There was a string of comments on the Monday puzzle that were about cheating. I find the concept of cheating on the NYTimes puzzles to be weird. Why do you work the puzzles? Is it some sort of self affirmation that you have the brains and breadth of knowledge to do them? that you are trying to keep your mind clicking away to avoid getting rusty? that you are hoping to prove yourself superior to other solvers,? or are you simply enjoying a diversion? Whatever the reason, "cheating" cannot be cheating if there's no one to cheat. Cheating implies that there will be some advantage to be gained by doing it, and there isn't any here. The whole concept is ridiculous. I set a standard for myself in the Bee never to try to find words except those in my own memory, or that can be made using prefixes or suffixes to devise some I don't actually know, and I do google sometimes for spelling. Otherwise, I'm on my own, because at my age I can't afford to lose any ground. The words are there, and the challenge is to find them. But for the crosswords, I enjoy researching clues for answers, learning new things, and I have never considered it "cheating." It would be sad to think that we are here trying to fight it out to prove who is the smartest kid on the block. That will never work, because how could we prove it to people we have never met and will very likely never see? We can enjoy being together without sneering at solvers who choose to work a puzzle in their own way.
@dutchiris This is one of my favorite posts on this board, ever. Thank you ❤️
@dutchiris , I wish I could give you a few recommendations, great comment.
@dutchiris Agreed. But I think those who talk about "cheating" may be referring also to the puzzle as being a challenge between the constructor and the solver. That is an interesting idea would that we knew the constructor was using only their own knowledge. But it is no secret that constructors have access to this thing called the internet which contains essentially the whole of humankind's data. I have argued before that there should be a "special" day in the NYT's puzzle week (maybe rolled it into Thursday or better Monday), where the constructor declares they have not used any outside resources in the construction of the puzzle.
@dutchiris applause, applause (standing ovation)
@dutchiris I think what is meant as helpful advice directed only at those who have a goal of solving without outside help is often misinterpreted as criticism of those who do not have that goal. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with either, but feelings seem to get ruffled when trying to help the people with the former goal.
@dutchiris I find myself competing against myself solely for the gold star. If I need to use any help, be it google, auto check, then I have lost that for the day. I will not check the answer key in order to save the gold. I begin to see patterns this way; apparently I can only solve every other Thursday without any aids, and I’ve only nailed two Saturdays! It’s cheating only against myself and my sense of pride. :) I’ve also only been completing the puzzle since March, so proud I am.
@dutchiris I thought that Will Shortz had "the last word" quite a long while back: it's your puzzle; solve it any way you want to! (Or words to that effect.) Words to live by! It's a personal choice. I don't think my (unassisted) solve is any more honorable or laudable that someone else's Google-assisted completion. I'm old, I write, I read a lot, I enjoy struggling over a puzzle, and I don't successfully complete them all. Oh, well. We don't need no stinkin' badges!
Given how many reccos @dutchiris got, I know I am going to get clobbered, but I will state my opinion anyway: I realize cheating has a negative connotation, but it is also just a euphemism for those that get outside help to get the gold star. I think it becomes actual cheating when one starts keeping score, while getting outside help. To me completion times, streaks, etc. are meaningless if one used outside help. I'm fine with others getting outside help, it was not that long ago that I was doing the same, but don't pretend your streak or completion times actually matter.
I have nothing to add to dutchiris’ excellent comments about “cheating”. I will only say, in my opinion, that solving the puzzle electronically is by its very nature tainted. You are told whether or not the puzzle is correct, which of course you would not know if solving on paper. If I have to flyspeck for anything other than an errant typo, I don’t really consider it a clean solve. I don’t use auto check because I would rather try to figure out the error myself. But for that reason my "streak" isn't all that meaningful.
Yes, I'm honored to have a handle that has gotten me in the NYT puzzle already twice. As they say, if you're in the NYT crossword, you've finally arrived. 😂 But the reason I'm dropping in is to say how impressed I am by this puzzle. It's not just Ms. Lowden's creativity; it's all those K's she braved for crosses, daring to go where no one has dared to go before. The fill tripped me up a bit, here and there, so I can't say I breezed through like your usual Tuesday, but still it was a fresh grid that I very much enjoyed. Thank you, Ms. Lowden! P.S. Gosh, I love me some Mark Twain witticisms!
@sotto voce That will be the day when my name/handle features in a NYT puzzle 🤣.
@sotto voce I love that Twain bit, too! Because we seem always to be living where GOLF is this big deal, I find occasion to quote it from time to time, when asked if I play. I say, "I'm with Mark Twain on that pastime." They always bite.
@Andrzej OK -- challenge to all the construtors out there. We need a puzzle with Andrzej's name in it!
This was almost 40 minutes faster than my average and no lookups. Pretty good for a beginner! That being said, I understood the theme immediately which helped with crossed I wouldn't have known. Without that I may have struggled a bit more. What a delightful start to my day. Thanks, Kathy!
My first thought for "kerfuffle over beach footwear" was SANDALSCANDAL which didn't fit but I'm still pretty proud of it. Fun theme. I got stuck with an E making HASTE/LACE instead of HASTY/LACY so that completely ruined my time but a good puzzle nonetheless.
@Scott SANDAL SCANDAL is brilliant!
@Sam Corbin I hadn't gotten to any of the other theme clues yet so I figured it would be a rhyming thing. The actual theme was probably more original so I was happy to be wrong
@Scott SANDAL VANDAL SCANDAL is another possibility.
Ding dong dang! Adorable! As the world’s biggest dilly-dallyer, I’m delighted that I got through it so hastily! Obvi, I’m all lit up!
Regarding 44 across, this brings out the 12 year old in so many of us. I got a much needed giggle recently from a WaPo headline stating "Uranus may have been misunderstood for nearly 40 years." Showed it to a friend who was feeling down from the bombardment of election news and it was the best laugh he'd had in weeks. Fun puzzle.
Why would middle schoolers laugh at URANUS? URANUS is majestic. URANUS is giant and gaseous. Granted, URANUS has a weird ring around it. But URANUS deserves respect! --Katie, age 37
@Katie Well, one can certainly be made aware of those unique qualities at some point in life. Disregard URANUS at your peril. EMUs know little of asstronomy.
I've spent a good bit of my life teaching Greek mythology and the three generations of Gods, each with their respective kings: Ouranos, Kronos, and Zeus. There is a power and beauty to the stories of Ouranos, the Sky, who mates with Gaia, the Earth, to produce the next generation of Gods, the Titans. And then it all falls apart when the students start giggling about Uranus. What are you going to do? There is a little 12-year-old inside of all of our heads.
@The X-Phile Not in mine there isn’t. Never occurred to me. I live in a town through which runs the Mianus River, and to my puzzlement girlfriends were always giggling about it. Finally, one explained.
@The X-Phile Chandler at a job interview: So let's talk a little bit about your duties. My duties? All right. Now you'll be heading a whole Division, so you'll have a lot of duties. I see. But they'll be perhaps 30 people under you so you can dump a certain amount on them. Good to know. We could go into, uh, detail. No don't I beg of ya! ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler) /his old job depended on reviewing the W.E.N.U.S. report each week... With an Annual counterpart as well
Chef's tip: for really elegant tea sandwiches, CRISS-CROSS CRESS On the other had, the economical cook will toss whatever's at hand into their polenta: MISH-MASH MUSH When. let's face it, you're really, really old, but still up on the music of today: HIP-HOP HEP. And, (OK, this is quite a stretch, but I like the image), my samoyed is good at 80's arcade games, because she's a DIG-DUG DOG,
That was a really fun theme in a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. It's almost as if the editors are trying to make up for that messy Sunday grid 🤣
@Andrzej and Others Please stop. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc. Sunday isn't even "so yesterday" now! There was vituperation enough expressed on Sunday to last untl the End of Time, I believe.
Solved in 8:25 with no peeks. Getting good at this!!
Once I had the "E" for prey of gray wolves, I honestly hoped that it would be EMU those wolves had a taste for, and not ELK. But alas, we must rely on the dingo dogs to pare down the mob of emus. Yes, you read that right: a group of emus is called a mob of emus. Lively and interesting Tuesday, brought me straight back to high school (I was the NERD who called my pencils "styli"), with its obsession with goop and acne, exlax and Uranus (what a pair!), and lack of desire to learn anything of "sine" and "alkali." Confused goat on the loose? WILLYNILLY BILLY Noisy nuns every Sunday? MISSES MESSES MASSES Also admired the elgant ascending vertical trio of LLs in the SW corner, but thought OBVI quite strained. Interesting to have the unusual CAVA a few days ago and also arcane KAVA. Australian tennis star adores pate de foie gras? LIVER LOVER LAVER Angry con man gets in your face? FLIM FLAM PHLEGM (I know, that last one...)
@john ezra Kava can be purchased on Amazon or Whole Foods and pretty much any health food store, so not so arcane.
@john ezra I had the K first on the gray wolf prey clue and was wondering whether gray wolves lived in the Himalayas, and if so, whether they could take down a yaK!
@john ezra It's what the kids say these days. OBVI. (Seriously!) Your high school observations within the grid are perfect. Or should I say "spot on"? (Ducking and running!)
1. Sotto VOCE in da house! Again! 2. Someone asked last Tuesday if there was really more than one ARK. I didn't reply then because the clue mentioned boats, like the one Noah built. But certainly there are ARKS, as this clue reminds us...in every synagogue, the ARK is where the Torahs are kept. 3. I had WINGS for AISLE and was wondering why it should be plural. The answer, is, OBVI, that it isn't. 4. Since my wife took up GOLF in her 60's, I, who have no interest whatsoever, have taken to quoting Twain on the matter repeatedly. 5. I don't think DOLLY Parton ever wastes time. 6. 44A: Only middle schoolers? 7. 14A: "Trigonometry" is spelled out; no abbreviations! 8. 64D: How old do you have to be? To Barry, left over from the Monday puzzle: Simms has two Super Bowl rings, but he did not win two Super Bowls. The win goes to the starting quarterback, even if he is injured on the first play. Simms did not play in the Buffalo Super Bowl, so the claim is more than tenuous, and should have been written differently.
Steve, He has two Super Bowl rings. He is a quarterback. The clue writer may have misunderstood, but nevertheless the clue is not incorrect. And, left over from another earlier puzzle, it did not require use of the rebus function.
@Steve L Steve, I love this list! You hit all the observations I had while solving, and then some. Especially DOLLY: everything I know about her (which isn't a lot) is that is a woman without a dilly-dallying bone in her body. <3 // Golf and American football: two games I can barely tolerate... But I'll step into this stats debate nonetheless. You are correct that lots of people get rings who are not on the field of play: every member of the organization gets a ring when the team wins. And as defined, Simms got two SB rings but did not *win* the second one. The clue should have been written differently. [Phil ___, QB with two Super Bowls rings with the Giants] would have done nicely.
@Steve L I got 64D with one crossing, and I’m only 35. Then again, my grandfather worked on Madison Avenue, and I grew up with walls adorned with lots of ancient framed ad prints he or his firm had worked on in that had been packed and moved across the country when I was a baby. Or maybe I’ve encountered the slogan in a Sinclair Lewis novel, or something.
@Steve L - The ARK clue was "large boats" so the ARKs in the synagogues are excluded by the clue, unless they are large boats. Those who objected made a valid point.
@Steve L Phil ___, QB who won two Super Bowls with the Giants This is a gray area. To a football fan, if you say, "quarterback Fred Smith won two Super Bowls" it would definitely mean he started in and won both. The quarterback is special because fans use it all the time to compare them. I didn't look it up but there are probably some quarterbacks who were on multiple winning rosters but fans wouldn't call them multiple Super Bowl winners. That's reserved for the legends like Tom Brady, who won seven. On the other hand I would say most(?) crossword solvers aren't this deeply into football and might not be aware of this nuance. I'd say the clue isn't wrong, but could be polished uo a bit to make everyone happy.
This puzzle has me laughing, the solves are wonderfully silly, thanks to the constructor!
Thinking, perhaps, *you’d* rather not have a repeat of last week’s attention, I’ll skip any comments on 12D. 😂 A fun fast Tuesday. Bing, bang, boom. I liked it a lot, Kathy Lowden.
@Striker Ha! Thank you! I appreciate not having to be up on stage again, fumbling for my speech. 😊
It's not just middle schoolers.....I'm 52 and I still snortle at times.
Having joined the chorus of those with qualms about Sunday’s puzzle I feel obligated to praise Tuesday’s, which exemplifies what I enjoy most about puzzles. Subtle, thoughtful wordplay is what it’s all about for me and this puzzle rings the bell.
First time commenter, not a long time crossworder, but I just have to say how much I enjoyed the theme today! Once I figured out that first one, I was excited to get the rest of
I felt very smart for getting FLIP FLOP FLAP (and thus the theme) with only the starting F - so much fun! However I take issue with the implications of 44a - URANUS is certainly still funny to many grown adults :-)
Another terrific Tuesday. Thanx Kathy.
I make so many mistakes typing answers into my iPad, but I just keypad it. (haven’t tried styli)
@JohnWM I'ma gonna tell Mike you're mounting an attack on his territory. You might find yourself in a new Brunswick stew....
Fun theme but I first tried “sandal scandal” but it didn’t fit. @sam corbin, I think Twain means GOLF is so frustrating that it becomes a spoiled walk. I find golf anything but monotonous! I’ll feel ready for the LPGA on one hole and then ready for the “19th hole” on the next. Parting thought: It’s often a good idea when someone OBEYS unless it is in advance. Boas festas! 🎁
@Pani Korunova No, no. Corbin is quite right. The whole point of Twain's observation is that what could be an enjoyable walk through grass fields and hills is "spoiled" by the pointless and monotonous activity of ponderously aiming and chasing and thwacking and retrieving golf balls. He doesn't appear to value the golf part at all, whether or not it's frustrating. You obviously disagree. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Pani Korunova it appears that the phrase was well known prior to Twain. <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/28/golf-good-walk" target="_blank">https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/28/golf-good-walk</a>/
The walk is spoiled when you introduce the frustration that playing golf brings. For anyone who has played golf, I submit that more would agree that golf can be frustrating rather than monotonous. All those bent golf clubs were not caused by monotony.
The fun continues, a perfect Tuesday puzzle that had me smiling throughout, can’t ask for more than that.
Fun puzzle. Typical slow start for me, but a great 'aha' moment when I finally caught on to the trick and then it all came together pretty smoothly. Drifting... was actually within sight of LAOS a couple of times at one point in my life. That led me in a roundabout way to wonder about HOCHIMINHTRAIL as a possible answer. But I miscounted - thought it was 15 letters but it's 14. Anyway - HOCHIMINH was an answer in one puzzle, though HOCHIMINHTRAIL is in the Xword Info word lists. And... of course had a couple of puzzle finds today. Might put those in replies. ...
@Rich in Atlanta I'll just go with one puzzle. A Wednesday from July 15, 1998 by Randall J. Hartman. Some answers in that one; KNIGHTCLUBS KNOWTALENT KNICKNAMES KNEWENGLAND KNITWITS KNOTFAIR Thought that was pretty clever. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/15/1998&g=47&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/15/1998&g=47&d=A</a> ...
Can a puzzle be adorable? Because this one is. After an IFFY Sunday that had me feeling a little BLUE, Monday and today's puzzles have me LIT UP.
I take offense to 44A. I’m not in middle school!
Silly Tuesday fun. Thanks for the smiles, Kathy. It's the perfect introduction to the DILLY DALLY song: <a href="https://youtu.be/UkctTHDxa38?si=wGWooVgwJpLYzsWa" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/UkctTHDxa38?si=wGWooVgwJpLYzsWa</a> Really though, enough about poor URANUS, always the butt of jokes.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. All the themers were great. I'm on my way to Ottawa today. HASTY reminded me of the chain of Hasty Markets there. Maybe Ontarians are used to the name, but I always imagine them as stores where you make unwise (or maybe just careless) decisions as to what to eat for supper.
@Esmerelda Hasty Markets may seem oddly named to you, but to me, the Southern US chain Piggly Wiggly has the most ridiculous supermarket name I've ever come across. The South's Food Lion comes in second. Their logo of a heraldic lion comes from their parent company, Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch conglomerate that uses lions in all their branding.
Esmerelda, Do they have a house brand pudding?
Those were delightful! Made me laugh. Thanks, Kathy!
Lovely, breezy Tuesday. A complete joy. Thank you.
A silly but amusing puzzle that incorporates ablaut reduplication. <a href="https://www.rd.com/article/ablaut-reduplication" target="_blank">https://www.rd.com/article/ablaut-reduplication</a>/ And another shout-out to my friend in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks for the fun, Ms. Lowden!
@Eric Hougland More so than than the shout-out, what's really nice is being your friend and having you as mine. Thank you.
Once I knew it was going to be KNICKKNACK, the KNOCK went right in too. At which point I jumped to all the other theme clues to see if I could get them with few to no crosses. I already had the 2nd P in FLIP FLOP FLAP and that answer went right in. PING PONG PANG and DILLY DALLY DOLLY went in with no crosses. The rest of the puzzle was anticlimactic but I filled it in anyway. Very well chosen themers. I can't think of any other possibilities -- can you? I also like how aptly and succinctly each of them is clued. A breezy, playful theme. Here's one I'd give to a newbie solver: Very easy, but also very entertaining and a nice intro to the fun one can have with wordplay-infused crossword puzzles.
@Nancy I can think of a themer that would hint at a cat getting away with urinating whereever it wanted, but I don't think the emus would let me spell it out.
@Nancy not quite as tight to the theme , and perhaps too arcane --- Argument over a cuspidor? SPIT SPOT SPAT Huntley's speaking fee? CHET CHAT CHIT
KNIC- was all it took. That's not a Brag; I was a bit disappointed that I didn't need to hesitate or consider options... At least, not unti 61D, where I glimpsed the word 'rainbow' and already had the B from LABOR in place. First? What about ROY G. BIV? I was about to have PANGs (speaking of LABOR) when I saw 'alphabetically'. Whew Bryllcreem, bah. I miss the BURMASHAVE signs that relieved the long pre-interstate-highway trips across the continental US of A.
A healthy helping of fun with a side of Sotto Voce! Perfect. The world has been feeling heavy and this was a very welcome, whimsical oasis. Thank you Kathy!
[Way of getting around on social media?] Whimsically enjoyable theme. I've tried to maintain my neutrality in the wars of plurality, but now you've gone too far, tiger. The only proper plural of Al Kaline is Al Kalines. Said no one ever, "Check out my baseball card collection-I've got all the AL KALIS." That'd be like saying, "Some of my paintings have been stolen! Where are my Picassae?" TIKTOK TUK-TUK
@ad absurdum -- I was sure you were going to say: TIKTOK TECH
Clue 33 led me down a rabbit hole (when was golf popularized outside Scotland? When was Twain writing?) but after some research, I think I can say with reasonable confidence, that Mark Twain did not say that golf was a good walk spoiled. Here's a good article discussing the history of that quote: <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/28/golf-good-walk" target="_blank">https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/28/golf-good-walk</a>/
@Michelle I once attempted to introduce a friend to the serene pleasures of fly fishing. After a fruitless evening spent thigh-deep in cold water, he described the experience as "A good stand spoiled."
Sotto Voce, I do hope you're getting royalties!! ;-) I got it completely off crosses but I like that APE was clued differently than it usually is as a form of imitating someone. Not sure why, but that usage of the word is irksome to me. No big deal but I appreciated today's clue. Nice, light-hearted puzzle that felt fresh. Enjoyed the fun theme. I wish we were still ASEA. Life moves so fast... it feels like our cruise vacation last week was already months ago. What I'd give for a FLIPFLOPFLAP right about now... ;-)
Some nice amusing evening entertainment. Thanks, Kathy!
Real fun! Very clever wordplay. Not difficult at all, but rewarding withal.
Yep, thoroughly enjoyed it -- good way to ease into the day.
Today's puzzle was a lark, full of wonderful wordplay. Once I saw the first triplet, it all filled in quickly. I tied my best time for a Tuesday to the second, which is the first occurrence of this! The Mark Twain quip about golf appears in crosswords frequently, and indeed, that's how I know of it.
That was fun! And very clever. In my haste, I erred with LAC-Y, and had to resort to the answer key. Willy nilly silly.
This was fun! And loved the Mark Twain quote - I hadn’t heard that one before and I agree!
@Bethany I'm with you! But my aunt in Bourne would disagree: she's a total golf addict and traverses the Cape to play... Far too many places on Cape Cod to waste a good walk, IMHO. LOL!
@G that’s funny! I don’t get it but to each their own!
Since my earlier post never came through, I guess I'm not allowed to say the word for rear end that begins with bu and ends with tt. Oh, well, I'll leave that part out and repost the rest. Silly Tuesday fun. Thanks for the smiles, Kathy. The perfect introduction to the DILLY DALLY song: <a href="https://youtu.be/UkctTHDxa38?si=wGWooVgwJpLYzsWa" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/UkctTHDxa38?si=wGWooVgwJpLYzsWa</a>
@Nancy J. So one cannot write "The "butt of the joke", which is the "target of the joke," using a 14th-century meaning of the word "butt": a target used in shooting practice? Just checking.
I don't usually share YT videos when commenting on NYT puzzles...but when I do they're Leroy Anderson tunes. <a href="https://youtu.be/xhOZbmeA-t0?si=t3psJZbh0_uBPGg2" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/xhOZbmeA-t0?si=t3psJZbh0_uBPGg2</a> I thought I was a goner on this this one, but click-clank-clunk it all fell into place. Sailed through the rest of it like Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" <a href="https://youtu.be/E30TjigZXpE?si=ncFa6JxsIKzPiMQv" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/E30TjigZXpE?si=ncFa6JxsIKzPiMQv</a> Perfect for this time of year!
@Call Me Al Saved me the work, my Sans-serif Friend:-) :-) :-)
@Call Me Al Hmm. Cute and thematic. But what about the Boston Typewriter Orchestra? Check with Brendan Emmet Quigley to see if he hasn't got a candidate for this theme....?
Bongo bongo bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo, Oh no, no, no, no, no, Bingle bangle bongle, I don't wanna leave the jungle, I refuse to go.
"NaOH and KOH" for 5D and "Na+ and K+" for 6D might have appealed to a chemistry NERD. Along with "Litmus paper color for 5D" for 61D. OK, probably not. Not much of a theme, but cute enough and no stolen artwork was involved.
@Xword Junkie The chemistry NERD in me wanted 54D to be [Popular OTC laxative whose original active ingredient turns pink for 5D]. For years the active ingredient for EXLAX was Phenolphthalein before it was banned by the FDA in the late 90’s. FWIW, that beautiful 15 letter spanner has not been an entry, but appeared in a clue Sat 1/31/2015, [Turning phenolphthalein pink], for BASIC.
I wonder if I had known that a horror columnist (see Wordplay) would become a thing if that would have changed my path in life. As a youngster I was very into that genre, having been raised on Frankenstein, Dracula, the Werewolf, the Mummy, Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock, Thriller Theater (who remembers that one?) and Outer Limits. Oh well, perhaps the next life.
@Jim You mean Chiller Theatre! and yes I remember.