<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 Thank you for this.
@Eric Hougland Great to read. Thank you so much, Eric, for sharing. I wish Will had called 911 before trying to put on trousers. Note to self! The article is instructive and inspiring. I played ping pong on my 71st birthday last week, for the first time in decades: it was thrilling.
@Eric Hougland Hurray! Thank you for sharing that. So much better news than I had feared. Some great takeaways: [ "I consider myself fortunate, though, that the strokes did not affect my cognition or my language function.” (Speech and language problems typically result from a stroke on the left side of the brain.) ... Shortz is also back to creating and editing puzzles for the Times. ] ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
@Eric Hougland Appreciate the share! Had been wondering how he was doing.
@Eric Hougland Thanks for that, Eric. What a scary time ... trying to get help when you can barely move. Best of luck to him! emu food
@Eric Hougland thanks for sharing. A wonderful update... and it makes me very happy to see that Will is taking advantage of - and talking about! - everything physical therapy can do. I only wish everyone could benefit from the same kind of access from which he's benefiting.
@Eric Hougland Thanks for this. It’s nice to hear from Will. Speaking as a scientist, you need salt. You need sodium chloride and potassium chloride, the latter shows up in low sodium products and in veggies, whereas the former is table salt. I’m not saying Will’s low salt diet induced his stroke (I believe most strokes are due to blockage), but every single cell in the body needs these two salts. Studies have shown that people with below normal sodium die younger than people with normal levels.
@SusanEM Really? I’ve been avoiding salt in cooking but I really have to look into that now!
I stubbed my toe, badly, when I misspelled 59A as AUNATURAL and it took me ages to find it. The cross was no help, what do I know about models? Super puzzle, btw.
@Dave S AUNATUREL seemed unnatural , but it is what I finally tried to complete the puzzle. Otherwise would have finished in average time.
@Dave S That was my hang up too, found after I didn't get the happy music. It was the only thing that I thought could possibly be wrong as I went through the list view so I tried it and voila!
@Dave S Same! I went through my answers 20 times and didn’t know it was spelled this way until I read this. I thought there was a legit error with the app!
@Dave S The whole AUNATUREL vs AUNATURaL thing is a hint. If you've made a mistake, go back and find the vowels that you just assumed, and play around with them. I think it's a lot more likely to have a vowel/vowel error than a vowel/consonant error or a consonant/consonant error. Like right there, I tried to spell consonant, "consanant"
AU NATURaL + WaN was a Natick for me. (Or, do Naticks only qualify when its two proper nouns?) I was sure AU NATURaL was correct, because of the way I’ve *always* heard it pronounced, but, after a long and hearty ‘speckin, WaN was the only fill I was unsure of. I tried the E and, sure enough… AU NATUREL! … Who knew? Fun puzzle. I appreciate it, Zhouqin Burnikel!
@Striker Thank you, that was the letter I needed to change!
@Striker AAAAARRRGH! So I finished with an error! WAN looked fine as did AU NATURAL (though I wanted an E on the end.) Phooey on supermodels!! And who is Missy Elliott??
Constructor Notes I’m excited to make my 80th puzzle for The New York Times. C.C., It's great to see you here again! Thanks for a fine Friday. AH BLISS!
About a month ago, I summoned the courage to visit a proctologist, and confide of my … irregular regularities in, let’s say, his area of expertise. He sent me home with some self-care and we scheduled a follow-up. That was today. I came back and told him things were just as bad, if not, worse. He asked if I had followed his prescription. I said, “Yes, of course! A fiber-rich, fried food-less diet with a daily probiotic and a weekly enigma. I just can’t figure it out!” He looked at me, inscrutably. Needless to say, we never got to the bottom of it. (I’ll show myself out.)
@Steven 😂😂😂 I had a similar experience with suppositories. I told my doctor I took them all with food and water, and for all the good they did I might as well have shoved them up my
Today I realized that buck naked has the same number of letters as au naturel. Fittingly, 32D was the cross where my error became apparent.
"Technically, you called me shy instead of reserved." "What's the diffidence?" ("Nothing. Just corroborating reticence.")
Mike, aloof this one, it's your best pun yet!
Mike, This was a very advanced pun, I’m having trouble with it. Do you provide a Friday intro version?
And Eve sayeth unto Adam, Hey, I just realized you were being funny and not romantic when you used to tell me I was the only woman in the world for you. And Adam said unto Eve, I was being both; I still remembereth how beautiful you were. Unto Adam Eve said, That's probably because I was always au naturel. And Adam didst LOL, then said unto Eve, Oh, I forgot to tell you Cain slew Abel. And unto Adam Eve was like, Holy cow, what is it with Gen B?!
@ad absurdum -- I love your last line! Is it original with you or not? At any rate, it dovetails perfectly with my own take on the incessant Naming of the Generations the minute they come into the world.
@Nancy Just had this conversation with my progeny about how loosely created marketing terms (like the naming of the generations) are being used by non-marketing people to sort people. Kinda makes one wistful for the simpler times of class conflict.
TIL: 1. AU NATUREL is how to spell what I thought was AU NATURaL. 2. sub sandwich has the same number of letters as ITALIAN HERO.
@PEMdoc I've never heard of it called a sub sandwich. It's either a submarine sandwich or a sub. At least where I live. Anyway, with as inscrutable a clue as it had, I just waited for some crosses before I even started guessing.
In afraid my first impulse for things broken at a raucous party was Chastity Vows, but that didn’t fit.
It took me forever to figure out the skin care brand, while a bottle of their hand soap was sitting approximately two feet away from my head.
Wow! The platonic ideal of a themeless puzzle. Great, mischievous cluing, and long answers that seem elusive until they suddenly click into place. I love the crossword!
At first, this was way out of my wheelhouse. Then I realized it was even out of range of my AIRBASE. Not a smooth, but a thoroughly enjoyable sail. I did have a QUALM about BUSING, (in a French pronunciation that comes out as buZing) but it seems to be an acceptable variant. My emu is in its HIDEYHOLE today. Enigmatic beast. A big MWAH to the constructors.
@Rusty Wheelhouse I always want to spell it BUSSING (which could also mean 'Kissing' I guess, but one does not BUS a table, so the whole thing is a terrible mess, orthographically speaking.
@Mean Old Lady Yes, I thought it must needs take the double ‘s’. A quick Google brought up busing - but in connection with the civil rights movement. Then I tried the OED, but what do they know about true American usage? They give the two variants, so have to trust them, I guess. And the emu and I will be heading out soon - Tahiti (sic). But not until the 15th. So TTYL, as they say.
Last weekend, I walked by an Aesop store. They have bottles of lotion outside you can sample, so I sampled some and thought, this is good stuff! I went in to inquire about the cost and probably buy it, but the employees were busy with other customers. When I got home, I looked up the cost. I was shocked—a 16 oz bottle of the lotion is $100. Yikes! Glad those employees were busy after all and I didn’t have to have the sticker shock in person.
@Erin "Prices higher in the West" Used to be on all the ads...
@Erin Yup, after reading the column I was curious and looked on Amazon. The “Rind Concentrate Body Balm” (Pink Grapefruit, Orange, and Lemon ZESTS) goes for $100 for 15.4 ozs. — — — — — — — —
@Mean Old Lady I haven’t seen those ads but can vouch for the truth of that saying. I’m a recent—and blessedly temporary—transplant here (from coastal GA). There’s a new breakfast burrito and bagel chain that just opened on the first floor of my building. You want a bagel with cream cheese? It will cost you $14. (First, they require you to buy two bagels, minimum $3.50 each, and then they require you to buy 2 spreads—also minimum $3.50 each.) I feel like the whole thing must be either some kind of Candid Camera style joke or that I’ve walked into the set of Portlandia, but no, that’s their real prices, and evidently some people (no one I know!) pay them. I’m sure the bagels are delicious but I’ll never know—I’m sickened by the prices.
I had finished this one pretty smoothly, or so I thought, but a pesky typo kept me staring at the grid for a good bit. Eventually I caught my mistake. There were some unfamiliar answers (CIARA, WEN) due to my lack of familiarity with rap/hip hop artists and Chinese models, but that’s what crosses are for, and the typo was the bigger glitch. I did get ITALIANHERO pretty quickly despite the fact that here in the ETAT Pennsylvanie (more specifically the Philadelphia area) we call them Italian hoagies. Hoagie is one of the most distinctive geographic linguistic markers, along with gum bands for the Pittsburgh area, and bubblers for Wisconsin. Viva such regional anomalies, long may they last.
@Marshall Walthew strange thing about bubblers is they exist in Rhode Island too.
@PEMdoc I was unaware that bubblers had made an appearance in RI. Good to know. But what do emus call water fountains?
@Marshall Walthew. Actually in my part of Australia emus would call them bubblers, just as I would. .
This was surprisingly gentle for a Friday, for me. I did have to look up four items of trivia though, and one of them annoyed me, personally - the otherwise familiar AESOP was clued as an American brand, of all things... So cruel! Why would you name a skincare company after an ancient author of fairy tales, anyway? Because your claims about your products are fables, maybe? Also, my wife and I like Middle Eastern food and we know many Syrian, Lebanese and Turkish brands of hummus, mutabbal, etc. To be stumped by a hummus brand was a surprise, but it is American, and they use soybean oil as an additive, and skip the tahini!!! WTFalafel! Better not to know it then. Also, what's a GENY and what are the Alphas that have something to do with it? I don't understand a thing of that clue and answer.
@Andrzej the progeny of Gen Y, usually called Millennials, are Gen Alpha!
"...and skip the tahini!!!" Andrzej, Read the label (or whatever you read) again. "Chickpeas, water, tahini..." EMU-free
@Andrzej It's not very good hummus at all. Pasty and largely flavorless. Unfortunately. The Hershey chocolate of hummus. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
@Andrzej That’s almost exactly right, actually! “ After continued success, he rebranded to Aesop, naming the brand after as an intentional ploy to mock the puffery exhibited in the advertising in the cosmetics industry.” That clue took me forever, and I use Aesop hand soap and lotion throughout my house, go figure! There’s a bottle right behind my head as I type this…
@Andrzej “WTFalafel” might just become my new favorite expression! :) . . .
Thank you, Ms. Burnikel for yet another beautifully crafted puzzle with impeccable clues galore. I was awed by the amount of clever misdirects, leading to many an a-ha and a doh. [Once, for one] should win an award! This puzzle should be on the recommended list for anyone needing to exercise their out-of-the-box-thinking muscles. Kudos!
As usual, very happy to see Zhouqin's work. Much clever and enjoyable. No gimmicks!
QUALM is such a fun word; there seemed to be plenty of qualm situations today: “I have eaten the CRESS that was in the icebox” “I have gone swimming AU NATUREL where others could see” “Our accordion band may have bent some NOISE LAWS” “My DREAM GIRL turned out to be an ENIGMA” “I blabbed to your ex the location of your HIDEY HOLE”
@Cat Lady Margaret "I'm noting the SIGNS and decoding the ENIGMA of your location!" AS A RULE, I'm neither SLY nor a stalker, but this is way too much fun. You've given us one more exciting daily puzzle :-)
@Cat Lady Margaret On the shore of Loch Linnhe, must be quite a sight. Please report to us regarding any memorable meals while you’re over there! — — — — — — — —
I am so annoyed with how I struggled in the SE corner, and for no good reason. Anyone else second, third, and fourth guess themselves??? Anyway, great puzzle today - really got my adrenaline pumping!
@Mark Belatedly I learned I had a wrong letter, with the "supermodel" crossing the 59A "in the buff"
Holy cow, CC Burnikel! Thanks to pink ink, my paper looks like there was an ax murderer in here! Just about EVERY Single First Thought/Guess/Entry was incorrect. I held off on MWAH because none of the Downs came to me except HOES, and it could have been BWAH or something. ALPHAS? UNSENT? BLAHS? AIRPORT? MACHE? LTD, INC,? SLOB? KAUAI, HAITI? GUILT? NOISE ordinances.... not usually LAWS CRESS isn't bitter! I'm obviously behind on LGBT extras Skin care? Hah! I can't even use SOAP, let alone lotion or make-up. The dermatologist promises topical chemo as soon as cold weather arrives. Wow. Did Saturday come early? DHubby's practice was an LLC, but that did not occur to me at once. And speaking of... "Once, for one" at 43A...that was just cruel. I did finally get the puzzle completed, but my coffee got cold (twice) and I haven't even gotten to my breakfast. DHubby abandoned the table. [sniff, sniff] great puzzle, though....
Acrobat displays! Ha! Extra amused by the article photo today!! Dang, can you imagine doing that!? I need several Advil just looking at it! An unusually fast for me Friday puzzle. Only hang up found after not getting the happy music was the AU NATURaL/WaN error. Reviewing in list view, it was the only thing I could possibly question, so that was that.
@HeathieJ Your comment was just what I needed to figure out what typo or misspelling I’d made but couldn’t otherwise see! ✅
@HeathieJ That was a real trouble spot for me, too. But it wasn't the only one: CIARo/SABRo instead of CIARO/SABRO. Guess I should eat more hummus. I just can't quite get behind "hummus", the word, I mean. It sounds made up (unlike all the other words) and it reminds me of dirt and soil. So I'll probably trip over SABRO in the future, too.
Don't think I'll ever get past "BUSED". Is that supposed to be "bussed" like passengers at a bus stop or plates on a table being "bussed" after a while? It could have made sense as a rebus with σ and Σ in lieu of + and - As it is spelled in the puzzle, this would rhyme with Use, Crews, Dues, Abused, etc. I cannot conceive of spelling Bussed with only one 's'
BamBam, BUSED is the preferred plural for the verb, and since it's [Cleared up after waiting, perhaps], I'd say it's not about an omnibus. (Bussed is also fine.) <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bus" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bus</a>
@BamBam Bus (to clean a table) as opposed to buss (to kiss). He buses tables, but he busses his baby. This article talks about the plural of the noun form of "bus" (as in what kids ride to school), but I think the points about spelling hold. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/plural-of-bus" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/plural-of-bus</a>
I thought the answer to Once, for one was indeed "marvelously devious". My one qualm (see what I did there?) was that there actually is no Gen Y; we call them Millennials.
@Gretchen in the Kitchen A few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times puzzle was titled “Spanglish.” The first theme answer was “Once in a Lifetime,” with the clue “Number of NBA championships won by Bill Russell?” That puzzle was also by Zhouqin Burnikel. But a clever idea like playing on the spelling of the Spanish word for eleven deserves to be used more than once.
@Gretchen in the Kitchen Very tricky. I was scratching my head over the "once" clue, even after solving it mostly from crosses. Took me way too long to realize that "for one" means "for example" and once is an example of a numero. It's late and apparently my brain has already checked out for the night. I also had trouble with the Gen Y clue, partly because I'm not very cognizant of all the generation labels, but also because I was fixated on the down clue as referring to slippers. Obviously the other part of the clue ("apt") didn't work for SLs, or SLx when I was clutching at straws.
@Gretchen in the Kitchen Well, I think you are correct that most of us prefer the term “millennial “, but it goes too far to say that the other term “doesn’t exist”. It may be a bit antiquated as it was first used way back in 1993 in an editorial in Advertising Age (aka Ad Age since 2017). If you look at the wiki entry for this generation this “Y” term is mentioned. Also, this is the sixth time it has appeared in the “modern era”, usually clued something like [Millennials, by another name].
80 looks great on you, Ms. Burnikel! Thanks for a fresh, fun, and fizzy Friday.
I finished today's puzzle with the answer AH BLISS, which seems entirely appropriate. (That I also finished the puzzle with LUST is besides the point, I claim.)
I slipped slyly through this in quick time for me, though I checked puzzle finally on the naturEl cross.
@Jennifer After scanning the puzzle several times to find my error I came real close to the doing that, but after not finding my error yesterday I was determined not to have 2 DNFs. In a row. Luckily I acknowledged I did not know 56D, W_N, and so recalled some French and found my error.
Smooth solve except a natick for me was the super model and demo for Alphas. I saw the explanation for demo, short for demographic. ..aah..i get it.
@chris For me it was the supermodel and AU NATUREL. I wanted it to be "natural," but it wasn't, naturally.
AUNATUREL/WEN killed my streak but otherwise pretty easy for a Friday
Mostly fine, but I did not enjoy the upper right at all. Tough area for me. Also I expect we'll see tons and tons of "discussion" over the featured modern acronym of the week. And that discussion will be boring. I didn't know the last two or three letters either. I can live with it. Maybe some day I'll remember them. A reasonable Friday puzzle overall, although I can't say it was much fun, for me. Could have used some humor I think. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
Friends, could I get some help with how "Pennsylvanie, e.g." equates to "etat"? I get that "état" is French for "state"... is "Pennsylvanie" a French location? (If so, an internet search is not cluing me in...)
@qzac just the French word for “Pennsylvania “
@qzac To quote Steve Martin, at least to the best of my recollection: "It's like they have a different word for everything!"
@qzac Thanks for asking, I had the same question.
I was hung up twice on this puzzle - GENY and SABRA both took a little extra time. I don’t get “Demo for children of … “ Demo as in demonstration? A demonstration of nomenclature? And SABRA crossing CIARA, well that one is on me I should listen to Missy Elliot more often. Loved the longer clues HIDEYHOLE and ITALIANHERO; GLEAMED and ENIGMAS and HITSASNAG popped into my head almost immediately, ORGANICBEEF took a minute. GUILT before QUALM. Cheers
@Michael Demo is short for demographic, so basically which generation is typically the parents of the Alpha generation?
@Michael When I was stuck on alpha being about dominance I kept trying to make “stay” and “obey” work for the demo (in like, an obedience training demonstration I guess?). KISS indeed.
@Michael Identifying modern generations with letters rather than descriptors is meaningless for me. I have to ask my children and grandchildren which they are, then immediately forget. Now Roaring 20s, Post War, the Sixties (mine) . . . Those I can place in a time related to a singular movement. But, Gen Z, Gen X, even the Millennials are not telling me what their influences are/were.
@Michael Does anyone ever call that generation GENY? "Millennials" won the generation-naming contest a decade ago, hands down. I didn't like this cross (GENY/SLY) much at all, otherwise I mostly enjoyed the puzzle.
ITALIANHERO got me good. AUNATUREL as well. Been enjoying this week of puzzles immensely.
Well... two day losing streak for me. Just couldn't get enough of a foothold in more than a couple of places to work things out and really didn't want to cheat. I'll see how it goes tomorrow. ..
I'm sure this puzzle was a breeze for some, but for me it was a Friday without lookups! Whoohoo! It took me longer than usual though, there was a lot of back and forth and changed answers, but mostly it was because I got hung up on two names, CIARA and WEN. They were common errors, it seems, so I feel a little better about it. AU NATURaL just looked.... well, natural.
@Janine Congratulations! A Friday or Saturday without lookups is a real achievement!
Despite the longest clues being 11 characters long there were a lot more multiple word answers than I was expecting. With just two proper names (of people) it was also a bit easier than I was expecting from a Friday puzzle but still had some trivia I had to find my way to. The skincare brand was new to me, for one.
I promply filled in kane at 37A after seeing only "Citizen ____". Well, that should teach me to read the whole clue. Otherwise, a smooth, fast Friday.
@Nancy J. It took me a little bit to sort that area out, since I had confidently typed in “GUILT” instead of “QUALM,” early on. Being raised Catholic, I guess.
@Nancy J. I read the whole clue and put in ASHE but then took it out later due to conflicts with (incorrect) adjacent guesses.... So I was no better off for my virtue... And @Warren... I'm not even Catholic!
Well, that was easy, until it really wasn’t. I found difficulty with a lot of (for me) US centric clues; meat certification, pineapple plantations, a sandwich?? Millennials called what now? Etc etc. 11D was a real stumper; absolutely no clue what that is, other than gathering it’s a sort of sandwich from the comments. And, of course, any clue/answer in or requiring Spanish is a no starter for me. All of the above notwithstanding I thoroughly enjoyed the grid. It was entertaining and informative. DREAMboat before GIRL, SHyER…SHIER just doesn’t look right. Dear Ms Amlen, what a shame AESOP seems to be so expensive in the US. Something to do with import taxes perhaps? It’s not cheap here but not exorbitant either; I’m a huge fan of their handwash and sanitizer. The scent is BLISS. Thank you Ms Burnikel as always for a fascinating, Friday brutal grid. Off topic: I’ve had to delete the NYT news app yet again. It completely messes up the Games app to the point where I can’t use it. So frustrating.
@Helen Wright in the US sandwiches served on long rolls (or in some upscale locations baguettes) are regionally known as submarines/subs, heros, hoagies or grinders. Probably some additional more obscure names too.
OK, I'll bite! I solved the grid, but 62A is giving me fits! What on earth does G E N Y have to do with "Demo for Alphas"? Is this an acronym, or perhaps a neologism? I am sure my august [er, October] fellow solvers will enlighten me and teach me something new this morning. After all, this paper does pride itself as having "All the Print That's News to Fits"
@William Schrader Generation Y = parents to Generation Alpha (demo=demographic)
@William Schrader I parsed it as Gen Y or Generation Y though I was not aware of the term Gen Alpha it came through crosses for me as well
@William Schrader Demographics for gen alpha parents. Generation Y being Millennials.
William Schrader, As noted by earlier commenters... GEN[eration] Y is the [Demo(graphic) for many parents of (Generation) Alphas].
@William Schrader Demo is short for demographic. GEN Y would be the demo for the children of the ALPHA demo. Hope that makes sense! ….
@William Schrader “Demo” is short for “demographic.” A parent of someone in Gen Alpha might be in the Gen Y demographic.
@William Schrader ALL: Thanks for the clarifications--- Makes sense ...sorta....I suppose...to this old Baby Boomer!
I always appreciate a puzzle that introduces me to a few new (to me) terms. Thanks for AESOP and Gen Alpha. Side note: Did anyone else out there intentionally give their kids consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel, etc. names to help out future puzzle constructors in the event that their children would one day be famous? :-)
@Greta Long No, but names with 3 or more vowels would be even better. CIARA, anyone? Our granddaughter is BATYA--any help ? (though I don't get the credit for picking it)
Ooof this was a slippery solve (even, perhaps, eely?). Had the grid filled in less than 10 and took another 15 to hunt for my errors, which like many here came down to SLY. I don't know why I thought SLx was a possible answer but I didn't even really know there WAS a Gen Y - and I'm someone who would be considered a Gen Y and the parent of a Zoomer and a couple Alphas. Is Gen Y equivalent to Xennial, I guess? Either way, I enjoyed the puzzle! HIDEYHOLE was fun and I'm impressed at the inclusion of LGBTQIA, lots of tough consonants there. Well done!
@Kate I think Gen Y is just an alternate name for Millennials.
I enjoyed the cluing in this somewhat easy Friday. My one junk fill complaint: [ ___ Sports (hit video game) ] Is it time to ask the editors to recognize that it has been 20 years or more since the WII was released and encourage the constructors to drop this word from their lists? It's been in 9 puzzles this year so far, as bad or nearly as: OREO, ENO, and ONO. Tilting at windmills, I know...
I enjoyed this comment with one complaint. It is time to ask the commentariat to recognize that Don Quixote was released in 1605 and encourage pundits to stop saying "tilting at windmills."
@TMD I was hoping I had seen “tilting at wiimills” but no…
Fun puzzle. Never heard of Wen Liu (but now I have, and she sure is pretty) and the clue for 62A was definitely tricky. Otherwise this felt more like a Wednesday -- but the smooth solve gives me more time for the rest of my day!
Fairly quick solve for a late-week puzzle, in a good way (especially after beating my head against the wall a bit yesterday). Although I technically didn't quite finish it - someday I'll remember that SHYER can also be spelled SHIER, and I'm bad enough at remembering place names that LANAY didn't jump out as incorrect to me. Oh well, a good time anyway!