What an elegant puzzle. The grid was lovely and daunting, as were the clues. Sesquipedalia for TENDOLLARWORDS has to warm the hearts of word lovers everywhere. I was a bit tired when I started this one and thought I might have to sleep on it when I had very little after the first pass. I did myself no favors by entering OTS at 4D rather than 3D, but then I came up with SHERLOCKHOLMES and his DEERSTALKERCAP and was able to crack the case. A bravura debut puzzle. Just a lovely end to the puzzling week.
@Marshall Walthew I liked it too. Everything was filled in but it didn’t solve so I had to sleep on it. Turns out I had sings instead of songs. Thankfully I found it quickly this morning.
Yes, we come into crossword puzzles to fill in the box. But there are also those intangible benefits – interesting TILs, memories jogged, lovely skirmishes with clues, unexpected pleasures, sweet brushes with cleverness, and so on. Plenty of intangibles for me today: • Trying to remember what the heck kind of hat Holmes wore. • Wrestling with [Fans flip for it] – Sports fans? Blowing fans? Flipping meaning turning over? Flipping, as with “off”? • Images brought to mind, such as that bright red KONG toy, or of a sailor in a crow’s nest shouting “LAND HO!”. • Inner smile at seeing a ten-dollar word being used to clue TEN DOLLAR WORDS. • Scanning the post-solve grid, seeing ELLA, picturing Ella Fitzgerald, then noticing that ELLA is part of an abutting three-answer sentence: ELLA BENDS SONGS. And thinking, “Ain’t that the truth?” And so on. One notable aspect of this grid is the freshness of the four stacks, with eight out of those ten answers being NYT debuts (Hi, @RIA!). What a plus -- answers and clues previously unseen, sparking the fill-in. Congratulations on your NYT debut, Sam. And thank you – my day is so much richer for having done your puzzle!
I agree with Marshall W. that this was an elegant puzzle and bravura debut. Lots of coherence and a dazzling design! When I read the constructor’s name, Sam Berriman, I couldn’t help but think of the poet, John Berryman, who wrote the dense and elliptical Dream Songs. Henry was Berryman’s poetic protagonist and I wondered if perhaps this puzzle could be transformed into a Dream Song. So, here goes: Dream Song 12272024 Henry is the MAN IN THE MIRROR PUKING up TEN DOLLAR WORDS and FRESH OUT of WOW, EDGY in T-SHIRT and DEERSTALKER CAP, No PENSION FUND or SIGNED PHOTOS, No SAINT. When Henry is TENSE he sings SHORT dream SONGS, never quite SOLVING them, Always at sea until at last, TADA, LAND HO!
@Puzzlemucker Fellow bard of wordplay, you've outdone yourself! Life, friends, is never boring when you're around.
@Puzzlemucker A bravura performance here as well. Now off to read some Berryman.
This puzzle has two Michael Jackson songs, "Man in the Mirror" and "Beat It."
@QSwords Not to mention "Ben" is hiding at 4D.
@QSwords `beat it` actually jogged my memory enough to get `man in the mirror'.
@QSwords As well as two references to the other late-20th-C vocal/dancing superstar named "MJ," Mick Jagger: "DECCA" and "NED" (Mick played the latter in a 1969 film).
@QSwords I was thinking the Dan Fogelberg's "Man in the Miirror", but I just checked and that one came out in 1975. Don't think I've the other one, but I'll give it a listen. Either way, I needed a lot of crosses to fill that one it.
"Why are these pictures curved like this?" "I thought you wanted some sined photos." (Maybe they weren't on the same wavelength.)
@Mike The singing cowboy on horseback is bouncing up and down while crooning Back in the Saddle Again. The agent thinks it will go hyperbolic.
@Mike You can secant you that this will send people off on tangents. I suspect there's some high pot in use when you make these up.
Just wanted to say what a lovely little puzzle this was. The clues took delightful turns to come up with the answers.
Another reminder that I should probably return to my home planet. Was really surprised to see that everyone else found this one unusually easy. I'm on the opposite end of that scale and had to do extensive cheating to get through it. Oh... and four - 14 letter answers and only one of those ever appeared in another puzzle. And... four 12 letter answers and none of those was ever in another puzzle. And only one of the two 10 letter answers ever appeared in another puzzle. Don't recall another one with that many long debuts. And even two of the shorter answers were debuts. I remain surprised. No big deal. I'll put my puzzle find today in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Thursday from September 4, 2014 by Samuel A. Donaldson. The reveal clue and answer in that one: "Go crazy ... or a hint on how to enter five answers in this puzzle :" FLIPONESLID And one clue/answer example: "Sherlock Holmes accessory :" REKLATSREED And the other four theme answers: TEMLEH ORERBMOS EKLUMRAY ARODEF Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/4/2014&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/4/2014&g=17&d=A</a> I'll shut up now. ...
@Rich in Atlanta z Don't feel alone. I racked up twenty three cheats. It was an impressive puzzle, with interesting clues. I got through it, the streak continues (day 580 now) and tomorrow begins a new week of puzzles.
Wow, I loved this one—it did come together for me easily, but I think in part that's a marker of good construction; there's not a single Natick. I didn't know the proper names ELLA and NED, but they were well-situated within the puzzle and so were easy to get from the crosses. Cheers to Mr. Berriman and thanks for a great puzzle.
My favorite clue of the puzzle was Singer in the family. It had me stumped for the longest time until I smelled a rat…The puzzle was a good challenge and satisfying to complete.
@Robert Kern Could you please explain that clue and answer to me? I don't get it. Or do I? Is it about singing as in spilling it, as one who turns out to be a rat may do? If so, what does "family" have to do with it?
@Robert Kern Can you explain this one for me? I’m stumped!
Could you please explain that clue and answer to me? I don't get it. Or do I? Is it about singing as in spilling it, as one who turns out to be a rat may do? If so, what does "family" have to do with it?
@Robert Kern I got stuck on "Eli" - short for Elias Singer of sewing machine fame, so in the family, he would be called Eli ... and I'll just stop right there ...
Feeling utterly depleted after an exhausting work month, which overlapped with 11 family members arriving to celebrate for 6 straight days, this space has been saving me. Loved the crunchy misdirects, and found this a wildly impressive puzzle. Learning it was a debut makes it even more inspiring. Thank you Mr. Berriman. And thank you all for the brief moments I’ve been able to steal away to this little world we have.
One of my goals in life (I aim low) is to be able to fill in ENT for tree creature without thinking it might be orc. I always get those mixed up and have to wait for a cross. I think this time will cement it in my head. [Singer in the family?] for RAT and [Part of some superhero names] for GIRL were novel ways to clue such ordinary words. I thought this was a terrific puzzle, and the fact that it is a debut makes me appreciate it even more. I'm looking forward to what else Sam has in store for us.
@Nancy J. I hope we have to wait forever for a cross. I shudder to imagine the offspring of an ENT and an orc.
On Dec 22 I responded to a comment about how clues for AUNT and MOM were based on, well nuclear child-rearing pasts and offered the alternative “Zelda or Hilda, for Sabrina”. Based on the “recommend” numbers I could definitely feel the whole “stop making this more than what it is” air and it made me somewhat insecure about agreeing with the OP. I am unsure if an editor or the creator saw my comment and put that to use but either way I feel so seen and validated from 21D. Thank you!!
Some thoughts on Cruella de Vil: 1. The name may have been inspired by Count de Ville, an alias used by Dracula. 2. If you misspell it as Cruella de Ville it fits nicely in 1D. 3. Dalmatian Stole fits nicely in 13A but of course doesn’t work with Cruella. Not that I tried all that or anything.
My first gold star Saturday in a looong time. I honestly expected to come here seeing complaints that it's not difficult enough for a Saturday. I'm glad everyone seemed to really enjoy it too. Maybe I'm just getting better :-)
@bayonetta I thought it was definitely Saturday worthy. Tough solve until a few of the long clues fall into place. Nice job!
@bayonetta haha, same for me. If I get through Saturday with minimal or no lookups I expect a barrage of “TOO EASY!” in the comments. I enjoyed this one a lot.
I thought I’d never get through this one and then all of a sudden, I did. Like Caitlin, I was thrown off by reading “Guinness” as Alec Guinness. Appreciated the crossing of BEAT IT with MAN IN THE MIRROR. Excellent puzzle.
There have been many fine actors who have played 1D (SHERLOCK HOLMES), including Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC series "Sherlock" 10-15 years ago. But the finest portrayal was by the British actor Jeremy Brett in a series which was broadcast in the US on PBS from 1984-1994. The series dramatized 41 (of the 56) short stories, as well as two of the novels ("The Sign of the Four" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles"). It's well worth watching if you haven't seen it. A number of the episodes in their entirety are on YouTube, and I see that a boxed set of the complete series is still available on Amazon.
@RichardZ Totally agree. Got Sherlock Holmes almost immediately as my PBS station has been replaying the “Sherlock” series with Cumberbatch and also airing Lucy Worsley’s shows about Doyle’s “relationship” with his character, Holmes. An interesting tidbit; turns out the famous hat was the invention of the artist that illustrated him and not Doyle. It’s all been on my mind. Jeremy Brett was a superb Holmes.
@RichardZ Yes he was quite good, with a scary determination. I still have a soft spot for some others (Rathbone of course, Gene Wilder as his smarter brother, and that kid in Young Sherlock Holmes). I still don't know what in the world Downey was thinking (let alone saying). It looks as if several free (and legal) streaming options are available for the Brett version, including Plex and Roku channels, according to JustWatch. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@RichardZ Also a fav adaptation of mine - partly because of the theme music for the series. The opening credits music, with the violin carrying the tune was always the same. But thanks to PBS, we got to hear the entire end credits. These scores were often customized to the episode, and I loved the variations. So subtle and clever.
@RichardZ Russians will tell you that Vasily Livanov is the best, along with the slightly farfetched claim that he was our late Queen's favourite. He did receive an OBE, though, and there's a statue outside the British Embassy in Moscow.
Who peeked to get or confirm your answer to [What's left of F1]? Et tu emu.
@Lewis The first thing I thought was, “Formula 1 doesn’t exist anymore?”
@Lewis My limited Chromebook has no F-anythings!
@Lewis I am proud to say I got it cleanly. I only lacked a single letter at that point, but still. I did look up a few websites to see if something had happened in auto racing that I hadn't heard about.
The grid looked so intimidating, and then it turned out to be a big romp! I had a SKORT when I was eleven years old--in 1958. Do they still have those? I also wore equally unflattering BANGS. My two sibs are (or were) tall blue-eyed BLONDs; my eyes are dark hazel, and now I'm light-headed, too.... and of course, at first I entered IN THE MIDDLE. ELLA Jenkins is a complete Unknown to me. We were Raffi fans. No "Waltzing Matilda"? No 'Roos or wallabies? Bonzer puzzle!
@Mean Old Lady My niece refuses to wear skirts. One day I saw her wearing one and asked my sister what was up. She replied, "It's a SKORT." So yes, they still do make them. There will always be girls who hate dresses.
@Mean Old Lady I have several SKORTS that I wear in the summer when walking as an alternative to shorts. Makes me feel "prettier" (although I'm sure it's a delusion at 65) and disguises the thighs. Very comfy, and they have a good phone pockets.
[What the angry record execs yelled at Jethro Tull when his "Thick as a Brick" came in at over forty minutes] Answer: The entire row starting at 36A. I loved this puzzle with all its ten-dollar entries! I love/hate whataboutism. Is it just me or did Mr. Berriman put a pair of boomerangs in his grid? "Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?"
@ad absurdum ["Sorry, that's the last one"] isn't wrong, but I would have preferred ["Sorry, that was the last one"].
@ad absurdum that Thick as a Brick reference made me laugh out loud. Nice one.
@ad absurdum Jetheo Tull is a they, not a he.
Congratulations on a fun and challenging NYT debut, Mr. Berriman! I had the pleasure of writing it up for Diary of a Crossword Fiend. <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2024/12/27/saturday-december-28-2024/#ny" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2024/12/27/saturday-december-28-2024/#ny</a> TL;DR: Pretty breezy except for the stuff in the 25, 28, 31, 33 and 37 squares. I hope we'll see you back here soon, Mr. Berriman!
I've been trying to post this question several times now but the emus won't let me. Maybe it will work as a reply to your post, Eric? Could you please explain 'Singer in the family? RAT'? I don't get it. Or do I? Is it about singing as in spilling it, as one who turns out to be a rat might do? If so, what does "family" have to do with it?
@Eric Hougland "(and I’m curious about how one communicates in a language that lacks tense)" This is brief, I cannot swear it's correct: <a href="https://medium.com/@forge_co/chinese-has-no-verb-tenses-82c7c759326a" target="_blank">https://medium.com/@forge_co/chinese-has-no-verb-tenses-82c7c759326a</a> When Chinese- and Korean-speakers have explained it to me, it makes sense (Korean has tenses so they were contrasting the two); since those individuals felt entirely comfortable in their own language as well as English so they made it sound very easy.
@Andrzej my wife is learning a little Polish, she would say declensions are deadly rather than vital :)
I was well on my way to agreeing with the “too easy for a Saturday” crowd until I got stumped at the middle bottom. Keeping waterPOWER and selfiePHOTO for way too long shoved me into over average time. Moral of the story: don’t get too attached to answers, even if they seem to be perfect. Especially the long ones.
@Vislander The same two mistakes happened in my grid! And to try to fix what wasn’t making sense, I first took out the answer I was least sure of (TENDOLLARWORDS). That slowed me down quite a bit! Needless to say, I did not find it as easy and quick as many solvers did.
An addendum to 14D: Sources of retirement income (for Gen X and above). Sincerely, A disgruntled millennial
@Mark If it makes you feel better, IRAs and 401Ks are much better options than the vagaries of pension funds. (Feel free to reply with "OK, Boomer.") :)
@Mark - If it's any consolation, many, if not most, boomers also have no pensions. It is our parents who were mostly assured of receiving a pension when they retired. Companies have been eliminating pensions since the '70s, and the rate at which they were eliminated accelerated in the '80s, after the legislation approving 401k accounts became law at the end of 1978. I retired five years ago with no pension. I am far from alone.
@Mark FWIW I am a millennial who managed to work for a while at a company that hadn’t yet gotten rid of its pension plan, so I will have a small pension waiting for me at retirement, maybe enough money to cover monthly utilities by then. But otherwise it’s the same game of relying on IRA/401k kinds of accounts to get through retirement.
One thing about crosswording that I absolutely love, and continue to be fascinated by, is the degree to which perceived difficulty of puzzles varies among solvers. Personally, I wouldn’t have batted an eye (aside from the size of the grid, perhaps) if this had been published on a Wednesday. On the other hand, I’ve recently made my way through April 2010 in the archives, and the last Friday of that month (April 30th) took me an hour and ten minutes…and I’m sure there were plenty of folks at the time who said, “that was totally on my wavelength!” Anyhoo: chef’s kiss for 1A (SPORTSPAGE). One of my favorite clues in a while 👌
@Man and 2 dogs 1D/13A gave away the whole puzzle for me. 22 minutes for a Saturday? C'mon man!
My favourite was beverage that begins with a bee. Also really liked the sly misdirection of the Guinness clue -- I solved the puzzle convincing myself that Alec Guinness must have been in a lot of Sherlock Holmes films I didn't know about.
In 1986, when my English was still not as good, I saw a car from Texas with the license plate that had "Sesquicentennial" written on it. It commemorated 150 years of Texas statehood from 1836 to 1986 (Sesqui = 1.5, cent =100, thus 150). To this day, I am thankful for encountering such an elegant word so early in my English learning days. The prefix is also used in chemistry, e.g. Sodium Sesquicarbonate. I did not major in chemistry but from the prefix, I can tell that it has 1 and a half of something.
@Heidi Not quite on the Texas sesquicentennial. 1836 was when Texas became independent from Mexico; it didn't become a state until 1845.
@Heidi Sesquiterpenes are 15-carbon chains found in many biologically important compounds. There is also a special US coin minted in 1926 commemorating the sesquicentennial of our country: <a href="https://coinquest.com/cq_data/cq_ro/coins_380/us_sesquicentennial_half_1926.jpg" target="_blank">https://coinquest.com/cq_data/cq_ro/coins_380/us_sesquicentennial_half_1926.jpg</a>
Congratulations on your debut Sam Berriman! Great to see an Aussie constructor here and you’ve inspired me to keep working on something worthy of submitting to the NYT.
@Paul Do two French-speaking Australians say "Moi Aussi!" when they meet?
A little worried how easily I recognized a Michael Jackson song without any crosses to help me, but then again I am a child of the 80s.
@Jamie I enjoyed that two MJ songs crossed each other.
@Jamie I am annoyed that I didn’t get it right away. The amount of time I spent listening to Michael Jackson as a kid… that answer should have been my first fill. 🤦🏾♀️
@Justin I hadn't even realised the second clue was an MJ song. I'm a bad fan. Geddit. 😉
@Jamie Hah, as a child of (mostly) the 90s, I have to confess to having all but the last 4 letters in place before I “saw” the answer. But now it’s been playing in my head ever since and won’t stop.
@Jamie As a child of the 40's-50's, I don't understand this thread (except for the clue that TELLS me it's a SONG) I ESCaped unharmed.
Could somebody please explain 'Singer in the family? RAT'? I don't get it. Or do I? Is it about singing as in spilling it, as one who turns out to be a rat might do? If so, what does "family" have to do with it?
@Andrzej rat, as in someone who reveals information about a crime to the police, also "snitch", or someone who "sings". Family, I'm assuming, is a member of an organized crime family
@Andrzej Think Mafioso "family" .
@Andrzej A crime “family,” I assumed. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_family" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_family</a>
@Andrzej my interpretation is that “family” is an indication of organized crime, and one who “sings” (divulges/confesses to the cops) is a RAT 🐀
Unlike Caitlin I go through the top half relatively unscathed, but the bottom half was very chewy. I’ve never heard of the 45A phrase, still not sure what it means. I stuck with PENSION bonds for too long, which held up that area. TBH I had tENSION for too long as well; I’ve always known it as a DEERSTALKER hat, not CAP. Despite this I thoroughly enjoyed the grid, it felt fresh and interesting. A great debut.
This was a "keep the faith" puzzle for me as I struggled everywhere in the left half of the diagonal -- and then, once I finally solved it, had to go back and do the same thing in the right half. A real toughie, but I loved it. The left side of the diagonal only became solvable when I changed AND for the "narrative thread" to ARC. At this point, SHERLOCK HOLMES became clear and so did DEERSTALKER CAP. I loved the curiosity that the SHERLOCK clue filled me with: I was hoping that this most portrayed character wouldn't be someone out of the Marvel Universe -- and happily it wasn't. Some wonderful fill. WHATABOUTISM; TEN DOLLAR WORDS; WE'RE FRESH OUT. I loved this puzzle. Too bad I had a DNF. I didn't know if the bushranger guy was TED, NED, JED or RED. So I waited for the cross. MARIN THE MIRROR had such a nice ring. I patted myself on the shoulder for possessing such an exquisitely-tuned ear for the musicality of language and wrote in RED Kelly. That has a nice ring, too. Wrong!!!!!
I am glad this was so easy for many. For me it was a bit of a challenge. I hadn’t heard of whatsboutism, and it took a while for ten-dollar words to come to mind. Fortunately, the clueing was telling yet clever enough. I worked this one out in a bit over my average Saturday.
Good morning! Finished in good order. Lovely debut. Thanks for DECCA - I love the Stones. Had CPA which hindered 1D and 11D for a while. Started with "tbd" and switched to "eta" before settling on TBA. It was one of those puzzles where each word led to another. "...way leads on to way..." Yes, I just took a few moments to appreciate Robert Frost. And, yes, I am dawdling here, and need to be cleaning house.
Tents is NOT a homophone of tense. What am I missing?, Otherwise, enjoyable. (But this really irked me)
@Alexia been saying tents out loud. Technically no it’s not a homophone of tense, but realized that typically you elide the second t sound when you say tents out loud
@Alexia I found this link <a href="https://www.homophone.com/h/tense-tents" target="_blank">https://www.homophone.com/h/tense-tents</a>. Personal anecdote - I was camping one summer and woke up to a dingo walking by - that was intense.
@Alexia It is with my Texas accent. Perhaps also in Australian?
@Alexia Have to disagree; old joke is “That was intense - like camping.” Unless one really stresses the second T in tents, it’s indistinguishable from tense.
@Alexia I agree with you. This was a mistake by the author of the puzzle. The two words sound similar but that's all. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Alexia I said to my doctor, "Doc, sometimes I feel like a big top and sometimes I feel like a tepee. What's my problem?" He said, "You're two tents."
what a delightful saturday puzzle! the clue for KONG really made me smile--and i figured it was the first time that word was clued in that way. (thanks to caitlin for confirming my suspicions.) thanks, sam berriman, for the fun! here's hoping for many more puzzles from down under.
Shout-out to 9D recognition of women. I had MEGA there at first. TIL that there's an official size for a shot and larger than I would have guessed. Doesn't seem to be all that standardized. I tried both our shot glasses: one overflowed a bit and the other had room to spare.
@RozzieGrandma A "shot" is generally 1oz or 1.5 oz.
@RozzieGrandma This one got me too. Mostly, in this country a “shot” refers to 1.5 ounces, but as you say, there is no federal standard. NYS tried to legislate a minimum shot size in the 1940’s, but the bill never passed. Between 1973 - 2006 South Carolina required “mini-bottles” , usually 1.75ozs. with no free pouring, but that was repealed as the drinks were pretty strong.To my knowledge, the only State that has legislated a shot size is Utah, at 1.5 ounces, which is measured using the “Berg” system. In the constructor’s Australia, a standard drink is a “nip” ( a word which will not likely be seen in the xwords again) which is defined as 30 ml, or closer to one ounce. Wiki contains a chart of shot glass sizes from around the world. Romania seems to top the list at 100 ml.
@RozzieGrandma I should have mentioned that I had no clue about the conversion to teaspoons, so I just thought a Saturday-level answer to [There are nine in a shot glass:Abbr.] might be ltrS, short for letters. Guess not…
Outstanding puzzle. Cleverly clued, no garbage fill, no gimmicks. Well done!
After speeding through most of the puzzle, I returned to spend a silly amount of time on 1A and 11A. Once I realised it couldn't be SECRETPAGE, I left it for a bit. When I came back, it finally made sense. That, and the fact I've never flipped for or read a SPORTSPAGE in my life 😆 Still, this was a lovely puzzle for a lazy Saturday morning in bed.
@Sebastian. Whereas, with the print version of my paper, I start at the back where the sports news is. Much more fun than the “real news at the front. So I don’t flip either.
@Sebastian The only thing I ignore more intensely than the sports pages is the theater section of the culture pages 🤣
So great to see a constructor from Down Under, and some Aussie trivia as a nice change from US sports! Congrats Sam!
Finished this one on a wing and a prayer. Knew sesquipedalia, but never heard of TENDOLLARWORDS. Thought Holmes wore a DEERSTALKERhat. Teaspoons in a shot glass--- that's just weird. KONG dog toy? HAD "bone" in there for a very long time. Only figured out why it was POLE after a very very long time. And so that's what Americans mean when the refer to women having BANGS! I didn't even know what bit of anatomy that referred to. But great fun in a "don't chuck the phone across the room" kind of way.
@Oikofuge Naughty Scotsman! Tip: for the three-letter head-gear, put in the A and wait. As a Cat Person, I have no clue what a dog toy might be--the beagle we had liked to roll around on roadkill when he took time off from licking his equipage.
I really liked this one: a straightforward and genuinely fun puzzle to solve for me. Perhaps as a Brit I'm on more of a similar wavelength with the Aussie setter than with many of the Americans whose cute clues go flying over my head. I like going for looong answers first and managed to get almost all of them on the first pass, especially on the top and sides, so I had a great frame to fill in the rest. Thanks, lovely start to the weekend!
Took me ages to figure out "ateat" was "ate at" and not "a teat" -- the latter being an awfully confusing answer
27A was a gimme as I just stuffed my dog's KONG with food before starting my solve!
Really excellent puzzle! There were entries I had no clue on -- ELLA, e.g. -- but was able to work them all out with the crosses. Exactly what you want from a crossword!
Re: 7D; Remember when Men at Work's "Down Under" came out, and we all learned what "chunder" meant? And Vegemite? @Eric Houghland Chinese does have TENSE, but there is no conjugation of verbs. For example, if you add "-LE" to the end of a verb, it indicates a completed action, and therefore past tense. Similarly, adding "-ZHE" to a verb indicates a current action, and therefore present tense. But mostly just saying when does the job, as in, "I tomorrow go store buy shoes."
What a great debut! Challenging, yet I finished about 14 min faster than my average. Like Caitlin, I got the lower half before the upper, but once I saw the AP in DEERSTALKER CAP, I knew 1D, and the rest filled in fairly rapidly. Had once hiccup at 18D/28A, and it was only while typing this note that I "got" 28A. (I had DIEs at 18D, before I grokked "paleo.") Some obscure clues (ELLA Jenkins; Cristiano RONALDO--which one I happened to know) but some fun ones as well. I was happy I knew of NED Kelly.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to keep ENTs straight from orcs? I always know what the clue is getting at but they are twisted in my head. Fortunately, I know they're twisted so it's not problematic.... So, maybe I'll just leave it this way rather than try to remember which is which, so as to save brain space for more pressing matters.... like thinking of SIGNEDPHOTOS before StoNEDPHOTOS. Ha! Also wasn't problematic, but it made me laugh. I was sad though to give up on irb at 46D, which I plunked in on the first go 'round. Once I got SHERLOCKHOLMES, it had to go, of course but I felt strangely proud of my plunking in of it. Anyhow, what a delightfully fun and lovely puzzle! It had such a nice flow for me, with a few tangly spots that slowed me down a tad but which were a pleasure to work out. Even though it wasn't Saturdayesque enough for everyone, it seems, and it was a better than average time, but not crazily so, clean solve for me, I found it immensely enjoyable! I really liked the cluing and especially loved the crossing of MANINTHEMIRROR with BEATIT! Thanks for a fun debut, Sam, and hearty congratulations on your 15th anniversary! Cheers to your next 15 puzzles and anniversaries!
@HeathieJ Not to mention rocs.
A daunting number of long answers, but within spitting distance of my Saturday record. Made for a satisfying solve, but maybe on the easier end.
@Joseph C - I agree about it being easy for a Saturday. If I'm awake after the new Saturday puzzle drops, I'll often try to solve and go until it gives a bit of resistance (which is practically always) and then approach it with fresh eyes in the morning. Today, however, the resistance never materially materialized, and I ended up only 2 seconds slower than my PB. Curious to see how others fared.
A right Saturday of a puzzle, eh? It gives no quarters, takes no prisoners and casts no shadow. I'm here to rally you to nominate Puzzle of the Year favorites...please see the first Reply to this message for more details! We're seeking nominees in 4 categories, from 2024's bounty: early week, Thursday, Fri-Sat, and Sunday. We already have a good ballot but don't want any of you aficionados to feel short-changed, so if you have any you want to nominate, please put the DATE / NAME(S) OF CONSTRUCTORS / and anything you'd like to say about why it merits being on the ballot. Including today's if you love it! I'll make another announcement on Jan. 4, then on the 11th, nominations end the 12th.
PUZZLE OF THE YEAR Details on nominating and voting: Eric Hougland has now taken the baton from Tito as the coordinator of nominations and voting, with the assistance of Cat Lady Margaret and yours truly. We thank Tito & Puzzlemucker for their great work in years past. There will be two rounds of voting. In the first round, you’ll be able to vote for more than one puzzle in a category. The puzzles with the highest number of first-round votes will then move to a second round, where you'll vote for your favorite in each category. Information below on the procedure: DATES: 1/12 Deadline for nominations 1/15-1/19 First Round 1/22-1/26 Final Round 2/2 Announcement of winners & runners-up CATEGORIES: Early week (M-W) Thursday Themeless (F-S) Sunday NOMINATIONS: Nominate as many as you like. Please review 2024's puzzles in archives, Wordplay columns & comments, xwordinfo.com, etc. To nominate puzzles, REPLY to this message (or future ones from us) with your picks. We'll make sure your selections get on the ballot. Nominations should include the puzzle date and constructor. Also, please include a brief statement as to what makes it POY material: standout themes, clues, etc. VOTING We'll use a custom-made ballot on an outside website. The ballot is easy to use and will allow for voting on each of the four categories. We’ll provide a link when voting begins. Nominating & Voting is open to all. Just one vote per puzzle, please!
Although I usually prefer themed puzzles, I really enjoyed this one. Some of the shifts in mind set required for interpreting the clues were fun and brought the sought-after smile, including the see, 11a. On reading about the origins of the puzzle, I was delighted to learn it was constructed by a fellow Melbournian (umm, Melburnian?). Thanks Sam, including for the Kelly clue!
@Elle MelBunion? MelBunny? MelBunsenBurner? MelBurner? Actually, my Brugman cousins lived in Melbourne long enough (after years in far-flung places like California, Norway, etc.) that they considered it Home, and didn't follow their parents to Samoa, where they finally retired. (Chuck was a ex-Navy diver, much in demand, and his wife--my 1st cousin- and 3 children were even more peripatetic than our family.) After LouAnn (Luanna) died, though, we lost touch.