The theme was completely lost on me. But that's my fault, not the constructor's. However, I found the fill to be clunky and too name-based. This one wasn't for me.
@Shannon I'm glad you pointed out that it's not the constructor's fault. After all, he gave you THREE revealers (30A, 36A, 45A). (I didn't think that there were more names than usual in this puzzle, though.)
@Shannon Same for me (both the too many obscure names and the constructor thing).
@Shannon The theme didn't strike a chord with me but I liked the trivia. Overall, I thought it was a good puzzle.
@Shannon The theme barely works. Or perhaps I still don't get it? Do re mi, but randomly mixed? So?
front runner for worst puzzle of the year. 26 proper nouns - how is this enjoyable? this isn't SOLVING. this is trivia - sometimes i don't think nyt understands the medium. not to mention SNORRI/GOURDE/YUL/FALA/ICI/SOUSA/ORRIN... what a deeply unserious effort this was.
@Charles as a non english native / non american, this was by far my slowest wednesday solve.
@Charles - YUL, FALA, SOUSA, and ORRIN were all very easy gimmes for me and, I suspect, for many, many other solvers. I got SNORRI and GOURDE by getting a few crosses, and then the "aha! Of course!" I had temporarily forgotten the currency, but it was in the memory bank, as was the writer's name. I just had to jog the bank a bit for them to fall out. Not everybody knows everything, and just because YOU don't know something, doesn't mean it is useless trivia. It means it is something you didn't know. No more, no less. I don't want the puzzles dumbed down to the point where everybody knows every entry. How boring would that be?
@Charles - How would you feel if you were the constructor and read a comment saying that your puzzle was the worst of the year? If you hated this puzzle so be it, but there's a way to say that without being insulting.
@Charles Agreed, Even though I knew most of them, imo the usage was much too excessive. Hint: younger people will not be familiar with any of them.
@Charles One person's trivia is another person's common knowledge, I guess. Of the ones you listed, the only one that wasn't familiar to me was GOURDE, which was easy enough to get from crosses. As the old saying goes, you aren't dead until someone says your name for the last time, so the "trivia" in our lives keep our cultural memory from fading. And crosswords are a good way to share them.
@Charles I suggest you send the New York Times a list of everything you know, so that the constructors can tailor the next puzzle specifically for you. After all, it *is* all about you.
@Charles I'm certain the creator of this puzzle understands the medium just fine. Some of us enjoy more of a hard trivia/wordplay mix like this to the simpler ones put out recently that are almost all wordplay or common knowledge.
Starting to read the comments. This SO vs SOL controversy is really, really, really, really, really, really, really tiresome. Use whichever works for the crossword and move on.
Didn't enjoy a single second of this solve. Relatively obscure proper names abound, likely due to the constrictions placed on the grid by a theme that just isn't all that interesting. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.
"You should scale back on your singing." "Duly noted." (I have more of these puns, but I'd need an extension chord.)
@Mike Give it a rest! I hope this won't be diminished by the emus. That would be a major penalty for a minor infraction.
13th century Icelandic poetry is some of my most favorite poetry so this was really quite easy. 🤥
@Sam I actually have a copy of the Edda in my bookcase from a course I took 20 years ago. Enjoyed the course, but couldnt you tell much of anything about it now, other than I know Snorri :) but I get that is most likely not Wednesday styled clue. I thought my jumping on Snorri would set me up well, but the whole western section for me was just a slog. I love learning new things when solving, either by completing the puzzle or tapping out and seeing answers but this seemed ultra forced.
Today's puzzle provides as good an occasion as any for me to announce my forthcoming screenplay inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, with a lead role specially written for Lily Tomlin. My working title is "One Ringy-Dingy To Rule Them All."
@Fact Boy oh my gosh, this made me laugh out loud!
Trivia laden. Doable but not enjoyable.
I think this is a decent enough example where an exceedingly clever theme comes at the expense of the solvers. I can only imagine the wrangling it takes to create a grid with a border composed of only 7 tones with 3 witty, long revealers, but apparently it requires some gluey names to fill it out. I marveled at the theme, but winced finishing the rest.
Hit 1500 in my completing-the-puzzle streak today. Not always unaided (I let myself do Google checks, and allow one or two actual lookups on Fridays and Saturdays), but religiously to completion. It's a favorite part of my morning ritual (Bee, Wordle, and Connections on my phone before rising, Crossword and Strands over/around breakfast). For the record, I'm a staunch member of team Rebus, and take full responsibility for not knowing sports trivia (yesterday's SE corner nearly defeated me). Today's theme was right up my alley, as I'm a musician and music teacher. Much help when I grokked the theme about halfway through and was able to fill the rest of the edge in easily. (Let's hear it for solfège!) But a nasty stack in the SW added a ton of flyspecking time to today's ticker: I had ORReN/ODiA instead of ORRIN/ODEA and it was a while before I checked the clue--or even looked at--54D. So the puzzle, as usual, reminds me not to get too comfortable. Coming here to read the comments of favorite fellow-solvers (and to eat some popcorn, and sometimes throw some too, during the kerfuffles) is the other part that keeps me subscribing to the NYT even when I get frustrated with what's happening in other sections. Happy to have made this milestone, and a happy solving day, week, month, year to all.
The theme was fine, but too many obscure names/proper nouns. It felt hard for a Wed puzzle. Icelandic poet Sturluson? County in northeastern Nevada? I don't work crosswords to hone my google skills. I prefer clever clues over obscure trivia/names.
@Carrie G I knew the Nevada county with one letter filled in (that answer comes up from time-to-time in CWPs) but I didn't know the Icelandic poet or the AIDS researcher. If you want to say those are Saturday-level answers, I won't argue, but I think it's okay to use them in a Wednesday puzzle, as long as the crosses are reasonable, as they are here. We all have Wednesday answers we don't know but can get from the crosses. Now if those two answers had crossed on a Wednesday, then I'd have been unhappy as well, but no problem here. The AIDS researcher and Icelandic poet intersect with the themers on the marginalia, which is why those two answers were used in this puzzle, I'm sure. The constructor and editors couldn't find easier alternatives that could make this theme work.
@Carrie G I agree, I never enjoy trivia dense puzzles, especially ones obviously tailored to people 20 years older than me. But the ones who enjoy them hate my beloved Thursdays.
What a great laugh-out-loud moment with MOO for [Stock quote?]! I caught on to the theme as the revealers came around but, as a whole, this puzzle took much concentration, which I enjoyed terribly. I had dinner at my brother's and wish I hadn't come home to do the puzzle. He has a piano and I don't, so I missed out on being able to play the tune. Now I'll never know... (sniff-sniff.) Loved this puzzle. Thank you Mr. Gordon! . . . . (emusic is the only kind of emu I like.)
Here is Deb Amlen's 2018 interview with Peter Gordon: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/crosswords/who-made-my-puzzle-gordon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NU4.O3Yf.HhJLryDugijR&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/crosswords/who-made-my-puzzle-gordon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NU4.O3Yf.HhJLryDugijR&smid=url-share</a>
Pre-emptively: Yes, we know that serious musicians call it SOL, not SO. However, a musician as pre-eminent as Oscar Hammerstein II chose to write a famous song for "The Sound of Music" using SO, not SOL, albeit homonymically, in his song that millions of people learned in school if they didn't already know it from real life. What's more, SO as an alternate form of SOL existed before Mr. Hammerstein wrote his lyric. Yes, we know all this. But this puzzle wouldn't have worked with six two-letter words and one three-letter words. Deal with it!
@Steve L Well, R&H said "SEW, a needle pulling thread." :-) Doe, ray, me, fa(r), sew, la, tea, doe.
@Steve L I saw the original Broadway production starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel and even as a child hated the torturing of the names of the notes and knew it was going to cause countless children to learn them wrong.
This level of random trivia is beyond unnecessary, especially for a Wednesday.
@Michael Welp, I knew all the trivia, but there was no 'bounce' in filling the puzzle. At the very least, why not clue 32A as ["Washington Post" composer] --as a nod to yesterday's puzzle? That would at least ELICIT a little chuckle. SNORRI, indeed!
Fun! Anyone else sing the completed puzzle? The bottom line makes a decent closing. Maybe I’ll make a RING TONE out of it. Or! They should’ve replaced the regular happy music with this encoded melody.
@Cat Lady Margaret No, but I have been channeling Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp kids since I finished.
@Cat Lady Margaret The first line and last line both work together for a quaint melody in A minor.
@Cat Lady Margaret I wrote it out on some staff paper and hummed the tune to a lot of different rhythms. It can be done. Not an obvious melody, but interesting.
@Vaer Thanks for mentioning Jimmy Buffet’s “Mozambique”. 🇲🇿 It was very good!
@Cat Lady Margaret I guess I wanna ask Peter Gordon if he meant it as a melody and if so, in what order should it be? E.g, clockwise? I will check out the bottom line !
@Charlotte The bottom line kind of sounds to me like a grandfather clock. Emu
Peter Gordon churns them out, with 129 NYT puzzles, plus many elsewhere – that's more than impressive to begin with. But then you see that 123 of his Times puzzles are themed. I talk with constructors, and so often hear how many months it’s been since they came up with even one fresh and worthy theme. But Peter dashes them out and they sparkle! Furthermore, his puzzles abound with fresh clues and answers. That is, his remarkable output is matched by top-tier quality. To me, he is one of the glowing treasures of Crosslandia. What a talent! Look at what he did today. He came up with the unusual idea of combining two theme stalwarts – having theme answers fill the grid’s perimeter, and having the theme involve the do-re-mi’s. On top of that, he came up with three – three! – revealers, all scintillating. Is that not sparkling? Also, I don’t know about you, but when I finally saw what was going on, it brought a ringing “Aha!”. It delivered. Oh, and wordnerd I loved seeing the rare-in-crosswords five-letter palindrome LEVEL. I shake my head in wonder at what you do, Peter, wonder and respect. Thank you for a sterling outing today!
Googled two names to be sure they were right (they were) and still couldn't find the fly. Found it at last and the puzzle was done. Mostly it was easy, but no less engaging and fun to work. Not a surprise if this is Peter Gordon's 129th puzzle, a staggering achievement. Congratulations, Mr. Gordon. We'll be looking forward to 130. Thank you for your dedication!
Terrible puzzle. No fun at all. Too many weird, factual clues to look up.
@Eva H. What a great puzzle! So much fun. So many weird, factual clues to look up.
Eva, Would you prefer to look up clues that were not, in fact, factual? Actually, all clues are factual (or had better be); are you complaining about answers that are proper nouns? Like you might have to know -- or learn -- facts? Heaven forfend!
Snorri! Yes! It's not often I get to make use of my literary education in the crossoword.
So, when I first came to this town, a friend asked me to water her houseplants while she and her husband went on an extended vacation. Driving across town twice every other day, I noticed everybody had a mailbox of the same design, but in seven colors according to their tastes. So, I started to sing the colors as I passed them going to and from her house, up and down hills, with the trees and flowers accompanying my song… Do - white mailbox Re - red Mi - blue Fa - green Sol - black La - brown / tan Ti - silver / gray Some roads were very Coplandesque, others Ivesian, some more melodic, some more like John Cage. It got to be quite an addictive driving game. Do try it if you live in a town like that. 🎶
@David Connell Some people cannot do this to save their souls. Please devise a remedial/substitute driving game. Meanwhile....just wow.
@David Connell The next level would be to map out your route to spell out certainly melodies. Wasteful of gasoline, for sure.; but that's what Scriabin and Messiaen insisted on, the last time the three of us were car-pooling.
@David Connell I did a lot of music in high school, but I never developed this specific talent. So, given any notes of the major scale, like, fa, and immediately since another note, like ti? Pretty impressive. Is that something most professional musicians can do?
Phew that was a brain workout! As a new intermediate, I’m glad to add a few terms to my bank of crossword specific knowledge. Now off to bed. Does anyone else do the crossword before bed?
@Allan Yes. Everyone who has commented in this forum before you did the crossword when you did (or before that). Glad to see you're expanding your knowledge bank. I've found that many things I've learned via crosswords are useful to know in real life.
@Steve L Just because folks do the crossword when it comes out doesn’t mean they do it before bed. In my timezone they become available at 10am
Wow, this was tough, for me at least. But so clever! Thank you Mr. Gordon! And I also enjoy the crossword before bed. It helps set the world right 😊
SNORRI was a gimme, strangely enough - thanks to Cat Jarman's "River Kings" book about the Vikings that I recently read (really interesting and well written, and a must-read for people who like me are fascinated by non-fiction investigations of historical links between people, cultures and places). The senator, school and AIDS researcher I had to get from the crosses. Some trivia I looked up, especially in the trivia-heavy W half of the puzzle. Even though I know the "do re mi fa sol la ti do" thing - those names are the only thing I remember from the incredibly useless music lessons in 1980s Polish primary school - I did not understand the theme. I needed the column to get what was going on, and I didn't find it particularly interesting for personal reasons. I can't play any music any more. Not that I ever could do it well, anyway. I *sort of* played the flute in school - we all did, as it was the only instrument we were taught how to play (probably because it was the only one simple and cheap enough to be mass produced for millions of "communist" children), and very, very badly, too - but I forgot how to quickly. Also, I never really could read music - I only knew what I had to do with that stupid flute to get the corresponding sounds, but that's it - I could not hum or whistle the notes. So yeah, even once I understood it, the theme left me cold, with memories of time wasted in those ridiculous music "classes" with an alcoholic misanthrope for a "teacher".
@Andrzej couldn’t get this old classic out of my ear after reading your comment. sorry you had such an unfortunate experience with learning music. enjoy! <a href="https://youtu.be/HbfSH7GfI6c?si=x03ael19jIddFX8U" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/HbfSH7GfI6c?si=x03ael19jIddFX8U</a>
@Andrzej I also could not get the hang of playing a musical instrument; in my case, piano lessons in elementary school. It didn't help that we didn't have a piano, although our next-door neighbors were gracious enough to let me practice there. I wonder if it would have been different today, when an inexpensive electric keyboard can be had for nearly nothing. I also can't carry a tune, although I wouldn't say I'm tone deaf. I can distinguish various tones; I just can't reproduce them. But I do love music, and find it interesting. I don't understand how so many people lose interest in music when they take on adult responsibilities and get the attitude that all the good music ended when they were in their 20s (whenever that was).
How many NAENAEs have been performed in ODEA? Solving that cross certainly made me want to dance.
@Shimmer Never ever heard of a naenae, but the crosses solved it for me.
Count me with those who felt there were a few too many proper names. NW corner probably took longer to parse out than the rest of the puzzle together.
This was not a Wednesday puzzle. Irk.
@Shannabanana It’s closer got the 2020-2021 difficulties. I do think this week’s Wednesday was harder than Thursday.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane - I clicked on the link to Mr. Gordon's 1993 Sunday puzzle, and it all came back. From the deepest layer of cerebral cortex, the Sunday puzzle's rainbow rebus brought back vivid memories of my first year out of college; living in my own apartment, too poor to afford a bottle of wine I came to appreciate after taking a wine appreciation class instead turned my interest into savoring good coffee. My Sunday morning routine was to take a quick walk to the nearby newsstand to buy the Sunday paper, brew a good cup of coffee and begin solving the Sunday crossword. Back then, I would struggle and it would take me an entire week to crack the puzzle if I was lucky. I've just begun solving crossword around that time and I remember this particular puzzle very well - it was one of the first rebuses I've encountered. Once I realized I could squeeze in letters into one square, I colored them in instead. The color filled squares, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, the clanging of hot water radiator of the apartment... as I started filling the squares tonight, this time on screen, they all came back along with answers like Violets Are Blue (123A), Geegaws (51A), but clues for Carnac (22A) and Cat (91D) needed a little refresher. Johnny Carson had just retired and Socks was the White House Cat back then. Was FALA a nod to Socks from the puzzle by any chance?
@Heidi Weber spoilers!
Hate to nit-pick, but SOL no So, is the fifth note of the scale.
@Craig No need to nit-pick, everyone (including the constructor, according to his notes) knows that it is technically spelled "sol", but SO is considered an acceptable alternative.... especially in the context of this puzzle. :)
Perhaps because the perimeter was constrained by the theme, the interior seemed full of names: UNIX, TIVO, SNORRI, SOUSA, YUL, OSU, REX, ORRIN, DAVIDHO, EDUARDO, ONO, MESSI, OHM. WII, ELKO, ESSO, EXLAX, CASPER and, on the perimeter, FALA and LAREDO. Most of these I knew. I knew ELKO. I vaguely recalled DAVIDHO. Didn't know the Icelandic poet, but knew SNORRI was an Icelandic given name. Not familiar with EDUARDO Saverin, but the crossings were helpful enough. Solved it, but didn't find the theme or the fill that exciting. Don't think I've seen GOURDE before, so that one was interesting.
@Xword Junkie I was annoyed with myself for not remembering EDUARDO Saverin. I've seen "The Social Network" twice, in which he's played by Andrew Garfield. He's a big enough character in that movie that I should've remembered his name. (But I also should have remembered DAVID HO; to the extent I got stuck with this puzzle, it was trying to make sense of ____IDHO.)
I did not pick up on the 'theme'....and since I played instruments in the Band (versus singing in the Chorus/Choir) I never thought in terms of Do-Re-Mi. (I have what is best characterized as a Tin Ear. I sang to our babies, who grew older and got critical, the little ingrates. ("Mom! Shatter!" "That's not how it goes!" Etc.) Meh. Unappealing grid, ho-hum theme, clues a touch too easy... and Peter Gordon has no need of praise from anyone, having proven himself a thousand times over, so I'll just move on with my Wednesday. We are having some welcome rain to start the day.
@Mean Old Lady That is a very honest and well argued comment. I respect you for it, even more so as I just realised I had a similar experience - the theme did not grab me, and even though I struggled with some of the trivia (where I differed from you), I did the puzzle in just over 15 minutes, which is extremely fast for a Wednesday for me, and close to many of my Tuesday times. We could use some rain in Warsaw. The south of the country is being flooded, but up here further north it is way too dry, and has been all summer. Leftists should stop making up climate change because it's getting hard to live on this planet (that last sentence was ironic, btw - I once got bashed by many people who treated my sarcastic comment seriously, so now I want to be safe).
@Mean Old Lady & @Nancy J. I didn't get back to Wordplay yesterday until very late in the day, so: @Nancy J-- --OMG, How flattering! @MOL-- --I hope you enjoy both the process and the results!
I wondered for a minute if I was going to be able to finish this one, on a Wednesday no less! The theme was cute but I had no clue re: David Ho or gourde. Love a challenge though! Thanks!
Way down in the comments is one by sotto voce that links to a 2018 interview Deb Amlen did with constructor Peter Gordon (I think Deb mentions it in her column). I was struck by one thing Mr. Gordon said: "When I started making crosswords, it was all done by hand, and not only was it incredibly slow, the results weren’t so good. There’s a reason old puzzles have a lot of obscure words. When it takes as long as it took before computers, once you got anything that worked, you moved on, even if there was a bad answer in there."
I see that this puzzle creator subscribes to the “kill them with proper nouns” school of puzzle making. Oh joy.
proper noun swamps promote trivia knowledge over skill. not my favorite style.
When the theme is so useful to get crosses that have never even *entered* my brain, that there’s a good theme. Thank you Peter! You DO SO add a RE of light to my morning TI! 🫖
Peter Gordon's puzzles are typically charming and somewhat friendly for newer solvers. Alas, even the greatest among us have an off-day now and then. Solved it, but did not enjoy it. Thank you, Peter, but no more like this one, please.
“I love it when a crossword comes together.” - Hannibal Smith Unfortunately, this one was a bit too clunky for me, Hannibal. A few impenetrable Naticks. I had to look up DAVIDHO and SNORRI. But as a musician, I appreciated the theme. What would really be clever is if these SIDENOTES spelled out the ATEAM theme.
I understand you did not know DAVIDHO or SNORRI from the clues (I also did not know DAVIDHO), but which of the crossing words did you not know that made them Naticks for you? ###
@Mr Dave The purpose is to correct him, obviously. Whether that is a worthwhile purpose is, of course, up to everyone to form their own opinions on . . .
Pretty spicy for a Wednesday. Hate to say that I did not understand the theme until coming here. Very clever but there seemed to be a lot of very esoteric clues here.
Very well constructed puzzle, but a bit difficult for this non-musical Aussie; Presidential pets, Midwestern Universities, brand name drugs, Texas cities, etc...all things that probably are easy for most Americans, but may not be well known outside of the US.
@Paul Even for middle-aged crossword puzzling Americans, FDR's dog is obscure, as is the Nevada county. LAREDO, OSU, even ORRIN Hatch ought to be solidly in the memory cells though. The obscurity of clues should challenge anyone regardless of country: secondary Facebook founder, Sumo wrestler, Icelandic poet, secondary Toy Story character, Haitian currency, Time man of the year from 3 decades ago, etc. Maybe some of these are only obscure for me?
@Paul I continue to beg the NY crossword writers and editors to remember that non-college educated Americans attempt these crosswords.
A deer, a female deer. Where was I. Oh yeah - pretty smooth solve - typical Tuesday time, but... did not catch on to the theme at all until I came here. No big deal - that's all on me. Still a nice workout. Waiting for a drop of golden sun. See you later. ...
Oof. A tough one today, even though it was reasonably light on the USisms. Just not on my wavelength I guess. It doesn’t help that I’m fairly tone deaf, hence why I’m such a punk aficionado; who needs a tune when you can scream into the mic? Probably explains why I’m also aurally deaf as well. Ah, but the memories.
@Helen Wright I have to remember it’s not CAR but AUTO
@Helen Wright I'm not a fan of punk generally, unless Nina Hagen counts as punk. I love her version of "My Way" as well as the Sid Vicious version. Both are so much more in keeping with the idea of doing it my way than the staid Sinatra version.
This was definitely a tough one for me with all of the trivia clues, but it gave me the solid shot of dopamine once the theme clicked. Special shout out to Caitlin for the "surround sound" in the Gameplay subtitle, got a chuckle out of me!
Interesting that some/many commenters didn't realize the theme until finishing the puzzle. For me, a (fairly) rare case where I needed the theme to get the solve. Well, maybe not needed, but it definitely helped. Any SUMO fans here? Timely answer, as it was just announced that Onosato was promoted to Ozeki after winning the September tournament (his second championship in the past 3 tourneys) and he crushed the previous record for fastest rise to that rank. I expect (and hope) he will be promoted to Yokozuna (highest rank) next year. Loved "Fan fare?", "Stock quote?" and "Strike out, perhaps" - nice to see some (slightly) tricky wordplay midweek.
@Bill in Yokohama Hi, Bill, I never did get the theme, though I completed the puzzle fairly easily.
I loved having three great revealers! It was almost a mini-theme. I wonder if Rodgers and Hammerstein could have envisioned a puzzle like this when they were inventing music.
La guerra ha terminado . . . Peter Gordon, my head is all outa tune from that grid! Got a blue star after one letter looky-loo. Gosh, who besides moi needs a nap now after that mental tussle? Wake me up next week, friends. This little brain done filling in little squares - and it ain't even Thursday yet, kids.
I enjoyed this puzzle, especially when a clue like "stock quote" puts a smile on my face.
Imagine my chagrin when landing on 20A and finding that the answer for the foreign word in the clue is ANOTHER FOREIGN WORD. C'mon man, we're not all trilingual here.
@Ken Just another kind of trivia. Some people know sports teams, some know rap music, some know obscure actors, and some know basic words in several languages. Why shouldn't language nerds be thrown a sop once in while.
The Wordle Bot is having a laugh at me today. Apparently I’m below average in both skill and luck, yet still solved it faster than average. Must have been due to charm or good looks.