A cute puzzle of typical Tuesday ease with a well executed theme. What grabbed my attention was the reference to A Fly Went By. I have spent quite a bit of time reading that one to my grandson and making up funny voices for the different animals. The singsong cadence seems to be a real hook for him. Amyway, it was nice to be reminded of quality time spent with the little guy.
After finishing, I went to reread the theme clues. They were already good, but I had some fun shuffling them: Equipment for zooming: ELECTRIC FENCE (If you’ve touched one, you know what I mean) Subject of Caution sign on park bench: LIMBO BAR (geez you have to go through contortions just to sit down) Shocking thing found on farm: CRIME SCENE (someone let the donkeys into the vegetable garden) Challenge for underachiever: WET PAINT (they just sit there watching it dry) Where to look for fingerprints: CAMERA LENS (also, your glasses)
@Cat Lady Margaret Brilliant! . . . . . And thanks for the reminder – time to clean my phone screen! :-)
@Cat Lady Margaret My first comment didn't post, and all I said was that this is brilliant! (...and that it was a great reminder to clean my phone screen.) . . . . . . Emus should be booked and fingerprinted.
The unfed are to be envied, if they come to this cruciverbal feast, for they will leave so sated, having finished their several course dinner with a latte and cubes of kiwi with a sprig of mint and a faint aura of Chambord, sighing in contentment, one of them commenting to the other on the way out, "If anyone says the words 'slims down,' I'm gonna psaki them where the yam don't shine!" OK, like Ahab, I'm going overboard. But what a clever, grade A, Type AB puzzleknocker. Great cluing and fun crunch throughout. Uhaul meets Ann Lee: a mover and a Shaker! I must have missed the brew-ha-ha about cold brew yesterday, as referenced in Sam's notes, all I saw were dozens of tamal(e) comments, which meant a visit to Mama Rosa's (best tamale in town, 1998) and now I've got the Mexicali Blues!
@john ezra "Great cluing and fun crunch throughout. Uhaul meets Ann Lee: a mover and a Shaker!" Wow, just wow. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@john ezra Now I'm all hungry! 😉 [for more great puzzles, and posts like yours - keep the kind words flowing, and the smiles keep growing!]
@john ezra To echo Sotto: "... a mover and a Shaker!" ... Priceless! Et tu emu.
If you want to feel really old, keep in mind that the year the song U CAN'T TOUCH THIS was released was 1990. And that was 34 years ago. Taylor Swift was in a crib. I still had hair. !!!!
@Steve L I hate to tell you but for many of us, 34 years ago was not that long ago. I was an adult with a full time job on the UES with a newborn baby. I had already lived and learned quite a lot by that time… Everything is relative. — — — —
The first clue, [Diplomat's success], reminded me of a great quote by the British television host/ journalist/writer/comedian Sir David Frost: "Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way." Yet another form of art, in my book, is crossword construction and, Mr. Bodily, you've returned to reaffirm you excel at it. The puzzle was slow-go for me, not because it was per se difficult, but because my brain has been slo-mo – well, all the better to take the time to enjoy every clue and fill. Thank you, Mr. Bodily, for a very clever and fun(ny) puzzle!
@sotto voce Loved, LOVED the quote! Maybe it's just that the rest of the world went on fast-mo, and you're perfectly fine. That's what I keep telling myself.
@sotto voce I started with the Downs (for a change), and really wanted TACT for the diplomat's success! I suppose it is TACT that gets to the PACT... and the getting one's way, as per Sir Frost. 😉 emus, be patient!
Can solve this Can solve this Can solve this Can solve this My, my, my, my (You can solve this) Dan's grid hits me so hard Makes me say "Oh, my Lord Thank you for D. Bodily With his grid so fine and sweet to me It feels good when you had some fun With a super dope homeboy, Minnesota-born He's nine grids down And his gimmick it's, uh, you can solve I told you, Timesboy You KIN solve this Yeah, REACT to how we griddin', and ya know you can solve this Look in these squares, man You can solve this Yo, let me bust the ELECTRICFENCE You can solve this No rebus SNAFU you got to like that Words making me itch like dang SUMAC So, move outta your seat And get a FLY girl And fill this grid While it's rolling Hold on Pump and let AMNESIACS know what's going on Like that, like that FRIAR on a mission, SOLES come back Let INSECTS know that you've evolved And this is a grid, uh, you have solved Yo, I told you You can solve this Why you STRESS there, man? You can solve this Yo, LOGIN, word sucker You can solve THIS Stop, Happy Music time! <a href="https://youtu.be/zwFqAoj_FdM?si=uoZVlgV0J_5JHngu" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/zwFqAoj_FdM?si=uoZVlgV0J_5JHngu</a>
@Whoa Nellie Utterly amazing! The "talent" that gets paid, and the "talent" that doesn't. Unless of course you are a billionaire wordsmith and culture aficionado. Then you'd be getting paid enough.
@Whoa Nellie 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 Thank you for that!! 🎶 !!!
@Whoa Nellie Un-apropos of your name, you missed all the "Whoa!"s in the later half of the song. But, thanks for this, very funny.
Hey, where's the star in front of the clue for SUMAC? You definitely don't want to touch that. Thanks, Daniel, for a fun theme and a great earworm.
@Nancy J. -- Good observation! I'd touch a CAMERA LENS long before I'd ever touch SUMAC.
"I know I left some images in the dark room." "Positive?" "No, negatives." ("That would make me shutter.")
Well, Daniel Bodily is doing something right, with nine NYT puzzles published in a bit over two years. Part of it is his ability to come up with entertaining themes. Jeff Chen, who has collaborated with him on three puzzles, lauds Daniel’s ability to “theme-storm”. I loved today’s theme because, just like yesterday’s, it provided an extra solving challenge – figuring out the revealer before uncovering it. I’m bad at this, so I work extra hard to get better at it. Yesterday, I didn’t correctly guess the revealer but I did find the BOARD connection between the theme answers. That was a huge woo-hoo for me. Today, once again, I didn’t guess the reveal verbatim, but I did see the connection in the theme answers, that they were things not to touch. Well, holy moly! My small steps are inching toward medium steps! Jeff Chen also said that Daniel’s prime aim is to “serve the solver”. That is, he’s looking to entertain, to provide a terrific riddle to crack – not trying to show off. Well, Daniel, you certainly served me today – I loved this puzzle. Thank you so much for making it!
@Lewis Well put. Wondering if any of today's gems will be featured on your list . . . .
Don't like IMAX being clued as wide-screen theater option. The defining feature of an IMAX screen is that it's a taller ratio (in other words less wide) than a standard movie screen. "Big screen" would have been much better and more accurate clueing
Steven M., You're free to "not like" the clue, and indeed most IMAX screens are noted for being tall, but the clue and answer are valid. This is, after all, supposed to be a puzzle. Your "more accurate" is the editors' "too easy."
Oh that was fast and furious fun!! I enjoyed it very much!! I also enjoyed the other puzzle that Sam mentioned, whack-a-mole, A super TON! I don't know why but I always want WRY or WRIER to be dry or drier. That's always a bit of a slowdown for me. But one that is generally easily resolved via crosses. Speaking of WRY, If you haven't seen American Fiction, I recommend it! Very thoughtful and funny... and includes the fabulous Sterling K. Brown, in addition to the fabulous Issa Rae! I might just hook up my VCR with my RCA and record it on a TV TAPE one of these days! Now excuse me while I go bust a few moves!! Emus CAN'T TOUCH THIS!!
@HeathieJ Thanks for the recomendation. Love me some Sterling K. Brown, for sure. Pls attach video of you busting some moves. Guarantee you'll live on to eternity!
On a 4-H camp farm I worked on for one summer, we’d wake up at 5am to bring the cows in from pasture for milking. Each of us would touch the electric fence - not only to wake ourselves up, but also to show the cows who was boss.
Because I solve top to bottom, left to right, this was especially fun! Glanced at he themers, didnt see the common thread, and then, last line… like a bow on a perfectly *rapped* Tuesday package!
@CCNY Love your pun, “rapped.” Thanks for the early morning chuckle.
@CCNY I should add- I usually *attempt* to solve across only, top to bottom, left to right. Late week, I often have to stray from my pattern. But Mon/Tuesday it’s generally too fast, so I mix it up by starting in a random square. It’s just an OCD thing. (And it slows me down, which I like.) So glad I didn’t today! First post reads like a brag, and - in this crowd - I’m a humbled lil’ word nerd.
@CCNY Same here, solved mostly with across clues, so I didn't see SIMU until afterwards. Do what now? Oh, an actor in a movie I will likely never see. Nevermind. At least I remembered Issa RAE this time.
truly appreciate elegantly fun puzzles like this, where suddenly it's clear that the typing is going slower because of the slight smirking, the savoring of the answers. instead of speeding forward, because all these elements might be familiar, sometimes there is more fun to be had while enjoying how smoothly they all fit together. thank you Daniel
Delightful puzzle, Daniel Bodily. Any puzzle with a LIMBO BAR is okay by me. We used to do the Limbo with the grownups when we were kids. How low can you go, Chubby Checker? <a href="https://youtu.be/LiGhPD0GXhM?si=2dhlcUvWT4gQDZpk" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/LiGhPD0GXhM?si=2dhlcUvWT4gQDZpk</a> And after a few rounds, we'd finish off by twisting the night away.
I really loved the “Can’t Touch This” theme, though I did not fully appreciate it until close to the finish. It was a fun puzzle with many clever theme-related clues. Kudos to the author…
Any puzzle that leads to a classic video in WordPlay is a WIN. CANT TOUCH THIS got even my AGED fingers snapping. Perfectly done theme!
I loved this! I'm definitely on the same wave as Daniel. (Also Memento is one of my favorite movies!) I solved CANT TOUCH THIS very early because who can resist a 3 word revealer??? It was off to the (very fun) races from there.
@Joya It pays to solve NYT puzzles from the bottom right, instead of the almost universal start at 1A. Hey, equal rights for the SE! Besides, the clue to the theme is almost always found there.
Not familiar with the MC Hammer song and there were a number of other answers that were never going to come to me just from the clues. Managed to work it all out from the crosses (and a couple of googles), but took me a good long time. Actually a bit surprised that everyone else found this one unusually easy. That's all on me. Clever theme - just a bit outside my wheelhouse. ...
@Rich in Atlanta Oh... and of course my answer history search today. This one was for our constructor's name and I was a bit surprised by the results. BODILY seems like a friendly string of fill letters, but... it's only ever been an answer in four puzzles, and... never been a part of a longer answer (e.g. ...HARM or ...FUNCTION). I'll shut up now. ..
@Rich in Atlanta — You’ve probably heard it. Clever puzzle. Enjoyable.
55A works out to a SUIT for “Dressy attire.” I was raised to think “business attire” is the clue for SUIT. My father wore one every day; one summer day when it was ninety-six degrees, but he was working from home, he apologized to a young friend of mine who came to visit, and found him with his jacket off and his sleeves rolled up. He was, as usual, wearing a belt and suspenders. Mind you, he had a few things for dressy occasions but the pants were never of the same fabric, as in a SUIT. OBVS, a perfectly valid answer in a lovely puzzle, which made me feel clever, and reminded me of my dear old dad. Well done, and thank you.
A little brag here: I didn’t touch the down clues! I finished in 13m42s only using the across clues, without looking at the downs. Try it!
@Petrol Pretty impressive! Never going to try it! I doubt that I could if I were to RESET and start all over again, after having solved it.
@Petrol I (try to) do this with all the minis. Good job on the main!
A very enjoyable puzzle! 38A. was the 'gimmie' for me to hop over to the revealer at the puzzle's bottom. 26A. a great clue! First used as a phono pickup coaxial connector by you know who. Speaking of connectors, some that may find their way into tech oriented puzzles: XLR: microphones BNC: video and RF DSub: computer monitors UHF: CB & Ham radios
@Call Me Al Indeed, I knew the RCA connector as a phono jack for a long time as a kid, and was in my 20s or so when I realized they were also called RCAs. Now you see phono nowhere, expectedly.
I've been doing the puzzles, but haven’t added to the comments for a while as I’ve been travelling to visit my family and am now in California. I’ve also been quite jet lagged. I liked this puzzle a lot today, and found it a bit easier the Monday’s, not sure if I’ll get to more this week, lots of family get togethers coming up.
@suejean -- Thank you for chiming in, it's always good to hear from you! Et tu emu.
@suejean Wonderful to be able to travel...enjoy!
@suejean I've missed you, suejean. Glad to see you stop in. Hope you have a great vacation. No emus. ..
Easy and fun! Got it with no lookups or checking the revealer. Not a personal best time, but close. Go me!
@BarbWho Same here! 6:00, maybe a personal Tuesday record, no lookups, a nice chuckle at the revealer, and lots of fun clues. Very fun puzzle!!
This one made me laugh when I saw the theme, but now I have an earworm infection that won't go away (and I did NOT click on that link in the Wordplay column, lol) I very much enjoyed this Tuesday puzzle, and reading the comments afterward always puts a smile on my face. 😊
So much fun on a Tuesday! Thanks, Daniel Bodily and the whole team. And thanks, Sam, for offering that link so so this baby boomer could see and hear the tune. It definitely added to the enjoyment of the clever theme for me.
Sadly, I took longer to do this puzzle than last Sunday's puzzle. And, now that I'm done, I still don't get the gimmick. Sigh.
@Eddie The revealer is CAN'T TOUCH THIS, and the themers are all things you shouldn't touch: CAMERA LENS (leaves fingerprints,) WET PAINT (will ruin the paint job and get on your hands,) ELECTRIC FENCE (lest you get electrocuted,) LIMBO BAR (you'll lose the game,) CRIME SCENE (wouldn't want to taint it nor be incriminated.) Hope that helps.
@Eddie Things you can't (or shouldn't) touch. Touching and getting fingerprints on a camera lens or crime scene is bad. The rest are pretty obvious.
@Eddie Probably helps if you know a big time singer in the 80s was MC Hammer, that had a really amazing song called "Can't Touch This". <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo</a> I'm an old fart, and it almost makes me try to dance.
Fun tight theme taking up much of the fill. Kudos for a great puzzle. STOP Hammer time!
I'm always grateful to make it through a puzzle without incurring Bodily Harm. Somehow I envisioned a dinosaur in reading the clue for 33D... The Swinging FRIAR... now I feel deprived, as I have never seen/heard of this mascot.... Speaking of baseball, we went to the AA M-Braves game on Sunday. Early innings went pretty well, but then the opponents (The Montgomery Biscuits) started getting hits and homers. The coach kept taking out the M-Braves pitcher and putting in a fresh one...and the hits just kept coming. Final score: 13-5 Biscuits. Maybe the M-Braves will do better on the road against The Trash Pandas.... Very nice Tuesday Puzzle! I admit I find WRIER a bit off-putting....although I am a fan of dry wit, myself. That's the only nit, and it's just me, so nothing for Daniel to fret over.
@MOL, Your baseball story made me feel a little sad as I remember you mentioning that your M-Braves were leaving Pearl and heading to Georgia at the end of the season. Have they found anybody else to play at Trustmark next year? I was trying to remember the name of the stadium so I looked it up and TIL that despite having just 5,500 seats there is a grass berm to accommodate more. In 2016 thy had a crowd of over 8,500 watch the MS Bulldogs beat the Ole Miss Rebels in the Governor’s Cup. You should try to make it to a lot of games this summer while you can….
MOL, Thinking today about your smaller town baseball park led me to remember one of my favorite old-time minor league parks, Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, MA. Much older than your place, it was constructed in 1919, seats 4500, and is one of the few remaining ballparks in the country with a wooden grandstand. At the time it was built, no one gave much thought that games might ever be played at night, so the diamond is oriented due West. The only other professional park in the U.S. that faces West is Sam Lynn Park in Bakersfield, CA. They often suspend games when the sun begins shining directly at the batter. The very first intercollegiate baseball game was played between Amherst and Williams in Pittsfield in 1859 and in 2009 the two teams played a reenactment with vintage uniforms in Wahconah Park. There was a nice tribute piece by Daniel Okrent in S.I. in 1990 linked below which describes some of the joys of watching this level of baseball in stadiums like this. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2ahsvp8z" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/2ahsvp8z</a>
@Mean Old Lady Northwoods League (college age) ball is played here in Traverse City, in the cutest, most comfortable little stadium. Baseball on a summer night, watching the moon rise, able to see the ball coming in, $120 for ten games, six rows up behind home plate… it SUITs me.
Somehow I've failed to win innumerable Blackjack hands with 21. The dealers seem to think that if they also have 21 it's a tie. As if! Next time they try this, I'll whip out my completed 6/4/24 Xwrd.
Jake, The house will point out the "say" in the clue, which qualifies the WIN. Meanwhile, at the slots, EMU EMU EMU is a winner.
Oof, worsted my average by almost a minute and on a Tuesday yet. Good on you Mr. Bodily!
"Hands off!," I shouted, fearing some Bodily harm. Fortunately this turned out to be a quick Tuesday. Re 5A and 10A, I wanted to insert an "O" in the black square. Anyone else?
Fast and fun! The website goofed and recorded my time as 2:02 (it was really around 6:30) which makes me kind of wish Hammer Time had been playing for that mythical two minute solve as a kind of musical timer.
Strands #93 “Purposeful pairs” 🔵🔵🔵🟡 🔵🔵🔵 Not as easy as it looks. I found a few words early on, but they didn’t help me understand the theme. And I must have found eight or nine non-theme words.
@Eric Hougland Same!! Even needed a hint, which is rare for me. Strands #93 “Purposeful pairs” 🔵💡🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🟡 ... I saw no one had posted yet about Strands and almost started a thread, but at the last moment thought to refresh. And there you are! 🙂
And a reminder to others, please refrain from any spoilers until there are more than 3 replies, so they are "behind" the View All Replies button... There may be emus lurking there!
I'm curious how many times LSD has appeared in the crossword. It appears so often that you'd think all of America lives in a permanent psychedelic state!
@Scott 300 times, starting in 1966. There are some 20 earlier appearances when LSD was clued as British money. That puts the hallucinogen at around 280 appearances.
@Scott and Chicago's famous Lake Shore Drive is just sitting there waiting to be a non-drug clue!
@Scott I think LSD qualifies as crosswordese or glue. Usually we think of glue as words with convenient vowels, but LSD has useful consonants. I think the emus are on LSD today.
Serendipity or coincidence or laughing gods. I just yesterday saw on farcebook a video of one of MC Hammer's former dancers doing the Can't Touch This routine for his current-day students. 30 years older but he still had the moves. So the answers to 66-67-68 A came to me easily. 55-56 A, SUIT and TIE, was clever placement. Thanks for the puzzle, Daniel, enjoyed it. The emus are cranky today. This is my sixth attempt to post.
This was an absolute delight. Being short on sleep and unable to remember the lyric in question without crosses (“Can’t stop this”? “Can’t top this”?) just made the reveal that much more gratifying. I loved all the theme answers, which went beyond the obvious (third rail) for some clever and varied applications of the theme. Also a big fan of “Challenge for an under-achiever,” “Ursula’s slithery pets,” and “Spells danger.”
I work with too many signal connectors. I typed in "BNC" without a second thought for the VCR connection and thought the clue/answer was a little obscure, but coax wouldn't fit. Then I got RCA on the crosses and was like "Oh, yeah, that's a little less obscure." Still, nice to see connectors in the grid.
@Jay I know, right? Most of my connectors are HDMI now, but the old Yamaha head unit is still kicking on RCAs.
FORTIETH … already solved that with “Ruby anniversary” cluing this week: in yesterday’s New Yorker xword! What are the chances?!
Great puzzle, except for the eels. Eels aren't real.
I did terribly today, but still had fun! emu food more emu food
@Bonnie If you had fun, you certainly didn't do terribly, because having fun is the whole objective.
@Bonnie So sorry to hear! But I'm glad you had fun. Some days are like that; the stars refuse to align. And that's why God invented tomorrow, lol. . . . . . .
44A is where I finally broke through. I loved the twist. I had a bunch of wrong answers that I had to look through to finally get Mr. Happy Piano. I had a good 24 minutes with this puzzle. That's more than I can say for any other NYT article I read today. Combined.
I remembered enjoying Mr Bodily’s previous puzzle and this one continued the streak. Fun clues, smart theme, just tough enough to make me work at it; the names will always be an issue for me so I gave myself a pat on the back for remembering PSAKI, despite having no idea who she is. Yes, I now have that flipping song as an ear worm. Wasn’t a fan at the time, can’t say I appreciate it any more this time round, but it’s a jolly good theme revealer so I’ll live with it. One query for you chaps; can someone explain 10A clue and answer please? I have no idea what any of it means. Thanks.
@Helen Wright I believe the Crimson Tide refers to the name given to the University of Alabama football team and students refer to them as “Bama”, short for Alabama.
@Helen Wright Maybe this earworm will suit you better: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2p9uwb42" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/2p9uwb42</a> It’s forever cemented “Crimson Tide” in my head.
Well a fun Tuesday and "You can't touch this" one of the rap songs I like. And, I am given to Understand the MC Hammer is a nice guy. Thank you, Dan
filled in Fortieth last! but I found this one to be easy, or maybe I'm getting back into the crossword mindset after a few months break.
Today’s New Yorker puzzle… 14A. (17A.) (You’ll have to solve it to understand the above. No spoilers from me.) !!!!!
@Steve L Ha ha! I noted that as well. Between that and the FORTIETH anniversary yesterday, it looks like the stars are aligned.
Hi, can someone explain 33 Down please? I thoroughly enjoyed completing this puzzle. Finally able to complete a Tuesday nearly entirely on my own. Only looked up a couple of clues. Thank you!
@JC - here's a quick copy/paste from Google. aerie (US) noun or chiefly British eyrie /ˈeri/ plural aeries Britannica Dictionary definition of AERIE [count] 1 : the nest of a bird (such as an eagle or hawk) built high up on a cliff or on the top of a mountain 2 : a room or building built high up so that people inside can see things happening below them
Clever and fun Tuesday- thanks Daniel!
Regarding today’s Strands,could someone please explain the theme? I did the puzzle without ever seeing how the answers fit the theme. This was the first one of this new puzzle category that I did not just sail through, picking out the answers one after the other. I would rank it as a Saturday puzzle on the crossword scale of difficulty.
@Ettagale I’ll answer your question in the Stands thread below. Just look for a Strands grid.
@Ettagale FWIW, I had the same problem as you on Strands today. It made no sense to me and I used up a clue which I hardly ever do. Eric H. and others explained it to me. I still enjoy doing this every morning with my coffee, usually the second cup after the crossword, Wordle, and Connections.