Very fun, if a little too quick. Would have liked to have had more of this one! I've never watched the movie but I had heard of it so once I had a few crosses the name came to me. In the past year+ of doing puzzles, I have understand the joy and comfort they bring at difficult times And I'm happy to hear that they're helpin Mr Chalfin heal. I too was held up at gunpoint by two gunmen in 1991 in Milwaukee, WI. Ironically, we were heading to a place called The Safehouse, a spy themed restaurant downtown. They took my money with a loaded gun inches from my face while a cabby saw and honked. They ran and he chased them, radioing the police. They actually caught the guys. I had to identify them and ended up having to testify against them in trial. I was 21 and terrified. I was further terrified when I got notice a few years later that they were out of prison. I share because I'm grateful there is more help for these sorts of traumatic instances these days. I'm glad people can talk about it more and get access to help without being stigmatized. I never got help for the terror of what happened that night or the realization of what could have happened... Also was the gratitude of what didn't happen because of a brave cabby who was my hero that night. It is definitely still with me in a not good way, but it also made me own my own life and make a huge change that my family was against. It was absolutely the right thing to do for me. Life's a funny little thing! ❤️
@HeathieJ I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Your story reminds me a lot of my own—in my early 20s my husband and I were held up at gunpoint on our doorstep in San Francisco. In our case, a neighbor was about to exit the apartment building, saw what was happening through the door, and called the police. The gunmen saw him and fled quickly with our stuff. We lived next to a print shop with security cameras so the next day we were able to help the police ID the perpetrator’s car in the footage. That helped lead to an arrest, though not until after the same group had done a string of robberies, some of which included home invasions, in the neighborhood. I am still so thankful that our neighbor had been there; otherwise who knows what might have come next. We also went through the court process. It was so hard. Every court date, even the ones that got postponed because of defense attorney delay tactics, had us reliving the trauma. I still have anxiety going into a courthouse when called for jury duty to this day. The prosecutors were very kind throughout all of it. Our current VP was the district attorney at the time and her team was well run. It took many years before I was comfortable being out after dark again and even now I can get jumpy when out and about. You’re right that these things really do stay with you. I am glad that for you it led to a positive change in your life and that Garrett is getting help and finding solace in the joy of crosswords. ❤️
@HeathieJ What a terrible thing to go through! And having to relive it at trial, awful. I wanted to suggest you watch the movie! It's really wonderful.
@HeathieJ I’m really impressed that you used that to motivate a courageous life decision.
I'm sorry you went through that, @HeathieJ, but I'm glad you were able to make changes to your life that helped you grow
That sounds really scary, Garrett. EMDR works wonders. Thank you for sharing your story. My crossword memory is waking up to find my mom having coffee and doing the daily crossword. She died 2 months ago, and most everything I know about crosswords came from her. She was so good at them, and we also loved playing Scrabble and Boggle together.
@Deb, you asked published constructors for it feels to get a puzzle accepted. Well, for me, the first was a pinch-me-to-prove-I'm-not-dreaming rush with a leap and a shout, and rapid-fire OMGs. As with you, the acceptance euphoria never diminishes for me, not yet, anyway, even with my tenth NYT acceptance (for a themeless collaborative puzzle coming out later this month).
@Lewis Ooh! Can’t wait! Congratulations on #10!!
@Lewis what was the date of your first published puzzle?
Great description, @Lewis!
I have so much admiration for crossword creators. To craft a thing like this seems so incredibly difficult, I have no idea how they do it. Hours and hours of work, all to give us a brief spell of enjoyment! Thank you Mr. Chalfin, this is a real treat.
@Dave S Right?? How does someone even find the theme answers here, that work with rearrangement, let alone figure out how to build a puzzle around them!
First time commenter here! I couldn't help but share my excitement as relatively new crossword enjoyer to have figured out and completed completed a Thursday crossword with little to no help( I had to look up one or two answers as I am Irish and often there is a cultural barrier eg. ALAMO). Brilliant puzzle and touching story to go along with it. Congratulations Garret and good wishes for the new year! I hope everyone has/had a lovely day.
@rudy Congrats on this solve and on all future solves.
@rudy ALAMO Drafthouse was unknown to me, as they don't have a location anywhere near me. Dinner and a movie sounds like a good time, though. I'm sure you got ETON easily, right?
Welcome to Wordplay, @rudy!
As usual for these clued/unclued answer combinations, I enjoy hidden little stories: “I’ll say there were OLD SCORES to settle!!! One of them involved COLD SORES!” “The STATUSES of the US STATES as regards health care are, unfortunately, quite varied.” “At every summer SHINDIG, you know there are the same volunteers in the kitchen DISHING out all the servings of strawberry shortcake.” “Sorry, but there’s no SPARING you the agony of PARSING the instructions for how to put your IKEA bookshelves together.” “My date REBUTTED my argument that the BUTTERED popcorn at the theater is rancid and disgusting.”
@Cat Lady Margaret Ha! I was coming here to post something very similar in support of the “outside-in” phrases, but you beat me to it! I had a different interpretation of REBUTTED, however: This is what happens to stray popcorn on the theater seat, when you return from a second trip to the bathroom, (The first time, it’s merely BUTTED.)
Olá e bom dia! I’m going to do a little celebration 🎉 🎊 of my own because I usually dread Thursdays due to an impossible-to-fathom gimmick or loads of info outside of my wheelhouse. Not today!! I sailed through today’s puzzle like an experienced sailor on a wind-assisted speedboat 🚤 💨! No lookups and my fastest Thursday ever. 🥳 Ok, a couple points…. @Deb In your column you suggest imagining a tilde. Why, when Portuguese exists? In the Portuguese language, guess what 12 months means? 12 meses. One year? Um ano (no tilde)! It’s not always Spanish 😄. Also, Garret or Joel, I would have loved to see 34A clued as [sexual predilection] or [cause of a stiff neck], speaking as someone with tightly curled hair. I only have heard that term used pejoratively to describe hair like mine (or as in-group humor). Otherwise, I adored this puzzle and I applaud 👏🏾 Garret’s tenacity and resilience. Adeus!
@Pani Korunova I was thrilled to see a bit of Portuguese in the puzzle! Most Americans are so much more familiar with Spanish, so I understand the tilde comment, but I am choosing to not imagine it :)
My bad, @Pani Korunova. I did know about the un-tilded ANO in Portuguese, but it slipped my mind when I was writing.
Thank you, Garrett Chalfin, not just for the fun of solving your puzzle today, but for sharing your story with us. I got goosebumps reading about the joy you felt when your first NYT puzzle was accepted. Well done, sir.
Blown away by Garrett's story and also how the therapy helped. And this is a good, good puzzle (I happen to like others of his better). Sometimes you gotta turn inside out to feel rightside up. And sometimes on the other side of an Unfortunate Event lies greater knowledge, awareness and grace. Funny to see rabbits turn up here, after the discussion of rabbits and coneys yesterday. I have expected the answer to be CONY. Had to admit to going with HOBART before landing on Sydney. But that's on me, mate. Also liked the REBUTTED/A$S combo. I attended the University of Chicago for a year, way back when, and while I didn't stay there I made some lifelong friends from the year there and regard it as a real OASIS, and most of the time I spent outside the classroom (thus the reason my time there was so short), around campus, walking, loafing, smoking, joking, never once felt any fear. But that was 40 years ago. Things have gotten worse. I'm sorry to hear that this happened and hope the University takes measures to insure it won't happen to others. On a more positive note, Eric Hougland, with the assistance of Cat Lady Margaret and yours truly, is running the Puzzle of the Year awards this year, having taken the baton from Tito. We will be posting a further announcement tomorrow about the specifics, but please start thinking back on 2024, review the archives, and think about which puzzles you'd like to nominate.
A joyful puzzle. Thank you. May the joy the constructor gave us also contribute to the eradication of his bad memories.
As of this writing, no one seems to have made explicit note of the elegance in that not only is the actual answer a real word and the inside-out answer a real word but also the grayed part that gets shifted is a real word in every case. That is simply elegant.
@David Connell I direct your attention to Katie, from Minnesota, who noticed that OLDS and CORES stood alone. I noted RED BUTTE in response. But yes, it was nice and tidy.
I think this is the first Thursday I've done without any hints or help! I'm proud of myself! I like to set 2 "new years resolutions" every year - 1 very lofty and not necessarily attainable, and 1 that is much smaller and easy. 2024 my attainable goal was to learn how to do crosswords and as the year closes, I've got a streak of 200+ and I feel like I've achieved something! Crosswords and other puzzles (like difficult versions of solitaire) help my ADHD addled brain rest and reset. It feels like pouring a gentle cup of chamomile tea on my brain (or something like that). I appreciate the constructor sharing his story - resilience and recovery are always wonderful to hear. Thank you!
@Lara I never thought of crosswords as therapy, but I do believe it calms me down, too, now that you've mentioned it.
Congratulations on your progress, @Lara!
@Lara AND on a day where your name is in the puzzle too! Kismet!
@Lara Your streak count was impressive (even if others are at 4 digits). Of course, it is in the eye of the streaker how one counts. I find I can do S,M,T,W,Th each week but rarely, if ever, do I try F or S. I consider myself on a streak if I do five days out of seven every week.
Feelings about a fantastic puzzle were quickly shifted reading Garrett’s note. I’m so sorry for your horrid experience, and intrigued by the method you’re using to cope and move forward. Trauma is a sneaky, lurking beast. You may have motivated me to *finally* try EMDR. Thank you for your candid note, and for this terrific and clever Thursday.
Enjoyable puzzle. Typical long workout for me, but tumbling to the trick was a big turning point and that's always a nice touch. Finding the four theme answers that were actually valid phrases with or without the trick seems like an amazing find. Must have taken a lot of pondering to come up with something like this. Really impressive. And... was quite moved by the author's comments. I might say something about that in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: Many years ago I was in combat in the jungle in Vietnam. Our company was known as 'hard-luck Alpha' because we always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. During that time I had hundreds of rounds of ammunition fired in my general direction and a lot of mortar rounds and other explosives as well. But... we were in a situation where that was to be expected. We adapted to it. When I think about what happened to Mr. Chalfin and his girlfriend that just seems so much worse. Not the kind of thing that should ever happen to anyone. Never really thought about that comparison before. So sorry to hear about that experience and so glad to know that you came out of it ok. God bless. ...
Thank you, Garrett! This was immensely fun, with a neat theme and just the right difficulty for a Thursday. I agree wholeheartedly with everyone else's sentiments about your wonderful crossword construction and congratulations on your recovery! Big thanks to Deb Amlen too, for a poignant column today that perfectly sums up one of the main reasons I (re)started my daily NYT crossword routine a year ago. Working on the crossword is merely fun some days, and some days it's a welcome and necessary distraction from life's setbacks and tribulations. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who feels the same. Thank you very much, Deb!
Thanks for reading, @Dave. I'm going to try to incorporate some of the flash technique into my own life.
Garrett, I'm glad you and your girlfriend are OK and that therapy helped you deal with the experience (without turning you INSIDE OUT). (Hyde Park has always had its ups and downs.)
'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
I love how INSIDE OUT works two ways. It can mean that the inside shaded word gets moved outside, but it can also mean that the letters (or letters) before the shaded word was moved outside from the inside. I would love to know how Garrett found these theme answers that work in this cool way. Was it through computer coding or just a lot of brainwork? Care to chime in, Garrett? It seems especially impressive that the theme answer letter counts had to meet the demands of symmetry, which greatly narrows the theme answer possibilities. Not to mention that the grayed words are actual in-the-language words. Wow! Two lovely fill-in moments for me. • When I caught onto the trick, which brought both an “Aha!” and a “Hah!” • When I uncovered the reveal INSIDE OUT which brought an “Oh, perfect! Perfect!” Also, lovely answers WAN, KINK, SHINDIG, OLD SCORES, SPUNK, KIDS TABLE, and SPELUNK. Much fun in the box today for me, Garrett. Thank you so much for making this!
@Lewis Color me dense {doh}
Thank you for sharing your story, so glad you’re both okay, and thank you for the reminder of what matters. I am hopping with joy and wish the same to you and all here!
"Most of all, I couldn’t shake the haunting image of our assailants chasing us." Garrett, I can't shake the image of you and your girlfriend running, pursued by armed robbers. There is a lot more to this story that we will never know, especially your managing to get to a point where you could run away,. So many stories that center on guns and the trauma caused by people wielding them. I know how a puzzle can save one's sanity, and maybe it has to do with the way words in the puzzle lock together to form a unified whole, like notes in music yield a song and words in poetry illuminate a feeling. Puzzles absorb our thoughts and reveal an organized and intricate, sometimes even beautiful, structured world. What a relief that you and your girlfriend got away.
welp...yesterday it seemed like a good idea to go ahead with derm surg for the latest squamous cell carcinoma... not sure I thought it through entirely. ...it's on back of my hand. Took 1/2 hr to type in via app w/ L hand... but what an amazing trick! only a twisted mind cd have managed it! (my kinda guy) adios, amigos e amigas
@Mean Old Lady Wishing you a quick recovery.
I found this one fun, though over too soon. I liked seeing SPELUNK and MICRODOSE in the same puzzle, although they probably shouldn’t be tried together in the real world. For any puzzlers not familiar with the Series Of Unfortunate Events books, about the misadventures of the orphaned Baudelaire children, they are an edgy, but captivating, read for older children and adults. The fact that two of the three children are named Klaus and Sunny will give you a sense of the dark humor at play here. My daughter read and loved them about as much as the Harry Potter books. COUNTOLAF is a worthy literary villain. I can’t wait until my grandson is old enough to enjoy them
@Marshall Walthew You assume an awful lot if you expect the youngs to know who the original Claus and Sunny are. I can still here Jeremy Irons saying, "You have no idea."
@Marshall Walthew The brilliant Stephin Merritt of the indie pop band The Magnetic Fields had a side project called The Gothic Archies. That band’s second album is “The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events.” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ysa0s18K4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ysa0s18K4</a> (The accordionist is Daniel Handler, a/k/a Lemony Snicket.)
@Marshall Walthew I had COUSINITT for a while. 😜
@Marshall Walthew I learned a lot of words from A Series of Unfortunate Events. "Ersatz" is my favorite. The idea of spelunking while microdosing forcibly reminds me of The Descent, one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. To say it's EERIE would be an understatement.
Mr. Chalfin, Glad you’re healing with the help of your therapist by recalling joy of a special moment. PS. Clever puzzle!
Garret, thank you for sharing. I think your describing that helpful “flash technique” for dealing with the terrible thing that happened may help people who read your notes, who have also experienced and are still troubled by a traumatic experience. It may also be recalled by others who may need it in the future. Though I wish you never had to go through what you went through, I’m so glad that you sought and received such good healing.
Although Ska and Punk don't seem like obvious partner, the hybrid genre--also called "2-tone," after one of the record labels to promote it--developed in England in the early 1980's when two disenfranchised groups--white working class youths and black West-Indian immigrants--collided, and, instead of beating each other over the heads, as they might in 2020's America, decided instead to play music together. The sound didn't stay confined to Britain, but spread to North America and Europe. Here's a German band, Engine 54, with a song germane to today's theme: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVOvpyuYlYk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVOvpyuYlYk</a>
@Bill Skunk? This past week I've been thinking maybe I should have taken a linguistics course.
@Bill Here's some great live footage of one of my favorite 2-tone bands from the 80's, the (English) Beat, with some sunny music for a snowy morning: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8igW5ah_EE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8igW5ah_EE</a>
@Bill Saw the English Beat play a medium sized fundraiser for a wetlands project. They finished up and were starting to break down their kit when a guy in came running up to the stage and offered a donation if they'd play Tears of a Clown again. Cords were unrolled, amps powered up, and they rocked hard. Always thought highly of EB for that.
Garrett: as others have noted, this was a pretty impressive piece of wordplay construction. Well done. Also, I’m glad you found therapy that helps—well done on that as well—but three weeks ago is some fresh trauma, so one day at a time, as they say. My favorite crossword memories are not nearly as dramatic, but they are mine. Sitting next to my wife at our favorite latte bar doing the Sunday NYT Xword together. The bar closed during the pandemic but the ex-owner became a friend and he still roasts coffee beans. I now meet him in parking lots to buy our monthly supply of freshly-roasted beans in oversized ziplock bags. He’ll often say something funny like “here’s your kilo, dude. Be cool.” I am waiting for the day a cop rolls up to check us out. Luckily, I am an old white guy in upstate NY. I would not be so sanguine about it if I was otherwise and elsewhere. Keep up the good work, Garrett, in Xwords and life!
@Warren That's a very funny story. I can just picture the exchange in a parking lot. Hopefully, he doesn't decide to throw in some freebie sugar in a ziploc bag. From a distance, that would surely raise some eyebrows. ;-)
Such a touching and powerful story. To be honest, before following this board, I never imagined the joy (and heartbreak) of crossword construction.
Mr Chalfin, Thanks for sharing your harrowing story. I'm glad that your therapist was able to help you. My first published puzzle was in Simon & Schuster's Mega Crossword Puzzle Book (the 2023 edition). I was sitting on my couch when I got the acceptance email less than three hours after I'd submitted the puzzle. After several rejections in the three or four months since I'd begun constructing, it was nice to know that at least one of my puzzles was worthy of publication. I enjoyed your INSIDE OUT grid. I quickly saw what was going on with the shaded squares in OLD SCORES, then promptly forgot about it when I got down to BUTTERED.
Nice puzzle, and I enjoyed the gimmick. I think of Thursdays as hard because they're tricky, not because they have a lot of Friday/Saturday level answers - so if you get the gimmick early, they're relatively easy. That was the case for me today. I got a nice little aha moment when I figured out the COLD SORES/OLD SCORES answer. I'm sad to hear about what happened to the constructor and his girlfriend, but glad that therapy helped, and that the happy memory was crossword related.
This one was a delight. Thank you for sharing your story and I am sorry you had to experience that.
Fast and fun Thursday! Was initially perplexed by the shaded squares that weren't making any sense, but about half-way through the across clues it clicked and then it was off to the races. That is probably the most fun way to solve a crossword, so thank you to Garrett for that. And an extra thank you for sharing that story in the Notes. It can be hard to appreciate impacts to the emotional states of others or to ourselves; the most important thing is that people share these experiences. I think not only is this puzzle a good time, but I'm also sure that your story will lodge itself in the minds of many readers and help them, if only as a reminder of the importance of good memories.
Mr. Chafflin, happy for your and your friend's survival of a terrible event and that the therapy is helping you heal. Congratulations on your considerable crossword achievements! My happy crossword memory is very recent: starting solving them to avoid the 2024 election news. So much better for mental health.
@The Poet McTeagle Chalfin, sorry
Loved this puzzle. I am so sorry for your traumatic experience, but this solve was a very joyous solve. Finally, a Thursday puzzle I truly enjoyed! Thank you for this gift of sharing something you managed to turn “inside out”!
What a fun Thursday theme which I really enjoyed so didn’t mind not having a rebus. Like others, very touched by Garrett's notes, and hope that hearing from all of us will go a little ways at least to get over such a horrible experience. And of course I’m looking forward to another puzzle, maybe a Sunday.
I don't think I have ever teared up after finishing a crossword, but I was deeply touched by what both Deb Amlen and Mr. Chalfin wrote on this wintry morning. Thank you both. I hope you stay well and safe.
Absurdly pleased with myself for solving this one. Great start to the day. The cleverness of the creator astounds me.
Really liked this one. Clever & funny w/o a whole lot of obscure contemporary cultural references.
Thank you for sharing your powerful story of healing. And for a fun puzzle.
I had missed Garrett's impressive construction "quadruple" coup completely until someone pointed it out on The Other Blog. And while Deb may have made it clear through her use of parentheses, it's possible that many of you didn't notice. When I worked on the puzzle, I noticed the clued answer (OLD SCORES) and the new answer (COLD SORES) and the word in the gray squares (OLDS). But I hadn't noticed that the white squares also form a real word: CORES. Garrett accomplished that amazing 4-in-1 feat in every theme answer. That is some amazing bit of construction! Kudos, Garrett!
Inspiring story, Garrett! It's wonderful when you find someone competent who can truly help you through a difficult time. I think they're rarer than you might believe. Oh, yeah, a pretty sweet puzzle, too!
What a wonderful and fun puzzle. My best Thursday yet. Thanks for the therapy tips and sorry for the stressful experience.
Really enjoyed today's sequence! A fun puzzle, then to a column from Deb that gave us pause called our attention to Chalfin's (the constructors's) story, which led to the majority of the solver community responding supportively. Have a great day, everyone. Trauma is real, and so is healing.
“MICS, MACS, paddywhacks, this old gal is going home.” Fun solve. I got the gimme. Couple of good naticks and new to me clues that taught me something because I stuck it out to the bitter end. Thanks, Garrett.
Garrett, I second your thoughts about the healing power of crosswords. I’m glad you are ok, and look forward to solving more of your puzzles in the future.
Thank you for a wonderful Thursday crossword and for sharing your personal journey of healing from trauma. I wasn't sure of the theme until I had 43D solved. Then I was like "oh... ohhhh... ahah!" Great word play. Thanks Garrett - this truly brightened my day... and right-brained my day. :)
Thank you for sharing your story, Mr Chalfant. Therapy is indeed a godsend in times of trouble, and I am so glad you found relief. And loved today's puzzle, btw, including the Pixar revealer!
A clue referencing Australia and/or Australian culture that doesn't have an egregious error? Well done.
@Atavistic Cringeworder And TIL that a big chunk of the Pacific Ocean is also the Tasman Sea-- all the way to New Zealand, apparently. I was thinking it would just be the strait facing Tasmania. And Google-mapping around there showed me where Geelong is, formerly encountered only in Dick Francis novels.
Fun theme, Garrett! And such impressive construction, including the fact that the greyed squares are all actual words. I've admired your past NYT puzzles, both solo and with AK, so I shouldn't be surprised. Your experience on Nov 10 sounds terrifying...glad a good therapist helped you find a way through the aftermath. Looking forward to future puzzles of yours.
This puzzle is genius! As I'm reviewing it, I'm realizing just how complicated the theme is. Not only do the grayed squares spell out a word, but the non-grayed squares do as well. C[OLDS]ORES --> OLDS --> CORES Excellent job, Mr. Chalfin!
@Katie [V-8 "Rockets"] =OLDS' CORES Greetings from the Motor City!
@Katie All the theme answers worked (parsed?) that way. I was wondering if there was another level at work. RED BUTTE is a place in Utah, for example.