This is the opposite of the Sunday puzzle that caused so much controversy. You can tell from the long spans in the grid design that it is an extra level of difficulty for the constructor, yet the puzzle has a sense of the ease and elegance. There was a bit of common glue but the clueing had some nice twists.
Feel better Deb! And thank you for the column despite your multi-symptom illness.
"Hey! Look at my mineral deposit!" "Wow, would you get a lode of this guy?" ("Ore not.")
@Mike You really gave me the shaft today -- that pun was mine!
@Mike Nobody axed, but I really dig your puns. I canary wait to read them every day. So deep!
@Mike I knew I smelt a rat....
Congratulations on a fun and zippy NYT debut, Mr. Josephson! I especially liked the freshness of the four 15-letter answers in the top and bottom of the grid. Good luck with the remainder of your studies!
One of the great pleasure pings of solving is when there’s a long answer in the grid with a few crosses, and, in a flash, you suddenly realize what the full answer is. Truly, isn’t that a great moment? There was much opportunity for that today through a combination of 10 answers with nine letters or more, and sufficient footholds crossing them. For me, a glorious pingathon. This was buttressed by spark in the answer set, with 11 answers that have appeared but twice or less in the Times puzzle over its 80+ years. A lit-up grid filled with pleasure-bursts – well, that’s a sweet devil of a puzzle, and in a NYT debut puzzle, no less. Wow! I loved the originality as well, with two answers that are debuts not only in the Times but in all the major venues -- REMAIN ANONYMOUS and MARIJUANA LEAVES -- and [Harsh sentences?] for TONGUE TWISTERS, a most lovely clue for it that has never been used anywhere before. Henry, it’s clear you are ABLE, and I’m hoping you’re willing as well, to create more. Thank you so much for this day-brightening jewel!
Also, lovely to see PAN in the grid, echoing yesterday's SAUCE- vs. SAUTE-pan tumult. Et tu, emu.
Deb, Rest. Rest. Rest. Hopeful you ‘ll feel better very soon.
Deb, its clear in the comments today how greatly you are adored, which gladdens me, because I’m a stalwart member of your fan club as well. Strongly wishing you a speedy turnaround, a quick return to normalcy, back to your extraordinary self.
Sorry you are under the weather, Deb. Take care of yourself and get better soon!
Fun, though quick, but bonus points for turning my thoughts to Pablo Neruda, whose poetry carries one’s souls over the highest and the lowest tides of life. Here’s my favorite in William O’Daly’s translation: I have four dogs to declare: one is already buried in the garden, two others keep me on my toes, tiny wild destroyers, with thick paws and hard canines like needles of stones. And one scruffy dog, aloof, fair-haired in her gracious manner. No one hears her smooth golden steps or her distant presence. She barks only late at night at certain phantoms, so that just a few chosen hidden persons hear her on the roads or in other dark places.
@Sam Lyons Typo: “one’s soul”
I got my first Friday gold star today! I’ve always had trouble with puzzles with multiple long crosses but this one seemed to click. My only trouble area was the NW corner. Took me a while to work through it as I had LIMIT instead of LICIT.
@Steve The more experienced you get, you’ll come to love the long spanners. Those are the ones that break the entire puzzle open, particularly on fridays and Saturdays. Congrats on your first Fridays gold. Many more to come
@Steve I'd wanted it to be "legit" instead of "licit." I was also wedded far too long to "stem" instead of "ovum."
A well crafted puzzle, fun to work, and for me, not the slam dunk others experienced, but no look-ups necessary, and very satisfying. The "Girl from Impanema" gave me JOAO, the Portuguese for John, remembering the beautiful recording by Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz. Thank you, Henry, for that unintentional gift and congratulations on your NY Times debut. Deb, this is an awful time to be sick in bed. You were brave to drag yourself to the computer to offer some guidance to the needy, and you deserve a gold star for that. I find telehealth visits to be useless, but better than dragging in to the doc's office. Have you done any home testing? If not, maybe you should. Keep us posted on recovery. Sleep well. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5QfXjsoNe4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5QfXjsoNe4</a>
A browser glitch ate my long comment. TLDR version: easy short answers made the spanners easy and TATAR was a gimme - TATARs featured prominently in Polish history, both as enemies and allies, their horse archers Poland's bane and boon.
@Andrzej That’s why our friend Radisław looks just like the depictions of Genghis Khan! He’s surely a descendant of.
For those that solve the puzzle, Wordle, Connections, and Spangram, did today feel like the editors got together and said, “The holidays are stressful. They’re all stressed. Let’s make today just…fun.” Just me?
@CCNY - Yes, I found all three of those rather easy and also fun. I was a little bit disturbed at how easily all the Spangrams came to me.
@CCNY And then I tried the annual Photo Quiz... ACK!!! I knew I was living in a cultural bubble but I never realized how much.
@CCNY Yes, I got all the Connections today, quite often I only get one.
@CCNY yes but Connections, types of bros? I know it was a long and busy day at school, but...what am I missing?
The grid looked daunting and was fun to fill, but it went by too fast. The three long entries in the middle solved especially quickly, but I thought all the long entries were enjoyable. So glad Henry was talked out of Dr Doofenshmirtz!
@Liz B Ref Dr D, I agree. Apart from my not having any idea who he is, it would have been way disrespectful to Malala Yousafzai.
Enjoyable though it was a bit tougher for me than other commenters. I couldn’t get DOLMA (never heard of it) because I was convinced 53A was “orbs” instead of LOBS. I had “faa” for AAA because I was thinking of aircraft control towers being overseen by the faa. I still haven’t clicked on AAA 🤪. That with what would become ELLY gives an idea of the mess I’d made of the lower third of the puzzle. However, the long answers were familiar enough to help me untangle the bottom section. I liked REMAINANONYMOUS helping me at the bottom. The top long ones came pretty easily, too. Something funny about people whose names are JOÃO here in Portugal (every other man’s name btw). I have had *several* of them independently and haughtily assert to me that I, a native English speaker, could never pronounce their name correctly. I proceed to say it properly. Their response 100% of the time? *Oh.* Then they move on to the business at hand without acknowledging my prowess with the nasality of the word 💅🏾! I laugh out loud now when it happens. Have a great day everyone except JOÃOs 😜!
@Pani Korunova Oh, and @Deb Amlen I truly hope you feel better soon. COVID can manifest very differently from strain to strain. Have you tested for that?
@Pani Korunova I too started with fAA for the same reason but the F just wasn’t working so I engaged “crossword mode:” any other possibility for the meaning of towers? Aha: tow-ers, things that tow, and AAA fits that. Mark
@Pani Korunova Dolmas (dolmades?) are delicious! I hope you try one soon.
@Mark Cousins Ah! So embarrassing but I get it now, thanks 😊
Oi!! Deb, I’m so sorry you’re feeling awful. I’m gonna just hope you’re getting it over with and the rest of the season will be healthy, hearty, happy and holiday heaven. ( And hydrated. Please hydrate? ) Puzzle? Oh yeah, there was a puzzle… I cannot find a nit to pick. Pick a nit? I cannot. Haven’t read comments yet, but this ‘un felt like every letter deserved to be there. Every letter was born there! For newer solvers who may feel this level of difficulty is daunting, I’m here to tell you, I was stuck. Like, up-to-my-knees *stuck.* Had entries filled all over but soooo much white… Then, my morning eyes glanced back at [Contents of a pool] and GENES jumped out! Those few letters opened up the entire grid. It finished itself so quickly I think I giggled. It’s *not* about knowing all the answers! It’s guessing, sussing, squinting, re-reading the clues, plopping in letters, deleting them and then plopping them in again! This was lovely. I’m thinking it’s gotta be a Friday POY contender, right? Thank you Henry! ( and Deb…hydrate )
@CCNY This! "It’s *not* about knowing all the answers! It’s guessing, sussing, squinting, re-reading the clues, plopping in letters, deleting them and then plopping them in again!" This should be shared every time a commenter complains they didn't *know* some fact or other, or that there's too much trivia. In fact, now that it's copied to my clipboard, I may just paste it somewhere handy to pull out in the future -- attributed to you, of course! :)
I don’t find this as easy as most, (no surprise) but really enjoyed it, especially the long entries. I was surprised it was a debut and look forward to more from Henry. Adding my best wishes to Deb, such a miserable time to feel poorly.
While not the toughest Friday, this was no walk in the park for me. The long spanners up top had me guessing for a bit. To be a true SNOT NOSE, you have to be young, inexperienced *and* think you know everything. Being young and inexperienced is not enough. I'm not young enough to be SNOT NOSED, but that's my opinion, and I'm sticking (ha ha) to it.
Wishing Deb a speedy recovery. Puzzle was a good early morning Friday.
Nice puzzle. Not all that easy for me, of course (hi suejean), and cheated some, but still some nice 'aha' moments as things dawned on me from the crosses. Great to see a new constructor. Imagine we'll be seeing a lot more from Mr. Josephson. And, of course my puzzle find today. A Wednesday from October 19, 1994 by D.J. Listort. Three theme answers in that one. Clues and answers: 20a: "With 34-Across, one example of 51-Across" THESIXTHSHEIKS 34a: "See 20-Across" SIXTHSHEEPSSICK 51a: "Difficult articulations" TONGUETWISTERS Don't recall another one like that, and I've actually tried saying 20a and 34a aloud a few times and indeed it is a quite a tongue-twister (give it a try). Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/19/1994&g=51&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/19/1994&g=51&d=A</a> I'm done. ...
@Rich in Atlanta With apologies - way off topic, but something that I thought Wordplay people might enjoy. With my compulsive answer history searches, I stumbled across a puzzle this morning that included the answer: CHATTANOOGACHOOCHOO. And that led me to remember a favorite old word-playish joke. Won't tell the whole joke (you can guess), but it involved Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and a torn-up pair of boots. It ended with Dale saying: "Pardon me, Roy. Is that the cat that chewed your new shoes?" I'll shut up now. ..
Oh, towers! Not towers! Probably a bit under my average but definitely not as easy for me as it sounds like it was for some of you. I have to remember GAIA and ODEA. Those are always tricky for me and I’m finding they’re somewhat frequent visitors on the weekends. (But I did fill in LICIT right away this time!) Don’t think I ever realized SNOT NOSED means inexperienced. Always thought it meant something like “childishly bratty”. TIL Thanks for the fun puzzle and congrats on your debut, Henry Josephson! Get well soon, Deb!
@Striker I too thought SNOTNOSED meant something like "childishly bratty," not "young and inexperienced."
@Striker 57D was a "what?" for a while, because I started with FAA. Then after the puzzle was done, "oh, toe-ers !" Pretty funny clue for our old friend AAA.
Thanks for the Tom Stoppard R&G reference! “Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where’s it going to end?” Feel better, Deb!
Very fun! I don't usually get much on Fridays, but this one charmed me and breezed by. Will be interested to see if regulars find it "too easy for a Friday."
It's a pity that so little of Erik Satie's music is known, apart from the lovely but over-played Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes. Here's a Nocturne, from late in his career, performed by the great Jean-Yves Thibaudet. (Oddly, I've always associated this piece with Christmas Eve): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLKJSh7Zgk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLKJSh7Zgk</a> Uncharacteristic lack of sarcasm, from either Erik or myself.
@Bill Well, if someone had played that for me while I was in labor, I would have attempted to kill him. Sorry.
@Bill I remember getting a tear-out plastic record (remember those?) of Gymnopedie #1 in my copy of Guitar Player Magazine, along with the sheet music. Impress your friends! It's fairly easy to learn, and everybody seems to recognize it immediately.
This was one of my fastest solves for a Friday, and I definitely felt it was very much on the easy side. The spanners all felt familiar and filled in quickly. Definitely a fun one, and a nice break. Thanks, Henry!
Agree with folks that it sidled along quickly. And a virtuoso puzzle with matching double-spanners and a lovely long triple stack in the center. RHEA being is the mother of GAIA, nice touch up top. Other nice touches: Top Seeded with Marijuana Leaves; the master of disguises saying, I'd like to remain anonymous...if I don't, I'd have to kill you; Unicorn Startups & Golden Spike (as in a spike in earnings might be called a golden spike); the Canadian Esso/Expos combo; the sound of Palau and Joao, as in Gilberto, as in when the Girl from Ipanema passes each one she passes goes: ahhhh... (in a reply to this I'm gonna paste as much of the wonderful Nerudo Ode to Tuna as I can fit. It's one of his many odes (the most famous being an ode to his socks) that I think are among his best, most magically surrealist and heartfelt poems.
Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market -- Pablo Neruda Robin Robertson, trans. Here, among the market vegetables, this torpedo from the ocean depths, a missile that swam, now lying in front of me dead. Surrounded by the earth's green froth —these lettuces, bunches of carrots— only you lived through the sea's truth, survived the unknown, the unfathomable darkness, the depths of the sea, the great abyss, le grand abîme, only you: varnished black-pitched witness to that deepest night. Only you: dark bullet barreled from the depths, carrying only your one wound, but resurgent, always renewed, locked into the current, fins fletched like wings in the torrent, in the coursing of the underwater dark, like a grieving arrow, sea-javelin, a nerveless oiled harpoon. Dead in front of me, catafalqued king of my own ocean; once sappy as a sprung fir in the green turmoil, once seed to sea-quake, tidal wave, now simply dead remains; in the whole market yours was the only shape left with purpose or direction in this jumbled ruin of nature; you are a solitary man of war among these frail vegetables, your flanks and prow black and slippery as if you were still a well-oiled ship of the wind, the only true machine of the sea: unflawed, undefiled, navigating now the waters of death.
@john ezra -- How did I forget to include this in my nominations for POY???? And it's a Tuesday, of which I am seldom nearly as fond as I am of this one! Today's constructor paid homage to it in his notes -- and I looked back to my own comment at the time, on Tuesday, 3/26/24, to see that I absolutely LOVED it!!! It's AD HOMINEM by Laura Dershkowitz and Katherine Baicker.
45D The sun emerging from the clouds at exactly the right time happened to me at this April’s total solar eclipse, my third, which I observed from the chimpanzee habitat at the Dallas Zoo. I reasoned that if I couldn’t see the sun, I could still observe what the animals did. The sun emerged just before totality. I didn’t see the chimpanzees do anything that was a definite reaction. When I observed the 2017 eclipse from Stanley, Idaho, we had clear skies. There were cows in the distance and lots of dogs immediately around. I didn’t see any of the cows react but the dogs’ reactions were all over the place, from nothing noticeable, to shaking and vomiting but very quickly recovering. At an elevation of 6290 ft, the temperature plunge was dramatic. My first total solar eclipse was in February 1979 and my father and I saw it from a plane chartered for the purpose. It was the only way that we had much of a chance of clear skies. I remember the shadow speeding across the tops of the clouds. Breathtaking! Each one is a fond memory. Feel better, Deb. Hope you’re well enough to self-medicate with a bit of chocolate.
@Cindy That's a great story. I tried to think of a positive paraphrase of Oscar Wilde's definition of a foxhunt that applies. The best I can do is: The mystical chasing the ineffable. Thanks for sharing.
@Cindy Funny you should mention - My first pass, for [Certain seizure] I wanted to put “eclipse dogs”, but it didn’t fit. Seriously though, I think it’s very cool that you study animal reactions to these landmark (er, spacemark?) cosmic events and I think it’s even cooler that some dogs actually exhibited such dramatic physical reactions!
Deb, you sound like you’re way beyond even chicken soup. Thanks for thinking of us while you’re so ill and get better soon. FWIW, the puzzle was a delight. Bon courage.
I finished this puzzle while my wife was waiting for her Starbucks at the airport. I think that’s more reflective of the Starbucks line than the ease of the puzzle though. Fun debut!
@SP Update, make that the puzzle, the Wordle plus 10 more minutes
Really enjoyed this puzzle: No obscure rappers, just clever cluing. Congrats!
@Roberta I agree. The only rappers I know are the ones on trial.
If I were a speed solver, I'd say this was one of the fastest Fridays ever in my many decades of NYTXW solving. But even though I found this unbelievably easy, I also appreciated the long entries for their cleverness, as well as the misdirection of some of the clues, e.g. [Tower]. Too often the old curmudgeon in me is annoyed by debut constructors young enough to be my grandchildren, but not this time. No rappers, slang, or actor of the moment, and only a couple of sports-related clues. That's my speed! Having said that, I'm grateful to the editors who thoughtfully disallowed Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Phineas and Ferb, whoever any of them are. I would have not been a happy camper. Deb, wishing you quick healing and lotsa latkes along with that much-needed chicken soup.
Deb, it's amazing you were able to pull off writing as much as you did, feeling as you do. But...even warriors need rest (and chicken soup) sometimes. ;-) Sending you best wishes for a quick and full recovery!
Nice debut, man! Super fun solve.
Such a fresh puzzle...I loved the clever misdirection of the clues.
Whenever I see long strings of white space my heart sinks a bit - I never expect to be able to get them without a lot of crosses. This turned out to be right up my alley, though! Fun long answers, and the short ones were nice and punchy, not too hard to get. Thanks to John Ezra for pasting in the Ode to Tuna. What a beautiful, sad poem about an unexpected subject.
Fun but fast Friday. MOO
When the six spanners and two mini-spanners all fell with at most a few letters filled from crosses, it wasn't going to take me very long to complete this one. I call again for having Wednesday be a swing day, sometimes with a standard theme, sometimes with an easy trick, and sometimes with a easy themeless (like this one).
@Barry Ancona MOO! You were uncowed.
As others have noted, very zippy. That left plenty of time to enjoy the ode to the tuns, thanks JohnEzra and find this Prince video to post, which I'm compelled to do whenever Willing and ABLE appear in the puzzle. And a shout out to the tower clue and fill. <a href="https://youtu.be/3Apk2Qr9yVc?si=MT8fiyX5ORqU337" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/3Apk2Qr9yVc?si=MT8fiyX5ORqU337</a>-
Rather odd. Bottom 2/3 played likre a sober Monday and the top 1/3 played like a tripped-out Saturday. Bit of a unicorn crossword. Nice debut Henry!
@Norwood I found the top 1/3 easier 😮
Please take good care of yourself and get well soon, Miss Deb! Today’s puzzle was surprisingly easy for a Friday, but nonetheless delightful. I looked for a pattern amongst the long answers, but they were just long—and fun! TIL Satie, unicorn startups, and Joao.
Rest, recuperate and feel better, Deb!❤️🩹 Kudos and thanks for rising to the occasion, as ever. Hope someone is bringing you medical-grade chicken soup (with loads of ginger)!
Way to upstage the constructor Deb! :) Henry, call me for my lecture on compounding error as it is a blend of data science, actual science and philosophy. Fine puzzle except for the part where we had tone for TANG. Get well Deb, take two MARIJUANA LEAVES and call me in the morning.... I mean I am a Dr. Thank you Henry
For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
@Dr. Doofenshmirtz And your debut freshness score of 1% for a Friday would have been a bit higher….
This is in reply to Min: This type of clue which breaks the general rule of equivalence: a noun clues a noun, a verb clues a verb, etc. Singular clues singular; past clues past, etc. The most basic clues are approximate synonyms or equivalents. To point out some of the simplest from today's offering: [Allowed] for LICIT [Triumph] for WIN [Sharpness] for TANG Some clues are examples or more complete definitions, maintaining parallelism in part of speech and specific form: [Move like a crab] for SIDLE [The sun emerging from the clouds at exactly the right time, say] for OMEN But clues like the one for 60D are different. The answer tells what "there" (or more usually, "it") is in the clue, often with some misdirection: [Stay there!] clues INN because an INN is where you can stay. In addition, "Stay there!" is usually used to mean "Don't come any closer" or "Stay where you are, I'm coming to you." A previous clue with "there!" was 3/14/20, when [Refuse to go there!] clued DUMP, and on 11/17/18, [Hang in there!] clued CLOSET. To make things more confusing, often such clues are of the standard type, such as (7/1/23) ["You there!"] clues HEY, and (3/28/20) ["Well, looky there!"] clues OHO. How can you tell the difference? Note that these equivalency clues have quotation marks to indicate similar things one could say aloud, whereas the misdirects have no quotes. The more common word used in such clues is "it" instead of "there". Some examples in a reply.
Fun crossword that kept me moving at a steady, if not zippy, rate. Only sliced 90 secs of my average time. I think I read someone did it in 10mins. Crikey, who are these crossword geniuses? Then again, I only started in May. Calma, Sebastian! Keep sidling along, you'll get there.
Another few hundred puzzles and indeed they will go faster, if that's your goal, but there other goals too. I focus on speed, maybe too much sometimes, but it's also nice to smell the flowers, so to speak ... this one had a lot to enjoy. One thing about a really fast solve is that you end up missing 30-40% of the clues.
@Sebastian I agree with Gary, there are other goals. I vaguely recall Will Shortz saw someone complete a Sunday (?) in about 4 minutes. Lolololol. Now that's something to boast about, but a different brain from mine.
@Nora The NYT crossword app on my iPad shows my best Sunday time as 4 minutes. I have never completed one in less than about 12 minutes, so I’m pretty sure the app is confused (or deranged). While I do not concentrate on maximum completion speed - with only one NYT crossword a day, one should savor it - the fact that I have been doing crosswords for about 60 years means they generally go quickly. Practice, you know. If you must keep score, the app says I took 8 minutes and 44 seconds on this one. However, see above comment about possible schizophrenia in the app.
Another finely crafted New York Times Crossword debut. Thanks Henry! I circled back a few times and figured everything out in my usual manner, but not in record time. A bit tricky but never did I feel duped. Deb, wishing you a speedy recovery, and thanks for delivering your commentary in spite of your terrible ailment.
You were very generous to give us so much of your time, Deb, especially when you are so under the weather. I hope you have some chicken soup to help you get through this.
@Janet In Poland when I'm sick I'm not required to work, and I get 80% of my salary for the first 33 days of illness in a given year. It's not really good when a sick employee is expected to work, is it?
@Andrzej My experience is that working when sick is more self-inflicted than required. Not all employees in the US have paid sick time, but professionals typically do, at 100%. The US work ethic has evolved in my lifetime into what I consider a very unhealthy emphasis on work at all costs. As I'm sure you know, the safety net has a lot of holes, and here's another consequence.
Get better, Deb. Shall I clutch my pearls about the vulgar SNOT NOSED? At least, that'll keep 'em out of the way of the snot trail. And as cliched as 56A is, you can't say that on social media these days. The emus probably wouldn't allow it here, either. K*ll-joys. A lively puzzle, with some impish Friday cluing. At first I had "raw talent" rather than snot nosed. So I had water or wager as 33D pool contents. And Warhol did multiple paintings of a soup "can" as well as MAO. Thanks, Henry. I do have some thoughts about AI governance, but I think that cat's out of the bag.
Congratulations on a terrific debut, Mr. Josephson. It took me quite some time to finish but I really liked the long phrases. And I’m so sorry to hear how sick you are Deb. I can’t quite believe you still wrote the column for today. You’re a trooper and I hope you get a lot of rest, and kindness from your family. There’s a lot of bad stuff going around.
I was hoping for a tough puzzle to fall asleep with (also fighting respiratory demons) but, here I am. No fault of this fine debut. Took some time to check out the answers I was gifted from the crossings and the favorite is 57D, [Org. with towers]. Hint, it's not the FAA. Some strong talent here and hope to see more.