In tonight’s category of Word Immediately Supplied by Brain That Is Almost Certainly Wrong But Hey It Could Be Right: “they act as one” = BLOBS
@Cat Lady Margaret i entered that, and immediately had an earworm from Merrily We Roll Along.
@Cat Lady Margaret Believe it or not, my mind actually went in that direction at first too!!!
"Do you use Word?" "I Excel at it!" ("That's a positive Outlook.")
@Mike I could write Pages about this one.
@Mike we need to talk about your behaviour. These puns are letting your Teams down. Please see me in my Office.
@Mike Great post! I'm looking forward to getting Access to your next!
Proper Saturday for me, where I come in full of vinegar, grind to a halt, shift to zen mode, where I stop thinking hard, give the brain legroom to make connections, and wait for things to pop out, and spread. Where I go from headstrong to humble to hope to happy. A clue set rich with vagueness, a McCarty specialty, plus, six no-knows for me, creating a worthy climb. A hard workout with tangly riddles, which my brain hungers for on Saturday. The star to me was that stagger-stack of seven nine-letter horizontal answers staring out from the middle. It is so difficult just to fill a chunk like this, trust me, but here it’s loaded with beautiful never- or hardly-ever used NYT answers such as GAME BOOTH, NAKED LIES, LAPEL MICS, COMECLEAN, DATE BREAD, CARAMEL LATTES, and KATE SMITH. That is art and that is wow. I loved PANTSED, which I’ve never heard of, but I simply love that it exists in our so-interesting and unpredictable language. And nerdy me was pleased to see a rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilap (STEED). Thank you, Ryan, for once again presenting a thorny jewel to conquer, for getting my synapses firing full tilt. This was one terrific beast.
Memorable moment: Filling in KATE SMITH and hearing her voice crystal clear in my head for the first time in, I'm guessing, decades. Yes, she was singing "God Bless America". Reprises like this are one of Crosslandia's great gifts.
@Lewis I was confused by PANTSED, because my recollection of that prank was that the briefs were supposed to stay on. Otherwise, you get a face full of naked hiney. The crossing of FOREST/FIRE was unfortunate.
@Lewis The Philadelphia Flyers’ good luck charm. They had a great record when she sung God Bless America before a game (taped or sometimes live). And they could use her these days….
Well, that took a few minutes. I needed some time to get on Ryan's wavelength, but the clues were fair, and the answers, when uncovered, were reasonable. I found this to be a pleasant Saturday puzzle.
13A "Cost-efficient" is the wrong clue for ECONOMIC. The proper answer for that clue would be ECONOMICAL. Economic refers to matters related to trade, industry, or money, such as economic policy or economic growth.
@West Coast Reader You're about to be swatted with a dictionary, my friend.
@West Coast Reader Gotta say, I cringed a bit at the lack of the “-al”— to the extent that I wondered if ECONOMIC was even the right answer. I have seen it used this way, I guess— but it sounds so wrong!
@West Coast Reader I put this in the Unnecessarily and Intentionally Misleading category. I've never heard economic used this way - doesn't make it wrong but....In light of the otherwise brilliant clueing in the puzzle it was kindasorta glaring
Excellent puzzle with a wealth of debuts or just one-time previous appearances. That staircase stack of seven 9-letter entries is awesome. Nice clue for LAPEL MICS, "Attachments for speakers". Thanks, Ryan, and congratulations on your 25th Saturday.
If you solved this one without lookups, you are an elite solver, ne plus ultra. Take a bow.
@Laura Stratton This very much NON-elite solver here is just pleased that I only needed 15 cheats and not 30 cheats! Rather pleasant for a Saturday, which can often be brutal slogs.
@Laura Stratton My wife and I do Thursday-Sunday together. That feels less like cheating than resorting to Google. And solving a challenging puzzle like today’s is still very satisfying.
@Laura Stratton I told my spouse I wouldn’t be staying up to finish this one and then to my shock I did. A few lucky guesses and help from other squares. I mean, Galba?!?
@Laura Stratton ...or a lucky one! Took quite a bit of guessing in the NE and SW but somehow kept the streak alive!
@Laura Stratton /bows I was stuck in the NE and SW for a bit--but still finished in a surprisingly quick (for me!) 22:41. I guess this one was in my wheelhouse. For example, KATESMITH was a gimme (although I never heard her on the radio, to my knowledge). And, my guesses were fairly lucky today.
@Laura Stratton Steve L recently told us he has solved over 30,000 in a row without any help, and it's not bragging.
For 47A [Well, that works!], I had the SU. I immediately put in SUMP PUMP. It obvs (or is it obvi) didn't last that long, but it seemed quite right at the time, as you have to put a sump pump into a little well for it to work, er, well.
For a long time, I had HRC for 8D.
@Derek Ledbetter yes! One of many intentional confusers, I think.
@Derek Ledbetter oops! Ya been Ginsburned
@Derek Ledbetter Me too. Didn't remember her doing RBG.
I had no idea there was a single verb to use for the age-old prank of pulling somebody's pants down (my mother loved to pull that on my father. It was hilarious, given their quite serious professional personas). There is only a longer descriptive way to talk about it in Polish. Also, I did not parse "Open for drinks" correctly. Thus, I ended up having to guess the letter on the crossing of TA_ and _ANTSED. P made most sense and turned out to be correct. Then I realized the TAP clue had to do with tapping a barrel. Other than that I needed several lookups for some of the trivia. I enjoyed the puzzle overall though.
@Andrzej LOL @ your mom! A water faucet is commonly called a tap in the US.
@TMD Yes, it does, but this is of course a beer tap. And @Andrzej is right, it’s from tapping a barrel or other container of liquid.
@Andrzej Before I realized I was going to need PANTSED, I thought the 32A clue, [Open for drinks], clued "tab". When you order a round of drinks for the first time at a bar, don't you open one of those? (Of course, TAP is a verb here, and that's what you need, and "tab" isn't used as a verb.) (He asks naively, since he doesn't go to bars.)
@Andrzej when I saw PANTSED I smiled, and then immediately wondered what you'd make of it. ;)
Obscure and annoying puzzle. Tried to enjoy it but a little too niche for me.
@Mrs. Walsh I agree. I dislike puzzles the contain overlay obscure factoids to purposely show how smart the author thinks they are.
@Mrs. Walsh It's a Saturday puzzle. It's supposed to be challenging.
I am completely humbled. Over a half hour in, I was still staring at a mostly blank grid and could count the entries I was reasonably confident of on one hand. Interestingly, what finally broke it open for me was trying out two little words I didn't really think were right, PIE at 7D and RAD at 20A, just to shake up the old thought processes a tad. Those led to taking out most everything I had in that quadrant, which then quickly fell, then everything else fell, and I completed the rest of the puzzle in about half the time I'd sat staring. Can't believe I made it through with no lookups. Came very, very close, my finger itched for the search bar. For 40A, I kept thinking of the DOT as a staccato mark and came here looking for complaints. Don't have time to read through to see, but finally sheepishly realized it meant a dot _beside_ the note. Ryan, next time I see your name, I'll meditate first, and maybe drink an extra cup of coffee.
@Lynn My Puzzle Mania arrived yesterday! But I have to recover from today's outing first. (Thanks, Ryan.)
At the risk of jinxing myself, or of being accused of bragging or humblebragging, or some other unnecessary harshing of my buzz, today my streak reached 731. Counting the leap day in 2024, this means I hit the two-year mark. I never hit the one-year mark in the past, because I would travel or get involved in work stuff or for som other reason miss a day. Then... someone told me that if you still competed the puzzles in red when you miss a day or two, your streak would remain intact. Thank you to whoever told me this. Also, curses to you for telling me this, because I didn't really care about my streak until you did so! Coises, I say! Coises to whoever it was! On a tangentially related note: I never solve for time, or at least I didn't until my niece started solving the puzzles. I always preferred to savor a puzzle rather than rush through it. But she likes to compare times, so now, I worry more about the time than I should. Fortunately, my niece is a novice solver and her times are quite low, but she is getting better and faster at solving and has beat me at a few of the minis recently. Given enough time, her speed will increase to the point where I will feel pressed to hurry along. Maybe I should just concede to her at that point...
CaptainQuahog, 731 thumbs up, and wishes for many more! Way past my stick-to-it-iveness levels. I note you stopped just short of coises to nieces - sign of a good uncle :)
@CaptainQuahog Congratulations! Quite an achievement! I like your idea of just conceding to your niece. Who needs time pressure? All I have to do to slow myself down is think "I really need to pick up my speed".
At the nexus of 41 we find "Forest" and "fire," bringing to mind the terror in Los Angeles. I imagine that many solvers are like me, using the crossword in part as a place to get away from the world's harsh realities. Certainly the editors steer away from controversy and calamity, and that seems right to me. But the real world is real, and will make itself known. Let us note its unintended appearance here, turn a kind thought toward others in need, and perhaps send some aid, and finish solving the puzzles. All the puzzles.
@Asher B. I had the same thought, and my heart sank in the midst of the fun I was having while solving, which is one of my little escapes from harsh reality.
As the father of two boys who play D&D, I object to the term “nerd speak,” which feels like an engrained cultural bullying. D&D requires creative, social interaction that is quite vulnerable (and remarkable). I don’t want them being shamed as “nerds” for enjoying meeting with friends and engaging in such a wonderful activity.
@Jake I'm sorry to hear that "nerd" is still considered an insult. I most often hear it used as a term of pride these days, but guess that isn't universally the case.
That was an incredibly tough puzzle. If I was live streaming the solve. The video would be 1 hour, 19 minutes long. And there would be a lot of time with no action. There was a lot of faith required in this puzzle. Putting in unsure long crosses just to connect to other parts of this “5 grids in one”. But I’m a better man for golding this bad boy. Very proud of myself tbh. Ryan McCarty. You’ve made me a better solver. Later bro.
LION? COMECLEAN. Anyone else notice that SURECURE for a guilty conscience? (Or the Emperor’s naked lies, after clearly being pantsed?) An entertaining, well-clued puzzle, I thought.
My first reaction was hopelessness, since none of the proper nouns were clicking and I don’t allow myself any lookups. But, in the end, I solved this one unaided, though it took about 45 minutes. INDUS and OCEANIA popped into my head, and soon the NW was done. ADASTRA and YORICK got me going, and soon the SE fell too. But it took me a long time to get started with the SW-center-NE portion of the grid. NUMETAL and its clue echoed a very recent Connections. Had it not, that entry would have been yet another unknown. But with that one in place, things started to yield, including all the names that were ciphers before. Didn’t know GALBA, and PANTSED is certainly odd, but the crosses led me to both. A very challenging puzzle for me, which is what I expect on a Saturday.
@Xword Junkie, Very similar solve for me (including the challenge of getting so many proper names without lookups).
one of my favourite saturdays in a while!! tricky but not convoluted - perfect.
At first pass I had nothing. I decided to try it anyway, and little by little, the fills started to cross, first in the NE corner, then the SE, on to the NW, taped the keys for PENCILS, and I was POWERedUP. Figured out almost all of the SW, but there were two squares that would not cooperate. Finally I googled a couple of words and found my mistake. Very satisfying, and I'm so glad I didn't miss that small rush of triumph when it was done. A handsome construction—the elegant stairways and the clever clues were worth the strain on my tired brain. Thanks, Ryan McCarty. Now I'm off to bed. LATERBRO
Good morning ☀️ Remember Charlie from Flowers for Algernon? Like him, I had a brief moment (yesterday) of feeling like a genius. Today I’m just Charlie. This Saturday puzzle was appropriately difficult. Yet, I always get fooled into thinking my solving skills have improved. If they have, it’s marginally. Having grown up in the south, AZALEAS brought back memories of my mother’s obsession with them. She also had our yard dripping with Wisteria and Magnolias. Imagine the sweet fragrance that was my childhood. The cross of FEMINISTS and DOMEDROOF really, really helped. CARAMELLATTES and CAPECOD sealed the middle section. I didn’t like NAKEDLIES after that BOLDFACED lie situation. It felt like an editing prank (sorry Will!). At least I wasn’t PANTSED. When I taught middle school, that was an actual problem for our faculty. It seems kind of quaint now. Looking forward to Sunday’s challenge already 😊 Boa fim semana, os meus amigos (helping us learn Portuguese)
@Pani Korunova Knowing Spanish already, I can figure out 90% of written Portuguese. However, that doesn't translate to understanding the spoken language, which doesn't sound anything like Spanish. When I was in Portugal last summer, I realized Portuguese is the language that looks like Spanish and sounds like Russian.
@Pani Korunova I bet you have improved! Puzzle difficulty varies even on the same day, and especially as things get trickier even equally skilled solvers experience different levels of struggle on the same puzzle. Being on (or decidedly off) the constructors wavelength is a real thing. I give myself credit for getting better even though sometimes the end of the week puzzles take me longer than others!
@Pani Korunova If I may humbly step in, not to call you out but truly just to help you learn. Bom fim de semana, meus amigos Or Bom fim de semana aos meus amigos. Granted, there are definitely differences between Portuguese from Portugal and that from Brazil, but I believe this sentence would be the same. Bom fim de semana para você também! 💕
Loved it. I’ve been wishing the NYT would Make Saturdays Challenging Again and this one delivered! Very little came easily, but chew on it for a while and the squares slowly start to reveal themselves. More like this, please.
To add to the cheekiness... who else remembers this from their youth, to the tune of "Habanera"? Toreadora, Don't spit on the floor-a! Use the cuspidor-a; Whaddya think it's for-a?
@RozzieGrandma The version I'm familiar with don't have all the A's at the ends of the lines. And it ends, "that is what it's for".
@RozzieGrandma Well, that's how I remember it from The Muppet Show. Beverly Sills was the guest star that evening.
On my first pass across and down, using Autocheck, I ended up with just 18A, 40A, 33D, 38, 41D, 43D, 45D, then 44A from crosses. I had a bunch of S's for probable plurals or third-person verbs, and a few first letters where Autocheck told me the first letter or two of my wrong guesses had been right. Then back for another pass. Final S at 23A gave that one away. I guessed the last five letters of 24A this time. Many passes later I had everything filled in except the letter where 37A and 37D meet. I went to the column and found that quickly, but so much of this puzzle would been easy up to two or three years ago!
Bart, It's great to see you still taking on a Saturday ... and offering a positive and coherent report on the adventure. I hope I'll be able to do that well -- if at all -- at your age.
Wow. That was hard. But the usual step away, step back process prevailed. It always does! And yet I always doubt it after the first three or four mostly unfruitful forays across the grid. A few words were unfamiliar but I got them with the crosses. If I did this, so can you. Very satisfying Saturday, thank you Ryan.
I thought I was a good solver, with many long streaks. But this puzzle put me in my place. Couldn't even solve half of it.
@Laura Stratton Sincerely: thank you so much for this comment 🫶 I really wish more solvers would be quick to interpret rough solving as experiences reflective of their own skill level, rather than labeling the puzzle “a slog”, complaining about there being “too much trivia”, insulting the constructor (“trying to show off how smart they are”), etc.
@Laura Stratton Mama said there'll be days like this There'll be days like this, Mama said (Mama said, Mama said) Mama said there'll be days like this There'll be days like this, my mama said (Mama said, Mama said) <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=L842mz-tNBQ" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/watch?v=L842mz-tNBQ</a> and then there are good days When you don't need an answer there'll be days like this When you don't meet a chancer there'll be days like this When all the parts of the puzzle start to look like they fit it Then I must remember there'll be days like this There'll be days like this <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=YBv1aOawCBg" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/watch?v=YBv1aOawCBg</a>
A beautiful Saturday puzzle. Challenging, at first baffling, but slowly giving up its secrets (and misdirects). And a beautiful shape, with that stack of seven niners. It made me forget that the NW and SE were secluded into difficult Minis (a feature that I usually dislike). A hat tip to the folks at Connections, who tipped us off to the misspellings of Nu Metal band names in preparation for this puzzle. And we got NAKED LIES to add to the BOLD-FACED, bald-faced, bare-faced controversy. Great job, Ryan McCarty!
@The X-Phile, that (31D) was my first toehold, thanks to Connections this week! Had never heard the term before (but got purple because I spotted the bands), but I immediately filled it in today with a smile.
‘Alas, poor Yorick, I am not a soliloquy, I am a monologue’. A very, very tough grid. Two unknown names crossing didn’t help. As for PANTSED. Good grief.
@Helen Wright Pantsed irritated me as well. Right now, as I compose this message, pantsed appears with the NYT red wavy lines suggesting alternatives. That's too funny. Regards from across the pond. :)
This was a shockingly fast solve for me. I didn’t think the puzzle was particularly easy but everything just clicked for me. My only minor setback was spelling JAKOB with a C instead of a K and briefly wondering if there was a lone rebus to allow me to enter baldfacedlies instead of NAKEDLIES. A propos of yesterday’s discussion, I did admire the grid design, although I thought at first it might be a trap with two very closed off sections. I mostly worked it counterclockwise from the SE to the SW, with the middle falling into place last. There was quite a bit musical span in this puzzle from Georges BIZET to KATESMITH to Limp Bizkit. KATESMITH has a special Philadelphia connection because for many years her version of God Bless America was a good luck anthem for the Flyers, and they even erected a statue of her outside the arena. The club later took down the statue and stopped playing her version of the song when it came to light that she had sung songs with racist lyrics.
@Marshall Walthew Good luck charm indeed. Wiki tells me that the Flyers’ record was 100 W, 29L, and 5T when that song was played or sung live by her before games. A special one was at the Spectrum at game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Bruins in 1974. It is said that Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito tried to jinx that by shaking her hand afterwards, but the Flyers still won. For many years, this was also played during the 7th inning stretch at Yankee Stadium ( our Warsaw friend may not know about that). Here’s a clip of the 1974 surprise live appearance , including the famous handshakes: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/bddxjzch" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/bddxjzch</a>
Per ardua AD ASTRA indeed: Such is the experience of a satisfying Saturday puzzle. Thanks, Ryan.
@Sam Lyons Or in Gouda, NL or Kansas, USA, Ad Astra per Aspera. Or even better, Ad Astra per Alia (sic) Porci , per John Steinbeck.
Cannot wait to tell my crossword-pal brother the singer we loved to hate as kids appeared like a recurring nightmare in today’s puzzle.
@Lisa Hate KATE SMITH? That's positively un-American!
@Steve L our poor mom - she had one of Smith’s albums with GBA on it and we mocked it relentlessly. Otherwise she had great taste in music and we were exposed to all sorts as she always had something spinning on the record player to accompany her housework. She loved most of our music too, with the incomprehensible exception of Aretha Franklin.
Tough one for me. Probably cheated more than I should allow, but managed to slog through it. Very unusual puzzle find today, inspired by YORICK. Wondered about "ALASPOORYORICK" and did some roundabout searches. Nope - never been in a puzzle, but the YORICK search did lead me to a Sunday puzzle from April 8, 1990 by Ernst Theimer with the title: "Sounding off in the USA." The clue and answer that got me there: "The skull reminded Hamlet that he ___ :" KNEWYORICK And a couple of other clue/answer examples: "Proper pistol handling" GUNETIQUETTE "Card game simple," says king of Siam : LOOEASYANNA And some other theme answers: MESSYCHEWSETS ROADAISLEHAND And there were more. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/8/1990&g=27&d=A" target="_blank">https://xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/8/1990&g=27&d=A</a> I'm done. .....
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, what the heck - one more puzzle find. A Thursday from May 17, 2001 by David J. Kahn. The reveal clue and answer: "Coxcombs (and a hint to solving this puzzle) :" POPINJAYS And a couple of theme clue and answer examples: "Swedish tennis star's favorite movie?" BJORNFREE "Vehicle for touring Scandinavia?" FJORDEXPLORER And some other theme answers: CELINEDIJON MOJOSHUPORK Here's the Xword info link: <a href="https://xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/17/2001&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/17/2001&g=17&d=A</a> I'm done (again). ....
@Rich in Atlanta In view of the subsequent horrific event in my town of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, that “Proper pistol handling” clue seems so tragically ironic.
I haven’t made it all the way through the comments yet, but I guess few if any others were bothered by ECONOMIC for “cost-efficient” as opposed to economical. But hey, I suppose you can stretch it to that sense of the word. Otherwise, I loved this puzzle. Every area required test answers, erasing, little toeholds, and nice epiphanies when the right answer was revealed. A great Saturday workout!
@Michael R - Yes, ECONOMIC hit me as kind of clunky, too, but I usually figure if the clue leads me to the right answer, they must be a good match.
@Michael R I discarded ECONOMICAL because it wouldn’t fit and thought I was on the wrong track. I grimaced ever so slightly at ECONOMIC but I’m firmly in the “it’s just a puzzle and meant to be fun” camp and moved on. Agreed: it was a “great Saturday workout!”
That "pride march" had me going in a queer direction. Excellent clue.
Well, *that* was yummy! Like if a Saturday themeless was a melodic jingle! 🎶 NERDSPEAK is my native tongue! Add KATE SMITH, BABY YODA CARAMELLATTE PANTSED and RBG? Take my money! LATER BRO!😎
@CCNY But what is RBG? Mysteries uncovered - CAPE COD is a house, LATER BRO has a link to saying “Peace” (how?), GAMEBOOTH is at fairs, and even now I STILL react with a “Ewww no!” at something like PANTSDOWN (=underpants). Posh people used to say “de-bagging” (Oxford bag trousers). Otherwise, had to also look up some history and geography and singers/athletes. And SAC FLU
@CCNY “Pantsed” made me laugh out loud.
I needed a few assists for this one, and then it was fun. I thought I had a toehold when I entered copse for 18A (clearing), and then got HRC for the role for Kate McKinnon. Eventually cleared that up when I realized the answer was GLADE, and that copse was actually the opposite of a clearing. I do that frequently -- learn a word along with its opposite meaning. Maybe there's a name for that condition.
@Esmerelda I do that, too, sometimes. In this case, I do know the meanings of copse and glade, but copse came to mind first anyway, because it was in the puzzle recently. Their meanings may be opposite but they are both in the same vocabulary niche, words I most often see in stories in forest settings. Robin Hood, fairy tales, fantasy. If I worked in forestry, horticulture, or land preservation, then the words wouldn't be stuck off in that little niche. and they wouldn't be lumped together in my mind.
Congrats to anyone non-US who solved 8D from the clue rather than three crosses or just Googling (and that wasn't straightforward!) ... but I might not believe you.
@Steve Any SNL clue = instant Google for me. Duh. However, today I would have probably got the clue with one or two crosses, too.
@Steve it’s easier if you happen to follow a lot of 44As!
@Steve I did, but I've subtitled a lot of SNL. It is broadcast in the UK (or I wouldn't be working on it), but I don't think many people watch it at all. Most of the humour doesn't really seem to translate.
@Steve once you know Bizet, which was a gimme for me. RBG was the only famous American I could think of with a B as the second of three letters
@Sam It doesn't even translate very well iin Canada. Very spotty writing, after the early seasons.
@Steve I had HRC for the longest time, but then figured out GLADE and it all clicked. I care way too much about American politics than is reasonable however.
@Andrzej I got 8D with one letter in. I've done a lot of the crossword archive so have developed a familiarity with SNL. Had to Google 17D though...
The only thing that came to me during the first pass was AD ASTRA. After many more passes and just a couple more answers, I threw in the towel on this one. I suppose I should have know KATE SMITH, but I only remembered her from the Ed Sullivan show. Even radio was before my time. Really surprised that the first comment called this a "light and breezy" Saturday. My mileage sure varied. May have been the hardest Saturday puzzle I've ever encountered.
@Times Rita I thought it was quite a challenge. Nothing breezy about my solve. It came letter by agonizing letter.
Finally! A use for that MA in Late Antiquity.
Fun puzzle that was fairly challenging for me but not grueling. My time came in around 38 minutes with no look ups. By the way, I sometimes mention my time so the constructor can see how long it took for a doofus like me. I have truble spellling and don't watch TV or go to the movies. Likewise, I'm ignorant of most authors writing after Saul Bellow and John Updike. Luckily, I know some Spanish, play video games, and studied linguistics for several years.
@Renegator A 38 minute solve for a Saturday doesn't sound like the time of a "doofus". I was several times that long, and I was sorta proud.
Tough puzzle. IMHO, names shouldn't cross with names, on principal, but they weren't hard to discern here. The clueing was fine, but nothing standout for me. 7.5/10
This pub quiz version of the puzzle is just not particularly interesting. Too much trivia
"God Bless America". This is not a MAGA thought, but the memory that flooded my brain, when I figured out the answer to 17-Down about the "First Lady of Radio." My only recollection of KATE SMITH is her singing that song, at the beginning of Philadelphia Flyers' hockey games. The legend was that when Kate sang, the Flyers couldn't lose. She was their secret weapon. Ah, the twists and turns of memory!
@The X-Phile I always heard Kate Smith referred to as “the Songbird of the South”.
@The X-Phile Sadly, Kate Smith did not survive cancel-mania. (H/T Marshall) It turns out that she sang a few songs that were popular in the 1930s, but would be racially insensitive today. The Flyers took down her statue in 2019.
Fun and challenging. Some answers were arrived at solely through crosses (GALBA?); others fell into place with just a couple letters; many more took some work. All told though, I managed to finish almost 15 min faster than my average for a Saturday. I'm also proud to say I've stopped using lookups, which I believe has helped me improve my average times over the past two weeks.
@Steve yes! when i did that a few years ago, my solving ability improved dramatically. trusting oneself...and not rushing... is the key!
@Steve I don't post here often but I'd like some clarification. What exactly is a "look-up"? Googling the definition? Asking a conveniently located friend or relative? Using the Check feature? This one took me about 25 mins but with the Check feature invoked several times...sigh.
Since the App has no support - it sends you to the NYT News side - I’ll put it here in hopes that someone at the App side reads these. If I want to see a puzzle I’ve completed wouldn’t you think I’d click on that day’s puzzle? Thats from a list of puzzles that displays whether the puzzle is complete, how long it took and whether the streak is intact. So I click on the puzzle. Do I see the puzzle? No. I get a screen that has NO new information but does have another button to see the puzzle. So I click on that. Do I see the puzzle? No. I get a screen with Stats about the puzzle. There’s a STATS selection from the first screen to get me to this information if that’s what I wanted to see. Clearly I don’t since I didn’t select that from the main screen. I don’t need to see CONGRATULATIONS YOU FINISHED THE PUZZLE. I knew that from the first screen. Duh. So I close this second completely useless screen to get to the puzzle. And every puzzle that I want to see I have to do this. Is hitting three buttons instead of one a major drag on my life? No. But it is indicative of the NYT not paying any attention to their users. Which brings me back to why this comment is here. The NYT Games app has a FEEDBACK choice but it takes you to the News side of the business. Really? Love your games. Hate your app.
I found this a tough puzzle, though not exceptionally so for a Saturday. Luckily, there was enough familiar stuff in the NE (BIZET) and SE (CONAN, YORICK, ADASTRA) for me to gain a decent toehold. KATESMITH for some solvers must be as obscure as NUMETAL is to me, but I was lucky to know 17 D off the bat, and that opened up the center. I don’t remember Ms. Smith from radio, but the Kate Smith Hour was a fixture of 1950s afternoon TV. I thought placing the contralto singer at right angles to the composer of the “Habanera” was apt in a perverse sort of way. Smith’s rich, low-register voice would have been ideal for the part of Carmen, though her body type was all wrong for the role and seduction was hardly her thing. Smith radiated a ma-and-apple-PIE wholesomeness, and her repertoire was as much God and Country as romance. In her day, she was almost as much a patriotic icon as 24D. If you think that popular entertainers have gotten involved in culture-war issues only recently, consider that she campaigned vigorously against releasing the noir film “Double Indemnity” (which apparently boosted its box office). On the other hand, pre-Vegas Liberace was a regular on her show, playing Liszt and Chopin under the signature candelabra.
@Fidelio For me the South West corner was my entry! FEMIINISTS through crosses and then I was off and happy! BIZET didn't unlock clues the same way!
@Fidelio thank you for a tour down your Memory Lane!
@Fidelio Kate Smith is one of my favorites. I used to be in a boys choir and I appreciate singers who actually sing on key. It's actually painful when they don't.
I'll try again. Before any other comments were up, I wrote one that made note of the fact that today, the LIES are not barefaced, bold-faced or bald-faced. But apparently someone didn't like the word that they were, as stated in 31A, so I won't mention that word, which is a lot like barefaced, but even more so...
@Steve L I think I understand what you are saying, and if so, that'd be the a great example of timidity of the NYT, in the face of truth vs lies. We have one major news outlet and several spinoffs that are essentially nothing but lies. This has rent the country in two, and will ultimately be the cause of its demise, probably sooner rather than later.