those 4 slots. Got STUB from the crosses. Our theaters not only don't do stubs, they don't even do paper tickets. Hold up your phone with QR code to the scanner and walk right in!
I wait all week for a puzzle like this -- high word count, decent theme, good cluing. Thanks!
I started playing the NYT Crossword two years ago today. It’s been an amazing ride and has become a great hobby. I've learned an amazing amount. It’s helping my memory. In fact, I may be transmogrifying into an elephant. I don’t know how my progress compares to other newcomers, but I can now finish Mondays and Tuesdays without looking anything up. Mostly. Also: I like to write sentences that only contain adverbs. My record for Mondays is 7:56. I can usually knock out a Wednesday puzzle inside an hour. Thursdays are fun but success is very hit or miss. I’ve never solved a Friday (other than Easy Mode), or a Saturday or Sunday. So it goes. One thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t always pick up on some of the wordplay. That seems weird since I like plays on words or, as they say in English-speaking countries, puns. The gimmicks often confuse me. I’m not sure if it’s just the way my mind works, or if it’s because I prefer small shiny objects. It’s been a fun ride that’s not over. Peace.
@Alan Parker Congratulations! Sounds like you’re doing great. You will find over time that you get better and better at the later in the week puzzles. You start seeing the little tricks of the trade. It is a delightful pastime and so good for our brains.
@Alan Parker it can take several years to pick up on all the gimmicks (Thursday) and the vague wordplay (Friday and Saturday). There are also tricks that many solvers use such as finding plurals and past tense clues and filling in the endings (s, ed). In addition there are really arcane words that often appear in the puzzles apse (a cove in a church), utne (as in the Utne Reader), among many others. Over time, you'll learn them and the more difficult puzzles will fall.
@Alan Parker Look things up! That way you'll know them for next time, and learn lots of cool stuff besides. I've "finished" over 2000 puzzles in the last 10 years or so. Probably in half I had to look things up, but that's OK. Google has made it easier. When I really get stuck I look at the answer that is linked to at the bottom of Wordplay column.
I'm sure there are some who solved this puzzle in seven minutes but I thought it was very hard. I had to come back to it again and again. The fill was cryptic and the theme was also rather challenging. The spliced gene line was the most obscure and arcane to me. But I enjoyed it. I said to myself: "think like a teenager"
@Asher As I am a Trekkie, Spliced Genes came easily to me! People of all ages love Trek! I didn't see the original series (with Shatner and Nimoy) when it first aired, but I could have.
MY ANTONIA, by Cather, also takes place in Nebraska & has the same letter count as O PIONEERS. Which is neither here nor there. Come to think of it, that might be a good state motto for Nebraska: "Neither Here Nor There." OK, Cornhuskers, back down: I kid. Loved the theme set and some of the excellent clues, especially Auto Refreshes ---> CARWASHES. Love how in the past few years we've seen some teen puzzlemakers of great ability -- Mr. Chalfin comes to mind. My try: Leon/tyne & Vin/cent Jones. & Kelly. Ansere & Nevus SLASHED PRICES GRACE PERIODS TWISTED SISTERS
@john ezra I went through most of the puzzle with alacrity but was slowed down considerably by My Antonia in place of O PIONEERS
@coloradoz I also filled in MY ANTONIA right away and was very disappointed when I quickly saw it didn’t work. The only other Nebraska novel I could think of was IN COLD BLOOD, which of course didn’t fit. Eventually I had OPIO… and wondered if OPIOID was part of the title. But then I remembered one of Willa Cather’s other novels, and that took care of the NE corner. I guess NE could stand for a direction or Nebraska in that sentence.
I think I might have encountered BACKSAW in a crossword before but it didn't stick. RHI seemed like a plausible baseball stat, so by the time I struggled all the way to the end of the puzzle I didn't get the happy music for a good long time. The theme was fun and there were a few gimme short answers scattered around, but overall I found this quite challenging. SALADIN was new to me. I tried Salassi for a minute - I knew it was misspelled but thought maybe there's an alternate accepted spelling since the original isn't in Latin letters. Thanks to reggae musicians I know Selassie was in Ethiopia, but I wasn't thinking it through. I guessed MR PINK although I've never made it to the end of Reservoir Dogs because of that one torture scene that's still seared into my brain 30 years after I saw it in the theatre. TAJ was new to me, too. So many opportunities to learn from today's puzzle!
@Shan I own a BACKSAW and I still put in hACKSAW until “ribbies” straightened me out. One of the strangest phone calls my husband got from his mother was when she called to tell him about this great movie she had seen on TV the night before. “Reservoir Dogs” — had he ever seen it?
Always learning something and that's a good thing for these "little grey cells." I first had fez instead of taj. From the photo, it appears that a taj is a fez without a tassel. What's the fun in that? Happy Sunday .
This one looked quite daunting (and there are entries which are apparently correct that I don't "get") but the riverboat cry/pen name and that really good-looking Ruffalo tipped me off. Quite the clever puzzle with an interesting variety...and some really mystifying clues. Mom and Dad often had a sitter for us kids when there was a "Hail and Farewell" dinner at the Officers' Club. This custom is ongoing and must date back to the days of centurians... who would say "AVE"--meaning HAIL, not FAREWELL. I hope I'm the 100th to bring this to your attention. PHYSIO in the UK; PT in the US. Trust me. (Could also be OT, as that can be equally important. After Bad Chloe threw PhysicsDaughter, resulting in a broken wrist, there were quite a few weeks of OT required to restore movement and function befoore she could manage her hand controls and drive again......and Yes, Bad Chloe went to a new owner.) Whatever did ST LEO have to chat about with Attila? "How 'bout them phalanxes?" "We'll be needing some new gates! Can you give us some help with that?" "Pillage much?"
@Mean Old Lady I read a lot of Irish/UK/Canadian fiction, so Physio came easily! Proves I'm not wasting my time.
@Mean Old Lady I dare not touch several of your questions. However, I do agree that Mark Ruffalo always seemed to be really good looking to me, but I'm a guy so...you know... I wasn't sure.
I was very impressed with today's crossword. I had to put on my thinking cap, which I rarely do. The creator of the puzzle sure is talented!
Congratulations, Mr. Schreiber, on your delightful Sunday debut. The theme was very clever and skillfully executed. I hope your upcoming studies at Old Nassau won't keep you from sending us an occasional puzzle.
@Robert Nailling I always like to learn things from the puzzles and the comments here. ‘Old Nassau” was a new expression for me, but easy to figure out. I’ve added a link here in case it is a new expression for anyone else. If anyone cares, it has never been an entry in a NYT xword, although “Princeton’s historic ____ Hall” has clued NASSAU three times, last time about 20 years ago. FWIW, the wrought-iron gate in front of Nassau Hall, the FitzRandolph Gate, was so-named after Nathaniel FitzRandolph, a relative of mine who donated the land there (both my mother’s and brother’s middle names were/are Randolph). The actual funds to build the gate came from his grandson, Augustus Van Wickle, who also funded the gates with his name at his alma mater, Brown. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mpambspx" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/mpambspx</a>
High school senior?? No wonder I couldn't get into Princeton. Luke, you rule the galaxy!
That was quite a 'punny' Sunday... the themed answers made me chuckle! TAJ and AGRA stacked one over the other was a nice touch :)
Wow, Luke. Your puzzle had everything I enjoy. Laughed out loud at 22A and 112A. Struggled with some answers: 15D emerged from the crosses. Enjoy the next exciting few months and look forward to next time.
I hate to break it to you guys but Mr. Pink absolutely does not survive in Reservoir Dogs. As the camera moves in on White and Orange in that final scene there is clear audio of Pink being confronted and then shot by the police.
But do you have it on TVTAPE? Quentin emu
@Graham Hackett You never see him get shot. Have you seen Star Wars? People miss a lot Loved to have an actual gimme cultural clue written for me on a weekend The TEENA RAGLAN cross took some guessing
Clever theme. I figured out what was going on with 22A QUOTATION MARKS, and since I knew most of the names in the clues, a good chunk of the theme answers were gimmes. I zipped through most of the grid without any problems. But that NE corner seemed to take as much time as the rest of the grid. I’m sorry, but 21A TV TAPE is green paint. The correct term is videotape. My undergrad degree was in Radio-TV-Film, but I mostly studied TV production. 24A WEAR IN is also suspect to my ear. You “break in” shoes and you wear clothes, especially jeans, until they’re nice and soft. But “wear in”? (Confession: Most of my clothes are past being worn in and are virtually worn out.) I hate trying to make sense of long Down answers, and what little I knew about 15D O PIONEERS! didn’t have the setting any more specific than “the American Midwest.” So I had a difficult time making sense of that. But even after fixing the NE corner, I still had an error. I finally saw that 77A wasn’t YES It is but YES I DID. That’s what I get for not checking 62D IN A DEAD HEAT. (55D SALADIN didn’t look too wrong with a T instead of a D.) A few years ago, I put on a denim jacket that I hadn’t worn in a while. In the pocket, I found a ticket stub from an arthouse cinema here that closed around 20 years ago. It didn’t say what movie we saw (and we saw a lot of movies there in the 1980s and ’90s). My husband thinks it might have been an installment of Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster” cycle.
@Eric Hougland I immediately filled in MY ANTONIA, which I knew was set in Nebraska. It became obvious that it wasn’t correct, and then I remembered O PIONEERS was also by Willa Cather. When I filled in the last square, I got the message that I had at least one incorrect letter. Turns out I did the same thing you did with YES IT IS. At least it was an easy fix.
@Eric Hougland I had the same issues in the NE, and would add MTWTF to my list of grievances. Pretty sure I’ve seen it before, and I’m not saying it’s invalid, just… seemed a bit twee for my taste. In all, though, this was a fun, punny Sunday debut. The themers were right on my wavelength.
Names are always tough for me, but Luke was kind enough to include one in each pair that I at least knew from crosswords. I thought the theme was clever, and each one gave me a chuckle as I figured it out. The JACKS didn't JUMP in my large print version, but that was easy enough to get with a few crosses. I had BuCKSAW before BACKSAW and didn't know MR PINK, but finally realized BAN was the most likely punishment. The NE was my last to fill, specifically TV TAPE and HEL crossing O PIONEERS. All 3 were new to me, so that section took some time to suss out. SPLICED GENES was a favorite, and I actually knew who both GENES were.
This was a fun and gentle romp. After getting QUOTATIONMARKS I couldn’t resist hunting down the other paired names, rather than making any effort to solve the puzzle systematically. My favorite pairing was CUTOFFJEANS, perhaps because I’ve enjoyed Jean Smart’s performances in Mare Of Easttown and Hacks so much.
I got off track for a bit because my mind immediately went to Willa Cather's other Nebraska-set masterpiece, My Antonia, which, surprisingly, has the same number of letters.
@HEK I stood ready for either title! I wonder at our HS English teacher who had GWTW on the required reading list, but nothing by Willa Cather... injustice! But it was the early 60'...and he demonstrated that he was both a mean-spirited chauvinist and a racist over the course of the year.
Well, I’ve been griping like EEYORE about my broken ankle since February, watched about 900 hours of TVTAPES in binge-mode (Ok, it was a on a smart tv and my iPad, but the crosses gave that one up without much of a fight), but I’ve begun TROT (hobble). And today I get to go shopping for a pair of ASICS (or something) with a good INSOLE to transition out of this boot thing! Then, we’ll go for beef on weck sammies with Au JUS. Not kidding, that was actually the plan. This puzzle played out like my plan for the day, with a fantastic theme, breezy crosses, fun clues, and enough chew to give me a SOOTHing Sunday morning solve. (And 🤚 ⬆️ for YESItIs as the final fix.) Thank you Luke! You ATE it! (Is that an insult or a compliment? Now I’m confused…) So- Thank you Luke! You did an exemplary job!
@CCNY Mmm, beef on weck! I haven't had that in a long time. And ATE it still means wiped out to me, as on a skateboard. Who's in charge of this modern slang, anyway?
@CCNY Some years back we had BEEF ON WECK visiting friends in upstate NY.... Good times! I tried making it once home, but results were iffy... I think we were too far south, ha ha.
Back in the day, did anyone else save their ticket stubs from special movies or events? I bet in the back of a kitchen junk drawer I might still have some from like the 70's!
@Amy yep, still have all my concert stubs from the 80’s to present day, scanned as well. Plus some movie and theater stubs.
I, for one, loved TV TAPE. It might be like one of those "that's what the kids call it these days" terms. I try to keep up. They almost always amuse me. I wonder what they call dial tones, for example. I guarantee you, whatever name they come up with will make me giggle. Thanks for the fun puzzle, Mr. Schreiber.
@Jim Not just the kiddies. I (think I) remember that when VCRs first came out, we called those little cassettes a variety of things, including, possibly, "TV TAPES."
Many years ago I borrowed my father's BACKSAW and miter box to do some woodwork at my house. When I was done I told him that I could bring them back to him, and he replied, "Oh no, you can't". Now that I'm approaching or past his age at the time, I can relate to the sentiment. Fun puzzle.
@Jack McCullough Wow, I haven't used a niter box in ages. Totally spoiled by having a compound miter chop saw. With a laser beam, even. I can't even imagine doing crown molding with a BACKSAW.
@Jack McCullough I understand your father's sentiments exactly! I'm in the process of cleaning out the 9 five-drawer file cabinets in our garage. We've lived her 49 years. We are trying to give away anything useful because we've told our kids that when we die they should park the car on the street and torch the garage! (It is detached from the house.) The only car in the garage is the 1956 Thunderbird that my Dad bought new!
Well. Hmm. The theme was cute and clever. I got it pretty much right away with QUOTATION MARKS. All the rest were easy for me to fill in, except for DASHED HOPES, which I needed a few crosses for. I knew it couldn't be Han for solo but I wasn't sure what it was. I am a big fan of hope but I did not know those two before. The theme answers were filled in very quickly and I finished the puzzle in less than half my average time for Sunday. I'd like to join the chorus regarding TV TAPE. Yikes! Yesterday, I couldn't believe opera ROCK was not the answer up in the northeast and today I couldn't believe that TV TAPES was the answer.... 😂 For a second I wondered if there was a rebus so I could fit in either vhs, video, or beta TAPE. Again I say, yikes! Kind of felt the same way about the MTWTF abbreviation for work week and WEAR IN... And kind of felt the same way about a number of non-theme answers, actually. But I shall not belabor it. It is always an enjoyable privilege to do a crossword puzzle, especially on a day that I could relax into it. I particularly liked SPLICED GENES and CAR WASHES! And I enjoyed seeing Willa Cather show up, even if I am more familiar with My Antonia, which I still have a copy of from the way back. I wanted to put that in but I was quickly disabused of the notion. I also liked learning about Buck O'Neil, so even if it wasn't a favorite, there was still a lot to enjoy and I appreciate it! Cheers, all!
@HeathieJ Agree on the TVTAPES entry and the MTWTF. Bit of an odd stretch. I love Willa Cather, too. My Antonia and O Pioneers are my favorites! My first instinct was also Han for SOLO and then I remembered the goaltending ace and was glad to see her utilized here.
@HeathieJ I think you and I may be experiencing a consciousness convergence. Once again, your experience with the puzzle was almost identical to mine. Hope that doesn't unsettle you. Did you also struggle with OPIONEERS.? The fact that I've read very little before 1965 probably limits my Wild West knowledge.
And here I thought a dervish wore a FEZ. Learn something new every day. Thanks Luke.
Great Sunday, Luke. Stick around — we could do with more puzzles from you! Thanks to the Times puzzle community, bloggers and solvers, I’m getting the hang of this thing!
What a great theme! This was truly a delight to solve, and each time I figured out one of the theme answers it made me smile. I had to flyspeck at the very end and finally saw my mistake at 70A. Due to my weakness in the areas of both sports and tools, I didn’t know BACKSAW, but knew about hacksaws, and I’ve heard of RBIs, but figured an RHI could also be a thing. But it isn’t. Thanks for giving us a terrific Sunday puzzle and please keep the puzzles coming. You are one of many very young crossword creators and I just love it that you are all sharing your talents with this community. Thanks a bunch 😊
Another fun puzzle from a very young constructor! I really enjoyed the theme, I love visual puns. I thought the theme entries were really clever. 59D MUCKER made me laugh.... a job I actually did at a riding stable when I was a teenager. It's not as bad as it sounds, lol. As someone who still owns a VCR and uses VHS tapes on a regular basis (and even once used Beta tapes), I have not now or ever called them TV TAPES. In fact I'm watching one right now.... it is on TV, and it is a tape..... hmmmm. 🤔
@Janine 59D had me stumped for a while because I, too, grew up mucking stalls yet have never heard stable hands referred to as MUCKERs!
@Janine Flashing back to yesterday's puzzle, did you use a MUCKFORK in the stable? My dad bought a Betamax VCR because that was the superior quality format...and because he was an engineer.
@Janine I loved Betamax. I was so sad it went away.
Congratulations to Luke K. Schreiber on both his NYT crossword debut and HS graduation. Looking forward to seeing your name again as a crossword creator!
12 down is WRONG! "Ave" is a greeting in Latin, not a farewell. How do I know? I have taught Latin for thirty years and have a Master's in it.
@Lori Kissell as a fellow classics teacher (though far your junior) you do still have Catullus’ Ave atque vale to contend with. A bit of both, but I’d say very much a goodbye….
@Lori Kissell What *is* a Latin greeting?
@Lori Kissell Thank you for your reply, this was bothering me as I recall learning Ave and Vale at school.
Oh, Yes! This was a wonderful puzzle, totally on my wavelength. of the same thing here. And I love Wacky Woprdies, and their cousins. There's a lot of that kind of thing too. Thank you. Having spent several decades as an editor, and doing copy editing and marking up copy for the typesetters, this puzzle was just a joy. Thank you, young man. I look forward to moe of the same. But, of course, the typographical norms will have changed by the time you have graduated college. I hope you come up with the changes, and continue to bend them to your puzzling endevavors. Thanks for the fun!
@Deadline Glad you've made it back to the comments. And new pandas coming to DC. (I think of you whenever there are pandas in the news.)
So many J’s. I got the theme with quotation marks, but didn’t twig to 33A until I read the column. Loved all the themers, but like B think that TV TAPE said no one ever. Great puzzle.
The themers came pretty quick for me with the exception of the Hopes but QUOTATIONMARKS absolutely cracked me up the most.