Nice job, Rena! I hope this puzzle gets the enthusiastic reception it deserves, but there is a subset of crossworders who typically don't react well to any kind of trick--rebuses, non-linear answers, etc. If there are boobirds here, remember it's nothing personal--many just hate anything out of the ordinary. I've been thinking about just avoiding Thursday comments for a while, until my blood pressure is within normal limits again. I think I'll start today. But, once again, wanted to congratulate you, Rena, and good luck with whatever is next.
@Francis I honestly don’t understand why those people don’t skip Thursdays. Some people just love being miserable and taking everyone else with them.
I cannot tell a [lie]; this one was fun. My longest delay was wanting to Share A CAB before realizing I needed to SPLIT it. Thanks, Rena, and enjoy Wash U.
Although I got the idea of this almost immediately, and was able to fill it in correctly without resorting to hints, or look-ups— which I would consider a fail on my part— the solve took me an inordinately long time. (Over 3x my PB!) And I confess to not entirely grasping the significance of the placement of the LIEs until reading the column. I did appreciate that extra level of cleverness! Was disheartened to read a couple of exceptionally nasty comments here; I flagged both, which was a first for me. One doesn’t have to enjoy every puzzle, but there is no excuse for being insulting to the constructor, especially to a first-timer. I can appreciate critical comments, even if I disagree, but not outright, snarky disrespect.
@Darcey O’D This is especially true when to those of us who had a clean solve, it is utterly apparent that the problem was simply that the complainer just didn't understand a perfectly logical and sensible theme. That makes it doubly, to borrow a word from Francis, reprehensible.
@Darcey O’D Me too, no looks ups, but a long time to complete. I did see how the "lies" completed the across clues, but I still don't get what a spike polygraph is.
The shifty baker had to take a pie detector test. (But that's the yeast of his worries.)
Finished now. There was no way I would ever have been able to do this on my own. So many words I did not know, further obfuscated by the theme I was not smart and observant enough to understand. I mean, I am not particularly intellectually challenged, but there *is* something simple about the way I perceive the world and the puzzles in it. I am a bit like my dog, Jorge the lab: he is the smartest dog I have ever had and he is absolutely great at stuff he has already experienced. He also learns new things quickly, when instructed - many a time he grasped in one or two tries many tricks beyond the ability of other dogs. Still... Throw something new and complex at him and leave him alone with it, and often he will just stand there, tilting his graying head, trying to compute but failing, and often resorting to barking at the novel and incomprehensible. You know how dogs and their owners are often very alike? Today I proved I am like Jorge, just much less cute (nobody smiles at *me* in the street). I know about rebuses. I know about dashes. I'm reasonably good at solving puzzles with either. However, a combination of the two was beyond me. I was so fixated on the dashes I failed to take into account a rebus might be part of the equasion, too. This led to the blunder of unwittingly looking up a themed entry. It all went downhill from there. Feeling dispirited, I let mental fog engulf me, and I was done for. An impressively constructed puzzle, hats off to the constructor 🏅
@Andrzej I, too, was very impressed by this constructor. I’m always amazed and delighted when young constructors create such clever, challenging NYT puzzles. I don’t generally think of myself as old or intellectually challenged until I come up against a puzzle like Rena’s, only to discover that it was created and accepted when she was a senior in high school. (Rena, congratulations on a great debut!) This one took me a bit longer than most Thursdays, even after I figured out the theme. I can relate to you and Jorge. People are constantly telling my puppy, Oliver, how cute and smart he is. They are not wrong. As you noted, dogs and their owners are often alike but I have reluctantly accepted the fact that I will never match Oliver’s appeal to complete strangers on the street.
@Andrzej Ye faoght tha gut faight.
@Andrzej I love how you are so respectful and complimentary even when a puzzle is difficult. Many people here could learn from you.
@Andrzej I think a lot of us are like Jorge the Lab. Thanks for the great commentary today. BTW, I thought more about your upcoming visit to NYC…I’ve already put my two cents in about riding a bike in the city. Some suggested Central Park as a good place to ride. Be cautious with that. They don’t allow bikes on the pedestrian paths, although they have a couple of shared paths. The various drives through the park have plenty of bikes, but there are a lot of real serious bikers on expensive bikes who ride very fast and usually have little patience for cross-walk etiquette. One famous tourist from an Irish band learned about Central Park biking the hard way (thank goodness he was eventually ok). Anxious to hear when you make your trip!
Thanks Rena, that was fun! I always enjoy a good rebus.
Congrats on your debut puzzle Rena! It had the perfect combination of head scratching and aha moments, and was a lot of fun to solve.
The way I read it, similar to what others have commented, is that the LIEs hidden in the black squares are exposed (pushed upwards) by "SPIKEs" in the (signal emittted by) the POLYGRAPH. And I think that's brilliant. Many thanks to the constructor, her dad, the NYTDCC Fellowship and all of the mentors collectivelyy responsible for bringing us yet another enjoyable crossword challenge.
Some encouraging news about Will Shortz’s recovery: <a href="https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/crossword-editor-will-shortz-says" target="_blank">https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/crossword-editor-will-shortz-says</a>
@Eric Hougland Oh I’m so happy to read this. Will Shortz is a model patient. Thanks to him for sharing his thoughts and personal experience for other people whether they’re suffering a stroke, might or could or even just extolling the wonders of physical and game therapy. I enjoy ping pong too and crosswords! Ram Dass also did a lot after his stroke and both make the world better!
I had the same experience as Deb. I caught on to the LIE, but I didn’t see the rebus at first. I also thought it was hidden in the black square at first, and then, for a moment, thought LIE might be ”spiking” upwards using the last three letters of the down entry. It was a nice “I GOT IT” when the rebus clicked. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Thank you and congrats to Rena Cohen. So many amazing young constructors! Two days in a row. Clearly, a bright future for these constructors and the NYT Crossword.
I found this twice as enjoyable as a usual Thursday - because it gave me two AHA! moments. First when I figured out that the black squares before the ー clues concealed a LIE, and again when I figured out that I was wrong. I beLIEve Rena has a bright future in crossword construction!
Excellent timing to coincide with pol campaign season - lie, lie, lie. Give the editors a spike for this one.
I loved the puzzle and was pleased that so many did as well, not always the case for a rebus puzzle. I also loved Rena's notes. Yet again I can say that I’m looking forward to more from this fine new constructor.
@suejean , PS. I loved the photo as well. Beautiful autumn colors.
Well, this math major will admit to being a little embarrassed that it took so long to recognize this LIE group -- but I GOT IT eventually. A debut of manifold brilliance, Rena!
I had three (3!!!) aha moments, a record. First was the black squares which I thought concealed a lie. CIA operatives have to be able to lie without anyone detecting them, I thought. Then I figured out the rebus. WHILE SUPPLIES LAST was the one that clicked. Oho, two kinds of hidden lies, i concluded. But then, with the SPIKE POLYGRAPH entries, I realised the two lies were connected. Whoa! This puzzle that blew me away! It’s early and I can’t think of a cute LIE pun to say it, but that was a great theme and lovely puzzle. Great way to start your NYT puzzle career
@SusanEM I had 3!!! aha moments once, and it was incredible. I'm still finding confetti around the room.
I'd like to nominate this puzzle in the "instant classic" category. Such a fun solve.
Not usually a fan of the Thursday crossword, but this was a Goldilocks puzzle for me: just the right amount of trickiness
Oh, what a tangled grid we weave ... What a novel and funtastic rebus idea! Every time I look at the finished puzzle I see ASKS FOR BOY TOYS. Heh.
@ad absurdum That got a HEH from me too. Also, SPIKE(s) under the TRACK SHOE.
Very Tricky, but once I got the theme with NONBELIEVERS I was able to fill in the two other LIEs and then slowly inch towards the gold star. I am constantly amazed by the creativity of themes in the NYT grids, and this is an A-ONE example. Congratulations on a stunning début.
Excellent debut, Rena! Time f(LIE)s when you're having fun, and I had a lot of fun while quickly solving this puzzle. Like a lot of Thursdays, it started slowly, but gained momentum as I progressed. I briefly thought that POLYGRAPH would solve to (LIE)detector, but that was before I caught on to the relative placement of the"spikes" above the blackout squares.
I have not finished the puzzle yet - but I already know it will be one of my worst failures since starting to do NYT puzzles last year. I am simply not on the constructor's wavelength, I don't know most of the trivia, and my method of dealing with such cases has proved to be my undoing today. I had very little on my first pass. I did a slower second one, sadly without much success. So I proceeded as I always do in such hopeless cases: I started looking up the trivia. I saw no other way out, but I don't really like doing that, especially on Thursdays, when there is the risk of looking up an entry that is actually themed/part of the trick, without there being any indication thereof. And that's exactly what happened: one of the bloody Kardashians, of all people, crossing natickly with some sinister American company with a perversely cutesy name, spoiled the rebus for me 😢 Even after lookups the grid was still largely empty. I shrugged and turned on autocheck. I have very few ideas what letters to try where. There will be a lot of brute forcing in my further attempts to fill the grid. In fact, I feel I may break down and just reveal entries. And I still haven't grasped the other part of the trick, the one with the dashes... Don't get me wrong btw, I'm not criticizing the puzzle or the constructor. I simply admit being bested, owned even or perhaps pwned, to use gamer-speak for total annihilation.
@Andrzej Hang in there!
@Andrzej I agree, your example is rather naticky.
@Andrzej Sorry to hear about your solve experience today. Hope you figure things out - the “-“ indicates the answer is a continuation of the previous clue (with the rebus thrown in, since you’ve already figured that out). I was surprisingly on the constructor’s wavelength today and either knew most of the trivia or had enough crosses to guess them correctly.
Finished now. Jesus. There was no way in hell I would ever have been able to do this on my own (which is on me, obviously, for those of you who would stone me for criticizing a puzzle). So many words I did not know, further obfuscated by the theme I was not smart and observant enough to understand. I mean, I am not an idiot, but there *is* something simple about the way I perceive the world and the puzzles in it. I am a bit like my dog, Jorge the brown lab: he is the smartest dog I have ever had and he is absolutely great at stuff he has already experienced. He also learns new things quickly, when instructed - he grasped in one or two tries many tricks beyond the ability of other dogs. Still... Throw something new and complex at him and leave him alone with it, and often he will just stand there, tilting his graying head, trying to compute but failing, and often resorting to barking at the novel and incomprehensible. You know how dogs and their owners are often very alike? Today I proved I am like Jorge, just much less cute (nobody smiles at *me* in the street). I know about rebuses. I know about dashes. I'm reasonably good at solving puzzles with either. However, a combination of the two was beyond me. I was so fixated on the dashes I failed to take into account a rebus might be part of the equasion, too. This led to the blunder of unwittingly looking up a themed entry. It all went downhill from there. Feeling dispirited, I let mental fog engulf me, and I was done for.
@Andrzej I'm with you. The puzzle is brilliantly constructed but the clues veered from opaque to ridiculously easy, with too many random phrases and TV references for my liking, with sports and cars thrown in to torment me further.
@Andrzej I’m sorry your solving experience today was such a frustrating mess. I know from this forum that you are a very consistent, successful solver (in English no less, not your native language) which illustrates the level of today’s puzzle. However, had you not been so frustrated we would not have been given the gift of your reaction to “one of the bloody Kardashians, of all people, crossing natickly with some sinister American company…” which was absolutely my favorite comment made by anyone in a very long time. I’m also aware from a later comment that you did finally complete the puzzle one way or another. A relief for all of your friends here, not to mention the bloody Kardashians.
@Andrzej The puzzle was doubly difficult. For me, the theme took way too long to reveal itself and the fill was diabolical. I couldn’t imagine a three-letter nickname for Ms. Goulding, so my suspicions turned to rebus. What a wonderful debut puzzle!
@Andrzej Keep going. The fact that you solve in a language that is not your first, covering a culture that can be so different at times to your own is worthy of a gold star alone.
@Andrzej I can sympathize. I absolutely bombed today. Just could not figure anything out. And I love rebuses! Sometimes it’s just luck whether the clues line up with your personal knowledge and brain wavelengths, I guess!
Nice debut, Rena! Very Thursday worthy. Thanks to Charlie Sheen for revealing the spike in lies. Definitely looking forward to your next puzzle. Enjoy your undergrad years, you’re making memories for a lifetime.
@Warren Speaking of Charlie, I was coincidentally just listening to a song from an album called "Tigers Blood" when I did this puzzle
I went to school with and was friends with Ms. Cohen’s mother and uncle. They were (are) some the kindest, talented, and most intelligent-yet-very-down-to-earth people one could have the pleasure to know. It has been a pleasure to see Ms. Cohen’s journey to this exciting milestone play out over the years. Brava, Rena!
@debamlen: “My puzzle was marked correct, but I still didn’t understand what I had wrought. So I did the only thing I knew would help: I frowned at it.” I FEEL SO SEEN 😂
My emu says that was one fine rebus puzzle. And emus never LIE!
Irony of ironies; this is the second attempt at posting. You'll see where the irony lies as you read it. (I've modified one word a bit, in case it was the offender, even though I don't think there's any logic going on.) I've come to the conclusion, given the fact that two very nasty posts have not yet been removed, that the emus are definitely not NON-BELIEVERS; in fact, they're likely "members of the tribe". They're off for Rosh Hashanah and will be back as soon as the holiday is over. Shana tovah to those who celebrate!
Steve, I'm surprised that DEI efforts at The Times have not extended into the nests of the emus. Happy New Year to you.
The constructor getting this puzzle accepted when she was just a high school senior "felt like the timely culmination of a lifelong goal"?? *Cries in middle age* Seriously though, congrats, very good debut.
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen I agree. A goal is a goal and a lifetime is a lifetime no matter who is talking about it. Serious congrats to one sharp kid!! This was stunning.
Great debut, Rena. Challenging, but worth the effort. Clever theme. Congratulations!
This one was a lot of fun. I started slowly, and knew there was a trick, because of the dashed clues, and because It was Thursday, duh! I needed the revealer to clue me in to the location of the rebus squares. However, once I got WHILESUPP(LIE)SLAST, the rest fell into place quickly. It was very satisfying to piece it together in that fashion, and not in my usual complete the puzzle without using the theme manner.
Excellent puzzle. Very clever, and rewarding to complete. A good beginning to a college career!
Enjoyed this one a lot, the rebus was a hoot. SNOOTS TAOS OHPOOH was a tricky section that I had to brute force in the end, but still had a blast.
I was the other way around from the article today. Wasn’t getting it; couldn’t grasp why I wasn’t getting it, didn’t trust answers, wasn’t even trusting trivia solves. As a Brit, even after a year of doing these, I still forget to consider rebuses until my brains are about to spray out of my ears. But once I realised what was going on it all fell into place and I was done within minutes. Great job, in other words.
Wow, Rena. Really had me wondering if dementia had just set in…like, this morning. My preferred system for filling the grid top to bottom, left to right, sometimes does me in. I finally realized the black squares were *not* hiding lies, but so very late that I had to do a u-turn and finish by going backwards, up the grid! My OCD was about to faint. But, revealers sometimes reveal a little trick, and today the double revealer explained the double-trick! Very clever. Keep ’em comin!
@CCNY I still always approach from upper left and across. The "revealers" are almost always tucked in the lower right and it doesn't seem fair to hit them early. A little confusion is good for the soul.. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
People who guessed Meeple are the luckiest people in the world.
@Greg I should go buy a lottery ticket. I was shocked to get the successful completion notification. This puzzle required me to make two or three stabs in the dark.
@Greg I remember that song! Barbra Streisand sang it at age 19 on her debut album.
@Greg MEEPLE was new to me also. Is that the plural of MErson?
@Greg I didn't "guess it," I was forcibly impelled and required to enter it, letter by dreadful letter. Ugh, ugh, ugh. POOH. It is the kind of clue/answer beloved of creatures who would use a PEELER on apples and potatoes. (If you cook down the cored apples WITH their peel, it can lend color to your applesauce. The sauce is processed (I used a Victorio strainer) and the peel and any other waste material is discarded. The sauce I made with my Fameuse apples--adding absolutely nothing--was fabulous. ...and potato PEELs are good for you!
Great debut! I hope you just ignore the few haters. I am 3x your age and occasionally toy with the idea of puzzle construction, but “time”. I do like to think about what I could do for a Thursday “trick” that could be original, clever, and not too obvious. I think you nailed it. My only very minor gripe would be too many of the theme entries involving popular culture or proper names. But even if I don’t know much about Ellie Goulding, Kylie Jenner or two and a half men, I have at least heard those names. The triple-rebus was such a master stroke that it was well worth throwing in a few more proper nouns than usual. Looking forward to more from this constructor 🤓
@Jeb Jones the movie version of Two and a Half Men came out in 2003 - probably before the constructor was even born... (but yeah, I'm closer to your age than hers, and didn't know the cast)
Thursdays are my favorite. This one did not disappoint! So fun, so clever.
Very perplexed…how was the ambiguity in this puzzle even remotely fun? Hated it.
@DLS I thought it was clever. If we accept the premise that a spike in a polygraph means a lie being detected (some polygraph experts here seem to have a technical problem with that) then any answer in the puzzle that has “lie” in it would have those letters sitting on top of a spike.
I wasn't familiar with 6D (MEEPLE) - guess I should play more board games. For some odd reason, the word reminded me a word from "The Bubble Boy" episode of Seinfeld. Fans of the show will already know which word I mean. Here's a clip: - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0uYJjDHeDU" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0uYJjDHeDU</a> P.S. I love the stunning photograph!
@RichardZ I love board games. Never heard of "meeple."
One is occasionally allowed to LIE… in bed, lateish, due to time zones and such, doing a fun Thursday puzzle. I too was tricked by thinking the lies were just hiding in the dark, so the spiked lies made for an extra aha. Love those extra ahas!
@Cat Lady Margaret Hope you're getting wonderful weather and enjoying your time in the Scottish Highlands! :-)
@Cat Lady Margaret So maybe you took Icelandic Air and their free stop-over to Europe. Looks like Inverness or there abouts. Anxious to see where your next stop is. Bon voyage! — — — — — — — —
Rena, congratulations on your debut puzzle. It was lots of fun to solve and to think about BOY TOYS. Enjoy your 4 years at Wash U, from an alumna, Class of 1980.
A great debut and a thoroughly fun Thursday puzzle!
First time commenting to say that I loved this puzzle! Fun theme that was tricky but doable. Thanks!!
as a new regular who has never encountered hyphens or rebus...whew. Tough! But I did figure out POLYGRAPH and SPIKE by myself. Also I just assumed that since I knew KYLIE and ELLIE and the words end with LIE then I'm just meant to enter the first 3 letters of the word. And I was very stubborn that 17A must be OILIER so that got me stuck. This was very challenging but reading this article and understanding what's going on, I love this puzzle. So smart.
@bayonetta This was a unique and difficult introduction for any Newbie, but congratulations on "getting it." This bodes well for your experiences going forward. Here's hoping you comment often! Welcome!
@bayonetta Congrats on tackling a Thursday puzzle without knowing anything about rebuses and dashes. I commend you on not despairing, lol. If you'd like to know more about solving NYT puzzles, there are the very informative and brilliantly written daily columns, as well as some NYT articles instructing on the ins and outs. I also recommend reading the comments, where you'll find answers to a lot of questions and many an elucidating discussion. Feel free to ask your own questions, too. Welcome!
Congratulations on a clever NYT debut, Ms Cohen! I have to admit that I stumbled on the solution. I picked up on the rebus element quickly because I have a song by EL[LIE] Goulding. But the POLYGRAPH SPIKEs didn’t occur to me until I replaced the unsatisfactory answer at 26A — CHA[RLIE] — with CHAR. In the split second that it took for the congratulatory message to pop up, the fullness of the theme became clear. Nicely done! I’m sure we’ll see you back here soon.
Great construction, fun to solve. Congrats on #1, looking forward to more.
Congrats Rena on your first NYT puzzle. It was fun and challenging, just the way I like them. Keep up the good work.
I liked this. And I think the execution of this theme is a very cool piece of crossword construction. Each "lie" needs to harmonize with three entries, the down answer, the across answer, and the "spike" answer under the blank square. It's like a first step toward a 3D crossword. That's a nice challenge, and nicely met.
I really liked this one, but I have to admit I didn't get the "spike" part of the revealer, so I can't say I fully solved it (no gold star for me). I had three superfluous rebuses (2x LIE/S , 1x LIE/V). I thought I was clever until I saw the dreaded "Almost there!" pop up 😭
This was a great puzzle! Everything flowed really well!
Congratulations on a fabulous rebus puzzle and debut, Rena! I loved trying to figure out how to make the themers fit, followed by the great big aha moment of when SPIKE showed up, giving me the key. As for the rest of the fill, I was very much on the same wavelength, so this turned out to be a puzzle that also put me in zen on top of making me feel smart (which isn't a given, by all means.) Thank you!
P.S. Rena, your story about submitting a crossword to the NYT when you were ten years old wins the prize for the most adorable bit in a constructor's notes ever!