Bro get out of here with OPERAARIA. What are we even doing
@BK I don’t know, dude. No worries. Let’s just go catch some gnarly waves.
@BK - Arias can be part of an opera, oratorio, or cantata, even be free-standing compositions. The Queen of the Night sings two of them in the opera “The Magic Flute”: two opera arias. No problem.
@BK Yeah, that got a bit of an eyeroll from me. Redundant, like the GIN MARTINI recently! 😭
@BK Best post of the day. Missing period made it perfect. No notes. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
"Any evidence of Cinderella?" "Just some prince at the scene." ("This case should be a shoe-in.")
@Mike I seldom reply, but I always get a kick out your puns.
I thought the themed answers were fun - DEFINITE ARTICLE made me smile. I assumed 44A would end in VICTORY before understanding theme which threw me off for a bit but managed to get back on track. At the end, the middle section stumped me for longer than I would have liked for a Wednesday - didn't love the combination of TRA LA, SEEPY, BELL LAP, and IN A. Felt a little clunky. All in all a fun puzzle though!
1000 crossword streak obtained today. Can't believe that, to be honest. Been enjoying this week's puzzles, and last week's. Even subbed the 20 minutes on Sunday! Here's to another 1000 I hope I will do.
@Courtney congratulations! 33 months of madness!
PAWAT TRALA OPERAARIA = Clunky! Nice theme, tho :)
Lots of “ok, I guess that sort of fits” instead of “oh, that’s clever.”
Extra challenging for a Wednesday, lots of tricky clues, but not as scary as it looked at first. Great fun and very satisfying. Thank you Philip, for a welcome distraction. I NEED those, and I suspect that a lot of other people do too, especially if they're paying attention to the ONE UP in the White House, which I DID IN spades today, to the point of BURNOUT. MADDening.
A moderate Wednesday for me; finished around 20 percent under my average time for the day. A wonderful theme, I thought…and as former newspaper and magazine writer, I’m all for pay walls, though of course they frustrate me at times…but I recognize their importance for getting writers/photographers/editors paid. When people I know complain, I always ask: would a plumber fix your faucet for free. One small memory flash from 30A (SPEAKS ONE’S PIECE): In 1986, I was laid off from the regional magazine where I worked. Pretty quickly, I got hire at an alternative weekly, where I worked with a marvelous journalist, J A Lobbia, who was under five feet tall but fierce in every way. As the two staff writers, we shared our work with each other as a check before it went to the editor. I had ambitions in creative writing and if I pushed those tendencies too far, when I gave her one of my stories to read, she’d snap, “You’re just showing off.” She was always right and I’d cut the show-offy parts before I turned it in. One day, when I handed her my work, I said, “Here’s my piece.” She said, “This is a newspaper. We call them articles.” I left the paper after three years to get an MFA in fiction, then joined the faculty at a mid-sized university. JA ended up at the Village Voice, where, even from 900 miles away, I could tell she was still fierce. Sadly, she died at 43, in 2001. So, thanks, Phillip Koski, for the nudge to remember her.
@Joe thanks for the memory. You might enjoy this: <a href="https://www.villagevoice.com/remembering-a-tiny-but-relentless-fighter" target="_blank">https://www.villagevoice.com/remembering-a-tiny-but-relentless-fighter</a>/
It was pretty chewy for a Wednesday, yet clueing was clever, and answers worked themselves out. A wonderfully entertaining Wednesday puzzle.
I just came here to do a slow clap for 20A. Best. 👏 Clue. 👏 Ever! 👏 Also feels like it should win some kind of prize for the biggest answer-to-clue length ratio (5:1, can anyone top that?)
@Phil oh, I wonder if we'll see that some Saturday
@otherthings You and @Phil are right on. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
I solved this one slowly but steadily. I got off on the wrong foot by plunking opal in for 1A rather than MICA and later I tried oasis for shade in a a barren landscape, before coming up with OCHRE (clever clue). I caught on to the theme towards the end and thought it was well worked out. I was happy to see Monty Python’s Michael Palin make an appearance. I have watched all the Monty Python episodes and movies.more times than I care to admit (along with John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers), and have many of the funniest bits memorized, and will launch into them if given the slightest encouragement.
@Marshall Walthew Can you do Funny Walks? Sigh.
Took some doing, but I reeled it in. Where I usually start, in the NW, drew a complete blank at first, but filling in DEC finally let me in. I particularly liked the cynical yet fair "legit" hovering like commentary above "definite article" (1) but "fib" in a similar position murmured negatively over "speaks one's piece," as if to say even when we think we're being upfront & honest, it's only a version of the truth: may contain impurities, some fibs. The lesson is, don't believe that every time someone CONFIDES IN you that it's the whole deal. You never know what lurks behind the pay wall! Which brings me to the clever inclusion of DENY and PASS. And God forbid you have an ad-blocker. Small beef. Never liked TRA LA. Nobody hums Tra-la. At the very least, it'll be "tra-la-la." If you hum tra-la you are not American. And only the definite article is American, haven't you heard from Our Leader? That the diversity initiatives undertaken by the elite puzzle cabalists who live in Pesto's Ridges, that glitzy gated community overlooking the Hudson, have now been revealed as the corrupt leftist agenda of the globalist deep state? PINO - puzzle in name only. Where was I? Oh yes, tra-la must go. Seepy I can do without but it's a legit word, owly hardly ever used self-effacing pimply word that doesn't seep out much. What Ho for Seepy then! Give that word a PBR! BELLLAP - just llllove it, and then the lively glottal stop of OPERA ARIA -- BOOM! (1) [The] gets a second BOOM!
@john ezra I keep thinking of the chorus in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury: “trial-la-law, trial-la-law, singing so merrily trial-la-law.”
@john ezra I have been thinking that Pooh Bear might have said tra-la, and he sort of did. IN WHICH POOH GOES VISITING AND GETS INTO A TIGHT PLACE: "He had made up a little hum that very morning, as he was doing his Stoutness Exercises in front of the glass: Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, as he stretched up as high as he could go, and then Tra-la-la, tra-la—oh, help!—la, as he tried to reach his toes." If he had not been so stout, he would only have said tra-la-la, so I think your argument stands.
@john ezra Check out "The Mikado", "The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring" Many lines end up with tra-la. I know it well because eons ago, my parents created a parody version with the lines: It's crabgrass and boulders and weeds, tra-la That spring up from all of OUR seeds, tra-la I inherited their talent for a while (especially useful in Junior High) but I fear I've lost it.
@john ezra Don’t forget “Camelot”—“Tra la, it’s May!” My streak hit 1300 today! I almost forgot to look.
Terrific puzzle with a brilliant twist at the end. I confidently filled in LIE for 26 across, but when I realize that 26 down started with an F, I changed it to FIG. Cover story, get it? Finally got the happy music when I realized that a bell lap must be the last lap of a race. Thanks for the fun ride!
@Chungclan I got hung up in the bottom right where I had tells for gives up the goods instead of sells. Took me forever to figure out where my error was. I had lie as well and then had to go back to racing for Belllap and saw my error early on.
BELL LAP? (Fine for track and field. White flag is in Nascar - no bell.) SEEPY? No, just no.
Took me almost 30 minutes, which made it especially challenging for a Wednesday. Unusual theme, to say the least. SEEPY/BELLLAP took quite some time for me to see. Given the constraints of the complex theme, the fill was OK---though OPERAARIA and SEEPY seemed a bit desperate.
I love the theme and I thought all the theme clues were well done! It’s just held back by weak fill - TRALA, OPERAARIA, SEEPY, etc. Would like more from this constructor, just need them to focus on nailing the rest of the puzzle as well as they nailed the theme.
@Diana SEEPY felt a little creepy and made me weepy.
@Diana I agree, SEEPY was odd and I kept looking at it realizing morning else made sense, but not liking it
Crossword Revolution Day 22: FREE PRESS It was there between the lines, the hidden theme. (Almost went with SEEPY (“Flowing slowly”), which perfectly describes my brain these days). A Crosswords Saved the Day ™ production.
@Puzzlemucker I'm seeing through a glass BLEAKLY. Here are the opening words of one of the Queen of the Night's OPERAARIAS (sic). Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen, Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her! The vengeance of Hell boils in my heart, Death and despair flame about me! Remind you of anybody? <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mud8vbv2" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/mud8vbv2</a>
@Puzzlemucker: Hah! Nailed it! (That is, my new game of Guess The Revolution)
@Puzzlemucker Day 22 and I'm out of the loop. What is the crossword revolution?
Clever idea well executed. I've only scanned some of the comments but I appear to be alone in not knowing Ka LAE. Also an admirer of the clue [The] at 20A. Well done and thanks.
@John Carson I’d never heard of Ka LAE, either.
Philip’s last puzzle (6/8/23) wowed me with its wit and intelligence, and I couldn’t wait to dive into this one. It didn’t disappoint: • A wide range of knowledge – History, geography, sports, arts, grammar, work, food, pets, and of course, journalism. • Loveliness in answer: CINDERELLA STORY, ANY IDEAS, INSIGNIA, TAIL WAG, and the swelll (BELLLAP). • Areas of fight leading to gratifying flashes of insight, followed by glorious splat fills. • Gorgeous layered theme graphically illustrating the relatable BEHIND A PAYWALL. • Unintended graphic art – that mid-grid tree or lollipop, either of which push my happy-button. • Clues that misdirected, to my brain’s delight, such as those for OCHRE, TRAP, and REP. Once again, the stamp of quality, and I’m a fan, Philip. Thank you for a splendid solve!
And here I thought one spoke one’s “PEACE.” Now I have to look up the origin of that one!
@Rrose Selavy It’s “speak your piece” that means to speak up. The phrase that uses “peace” that you might be confusing it with is “hold your peace”, which means the opposite. It’s also rarely used outside of wedding ceremonies where they ask if there’s anyone present who objects to the couple getting married, and that they should “speak now or forever hold your peace”.
Sam, a “salami cap” is the mound shaped slice at the end that you share with the dog.
@Paul Turner Funny thing, there really are salami caps, or hats, out there. I actually posted this link in this forum before, although now for the life of me I don’t remember the exact context. See this cool salami cap: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2w3w9r55" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/2w3w9r55</a>
This was so much fun, and so very on my wavelength, until it all came to a crashing halt around the shaded squares. Maybe my brain is just SEEPY, but I’ve never heard of a BELL LAP, “not to go” was not sense making, and the only refrain I was hearing was “uh-uh, nope”. The top middle section was also a solid white rebuke for far too long. But I cannot tell a FIB (or a “lie”, apparently), this puzzle was totally LEGIT. And while I did not earn a gold star today, the creator definitely deserves his.
@Heidi In fast food restaurants it's common for them to ask, of an order, "FOR HERE or to go?" so they know whether to put it on a tray or bag it.
I am honestly surprised at the phrase “speaks ones piece”. I was convinced it was flat out wrong. I’ve only ever heard of “speaking one’s peace”. So I had to google it and I guess “today I learned…”.
@Ernest Well, they really are both correct, for all intensive purposes.
@Ernest I've been wrong my whole life, in thinking that it was "speak one's peace." A humbling experience.
@Ernest As I think was mentioned earlier, there is the wedding phrase, "forever hold your peace," a different meaning than "speaking one's piece."
A most marvelous moment for me came with [One leg curl, e.g.], for REP, where I was imagining forever a person on a leg curl machine working on a single leg at a time, and I kept thinking, “There must be a name for that exercise and what do you call that type of exercise?” I kept coming back to it, thinking, “It’s going to come to me! It’s going to come to me!” When the correct interpretation finally hit me it brought one of Crosslandia’s best moments: The HahaAha!
OPERA ARIA? Ok, sure. Not to be confused with a witness aria. Once more with feeling.
@ad absurdum I'm asking you, please, no, It isn't right, it isn't fair,* There was no parking anywhere, I think that hydrant wasn't there, Why can't you let it go... *also my reaction to BELLLAP
In hopes of seeing a comment appear (Wednesdays seem to be my best hope), I wanted to follow up on the “lay” controversy. Many of the minority who reacted positively to a ballad and a lay belonging together cited reading Tolkien. Though Tolkien is famous for inventing words, languages, histories and myths in his works, I’m afraid too few people who’ve read and even loved his works appreciate how much of it was _not_ invented. Hythe, sward, gore, ling, gorse, copse, fen…just a few of hundreds of English words he employed for landscapes. Orc, troll, ent, fell-beast; dwimmor, delving, farthing; the months thrimidge, solmath, etc. - all taken directly from the Old English. I used to urge my students to look up everything, including words you think you know. Writers of dictionaries worked their lives through to put that information there for you. And every word by a good author is intentional: Walt Whitman wrote “I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing…” Both Louisiana and live-oak must be known before this poem can achieve its end. It is not a pine tree in Maine; it is not a cottonwood in New Mexico. It is on the _reader_ to understand a good author. m Never hesitate to look up words you think you know. More so, words you know you don’t know.
@David Connell Huh? They mentioned they read it in Tolkien. Did any / many actually say they thought he had invented the word? I didn't see that. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@David Connell, I bet you are a reader of Robert MacFarlane (Landmarks, The Lost Words, etc) Anyone wanting to learn some fun and interesting words for the natural world - recommended!
Really clever puzzle. Tough and long workout for me, of course, but just a really nice 'aha' moment when I worked out the reveal and finally caught on to the trick. And can add in the clever clues for DEFINITEARTICLE and CINDERELLASTORY. Just added to the enjoyment. And of course I have a puzzle find today. I'll put that in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Sunday from September 13, 1998 by Cathy Allis (one of my favorite constructors). The title - "Getting A-long." Some theme clues and answers: "Food for thought? :" BRAINMUFFIN "Pain killer? :" ACHESMURDERER "Plea for a TV cop? :" LACEYCOMEHOME "Where they tell off-color prayers before meals? :" BLUEGRACESTATE And some other theme answers: STAINEDUPCOMIC BAITATHOUSAND BAKEINTHEUSSR And there were more. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/13/1998&g=72&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/13/1998&g=72&d=D</a> ....
Some really gross fill in the middle. This one needed a bit more time in the oven to finish baking.
@Jack where?? I went back to the page with renewed interest...and there's nothing but RAH and TRA LA. No smut, no guts, no blood, no spoiled food. In short, nothing gross. Well, I admit I was using purple ink, but you weren't to know that from afar!
I got stumped early on and spent 2.5 hours on this. Started at 10 pm last night, and didn’t see the Cinderella reference, because, you guessed it, I’d already turned into a pumpkin by then. But this my first 10-day streak.
Charming wednesday theme, though I agree with other commenters' gripes on TRALA and SEEPY Also cute (accidental?) egg shape in the grid today. Reminds me of jackie and shadow 🦅
@jagwild I follow them, too, Jackie and Shadow, the eagles in California. One positive thing I've gotten from Facebook.
Mr. Koski's comments about journalists reminded me of a press conference I attended long ago while working as a freelance science writer. I usually knew quite a lot about a subject before starting a story, and then had a few weeks to complete the article. At the press conference about the health effects of eating fish caught locally from the St. Lawrence, I recognized a regular from the evening news. He was asking really basic, kinda naive questions -- clearly starting with little knowledge of the topic. I watched him on tv that evening. He delivered a super concise and accurate summary, and in an authoritative tone that made you think he really knew what he was talking about. OK, it's not rocket science, but health can be a tricky topic to get right. I was truly impressed. Great theme. Fun puzzle.
@Esmerelda Wait! What about eating those fish??
@Esmerelda That’s a great story you tell, and I completely get it. To me it illustrates the difference between concepts like “intelligence” and “knowledge”. This dude must have had little, if any, previous knowledge of the subject at hand, yet being pretty bright he was able to figure out the key issues and present them well later that night. Nice example….
When your personal life gets too involved in your crossword, you enter things like hot immediately at 27D for ___ flash, forgetting that you were pretty sure 26A was most likely either lie or FIB. Oops! At least I got to BURNOUT BLEAKLY. That sums it up nicely. TRALA (la). Pretty fun puzzle! Most things didn't just fall into place but it was fun to, well, puzzle it all out and it all stayed lively for me in about average Wednesday time. I was not DIDIN! DEFINITEly enjoyed 20A DEFINITEARTICLE! That was great! Well, I spoke my PIECE... Now it's back to work I go....
I just finished after trying on and off all day. I was actually surprised to hear the music because I thought I was still slogging along. There’s a word for another unenjoyable puzzle: slogging. It’s as good a word as SEEPY 🤷🏽♀️
SEEPY might be the worst crosswordese ever.
I was a bit baffled by a few of the clues but sorted them all out, save one. I had some figuring out what could be behind a drywall. Luckily I came around to the right way of thinking... Fun puzzle!
Nice one today, Philip. [The] for DEFINITE ARTICLE and [Shade in a barren landscape] for OCHRE were particularly clever.
OPERA ARIA might be my least favorite crossword entry of all time.
@Eric Don't disagree. But "THE" may be arguably the best. Especially if it's the first appearance. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Eric I felt the same way. Isn't OPERA ARIA redundant (at least in its most obvious usage)? Took me way too much time for a Wednesday crossword which was not at all witty, clever, or satisfying in its theme or clueing.
“I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” Aria for soprano from the Oratorio “Messiah” by G. F. Handel <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg7aXEvCeXY&pp=ygUdaSBrbm93IHRoYXQgbXkgcmVkZWVtZXIgbGl2ZXM" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg7aXEvCeXY&pp=ygUdaSBrbm93IHRoYXQgbXkgcmVkZWVtZXIgbGl2ZXM</a>%3D “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben” soprano aria from the “Saint Matthew Passion” by J. S. Bach <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-88ZpkYssf0&pp=ygUxYXVzIGxpZWJlIHdpbGwgbWVpbiBoZWlsYW5kIHN0ZXJiZW4gYWNjb21wYW5pbWVudA" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-88ZpkYssf0&pp=ygUxYXVzIGxpZWJlIHdpbGwgbWVpbiBoZWlsYW5kIHN0ZXJiZW4gYWNjb21wYW5pbWVudA</a>%3D%3D “Mein gläubiges Herze” soprano aria from Cantata 68, J. S. Bach <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PDdj8e-5a80&pp=ygUabWVpbiBnbMOkdWJpZ2VzIGhlcnplIGJhY2g" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PDdj8e-5a80&pp=ygUabWVpbiBnbMOkdWJpZ2VzIGhlcnplIGJhY2g</a>%3D Aria for solo organ by Flor Peeters (instrumental) <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tok8jxPKnns&pp=ygUXYXJpYSBvcmdhbiBzb2xvIHBlZXRlcnM" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tok8jxPKnns&pp=ygUXYXJpYSBvcmdhbiBzb2xvIHBlZXRlcnM</a>%3D Aria with Variations (Goldberg Variations) for solo keyboard by J. S. Bach (I post this version because so many love it; I detest every idiosyncratic note of it) <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2RXZGklAMzs&pp=ygUfZ29sZGJlcmcgdmFyaWF0aW9ucyBnbGVubiBnb3VsZA" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2RXZGklAMzs&pp=ygUfZ29sZGJlcmcgdmFyaWF0aW9ucyBnbGVubiBnb3VsZA</a>%3D%3D NONE of them are opera arias. ALL of them are arias.
@David Connell I don't even have to click on that last link to know who the recording is by. (At least he's not playing Mozart.)
Another puzzle where the editors allow a constructor to make up words to fill the grid. I still don’t get the theme even after solving. I refuse to read the article as I wasted enough time on this dumpster fire. Seepy Bell lap Lae All in one area on a Wednesday… 🤦🏻♂️
Once again the fact that I always spell DEFINaTE wrong cost me time. The cross was a proper name I didn't know so that didn't help. Overall I'm a decent speller, but there are a handful of words that always trip me up. Nice puzzle with just the right amount of difficulty. I DEFINITEly enjoyed it.
@Jamie Spelling DEFINITE used to be a problem for me too. My mnemonic is that there is a FINITE number of ways to spell it properly.
@Jamie I have often noticed when people misspell the word as "definately" in comments, autocorrect changes it to "defiantly", which DEFINITELY changes the meaning of their comment!
Challenging puzzle for me despite getting the theme! I feel a bit silly asking this but — on 28 Down — When to wave the white flag. Answer BELLLAP. I honestly didn’t get this. The only thing that remotely comes to mind is a swim meet? Please anyone reading this, do tell!
@Diane Schaefer. BELL LAP, basically you’re right. In some events when the bell is rung for the last lap, a white flag is also shown.
@Diane Schaefer All I know is that during the last lap of a motorsports race (NASCAR or IndyCar) they wave a white flag, and when the winner crosses the finish line they wave a checkered flag. I don't recall hearing the term Bell Lap.
@Patrick J. Thank you Patrick! I appreciate your explanation. I was just stabbing at air! I had to end up turning on Autocheck with this puzzle. I’m not embarrassed to admit that!
@Ellen Thank you Ellen. I was totally in the dark on this one! It pertains to some kind of race. I actually ended up turning on Autocheck to complete this puzzle. But I was proud to at least get the theme and nearly all of it completed.
@Diane Schaefer I came here to ask this very question, and it’s nice to know that I wasn’t the only one. And thanks to those who gave answers. I was familiar with the bell warning of a last lap from watching athletics races and other sports with similar practices. But I associate waving a white flag with surrender, so I was wondering why you could give up in a race only on the last lap 😀
@Diane Schaefer I believe they wave a white flag and ring a bell in longer track & field races.
@Cherry Thanks for this information. I always say that I get smarter every day that I complete another NYTimes crossword puzzle,
@Joey I’m happy to learn I wasn’t the only one thrown by this one! I feel good every day I complete a NY Times crossword puzzle and learn new facts and some new words. I may not necessarily retain every single factoid or word, but many do stick with me.
Which sport both uses a white flag and uses the term “bell lap”?
@Javafiend Which motorsport refers to the final lap as the “bell lap”?
@Wggwg It is not uncommon to see both the bell and white flag in cycling criterium races. Here are the posted rules for one such race where both are explicitly mentioned <a href="https://redhookcrit.com/rules/race-rules" target="_blank">https://redhookcrit.com/rules/race-rules</a>/
Thoroughly enjoyed this lovely little bugger! Had me letter-swapping in the middle- Lie before FIB SEEPY, then SEaPY, and back again to SEEPY… OPERrettA (I know…) before OPERAARIA. And I can’t see Michael PALIN hovering over [Not to go] without thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail- “*Not* to leave the room, even if you come and get him!” <a href="https://youtu.be/g3YiPC91QUk?si=WnjxkEJDiH2BvRhS" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/g3YiPC91QUk?si=WnjxkEJDiH2BvRhS</a> Brilliant!
If your barren landscape is too seepy, a sepia might flow slowly into the ochre area, and then wadi you have? (rhetorical question) And isn’t the plural just “operas”, not “operaaria”? (r.q. #2) Seepy? (This one I want an answer to.)
@JohnWM I thought that it's two words: opera aria. This also fits with it being something that happened twice in the opera.
@JohnWM Hmm, well, we went to a play on Sunday: "The Mountaintop".... and my eyes got SEEPY...and SEEPIER...and I only had one tissue. The timing--paired with a certain 'executive order'--made it all the more heart-breaking.
@JohnWM OPERA ARIA, to distinguish it from all the other types of arias out there.Yeah, no, it's redundant.
Got to reading the Comments (and commenting on the Comments) and forgot to join in and post my own Comment. Bravo, Philip Koski! This was neat. I enjoyed the solve even though I had to retrace my steps several times (I see I had a lot of company) which always means I'm beiing put through my paces. This is good for me, I understand. So they tell me. I get it. Fine. I wanted The Big UNIT but then I think he was pitching for Seattle...when the Cleveland Indians lost...again. I'm from the generation of women who know all about the workplace WAGE gap and SALARY cap and WALLs and ceilings.
@Mean Old Lady as you can tell by my avatar PAPI was a gimme. The Big Unit was amazing to watch - got to see him pitch for the M's when we lived in the Seattle area. Also got to see the Ken Griffey Jr. make his debut, and to play with his father. Would love to see the M's in the world series. Thx for the trip down memory lane.
At a shotgun wedding, the minister says, "Speak now, or forever hold your PIECE." Some fun stuff today, "campus grilling" for ORALS had me going for a while. Just a note; the RIDGES on the edges of coins are to discourage shaving off bits of silver, which is a thing that people did. It seems like a lot of work for not much return. Anyway, not necessarily about counterfeiting.
@Grant interesting, and thanks for the rabbit hole. Yes, the ridges were originally to discouraging clipping of precious metals. However, they were retained because ridged coins are an added layer of difficulty for counterfeiters, so it serves as a deterrent/discouragement.
I've recently started working through the archive. It is refreshing to do puzzles that are, frankly, challenging again. Too many of the current puzzles seem to be so easy, and they still garner copious complaints from people who find them too hard. I think the complainers have won - the puzzles have been dumbed down as a result. I have a couple of questions. 1. For those who have already been working through the archive -- sometimes you mention reading the accompanying comments. I have been unable to find them. I am still in 1993 -- were there no comments then? I suspect not, since the WWW barely existed then. (I first started using the WWW in 1995, and it was very new then.) When did the comments start, and how when I get to that date, will there be an easy way to find them? 2. In the December 10, 1993 puzzle, the clue for 3D is "Attic contest" and the answer is AGON. Can someone explain this to me? I know that, among other definitions, AGON is a theatrical device, often used in Greek theater. Is this a typo: should the clue have been "Attica contest" instead of "Attic contest"? Please note that I am not complaining or spewing hatred at the constructor or editor (Will Shortz). I am not going on and on about how this is completely wrong, or that it ruined the puzzle for me, or ruined my entire day. (Yes, I have seen that last gripe more than once, and it is stunning to me that a simple crossword puzzle could in any way ruin someone's entire day.) Any "attic" help?
@CaptainQuahog unless they mean attic as in "head" like in the mind? I know I'm pushing it. PS I've been working my way through the archives doing Thursday - Sunday puzzles. I'm up to August 1996 now. I love the challenge both in the actual difficulty, and trying to remember pop culture from ~30 years ago.
@CaptainQuahog I recently watched "Pride and Prejudice" again. One of the catch phrases was, "What condescension". And it was spoken by a charecter who remnds me of someone..............
@CaptainQuahog If you look up the puzzle you're working on in xwordinfo.com, there will be a link to the Wordplay column if there is one.
@CaptainQuahog Attic is an adjectival form of Attica so your thinking that it’s related to Greek theatre would be correct! Also I’ve been delving into the archives as well and I believe I saw somewhere that the Wordplay column didn’t start until 2008? I could be mistaken though.
@CaptainQuahog I'm up to 1998 - here are a few stabs at your questions. 1. No comments - the NYT wasn't even on the web yet in 1993. Not sure when the comments start, but not 1998. 2. Could be a typo (bad character recognition) for Attica contest (Greek Agon - contest, struggle) HTH! The archives are a different animal. In 1998, no tricky Thursday yet, but the days of the week are toughness ordered. Not so in 1993.
@CaptainQuahog I solve in Chrome browser. I'm working backwards through archives, and by 2017 there was a link to the Wordplay column right below the puzzle. Wordplay started in Feb of 2008; I'm not sure if there were comments from the get go, but I just checked some puzzles from March 2008 and the link to Worplay is not there. So via xwordinfo might be your best bet, as suggested above. lastly, regarding "Attic contest": quite recently someone posted something quite similar: an old puzzle with an answer which didn't make sense given the clue. A few of us took up the gauntlet and went to the Time Machine to find the actual image of the puzzle in the paper, and indeed when it was entered into the digital world a letter or word was dropped. The PTB were informed, and it was corrected in the archives.
@CaptainQuahog I solve in Chrome browser. I'm working backwards through archives, and by 2017 there was a link to the Wordplay column right below the puzzle. Wordplay started in Feb of 2008; I'm not sure if there were comments from the get go, but I just checked some puzzles from March 2008 and the link to Worplay is not there. So via xwordinfo might be your best bet, as suggested above. lastly, regarding "Attic contest": quite recently someone posted something quite similar: an old puzzle with an answer which didn't make sense given the clue. A few of us took up the gauntlet and went to the Time Machine to find the actual image of the puzzle in the paper, and indeed when it was entered into the digital world a letter or word was dropped. The PTB were informed, and it was corrected in the archives. found it! <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1993/12/10/issue.html" target="_blank">https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1993/12/10/issue.html</a> page 89, and clue is indeed Attic contest. so interesting seeing all the full page movie ads, and the weekend movie clock. I remember when...
This was fun and chewy for me. Getting DEFINITE ARTICLE for “the” off the bat with no crossings was a little thrill.
Thanks everyone for commenting! I read the all and truly appreciate them. Lots of variety and always interesting to hear what interests solvers about a puzzle. Good luck solving!
@Philip Koski great puzzle. One where you needed to turn away from it -just for a few minutes - and on the return the answers came in a seepy way.
@Philip Koski When I drone on to my husband about the day's puzzle, which he does not do (he's more of a sudoku guy), and what I found so fascinating or trifling about it, or whatever the controversy of the day is in the commentary section, he always observes that he thinks I should be a constructor. He has far more faith in my cleverness than I do. But more so, I always think that I'm pretty sure I don't have a thick enough skin to be a constructor and read the comment section.... So good on you! I enjoyed it!! And I thank you!! ☺️