So: one Spice Girl reference is a blip. Two is a pattern. Throw in WHAM and you have a deliberate attempt at torture against the Geneva convention. Also, is it my imagination or did we just have Michael CERA and MAO clued exactly the same way in recent puzzles? Thought the editors would mix it up a bit. Finally, a funny bit of trivia, CLEAVE is a word that can mean it’s opposite. Nothing really against this puzzle by the way although it was a bit trivial proper noun heavy for a Tuesday.
@SP I thought it was a bit hard for a Tuesday, too. But I'm sure most will love it.
@SP I thought it was just me . Too many naticks. I had BECAME and AH for the longest time - don't know the song , and don't care to know it . Enough already .
@SP Yeah, about CLEAVE. Sily me, I thought it meant "to bind to," but my husband went with the meaning in today's puzzle. He's my EX. And I hear he stuck to that definition with the following two wives. Not to be harsh, but that did make me smile.
@SP I think the back to back clues are intentional. I notice pairs like this all the time.
@SP MAO, CERA and KOI in multiple puzzles over the last week annoyed me. Seemingly more obscure but perhaps they’re becoming regulars like OREO and ERR?
Spent over half my time trying to find the single square that was wrong, which would up being the cross of 1A and 3D. Look, I’m not saying ScARF is the only valid dictionary word, and as a non-military guy, I know that all the things I imagined “cCO” stood for were probably wrong ([Chief/Central/etc] Commanding Officer) compared to the more well known NCO. All I’m saying is that I will never think of the word “SNARF” in any context but the Thundercats.
@Stephen Thanks for ending my miserable hunt for the wrong square. I was also stuck on CCO instead of NCO. SNARF never even occurred to me!
@Naud count me as another person stumped by ScARF/cCO!
@Stephen I went through & checked all my acrosses & downs 3 times before giving up & checking puzzle to reveal the incorrect C for N. CCO was a military acronym when I googled it, so it never occurred to me that SCARF was incorrect!
Loved this, not only for the two Spice Girls entries, but because it's the first NYT crossword that I've genuinely not had to look up one of the answers... yes, that included Monday crosswords as well. YOUHAVENOIDEA how relieved I am to hit this milestone. Thanks, Mr Caprera!!
@Sebastian Congratulations! An important milestone, indeed.
Hmm 🤔 I just saw MAO, OMELETTE, CERA and KOI within a week. Why does this happen (seriously)? I only know Posh (because of her hubby) and Mel B. Other Spice Girls are a mystery. As of today I can name one song: 2 BECOME 1. Did I miss much? Speaking of missing, I sure do miss George Michael of WHAM. He was a crush during my early teen years. I didn’t care that he’d never be interested in me, lol. I’m looking forward to Carnival again this year. The one in my town is said to be the best in Portugal. It’s so much fun 🤩 💃🏾 🎉. OHYOUHAVENOIDEA about the goings on! Then, we sober up and get serious with LENT. Bom terça-feira!
@Pani Korunova Repeats of recent clues and answers are a gift to regular solvers. Lagniappe! Like frequent flyer miles. Enjoy them. Not sure if you missed much on the Spice Girls, I don't know much about them either. They were a huge pop phenomenon, especially in England, so they are prime puzzle fodder. With crossword-friendly names, short with common letters.
Cool moment: I tried to guess the revealer after leaving it empty, couldn’t think of what the circled animals had in common, and as I sat in blankness, my eyes rested on OH YOU HAVE NO IDEA and it felt like the puzzle was saying “Gotcha!” Never had that happen before! Also – and I liked this – the puzzle felt like an echo chamber. BARKS echoing yesterday’s dog puzzle. ASP, EWE, DOE, KOI, and even NOAH echoing the faunal theme. And TARTAR echoing the theme by doubling up on a notorious scavenger when read backward. By the way, this theme uses 61 squares, and that’s a tough build. Bravo, Dan! I also liked STALK crossing the LION answer. I laughed when the [Playground pathogen] turned out to be COOTIE. I smiled at the loveliness of CLEAVE and zippiness of WHAM. And what a lovely TIL from Dan’s notes that 40 percent of a lion’s diet comes from scavenging. Huh! Lingering over the completed grid for a few moments, letting the brain scavenge for connections – well, for me, that often doubles the pleasure of the solve itself. It certainly did today. Thank you so much, Dan, for a splendid outing.
Too sleepy and chilly this morning, so not really in the mood to comment, but 1) great puzzle, and 2) seriously? SNARF is getting everyone all hot and bothered? SNARF? We see that allll the time! And I hear it used…bunches! And crossing NCO is almost like crossing Oreo! Honestly feel like I’m being punked. Like tomorrow there’ll be an uproar over Erie or Eno. Is it upside-down day..?
@CCNY yes, you're being punked by people having a different lived experience in different places and circumstances than your own! I've never heard of NCO or Snarf, so that was my only error in the puzzle. But I'd wager I know other clues instantly that you do not...
AH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA what a SCAVENGER HUNT I've been on, STALKing a sneaky typo. I don't mean to be KOI, but OMELETTE you guess how close I've come to blowing my LID going OVER it, again and again. I keep thinking "ICIER!" but no, that fill is correct, and I'm BARKing up the wrong tree. ANYHOw (not fond of HOO—guess I'm just not WOK enough), it's a wonderful puzzle, and the hidden letter has LENT a certain HEROic essence to MAO quest, but I ZINC I've paid my DUES now, and I'm going to just say que CERA, CERA. and go to bed. You've given us a lovely puzzle, Dan Caprera. Thank you very much!
@dutchiris And there it was. The first letter in my comment. I spent EONS looking for it, but now it's OVA.
An observation on scavengers. Many years ago while travelling in Africa, I was informed that, if you saw a group of lions eating some prey being hungrily watched by hyenas, then the is good chance that it was the hyenas that in fact did the hunting and were then chased off by he lions.
Early week puzzles getting tougher
@Steven M. As is often the case, it’s subjective. My time today was closer to a pb than it was to my average. It’s all about the wavelength.
@Steven M. And Leon’s getting laaaarger…
Before you complain that something isn't a word,.... Would you just please Google it?
@The X-Phile but, but, but . . . I want to complain that Google isn't a word. Snort, snark, and snarf.
How on earth does one CLEAVE with an ox? Begin by cleaning your glasses. Snowflakes here in Southern MS. Thank you Dan
Apart from the well deserved uproar for "SNARF", I'd like to pour scorn on "BRODOWN". That's simply not a thing.
Alan, Here is the "simply not a thing" with some cites. <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brodown" target="_blank">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brodown</a>
@Barry Ancona Back in my fraternity days, it was most definitely called a sausage fest if not many girls turned up at a party. I therefore accept BRODOWN and brodeo as modern equivalents. Bruh!
The scavenger union has a long history of refusing to do hunters’ work, and its dues-paying members resent the continued use of the term “scavenger hunt” by the general public. Other hurtful anti-scavenger terms in this puzzle: STALK EARN KILT
SNARF leading into a puzzle about scavenging seemed very appropriate. I'm glad Dan did a little research and included the LION as a scavenger. They have great PR and are a little embarrassed by that fact, but it's time to end the shame.
Goodness, that was an interesting Tuesday. A little chewier than of late but full of interesting fill. The SCAVENGER theme was fun while being Tuesday do-able. Some of the answers were a little meh perhaps; SNARF, BRODOWN. But overall a good grid I thought. Sam, round here we call RV-ERS Grockles; tourists who are incapable of driving their large vehicles down our narrow, twisty lanes and clearly don’t know how to use reverse gear. The times we’ve had to go out and literally take over and reverse their RV’s for them is ridiculous. We brace ourselves for general idiocy every Summer.
@Helen Wright Grockles. Is. FABULOUS. I will be using that henceforth.
So apparently, according to repeated references in the NYT, Michael Cera was the lead actor in the Barbie movie. Curious. :) This was a reasonable puzzle. I had, shockingly, quibbles. A wok is hardly a stir fry "accessory" - it's the whole enchilada. I really wish Union Requirements could have remained "I Dos" because at least that would have been a little clever. "Anyhoo" is a weak answer. Does a T-shirt really constitute "work out apparel"? Sigh, I guess. I also didn't much like the theme or its execution. From the Wordplay column it seems the constructor admits to straight up Googling to create it, which tracks I suppose. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@B How did you life SNARF? I was confused when crosses gave me the N there - I have learned the word ScARF from these puzzles, so encountering another word that means pretty much the same, just one letter off, was quite the surprise.
@Andrzej Yes! I've learned to be on the look out for that one. According to m-w.com SNARF dates from the sixties and is "perhaps blend of snack and scarf", which I love.
Sam thinks that RVER is a strange designation for someone who owns and drives a recreational vehicle, but as a former RVER myself, I'll say that unlike ALER, NLER, NFLER and all those other sports league terms, this one is in actual, real life use. Here's one site on the first page of hits for the Google search for RVER: <a href="https://thewanderingrver.com" target="_blank">https://thewanderingrver.com</a>/ And another: <a href="https://rverjobexchange.com" target="_blank">https://rverjobexchange.com</a>/ And one more for good luck: <a href="https://americanrver.com" target="_blank">https://americanrver.com</a>/ Our personal experience with RVing was in the earliest years of the century, with our biggest adventure a cross-country trip of about three weeks in 2002. Lots of fun, but storing the RV was a problem, and we got rid of it shortly thereafter. Thinking about getting another one some day!
@Steve L I always wondered why someone would want to drive a hotel room down a highway.
Another Toughened Up Tuesday that required some brain power to solve. As Pani mentions below, a number of deja vu clue/fill combos. I was a bit surprised at how frequently KOI has turned up through the years, and in honor of its appearance today, here's an unlocked link to a story in the Times about how a couple in Altadena rescued their KOI after fire passed through their neighborhood. <a href="https://nytimes.com/2025/01/20/realestate/los-angeles-wildfires-koi-rescue.html?unlocked_article_code=1.q04.1DVl.ksrM3I1-9ilE&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://nytimes.com/2025/01/20/realestate/los-angeles-wildfires-koi-rescue.html?unlocked_article_code=1.q04.1DVl.ksrM3I1-9ilE&smid=url-share</a>
@Vaer that was an incredibly moving article. Thank you for sharing it. My husband gave away his fish when we left the USA and that was tough. Imagine having KOI for 20 years, like the Pierces! I’ll never complain about the frequency of KOI again after learning how loved they are.
TIL that condors don't kill for prey. That is super interesting to me. Last year my puppy killed a squirrel in the driveway, and I fretted over how to get rid of it. But amazingly, I was outside and watched a hawk pick it up and fly off a little way with it. Also, I like the word "snarf," it is just fun to say.
Cool theme, but too many clues unnecessarily repeated from recent puzzles. MAO ("Figure painted by Warhol") and CERA ("'Barbie' actor Michael") both appeared with almost exactly the same clues in the Sunday 1/19 puzzle just two days ago as "Iconic Warhol subject" and "Michael of 'Barbie'". Fine to repeat words, but different references would be nice. Plenty of options for those two.
@Matt L Thank you. I thought my mind was recycling.
This Tuesday was chock full of nuggets of all sorts. Music of various stripes was present throughout: LUISFONSI, MELC, WHAM(minus the !), and Janis Joplin (and therefore by inference Kris Kristofferson) via Me and Bobby MCGEE. DC cartoon characters like HAL Jordan and LEX Luthor stood shoulder to shoulder with mythological/religious figures like VISHNU and Selene. Neologisms like WMD, RVER, and (the new to me) BRODOWN abounded, and a veritable menagerie of SCAVENGERS lurked within the long acrosses. It was a spicy salmagundi for a Tuesday. As an aside, I was pleased to get WHAM, not having thought of them in several decades.
@Marshall Walthew I think about WHAM every December when I do some holiday shopping at the mall — in fact I just thought about them last Christmas!
@Marshall Walthew I was never a big fan of Wham, though of course I was familiar with their (unavoidable) hit songs. That said, the Wham documentary on Netflix is interesting a lot of fun!
Enjoyable puzzle! I’m not sure if anyone has observed, but today’s revealer is a quote from The LION King. When Simba tells his Uncle Scar that he’s weird, Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) replies “You have no idea.” This itself was an Easter egg harkening back to Jeremy Irons’ performance of Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune and his reply when the Alan Dershowitz character tells him “You are a very strange man.” Very clever!
@Paulina I missed that. I’ll watch or listen to Jeremy Irons in just about anything (including “The Lion King”). Thanks!
Not sure I’ve ever heard the word SNARF except for the name of Lion-O’s sidekick bud on Thundercats. Another relatively difficult puzzle IMO - but fun was had, to be sure. Thanks for the challenge, Dan Caprera!
@Striker To me, SNARFing is the act of inhaling a chunk of Jello into the back of your throat so that you don't have to swallow it. Think "Jello shots" in college years.
MAO & CERA both appeared very recently (were they both yesterday?) with the same clues - what am I paying my editors for?! This was a nice Tuesday solve for me, only a few references I had to guess - HAL, RVER, BRODOWN, HERO et al. Strangely I was totally on board with SNARF, it's a nice not-so-common synonym of snaffle :) Many thanks Mr Caprera!
@Alex I noticed the same thing. Hopefully it was an error. The clues and answers were identical to the ones from a day or two ago. There are lots of other ways to clue MAO and CERA.
Here is your daily reminder to vote for the Griddies! (Puzzle of the year 2024, awarded in 2025). This first round of voting ends Jan 24. Head over to Eric Hougland’s at the link below, where your ballot awaits. It’s easy! No standing in line! You’ll have to supply your own “I voted” sticker, though. You’ll be able to vote for up to 5 puzzles in each category. The ballot has descriptions and dates so you can look puzzles up in the archives to refresh your memory. <a href="https://form.jotform.com/243358842724059" target="_blank">https://form.jotform.com/243358842724059</a>
@Cat Lady Margaret Thanks for the reminder! That was a fun reminder of standout puzzles from the last year, and it was surprising to me just how many of them I remembered right away. I voted! 🗳️
Rough one for those of us with gaps in our Spice Girls and Joplin knowledge
Not saying it's a bad puzzle, to be clear. There was a lot to like. Just unlucky with the trivia this time and I love to complain :)
AH YOU HAVE NO IDEA how little I know about the Spice Girls. I also feel sorry for Michael CERA, evidently being known for a small role in "Barbie" (as evidenced by two very recent puzzle clues) instead of starring in some other great movies (e.g., "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"). Still, very fun to hunt for those scavengers.
@Justin Juno what else he's been in?
@Justin not to mention Arrested Development
@Justin K. Cera, Cera. Whatever will be, will be. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
I just went on a SCAVENGER HUNT for a wrong letter - finally figured out I had ScARF for 1A. *sigh* It would have been a PB if not for that one wrong letter. Such is life. Enjoyed all of the music references (my 14 year old loves Last Christmas). My high school and college both had bagpipers, so KILT also stirred fond memories. I enjoyed this one, Dan, so thank you.
Snarf got me… But check out Snarfburger in Boulder, CO. As it’s cold out, I’ll take a Scarfburger.
@Dee I’ll take Cheeba Hut over Snarf’s myself :) 🥪 Stay warm!
@Dee Haven’t lived here very long. I just learned something new! Noticed they have 3 locations! Thanks for the tip! 😉
@Justin They recently opened a location on Belleview. Haven’t tried it yet but I can literally walk over in less than a minute! Thanks for the recommendation! 😉
I just assumed “Canine welcomes” were LICKS!! I was stuck for the longest time in the lower left because I didn’t know the Spice Girls song “2 BECOME 1.” Once I looked it up, I immediately realized the correct answer was BARKS! 🤦🏼♀️ This was fun today! Like most have commented, I wasn’t familiar with SNARF but it worked!
Tough Tuesday! I changed Bobby McGee to Bobby Magee when I realized the C made it MELC, which made no sense to me as a name. I knew it was McGee but talked myself into the change for the sake of the Spice Girl. Grr. I did enjoy the scavenger hunt though!
@Shan I was also sure MELC was wrong but turns out it was actually BECAME crossing AHYOUHAVENOIDEA. Glad I cheated tbh, don't think it would've been that fun to fix that
@Shan it was a singer not a song for me - & not Mel C... (29A). Got it eventually by peering at the far end of 8D.
"Snarf?" Is that really a real word? In terms of scavengers, I had never heard that lions scavenge about 40% of their meals, but I figure it must be leftovers from other lions.
@Kincaid LIONs are expert scavengers of leftovers from many animals and will even track vultures to lead them to dead or nearly dead animals.
I would snark about SNARF, but it’s already been beaten to death. (Watch out, here comes a hyena!) And can we also agree on a strict limit of one Spice Girls reference per puzzle? In other nits, I found it odd to see two appearances of MAO (via Andy Warhol’s paintings) in two days. Must be something in the air.
@Heidi papa oom mao mao The Bird's The Word
Does anyone remember "snipe hunts" at scout camp?
@Once a Marine That sounds like something out of 'Hunger Games' to me 🤣
@Once a Marine Snipe hunts, absolutely!
@Once a Marine - I've had people insist to me that there is no such thing as a snipe, after I tell them I've spotted one. One must haul out a copy of Peterson's or Sibley to prove to them that snipes exist. That is the ultimate effect of the long-time "snip hunt" hoax.
@Once a Marine After the Snipe Hunt we sent the Tenderfeet out to find the left handed smoke shifter.
Solved in good time but made one error and I didn’t feel like scanning the puzzle to find it. Clever enough puzzle for a Tuesday, though more trivia/pop than I like to deal with slightly diminished it.
I'm going to have to start Autochecking on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays. The scavengers helped a lot, but even at my age (89 1/2 possibly "going on") I still didn't know "adze" doesn't require that "e." Among my several lookups, 36D HAD to be the BRODOWN that filled in from the crosses, but how could it be? Among the things that show the cognitive stage I'm coming to, I needed crosses to get 66D. In my past I would have had that at sight on my first pass.
Bart, You're still way ahead of folks who don't know their ADZ(e) from a hole in the ground.
@kilaueabart 66A MOON of course. Hard to find any 66D but a typical mistake.
Well I knew SNARF! I don't know why. Enjoyable today. The crossers were exceptionally helpful for me today. I had only 2 to look up - LOUIS FONZI and HAL; fortunately the other proper names revealed themselves. Some previously mysterious solutions have appeared before, as others have mentioned, also for me BAIL, COOTIE, HERO, PLOWS not ploughs. Let's hope WMD remain a distant memory.
What? No possum? No raccoon? No vulture, buzzard, or crow? No ANTS? Well, that might be too much of a crowd... Ruth is labeled a GLEANER, but ALL y'all know she was a SCAVENGER. Fortunately, she caught the eye of Boaz. I have always wondered if she dropped Naomi like a hot potato when he proposed. My main question as to do with the Spice Girls and Janis's Bobby: did he spell it MAGEE or MCGEE? Here we have a true Natick! I guessed C.
@Mean Old Lady I had problems with both Spice Girls' clues: MEL a or MEL C? BECOME or BECaME? Both were possible with the crosses, but fortunately, there were only two possibilities for each, and it was fairly easy to test both.
@Mean Old Lady McGee. Written as a "love song" to Ms. Joplin from Kris Kristofferson
A bit on the tough side for a Tuesday but just made for a nice workout. Tumbling to the trick was a big help in a couple of places and that's always a nice touch. A couple of complete unknowns in the answers but that's not uncommon and I managed to work them out. And, of course my puzzle find today. A Wednesday from June 8, 2005 by Richard Chisolm. Three theme answers in that one that would often be appropriate for my solving experience: WILDGOOSECHASE SCAVENGERHUNT TRIVIALPURSUIT And... way off topic, but an odd weather report. Thought we might actually get some snow here today, and I guess it's still possible but... looks like it's a lot more likely - south of here. Hmmm.. I'll shut up now. ...
@Rich in Atlanta Oh... and one more quite appropriate puzzle find for today (or I guess yesterday). A Monday from January 20, 1986 by Joy L. Wouk. A couple of theme clues and answers: "An eminent King" CORETTASCOTT A famous King, with "Jr." MARTINLUTHER And two other theme answers: CIVILRIGHTS IHAVEADREAM ....
Boy, I'm in a slump. Failed again, this time on a Tuesday. Had MCGEE, but MELC just looked awful. So I decided it must be MAGEE and MELA. Done in by Sporty Spice. The theme was simple and solid, and helped me with the unfamiliar LUISFONSI. BRODOWN was also unfamiliar, and I hope it will soon exit the language, along with the other BRO-words. MELC still looks awful. Will need to do some reading now to relieve my ignorance of the name.
@Xword Junkie Ah, MEL C. Now I know.
@Xword Junkie "BRODOWN was also unfamiliar, and I hope it will soon exit the language, along with the other BRO-words." Agreed! I do not think it is even really 'in' the language in any meaningful way as is. I'm not saying its never been used, but I think its more of a running joke to use the term than an actual word. I think it entered pop cuture in a 2011 South Park episode. Although, judging by the use of the word Snarf, it exiting the vernacular will not preclude its use in a puzzle.
@Xword Junkie I thought about dedicating a Tricky Clues section to the curse of first-name-with-last-initial entries.
@Xword Junkie Are you familiar with the brodozer? A lifted pickup truck with huge tires and plenty of chrome accessories (truck nuts) which will likely never be driven off-road or haul anything but beer kegs. That one should stay in the lexicon.
@Xword Junkie I’d heard of Mel B, so I deduced there was a MEL C.
I was hoping the answer to 22A would be "hoe". Because a hoe is often used as a hoe.
SNARF did throw me off. I confidently had SCARF until I had to go searching for what I had wrong at the end. Should have paid more attention to the crossing!
@Michelle Same here, Michelle! I used the word snarf for my whole life until my kids told me, “No, Mom, it’s scarf!” Except not this time. Anyway, nice to see someone using snarf like I fondly remember it!
I was surprised that you were surprised at the word RV-ER. I've found that pretty commonly used on a lot of message board forums related to travel.
@Mardee Indeed, there was a huge ad campaign called Go RVing, and not so long ago. I once RVed to a Formula 1 race, and the (borrowed) vehicle looked suspiciously like the "tenement on wheels" from Christmas Vacation.
@Mardee Interesting! I'm not well-traveled on the road enough to have sought those message boards out — did I get my driver's license at 30? possibly — but I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the term from now on.
I initially found the clue for 22A [Tool that may be used as a hoe] somewhat odd, as I have always thought of this implement as more of a wood-working tool. A quick check in Wiki confirms that it is in fact used in breaking up soil as well. Out of curiosity, I looked at xword info to find that in its more than 100 appearances, it has virtually always been clued to coopers or woodworking. Once it was a [Hoelike cutting tool] and once a [Tool shed tool]. As Sam mentioned, it has even more often appeared as ADZe, but again virtually always clued to wood and cutting. TIL, there is a thing called a “mattock” which has an ADZ-like horizontal blade as well as a vertical pick-ax like blade. Then there is the “Pulaski”, which is the thing you see fire-fighters show up with, which has an Adz on one end and a real axe on the other. These last two have not appeared in puzzles yet to my knowledge.
@Hardroch You might want to read the origin of the Pulaski. Touching, and very relevant to today's wildfire situations
@Hardroch 22A almost ruined the puzzle for me. It's like using a screwdriver to open a can of paint. Sure, you can, but you really shouldn't, because you might bend the tip. Always use the correct tool for the job, and if you don't have the correct tool, it's an excuse to go to the hardware store! (Lessons from my father.}
Was so taken aback that I didn't get the completion when I filled in the last square I physically leaned back. Eventually found SCARF hanging out at 1A trying not to draw attention to the CCO it implied.
It is great to see Will Shortz back in action as the editor. Joel Fagliano did a great job but there is no one like Will! Welome back Will!!!!!
Thanks for the Rummikub clue. That brought a flood of wonderful memories of family game time in the 1970's & 1980's. You have made my heart so happy.
Spent 80% of my time doing the crossword, and the other 20% not realising that it was supposed to be SNARF instead of scarf. Snarf? Is that even a word?
@Brady S. Snarf eat or drink quickly or greedily. seems like a pretty good word.