Solutely fulous debut! I found this undantly enjoyle; clearly a lor of love. Was it too stract? Too impenetrle? Don’t be surd! And don’t let the nobs of negativity spoil the fun. . . . . (I’ll stop bbling now.)
@Heidi This is a truly remarkable post!
I solved this without any idea what the theme was, just from the crosses. The spoiler had me parsing the answers every which way trying to make sense of them, and I still didn't see it. Not til I read Deb's comments did it make sense, and the face palm could be heard across the kitchen. What an excellent puzzle, thanks so much!
Brilliant! I just love it when the theme entries make absolutely no sense until you come to the revealer, at which point you revisit all those nonsensical entries and you experience a wonderfully satisfying aha moment, in this case 5 times. The AVIAN corner with its weavers and kites is fabulous. Also a fun clue for IDIOM. Congratulations, Rajeswari, on a most impressive debut! Are short comments the work of abbots? EMUs may think so.
Congratulations on a fun NYT debut, Ms Rajamani! My favorite of the RIPPED ABS was “Viable investment scheme.” Hope we’ll see you back soon!
@Eric Hougland This was the first I'd learned that a Ponzi scheme was a viable investment. Oh ... wait ... How nice to see an intelligent puzzle again! Took me a good long time to finish it and I'm glad it did.
Wonderful debut. Particularly liked: The adjoining misdirect bird clues in the NE corner for weavers and kites. And weavers' nests really are amazingly intricate. The tragi-comic mini story of the man-eating ogre who has (orally) eaten someone's flower-girl niece, and once she's consumed and entirely below the belt, so to speak, the ogre feels rather sleepy and filled with ennui. He lists on his feet, then crashes face-forward to the ground, exposing his uber-arse, ridgy with warts and zits. The tragi-comic mini story of all the exponents of ponzi schemes you see via media all the time, which only a sloppy myope couldn't spot as one brazen lie after another, like those promises of ripped abs, if you'll buy this lifetime supply of whey, or those emails advising you to smoke all the pot you want, guzzle Mtn Dew, Moet, Mules, until you're orally sated, and then, when your gut looks like an uber-bulb, go get a lipo, only $499.99!! Ripped Abs 4-Life! I'd prefer "Middle road" or "Middle way" for VIA MEDIA, as the term is slightly more active & forward-moving than "middle ground" implies. RIDGY is the only clunker in an otherwise elegant, cheery grid. Ridged, perhaps. Are the Appalachians extremely ridgy? Did you forego your evening walk because it was too midgy? Is that endoskeleton very Muybridgy? Is your copy of Tropic of Cancer with the sex scenes clipped out really so abridgy? Did Goldilocks find it all too porridgy? No. But my six-pack abs are, indeed, quite ridgy (LIE).
That was a 10/10 Thursday for me. Just hard enough, clever theme that I enjoyed and no googling any weird sports abbreviations. Loved it!
Here’s a constructor who, in her debut, shows great promise. Somewhere along the line, Rajeswari came across the phrase RIPPED ABS and didn’t just move on; her brain tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Look closer!” That’s crossword constructor brain. She’s got it. And she delivered. A bit into the puzzle, when I had uncovered one of the theme answers and knew it was correct, even though it didn’t fit its clue – well, that is one of Crosslandia’s great moments: where you know there’s a riddle to crack and an aha coming when you do. It brings a bounce to your brain’s step. I actually thought, “Oh I love this puzzle” at that moment. Rajeswari sweetened the outing with beauty as well: MIDGE, PONZI SCHEMES, PLUMB, POLE CAR, BELOW THE BELT, RIPPED ABS, BLEEP, IMPOSTER. Plus, she included lovely vague clues and misdirects. So yes, great promise evident here, IMO. Two observations. First, I’m amazed that BELOW THE BELT had never appeared in a Times puzzle before today. Second, regarding RIDGY, which has drawn some raised eyebrows, well, I love this answer. It looks terrific, is fun to say, and has far more bounce than “ridged”. I’ve never thought of it before, never used it, and maybe never will, but I love it – thumbs up! Rajeswari, congratulations on becoming a Times constructor, and please, forge on! Thank you for your splendid puzzle!
@Lewis Hear hear. I'd go further. She hasn't arrived with great promise, but rather fully formed. This is one of the best puzzles I've seen here in a long time. (And it puts some of the awkward monstrosities we've seen to shame.) /shamed emus duck down
@Lewis "More bounce than 'ridged'." Love it! It tripped me up a bit (expected a variation on wale or rib), but in the best way. Great puzzle!
As is often the case I solved this one without getting the theme. And even after completing the puzzle, I didn’t see what the trick was, and had to read Wordplay to see what was up. I just never seem to catch on when the gimmick involves the clues rather than the answers. I liked the clues for ICERINK and ELBOW, and as a birder especially enjoyed like a kite for AVIAN. During the last couple of years when I was living bicoastally and spending a few months a year in San Diego, one of the joys of being on the left coast was being able to walk to a park where I could often see white tailed kites. To see these elegant birds hovering overhead and scanning for prey was always a thrill.
@Marshall Walthew I didn't understand the trick while I was solving, and I had to concentrate on the revealer to get it. But the revealer (61A) did say "...what the starred clues in this puzzle must have..." Use the revealer, Luke!
The Dutch word for glove is similar to German, "handschoen." We lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years when my daughters were school age. Our 4-year-old told us this joke: "In wat voor schoenen stopt Sinterklaas niet cadeautjes in? Handschoenen!" ("In what kind of shoes does Santa not put gifts in? Gloves!") It's hilarious in Dutch from a 4-year-old.... We came up with an English analog: "What kind of nuts don't grow on trees? Doughnuts!"
@Michael Weiland Peanuts? I also just realized that doughnuts are probably named for the things that go with bolts--I'm probably the last person to realize this.
@Michael Weiland Brings back fond memories of chocolate letters in shoes and those delicious pepernoten and watching Sinterklaas arrive from Spain every year. Any chance your kids went to ASH in Wassenaar? Some good years there…. — — — — — — — —
Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch. If you don't like the puzzle, remember that no one says you HAVE to do the it. And, if they were all easy, it wouldn't be fun. I loved this theme. Some of the clues were puzzling (hah) to me, but once I tasted them slowly, they made sense. Baby talk was probably my foggiest, but when I had enough letters to get ORALLY, it was a "slap the forehead" cinch. (No, I won't tell you how many letters that was...) A great debut, I must say! And I look forward to more puzzles from Ms. Rajamani, which I predict will be Wednesday and Thursday levels!
Darlin' Deb, I gave up girding my loins about the time it became harder to reach them. PS: I know you just meant to be humerus, but the radius is either 'a bone...' or 'one of the bones' that runs from wrist to ELBOW. Hate to break up a good bony comment, but that's my knit and I'm sticking to it. As the incomparable @Deadline always knew, I never metacarpal I didn't like. Ms Raji, kudos galore for a Thursday debut that svelte really good!!
@Leapfinger I would love to hear your opinion of the design for The ELBOW. My experience suggests that the engineering on this arrangement could use an upgrade....
I loved reading that the constructor learned more about “American life, pop culture and sports” from doing crosswords than from a decade of living in the states. It should’ve been obvious, having tried my hand at puzzles from a few decades ago and those from across the pond to no avail, that it not only requires knowledge of culture but can also teach you about a culture over time. It’s inspiring that she now has made a significant contribution toward the zeitgeist! Congrats Raji!
Welcome, welcome, welcome to our newest constructor. Hurry back with more of this level of excellence and humor. What's more it was really, really a challenge for me. And that's the way I like it.
@Deadline Uh huh, uh huh. Also glad to see that we're both still around and shaking a leg, even if not exactly kicking. (THR, you know)
Columbus *did* indeed land in the Garden of Eden and then proceeded to initiate its destruction.
@Super8ing I...dunno...any place that has as many venomous snakes as the Caribbean islands can't be an Eden in my book.
I ordered my physique in the mail. I'm so ab-sent-minded. (Things will workout.)
@Mike Psych! E gads. Your kingdom for an Edit button. /Emus loathe spellchicks
@Mike You must be a gluten for punishment, but even though you may get some ribbing, I bet nobody pecs on you. 🏋️ 🏋️ 🏋️ 🏋️ 🏋️ Emus, watch out!
Rajeswari Rajamani you have truly outdone yourself with this puzzle. I wish I could complete it 8 other times, and had a blast doing this puzzle. I cannot wait to see what other challenges you bring forth to us in the future.
Wonderful puzzle. I was lucky enough to experience it just the way I would have wanted. I struggled a bit and had no clue about the theme answers. Once I got the revealer the theme clues all made sense and it quickly came together.
Welcome, Rajeswari. A Thursday debut is very ambitious, and you nailed it on this one. I love it when I have to look to the clue for the trick. I liked the extra layer of AB meaning "away" since we had to take the AB away. While on the easier side for a Thursday, this was a great trick to prime newer solvers for what to look for. The clues for AVIAN and NESTS were favorites. Very nice!
@Nancy J. Yikes, I didn't even get that part, at least consciously. Abscess, abscond, wow what a great angle you've found. /Emus abhor a vacuum
I got the theme when I entered EMAILS and immediately realized they can be marked as sent. The other clues minus "ab" aren't exactly everyday phrases. That's not a complaint, just an observation. Really enjoyed this puzzle. I often go to the racetrack for feline races, so I expected 46A to be polecat. (that stinks)
@ad surdum Thinking of circuits (racing) and polecats reminded me of one of my favorite songs, so thank you. <a href="https://youtu.be/pWQS4P5M2AM?si=EdJWNB5ScjVwFK3k" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/pWQS4P5M2AM?si=EdJWNB5ScjVwFK3k</a>
I love your special nom de blog for today, @ad surdum. So clever and so funny!
Congratulations on a stellar debut, Raji! Very impressive how quickly you got here. I tend to skip around the puzzle, building from what I know, which led me to the revealer early on. Still, I didn't know if it would be a rebus until the theme answers started filling in nicely, as complete words, but not making sense. That's when I checked the clues. Putting the trick in the clues is such a creative idea that i never get tired of it. It's a bit of a shame that, to the detriment of this excellent trick, yesterday's puzzle also had us looking twice at the clues themselves. In other words, I was somewhat primed for it. And yet, that didn't take away from the joyful romp through this grid replete with clever, fresh, and rich fill. It didn't give rise to any ENNUI and, as a MYOPE, I feel seen. As for RIDGY, some might not love it, but, of course, it's a word in its own right. Me, I've always thought of curdoroys as RIbbed, so I actually tried RIbbY. Well, compared to RIbbY, RIDGY comes as a relief! Thank you so much for this engaging puzzle, Raji!
@sotto voce In multiple decades of puzzling with the NYT, I don't think I _ever_ caught on even one puny time when the trick was in the clues. Gets me Every Time. I think of cords as being WALED (WALEY?) but you can't fight the inexorable crosses
What a cleverly constructed theme! As soon as I filled in the revealer things started to make sense. I love the feeling when that happens. The only sticky part for me was the NE corner. Once I realized "kite" and "weavers" were birds, it suddenly made sense. Excellent misdirection in those clues!
@Janine I loved those tricky bird clues also! Weavers nests are works of art. Some examples: <a href="https://www.treehugger.com/nature-blows-my-mind-weaverbirds-craft-amazing-nests-4858022" target="_blank">https://www.treehugger.com/nature-blows-my-mind-weaverbirds-craft-amazing-nests-4858022</a>
clever + challenging + creative + fresh + fun = a dandy debut...on a Thursday! HUZZAH!
Nice debut! I finished the puzzle without figuring out the trick, but was determined to find it--so I reread the revealer and saw "clues" so I knew where to look. And I figured it out. So I was happy with that. Please make more puzzles, Raji!
Loved it. Solved all the starred across clues by brute force (i.e., crosses) and only realized the themes after I had solved the revealer. Great Thursday.
I really enjoyed this! Very good puzzle and perfect for a Thursday. FYI I may or may not be one of the resident "whiners" so consider this praise. :) I don't know why anyone would complain about this one. The theme feels fresh, and I mostly figured out what was up long before I got to the "revealer" clue. Great theme clues -"viable investment plans" is probably my favorite. And very cool to hear this is the work of a relatively recent immigrant. "By talk" threw me for a bit but the answer turned out perfectly cromulently. No junk in this puzzle either. Never heard of "midge" but that's probably on me. Great work!
@B I have a feeling that MIDGE and gnat are interchangeable. Both are tiny, biting insects. Scotland is famous for its midge swarms near water in the summer. You need some heavy duty insect repellant to deal with the little blighters.
I enjoyed it! After an initial struggle, very satisfying to nut this one out after getting the revealer. This is what Thursday puzzles should be all about.
@Ant I don't mean to clutch my pearls, but I've only heard the phrase you used in a very different context.... when I read your comment I had to laugh. 😆
WAXY and RIDGY were rather inelegant answers. The gimmick was amusing but the fill suffered a little bit in order to make it work.
@Shrike Are the answers inelegant or were the clues just a bit clumsy? Don’t you think with different clues they may have been a bit more satisfying?
Great debut. Challenging at first, but found the revealer by solving crosses and the light bulb came on. And I love that crossword puzzles helped the constructor learn about American pop culture!
@Valerie It helps me too, and I'm an American.
Nice clue for NIECE and TIL I learned what Project Blue Book was. Congrats on the debut.
A blast from my HS Latin past: VIAMEDIA. Ribby for RIDGY. Nice work Raji and no rebus
Oh thiiiiiiis is what it would feel like if Saturdays had themes. I truly had to make a concerted effort to get onto the same wave with the constructor to finish this one out. Once I did the answers (correct ones this time!) started to fall into place. The revealer was actually the easiest section for me to tackle (and I needed it!). PacECAR and pAt instead of POLECAR and DAB had me all over the place in that area. It didn't help that I initially thought of "radius" mathematically and was thinking casino or pinball for the bad hit. Ah me, I'm just glad I got it done.
@Joya I also could only think of radius in math terms. I guessed ELBOW when I had in EL__W, thinking that – get this – it was a new term for the point that lies on the circumference. It took coming to the column to get that straightened out in my brain!
Man, oh man… Took me forrrreverrrr to figure out what was happening. I had three squares left when I *finally* made sense of the revealer. Whew! Not an elegant solve for me, but a fantastic debut! Happy Thursday! The Friday of Fridays!
@CCNY Same! I filled in the revealer and had enough crosses to assume EXPONENTS, but it took me a an extremely enjoyably long time to put it all together. Great puzzle!
I enjoyed this one a lot. It seemed to me to have a new slant on clueing in a number of cases, despite not being very difficult over all. In the second one in this series, will we get to rip some CDs? (youngsters, look it up)
Great debut, nicely done. Was a very bumpy ride in the middle south with RIDGY and SKAT complete unknowns and POLECAR eliciting the hairy eyeballs. MTNDEW was a bit hard to swallow as well. But all good fun. Many thanks.
@John MTNDEW is literally how it’s written on the cans. Or, do you mean, the soda is literally hard to swallow? ???? ????!!!
What a treat!! It was a bit on the tougher side for me but I got 'er done! No helps at all! And enjoyed it all the way through! It was fun even when I was really puzzled! I mean, that's sorta what we're here for, right?! I finally figured out the trick when I got EMAILS and had no idea why. Also had PONZI SCHEMES and EXPONENTS and didn't know why... The lower level crossings were a bit harder for me so I didn't have enough crossings yet to figure out BELOW THE BELT (and not know why)... and I wasn't trusting ??ALLY at all and I was afraid I wouldn't get the trick figured out... But just like earlier today when I tricked my boss out of my favorite spot at our meeting table after he got there first and then mocked me for being slow (all in very good fun!), I persevered and reclaimed my spot! Nobody messes with HeathieJ when her favorite spot is on the line! 💪😂 Likewise, I lasered in on the clue that resulted in EMAILS and on the revealer.... and huzzah, just like that, I got it. Pretty quickly was able to parse out BELOW THE BELT once I RIPPED out those ABS, laughed at the "Baby talk" clue, and filled in the O and R. Really enjoyable nut to crack!! Thanks kindly, Ms. Rajamani, and congrats on a wonderful debut!!
@HeathieJ I have a *lot* of trouble seeing tricksiness when the *clue* has to be altered in some way, rather than the answer. I needed a hint from Wordplay that one needed to deal with "AB" removed from the clue, not the answer.
I LOVED THIS PUZZLE! I got ripped abs first and didn’t get what it meant for awhile, until i realized it said to make the clues make sense, not the answer. Getting the trick was so deeply satisfying, and then as i got each subsequent clue’s answer i had an awesome thrill as they fell into place each time. I liked how even getting the trick i had to think for awhile to get the answer, and needed some of the crosses for help. Baby Talk was the last one I got, because I kept reading it with the emphasis on ‘by’ rather than ‘talk,’ so getting ORALLY actually made me understand the clue itself. Also loved how lots of the other fill required a lot of thought, I had to not be too precious with my answers and erase and retry things until it all puzzled together. It took me a pretty long time and a break in between but no lookups and no cheats, which made this extra satisfying. Great debut!!
I'm working on the puzzle, don't know anything about alcoholic drinks, so 5A is waiting for crosses to help. But I'm also watching Jeopardy. One answer was about cocktail served in a brass mug! Question: "What is a Moscow MULE!" Glad my two favorite brain-saving activities are helping each other.
Managed to almost figure out the theme with the first themer; but I had it backwards (BA), which didn't matter with cabaret or baby, and I didn't bother trying to alter the clues for the others. The revealer, however, got things in the correct order, so it was all good times after that. Nice Thursday, and great debut! Thanks, Raji!
After yesterday's discussion about proper plural of Octopus I have to post this amazing song that explains it all. Thank you Allan Sherman. <a href="https://youtu.be/FVekfpXJGBc?si=t1a7xjB1PrNf9nzK" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/FVekfpXJGBc?si=t1a7xjB1PrNf9nzK</a>
@Sue That was amazing! I never heard of Allen Sherman before but this song was hilarious. Thank you!
Bytalk = ORALLY? Can anyone explain this clue for me? Not familiar with the term Bytalk. Hard to find a definition online. Maybe defined as “trivial conversation”? That doesn’t seem to solve to ORALLY, in my mind, but I’m sure I’m missing something.
@Striker If you did something by talk it means orally. A little bit of a stretch, maybe BABY TALKING—by talking— would be less clunky but baby talking isn’t really a common phrase compared to baby talk
@Striker Would the clue “Baby mouth” work better?
I couldn't see what was supposed to be happening, so I filled in the puzzle (one look-up, a proper name) with words that fit and sometimes seemed to be related to the clues (ELBOW was very cool), got the fanfare, and was done. Weirdly, it was a relaxing puzzle. I enjoyed it, especially since I was having one of those days that had to include a two-hour nap. Off to bed now. Thank you, Rajeswari Rajamani, and welcome to the Times.
I found this puzzle super annoying and too clever by half. How is the Columbus answer ‘Eden’? Orally? Emails? I don’t get it, and not in that fun way.
@Bill Crandall Emails - remove the As and Bs from the Clue. They might be marked as sent.
@Bill Crandall Columbus thought he had landed in the garden of Eden. Remove the AB from 'Baby talk' = 'By talk' = Orally. Remove the AB from 'absent' = 'they might be marked as sent' = Emails. Really not "too clever by half" at all. You just didn't understand the theme, and that's okay.
Thank you Ms. Rajamani for a great debut puzzle. Congratulations, it must be a thrill to be chosen for publication. I really enjoyed this puzzle. It was challenging at times. I thought it was a rebus at first. I had to check the wordplay column to get the trick in order to finish. It never occurred to me that the clue would have the missing letters! A real twist for me. My last fill was 16A. I don't know this word, so will look it up later. I didn't understand some of the unstarred clues, but was able to fill correctly with crosses and guessing. There may be a generation gap. I'm old and often don't know newer words used in slang or conversationally. In any case, it slows me up, but doesn't knock me out. Great fun and I have a wonderful sense of accomplishment finishing a Thursday puzzle. Watching Katy Ledecky stand and get her gold after breaking the world record for the 1500 meter individual swim. She's amazing! Cheers from Texas! Stay cool y'all.
@Bonnie Ann MIDGEs swarm at a particular time along the shores of The Great Lakes, and 'MIDGE Season' is dreaded in NE Ohio. They are definitely an annoyannce. I'm sure there is a scientific name for them, but as for there being a USE for their existence, no one has ever come up with one.
Now, what gymgoer in the world wants MISSING ABS? I knew almost immediately what the trick was, but not what the phrase would turn out to be. And didn't I tell you all only just yesterday that "when there's a mismatch between the clue and the answer, the trick is in the CLUE." Yesterday I was wrong, but today I was right!! Yay, me!! I made this puzzle hugely enjoyable for myself once I figured out from getting PONZI SCHEMES and EXPONENTS that the ABs in the clues would go missing. I then filled in EMAILS and ORALLY with no crosses -- and in dark ink, mind you. I held off on the nasty not habits-but-hits clue because there are all kinds of nasty hits. But once I had just the W, I immediately filled in BELOW THE BELT -- once again in dark ink. Aha -- RIPPED ABS! (Shouldn't they really be RIPPED OUT ABS?) No matter -- I had a wonderful time with this puzzle, which, btw, made me feel really, really smart. That's two very clever and very entertaining puzzles in a row. I'm a happy camper.
@Nancy Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. In contrast to your experience, I only understood the theme after I'd finished it all. How on Earth would EXPONENTS be found next to cabarets??? D'oh. My solving time was within a few seconds of my average. Thoroughly enjoyed this very clever puzzle.
@Nancy This week’s fun Wednesday and Thursday puzzles have me hoping the trend continues through the weekend. In past years, I’ve read complaints that during the summer, the NYT runs the puzzles it never should have accepted in the first place. I’ve sometimes seen the validity of that argument, but this week’s puzzles stack up nicely against any other week’s.
It's rare that I can solve a puzzle but still not guess what the theme was.... I had to read today's column to find out. It never occurred to me to nix letters from the clue rather than the answer. Nicely done.
Loved this one... Because the effort was FRESH FRESH FRESH. I was wondering if I was growing tired of Crosswords as they were feeling more like a chore as of late and today's puzzle helped me realize there's been something of a staleness to the NYT gameplay of late. Generally. For me anyway. I'd take a break but then I'd miss her Sophomore effort. Remember FRESH FRESH FRESH!!!
@Judith Fairview I took an unintentional break for about a month once just out of lack of time and when I came back I struggled through Thursday - Saturday all over again. It was more frustrating than it was fresh lol. It WAS nice to have recent puzzles to tackle the archives though.
Fave was PONZI SCHEMES: Viable vs vile, v clever! Also, that KITE and WEAVER were both birds, nice AVIAN misdirection! Slower than usual solve for me but nicely tricky Thursday
@CLN The PONZI SCHEMES clue was also my favorite of the theme answers.
I loved this puzzle! I had PONZISCHEME and EXPONENTS, but could not figure out what the modification was with the clues to make them work. Even after solving for RIPPEDABS I scratched my head for a bit, but it was a very satisfying aha! moment. This was a perfect Thursday for me. Great debut and I hope to see more from Rajeswari in the future!
@Sara I agree with you whole-heartedly!