A sommelier is a port authority. (You might wine about this one.)
@Mike Oh, the thought of a glass right now. You have me champagne at the bit. ° ° ° ° ° ° 🍾
@Mike It's a bottlefull day! (There's riesling for everything.)
@Mike I love the CLARETy of your puns. And you're so sancerre. Emus -- are you BORD? EAUX no.
Almost missed the ABC in the top left and the XYZ in the bottom right. Sneaking a bit of fun into a themeless puzzle perhaps? Fantastic stuff!
@Ann Very nice catch! As if constructing a puzzle wasn't hard enough!
@Ann I completely missed that. Thanks for pointing it out.
@Ann I noticed that little Easter Egg. I was wondering if it was one of those rare puzzles that uses all letters (it isn't - it lacks a J and a Q) and saw the ABC and XYZ while I was checking.
My very first Saturday completed without help! I solved my first Monday puzzle (with help) for the first time during the pandemic some 4 years ago, after spending years thinking "I don't get crossword puzzles, they're just not for me". I'm guessing this means many people will complain that it was too easy for a Saturday. Maybe I'll be one of those people one day (although I certainly hope not)!
@Bart Congratulations on your first solo Saturday puzzle! I’m sure you’ll have many more like it.
@Bart Congratulations! I sometimes get annoyed with the "it's too easy" crowd; their comments can sound like bragging.
@Bart No complaints here, sir. You got there the hard way -- this one was pretty tough. Well done.
This puzzle had the best cluing in quite some time my fav of the year?
Wow. This puzzle really won me over. First it seemed almost too difficult, with very few toeholds. But in the end it was pretty fair, and I began to appreciate some of the clever cluing. Starter home, line for the shower, place to stick the knife in, all good stuff, as Carson might say. Once some of the long ones began making sense it all ended rather quickly. I enjoyed this. Misleading in that it turned out much easier than it seemed.
Duh. Felt like a dodo when my first pass netted nada, and was prepared to carp about some "maybe" meanings. Then I took another look, and saw a bit of sophisticated cluing in the puzzle. The smiles started racking up and I found that I was having a very good time, oh yes. TRUEDAT TOTHEMAX. Daniel Sheremeta, thank you! We could use some more of these.
Those stacks on top and bottom frame this puzzle with freshness. All three answers of the upper stack are NYT debut answers, and of the bottom stack, one is a debut (PUT ON THE RITZ), and the other two have only appeared in the Times puzzle once. I don’t know about you, but fresh answers like this delight my brain, giving it new riddles to crack, including clues it has never seen. My brain comes to crosswords hungering to figure things out. It likes riddle-cracking so much more than simply recalling clues and answers it’s seen before. Speaking of freshness, Daniel put in new and terrific clues for a couple of answers that have appeared numerous times – [Ventilator settings, for short] for ERS, and [Booker’s workplace?] for SENATE. I do like how TRAP DOOR goes downward. And BROWNIE BATTER, well, when I look at that answer, I can just smell the dough as if it is actually under my nose, and, to me, it’s one of those life-enriching smells, like fresh-baked bread. So, Daniel, you’ve happified my brain and mood with your lovely puzzle. What a gift! Thank you so much for making this!
I particularly loved the little Easter egg with the first 3 across clues beginning ABC and the final 3 ending XYZ! Beautiful
@Leo Thank you! But for you I would have missed that-- due to haphazard solving habits... or just not stepping back to admire the fiinished product, perhaps...
Hands down, some of the best clueing I’ve seen. Starter home. Flat bread. Ventilator settings. Wrapped up meal. So many… I loved every nook and crannie of this fresh, clean, powerful, silly, crunchy grid. Wowza. I’m taking notes. This makes me want to get back to constructing. Thank you Daniel!!
@CCNY Ewe said it! Took the words right out of Mae mouth. emus are a sort of short-retort authority here. snort. not a good sort
@CCNY May I ask something about constructing? I assume your first task is to complete a grid of clueable words. When you submit, do you submit the clues as well, or just the grid?
The grid was very intimidating at first, but I'm very proud of myself for completing this puzzle without a single look-up or hint. That is a rarity (for me) on a Saturday! I'm not saying it was easy.... a lot of the clues had me scratching my head. I didn't have many acrosses filled in on my first pass, and a lot of my downs were incorrect. When I realized it was the AGE OF MAMMALS (a clue that had me stumped to its meaning) that helped me clear up the entire top section, and the rest flowed from there. The trickiness of the clues was enough to make this an enjoyable solve ("one might get a meal wrapped up" for BOA was a favorite), but adding in quite a few unique fills raises this puzzle to another level.
I did have one Natick, the crossing of ACELAS and TALENTS. I had to run the alphabet to finish, and I still don't know what 20D ACELAS has to do with express options. Unfortunately the Wordplay column didn't explain that clue. Ok, I googled before posting and apparently it's a train service I've never heard of, my bad.... lol ................................................
Tough but doable; the X was my last fill. It definitely felt like a Saturday puzzle.
@Liz B Mine too, I had MRISCAN in there to start
@Liz B It’s rare for me to end a puzzle with one square that I can’t fill. I struggled to find something that made sense there, since everything around was definitely correct. I felt a little foolish when I finally realized that square needed an X. How could I have not seen that sooner?
@Liz B I had a senior moment when I could not remember the last name of the actor who played Jack Sparrow. I got up, walked around, came back and entered DEPP, which begat ELECTRACOMPLEX and so on and so on. My pen never stopped moving from that point until completion, and what looked improbable, if not impossible, wound up finished at almost exactly my average. It felt really nice. See you in a couple of weeks.😁
Sorry, Caitlin, but Putting in the Ritz is forever associated with Young Frankenstein. <a href="https://youtu.be/ab7NyKw0VYQ?si=VyNjdAUTIhG7lY6T" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ab7NyKw0VYQ?si=VyNjdAUTIhG7lY6T</a> A clever, well-made puzzle, whose top third had me flummoxed for quite a while. Was chuffed to figure out what the rebus pronoun clue meant only to come up with EyE instead of EWE. For those keeping score at home, I found today's puzzle tougher than yesterday's. Cheers to all.
@Vaer Thanks for sharing that clip. I can’t think of tha song without picturing and hearing Gene Wilder and especially Peter Boyle.
@Vaer If you haven’t watched the Taco version, though, you’re really missing a good one. (Thanks Caitlin, I had never seen it before and it definitely captured me.)
That was really hard and really, really good. None of the 'solves' felt familiar, each one was interesting. Thanks!
Just noticed the clever ABC in the northwest corner with the corresponding XYZ in the southeast. NIcely done!
@Cameroda thanks! I love seeing the things people find in the grids. I usually don't take the time.
@Cameroda I didn't notice the corresponding ABC in the northwest, but seeing X, Y, and Z made me think maybe we were using the whole alphabet so I spent too much time trying to cram a Q into my last few answers.
Lovely puzzle! On day nine of a streak (a personal best!) and thoroughly enjoyed this one. However, I wanted to point out that there seems to be an error in the help column: it states that the answer for 51D is MRI, but there is no 51D. I think it was meant to be 50D.
@A. Mulroney Congrats! 9 in a line for me, too - tho whether a personal high mark, I've no idea. Tho I suppose this means now I'll HAVE to at least attempt tomorrow's puzzle...😎
About 4.5 minutes faster than the Friday puzzle, but I still found this one a bit chewy. I was helped greatly by knowing ELECTRA COMPLEX as a gimme, and then saw PORT AUTHORITY right behind it as a reasonable guess. When DEPP and ALOU fit as good crosses, I was sure of the whole lower stack, and although that alone didn't guarantee me a solve, it gave me a good chance at a bottom half that looked impenetrable at first.
@Steve L I got my complexes confused and started with OEDIPUSCOMPLEX, but was able to sort it out.
@Steve L Yes, just about 4.5 faster for me today as well. Though my units would be radian minutes. Which perhaps illustrates one good reason why a radian should not be a unit---you can put it anywhere in a string of units and not really change anything. Very confusing for my engineering students. for example when angular speed has units of both rad/s and Hz. But, for better or worse, I agree that rad is (currently) considered a unit.
I didn’t have much on this one until I got to the bottom. The three bottom spanners came to me quickly and I worked my way upward with all deliberate speed. I had a devil of a time coming up with BROWNIEBATTER, in part because I’d never heard of GOSS. The real problem, however, was that I had overconfidently entered eye for rebus letter instead of EWE. Eventually I realized that Y was just not going to work and tried W instead. After that I was able to run the vowels to get the O for GOSS. Fun puzzle and faster than I thought it would be when I started.
@Marshall Walthew That sounds exactly like my experience. GOSS is new to me (I just now figured out where it comes from — duh!). And I was positive the rebus letter was EyE until that just didn’t work.
This could just as easily be called the age of mosquitoes, alas. The other day, I was at Ravinia, the Chicago Symphony's summer playground (bless that wonderful gang) when Pavarotti was headliner. As he began, he coughed and choked. All came to halt. Every breath held. After a moment, Luciano announced, "I bite A mos-kweet-oh," after which the dear man knocked "Nessun dorma" out of the park. No one slept that night, not without a deep smile.
I was much quicker than yesterday - not sure what that means. I think there was more 'young 'un' knowledge in the Friday puzzle. My daughter was much quicker than me yesterday - if she is slower than me on today's it might help to confirm my theory. If not, of course, it just shows how I am slowing down in my old age. I'll let you now.
Fine fun, but faster than Friday. Obviously, I have the Friday and Saturday puzzles reversed. One of my TALENTS. ....
This had me thinking sooooooooo hard but I got there! METEOR was the final piece of the puzzle for me. I was appreciating the use of Xs and Zs when I noticed the top left diagonal has ABC and the bottom right diagonal has XYZ.. sure that wasn't an accident but wish the constructor had comments today! Shout out to Jack Keroac, St Pete icon
@B what a brilliant observation with the ABC and XYZ. I’ve never noticed anything like that before, but now I’ll be on the lookout! This is my first ever comment on wordplay after a couple months of lurking, but it won’t be my last!
I liked how 15D was complemented by the ends of the triple-stack on the bottom...
@Michael Weiland Could 38D also compliment the beginnings of the triple stack on the top? After all, NBA is on ABC. Daniel Sheremata might have snuck a theme into a Saturday puzzle right under our noses!
Kicked myself for not remembering ELECTRA COMPLEX, but still found this to be a satisfying and surprisingly quick solve — surprising since for the first 50% I felt totally stuck. Love when a puzzle clicks into place like this one!
@Stephen I got COMPLEX first, and then, from some musty corner of my brain, ELECTRA popped out. I can’t explain how I knew that. I definitely remember reading “Antigone” in high school (almost 50 years ago now) and maybe reading “Oedipus Rex,” but I have only the vaguest idea of the Electra story.
This is the kind of Saturday puzzle I most enjoy: One that I can solve without getting too stuck anywhere, but that requires me to think a bit. The 1A AGE OF MAMMALS clue is cleverly misleading. I didn’t know 13D BEAR TRAPS but it wasn’t too hard to figure it out. I was surprised to learn that little factoid about SANAA. I expected the answer to be something like Quito. I guess I never realized how mountainous the SW corner of the Arabian Peninsula is. The bottom half was easier for me that the top. It took me longer than it should’ve to get the X of 19A X-RAY LAB/19D XED IN. I kept looking at the surrounding answers and verifying that they were correct, but the X just didn’t occur to me, until it did. My time ended up being 20 seconds longer than my time on Friday’s puzzle. If I hadn’t had trouble with the 19 square, I’d have beaten my Friday time. As for 52 PUT ON THE RITZ: “Young Frankenstein” all the way. Thanks, Mr. Sheremeta!
@Eric Hougland Exactly the same line of thought for the high-altitude capital, for me. Immediately assumed Quito, but didn't work on the downs... Once I had S _ _ _ A, it stayed blank for quite a while. And when I had no choice but to put in that final A, I had to turn on the Terrain view in Google Maps. Wow, what a startling discovery! A Yemeni friend has shown me photos of his family's Sana'a home, yet I still had no idea of the "lay of the land" until today. Yes, thanks Mr. Sheremeta!!
@Eric Hougland I only had the "a" of 46A and was sure it would be Lhasa - but obviously it didn't work with any of the crosses. Like you, I had no idea how mountainous Yemen is.
I was so hoping the "Putting On The Ritz" video would be from Young Frankenstein. Great puzzle!
@Suzanne I raise my hat and cane to Suzanne
@Suzanne But then it would have had to have been " 'Uuuuttin owwa IiiiiiiZzss!" As sung by Peter Boyle/Monster....
I enjoy the challenge of Saturday puzzles. Once again, my grid was mostly empty before I came to this column & its comments. Some of my fill was wrong too. Solved with help from here.
In a twist, I found the bottom went as easy as ABC. It was the top that managed to nix my buzz. The puzzle? C’est beau. Très beau.
I really enjoyed this puzzle and all its clever wordplay. At first it was very daunting, and I had to work my way down the puzzle before I got a toe-hold. The top fell last, and I had to give up on a few entries before that happened (dirt instead of GOSS, and not being familiar with BEAR TRAPS, seeing __ART…, I had semi-confidently filled in chART for the start of that entry). Also first had shekelS instead of TALENTS, rimS before EARS, and was stumped for a while by 3d, thinking of x-word rebuses instead of the other kind. In the end, the long across entries ended up being easier than expected and I was surprised that I finished the puzzle 30% faster than my average. Not as fast as Friday (which was oddly on my wavelength), but percentage-wise better. 🤓
@Jessie Ventura Highway Likewise! I thought it was a beautifully done Saturday at just the right level of 'tricky but fair' - a good mix between nice long fills and smart cluing that didn't rely on obscure references, but still had me scratching my head at times.
@Jessie Ventura Highway likewise. Lots of clever clues 🤓
Impressive puzzle. Had a nice long workout, but just couldn't quite get it all together. That's all on me. Didn't notice the ABC/XYZ that others have mentioned - that's... pretty neat. Answer history search today was inspired by 52a. Dawned on me that PUTTINONTHERITZ is 15 letters. It's been an answer in 13 puzzles, but a review of those led to a couple of surprising coincidences. Some other 15 letter answers: SINGININTHERAIN BLOWININTHEWIND JUMPINJACKFLASH Some combination of those have been the theme answers in a number of puzzles even going back into the pre-Shortz era. I'm done. ..
A lovely grid filled with colorful long answers and almost no names. It started out somewhat challenging for me and then got whooshier as it went along. It was the long answers that helped me most -- and I'm especially grateful to you, ELECTRA COMPLEX. I got you just off your "L" and then the whole bottom came in quickly. 3D was tricky. The answer could be EYE or EWE and I had EYE. So BROWNIE BATTER took a long time to see. Don't get me started on GOSS, which is truly awful, but it's the only bad answer in the puzzle, so I'll forgive it. The hardest answer for me was for the clue "One might get a meal wrapped up." I had the "B". BUN? But I was pretty sure that Harry Potter is an ORPHAN. So then BO-what? BOW? Would you wrap a meal in a BOW? Does a BOT ever wrap a meal? A BOY? So confusing. I finally realized that it was BOA, giving me the opening vowel I needed at 37A, "what you will." Oh, it's an ASSET. I was expecting an ESTATE, but, hey, easy come, easy go. Love CARTE BLANCHE; CEASE AND DESIST; PUT ON THE RITZ. Love the clue for WOMB. Never heard of BEARTRAPS in that sense. All in all, I found this a very entertaining puzzle.
@Nancy I didn’t like Goss at first either, but I guess it makes sense as short for Gossip. Every word seems to be shortened especially for texting purposes….
Great Saturday solve. It looked bleak in the beginning - I always start doubting myself. Came together in under 20 minutes with no look-ups. Nice construction and creative cluing. Glad to be having BROWNIEBATTER today instead of the usual OREO!
@Amy And here I was so proud of myself for getting it in just under 50 minutes, 2.5 times as long as you.
Beautiful shape. Excellent long answers. Fine cluing, Very few words that don't exist outside of crosswords. All this makes for a near-perfect Saturday puzzle! I'm too lazy to count the clues, but the highest clue number is 52! I'm sure there's someone around to tell me the record for this, but I'm impressed! And @Cameroda 's catch on the ABC/XYZ symmetry! Beautiful! Nice catch! Extraordinary work, Daniel Sheremeta!
Linda, Agree on the fine puzzle. This one has 66 clues (and answers), which does not put it near the record for fewest. <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/BWStats/FewestWords" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/BWStats/FewestWords</a> <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/8/2024" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/8/2024</a>
When I first laid eyes on the grid I was a little worried because of all those long answers. And I came up with almost nothing on the first pass and realized I was going to need to do a lot of guessing. Luckily most of my guesses hit their mark and I ended up finishing in half my average time.
If you’re unfamiliar with the ACELA train, Fountains of Way pne can help: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/36tb56n2" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/36tb56n2</a>
@Eric Hougland Loved it. The only Fountains of Wayne song I was familiar with was Stacy's Mom. My sister and her family has lived in or near New London, CT for many years, and I've always been slightly miffed that the ACELA trains skip that stop.
A wonderful work, the best kind. First pass through and only 3 or 4 small words that I wasn't all that confident in. But bouncing around, getting fills here and there and things slowly came together with some surprising entries.
A few missteps: EyE before EWE, frAU before BEAU 😊, lApAz then SANtA (Fe, thinking that this might be a rare Saturday with rebuses) before SANA'A. I really like this one. Tough but doable, no "double Naticks," many clever clues, etc. And I love the X, Y, Z ladder at the SE corner! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was debut?! What a sophisticated and enjoyable first puzzle. It was very challenging at first pass, but bit by bit the knot came untangled. Well done!
Miriam, No, it was actually the constructor's second NYT crossword. It was the first Saturday. I too thought it was an excellent puzzle (whether first or second).
Stupendous Saturday, what a treat. I tend to get annoyed by the PANYNJ having worked there for 10+ years but got that clue right away with glee. Thank you to Mr. Sheremata.
PANCAKEBATTER had me held up for a while. Solved this one from the bottom up. Excellent puzzle Daniel.
It's been a while since I was quite as stumped before turning to the column. Nothing egregious to complain about but didn't enjoy the randomness of the answers. Goss is not really a term that people use. You'd think "Age of ....." would make you smile, but I found it annoying. Maybe just me
"Goss is not really a term that people use." David, You might take a look at the usage examples in this dictionary listing... <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/goss" target="_blank">https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/goss</a>
@David Hancock Again, we see Barry never met a valid complaint he wouldn’t try to deflect.
This was, for me, a really good Saturday. It took more time and effort than any other day of the week, but I was able to get it. A perfect Saturday morning diversion. A funny thing with these “really good” Saturdays: I always start in the NE and almost always finish there, too. It’s like I just need to warm up, or maybe get onto the constructor’s wavelength, before I can make real progress. Anyway, thank you, Daniel Sheremeta & eds., for a very enjoyable puzzle.
This was a highly enjoyable brain twister. Thanks Daniel. X marked the spot for me here. Fittingly, that was the last box I filled in. The top and left sections were most challenging for me. Thankfully, CEASE AND DESIST just came out of nowhere, I considered literalism at some point (didn’t fit), before I figured out that Spanish Miss is SRTA. But yes you can’t let the long clues overwhelm you - just try, try till you die lol! Eventually you figure out that it’s PORT (not pier) AUTHORITY, ELECTRA (not Oedipus) COMPLEX. I date myself by knowing immediately that it would either be PAULA (or Janet) with the hits record. Favourites today : ON A BREAK, WOMB, BOA, RENT MONEY.
@Nina That X was my last letter, too, and for whatever reason, I almost had to do an alphabet run to get it. I’m lucky that I got CEASE AND DESIST before trying to get the singer with the 1988 debut. I often think that music and movies from the last 30 years are not as old as they really are, but in this case, I would have guessed wrong in the other direction. My first thought before remembering Paula ABDUL was Adele, who was born in 1988.
@Eric Hougland So, Adele made a debut of sorts in 1988, just not a musical one.
Gracious me! BERT is a curmudgeon? Did someone get an F on the 'Sesame Street' quiz? Oscar was the grouch. I entered 1D and then 11 and 12 Down...and decided my old way was best, so I descended to the bottom of the puzzle, where the Brothers ALOU and Johnny DEPP gave me a huge leg up. I solved the puzzle with only one pause (CRIB before WOMB).... it was full of Unknowns ! Oh, wait.... I had EYE fo the 'rebus pronoun' before changing to the EWE. (I just finished reading James Rebanks' book _The Shepherd's Life_....plenty about EWEs and tups. Highly recommended. About to start his 2nd book.) Delightful puzzle, but I'd hate to think what Daniel Sheremeta's likely o get up to in future! Whew!
@Mean Old Lady Yes, Oscar was a grouch. And Bert was a curmudgeon.
@Mean Old Lady “[T]he Brothers ALOU and Johnny DEPP gave me a huge leg up.” Amen to that! For all the complaints we see about proper names in puzzles, eventually you learn the ones you don’t know from real life* and can use them to get a toehold. Before I started solving every day, I had no idea who the Matty, Felipe and Moises ALOU were. I still don’t have all the relationships down, but I can almost always tell when the answer needs to be ALOU. *My sister-in-law was up for a part in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” She would have played the grandmother of the Juliette Lewis character, who has a brief romance with Gilbert (Johnny DEPP).
I'll just add my kudos, since Caitlin and the gang have pretty much enumerated the lovely twists, misdirects, puns/clever cluing, etc. in this gem. I didn't have any laugh out loud moments, but I had many "Oh, that was nice" thoughts as I puzzled my way through. The solve was, for me, both demanding and in some peculiar way, gentle. Thanks much, Mr. Sheremeta!
Great Saturday puzzle. Loved the long answers. It is hard to craft a challenging puzzle with mostly straightforward clues and answers and no gimmicks. Impressive. Thank you!
A nice challenge, but it was a little quick for a Saturday. Good looking grid (maybe a little scary at first glance). Switched my strategy of starting with the acrosses and moved to the downs.
I'm impressed how the puzzle constructor was able to stack 3 long entries on the top, and stack 3 long entries on the bottom. Is a computer typically used to help do this? Or is it typically done without the aid of computer? (which seems like a pretty amazing feat to me)
@Rod D I’ve done some puzzle construction and belong to several Facebook groups for people who construct puzzles. Yes, most constructors these days use some sort of construction software. For a themeless puzzle, you’d typically design a grid and stick in one or two “seed” entries — longer entries that you think are fun or that can be clued well. After that, it’s a matter of seeing what the software offers up as possible fill and choosing what you like best. (The constructor’s wordlist will determine what the potential fill is.) I’ve been unsatisfied with my attempts to make themeless puzzles because at some point in the process, the grid either becomes unfillable or can only be filled using some word that I really don’t want to use. So I marvel at grids like this one that are free of junky entries. If you’re at all interested in puzzle construction, read the series of NYT articles that’s often linked at the bottom of the Wordplay column. There are several free, web-based construction applications. I have used Crosserville and in some ways prefer it to the program that I bought. Thanks to the software, it’s not hard to construct a crossword puzzle. But it is challenging to make one that’s fun, interesting and publishable.
After yesterday's fine puzzle, I anticipated today's with BATED BREA(D)TH and wasn't disappointed. While faster than yesterday, it still held some challenges. MAE crossing BROWN and ABC to XYZ were fun little gifts and I'm sure I'll find more as I study the grid. Nice job, Daniel, come back any time.
Simply devilish in my opinion..delicious in other words.