I will not put mazy in a puzzle ever again. I will not put mazy in a puzzle ever again. I will not put mazy in a puzzle ever again. I will not put mazy in a puzzle ever again. I will not put mazy in a puzzle ever again.
@JohnWM Fair point. That did suck. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
@JohnWM That really was dreadful! But the "-ine" on the Labyrinth demanded it....
@JohnWM Wait is mazy not a thing?
@JohnWM Barry never met a clue he won’t defend.
@JohnWM You are not entitled to easily solving a puzzle You are not entitled to easily solving a puzzle You are not entitled to easily solving a puzzle You are not untitled to easily solving a puzzle I will never understand the commenters who go awry on these posts when a puzzlemaker does something different than they expect.
Funny themers, especially PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER. The clue for OTS [Draw conclusions, in brief?], is one of my favorite types, where it involves a subtle change in the way you read the clue. UN PC is such an odd term. I was talking with a client a few years ago, and he started to say something, then said "I probably shouldn't, I'll get caught by the PC police", so I said "What do you mean, why don't you just say it?", so he did. I told him not to worry, it wasn't political at all, just incredibly racist. He looked kind of sheepish. He never came back, but it was worth it. I was getting a little sick of hearing his dog whistle racism every week, so it was nice to get it all out in the open.
Only a c-plus after all that effort? Mean teacher!
@Asher I used “reveal square” only once, to get the b in BYE. Is that a bridge term?
@Asher Nobody said there would be wrath! 😉
Asher, At the very least, you’d think they could have broken our mark out into separate “Skill” and “Luck” scores. ;)
"I couldn't believe I had to tell my students to edit their papers yet again!" "That's re-mark-able." ("And I thought I kindly asked them to work on their verbs, but then things got tense.")
@Mike As in the past, and I hope the future, you've made the grade. The emus are here to catch the imperfect.
@Mike ...just as long as they don't start conjugating!
@Mike In that case, you have to think of the objective. Always the caret before the shtick.
@Mike My dogs a sweet pit bull, she likes to mark where other dogs have left a scent. She's remark a bull .
Did anyone else feel traumatised by the C+ ? I would have been mortified by a C in school. Just me? 🙈😂
@Rebecca I thought it said "C4, Fix!" because of the line behind it. I didn't understand what that meant. Thanks!
@Rebecca No. I don't think that receiving a grade of ... I mean I certainly generally had higher grades, but I could tolerate... I really don't care if...at times... NO! NO! NO! I can't take it! I never get Cs! Will I be able to get into college? I can't stand the stress! What did I do wrong? I solved the puzzle? What more do you want? ....no, I'm fine with it.
Rebecca, "C+ Fix!" makes more sense in the print version in the Magazine, where it appears before you start to solve. The grade and comment reflect the marked errors in the themer clues. It is not intended to be a reflection of your solve.
@Rebecca Not just you! It was a serious blow, even though I’ve been out of school for years.
@Rebecca Printing out the puzzle shows you what the print version looks like. The grade in question, "C+ Fix!", is not being assigned to you the person about to try solving the puzzle but rather to the puzzle creator, John Kugelman, by his sister, Julie Buffington a.k.a. "Mrs. B", who teaches second grade. The printed puzzle note (alas not visible in app or browser) concludes with this: "For authenticity, she [Mrs. B] provided all of the red pen marks in this puzzle's original submission." I love this detail; it, and the photo of a teacher here in the article, remind me of how fortunate I was to have a great teacher back in second grade, and I hope that many solvers here have a similar nice memory of second grade. Thank you, Mr. Kugelman, for a truly delightful puzzle that also salutes great teachers for whose impact on our lives we should all be truly grateful.
@Rebecca I sympathize with you. I would routinely get 40 lashes if I had C (even a C+) in school.
Came here expecting moaning about words being in both the clues and the answers, as with, THEMALL and YOURSELF. Glad to see that we've all accepted the "in the service of a clever theme" clause of the Terms and Conditions. One ring to rule THE MALL
LAHR x ARABY was a bit of a Natick for me. There were honestly a few clues here that I had to Google, which feels like cheating for me. Not really a satisfying solve!
@Cas "Lahr" (as in Bert Lahr) is useful to know for crossword puzzles. It appears frequently.
@Cas As far back as I can remember (mid-1960s), the broadcast each spring of “The Wizard of Oz” was a big deal, so the cast’s names got etched early into my brain. We only had a black & white TV until I was about 15, so Kansas and Oz always looked the same to me.
@Cas not to mention LIPASE. As a person with minimal biochemistry knowledge, LIP__E could have hosted any combination of vowel and consonant. I just had to hope that ABLESEAMAN, a new term for me, was correct. Really nasty spot.
Dear Mr. JK What I did on my Saturday vacation, or lets share the latest gnus from me tau you: Would have slept in, but wanted to see Mia new bird. My hon said "snot your day to be idle, so upandatem, uncurl off those sheets, pullyourselftogether and I'll start the coffee" Well, JKugelman, I opened meine eyes, and added some dosh to the swearjar. As this is the NYT, will ixnay the crudeness from "unpc slur" to, "Dontstartwithme," as I slipped off my singlet and slipped into my Keds. Spotting migrating birds suites me fine, and we've sheena few lifers together. Dontquotemeonthis, but after --- years of wedded bliss, have learned that allyouneedislove and - The spouse who opines with steel may face flames. If you eatat oysterbars, any PDA is TMI. A demonical nag will nap alone (noah what I mean, say no more) Youcantwinthemall. Anyhoo, the dawn chorus yielded bonanzas of birdsong from the Brown Eng, McCoo, Lesser Araby, Tufted Ouioui, Redsun, and Rim Yap. Yours, Madamex . . . .
So, an error in 106D…Darwinian subj. should be evol, not ecol. Charles Darwin developed great work in evolution and speciation, but to call his field ecology is a big stretch.
@Bill Aney I was curious about that, too. I tried to remember if Darwin was the originator of the term "ecology". I don't think so, but I know we have some very knowledgable in the biological sciences, so maybe they can chime in.
@Bill Aney My first thought as well, but apparently there is a connection there: “ The word ‘ecology’ did not exist until 1867, and was not used in an English publication until 1876; Darwin himself never used it, yet it was his work on the complex interactions of organisms and habitats that inspired the word’s creation and he is often cited as the ‘father of ecology’.” <a href="https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/about/research-initiatives/darwin-and-ecological-science" target="_blank">https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/about/research-initiatives/darwin-and-ecological-science</a>
@Bill Aney - Although the word ECOLogy had not yet been coined until late in Darwin's life, the *concepts* of ecology permeate his work. ECOLogy and EvOLution are closely related subjects. I belong to the Division of Ecology and Evolution in SICB -- there is a reason both topics are included in the same division of this society. I also first entered EvOL, but was not upset, angered, or miffed that the answer ended up being ECOL. The answer is fine. <a href="https://sicb.org/divisions/ecology-evolution" target="_blank">https://sicb.org/divisions/ecology-evolution</a>/
@Bill Aney — Yes. That (ECOL) was a stretch.
@Bill Aney When a clue tries to trick me into the wrong answer, I want it to be based on cleverness, humor, etc. This definitely wasn't.
Hi everyone without access to the print version of the puzzle as it appears in the Magazine, to see what it looks like go to xwordinfo.com, look at the solved puzzle there and then open the PDF that Jim provides that shows the unsolved print version. Here's a link to get you started. <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/6/2024" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/6/2024</a> And while you're there, think about joining. It's only $20 a year and there are all kind of valuable info there, including access to solveable Variety puzzles.
@Vaer Thanks for the link! Fun to see the red ink!
@Vaer Thanks for posting the link. The puzzle was so much fun but seeing the red corrections took it to a whole other level or should I say "lovel?" Enjoy your Sunday.
@Vaer Thanks for that link. I tried to get to the PDF on my iPad, but I kept getting kicked into the Games app.
@Vaer Yes while I was there I did get drawn in and happily stumped up the $20 (or should that be 20$?- actually for me it was €19) to go further down the NYT puzzle rabbit hole. Cheers
I would argue that terms and conditions are not synonyms (yep, I'm a lawyer). For those of you who have insomnia, I'm now going to provide the cure. In legalese, terms are things that are defined. By way of example, terms describe the parties to a contract, the subject of the contract (a piece of real estate), expected performance (I will buy your real estate), etc. Conditions act on terms. Time is a term (I will buy your real estate in three weeks). Requirements are a term (I will buy your real estate if it passes inspection). Enforcement is a term (if you don't buy the real estate in three weeks, I can sue you). They are in no way synonyms unless you are a lay person.
@Allen Totally agree, and I am a former CFO not a lawyer. My favorite was always “Conditions to Closing”, meaning the following requirements must be met before the contract is final and valid. Not the same thing as the basic “terms” of the contract as you describe.
How'd I wind up with a C+??? My parents will have a fit.
@Chiffonade. I have the same question
I laughed my way through the puzzle in the Magazine. I can relate: I'm an editor, my wife and children are teachers. I was able to reach the column and comments through a back door. I hope digital solvers are finding the puzzle. Maybe I'll find the mini. No nits to pick; nothing UNPC noted. Happy Saturday evening to all.
@Barry Ancona I'm an editor, too, and I admit I was giggling at every long answer!
Marilyn McCoo. What a beauty! What a beautiful voice! I was in high school and "Wedding Bell Blues" was on the juke box, and played frequently. "Wedding Bell Blues" was by the Fifth Dimension, with McCoo singing lead. It was a love not to this guy "Bill", asking him to marry her. The only problem was that at the time I was really, really in love with a girl, and I suspected she was being courted by a guy named Bill. It took me a long, *long* time to finally be able to enjoy the song. This is quite the corny presentation, but it demos how beautiful she was/is in so many ways. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/3ytu2bbs" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/3ytu2bbs</a>
@Francis I love Marilyn McCoo! Was happy to see her get a well deserved mention in the puzzle today. One of the Fifth Dimension members lived next door to a guy I was dating, so I actually got to meet her once. Very beautiful and gracious lady. I also have a Wedding Bell Blues story from my high school days.
@Francis The guy “Bill” was, and still is, her husband Billy Davis, also a member of the Fifth Dimension. They were married the year the song came out.
@Francis There was a veritable smorgasbord of musical references in this puzzle, covering a wide range of genres. But the one that jumped out at me the most was Marilyn McCoo (second time in two days you and I have been on the same musical page). She always seemed to be in the shadow of some of the other female soul singers of the sixties, but she was right up there in the pantheon as far as I was concerned. Her silky voice was to die for, and she packed an emotional punch too: One less bell to answer, one less egg to fry. I should be happy, but all do is cry.
I didn't like this one. Theme clues were WAY too long and chatty and not worth the desired effect. I thought the whole thing was a pretty weak effort, ironically enough, considering the theme and grade. Not to mention what I'm sure will drive many crazy, the presence of the same full words in both the answer and clue (me... two). I'd have liked to see a better puzzle than this. Oh well. There are always past glories. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
Terms and conditions are not synonyms. A condition is a requirement to be satisfied, while a term governs the use of something. Read together, the “terms and conditions” of a website or service detail the prerequisite upon which the user is permitted to access and use the service, and the manner in which it may be used.
Couldn't finish it - not even close. Even after reading all the comments I still don't get it. Will spend some time pondering and maybe I'll catch on eventually. Or maybe not. See you tomorrow. ..
To answer Sam’s question about things like “terms and conditions” which are known as legal doublets: The doubling—and sometimes even tripling—often originates in the transition from use of one language for legal purposes to another: in Britain, from a native English term to a Latin or Law French term; in Romance-speaking countries, from Latin to the vernacular. To ensure understanding, the terms from both languages were used. This reflected the interactions between Germanic and Roman law following the decline of the Roman Empire. These phrases are often pleonasms[1] and form irreversible binomials. Source: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_doublet" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_doublet</a>
@Steve L belt and suspenders
Sometimes the terms have different meanings (or are assigned different meanings through case law). "Representations and warranties" comes to mind.
@Steve L An old joke/riddle among/about lawyers is the question as to why, in legal documents, you so often see doublets and triplets of words used when one will do. For example, in a will, you typically see, “I nominate, constitute and appoint my friend, A.B., as my executor.” The answer: because lawyers get paid by the word.
@Steve L When I worked for the Texas Legislature, my colleagues and I spent the interim’s between legislative sessions preparing nonsubstantive recodifications of Texas’ old laws. I led the project to revise the laws about government securities. We pared all the “terms and conditions” down to just “terms.”
@Steve L I’m this case, terms and conditions aren’t synonymous in law (at least in the English common law countries) because breach of one gives rise to a right to terminate the contract and the other doesn’t. I was very confused by the solve!
@Steve L In linguistics class, I learned that the doubled phrases became common after the Norman Conquest, with one word derived from Anglo Saxon and the other from Latin via Norman French.
Another extremely hard puzzle for me - despite help from my wife, who usually breezes through stuff I can't figure out for the life of me (e.g. today she understood what was going on with Tournament pass:BYE which I was completely clueless about). Lookups and autocheck were not enough: I broke down and revealed the final two letters I was missing. I figured out the theme, more or less - the fact it had to do with grammatical errors - but the themed phrases seemed loosely connected to the clues to me and I had much trouble getting them, especially given my many problems with the fill. For this sentence I skip the "personally/for me/IMO" thing on purpose so go ahead and berate me for criticizing the puzzle, constructor and editors, if that brightens your day: ECOL rather than EvOL for Darwin was just unfair. This week I've been defeated by three out of the seven puzzles - my worst result in months.
@Andrzej This felt tough to me too. Many answers were slang / casual expressions that weren’t my first thought e.g. UP AND AT ‘EM (vs AT IT), PDQ, A MIL, ORDS [I really don’t like missing punctuations in answers - maybe I should go back to cryptics which even give word counts!] To your point, HALT WHO GOES THERE had a tenuous connection with the clue. And YOU CANT WIN THEM ALL makes more sense with word play, than as a correction. Still, most were quite clever!
@Andrzej I also had a tough week, solving only Monday and Tuesday with no help. Today's puzzle required more look-ups than I've done on a Sunday in a long time. Too much trivia that was not in my bailiwik!
@Andrzej , even though I grew up in the US, I still struggle. Lately I've been doing them with my 16 year old daughter, who gets all the young-people references!
@Andrzej No one who's been reading your posts is going to attack your for not properly guarding your language when things are tough. Three out of seven is impressive. That was me, a native English speaker in the country producing the puzzle, about six months ago. Even with my origin and language advantage, you're right there with me.
I'm just here to point out that "ye" in "ye olde shoppe" (and the like) is not actually what most people think it is. The 'y' is actually the old English letter thorn (Þ). It's the way English used to represent the "th" sound (as in "the"). In writing, this looked fairly close to a 'p' and, over time, became closer and closer to a 'y'. "Ye" olde shoppe is actually "the" olde shoppe.
Some have already commented on the Darwin clue with the answer being ECOL and not EVOL as wrong. I questioned it also, so did a search using Bing for Darwin and Ecology. My search brought up enough results to satisfy me that although it's tricky, it's not wrong. <a href="https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/commentary/life-sciences/was-darwin-ecologist" target="_blank">https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/commentary/life-sciences/was-darwin-ecologist</a> (Full disclosure: Skimmed, not read, by not a scientist.)
Vaer, My sense is that ecology is kind of like the crossword puzzle of science: just about anything fits.
@Vaer I put in EVOL as well, and then changed to ECOL. Icould have put in BIOL but that didn't fit with the crosses. Darwin wrote about natural selection, which is a cornerstone of just about any course in Biology.
@Vaer I agree - that one was tricky & misleading but fair. ECOL is not the *best* possible answer to the clue but that's not the issue in a crossword.
[You could see I grinning as I solved this] Glad to find that most people enjoyed the theme as much as I did. SEE ME
ad absurdum, I hope there’s a late bus.
Best graphic yet! Made me laugh. I almost didn't see it, because my app goes to my solved screen (with my 1150+ streak, woot wooooot), but I happened to click back through to the puzzle. Nice touch on a fun puzzle.
@Classic Hip-Hop Fan [In a very stern voice] "You'll never get to 2000 by laughing at your C+, young Hip-Hop Fan!" 🫣
1A was an absolute no-brainer for me. I am an expert at "Remaining undercover!!" My husband is an expert at occasionally saying, "UP AND AT EM," but it really never goes well for him to say that and maybe one of these days he'll remember that. The only thing worse is when he says chop chop! I thought this was a fun one! My favorites were YOU CAN'T WIN THE MALL and DON'T START WITH ME but they were all cute. Fun fill, as well! There were a handful of things that I hadn't heard of before like "Upbraid," WALE, and ABLE SEAMAN but I thought the crosses were all very gentle and I finished well faster than normal. Huzzah! Unfortunately, I never met my father-in-law but he was a merchant marine and if my husband hadn't come to the US at age 13, he would have been a merchant marine as well, as our many of our family back on the island. There was very little other way to make money out there. His dad would have to be away for 6 months at a time. I can't even imagine having to have him be away for so long. I hate it even for a week, when he's gone on business. All right now, just remember you gotta fight.... for your right.... to crooooss--word! Cheers to a new week, all!
@HeathieJ I thought this was a really fun one as well! Love your comments. ~from another Heather J...are you Heather with a J middle name? If so, me too!
My niece was in heaven when, her aunt (me), uncle, and grand-parents managed to visit her, all at once, in Gainesville, Florida. But soon it was back to the airport and time for good- byes. Seeing her sad and mopey, sitting by herself in a chair, I went to her. "Everybody's leaving," she whimpered. "Oh, sweetheart," I began, in an empathetic voice, "Love isn't diminished by physical distance. Our love for you is–" but before I could finish, she cut me off and, irritated, blurted out: "Oh, DON'T START WITH ME." I held back a smile, shut up, and gave her a hug and kiss instead. I'd just been outsmarted by a five-year-old. As for the puzzle, I loved it as much as the memory it brought up. I laughed heartily when, for a moment, I thought it was giving me a C+. It had caught me finishing the last third with auto-check turned on, but had taken into consideration the perfect two-thirds. How gracious! Thank you, Mr. Kugelman, for this ingenious grid and, graphics team, for the icing on the cake!
@sotto voce Thanks for sharing that story. I’ve been sorting through our photos lately and thinking about my niblings and grand-niblings. My youngest niece and nephew (cousins) both turn 41 this year. Yipes!
@sotto voce Hi there! Thanks for the neat story! What a kid!!!!!!!!!! emu food
Can we please get past having differences in print-edition and online-edition puzzles? I’m tired of reading post-puzzle NYT explanations of how the print edition would’ve made more sense.
@Dave Humphrey It’s bizarre how often it happens. Totally agree with you.
The most fun Sunday puzzle for a long while! Very clever.
Who else thought 'Inappropriate to say, maybe' was NSFW? Just me? OK.
@Harry Nope: that was my first thought, as well— but crosses quickly eliminated that as a possibility!
A "Darwinian Subject" is more likely to be EVOLution than it is to be ECOLogy.
True, but a crossword answer is more likely to be the less likely valid answer. Lots of discussion in earlier threads. BIOL
@Patrick Molloy — That was my first guess but I broadened it to an abbreviation that made better sense to me.
@Patrick Molloy - I posted this as a reply to the first instance of this nit, but I think it's OK to post it here: Although the word ECOLogy had not yet been coined until late in Darwin's life, the *concepts* of ecology permeate his work. ECOLogy and EvOLution are closely related subjects. I belong to the Division of Ecology and Evolution in SICB -- there is a reason both topics are included in the same division of this society. I also first entered EvOL, but was not upset, angered, or miffed that the answer ended up being ECOL. The answer is fine. <a href="https://sicb.org/divisions/ecology-evolution" target="_blank">https://sicb.org/divisions/ecology-evolution</a>/
Top 5 favorite NYT crossword puzzle so far. Loved it all. Imagine my glee as a grammar nerd when I realized where this was going, yet it was still a challenge to complete. So cute! Thanks for this Sunday fun. ALLYOUNEEDISLOVE
Loved this! Loved the post it note! Imagine winning the mall. I wonder if you could actually.
Raise your hand if you got stuck with 'legs' in 41D? (A herd of four EMUs would also fit the clue.)
@Jackson I was pretty sure that 53A had to be MAE, so I figured it couldn’t be LEGS. !!! !!!
@Jackson If you’re old enough, Mae is an instant obvious answer.
@Jackson MAE came to me instantly and I was really solid on it, so when I got to 41D, I left it blank for a bit because I didn't know they had eight EYES. I thought it might be that but just waited for the crosses. If I wasn't so completely sure it was MAE, I'm sure I would have put in legs.
OLA! OLE! OY - I certainly went into OT on this one and loved every minute of it. The SWEARJARS were filling up until I took the hint and pulled myself together. My ego went down in FLAMES. I have never, in my life, got a lowly C . OUI OUI, ‘tis true, YOU CANT WIN THEM ALL. The emu got disgusted with me and went off to natter with the GNUS.
This puzzle was a lot of fun and definitely put a smile on my face.... until I got a C+! Noooooo!!!! Since everyone else got the same mark I won't take it personally, lol Such a clever theme, and I love the way it was executed.... A+!
Terrific puzzle! Very much enjoyed it. The theme answers really made me smile! I love the moment when the light bulb goes on and I’m suddenly in on the secret.
This was a fun Sunday! I guess I'm in the minority for having put in ECOL without EVOL even occurring to me. I only took undergrad biology, but it was in the ecology courses that the concepts of fitness, populations, and evolutionary drivers played a big role, so that's where my mind went.
Well, I finished the puzzle and even beat my average by a fair amount, but it was a struggle. When the “C+” grade appeared I was disappointed while at the same time I thought it was too high given my performance. (It took me a moment to realize that we all saw the same teacher’s note.) Then I thought: thank goodness we don’t actually get graded every day! That was a mazy puzzle, John Kugelman!
Oh what fun this must have been to clue! Playful -- with so much opportunity for creativity and imagination. In some puzzles, the constructor's enjoyment shines through and in some puzzles, there doesn't seem to have been that much enjoyment at all. Here it shines through. It was fun for this solver too -- albeit without nearly as much opportunity for creativity and imagination. The heavy lifting had already been done and my job was to pull the pieces together. Some theme answers came through with only a few crosses at the outset: DON'T QUOTE ME ON THIS; DON'T START WITH ME; ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE; PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER (fabulous!). My biggest stumbling block? I had the D (from KEDS) at the end of the 3-letter word for one of the 2 or 3 most important things Steve Jobs had ever done. I confidently wrote in WED. LSD??? Well, to each his own, I guess. I also resisted writing in OPEC. Vienna seems like such a strange base location for all those mid-eastern countries. An entertaining, good-natured puzzle that played on the easier side.
@Nancy Ha! I penciled in “DAD” with my “_ _ D”
@Just me. Not just you, Just me. I too had DAD in for the longest time. Somehow Job’s name got me to thinking it was his job they were seeking.
Re: Terms and Conditions. In English law, use of superfluous synonyms are common: i.e. aid and abet, assault and battery, cease and desist. I understand this was a byproduct of the Norman invasion and was intended to clear up differences between French vs. Saxon terms. Another more commonly cited difference might be beef, veal or mutton on the (Norman) table vs. cow, calf or sheep in the (Saxon) field.
@Doggydoc There was additional study material on American English as explained by George Washington on SNL last night
@Doggydoc The terms assault and battery are related. They are most definitely not the same thing. An assault is a threat. A battery is physical harm. If you threaten a punch, but don't do it - that's only assault. If you sneak up and hit someone without them seeing you, that's only battery. Aiding and abetting are also different. Aid means to give help; abet means to incite.
Well, I did “Pull myself together “, but only with the usual amount of help that I need for late week puzzles. I know the Sunday puzzle is supposed to be about Wednesday difficulty, but it hasn’t been for me for quite some time. Not a complaint, just an observation, and it’s obviously not the case for most solvers. I loved the super long theme entries, and was delighted when I got the grade I deserved at the end.
Am I the only one who got a weird sticky note that read “C+ Fix” in the upper-right quadrant?
Great to see James Joyce, and for something other than Ulysses or The Dead. "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." [I once wrote a piece on Dubliners and used this quote for the story.]
@MaPeel I second that opinion. I find the stories in Dubliners mysterious and deep and beautifully written. I have come back to them many times over the years.
This was a lot of fun for m e so if you didn't like it, at least MEETMEINTHEMIDDLE
Cute theme, and loved the sticky note at the end. Sundays are puzzles unto themselves. I don't compare them, difficulty-wise, to the other days. Thanks for the fun, John Kugelman!
What a delightful puzzle! One of my favorite themes EVER!
Did a double-take when the "Fix!" note appeared right on top the LAHR/ARABY Natick I had to guess at the end.
@oggy Yeah, me, too. So did the post-it appear at the last correctly entered square? Did we all see it in different places?
@oggy I had the same thought, because my last square was LAHR and LIPASE cross. (I had Lehr first, but that's the news man.)
@oggy lol that was also my last entry, then suddenly a post it literally right on that spot. Fun and confusing at same time
I love all the long answers. So clever! Such a delightful surprise when I sussed them out!
Anyone else squeal when the post it note popped up? I’m not sure if mine was a squeal of excitement or frustration, but probably included some of both. (It took me way too long to find “mazy”. Grrrr.) Fun puzzle!
@Sarah — I had momentarily forgotten the theme, and my first reaction was “Are we being graded now?” LOL. Fun puzzle with some good clues.
@Sarah Well....I'm a guy. If I had...squealed, I would *never* admit it. So, no.
@Sarah I misspelled AURORAE, so when I didn’t get the congratulatory message on my iPad, I switched to my phone to use the List display to find my mistake. I didn’t have the fun of seeing the Post-It note magically appear. It was just there when I went back to my iPad.
It's been a while since I had a Sunday puzzle make me laugh out loud. Favorites were DONT START WITH ME and YOU CANTWINTHEMALL. Thank you, Mr. Kugelman, for your entertaining and funny puzzle.