Ooh, I have a lightning pun! Wait, never mind, strike that. (Gotta bolt!)
@Mike We're shocked...SHOCKED!...at your hasty departure.
@Mike I don't want to steal your thunder; hope you'll be back in a flash with more. (You could get emu-lsified if it hit you.)
It appears the Tuesday and Wednesday puzzles were swapped this week…
@Sarah double my Tuesday time and half my Wednesday time so I have to agree.
@Sarah I don't think so. Tuesday's puzzle took me twelve minutes and no cheats, whereas Wednesday's puzzle took nineteen minutes and two cheats. At first it was quite intimidating. The upper left corner was the last to fall. Cute theme and animation, though.
@Sarah I love the how differently people feel about crosswords. I found Tuesday’s puzzle to be close to my average, and Wednesday’s, while better than my average Wednesday, was still slower than Tuesday. By the responses to your comment, it seems like I’m in the minority today. That’s part of the magic of crosswords for me!
Two emus walked into a bar. ‘I’ll take whatever ALE you have ON TAP, the first one said. ‘We only have GATORADE’, replied the barman. ‘OH NO’, said the other emu. ‘In that case, we’ll just LAP UP some COLD ICED WINE’. A policeman poked his head through the door. ‘That your BEEMER double-parked outside?’ he asked the emus. ‘You NEED TO move it. It’s blocking the EV CHARGERS. ‘NAAN’, replied the emus. A young man, HUNCHED in the corner, intervened. ‘The name’s Potter. HARRY POTTER. Is there a SNAG, officer’? ‘These two PEAHENS need to move their car’, the officer replied. The young man whipped out a magic WAND. ‘Don’t sweat this, guys. I can make that car go away faster than a LIGHTNING BOLT. ‘OOO DEE ZETA ERIS’ he incanted. Nothing happened. ‘He comes in here all the time,’ the barman said. ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s a NUT.’
After reading thru the comments, two big surprises; 1) all the talk about 15A - BEEMER was my first gimme of the puzzle, I'd never think to spell it any other way 2) I'm the first to mention BOBO?! It's definitely BOZO!! Bozo the Clown! That probably cost me my new Wednesday best time
@Bill in Yokohama There was a big question mark over my head when I first heard someone speak the term pronounced "beamer". Since "beam" is a word, and "beem" is not, I don't understand why you would not think to spell it any other way than the way it sounds like.
@Bill in Yokohama I knew neither BOBO nor BOZO so I did not see the problem :D Needed crosses for that. Bozobo the emu.
@Bill in Yokohama as George Costanza woudl agree! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLXtHU_HGXs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLXtHU_HGXs</a>
@Bill in Yokohama Looks like your emu'ed comment finally showed up! 🙌 🙌 🙌
@Bill in Yokohama There is only one Bozo the Clown - the name is probably trademarked. I'm guessing BOBO is "common" among entertainers at kids' birthday parties.
@Bill in Yokohama I had never heard of BOBO the clown until this puzzle either.
@Amy Definitely not Bobo. George encountered “Eric the clown” which is probably just as valid as Bobo.
@Bill in Yokohama I also played into the bozo red herring, trying to figure out what a azode really racked my brain as I was sure bozo was right
@Bill in Yokohama Yes, BOZO!!! It's always Bobo in the NYT crossword in my experience, but I have never heard of him. Everyone knows Bozo. As to BMWs: personally, I spell it L E M O N. My dad bought one as a status symbol in the eighties, and it broke down on the way home from the dealership. Things went downhill from there. Living in Germany has not changed my mind.
@Bill in Yokohama I agree on Beemer. I don’t know why, but I also automatically spelled it that way and it sounds outrageous that it’s actually spelled “bimmer”?? Odd. I also had BOZO until the very end until I couldn’t figure out what the heck and AZOBE was. 😂
I solved this puzzle in a FLASH,while simultaneously having a FLASHback to 1979..."It's, like thunder, LIGHTENING, the way you love me is frightening..." <a href="https://youtu.be/XKuJUxGntRI?feature=shared" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/XKuJUxGntRI?feature=shared</a> (48 million views! I guess people are still dancing to disco in 2024!) To you, Mr. Lease, kudos for an excellent puzzle, and to the graphics team, yet another standing O. Most all of the entries were in my wheelhouse, and what wasn't turned out to be easily gettable from the crosses (CHARGERS, ERIS.) – just the way I like it. Thank you!
My kingdom for an edit button. How did LIGHTNING become LIGHTENING? I have no idea. . . . . . .
@sotto voce Love that song. 🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩☁️ 🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩 🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩
Oh now that was good fun!! Two super fun days in a row! Filled in HARRY POTTER immediately as I went through my first round of a crosses, and then went back and filled in LIGHTNING BOLT and the other themers except for GATORADE. I need a few crosses for that one. Loved the WAND clue and the placement of wand within the lightning bolt graphics. Finished it in lightning fast time, a new Wednesday best! I'd be one of the folks who would have enjoyed Me. Lease's entirely Harry Potter themed puzzle. ⚡⚡ Thanks for super fun puzzle!
Wait, are all you guys just trying to prove the stereotype about BMW owners? Good, challenging puzzle. The top half started out as more challenging than the usual Wednesday for me, but things started falling into place and I came in a few minutes below my average. Surely I'm not the only solver for whom Pluto is the only dwarf planet I know, right?
@Jack McCullough they were really confused by the blinking light at the end
@Jack McCullough Yeah, ERIS-Lobster cross was a NATICK for me. Only so many vowels to try for my last letter though. I’d originally filled with ERoS
@Jack McCullough Never heard of ERIS, or of dwarf planets. Guess this was all taught after I had completed my primary and secondary education. Luckily I was able to get it through the crosses.
I experienced minor delight seeing the simple animation at end. It seemed a proper celebratory finish to a fulfilling morning solve.
What a fun puzzle. It harked back to when Wednesday puzzles were doable, not frustrating. I had a few wrong letters, but they were easy to correct by thinking about the crossing words. I almost looked up what Queen Victoria had named after her, but E_A was a real "doh" moment. The graphic is super to watch! Thanks to the constructor -- let's see more from him.
@Natdegu, I had the last letter A. My first thought was, “Queen Victoria had a brA named after her?” (Back, you emus)
Cute puzzle! & a very satisfying solve. I got the theme pretty quickly but I thought the circled letters would spell out something relating to the theme, like ENERGY or something, but it wasn't until the end when the picture was revealed that I realized it was just ABCDEF lol
@a I was expecting that trick to be theme-y as well! Probably spent a full 42 seconds hah trying to spell something with the letters and never saw the sequence until I read the comments
I smelled trouble when my common clown name was BOzO, and I was wondering what kind of word clued by [Houses] had a stupid Z in it. I've never heard of BOBO the clown, but it was obvious that's what it had to be. And, it does seem clear that if you name your child BOBO they are likely going into clownery.
@Francis Well, there’s this guy, whose career ended about half a century ago: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_Barnett" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_Barnett</a> I second the idea, though, that the name Bozo is probably copyrighted, so it can’t be a “common clown name”.
I enjoyed this very well crafted and witty puzzle - mostly because of its fun, somewhat tricky yet ultimately very gettable cluing - and I did not need any lookups to finish it. I ended up with one mistake though, minor but hard to spot: I confidently entered ERoS for the dwarf planet (it *is* a famous asteroid, and I don't really know the difference between that and a dwarf planet). Doing so I did not check the cross with the Lewis Carroll poem. I know no titles of the poems that pop up in these puzzles, and usually I can't figure them out, either, because of the nonconventional way poetic English may be spelled. Is ToS a word? Well, no. Should I have guessed TIS? Well, yes, but since ERoS looked so good I never bothered to check this particular palce, and in the end I took the autocheck way out of the problem. I still count this as a win though: that one mistake was on me, but I forgive myself for it ;)
I just read the other comments and was surprised to find out BEEMER was not a gimme for many - it sure was for me. I must have heard and seen it hundreds of times over the decades. Polish also has its slang for a BEEMER - it is "BEEMKA". It sounds very different than it would in English - it consists of three syllables, and we pronounce it thus, more or less: "be" as in "bell", "em" as in "embrace", and "ka" as the "ca" in "canola". Stress falls on the middle syllable.
For all of you complaining about „beemer“, as someone from the northeast, that was the only gimme in the puzzle. It is definitely what we called our bmw‘s in the 90‘s.
TH, It seems BEEMER is what everyone (in the U.S.) *calls* them, but from multiple comments since last night, it seems some people *spell* it "bimmer." WHATEVS.
@TH In high school in the 1980’s, my friend’s father had a BMW. We called any weekend she was allowed to drive it a “Beemer bash.” Very high school. So for me as well, that was a gimme.
This is the first Wednesday puzzle I’ve completed without help in a long time. What’s the reason? A strike of genius? A bolt of brain energy? A spell of some kind? Staying fully hydrated? Whatever the reason(s), it was a perfect storm. ⚡️🗞️
Beamer refers to a BMW motorcycle, Bimmer is how you would refer to a BMW car.
@Seth. Exactly! A BMW auto is a Bimmer. A BMW motorcycle is a Beamer or Beemer.
Seth, And the constructor drives a BEEMER. OHNO
@Seth didn’t know this technicality. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. May still refer to bmw cars as beamers in my day to day.
@Barry Ancona - If the constructor is driving, it’s a BIMMER. If they’re riding, not as a passenger but in control of the vehicle, it’s a BEEMER, or, alternatively a BEAMER. Different terms for BMW autos v. motorcycles.
@Seth Indeed. Straight from the manufacturers mouth: <a href="https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html" target="_blank">https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html</a>
@Seth right on. disappointed the editors didn't know this.
@Seth I drove a BMW for over 20 years and never heard that.
@K. H. Since when? I would pronounce beamer and beemer exactly the same, but not bimmer. To me it's like the difference between sleeping and slipping. Not a mistake I'd want to make irl, lol.
Yes Mr Lease, that was fun thank you. Took me until HARRY POTTER to get the theme, as the football/drink was unknown to me. I would definitely be in the yea category for a HP themed grid; my kids were ‘Harry’s’ age when the first book was published, so the perfect demographic. There is nothing I don’t know about the Potterverse. Go on, test me! I even have a scar on my forehead; ok not a LIGHTNING BOLT, but a slightly jagged one. Not as exciting as bad magic turned by love, more a very angry drunk whose response to being barred was to smash a glass in my face. Fortunately his aim was as bad as his attitude so he only caught the top of my head. The joys of serving ALE. Off to get my Covid/flu jabs this morning. Having just recovered from a virus I expect I’ll feel more HUNCHED than SPRY later. Not sure I’m going to be much use at tonight’s pub quiz.
@Helen Wright I'm currently trying to schedule a Harry Potter Trivia Pursuit night at my place! What house are you? Also, good luck with your shots. I got both of mine yesterday. Fortunately, they didn't knock me out like they usually do.
Another graphic! Kind of like getting a gold star for completion. At least I did better than C this time.
Be right back. I just remembered, I have to put my phone on the charger. LA helmet logo, anyone?
Steve, At least tonight you can go in and out of the comments through the front door. With APLOMB.
THIS IS MY WEEK! Just solved a Wed puzzle with no hints!! 😄😄
Fun theme but the Harry Potter clue gave away the revealer instantly. Felt a bit easy for Wednesday but Tuesday weirdly stumped me this week, so I’ll take the quick solve!
As has frequently been the case recently for me, my only real stumbling block was in the NW. I didn’t know OOO and I was wracking my brain to come up with the friend. Although I was never a regular watcher of Friends, I had seen enough episodes that I thought I should get this one right off the bat, but after cycling through Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler, all of which obviously didn’t work (either because of the length or lack of fit with the crosses) I just couldn’t come up with the elusive missing friend with C as the next to last letter. Then like a bolt out of the blue, MONICA popped into my head and the final pieces fell into place. The theme itself was easy enough to spot, and facilitated the solve. I was hoping for the graphics to supply a little charge at the end and I was not disappointed. A perfectly fine, if not electrifying, puzzle
@Marshall Walthew All the girls names fit because they are all six letters: Rachel, phoebe, and Monica. So, I had to pause there because OOO can solve to two of the friends. Once I got ICED it knocked out that corner. TIL SEABEE. I was a bit disappointed to realize that Star Trek knowledge didn’t get me to there. Since ensign also would have worked. HARRY POTTER got me the rest of the clues. I liked out WAND was stuck in the middle of the lightning bolt. Seemed like a clever move.
Fun puzzle and not THAT tough for a Wednesday. Loved the lightning bolt at the end. THANK YOU, Jeffrey Lease! emu foood
One note on the “bimmer” vs “beemer” discussion: I doubt this has anything to do with regionalisms. I suspect those of us who filled in “bimmer” did so because we’ve been corrected by a pedantic BMW owner at some point in our lives. “Actually, it’s spelled with a I” has been drilled into my brain as a counterintuitive fact / a signal that one is “in the know.” Those who haven’t had this experience would naturally find this bewildering.
@Stephen - thanks for this. I don’t have acquaintance with any BMW owners and the whole kerfuffle this morning has bewildered me! Just yesterday, by chance, I passed an antique BMW sedan going the other way and thought, “Wow, that’s an old Beamer.” I would guess 1960 or thereabouts.
@Stephen Actually I read it in Car and Driver Magazine when I used to subscribe to such things. They always called them bimmers. This is actually the first time I have seen the word beemer.
@Stephen I have come to understand, probably after being corrected, that beemers are the motorcycles, and bimmers are the cars.
@Stephen In keeping with today's theme, I somehow wanted it to be beamer. Here in Finland we call these cars (that for some reason seem to always be missing blinkers), wait for it... bemus.
@Stephen Huh, so it is possible for BMW owners to be even more annoying.
@Stephen and here I was thinking that technically shouldn't it be beamer?
@Stephen. Bimmer is the car. Beemer is the motorcycle. For reference look no further than the online fan page for BMW autos, which is called “Bimmerfest”
@Stephen As a German speaker, I say "bimmer" belongs on the linguistic ashheap.
Hmm. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. I had a brief "visual migraine" last night, which involves seeing a jagged lightning bolt overlaying your field of vision for 20 minutes or so.
It was indeed fun and worth the wait, Jeffrey!
Unusually enjoyable puzzle. Thank you!!
Solved this in a flash 🤣 Coincidentally, I also have a scar on my forehead akin to our Harry's. But who got his first...
"Who's Bozo? Bozo the Clown, that's who Bozo is. When I was a kid, Bozo the Clown was THE clown, bar none." I can't say it better than George Costanza!!
@Amy Except in this puzzle, it's BOBO! Don't know why that occurred to me before BOZO. George would not be pleased!
It seems to me like TOS the Voice of the Lobster would be an excellent title for a Lewis Carroll poem; that, and the fact that EROS just had, had I say, to be the answer to 16A (until it wasn't), goes a long way to explaining my embarrassingly long solve time.
@MP Rogers SAME! So frustrating to kill a good solve time.
My high school mascot was the Charger and one of our seniors handmade a credit card costume that he wore instead of the horse one the school provided as the “official” mascot costume. don’t remember much from high school but I can vividly recall his outfit.
Yesterday I cleared the puzzle because I was one letter off somewhere (and I thought I might have accidentally had an errant rebus or something, plus this site was down, which made me think there was a glitch--turned out I had STAGGER instead of SWAGGER). The second go around, I caught my mistake and filled the puzzle out perfectly. However, my streak reset, and I got blue instead of yellow. I never knew that clearing a puzzle would reset a streak! Just a little PSA, I guess, for those who care about streaks.
@Willy Email the Games team. They’ve restored my streak more than once under similar circumstances. Good luck!
On the 15A controversy, this is what BMW itself says on their website: “Strictly speaking, it’s incorrect to talk about a “beamer car” (or “beemer car”). The correct term for a BMW automobile is “bimmer” – “beemer” and “beamer” actually only refer to a BMW motorcycle.” <a href="https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html" target="_blank">https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html</a> Glad I never knew that and filled in the “correct” answer right off. Ignorance is bliss!
@JGinDC Except the same page says the cars are "beamers" too. ________ [ The nickname “bimmer” originated in the 1970s. At the time, BMW automobiles were enjoying something of a boom in popularity in the US. Americans had initially called BMW cars “beamers,” like the motorcycles ]
@JGinDC Strictly speaking, it's not pronounced "bimmer". Not in America, anyhoo. So BMW has a right to its opinion.
@JGinDC Please note that the website says, “Strictly speaking…” Also please note that the clue says, “casually.” It seems there’s nothing wrong here.
Hunched under the sink, the plumber then rose with aplomb. “That will be $900 for today.”
@Brenda Bronner "I'm a lawyer, and that's more than I make." "I know. It's more than I made when I was a lawyer, too."
It would appear from the pile-up and loud honking in the comments that “BMW” and “casually” don’t mix. For me [“Doctor ______”] was my guide to FODORS. (Who? I guess I tour by word of mouth.) (Bim me up, Scotty.)
@JohnWM BIM ME UP! God, that's good.
pretty easy for a Wednesday but i’m not complaining especially since i biffed my Wordle streak today 😭
@richelle I also failed on today's Wordle, and would have been crushed had I not already broken a long Wordle streak just two days ago.
@richelle I realize this isn’t the Wordle forum, but today the Wordle Bot gave me zero skill points for getting the correct answer on my 4th try. C’mon Bot. If it’s my 4th turn that can’t really be ALL luck, can it? Ok. That was my two minutes Bot hate for today.
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen, same! I failed Wordle Sunday and today! It had been a VERY long time since I blew it. Sigh. But the only way to go now is up, right?
BOBO for common clown name? Bozo, yes. Bobo not so much.
@Kathy Zaffrann See my earlier comment about the famous Bobo the clown doll in 1960’s psychology research by Albert Bandura at Stanford. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/42d5dl?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=commentShare" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/42d5dl?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=commentShare</a> — — — —
@Kathy Zaffrann Bozo is a famous clown, but probably copyrighted so that it’s not a “common clown name”. See, however: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_Barnett" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_Barnett</a>
The ol’ Tuesday Wednesday flip-a-roo. Breezed through this one with a smile. I like the way the bolt flickers like a [Neon sign word]. Only complaint - I wish the circles contained something a bit more “on theme” and interesting than ABCDEF. Lightning is made from *static*. That would have been quite cool, instead. Just a small nit. Great puzzle - Thanks, Jeffrey Lease!
Am I the only person older that 15 who never watched Friends? 🤦🏻
@Vince Carter No, but I may be the only (American) person who never watched Friends, read a Harry Potter book, or saw one of the movies.
@Vince Carter Hand up for totally escaping "Friends"....we all watched Mary Tyler Moore tossing her woolly hat into the air until the final group hug.... I hate seeing 'Friends' in the clues.
@Vince Carter I saw it once or twice, but it had as little appeal as Seinfeld.
@Vince Carter I’ve seen about five minutes of it. But it was so popular in its day that it was hard not to learn the names of some of the cast and characters.
Really fun one! Totally missed the clue at 37A to connect the letters, but they did it for me, so Shazam!! ⚡️ ⚡️ ⚡️
When even the clues are gibberish, like 3d, there's nothing you can do apart from get the crossings and hope! Apropos 64a, tikka masala, like the raincoat and the ultrasound scanner, is one of the great Glasgow inventions. Quite possibly accompanied by a salade Glasvège (CHIPS) and/or a glass of crémant de Cumbernauld (IRN BRU), although neither would fit and anyway the upmarket Shish Mahal in Park Street, where Mr Ali first created the dish fifty years, is above that kind of thing. I opted for RICE initially but that didn't work. Incidentally, the Shish Mahal menu calls the tandoori bread NAN, although either spelling is in common use here. Can't speak for the establishments of Curry Hill, NY.
@Rosalind Mitchell The 3D clue, [Ixnay] is Pig Latin for "nix", and has taken on a life of its own in regular American English as a word meaning to refuse or deny something. It is, if anything, a bit dated. Perhaps it never took hold on your side of the pond, but it's pretty well known here. (Pig Latin is almost as dead as actual Latin these days, but words were formed by moving the initial consonants to the end and adding "ay".)
Rosalind Mitchell, I love me some IRN BRU. And we did enjoy some very tasty curry while in Glasgow briefly about 15 years ago, but not at Shish Mahal (don’t remember the names of the restaurants, not too far from Strathclyde University).
What fun this puzzle was! It’s always a kick to get a bit of animation at the end of a successful solve IMHO. Congrats on a terrific puzzle, Mr. Lease. I am a Potter fan, along with my grandsons, so that was also part of the fun for me. Did anyone else think of South Pacific when they saw SEABEE? I did, and I could hear them singing: “There ain’t nothin’ like a dame, Nothin’ in the world . . .” Thinking about folks in Florida today and hoping they will be okay. Looks scary.
This lightning is much more fun than the storm that’s raging outside my house tonight. Still, I forced myself to focus on something else other than the sound of the wind and got it done! Thanks for the diversion, I needed it.
@Marcy I hope you get through the weather safely. Thinking of everyone down there and hoping for the best.
Regarding the Mini crossword, to clue TEAR as “a droplet of sorrow” is quite something.
Thank you for a fun and satisfying Wednesday puzzle!
Easier than usual Wednesday puzzle I think. Personal best time today. Not lightning fast but still. Nice theme and once you figured it out it made things much easier. I vaguely remembered Gatorade has that logo although I have never tried the drink. The color of it is so strange. I like the animations that now sometimes come up at the end.
don't know why the emu ate my first try... BEEMER was my first gimme, never would have occurred to me to spell it any other way, surprised it's generating so many comments also surprised that I seem to be the only one who got stalled by the clown BOBO?! It's Bozo the Clown! That probably cost me a PR
The absence of Tampa Bay Lightning in today’s puzzle is particularly noticeable, knowing their weather will be so much in the news tomorrow. Can’t imagine what it must be like in parts of Florida tonight…