I thought it wasn’t possible. But here I am. Sitting here. With the gold star on my screen. I just did a Sunday puzzle without any lookups, hints, help, or even coming to the column. In 31 minutes. AND I guessed the theme all on my own :) I do apologize for gloating but I’m gonna have to pat myself on the back for this one, do a little tooting of my own horn. I’m submitting a screenshot of this in lieu of my homework assignments this week. I feel a thrill, a rush, a newfound vigor. While this was no Thursday/ Friday/ Saturday, soon no puzzle will be safe from me >:) This is merely the beginning. Let this be a beacon of hope to all you crossword newbies out there, young and old, digital or paper users: the day WILL come. Whether it be Monday or Thursday or Saturday or Sunday, your first 100% no help grid awaits Now to retreat back into my corner of crossword obscurity as I continue to thrash through the archives. Have a lovely day, all :)
@DZ Congratulations! No apologies needed in this group as we understand your joy! Love your well-deserved location! Keep up the fun!
@DZ Now that you have reached the top. Plant your gold flag at the summit. Congrats. There is no greater joy in xwords than that first no lookup. ____day feeling. And 31 minutes, to boot. Nice.
@DZ Please don't retreat, your enthusiasm is a ray of light, come back soon!
@DZ "soon no puzzle will be safe from me" Love it! Congrats!
@DZ Congrats! You've given me a "Top of the World" earworm. Question is: Carpenters or Shonen Knife? <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q_benmP9I3o" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q_benmP9I3o</a>
Easy, mostly enjoyable puzzle - thanks! - but I have to read about Elon in the news; do i really need to see him in my puzzle too?
@Roberta: exactly! I finished up in that area and it really dampened my mood
@Roberta I had a dream about seven years ago about ELON. He was my college boyfriend in the dream. I described him to my daughter (I hadn’t seen a photo of him at that point) and she said “Mom, that’s what he looks like!!” Oh, how I wish I could purge that dream from my memory!!!
I could spin a yarn about crochet, but it'd be a bait-and-stitch. (It's still threader than nothing.)
@Mike Only a needling knit picker would be cross.
@Mike Don't you mean baste-and-stitch?
Mike’s the best! Whatever pun you need, he’ll point you in the right direction. Tat’s just the kinda guy he is.
@Mike Next Halloween, when you're bobbin for apples, I'll be having the Scottish-Japanese fusion food MacRamen. And the emus will have purl tapioca.
This puzzle is like my favourite Sunday dinner, pot roast. Not difficult to do, but oh so comforting and delicious.
@Dave S My favorite Sunday dinner is ordering Chinese food. Doesn't get much easier (or comforting) than that
A satisfying aha moment when I realized how ALL TIED UP related to the circled letters. Fabulous clue for NINE LIVES, “The stuff of Persian myths” and the clue for MIMI, “Opera character whose name might be heard in an opera singer's warm-up” gave me a good chuckle. I love that my other favorite pastime, CROSS STITCH, is one of the theme entries along with STRING and THREAD. For me that made the puzzle sew much fun!
I don’t mind what words get used in a puzzle, truly. But I couldn’t help registering my feelings about one of today’s entries: MEH, you again? Source of so much ANGST. EYEROLL. A LESION on our civic life. Would rather have COOTIES. Or THANOS. Or NIXON. Try your ABUSES at the other end of a SPACE TELESCOPE, why don’t you. Sorry my SENTIMENTS are so CATTISH - that’s just how it is.
@Cat Lady Margaret Yeah, I'd much rather visit that university near Greensboro.
My fastest Sunday this year!
My first Sunday that I finished under an hour and I only had to correct one thing — what I thought was ANKLET for AMULET after seeing the crosses!! As a newer solver (less than a year) I get intrigued reading the comments. Some make me chuckle, some I respond to, but recently many have made me feel not part of the typical “solving crowd.” A history of my comments might hint towards that. A solve I felt like was at a great level for me for, say, a Tuesday, or today’s Sunday becomes invalidated when seeing complaints about what “day” a certain difficulty is supposed to be on or how “easy” something is. I get it for all the people who are used to a routine where a certain level of candor or wordplay is expected, but a big part of me remembers that trivia and wording change all the time with different constructors and editors: the more I play, the more this will get easier for me as I figure out patterns, like how this game really endorses OREOS. But also, the more I play, the older and more experienced I’ll get about certain topics that the NYT crossword may or may not discuss or phrases outside of my repertoire. So what if you miss a few, or if a day just doesn’t mesh with your abilities, when it finally instilled confidence to newer people like me?
@AT Well stated! I wholeheartedly concur with you.
@AT I’ve been solving crosswords since college and doing the NYT for about 10 years- congrats on your new record! :) I suspect there are a lot more people like you that read the comments but don’t identify with the main gist of what they’re saying. As you continue, you’ll become more familiar with the clues and get into a groove. You’ll start to be able to differentiate the difficulties on different days- it took me years to get this. I really like printing them out and doing them on paper- no timer and no pressure to finish. It’s more satisfying imo. Best of luck to you :)
@AT This comment thread is full of people who don’t just solve, we then daily pop in to the little gathering in the back room to dissect it and chat about our solving experience. All of us arrived here for the first time, once. I certainly hope that the rhetoric and candor you see does *not* affect what unique perspective you have to add. Some here are newer solvers, asking for help or clarity, some don’t know what day it is until the puzzle is done, because they’ve simply solved for so long! And yes, you’ll get responses that can seem (are) condescending or haughty, but many are also brilliant, technically correct, engaging, thought-provoking, educational, hear-warming, or just grouchy. (The grouches know they’re grouchy.) And if you don’t understand what a thread is about, just ask!
@AT Well said! Keep solving and commenting. This forum is for everybody, not just the "in" crowd that always sits together at lunch (you know who you are!)
@AT A weird thing about this forum is that you have a large (ish) group of people with *hugely* varying levels of crossword-solving skills talking about the same puzzle every day, each from their own perspective. On top of that, there is simply no such thing as an objective/universal difficulty level for a puzzle — every solver brings their own background to the table every day. Point being: please don’t take it as a personal insult when people talk about how they found a given puzzle to be easier than they’d prefer (especially later in the week). You may very well find yourself thinking the exact same thing before you know it! But regardless, there will always be *some* people in the forum who find the current day’s puzzle to be a total breeze, others who found it impossibly hard, and everything in between. And IMO they should all be able to share their own thoughts here. (That said, I do think lots of people are quick to post critical commentary, in which they characterize a subset of clues from a puzzle as *bad*, rather than just saying that they personally struggled with them…and I’d love to see a lot less of that. But hey, that’s just me.)
All right, now… *This* one has *got* to make people happy. I mean, what’s not to love? A theme that doesn’t get you stuck, just beautifully unfolds as you fill in the *perfectly* Wednesday-ish difficulty on a Sunday grid. Amirite? I’m right. Solid, relaxing Sunday. Go Bills!
@CCNY I always appreciate when names can be filled in completely by crosses (especially ones that aren't also names), like in this one.
"Today's theme? Filamentary, my dear Watson!" Et tu, emu.
I was in the zone. Please don’t tell gad about it being too easy. I got a personal record today, and I don’t need to question whether or not I earned it.
I liked that the pairs of words in each theme answer turn on a single letter. It reminded me of that moment in gift wrapping, where I start to tie a ribbon into a knot, and ask someone to press their finger onto what I’ve tied so I can finish it. That single letter uniting the two words in each theme answer evoked that feeling. That brought a "Huh!" and a "Hah!" I also got a kick out of CATTISH, a strange, funny, and likable word to me, just like yesterday’s PANTSED. Plus, joy came as well from a pair of original clues – [Some professions] for VOWS, and [Opera character whose name might be heard in an opera singer’s warmup] for MIMI. Not to mention having an area in the grid that refused to buckle, where I had to solve around it, approach it from a different direction to finally conquer it. My brain loves this kind of work. And, finally, this random theme about tying knots and what they may be tied with. That is so out of the box! Who thinks of that? I love running into things like that. So, your creation took me to a happy place, Jeffrey. Thank you for all the labor you put into this. You brightened my day!
This is obnoxiously pedantic, but we all love trivia so I hope to be forgiven. 35A is correct for Russia, but Bulgaria had a tsar until 1946. The last Tsar of the Bulgarians, Simeon II, was deposed while still a child, but is still alive and even served as prime minister for a time.
@Paul Turner Obnoxiously pedantic - also known as true 🤣
@Paul Turner You're not being pedantic - you're simply correct. Still... "Tsar" is a bit like "America" - a word with a broader meaning used much more narrowly in a typical case. In Poland "papież" (pope) is always understood as John Paul II. If you mean another pope, you have to include his name, e.g. "papież Franciszek" (pope Francis).
This puzzle threaded nicely for me and practically sew-lved itself. There were many names I didn't know, for which I needed the crosses. But intertwined with that, there were a lot of gems which I enjoyed. Thank you, Mr. Martinovic!
"I figured I may as well do something useful and let my mind wander,” said puzzle-maker Jeffrey Martinovic. There is something unusual and beautiful in this statement that led to the creation of today's puzzle.
Being somewhat emoji illiterate today I learned that is the EYEROLL emoji. Loved the kittens photo, Caitlin. And let's hear it for DENIECE Williams. <a href="https://youtu.be/lO3mcWb2nTk?si=iF-9nBukm2d2rhXk" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/lO3mcWb2nTk?si=iF-9nBukm2d2rhXk</a>
@Vaer Fantastic clip! Thanks for sharing.
@Vaer I've often felt the need to use an eyeroll emoji, and then when I figured out how to make it I found the emoji itself to not really express the sentiment. Might just be a difficult emotion to portray with only a few pixels.
What an enjoyably easy Sunday puzzle! I really like my Sundays like today's: very few lookups needed, a theme that does not make the puzzle clue worse. There are few things worse in griddom than a tough, overly complex Sunday that takes an hour of pain to solve (or fail to solve!) Most of my observations today had to do with units: I only know PSI as a tire pressure unit because one of our cars is American. BTU I learned doing NYT puzzles. Also, why was there no abbr. indication in the clue for AMP? I know it's ok to skip that for an AMP in a sound system, but as a unit? Over here AMPere (amper in Polish) is never shortened. But then again, us Poles shorten words very rarely compared to Americans.
@Andrzej Can't speak for North Americans, but in the UK we very rarely (almost never) say AMPere. If you were to ask anyone what the unit of current is, they would almost always say AMP (or AMPs). Ampere probably sounds too French for us 😉
@Andrzej I find that among Americans there is a lot of shortening of words eg a student talks of studying "psych, soc and econ" which in the UK people just don't really do. Repo for repossess has foxed me in crosswords. I wouldn't say OB/GYN as I hear on TV. Yes, I would say the whole words every time!
@Andrzej Americans are always looking for shortcuts. Sometimes, they are even trying to own ones that don't belong to them. Like, the Panama Canal.
My personal preference for a Sunday crossword is a theme (a) that I need to use to solve the puzzle or (b) that has me laughing while solving, or both. The constructor found some words that could be "knotted." I appreciate that, but this was neither (a) or (b) for me. YMMV.
@Barry Ancona I'd add that the revealer was HIDDEN WIRES. Are string, thread, yarn, etc., considered wires? I would think knot.
My only nit was cluing of ASANA at 7D as 'Sitting meditation pose'. ASANA is general term which includes many non-sitting yoga poses (lying down, standing, and many positions which are neither of these), so simply 'Meditation pose' would have been an adequate and less misleading clue. Specifying 'Sitting' suggested one well known sitting pose 'lotus' (A pose that involves literally tying ones legs in a knot!).
@Mike Well, Wikipedia says "An āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,[1] and later extended in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise, to any type of position, adding reclining, standing, inverted, twisting, and balancing poses'. So, this is perhaps a question of historical vs. at least modern day western usage. Given that, I withdraw my 'nit'.
Hidden theme-related content at 74A; SAYS I DO = "Ties the knot." That's all I've got for today.
Loved this one! The theme made for a satisfying "aha!" moment about halfway through the puzzle. Lots of fun cluing, too - loved "Oxford Institution", "Many hit Wonder", and "stuff of Persian myths" in particular. Thanks Jeffrey for a bright start to a gray drizzly Sunday.
I can't believe I have to point this out, but MUST READS are not recommendations. They're not suggestions. They're mandatory. Isn't it self-explanatory? Would you say that "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "Thou shalt not call them octopi" are "recommendations"? No, they are god's commandments! Disobey them at your own peril. Think about it. Do you honestly believe anybody anywhere ever wanted to watch "Veronica's Closet"?!?! Of course not! But it was Must See TV.
@ad absurdum People use this to mean recommendations all the time. Not literalists, but real people.
@ad absurdum And then there are contrarians like me who never read or see must-reads and must-sees 🤣
ad absurdum, It’s true. I haven’t seen Veronica’s Closet yet (or most of the OJ trial), but they say they’re coming round next month to make me do so. (I may see them, but I won’t watch them ;)
"Big first name in American business" aw c'mon! I could have come up with a million better clues. How about "Self-proclaimed free speech absolutist"
One across sums up my feelings about this one: MEH. 🫤
@Mara G Same. There were too many singers and musicians that I had no clue about--although in retrospect the name DENIECE reminded me of one of my favorite Key and Peele sketches.
@Mara G You've got to admit, the constructor takes a big chance hanging that answer out right there at 1A, the first thing most people look at!
A bit harsh. Not the constructor's fault it was selected for Saturday. I thought it a fun romp.
Hear Ye! This is the last announcement for nominations for Puzzle of the Year. Please REPLY to this message with any of your picks from 2024 in the four categories: M-W Thursdays Fri-Sat Sundays Nomination deadline is midnight Sunday the 12th. After which we (Eric Hougland, Cat Lady Margaret and I) will tally and give you a list of the nominations and instructions on voting, which will be in two rounds. All we need is the DATE of the puzzle, the NAME(S) of the constructor(s), and -- optional -- the reasons why it merits a nomination for the best of the year. By the way, editors, Wordplay columnists, and anyone who can get on to this thread -- are all welcome to nominate & to vote.
@john ezra There have been some really excellent ones since I nominated a few! They’re really all so good with me.
Fun puzzle that chugged along nicely. Very few lookups (unusual for me) as the crosses filled in lots of the letters. The theme didn't jump out at me until I'd finished but nay matter, it worked out in the end. PURIST had me stuck for a while, I had PEDANT initially. Similarly, CATLIKE for CATTISH, TRIPSUP for SLIPSUP and SODA for RYES. Special mention to PITCREW, VOWS and TUNE for the excellent wordplay in their clues. It's 3.50am in London and way past my bedtime. 😴
I'm a tad surprised, or maybe annoyed, that the comments on many recent puzzles have seemed like whines about their difficulty, or the obscurity of some of the references. And then when one like this is published - so simple and uninspiring that I end up focusing on time-to-solve, rather than enjoying the experience, people love it. I'll take hard, or creative, any day.
@W johnson You're exaggerating. Much of the ciriticism aimed at the recent puzzles was not whining - on the contrary, many people reasonably explained why they did not enjoy some of those grids. Also, I can see below many people enjoyed this puzzle - I did, too - but I don't see some of the praise that's so commonly heaped upon puzzles on this board. On many days most commenters seem to profess their love to the oh-so-wonderful puzzle. There is none of that today, almost. And there is also the thing that while some people want to "take it hard" any day, others enjoy a more gentle experience, with only some puzzles providing a crunchy challenge: in the NYT's case, those on Friday and Saturday. You appear to be triggered by "whining", I on the other hand do not much enjoy dismissing any criticism of puzzles as whining.
@W johnson I wrote a long reply to you, politely disagreeing, but the "moderators" apparently objected to my post, for reasons beyond my understanding. Bottom line: you exaggerate. Most of the critics of recent puzzles made reasonable arguments, shared by many. Today's puzzle elicited less proclamations of love than usual. And it would really not be cool if *all* puzzles were hard.
@W johnson If you read the comments carefully, you'll notice that a lot of the experienced solvers were underwhelmed, so you are not alone. Personally, I would like a challenging puzzle every day, but I understand the need for the weekly progression. Sundays are usually pretty straightforward, so I wasn't particularly disappointed today. Every once in a while, there's an Art Heist or some other masterpiece to make Sunday a good struggle, but I accept that those will be rare. What bothers me is when my Thursday through Saturday puzzles are not challenging. Three days each week should not be too much to ask for, as far as I'm concerned.
@Andrzej I agree. We have a right to criticise - only by praise & criticism will editors get the feedback required to better perfect the product that we are paying for.
I loved this puzzle and had a great time solving it. I especially loved the fact that I didn't have to Google every third clue, or any of them for that matter. Thank you!
This was clever and entertaining! I started at the bottom, as is my wont, and shortly was staring at CARN/YABLE. I said ALOHA to that and moved on! Not an easy puzzle, but sussing out the different possibilities led to cold coffee and a slow solve. Latin trio? EGO ERGO SUM! Not. PhysicsDaughter participated in MODEL UN in college and loved it--acting for a mostly-Muslim nation (during a fraught period in our nation)--and was voted an MVP (I forget the title, just the looked of joyous surprise on her face.) For most of this puzzle I found zero gimmes! Wow! It was nice to have a perfect solve. Oh, and I found my yesterday's Comment still on the screen of my PC--I never got back there, as I usually check in on this iPad. The "thankyou for your submission" message was there, but I'm pretty sure it never got through, and I'll never know why. For the record, I knew GALBA and KATE SMITH and several other "stumpers"...mostly things I figured would stump people pretty thoroughly. Today the Springerle dough will be rolled out and stamped. A long process. We had rye bread with breakfast--my other Baking Day assignment. Yum!
@Mean Old Lady Ego ergo sum?? Cogito?
2D. Really? Ugh .... How about "North Carolina college" ?
Jack, University (now). Bit based on earlier comments, you're not alone in wanting an alternate clue.
@Jack Perhaps they wanted to give people outside of the US a chance of knowing it?
My grandma had that sewing machine and I used it. Amazing trip down memory lane :)
Nice puzzle, really enjoyed it! You may see a few say they finished the puzzle without bothering to solve for the theme (no problem) but then note they didn't find it challenging enough (ahem....) I respectfully submit that the puzzle isn't fully 'finished' until one has solved for the theme. In the case of this puzzle, as Caitlin comments, the theme was unlikely to help solve any specific clues. Solving for the theme is itself the final clue. Hmm.. all answers filled in correctly, now what is the significance of the circled letters, how do these relate to the relevant clues, and relate back to the puzzle title? Solving for that was one thing that made this puzzle fun. If a solver chooses not to complete the puzzle, that's up to them, but they shouldn't then be complaining that the puzzle wasn't challenging enough.
@CB The theme undoubtedly saved my solve on this one, though that's rare. A little cluster of unknown proper names crossing a video game reference was saved from a lookup by the themed cells giving me enough of a hint to solve PLAYABLE (from the start of YARN and the end of CABLE). After which the other solutions could be picked off.
@CB From the title it was clear knots would be involved, and I actually like them--I was expecting to find bowlines and clove hitches in the circles. Once I saw the trick with THREAD and STRING I was able to go south and fill in CABLE, YARN, CORD and ROPE. So it definitely helped with my solve.
@Oikofuge I got stuck there, thinking the fish was DORa. Three AAAs in a row? And not even talking about batteries?? The theme saved me. Oh yea -- she's DORY!
I did it! Completed a Sunday crossword without needing any hints, tricky clues, or the theme revealer. For a second there, I thought I'd be ALL TIED UP, but the puzzle ended up being pleasantly PLAYABLE. (for all you NFL fans... Go Bills!)
@AK Congratulations! Enjoy your day. And even though I'm mostly a Broncos fan, I'll be rooting for the Bills today too.
I remembered to read the title and got CROSSSTICH and the first theme cross very early, which helped with the other theme crosses. My only goofs were putting SLIPUPS instead of SLIPSUP for a while and not knowing what a CRU was. Once I'd cleaned up that cluster, the rest was completed with ESE. Do I detect some subtle irony with ELON crossing MODELUN? I'd say his recent forays into international relations are a perfect model of what not to do.
The theme made me smile when I figured it out, and while I probably didn’t need it to complete the puzzle, it sped up the SE corner by helping me complete QUEEN OF CARNIVAL. I had been looking for a trick that give me enough room for QUEEN OF BOURBON ST or QUEEN OF MARDI GRAS earlier, and when no tricks were to be had, figured I would need to come back with the crossings. For me, a nice, pleasant, gentle Sunday puzzle, after a long and tiring day!
I was truly thinking about cancelling my subscription (feeling that I was simply too old). The last three days have been great, challenging puzzles. Thankful!
I thought it was a very pleasant Sunday morning puzzle. Thanks.
I often surmise that our initial guesses can reveal a lot about ourselves. In my own experience, yup. My answer to 1D (common first word) was MINE. This will not surprise my husband. It reminds me of the story about CG Jung, where he had a patient of many years who one day said to him, "Dr. Jung, I fooled you!! I made up all those dreams!" and Jung responded, "yes, but YOU made them up."
@AudreyLM I guessed "once", from "Once upon a time", and then "dear" from "Dear Sir/Madam". Not on the right wavelength at all, it seems.
@AudreyLM What bothered me about that clue is that it's wrong. Dada is a much more common first word because it's easier to say. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler
I tell you what, this puzzle was fun from start to finish. Good job Jeffrey! And thanks for working cooties in there! I haven't heard that one for ages.
@Ken LOL on the cooties. That one was cute.
This was a pleasant puzzle overall, which solved rather quickly for me and very smoothly. It's rare for me to not have some tiny error in the big ole Sunday grid, but today I got the gold star right away. I was wondering if the theme was going to be wedding-related somehow because I first had idoS at 43 across, though VOWS still allowed me to keep my theme in mind. And I originally had SAYSyes at 74 across before changing it to SAYSIDO, which is what made me go back and change 43 across... We also had AMO, ALOHA, and LOVETO and even SENTIMENTS to make me feel warm and fuzzy. Anyhow, I'll just let it be a little mini romantic theme in my head for the I Think Knot theme and what(k)not. I particularly enjoyed the clue for NINELIVES at 107 across. I'm grateful that puzzles typically give me a complete respite from the ANGST of current events and other life difficulties. There were a few non warm and fuzzy things in this one that jarred me out of puzzle mode into unhappily thinking of current events but I know that the puzzles are done in advance and they can't predict what will come or when so I don't fault anyone. All I can say is, to better days! 🍸
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Where was I? Oh yeah - a tough one for me and of course had to cheat some to get through it. And... must confess that I never really caught on to the theme while I was solving. Apparently I'm not alone in that. No big deal. And... a somewhat appropriate puzzle find today. A Thursday from November 17, 2011 by Patrick Merrell. This one was in the clues. Here are some clue/answer examples, starting with the 'reveal': "Stronger title" for this puzzle LETTERSORTING And some other theme clues and answers: "Duplex mail" ALLMIXEDUP "Roof detour" OUTOFORDER "Rear garden" REARRANGED "Mad manager" ANAGRAMMED Had to furrow my brow before it all finally dawned on me. And then my jaw dropped. That was just... truly amazing. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/17/2011&g=26&d=A" target="_blank">https://xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/17/2011&g=26&d=A</a> I'm done. ...
Really enjoyed this one. Only a few obscure trivia to look up. Lots to actually solve.
Great puzzle! FWIW, LOVE TO makes sooooo much more sense than NO VETO. Got a little tied up on that one, and I also wondered what the English had against currency. Happy Sunday!
Terrific puzzle. Completely satisfying and with many clues that brought a smile to my face when I figured out the wordplay. I was able to solve with no lookups even of the Names I'd never heard of. That's not really a brag, (I often and without shame look up names if I'm stuck) but a compliment on the construction which allowed for me to compete it based on general knowledge. Congratulations to the constructor.
@Joshua Wilson Completely agree! I didn't have to look up anything either, and there's puzzles where I need to look up almost everything - and I do! (It's a learning experience!) So it was nice to finish one without ever closing the app to open Google, and I got the theme quite early on. Very pleased with myself.
Fortunately I reviewed my entire grid before filling my final square, or I would have lost another (short) streak. Apparently the Saxons were never at odds with the Melts. Changed SUREMAN to SURECAN and *then* filled in the A that I had reserved for last in the NE corner. Happy music, and just over 30 minutes. An impressive construction, especially so the triple of NOSETOTAIL, GROWTHRING, SENTIMENTS all nicely tied in---see what I did there---with the best of the three thematic "knots". Liked "Oxford institution, familiarly" for OLEMISS. More of a MEH for CATTISH. Didn't actually find the theme that interesting, but there were *a lot* of thematic elements in the grid, and I appreciate the skill needed to create a puzzle like this one. The left-right symmetry was visually pleasant as well.
hands up if you had OLDER in need of a massage.
RozzieGrandma, Hands down if you’re even older, and sorer, and need the massage before you can lift both hands. :)
@RozzieGrandma IMO almost everybody needs a massage, but it takes wisdom that comes with age to realize that is the case. I discovered physiotherapy in my 40s and it has been a literal life changer. I had no idea all those aches and pains I had been feeling for decades were something one could do away with, with proper physiotherapy and exercise. My father realized that at 74 🤣
This unraveled quickly for me - 25 minutes faster than my average. Clever theme, clues and answers. I laughed when I filled in SAYS I DO because it ties the knot v untie the theme answers. Very clever indeed. Thank you, Jeffrey, for putting a smile on my face this morning. Well done on your solo Sunday!!
Feline=cattish........does that mean canine=dogish? Asking for a friend.