As a physicist, I loved this. One of the best in a long while, IMO. It was particularly clever to have the words at the beginning of the wormholes stand by themselves as astronomical things.
@Jeremy Glad you enjoyed it! As a non-physicist, and a person who never had a physics course in HS or college, I had a lot of problems with this one.
@Jeremy plus the Carl Sagan reference!
This was a fun solve. I seemed frustrating at first, yet I ended in just about my average Thursday time. It's a nice touch that the three wormhole clues are all celestial objects: STAR, COMET and NOVA.
I couldn't be more pleased how very good this one is. Supplemented by an excellent wordplay column and funny constructor's notes, it felt like a hearty, warm and festive experience, a good dinner with friends followed by an oft-interrupted stroll with the dog through the neighborhood in the gloaming. I had a K-Car (my aptly named Plymouth Reliant -- who was reliant on whom was a constant question, especially toward the end, when the oil pan kinda burn-leaked into the exhaust, sending a COMET of thick gray fumes when we headed up a hill) AND a Nova, but never a Comet. First car was a sickly Mercury Lynx, which stalled out on one of Pittsburgh's steeper roads and slid backwards against all my protestations, and proceeded to maul itself. It then became the Missing Lynx. But that was eons ago, in a Galaxie 500 far, far away.
@john ezra Your reply is every bit as clever as the puzzle. You brought back a lovely memory of my 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger, which became known as "The Solution", because every time friends and wanted to head out on an adventure to somewhere, I would say, "I have the Solution." Unfortunately, I totaled it in an accident. One of my dearest friends sent me s sympathy card in which he wrote, "I hereby declare the Solution dissolved...".
This is Kareem’s third NYT puzzle. You may remember his first, with theme answers like BRONTO and STEGO in gray, and the revealer was [Writer’s reference ... or what each row of shaded letters is missing], for THESAURUS. You may also remember his last, five weeks ago, in which all 14 of the three-letter answers were SET. Today, my Libra YEN for equilibrium was perfectly satisfied by the placement of the wormhole answers. The opening words of the those answers are all in the top row, where the left-to-right word counts are 4-5-4, giving it a palindromic balanced feel. The three vertical finishes of the theme answers are perfectly symmetrical, with the left-to-right word count of 12-5-12, palindromic as well. “Ahh,” says my Liba sensibilities, and “Ooh,” says my appreciation for skilled puzzlemaking. My YEN for beauty was stoked by ASIAGO, SPY RING, SYNAPSE, COME TO JESUS MOMENT, and START YOUR ENGINES. Funny moment when looking over the finished grid and mis-parsing 52A as the long-living palm, the EON SAGO. Kareem, after your last puzzle, I posted that you may be one of those constructors with the “it” factor, with the potential to become a Crosslandia star. After today’s excellently made grid, with its witty original theme, I still feel the same. Keep ‘em coming, please, and thank you for such a splendid outing!
Oh, Ho Ho!! Way to make us left-to-right, top-to-bottom solvers dance!!💃 Got WORMHOLE, figured circles would expand answers… One at a time, they fell into place, and there it was, like an evening sky, STAR COMET NOVA hovering above the puzzle. That’s not just construction, that’s ART. Wowza. Beautiful. Thank you!
Great puzzle! I love the WORMHOLE trick and the fact that the first row is STAR, COMET and NOVA. I also love the 3 other ”connective” entries SPACER, SYNAPSE and AGE GAP. Well done, Kareem!
Any puzzle that mentions my favorite astrophysicist *and* makes me do the Macarena is automatically in my all time favorites. The personal best I got is just icing on the cake.
The “aha” moment upon discovering that the openings of the wormholes (STAR, COMET, and NOVA) were not only complete words in their own right, but also all clever nods to the outer space theme of this puzzle…. that sent me to the moon! Congratulations, Kareem!
The chef-turned-astronaut knows how to thyme travel. (But sometimes he gets caraway.)
@Mike His Caraway project is always green-lighted. It'll take an early sage to catch a WORMHOLE working.
@Mike A prawn thyme mango in a garlicky car-caraway.
@Mike You're cumin through loud and clear. I parsley agree with you -- no big dill if he overdoes it. When he had a question about spices, did Homer Simpson ask marjoram I misremembering? Sorry to pepper you with questions. I think you're the salt of the earth.
This is exhibit a for why I love Thursday puzzles!
One of my favorite puzzles this year! Although I've seen similar tricks before (usually with doors or secret passages) I found the theme clever and enjoyed figuring out where the wormholes led. I love how the space theme carried throughout the puzzle, especially the first three across words starting the theme phrases. Well done!
Kareem! Where do you guys come up with these gimmicks? Somewhere among the stars, it would seem. Thanks for this wild ride through the space-time continuum. The nod to Professor Sagan is a thoughtful touch. Well done, puzzle team, as ever.
Just when you think that’ll every gimmick has been discovered and used, a new one pops up! Wormholes: Live long and prosper. !!!
@Steve L Except that it’s not new. I solved a Los Angeles Times crossword three or four years ago with the same gimmick. I don’t know whether Mr. Ayas borrowed the trick from that puzzle or came up with it independently. In either case, his puzzle was fun.
I thought this was a wonderfully creative puzzle, but at least from the first few comments, I gather there's a lot of frustration. I'm not sure why so many commenters get their knickers in a twist about this stuff. Anyone in the least familiar with the Indianapolis 500 (and I probably qualify as "least familiar", never having paid it much attention and never having watched any of the race) knows that "Gentlemen, start your engines" is part of the lore. Everything these days seems to be a hot button for some people to gripe about, but this is just cultural literacy, as much as the meaning of a "No Vacancy" sign at a motel, although I haven't seen one of those in a while. The point is that once you realize that there's something going on with the first row entries (and duh, the circled letters, people), and the unclued down entries (hey, they also begin with circled letters), it's simply a matter of working through the grid until your Aha! moment arrives. And trust me, it does. I just stumbled along until it did. If it makes you feel better, scream your head off about it. But it didn't make me wonder why I enjoyed this puzzle. Great job, Kareem!
I’m sure at some point in the Indy 500’s stories history, someone has said “Stay fancy.” Great puzzle, you get a big Wormh-OLÉ from this bro.
I love when people cry over Thursday puzzles. It’s my favorite day of the week to solve! Excellent job to the creator!
Kind of a fun one. I enjoyed the wormholes, even though their exit points seemed random (maybe part of the point). I'm not so sure that famous atheist Carl Sagan (bemoaner of a Demon Haunted World) would really relish a big J reference in an otherwise astronomical puzzle that includes him, but who is to say. Other quibbles: I thought the party party clue was pretty awkward, not sure I've heard of too too, hunger and thirst are far stronger urges than a yen, and I bet a LOT of people would take issue with calling the utterly pedestrian and underwhelming K cars "classic". But still, a perfectly cromulent effort.
@B Interesting point about Sagan and the Jesus reference. I think Dr. Sagan would be cool with the Big J reference. He was a smart man, who knew that this was all a part of the society. Moreover, it is entirely possible to believe in an historical, or maybe legendary, Jesus, and moreover, believe that his wisdom as recorded is worth considering, whether or not he was human or something beyond that.
Loved it!! The aha moment, which came very late for me, made me chuckle out loud. I really don't understand the constant complaining about Thursday puzzles. I do the puzzle because it is fun, a challenge, something I look forward to everyday. If you don't enjoy the extra added puzzle that is a Thursday, then don't do it! Find another Thursday crossword. Why upset yourself unnecessarily with something that should be fun?
GAg instead of GAB killed me though, but this was a fairly easy but fun thursday! I was admittedly scared of the daunting long hyphenated clues, and 1A and 10A made me feel like there were rebuses, but with a combination of clever clueing and lucky guesses, ENGINES started appearing to me and i immediately knew where it was going. Genius construction, clever clueing, this is the type of crossword where you feel you had a great conversation with the constructor and could be good friends with them :)
@Mr T Thank you! I triple checked my grid but still couldn’t find the error preventing my gold star. I found nothing in the column that I needed to fix; on to search in the comments, and finally found this. Glad I’m not the only one who’s never heard of the port of Brest!
Great puzzle. Love the multi-layered solve provided by the wormholes and space theme. Congrats, Mr. Ayas. If I had $1,000,000, I'd buy you a K Car, a nice reliant automobile.
@Chungclan Glad I’m not the only one who was instantly earwormed 😂
For a Thursday puzzle this is appropriately gimmicky (and brain-teasingly tricky), and usually I delight in this weekday's puzzles. But ... after I solved this one, in terms of filling in the grid, I felt stymied. That is, I was unable to see/grasp the operating gimmick (or theme, as you prefer). So I then read about it here—and yes, I now see how the top row answers link up to down columns. But here's what still puzzles me: Is there any logical basis for those links from the top-row answers to the particular down answers they link to? I.e., why do the first two criss-cross—a nice visual symmetry— leaving the third one to link up to an answer at the bottom of the grid? Am I missing something in the particular geometry? In terms of the actual fill, is there any connective significance to those two long down-answer phrases? I gather not. (As a pair, they certainly do not seem to link up to the starry answers across the top of the grid.) Sure, I know that all clever crossword puzzles are going to have some arbitrariness, no matter how brilliantly they are laid out. But this one just didn't click the way so many of them have done in the past. Oh well, there's always tomorrow ... and next Thursday ..... Thanks for bearing with this curmudgeon.
I perpetually conflate Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charlottesville, Virginia. Give me a clue like 40A and I will put in UNC every time. But maybe I have finally learned. Just after solving today’s puzzle, I did the one from January 1, 2007. 37A had the same clue for UVA, and for once, I got it right the first time.
@Eric Hougland lol I did that at first too!
@Eric Hougland as a UNC alum, go ahead and write that in every time!
@Eric Hougland 🙋♀️ UNC. But, unlike you, I didn’t question it. Until I had to. … …
I thought this was great! An added bonus is that it was chock full of space related stuff such as SAGAN and SPACER and the first three Across answers and, of course, ASTRONAUT. Great job!
Clever. At first the fill seemed relatively straightforward and I thought perhaps I had my days mixed up and this wasn't actually a Thursday puzzle. Then down the wormholes I went. I always enjoy a bit of Thursday misdirection fun. Well done.
I think I groaned “oh my G-d” out loud when I got the top row answers. Very clever, lots of fun bits that form a lovely (w)hole!
Enjoyed this one a lot! Labored for a while under a frustration of knowing *something* was up, but not *what*. Then got that aha moment that keeps me coming back, and it all clicked together satisfyingly. Thank you Kareem!
I simply loved it. A puzzle hasn’t made me smile this much in awhile. Thank you!
As I pun-loving Dad, I had as much fun reading the Constructor’s Notes as I did solving the Thursday puzzle. Congratulations on both counts, Kareem Ayas! May the Force — or July the 18th — be with you.
Two thumbs down. Can’t stand this kind of gimmick crossword, a game where you have to figure out what the rules of the game even are.
@AJB make sure to do some other puzzle on Thursdays, then, I guess.
AJB, The "rules of the game" did not change for this puzzle. The theme and the trick are revealed at 39 Down. #####
@Regine This is what’s wrong with the internet. I commented on the *puzzle*. You made it personal.
I had a lot of fun with this puzzle and figuring out the WORMHOLEs, but my knowledge was way off base, interrupting my solve's space-time continuum with a veritable Google-Fest. The only Omar I know is Sharif. The only Harold I know is learning from Maude how to live. The only port in Western France that I know of comes from way west of France, i.e. Portugal. And were I to sip it in France, it would be at Le Havre, the only port I know in its Western shores. The only tetanus I know, doesn't go by another name. And the only Anita I know is Ms. Baker, singing "Giving You The Best That I Got"... <a href="https://youtu.be/GNDuWcLI5fg?feature=shared" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/GNDuWcLI5fg?feature=shared</a> Kareem, you've been giving us the best that you've got, constructing outstanding puzzles. Thank you! (And I can't wait for the Tuesday that's coming up, and then the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, too!)
@sotto voce I thought of Anita Baker and Omar Sharif at first, also. Then I saw they wouldn’t fit in the four squares for the clues. The clue for the French port was five letters, and I immediately thought of Brest (fortunately, it worked).
@sotto voce "... and were I to sip it in France..." Took me a beat to get your drift. (Blame it on not quite enough caffeine yet!) Another after-dinner delight is the decadent pastry known as a Paris-Brest, named for (another) famed French bicycle race. (It's meant to invoke a wheel, but really it's just an excellent excuse for cream-filled choux pastry!) And while the Breton city was a gimme for me, perhaps dreams of this dish will secure it in your brain for many crosswords to come! Warning: Do not look at the photo on this page if you're hungry! Haha. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris</a>%E2%80%93Brest
Another crash-and-burn for me, as I continue my ongoing encounter with Alzheimer's. Couldn't see it, even after I read the discussion. But today we are leaving for a week at our cabin in Canada. I think Canada is still there...
@archaeoprof You can order an americano from Tim Hortons.
Delightfully fresh Thursday puzzle...and any puzzle which includes the great Anita O'Day is pure joy....so sad that so few know her music...one of the most extraordinary jazz singers in American history. Made my day! (Look for the documentary on her life and career...Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer.)
Most fun. Thursday. Ever. Thanks Kareem! (Clues were maybe Tuesday or Wednesday level, but super fun. And you even threw in a scientist and author of a great wormhole-themed SF novel ("Contact") as the last across entry...)
As much as I like a Thursday puzzle that plays with the grid, this one felt odd, and forced to me, so I wasn't a fan. Also there were a few awkward crosses of clues. Overall, a strange theme with simple fill.
I loved this puzzle. At first I was completely frustrated and stymied. Then I saw the letter in the crossing of 21D and 25A next to the solitary circle and I had my ‘aha’ moment. Then it became a fun solve. THIS is why Thursdays are my favorite solving day. Thank you, Kareem Ayas. Don’t listen to any nay-sayers. This was very clever.
I want to see what Kareem can do with a Sunday. Looking forward to it.
I absolutely loved this clever puzzle. Bravo!
Truly out of this world, Kareem Ayas!! Congratulations on this stellar achievement!
Absolutely loved solving this on my morning commute, pondering the mysteries of our universe on the Tube - great way to start the day! Very clever construction and agree re: nice touch to have the starts of the wormholes stand on their own as not just words but astronomical objects
I really enjoyed this one. Thought it was well constructed, and I loved the celestial bodies across the top, and ASTRONAUT in there, too. Thanks for a lovely Thursday.
Thursdays are always a challenge. There will be a trick, but what will it be? This one is more interesting than the more common rebus. As usual, it all falls into place once you figure out the trick - an epiphany, if not a Come to Jesus Moment. More an “Oh, Jesus!” moment. Thanks for a novel Thursday trick!
I like the OVA at 35D, which seems to be a piece of the NO VACANCY as well. It’s in a parallel universe? It’s involved with a double wormhole? A Möbius wormhole? It participates in jumping over a black hole? Hm, looks like PARAMUS abuts the same black hole, surely that must mean something. Kareem, you’ve given us all permission to go wild with the cosmic lingo!
Mostly easy for me Thursday unlike most Thursdays. Finally "wormed" my way to the stars and was happy to see Mr. Sagan gleaming there.
Loved the wormholes and space theme! Fantastic puzzle.
Well, Mr. Ayas, your puzzle got me. It was fun, clever, irritating, and challenging. What more could one want from a Thursday?
The first Thursday that I have ever completed without any "cheats." Didn't know the composer of Over the Rainbow or the French port, but finally my brain thought Gift of Gab, and the gold star appeared.
@Joe I messed up that corner before gift of GAB came to me. The only "gift" that would annoy me would be ESP, lol!
I would dearly love to take the next wormhole out of this particular time and space.
That was the exact right balance of frustration and satisfaction. What a fun puzzle!
Not going to lie, I hated this puzzle. How are you supposed to ever know what those circles mean without a proper indicator in the puzzle??? For example: 1A you would think “flag” and move along. I’m supposed to magically know that it connects with 23D??? There’s literally nothing indicating this in the clue and if you can’t figure out the other clues you get screwed three different ways because of it (wrong starting letter, wrong letter in the middle, random blank clue)???? Not sure what I’m supposed to get from this puzzle other than the puzzle maker making it difficult and obtuse for the sake of novelty and not much more Maybe this looks different on the website or paper but on the app (where I do all the puzzles), this was just stupid
@Ian J 39D is a revealer. And, cleverly, you don't even need to solve it to understand what's happening. The clue itself tells you they're "portals". That's how I figured out what was going on.