Archaeologist here. A SHARD is a piece of glass. A piece of pottery is a SHERD. A very common mistake but the vowel is important!
@Danielle Interesting. I learned something new!
@Danielle According to MW, SHARD is acceptable usage for pottery or anything else that easily shatters <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shard" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shard</a>
@Danielle I love learning this and can’t wait to have the chance to drop SHERD into a conversation!
@Danielle That's the way I was taught. Of course, those British professors also pronounce CLERK as CLARK and BERWICK as BARWICK.
@Danielle And then there's a SHARt, which is a whole other thing.
@Danielle What an amusing shred… I mean thread.
Danielle, Always a favourite in the concert merch bag: the pot sherd. (and the drummer is of course wearing the rock T-sherd, with the bottom half torn off.)
@Danielle There’s a term for this: TCS. Too Close Syndrome. It’s when you’re in a profession where there’s a specific terminology that renders other usage as “common mistakes” . However, the general public uses both words interchangeably, and they’re both in the dictionary: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shard" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shard</a> Sure, an archeologist would never call a sherd a shard, and it’s a shibboleth separating the in group with the general public, but it’s fine for a crossword puzzle, or general conversation. It’s ironic that at this point, this dubious assertion is the top Reader’s Pick today.
@Danielle Dear mansplainers: I do understand that SHARD is commonly used in every day language to refer to a broken piece of anything, but it would have been very easy to just clue this with glass instead of pottery and therefore satisfy everyone!
@Danielle I would say that "sherd" applies only in an archaeological context. Whereas, if I broke a pot at home, I'd say is was in SHARDs.
@Steve L The only person with their hands over their ears is you. You had the opportunity to learn an interesting fact about a field beyond the world of crosswords and the only concession you would have to make is to agree that maybe using glass instead of pottery in the clue would have been more reflective of real world usage. Unfortunately you're so enslaved to the dictionary that the only thing you care about is if a clue can still be considered "technically correct." You approach the English language less like a tool for communication and learning and more like Google Translate.
@Danielle SHARDs! of eggshell, that is. --- Dragonriders of Pern
@Danielle also an archaeologist and I couldn’t complete it for the longest time because of sherd/shard. It’s like nails on a chalkboard isn’t it?
DATA LOSS would not be a casualty of file corruption, it would be a consequence. The casualty would be DATA.
@Shrike I came here for this. Finally I think I spotted a genuine, indisputable cluing error. (Looking forward to the disputes.)
@Shrike This is absolutely correct and beyond dispute. I too will now await the inevitable dispute.
@Shrike It’s a stretch, but the secondary definition of casualty is the disaster itself. Ergo, a disaster involving file corruption could also be called a data loss.
@AK You're right, that is a stretch!
@Shrike which is why I had DATALOgS for a while.
@Shrike Close enough. You have to grant constructors a little bit of wiggle room; their task is difficult enough as is.
@Shrike It is important to understand that in crossword clues and answers, a word may be used in other than its primary definition, and if it is, it is likely to be an intentional misdirection. This is considered a feature, not a flaw, even though some people do not like it. As long as the word in question meets **any** dictionary definition, there is no basis for the accusation of an error. In this case, see definition 3: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/casualty" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/casualty</a> And before you say "Well, that's just Merrriam-Webster," the other online dictionaries agree. You might say that "casualty" in this definition is not used in "careful usage," but that's a value judgment. It's interesting that this is the second most recommended comment so far, and the top one is also based on an erroneous gotcha, the one about "sherd" vs. SHARD. I was strangely pleased when I had the top comment several times in the past week or so, but I now realize that getting recommendations really doesn't prove anything.
@Steve L If you think that the clue writer was actually trying to invoke the third definition of the word to create such a grammatically tortured concept as "Data loss is an event of file corruption," be my guest. I'll follow Occam's razor and understand that humans make mistakes sometimes and it was probably just sloppy clueing.
Prez in the sixties was diabolical
@Wesley I suspect you of being younger than I am! I admit DDE was not my first thought; I put three sets of initials in the margin and waited for some Across entries. But I vividly recall the 1955-56 election season because our next-door neighbors had a TV and The Mickey Mouse Club was cancelled by political "talk shows" (though I thnk that term had not yet been coined.) So upsetting! And in 1960 we listened to JFK's nomination acceptance speech while on the beach. By then I was old enough to be interested...
@Wesley More diabolical than I suspected!
@Wesley given the E at the end I spent some time thinking that indeed IKE was president until mid January 1961 when JFK was inaugurated. Didn’t last long.
@Wesley and the current one is diabolical times infinity!
@Wesley Yes I had L, B and J for a long while there. That clue got me H, L and S.
"You don't know anything about salamanders?" "No, I told you, I'm newt to this!" ("What about other amphibians?" "Nope, don't have toadal recall either.")
23D is my early leader for misdirect of the year. That was a moment of genius.
@Jamie Perhaps of the decade...but it's not the first time that ABE has been the answer to a clue about a Prez from the '60s. But both of the other times this happened were in the last decade, in 2013, to be exact. So don't expect to see it on Lewis's list on Monday.
@Jamie Yes. I had LBJ for sooooo long. And I was pondering what the heck jCYCLING and LIR was (I know I should have the "L" lower case, but it looks funny that way.)
Saving oneself: CHASTE - brilliant! I chuckled sensibly when I got that 🙂 (look up "sensible chuckle" meme for an exact impression). I enjoyed the mental exercise of figuring out the Congolese clue. At first I was puzzled - all the the names of the countries south of DRC are 6 letters long, and I need a 7 letter answer! And that's when it dawned on me: Congolese as a person from Congo! Ergo ZAMBIAN. I really liked many of today's clues. I often fail to tune into the constructor's wavelength but today Mr McCarty and I seemed to be in sync. I wouldn't have been able to fill the grid without looking up the proper nouns and trivia (including the three consecutive long entries in the middle of the across pass: the drink, the actor and the film), but I still enjoyed the experience. In the end I found this puzzle easier than yesterday's - on Friday I needed lookups, reveals and auto check, and today lookups sufficed. PS. For those who remember what I wrote a few days ago - Jorge the Lab is feeling much better. As I'm writing this he's sleeping peacefully in his huge, orthopedic dog bed, with the tip of his nose and one paw sticking out of the shade of the corner of our living room into the brilliant sunshine of a cool yet clear day.
@Andrzej Good to hear about Jorge. Sorry, just gotta do it one more time WHOS A GOOD BOY I felt just the right amount of pushback from this one. Just as my failure-panic-alert was about to go off, another letter would appear, and I kind of coasted in a pre-panic zone. But I was subcritical for the entire puzzle, which hasn't been the case all this week.
@Andrzej Trying - unsuccessfully - to understand the „sensible chuckle“. I looked up the meme but am not familiar with science fiction nor reddit. Is „sensible“ used to express „making sense“, or is it more like the German meaning „sensitive/feely“? It seems that the expression hints at multifarious meanings… Glad your dog is better!
@Andrzej So glad the goodest boy is feeling better! Found myself wondering as I was driving yesterday- how do you pronounce his name? I’m Swedish, so my uncle Jorge is pronounced YORE-geh. A Spanish pronunciation would be closer to HORE-HAY, I believe. But Polish is so far from either of those, I’m interested!
@Andrzej Hooray for Jorge! And you paint a delightful word picture, with Jorge's nose and paw in the sunlight.
@Andrzej Hooray for Jorge!! ☺️ WHATAGOODBOY!
@Andrzej Good news about (faux) Señor Jorge! It must be comforting to see him snuggled in his bed. Our Maximilian-Max-the-Wonder-Cat spent much of his very old age inside a padded mattress cover that he found left in a pile on the floor, meant to be put in the clothes washer. He claimed it and It stayed there, just for him. Even though there was no evidence that he was inside it, I knew he was, and I would address the bundle: "Max, the sun is shining in the back yard. You should go outside and catch some rays," then go back downstairs. He would appear in the kitchen a couple of minutes later, go out and sit on the deck for a while, then, having humored me, come back inside and head back upstairs. I have always loved talking to animals, and you would be amazed at how many understand far more English than they let on. I picture Jorge warming his nose and paw, and (unwelcome though it might be) I want to give him a big hug. You are lucky to have him.
@Andrzej Very glad to hear about Jorge.
@Andrzej The slipper tale with no slip-up is delightful. When I was a kid we had a ferocious looking bulldog (part English Bull, and part some other bulldogs), who was funny and playful and absolutely to be trusted never to hurt anyone. His only really exasperating trait was that he would help whichever kid was winning a wrestling match by shoving his nose in the ear of the kid who was losing, and starting to snuffle and nibble on the earlobe. No choice but to give up immediately.
Might as well be the first one to say it...I think they mixed up the Friday and the Saturday puzzle!
@Steve L came here to say the same thing. Plus three long clues about movies from the last ten years and double-redundantly clued Olympic clue. Breezed through it
Today's clues were certainly more direct, but are there crosses we sailed through that others will not? (For all the comments about Friday's clues being tough, I don't recall any Natick calls.)
@Steve L I went longer on Friday than I did today, but I could have never solved it had it not occurred to me that Lincoln was also a President in the 60s. I wish he were President today. Even if he has been dead the last 160 years.
@Steve L Not for me…over twice as long today. Some tricky clues yesterday no doubt but more less straight up trivia
@Steve L My mileage certainly did vary from yours. This one took significantly longer than Friday's. BANANA SEATS were very familiar to me, and WHY WORRY put me in mind of Alfred E. Neuman, so I'm showing my age. My lack of knowledge of mixed drinks, Irish actors, and recent Oscar winners almost did me in through the center.
@Steve L MMDV (my mileage does vary). Saturday’s puzzle took me nearly twice as long as Friday’s. Both were well below my average times. Apart from the NW, I really had to work the crosses to get inroads into the other sections, and I had a number of false starts, like safetyBOARD, tourTSHIRT, WHYsosad, peER group, “fruit” instead of PEARS and some others. On the other hand, I already had the final E for 23 down, and filled in ABE without hesitation 😊. I wanted something like PHOTOS for 15 across, but was pretty sure of LION.
Anyone else ever stage-dived into a MOSHPIT? Well, my one and only dive was at a Dead Kennedys show 40-ish years ago: I lost a shoe and ended up with a bloody nose. BUTDAD, WHYWORRY?
@CatDad Life is funny. It seems like one day you’re diving into a mosh pit, and the next you’re commenting on the NYT Saturday crossword!
@CatDad I have crowd-surfed at an Anthrax concert, but the beefy security guards kept everybody away from the stage.
@CatDad One time! At a college venue in NY state. The Fleshtones were performing. Ah, youth…
This had the marks of McCarty: • Those six-black-square stairsteps in the grid (25 of his 31 Saturdays have at least a pair of them). • Plenty of answers never seen in the NYT puzzle before, bringing newness into clue and answer (today there were 11). • A polished, junk-free filled-in grid. I don’t take this for granted, because a junk-free 66-worder is a sign of master craftsmanship. Low-word grids fight a constructor every step of the way; it’s a hard-won battle to come up with an answer set like this, and Ryan does it again and again. • Lovely quirks. Today, a seldom-seen-in-crosswords six-letter semordnilap (DIAPER). Also, BANANA SEATS, which triggered memories unvisited in decades. Not to mention [“If you squint, maybe …”] for SORTA, which had me imagining tilting my head and squinting to see something a different way – and that clue just came off as perfect. Above all, a rewarding journey requiring sweet effort and bringing a sweet payoff. Just what I want in a Saturday puzzle. Thank you once again, Ryan!
I spent several minutes looking for my typo, which of course was on the bottom row. I had left myself a note, it seems. DONT HO.
no one uses asiago in place of "parmesan".
@rumbear Well, other than me, apparently.
@rumbear I kept trying to fit "padano"
@rumbear I have, frequently, for the last thirty years or so.
@rumbear tell me you’re not Italian without telling me you’re not Italian…
@rumbear We do, regularly. Cheaper and tastes as good (to our philistine palates)
@rumbear I have in a pinch. They have a similar sharpness.
I've never commented on the crossword before, but I must now just to say that 23D was absolutely diabolical. What adds to the sting is that the answer flashed through my head before I dismissed it.
@Lex I agree, assuming by diabolical you mean excellent. The A was the last letter to drop for me, at which point I thought "oh THAT 60s!" Made me laugh out loud at how obvious it was, but elusive.
@Lex so right! I thought I was so clever for remembering that IKE was prez until 1961, and therefore the answer wasn't JFK... but no, not *those* '60's...
@Lex I started with IKE, then thought it must be JFK..... Finally cleared it all out and got the A and E from crossings. That made it oh-so-obvious.
Some of the final answers, as opposed to what I initially slapped in, were quite surprising and clever. Of course, ABE is an instant classic. But also AMNESIAC and ONYXES gave me humorous surprises.
@Francis Samesies! Very much enjoyed the last few days of puzzles! I mean, I do tend to enjoy them in general, of course, but I thought these were some real bright ones lately. I was sorry I didn't get to participate in the comments on the chips and salsa double dipping thing, or maybe I'm not... It's hard to say!
Um, Wow. Za. I reside under a rock, so I had never heard of Nigella or Barry. But…*but*! I needed how many lookups? Hmm..? None! This is a brilliant puzzle. Fair and square. Plain and simple. Up and down. Tip to toe. Absolutely nominating this for a POY. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Imma go back and just gaze at it for a bit, recalling every single glorious “AHA!” I might need a (THC) cigarette…
@CCNY Nigella was my only Google -- it seems awkward enough to get a tEXT in public that I concluded her surname must be LAWtON. Obviously it's much more awkward if her last name is LAWSON...
Kindness and Questions Thread Hello, Crossword Friends! Experiment Day 2 — a thread specifically for friendly discussion. Whether you want to share what you enjoyed about today’s puzzle, ask about a clue/theme that stumped you, or just chat about something nice that happened to you today, this is meant to be a space for kindness and curiosity. I happen to be partial to fun factoids, so bring those too if you have them! This thread isn’t meant as a statement on the rest of the comments section — just a little pocket of positivity for anyone who wants it. I hope you all have had a great day and have a great tomorrow and a fun solve!
Oh dear. If we need a special thread for kindness that's kind of a comment on our little community. I thought the whole discussion board was supposed to be like that. We should raise the bar.
@Lpr I like a lot of the discussions that go on in other parts of the comments section! I just thought it might be nice to have a specific thread that is only for a nice little chat. Some days, I just want a spot to go that is away from the complaints or the commentary. It's not always clear where that is. I thought others may like that, too. Kindness and questions probably sounds like a harsher about the other sections than it should. I think I'll just call it "Nice Little Chat" thread moving forward.
@CCed This was a fun Saturday! B AND BS made a bit sad, but only because I have to check out in two hours and go back to the real world. There's a really good chippy here though. Going there before heading home will be a nice little ! on the trip. And I'll be able to tell the pupper "Who's a good boy!" soon! I thought AMNESIAC was quite clever. 26A and 29A hit my weak spot. I need put some of those kind of movies back into my rotation eventually. I've been on a long "feel good and silly" movie streak. Different kind of enjoyment. I had never heard of AGE MATE before, but now I know :)
@CCed Bum wrap is going to make me smile all day. And I was so sure about DDE as the prez that I left it in until the “Nice Try” message came up. Doh!
@CCed I was helped by my sister-in-law being a cousin of Nigella and by the "to err is human,,," poet having lived and been buried locally and therefor quotations from him decorate a local public garden.
@CCed I take the reason for this thread to be not necessarily crossword related comments, but more about forming a friendly online community, where we can share personal messages. If so, I think it's a lovely idea!
@Peter It must have been fun to see those clues! (Alas, I have personal experience with only BANDTSHIRTS and SONICARE. 😂)
I must be alone in finding this puzzle much more difficult than yesterday's. There were some beautifully SNEAKY fills—DIAPER, after I had tried to figure out who would cover their bum with a diadem, but ABE was quick to fall. Very pleased that MOSHPIT dropped in early, since I didn't even know what one looked like until I came to the column, but I was stuck on "phaste" for a while, even googled it (there is such a word). All in all, a classy puzzle, Ryan McCarty. Did clues just POPUP one DARKNSTORMY night, or was it a long time in the making? Thanks for thinking of us, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Not alone. This one took me 37% longer than Friday's. Still enjoyable.
@dutchiris Not alone. A very early thread has many folks comparing the two days, and both sides are well represented. My solve was five minutes longer than yesterday, and both were slightly under my averages
@dutchiris Also…not alone! But I haven’t done yesterday’s yet. I did send out a postcard for the million postcard drive somebody here started for today.
I’m glad others found this easy. For me, it was like wading through sludge, for the second day in a row. I didn’t know the actor or the drink. I’ve seen the movie, but I can never remember Best Picture winners. I had Romano instead of ASIAGO, vases instead of PEARS. And I’m still giving AGEMATE the side eye. A bright note: I liked BAND TSHIRTS crossing BAND BS. (Yeah, I know.)
@Heidi I too thought the BAND/BAND crossing was fun 🤓
@Heidi I gave that same side eye to agemate.
My RARE DISEASE for tonight had these symptoms: Thinking it was DARK & STORMY. Falling for the LBJ trick. Falling for GAMBIA, (embarrassing, I know.) But I’ve recovered now.
@Cat Lady Margaret I had RWANDAN in at first
@Cat Lady Margaret You're not alone--neither in lack of knowledge of African geography, nor in your embarrassment about it. That G was my last square to fall, in flyspecking. Something about gONINGBOARD seemed a bit off. :\
McCarty is my Saturday success yardstick. I used to approach his solves with a healthy amount of trepidation, expecting a long day at it. I’ve steadily improved, and today I solved in 30! Thank you for making me a better puzzler, Mr McCarty!
Being Irish certainly made today's puzzle easier :)
Not an easy one for me, of course. Some look-ups and then just a lot of pondering and working the crosses. But then lots of nice moments when something finally dawned on me. That's all on me. Eleven debut answers - that's unusual even for a late week puzzle. Pretty impressive feat of construction. Puzzle find today - a Monday from February 13, 2012 by Ellen Leuschner and Victor Fleming. Straightforwardly clued - just thought this was a nice reminder of variant spellings in the English language. The theme answers: BREADDOUGH GARRYTRUDEAU WAITINGFORGODOT MARLONBRANDO REARWINDOW I'm done. See you tomorrow. ....
@Rich in Atlanta And... on the doh line - one more puzzle find. A Tuesday from May 22, 2007 by Roger Wolff. Three 15 letter theme answers. I'll let you guess how they were clued. DEERAFEMALEDEER DROPOFGOLDENSUN NAMEICALLMYSELF Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A</a> ...
Had to come and say kudos for DIAPER - still giggling to myself about that one! [Bum wrap?] today and [Knight schtick?] (= "honor") yesterday are two kinda similar and truly superstar clues in my opinion! I went straight in with Lawson, easy-peasy for a Brit, and never got truly stuck in the grid. I had no idea about BANANA SEATS so was a bit bogged down in the SW corner for a while, but it never seemed impossible. Excellent puzzle, this is real professional standards! Many thanks Ryan!
@Alex Yes. That gave me a laugh, too. Wonderful clue.
Thought at first this would be a cup of coffee, take a break and walk the dog, come back and finish over a second cup of coffee affair, but it was done by the end of the first cup. Huh! The dog gets an extra long walk now. Enjoy the weekend, all!
Saturday's puzzle was as easy Friday's was hard for me. Finished in a few minutes. I'll take the win today after sweating it out yesterday!!
The puzzle was fun and surprisingly breezy for me. I enjoyed it! I'm not the first and won't be the last to say it, I'm sure, but 23D for ABE was pretty great! I also liked "Bum wrap" for DIAPER quite a bit. BANANASEAT for some nice nostalgia! A couple few things/namesI didn't know but they came pretty easily from crosses and likely language/spelling patterns. Really tried to run with ethicsBOARD at 14D but had to quickly disabuse myself of that notion. I was kind of proud of it though because I filled it in pretty quickly. It filled itself in but I've never heard of AGEMATE before. I see it's been used once before so some folks out there must use the term. Of course my all-time favorite has to be NEWT because my great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was once turned into one. Here's the actual footage: <a href="https://youtu.be/fr8DIg3oHFI?si=znKnauxuM-4rOVlM" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/fr8DIg3oHFI?si=znKnauxuM-4rOVlM</a>
@HeathieJ Mine too! That makes us, if I count right, eighth cousins. I thought DIAPER was a hoot, too. I has the second and third letter for 33A as "AS", and I spent quite a lot of time trying to make it into "Las Vegas" in some form. I think a good rule of thumb on Saturday is "never be too sure".
@HeathieJ I saw a lady turned into a turkey yesterday. She was there, then there was a turkey, she was gone.
@HeathieJ I thought “Bum wrap?” was a good clue, but it would be an even better clue for NAPPY. 🤓
@HeathieJ (with apologies to mike), i’m glad to know your 7x grandpa recovered from a reptile dysfunction. i’ll see myself out.
I never rode a bike with a banana seat. I doubt now I ever will. I never slam danced in a mosh pit. I doubt now I ever will. I never bought, out of foolish extravagance, an overpriced band T-shirt. I doubt now I ever will. Wasted youth. OTOH, the Lions never made it to the Superbowl--with luck, they will.
@Bill I've done all three, some of them quite a bit 😁 And, for small bands just starting out, or having a more niche appeal, the merch is how they stay in business, so buy away!
@Bill I guess I am an extravagant fool, because I leave every concert with an overpriced t-shirt 🤪
@Bill Ha! Overpriced was my first guess for "concert merch" but it was one letter too short. I had a different BAND T-SHIRT for each day of the week, and still have quite a few of them. (Currently wearing Iron Maiden, as a matter of fact.)
@Bill We don't need luck, just a healthy defense!
Gambian/ZAMBIAN, Romano/ASIAGO -- a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. A few of the other proper nouns were a struggle, but never resorted to a Google SOS. (Actually, Perplexity has become the preferred tool these days.) Solid Saturday.
@LBG I had to fill in all the letters in gONING BOARD to spot that mistake.
@LBG So Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine? I have gotten so many wrong answers from Google's AI that I would be very leery of Perplexity.
@Linda Jo Can't say I've conducted an accuracy study, but very impressed from a month's worth of Perplexity. Very much worth a try.
Wow. Went through all of the acrosses and only had written in SHARD. So I thought to myself, “Uh-oh, this might be one I just can’t do”. But I persevered, and little by little it came together— just like it’s supposed to! The NE corner was the last to fall (probably because I first put VISITORS for “Company”). A good challenge, thanks!
@Joe P I entered SH_RD there and waited for crosses for either an A or an E - pottery sherd is what I encounter when reading about archeology, and shard everywhere else. On Saturday I thought it could have been the less usual spelling.
@Joe P Are we looking at the same puzzle? I can't find VISITORS or "Company" anywhere in or around this puzzle. Thank you to anyone who can help me with this.
So many lovely coincidings in this puzzle! SONIC* crossing with BAND* in the top right. (Yes, top right. I’m from Boston—we don’t know nothing ‘bout ordinal directions.) SEXTS and PDA at the top, shy and chaste at the bottom. AMNESIAC and DATA LOSS?! And best of all, I’M HERE at the start and DON’T GO at the end. Had me all <a href="https://youtu.be/TluCpFirXuQ" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/TluCpFirXuQ</a>. Thank you, Ryan!
lots of smiles today: BANANA SEATS, ABE, DIAPER, and MOSH PITS stood out for me. especially BANANA SEATS, as i fondly recalled my yellow childhood bike with a banana-colored banana seat. 😉🙃 and as the mom of a kid with a RARE DISEASE, it's nice to see that mentioned--and just two weeks after rare disease day!
@Hope Levav Thanks for sharing about your child. Certainly, I hope you’re all doing well. I have a rare disease myself: “autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease,” or ADTKD. (My public service announcement to all: If you run across someone with an unknown kidney disease, have them undergo a genetic test for ADTKD; learn more about the ailment at www.rarekidney.org). Anyway: I finished in a zippy 10:25. 🙂
Second very hard puzzle in a row for me. Didn't know Nigella's surname. Or the drink. Or the Irish actor. Thought RAINMAN was the Best Picture, and couldn't recall the Michael Moore title. Had totally forgotten that DYLAN was awarded a Nobel. Couldn't recall the last letter in Javier's surname, though I've seen "No Country for Old Men" several times. Yet somehow I solved this one without look-ups or errors, though it took almost 45 minutes. Last entry was the R common to BARRY and RCCAR. Still have no idea what an RCCAR is, but BARRY/RCCAR made a lot more sense than BARMY/MCCAR. "Bum wrap?" for DIAPER was clever. Don't think I've seen that one before. All in all, an excellent Saturday puzzle!
@Xword Junkie Remote control car.
@Xword Junkie -- The wonderful "Bum wrap" for DIAPER has never appeared in the NYT puzzle before, but it has shown up once before in the LAT. I love the clue because it is wordplay heaven -- a two-word phrase in which both words are played on!
@Xword Junkie Thank you for posting this comment so I didn't have to.
A good mix of gimmes; Nigella, BARRY, DARK N STORMY, my go to cocktail if I don’t fancy a Martini and the gorgeous Sr BARDEM. Then I hit the wall of TILs, too many to mention. Love, love the clue for DIAPERS (nappies in our neck of the woods). Overall a chewy, rewarding Saturday. Thank you Mr McCarty.
@Helen Wri ght Chewy. What a great descriptor for a gnarly puzzle. Deb Amien, take note.
@Helen Wright your gimmes were all TILs for me. I wonder if any of your TILs were gimmes for me? Maybe we should be solving partners--we'd get the whole thing done in 10 minutes flat! 😊
Grand puzzle! BANANA SEAT BIKE alone was worth the price of admission. I had a glorious specimen back in the 70s, although because my parents bought it used, I didn’t appreciate it nearly as much as I should have. It was bright pink with a white seat with multicolored daisies. I’m sure it’s a hot commodity on some retro market, and every once in a while I’ll give it a google. No luck yet… And thank you for making RARE DISEASE a centerpiece and raising awareness. I lost one of my dearest friends to one of these. Thinking of you, sweet Val. (P.S. Cycle for Survival is a great charity funding the search for cures.)
@Kate Ooh, jelly!! I coveted the neighborhood kids' BANANA SEAT bikes when I was a kid in the 70's, but alas I never did get one. Did yours also have the banana handlebars with the tassles streaming out of the ends?? And in a puzzle chock full of interesting bits, thank you for bringing RARE DISEASE, and your dear friend, to our attention. P.S. I've noticed your handle location(s) for a while now. Boston suburbs for my childhood, and subsequently my family is MA South Coast. Represent!
@Kate Well, I suspect you would know that making a charming post like that might spark a little interest in this crowd. Behold the 1980 Schwinn Lil’ Chik-Pretty in Pink. Some nice pictures, and if still available could be yours again for a few hundred bucks. Maybe a grand-daughter needs a bike? <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2ca7v8eh" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/2ca7v8eh</a>
Fun! A little chewy, but went a lot smoother than yesterday’s. I thought the longer clues/answers were great, but some of the shorter fill seemed a little too straightforward. Maybe these could be clued a bit less directly to make this feel more Saturday-y? Thanks for the puzzle!
BANANASEAT made me laugh, and gave me hope that I might solve this Saturday puzzle without too much trouble, and so I did. A lot of unknown trivia but so thoughtfully crossed that it was not insurmountable. Ryan McCarty’s clueing is tough but fair, and always entertaining! Kudos once again!
Ryan McCarty’s name strikes fear in my crossword-solving heart. But while certainly a lot of fun to solve, this one didn’t make me sweat. And I’m sure I won’t be the last to say it, but any puzzle with ZONING BOARD in it makes me feel warm inside. This puzzle’s WHO’S A GOOD BOY?
I was stuck for far too long on 23 down; when I finally figured it out I had to look up the first known use of “prez;” turns out it was 1686. So I can’t even grumble about the slang being a red herring.
It took me two hours and 51 minutes with no look-ups, a glorious reprieve from the currently atrocious state of affairs. Thank you
Very challenging for me. I eventually got some help from Caitlin and worked all the crosses I possibly could. But my last problem spot was “Prez in the 60s” and I fell for that misdirect hook, line and sinker, because I tried both JFK and LBJ. Finally saw the light and realized it wasn’t the 1960s but the 1860s 🤦🏼♀️. That was very clever, I must say. Thanks for a tough but satisfying workout, Ryan McCarty.
@Shari Coats Same, I even had IKE there for a while, but eventually deleted it and filled it in with the crossing answers. It was a fun "wait a minute..." moment when I finally solved the puzzle by putting the B in ABE. A great time overall.
TIL that in addition to Stan Lee, Brad Pitt, and Peter Falk, that ONYXES also appear in cameos. Enjoyed the puzzle! It brought back good memories of my first time riding a bike, followed immediately by my first time wrecking a bike. With sparkly green paint, white handlebar grips with tassels, and a white glittering BANANASEAT, the Schwinn bike looked magnificent tumbling over my back.
Those still-lifers really did get stereotyped. I mean, there are so many things that sit still long enough to paint them, but I bet loads of us immediately thought of pears. I enjoyed this puzzle, and won’t be able to spell Barry’s last name in this sentence.
@JohnWM Initially, I was sure it was ewers.
@JohnWM It took me a few crosses before I got PEARS. (At first pass, vases fit...) If only I had looked up: I have not one but two paintings of pears hanging in my line of sight! Great-aunt Patty, who by family lore was pear-shaped, painted pears. They look luscious!
We did it! Hand up for DDE and then the realization: ABE. Thank you Ryan.
Looks like every generational group was included...dazzling Saturday. Don't go, Ryan...give us some more puzzles! Bravo!
I wouldn't normally POPUP here just to boast, but IMHERE to smugly announce that today is day 500 of my current streak. No LION. That said, I might officially break my streak starting tomorrow — with Sundays often taking me up to 2 hours to complete 😬, the rest of my schedule gets a little DARKNSTORMY.
I solved this one counterclockwise starting in the NW and working my way around, finishing in the NE. I was slowed a bit by DARKNSTORMY because I wanted it to be dark and stormy. I introduced my (second) wife, a devoted wine drinker, to the joy of cocktails by getting her to try a DARKNSTORMY. She’s moved on to cosmos and the occasional daiquiri, but still prefers to stick to wine. Seeing BANANASEAT made me think of the stingray bike I learned to ride on. My friends and I thought we were so cool because we could pop wheelies. These days the tricks serious bikers can do boggle the mind. It’s probably for the best that I grew up when I did.
@Marshall Walthew As one who never even came close to being able to pop a wheelie, I always looked down on those who could.
Zipped through it with no struggle. I want my money back! Just kidding. It was fun but I prefer a Saturday puzzle that kicks my butt a little. Enjoy the weekend to everyone who isn't under severe weather threat and to those who are, stay safe!
@Lpr I should then count myself lucky, I suppose. I needed twenty two cheats. I definitely felt kicked in the keister. Yes, stay safe, everyone.
A fun Saturday! I really enjoy answers that can be slowly filled in using logical guesses, like BUT DAD. And it was nice for once to actually know some of trivia names like LAWSON and BARDEM, and even a tougher one like BARRY KEOGHAN which was on the tip of my brain but required mostly crosses to actually fill in.
On 23(insert rude words here)D, with ECYCLED in place it just had to be “ike” or “dde”. For the Irish actor, well Gaelic names can be quite challenging so either kARRY or dARRY both seemed possible it was _IR that had me baffled.
@Patrick J. I was similarly lost around there with DDE seeming much more likely than JFK and LBJ and even RMH until I suddenly realized.
@Patrick J. Not that you would be expected to know, but Eisenhower was prez in the 50s. Granted he wasn't dead in the 60s, so he would still have been addressed as President, but that would have been unfair. I did indignantly think DDE might be it, but dismissed as too obviously wrong. Brilliant misdirect for me.
@Nora DDE was president both in the 50s and 60s.... He didn't step down from the presidency until 1961
@Daily-Solver I realized that based on another comment, thanks. This time, though, my thinking saved me some angst. I'll try to remember when it comes to the next one. I do of course know this, it's the remembering that's hard! ;)
@Patrick J. IKE to ABE was my last solve of the puzzle. I could have cut a few minutes from an already personal best if I had figured it out sooner.
Loved the 23 Down clueing: “Prez in the 60s”. Of course it’s LBJ, right? But then LIR for 23-across and JCYCLED at 28 across didn’t make any sense...
So much easier than yesterday! And I feel like I’ve arrived as a puzzle solver… my immediate thought for 7A was the correct answer, rather than INNS or LODGES, irrespective of the # of letters.