Always here for a geography based theme and I loved this. And, given current times, typed in GULF OF MEXICO with extra satisfaction.
@Katie oh my gosh me too! Seriously, whenever I’m doing the puzzle and I see something (clue/answer) that has to do with anything that’s kind of a dig to you know who, I get way more excited and focused! Namaste!! xo
I tried to find an answer for the clue “Canada?” but I came up with nothing.
@Andrew 😂😂😂 Man, that was a massive out of the stadium home run comment. Or, maybe a better metaphor would be, that was a rifle shot to the back of the net from your own zone. (Does that work? I know almost nothing about hockey.)
@Andrew Understated, arch, and timely. The trifecta! Nicely done!
@Andrew That’s outstanding. If I were grading comments about Canada, I would give yours an “Ehh Plus!”
@Andrew You nailed it. What an Onslaught.
@Andrew Wow, as a Canadian, married to a Spanish speaking Mexican, that comment resonated with me on multiple levels. I’ve seen a lot of witty comments here before (very honourable mention to Mike on this front), but that was an 11 out of 10. Well done sir!
Once I figured out the theme it was smooth sailing. Love that the Gulf of Mexico was an answer!!
@Mara G A lot of the clues felt like good hidden snubs. I’m sure someone will complain, but that one literally made me smile.
Solved without having one single clue what the theme was. Went straight over my head!
I enjoyed this puzzle. I do want to note that King Kamehameha is a pretty important/significant person in history- especially so when talking about Hawai’i. Referring to 49A as being a being a “humorous prank” is in itself an extremely “flip” comment. I’m sure you did not mean to be disrespectful, though I hope you’ll pause next time to look up something you don’t know before labeling it as a joke (especially when publishing your thoughts).
@Ashley Agree 100%. It would be worthwhile for everyone to know something about the history of Hawaii and King KAMEHAMEHA, and treat both with respect.
@Ashley as a frequent visitor to Hawaii and lover of its history and culture, I was also surprised that it was thought to be a prank entry. King KAMEHAMEHA is revered there, in one of our 50 states. Given the struggles of the Hawaiian people to keep their culture alive, I thought it was a great entry.
I too would like some clarification about “humorous prank”. Is it that - heaven forbid - people need to spell a Hawaiian name/word that isn’t ALOHA, LEI, or AHI? There is a 1:1 relationship between letters and phonemes in Hawaiian. If you can say it, you can spell it. After having entered countless words from Spanish, French, German, Latin, Hebrew, you name it… spelling out the most well-known historical figure from Hawai‘i shouldn’t be an issue. If you ask me, the humorous prank is crossing OLUO and SOO.
@Ashley FWIW, personally, I did not read Deb’s comment to be in any way dismissive or disrespectful of Hawaiian culture. I read it as poking (appropriate) fun at dense people like me who can never remember how to spell it no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Every time, afterwards, I stare at it, say “oh, I see, that’s easy. Nice repetition.” And, then, the next time, I start doubting myself and say, “is there an ‘n’ in there?” I can’t explain it, other than I have a dumb mental block. To paraphrase Richard Brautigan, it’s like a penny in my mind that’s never been minted. (It also didn’t help that I didn’t know how to say “hello” in Chinese, but that is also on me.)
@Ashley I was puzzled about that description also. Perhaps West Coasters are more familiar with Hawaii than New Yorkers?
@Ashley - Agreed. I didn't even need the ridiculous theme to get that one once I had enough downs. It was obvious . . . because . . . history.
@Ashley KAMEHAMEHA is the name of a signature move in the manga/anime Dragon Ball Z. Being a non-American, this made me laugh, as I'd never heard of King Kamehameha but am a big anime fan. Hope this clarifies the prank!
Lovely puzzle. And no worries about 58A -- I'm sure almost everybody still calls it that.
@mnemonica Hahaha, that was my first thought too. I'm sure it was constructed well before any mention of changing it, but I'm glad they kept it in!
I was struggling a bit with this one until I caught on to the stately theme at OZARKS. After that, the patchwork of words that I had accumulated proved sufficient to enable me to fill in the other themed clues and the puzzle fell into place. Other the three letter heavy NE and SW corners I thought this was a good workout. Given recent developments I was amused to see GULFOFMEXICO appear as an answer and deport as a clue. I’m not one to view crossword clues and answers with a political lens, but those two seemed oddly timely.
As a Canadian I feel I should get extra credit for this solve eh?
@DH I think these days Canada gets extra credit for being Canada.
@DH I completely concur with you! I wish I had moved to Canada when I got the chance back in 2019. Anymore, I say “hindsight is 2015”! Namaste!!
@DH Yes, this went completely over my head. I came here to find out what on earth the theme was.
While GRE is the obvious alternative, isn’t GMAT the correct answer to 58D?
@Noah Yes, this frustrated me, too. It’s incorrect.
@Noah GMAT is certainly a dedicated exam for business schools. HOWEVER GRE scores can be used too. Some business schools will just convert the GRE score into its GMAT equivalent. There always seem to be 2 competing exams such as the ACT vs SAT…and it depends on which part of the country you’re from and which school district you’re from which then determines which one appears to be the most needed.
@Noah constructor here! This was a topic of conversation. In the time since we locked the clues and today I’ve seen it used for MBAs, PHDs, and many other degrees in a variety of puzzles. It also sounded wrong to me at first!
@Jacob Thanks for your response, and thanks for the puzzle too!
@Steve L Thank you! I checked the comments specifically because of this clue. I was unaware of the shift in standardized testing for business school applicants, given that my peer cohort were applying to graduate programs decades ago. Back then, the business school aspirants spoke only of the GMATs. Thanks for looking it up and posting it here. Another fun way for constructors to trick us thwarted, lol.
Oh, I finally figured out why my first two attempts were emu fodder: 54D! Come on, it’s so common that the words no longer have a wash-your-mouth-with-soap impact. 🙄 Anyway, I loved the puzzle. A no-lookup Thursday is a win. As I mentioned in earlier editions, the King KAMEHAMEHA entry brings back many fond memories of trips to Hawaii. I turned down a teaching position on Oahu. I often wonder what my life would have been like had I settled down there. Bravo 👏🏾 GULFOFMEXICO! Loved crossing of DEMOTAPE and MIX. Of course, people also use mixtape. Wishing everyone except the dude with a bad case of EGOISM a bom dia.
The GULF OF MEXICO clue would send the president into a tirade. Good idea hiding it in a Thursday NYT crossword!
@PG This is one place we know he will never go!
@Sara O'Bannon I don't know. He sure knows a lot of cross words...
Reading the comments so far prompts me to repeat a bit of advice - When the answers are all obviously correct, as in they make all the crossings work and are words, but don’t make sense with their given clues, the theme will nearly always be the clues themselves. Parsing them correctly will give entry to the trick.
@David Connell Thought of you with ORGANIST. Almost chose it as my revolutionary entry of the day accompanied by a YouTube video of you playing but thought that might be a bit too invasive. It’s a beautiful-sounding video.
@David Connell - You probably missed my late response to your posting about vines and tendrils yesterday. Here it is: - I think you would enjoy a book I'm reading right now -- These Trees Tell a Story -- by Noah Charney. Although it is centered on New England woodlands, the author did spend time in the North Carolina mountains and some of the content involves his time and travels there. Check it out!
State codes have been played on often in crosswords, but not like this, and kudos to Aidan for dreaming this terrific theme up (Jacob’s notes make it clear that this was Aidan’s idea). Kudos also to Aidan for already having five puzzles accepted by the Times, before reaching the age of 19. Wow! Finally, Kudos to Aidan for his headshot on XwordInfo, which cracks me up. Congrats to Jacob on his debut and on having three puzzles accepted by the Times in his first year of submitting. Again, wow! I had filled in RUSSET POTATO and wrenched my brain trying to figure out its connection with [Identity?}, and when it finally came, it came with one of those huge joyful blasts that are among Crosslandia’s greatest moments. Knowing the gimmick made figuring out the ensuing theme answers uber-fun. Thrilled to hear, Aidan and Jacob, about your Times puzzles to come, wows all around, and thank you for a splendid outing!
When I daydream about potatoes, I get lost in my tots. (It always happens sooner or tater.)
@Mike I went a little off track when I got “russet potatoes” and thought “eyed entity.”
@Mike Do you go GA-GA over them? OR maybe you go WA-WA-Waaaaa as your interest wanes?
Like so many others, I finished but did not solve. That’s on me. It was a clever theme. GULF OF MEXICO crossing FCC, TOADIES crossing EGOISM, a king and a Chinese hello… so much to PARSE here. And so much growing UNEASE. But there has to be an UPSIDE, right? At least we still have an END date. SOO…
@Heidi totally love your post. It’s so clever and gives me a glimmer of hope. Thank you, namaste!
FCC, EPA, GULFOFMEXICO--"the President's lawyers" at DOJ are about to sue the NYT for publishing this crossword.
@JJ At first, I wanted to have a laughing emoji to respond to this. But then I thought the crying and angry emojis might be more appropriate.
How strange that we live in a world in which GULF OF MEXICO is regarded as a controversial puzzle entry. I look forward to the puzzle that includes that, as well as GREENLAND PANAMA CANAL CANADA GAZA STRIP The only problem would be the amendments that would need to be done between the writing and publication of the puzzle. Ah, what a world!
The theme suddenly dawned on me about three-quarters of the way through. I liked the ALPACAS and LLAMAS and the NAS and NES pairs. Nice job, guys!
@Liz B When I took an extensive trip through Peru and Bolivia I was into knitting. I bought a lot of ALPACA yarn and a lot of hand-knitted sweaters. But I never saw any made of LLAMA, or that yarn in any shops or markets.
@Times Rita Agreed, llamas don’t have wool that’s spun into yarn.
For future solvers delving the archive: 17a refers to what was known as a “government agency.” This one, before being abolished the Great Purge of 2025, protected Americans from various types of pollution. Happily, corporations were able to govern themselves and now often offer complementary breathable air to their loyal serfs. Now back to work, citizen!
@Joe also, the FCC, which is next, and the gulf formerly known as! It’s like a little time capsule of the older times here in this puzzle.
I LOVED THIS!!! Once I figured out the revealer it was butter. How clever!!
Worth acknowledging the revealer at 1D. I don’t think it was noted it in Deb’s column. I thought it was a fun, clever puzzle. Congrats Aidan Deshong and Jacob Reed.
I didn't consider this idea but I like it!
Absolutely loved the GULF OF MEXICO.
@Evon heck yes and me freaking too! Namaste!
Very interesting. An hour ago I had the second-most recommended post here and now it's gone. I applauded the appearance of a properly named body of water ans wondered if a regressive tax might be applied as a result. Now the comment's been removed. What's up with that?
@Ed, mine went away too. I suspect someone did not like the politics. So it goes.
@Ed - Those people are very fragile. We can't say anything that would cause them to melt.
@Ed Are "flagged" posts automatically removed, or does any human have the ability to review them?
@Ed Check Reader Picks-- Mine disappeared here, but it's alive and well with 10 recce's in the Picks!!! Look quickly before they catch on!
I am so sick of seeing the the clue for 25A (apparently the emus won't tolerate the actual word) and its variations. I personally see a distinction between breaking the law and committing a crime. A lot of people are being punished, and very severely, for breaking the law, while a very few people are getting completely away with committing crimes.
@Francis, I liked your comment and then noticed you were a fellow Minnesotan. Crime = sedition. Not a crime = trying to survive on your planet.
@Francis, I liked your comment and then noticed you were a fellow Minnesotan. Crime = sedition. Not a crime = trying to survive on your planet. Got a kick out of 58A, which is either an act or rebellion or bravery, or simply predates the order. I’ll choose to believe it was the former.
@Francis Is there a lot of crime in Wilmington?
Wow, I got the theme 😮 And I knew KAMEHAMEHA and OZARKS. WILMINGTON I had to get from crosses. I also looked up a lot of (non-themed) names and abbreviations, because, well, there were a lot of them and I just can't be bothered to deal with them on my own.
@Andrzej You're getting gooder and gooder.
Woof! This was quite the ALARMing solve, with weirdo answers coming out my ears. I do Identify (?) as a RUSSET POTATO occasionally, when I'm worn out and can barely wiggle. This week, I visited my new best friend, the dermatologist with her little freezer gun. Pow pow pow! In my face, so to speak. In my weakened condition, I managed to fill in the grid, but with an increasing level of PUZZLEment. Then I sat there lookig at the deadly crossing of an author and a snarky reply: is it a hissy SSO? Or a drawn out SO-O? I chose the O, fortunately. And then took another look at 49A... the clouds parted.. the sun shone...bluebirds sang! Just after we settled into quarters on Oahu, Mother suggested we go visit the statue of "King KAmeHAmeHA" much to the amusement of us kids. Naturally, we never let her forget it! Did you guys have a favorite? Really loving the GULF OF MEXICO instead of "Tha Guffa 'Merka"...and I do hope our 2 Senators and 1 Rep like the e-mails I sent them. (Got a call from the latter's DC office assuring me that it was received and that he would see it. Gosh.)
@Mean Old Lady Driving around Oahu I saw lots of signs for the KAMEHAMEHA Highway, and I too wanted to put the stress on the third syllable. Beautiful drive, btw.
Not sure how I solved this puzzle. Strangely I solved it faster than my average Thursday time. But I never understood the theme until I looked it up in wordplay after I finished the puzzle! Go figure.
@drew exact same experience here, faster than average solve while completely blanking on the theme. I'm not one to complain about too many America-specific clues (it is the New York Times after all), but I can't deny being a non-American was a significant handicap today.
I do love a puzzle that, when I finish it, I have to come to the column for a clue about what I did. So clever it went right by me. Does that mean I have some kind of medium strength? Does it put me on a PARR with JUNO who? Or maybe just dumb as a POTATO? I think I would really have enjoyed understanding why all my guesses were working out, and too bad that didn't happen, maybe next time. But I did actually enjoy working the puzzle. I was listening to a Warriors game in which things were going right/wrong/right—and ultimately very wrong and they lost. At least the puzzle was absorbing enough to ease my jitters part of the time. Jacob Reed, a debut on a Thursday is a dazzling achievement. If you come back with another, I'll try to think harder and do it justice. Thank you for this one.
In Aidan's notes on xwordinfo he mentions that HEAD OF STATE was suggested as a revealer, which is very clever indeed. But I’m glad the constructors trusted solvers enough to figure out the theme on their own. It was a very satisfying aha moment when the penny dropped. Great puzzle! Congratulations to Aidan and Jacob.
@Anita I’m glad HEAD OF STATE, clever as it is, was not used as a revealer. Not only would it have made the puzzle too easy, IMHO, but there were already too many reminders of that creature of unbridled EGOISM, our current holder of that title— who seems to be vying for the position of the country’s second king. It would be nice if someday we could again have a statesman-like leader of a United States. I did enjoy this puzzle and the fact that a bit of head-scratching preceded the “Aha!” moment.
@Darcey O’D My concern for your HEAD OF STATE is STATE OF HEAD.
Came here to humble brag about working out the theme as a non-American, to find that most of us aliens got it. That’s me back in my box. I so enjoyed this, despite needing a lot of crosses for some of the State links, especially the Hawaiian king. Got what it was, no idea how to spell it. ALPACAS! My beloved furry friends are arriving in April. Have I mentioned (ad nauseam) how much I love them? 43D threw me; it’s more common than not to have a manual rental car here, though I think that’s slowly changing. Well done gentlemen, a great theme, good fill.
@Helen Wright While new cars sold in the US these days have manual transmissions about 1-2% of the time, Europe has been considerably slower to give up the standard shift. However, the change is definitely happening, and now the penetration (as of the first half of 2023) is only 32% of the market--down from about 90% in 2005. <a href="https://motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world" target="_blank">https://motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world</a>/ The UK's switch to majority-automatic took place in 2020, and has only increased since then. <a href="https://usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-06-09/british-motorists-move-away-from-manual-transmission-vehicles" target="_blank">https://usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-06-09/british-motorists-move-away-from-manual-transmission-vehicles</a> Habits are hard to break, but since electric cars do not come with stick shifts, manual transmissions will soon fade into memory even in the UK.
Great puzzle, even if was a bit quick - less than half my Thursday average, but a minute off my PB. It took a few crosses to see that 18A and 25A couldn't be anything else, which made me look back at the _italicised_ clues. Even though I'm Australian, the state codes and landmarks were very accessible and satisfying to complete. Well done to the constructors Aidan and Jacob.
Really clever theme. So clever that I didn't get it until I finished the puzzle. Very well done!
A very fun puzzle and theme but current events made some of the clues and entries... uncomfortable. Ugh, this world right now.
Just got back from Key West; they still call it that and pooh-pooh the notion of anything different.
Loved this puzzle! I stared at RUSSET POTATO for a while, having filled it in mostly from crosses, then shrugged and moved on. My aha moment came with WILMINGTON, which I also filled in mostly from crosses. I love it when the theme helps me figure out the answers, which it did for all the rest of them. Like a few other people have mentioned, I thought several of the clues or answers were eerily appropriate to current events.
Loved this puzzle. Figured the theme when I got Wilmington and then had lots of fun getting the other theme answers. My one complaint is the clue for 31A. While there are several ways to say, You're welcome, in Spanish, No problemo isn't one of them. No problema is better, but not really correct either. No hay problema, is one of the correct ways to say You're welcome in Spanish. No problemo has become common here in the US, but that doesn't make it correct.
@Doug Maybe this is not about what's correct in Spanish. DE NADA is well understood and interjected into English conversations in many places these days.
@Doug Everything you think is "correct" in language started out as merely "common"
Fun puzzle. Surprised that I actually caught on to the trick fairly early with 18A. Still a good long workout for me, but tumbling to each of the theme answers was really enjoyable. And... like others, was pleased to see GULFOFMEXICO in the puzzle. A bit surprised that that had never appeared before. And of course a puzzle find today, at least vaguely appropriate with a state related theme. Anyway - a Friday from December 12, 1975 by Dennis Listort. Three 15 letter theme answers in that one all on the verge of dad jokes. I won't bother with the clues - here are the answers: WHATDIDDELAWARE WHENDIDMARYLAND IDONTKNOWALASKA Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/12/1975&g=35&d=A" target="_blank">https://xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/12/1975&g=35&d=A</a> I'm done. ....
Hah! Loved it! I picked up on the theme surprisingly quickly, largely because russetpotato was obviously the answer. I don't often come to the comments section but I was hoping to find out if 58 across was a fabulous coincidence or a mild rebuke. Either way, it made my day!
Kept going for merinos and angoras before ALPACAS and LLAMAS. I guess i like my wool **really** soft. Enjoyed the theme, which I only got after a creeping sense that all the theme clues had a full word in their back half. The penny finally dropped when POTATO appeared as I was working the downs. And very satisfying to see the (proper!) nomenclature appear at 58A, even if the timeliness was a happy accident. I missed the chime with the clue for 25A, which does contribute to an unintentional vibe. The urge to head off controversy, though, makes me sigh a bit. The NYT has been euphemising a lot of administrative crime in its coverage these days ("illegal" is not a word that appears in the filter terms for today's roundup of executive actions). To clutch our pearls at the first suggestion of the possibility of a sign of resistance feels like too much timidity. My only hope is that framing the puzzle this way was in service of defending the constructors from possible attack. In any case, an enjoyable Thursday, fairly challenging with a clever theme.
Good morning! I raced through this one. Not a PB, but fast. Enjoyed ALPACAS and LLAMAS. EPA and FCC. NATS and PADRES. Came to see if we were having some fun with GULFOFMEXICO, and was not disappointed. Kudos to Will Shortz for not pulling it. Nice collaboration, fellas!
Can I just say that this puzzle was a delight. I didn't get the theme until Hiking - but since I filled it in due to the down clues and then the light bulb finally turned on. Loved it and it made my day.
Crossword Revolution D16: UPSIDE Year 2040 Puzzlemucker: “Aha! I finally realize what it is. The UPSIDE I’ve been searching for these past 15 years! It’s, it’s, it’s . . .” A Crosswords Saved the Day production.
GULF OF MEXICO gave it away but not knowing any harbours in Delaware and the spelling of Hawaiian royalty was a slight hindrance. Today it felt fair. All getable from the crosses. Maybe just my day. An excellent puzzle. Thanks
As a non-American and amateur crossworder, I was stoked that I managed to figure out the theme AND do the entire crossword without needing to look anything up. All while beating my average time!
@Naomi C Me too! I often get so focused on the fill I forget the theme or tricky clues. I finished, and looked back trying to understand themed clues and still didn't get it. Not ready for cryptography yet.
I liked this theme! At first I thought not being American would be a hindrance, but actually most of the theme clues are pretty well known facts/trivia (e.g. GULF OF MEXICO - that was my favourite clue of today 👏🏼 ). Sorry to anyone from Arizona or Delaware but I know nothing about your states and had to rely on the crosses to get those two answers
@IZ AR is actually Arkansas - Arizona is AZ ☺️
I really didn't care for this theme. This is one of the few times where I solved the entire puzzle without understanding the theme clues at all. With the puzzle done, I squinted at the answers and still couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. After looking at the blog and seeing the explanation, I still don't think it's strong. "Identity" for instance doesn't feel like a compelling clue to me. Even if I was thinking "Idaho" I don't know that I would ever associate "entity" with their major food export. It just feels like a case were the clues had to suffer to make the theme "work". It does say a lot that the rest of the clues were so strong that I was able to fill in the theme answers without getting them at all though!
@Sam Ditto everything you said. I agree that the non-theme clues were strong and enjoyable, but also a little too easy for a Thursday. I always feel a little disappointed on Thursdays when the crossing clues have to be easier because the theme is so opaque.
Jeez-o, as we say in these parts. Various unknown cultural references, combined with a completely impenetrable theme for a non-US solver. I've somewhat astonished myself by chipping through that without lookups. But, like the Battle of Waterloo, it was a dem close-run thing. I don't use the timer, but suspect that was twice as long as usual, with umpteen trial fills and deletions. I'm stll in mild shock to have pulled KAMEHAMEHA and RUSSETPOTATO out of the hat from some fairly sparse crosses, against a background of complete bemusement.
@Oikofuge As an Australian, I came here to use the words "completely impenetrable", and am happy to see you've beaten me to it. Thanks to the crosses, I had RUSSET POTATO as the first of the themed clues but had no idea how it related to the clue. Slowly getting a couple of the others was no help.
Loved this puzzle. I don't remember finishing a puzzle before with no earthly idea of the theme. Usually I have some inkling. Was about to scroll down to Wordplay and then decided to give myself an extra 5 minutes to figure it out. When I finally did--how rewarding! I feel as though I gained 2 IQ points. Hope your solves went well. No time to read down now, will save all your provocative comments until this evening.