Hi Wordplay editors and Emu-masters, I have a suggestion. I'd love for Mr's Fagliano & Shortz to write two guest columns, or one long one, about what it was like editing / not editing the puzzles this past year. We've had a full year of Fagliano's editing, and many of the commenters discerned aspects to the editing style they felt were unlike Shortz's. I'd like to hear from the editors about that. I'd like to read about what it was like to edit these puzzles, and I'd like to hear from Mr. Shortz about how he spent the year, and how his recovery progressed. Maybe both of them have written about it elsewhere, but I think Wordplay would be a perfect place for some extended commentary. T here is a lot of affection for both editors here, and I think the last year has been full of good to great puzzles, and that the level, quality and creativity did not drop off at all this year. What does Shortz think about the job Fagliano did? What does Fagliano think he's learned over the course of the year? How about it, boys?
@john ezra ....Check link to Brain and Life Magazine within NYT 12/29 piece by Everdeen Mason for Will Shortz 1st person account of his recovery year.
Shoutout to my mom for completing the crossword with me every day this year - mostly through (stressful) phone calls and (millions of) screenshots. Thank you to the crossword creators and NYT staff for creating such incredible puzzles to keep mother x daughter connected across the country. Let’s go, 2025!!!
@aslev My mom and I do Wordle together over the phone. And Spelling Bee, though she doesn't have full-access, she just goes for the pangram.
Enjoyed the theme - but what amused me most was the clue for DIY. “Simple home improvement projects”, LOL. You identify the simple project. You declare it to be DIY. You buy some parts and they’re the wrong type of thingy. You remove the broken thingy and find additional “simple” problems on display. Let’s not leave out the inevitable disagreement with the other DIYer in the household. With any luck, the mess you make can still be salvaged by the person you eventually hire. Hope springs eternal for 2025!
@Cat Lady Margaret one DIYer per household. One support act. In ours I’m the support act. :) A joyous 2025
@Cat Lady Margaret Remember there will be several intervening trips to the hardware store. And who has the power in the couple?
@Cat Lady Margaret Yes, we snaked out the bathroom sink drain, only to find the pipe was so corroded, it had to be replaced. It took three trips to get the right sized part. That reminds me, I still have to return one of the non-fitting parts.
"You like studying electricity?" "Currently, I'm amped up!" ("Watt do you mean?")
@Mike. Joule pay for such revolting puns. . .
@Mike You look like you're wired. Were you LED on by a short connection?
@Mike Your puns add a spark to my mornings.
Can the online puzzle commentariat continue to generate positive energy over the returning editor, or will Shortz irk it?
@Mike You are one of the best pun generators I have known. You can take a word and transformer into an alternator different meaning with little or no resistance. I try, but you run circuits around me.
MEDAL or MEtAL seemed to work because for the not domestically inclined, DIY frequently ends at the TIY stage: “Tried It. Yikes.” Or so I’ve heard.
@Sam Lyons bronze is an alloy. Pedants rejoice 😀
@Sam Lyons Btw, Sam. I'm still thinking about renewing last years resolution to read the Shakespeare plays that I don't know well. There aren't that many left. For the record, this was as far as I got beyond the one we talked about. Two Gentleman of Verona: Much like Shrew and Ado it has many lines that read as serious but are openly staged and played for laughs. Anthony and Cleopatra: A body count of characters greater than Hamlet. Some fine scenery-chewing speeches. Overdrawn emphasis on strict and sober Rome vs decadent Egypt. Anthony has an advisor named Eros . . . a big clue to his decline. Did Cleo twice retreat her fleet from battle because she thought she could seduce Octavian as she had Caesar and Anthony? Timon of Athens: My edition's introduction says something to the effect of "rarely performed without customization". The moral of the play is that you don't learn who your friends are until you really need them then get suicidal when they disappoint. Richard II: The usurpation by Bolingbroke who becomes the Henry IV of three following plays. Another historical example of "I didn't actually say to kill him".
@Ιασων. And alloys are still metals, they just happen to be mixture not pure
To the gang here, and that includes, Deb, Caitlin, and Sam – you provide the perfect chaser to solving the puzzle, taking it from a solo to a group experience, where I become enmeshed in wit, humor, insight, reactions, and stories. What a gift! Warm wishes to all of you for a sweet 2025, and may it be sparked with a surfeit of happy surprises!
Thank you, Michael Lieberman, for a fun puzzle! Welcome back, Will Shortz! Happy New Year, everyone! Good fortune and happy solving to all!
This is a tight theme. Lovely theme answers, all of them, and for fun, I tried to come up with more. It was no easy task. The two that hit me were TWIN BILL, clued [BEAK, INVOICE], and DUPLICATE BRIDGE, clued [DENTURE, SPAN], but I don’t like them because “twin” and “duplicate” mean that the examples are exactly the same, and they’re not. Amazingly, tight as this theme is, Michael found answers that fit symmetrically. Actually, all four theme answers have the same number of letters (11)! Tight *and* symmetrical. A pair of bravos on that, Michael! I liked seeing a couple of echoes to recent puzzles – a down ARROW countering Sunday’s UP ARROWS, and ADIOS AMIGO, which appeared Friday. I also liked seeing ABYSS smack dab at the bottom. In addition, I loved seeing five palindromes, including a rare-in-crosswords five-letter one in TENET. Michael, you have had 18 daily puzzles in the Times, and they have appeared every day of the week, except for Saturday. Is “hit the cycle” one of your New Year’s resolutions? In any case, your lovely puzzle today ended the solving year for me on a sweet note. Thank you so much for making this!
Administrative note: Tomorrow, I'll be posting my Favorite Clues of 2024 list... Et tu, emu.
My first ever comment in this forum is to suggest a musical clue for this theme: [f,p] which would obviously solve to DYNAMICDUO.
@Jeremy -- Wow, that is magnificent! Please, don't be a stranger here!
Since I can’t respond to emails I’ll just say here what a delight it’s been to read Sam Corbin’s Gameplay newsletters.
@Rrose Selavy What a lovely comment to stumble upon -- thank you so much!
How did I miss yesterday’s return of Will Shortz? A banner day. Wonderful to have him back and kudos to his fabulous team that filled in so well in his absence.
@Chungclan Just like Will to make a soft landing on a Monday when some of us are more likely to skip the column and comments because we don’t need help. [as if I know Will]
The best TWOsday one could ask for, smoothly constructed, with pop names that even I could get from the crosses. The sweetest one of those was a SONG, and all of the TWOs were funny. I especially appreciated that the puzzle didn't go ASKEW in service of the theme and had so many clever clues. Thank you so much, Michael Lieberman. ADIOS AMIGO, and please make us another puzzle soon—IT'S UP TO YOU!
Two-fer Twosday? Too cool. To toot my own tuba, I tootally tuned in to this two-rific, tubular tootsie-pop of today’s twooly trouble free trick. 👍 👍 Toodles to 2024!
@CCNY What, you couldn't work in TOPSY?? Ha ha, no, you did a great job. That was my first entry, an it made me smile because last year I made a quilt for two young girls (their mom grew up down the road in NE Ohio) that was titled "TOPSY-TURVY"...(pictoral appliqué that could be viewed in either direction.) They are growing fast, and I'm planning to finish two quilts by Valentine's Day.... (put me on the prayer list.)
Great end to another great year of crossword solving. Just returned home from Maui for the holidays and was excited to see that Will is back. Thank you to Joel and the gang for stepping up this year in his absence. And congratulations to Michael on 25 published puzzles. That’s impressive! My kids are encouraging me to take a stab at constructing one, so my first New Year’s resolution is to submit at least one puzzle this year.
Just a shout-out to the NYT staff, to the 365 puzzle authors, and to the Comments corps, for helping me through 2024, my Anno Horribilis. Please take care, stay healthy, alert and primed. I'll surely be needing my daily dose of diversion. If you hear primal screaming coming from somewhere, it's probably just ME---stuck on that last, pesky single letter that remains blank in my grid! In other words, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
@William Schrader If that primal scream is just about a crossword answer, then you're in good shape. Here's to good health, sanity, kindness and thoughtfulness for 2025. Happy New Year to you and to all.
@Min You too! Time to get ready for the first of 2025. I'm sure I won't be flummoxed this year by clever puzzles created by high school students or other astounding performers at cruciverbalism. After all these years I don't see a pattern for who can create a puzzle and who cannot! So, before I go, HERE's an opportunity for an award. QUESTION: what successful NYT crossword contributor sent the MOST SUBMISSIONS before one was accepted? Best to all Bill
Will Shortz edited today's puzzle! Welcome back!
I’m shipping Lisa and Jafar as a spooky power couple.
@Justin I remember when Twilight was a huge thing, and fandom was split over whether Bella should choose the vampire or the werewolf. Teamsomebody hashtags were the means of conveying preferences. I don't know how that was resolved, and I don't care. But if people who do care want to have a slangy verb for that, knock yourself out.
Short and sweet, though TIL MELD. Played gin rummy for years as a kid without knowing that term. (Apple still auto corrects gin to gun, sigh). Happy New Year to all, starting with our Oz commenters and working West. Hogmonay celebrations already cancelled as the latest storm looms, London fireworks iffy too as the wind speeds are forecast to be 60-70mph. We’ll just have to stay in the pub and drink more. Cheers.
@Helen Wright All I recognize about gin rummy is... The name itself. Maybe the game is unknown in Poland? There is no entry in Polish for it on Wikipedia, at least. Poland has some card games of its own, the strangest of them probably being "dupa biskupa" ("bishops a*s"): <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupa_biskupa" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupa_biskupa</a>
All I recognize about gin rummy is... The name itself. Maybe the game is unknown in Poland? There is no entry in Polish for it on Wikipedia, at least. Poland has some card games of its own, the strangest of them probably being "dupa biskupa" ("bishops [impolite word for one's behind]"): <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupa_biskupa" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupa_biskupa</a>
Word to the wise; DIY projects are often not so simple. Santa brought me a "smart" thermostat for XMAS. Line 1 of instructions: "This device requires a C, or common wire for power." Guess what my existing wiring did not have? That's right, a C wire. I had to order a special power adapter to make it work, but there was a very helpful online video to guide me through the process. Still, I found myself missing my dad, the electrical engineer, yet again.
Super fast and fun. It's been said before but it [KODIAK,POLAR], if you're once bitten by a tougher puzzle, don't let yourself be [BASHFUL,MEEK]. It will get easier the more you solve!
What a fun theme! I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! Maybe I've been doing crosswords for too long; I didn't just know the Disney villain, but his parrot's name as well.
@ad absurdum Same here, and I also know that Iago doesn't like crackers. And the entire cast of Frozen.
New personal best for Tuesday! Favorite clue: Present day, in short. I completed it on crosses and it took a minute to click when I admired the puzzle. Thank you for the fun solve Michael Lieberman!
As a lifelong card player, and especially fond of pinochle, rummy, and cribbage, I’ll chime in on “melding.” The word is the same as the German reflexive verb “sich melden,” “show oneself/itself” or “make an appearance.” This is because merely having a particular card or combination of cards is not sufficient. The card(s) must be shown (melded) for all to see in order for the points (or, in rummy, rights) to be earned by the melder. In each game there are different melds. Pinochle takes its name from the meld of the scandalous pairing of the Jack of Diamonds with the Queen of Spades (two one-eyed adulterers: binocular). In Cribbage, the point for the Jack of the turned-up suit (his nobs) along with all other points counted at the end of play are only pegged when the hand is laid out for all to see. Rummy is of a different sort, but a melding game nonetheless. When the melds are laid out in front of a player, the player earns the right to unload cards on other melds. A player who hasn’t melded sits with a fistful of cards and is prevented from laying off certain cards. Gin rummy depends on a coup where only one hand is melded, sticking the others with their point totals all at once. On a related note: I didn’t enjoy playing War as a child, because it made me car-sick even when played on the living room floor.
@David Connell If War had that effect on you, Slap Jack would have proved fatal.
@David Connell That was a much better explanation of rummy than I posted to @Andrej just now, thanks. It’s so long since I played gin rummy I missed the finer points.
@David Connell I played gin rummy a lot as a child, but never associated MELD with it until today. Melding was something I did in canasta. I played Gin Rummy with my Dad and Canasta with my grandmother. I'm 75, so it's been awhile....
I hope I’m not the only one who channels their inner Edna Maude when exclaiming “No CAPES!” when the clue comes up…
@Steven D I immediately pictured (and heard) Ms Mode. What a great character.
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably grown accustomed to the ~crosswordese~ of various French words, Japanese beer & dog breeds, and few-lettered avian names (looking at you, emu!). But ADIOS AMIGO, in the recent Friday puzzle and now today, is something I didn’t expect to see again so soon! Adios Emugo (Am-emu?)!
@Jane I was feeling a strong sense of deja-vu, lol ..................................... ........................
As a electronics buff, you had me at 17A. Every time, I mean every time I fill in LOA for Mauna ____ clue. I guess I'm just NUTS about the place. Glad that Sam will see us through 2025!!
@Call Me Al It's one of those clues where I fill in only one or two squares, then wait for the crosses. I fill in only the last A. I do the same whenever it asks for an Obama daughter. Interestingly, they both have As in the same places in their names: _ A _ _ A. Sasha or Malia.
@Call Me Al I got lucky today and had the KE from downs before I hit the loa or KEA problem!
Absolutely delightful. Cute and amusing and original. Another theme I wish I'd thought of. The exceptionally well-chosen themers are all different enough that each one brings its own special chuckle. My favorite was DOUBLE DIGIT, but has PAIR OF SOCKS ever been clued more deliciously? Kudos, Michael-- this is as good as a Tuesday puzzle gets.
@Nancy Hey Nancy, I was doing a puzzle from years ago in the archives and ran into one of your comments with an excellent poem, which went: Which bloody answer is it? We'll have to wait and see, EVADE/ELUDE may get you, Dude -- But ERIN/EIRE gets me. Thought it deserved to make a reappearance to ring in 2025!
Shouldn’t the answer to 40A be plural? DOUBLE DIGIT(s)? All the other theme answers are plural, and this one is not. Or am I overthinking it? Enjoyable puzzle, though, and I liked the theme.
@UE It wouldn't fit in the grid if it was plural, which is probably the only reason it wasn't. .......................................... .............................
@UE There’s one indicator of duality in every theme answer. In one case, it’s PAIR. In another, it’s TWO. In another, it’s COUPLE. In this one, it’s DOUBLE. The theme is common phrases with an element of duality. The plural ending isn’t necessary except to make the theme entry a normal phrase. You wouldn’t say “pair of sock”, so only “pair of socks” works. However, you could say “two-pointer” or “two-pointers”; same for “power couple(s)” and “double digits/double-digit”. Either choice works; the constructor used the ones that were 11 letters. There’s no need for plural consistency. Just that the answers be recognizable phrases.
Nice puzzle and a fairly smooth solve. Just needed some down crosses for each of the theme answers to dawn on me. That just made for some nice 'oh, of course' moments. Very odd puzzle find today. A Sunday from December 7 (!), 1986 by Charlotte Shore with the title: "...Such sweet sorrow..." A couple of theme clues and answers: "Tune for author Hesse?" AUFWIEDERSEHENHERMANN "Remark from Mrs. Guinness?" TATASIRALEC And some other theme answers: SOLONGMARLON CIAORAMON HASTALAVISTAFRANCISCO Not sure I entirely grasp some of those. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/7/1986&g=22&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/7/1986&g=22&d=A</a> I'm done. Our feet are stained. ..
Glad to have Will back (a day late on realizing this). Three seconds off my Wednesday best. Probably would have obliterated it if I hadn't had a sneezing fit while solving...
@Steven M. Congrats...although it was a Tuesday puzzle. Sorry to both you and the emus.
Pair of socks. Ouch. Memories of pouting on present days past. Wishing all a stoic 2025.
A nice variety of entries with a fun theme, just right for a Tuesday in my opinion.
Michael, 25 puzzles!? Dude, that's awesome – congratulations!
Had to come to complain that XMAS was last week, to get the clue was talking about presents, rather than the present.
@LeCheffre Me too. I'd actually started to type "Hoe long does XMAS last in the USA?" when the penny belatedly dropped.
Fun puzzle for the end of 2024 which I found a little easier than yesterday’s. Thank you to the folks at NYT Puzzle Central. Thank you to Sam, Deb, and Caitlin for wonderful columns day after day. Happy to read that Will Shortz continues to make progress in his recovery. Today may be the end of our current streak (1,725) as we’re beginning our vacation to Antarctica and don’t know how good the Internet will be. Happy New Year to all!
@PJimmy09 Safe and happy journey. Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. :)
I blinked and it was done. :-) Welcome back Will!
@Sam, you scared me for a second... I misread the first sentence in Wordplay, thinking you were writing your last column, not just the last one for 2024! Monday's puzzle was a little tougher than usual for me, but this was a perfect Tuesday! I enjoy having a themed puzzle with no revealer, and this clever theme needed none. ADIOS AMIGO to 2024! 🎉
Great puzzle, by Lieberman and Shortz. I had a good flow going. I can feel having to stop and think more for the puzzle to makes sense. Tomorrow is the seventh day of Christmas. That whole 12 days of Christmas song is because Christmas season does last that long.
@Red Carpet All true, but I hope you're not saying this is the reason for 54A. That's is there because "present day" can mean "day of gifts". "Present day" has been used in clues to signal REINDEER ("Package deliverers of the present day"), SAINTNICK ('Present day figure"), PERE NOEL ("...in Paris"), CHRISTMAS EVE )"Time before the present day?"), OPEN IT ("Present day demand?"), and of course XMAS (twice). Note that none of these clues had a hyphen; a whole other set of clues of a similar nature give more options, including (irrelevant to the Dec. 25 theme, but to clarify another question in this column) "Present-day Persian" for IRANI. So clearly not every "present-day" clue has to do with the man with the bag.
@Steve L And here I thought the puzzle was mistakenly run a week late. Nice!
@Steve L Glad you explained that one. My first thought was someone goofed and published the puzzle on the wrong day.
Hmm..another contender for "King of Mambo"!
So happy to see Will's name on this puzzle. Welcome back!
Why is "Present day" XMAS on New Year's Eve?
@Donnie Which day our presence traditionally given and received?
@Donnie Because we exchanged presents on that day.
DEXTER and a nod to Luther... these are two of my favorite...... Happy New Year to all. A MELD, more often heard in Pinochle, is a run of some number of cards. Never heard it used in Gin Rummy but,,,, I dusted off my Super MENSA card and figured it out Thank you Michael
@dk Wait, what was the Luther reference? Assuming you mean the one with Idris Elba. And yes, a run of cards in tummy is just a run.
Phew. Nice puzzle and I'm glad the King of Mambo issue has been addressed. And crossing Jobs with the Apple Gadget was clever...
Watching 48 down as I was doing the puzzle. 😊 (Dexter). I wonder if I would have figured out the clue if I wasn't watching Netflix at the same time.
A nice Tuesday puzzle. But why use VOLT, AMP as the POWERCOUPLE? Neither of these is a unit of power. How about something like HYDRO, SOLAR? Simpler, and more correct to boot. Liked "Apple gadgets" for CORERS, and "Orange box" for CRATE. And, of course, "Present day, in brief" for XMAS. Enjoyed the flashback from Friday, when ADIOSAMIGO was at 29D instead of today's 28D.
@Xword Junkie Well, thanks to Alex in New Jersey's comment below, I'm happier with VOLT, AMP for POWERCOUPLE. Indeed, P = I V. So power results when volts and amps are "coupled".
@Xword Junkie On the contrary, I greatly appreciated the correctly cued combination of Volts and Amps (when multiplied) = Watts, i.e. power (pace Sam, not energy).
The last time I saw an orange CRATE, it was 1957. And I can't find an actual CORER (not the "slice and core" thing, I mean an actual hand-held gadget that allows the user to control the depth of the core being removed, as for baked apples.) I had STONY, HALT, IRONED, SABERS--sp!-- and began 40A with DIGIT....so, some nice little misdirects. Good thing these FriXion pens have erasers. Didn't we see this constructor recently? ......
@Mean Old Lady Really no CORERS to be found? Then how am I going to reproduce the fantastic wassail we were greeted with for Christmas brunch, especially welcome since we'd walked there on a chilly morning: core apples, fill with spices and bake (so obviously not cored all the way down!); then stew them with cider plus orange and lemon slices. Rum or bourbon optional.
@Mean Old Lady Check ebay for the apple corer. That's where I often find useful things that are no longer being made.
@Mean Old Lady <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6CP1XB?tag=chtrbr334329-20" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6CP1XB?tag=chtrbr334329-20</a>
@Mean Old Lady - I have an OXO good grips apple corer which works quite well- if you google that, it looks like you can order from Macy's for $17- Linda
@Mean Old Lady Interesting. My mom still has her mother's apple corer, and I think that's what you're looking for. It's pointy, and has a wooden handle. I can't find one like it online. I can only wonder at how many pies must have been produced with that thing.
Doubletrouble. My pairofpuzzles got me on a twodaytuesday streak!
Loved the little surprise Happy New Year’s message in today’s Mini! The crosswords, this column, and many of these crossword reflections continue to bring me a daily dose of joy. Thanks to all who make it happen!