Monday easy, but not boring easy, which is not easy to construct. Good job, Jeff and Jeffrey. I enjoyed your puzzle.
"What are the chances an integer is in the form 2n + 1?" "You know the odds." (I can't even with these puns.)
@Mike I was told there would be no laugh.
@Mike I tried to come up with a pun but I had to digit. / / /
Any puzzle with LIAM NEESON in it is okay by me, though I don't like that movie despite its fabulous cast. I thought the puzzle had a lot of personality for a Monday and a clever theme. If Mazda ever builds another 5 letter sports car, I'm in trouble. Nice job, Jeffs.
@Vaer Agree, many better options to clue him, which now also includes The Naked Gun. <a href="https://youtu.be/_8-N8IIq_8I" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/_8-N8IIq_8I</a>
Hard to believe no one has placed this link into the comments yet. "It's just a flesh wound." <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs</a> Then again, I suppose there aren't many solvers with the sense of humor of a 14-year-old boy. Except for me.
@Pezhead Oh, I can guarantee your last paragraph is incorrect.
@Pezhead You're so wrong 🤣 Also, it's quite interesting that I laughed at Monty Python at 14, and I laugh at it at 44, but for different reasons. Then the slapstick absurdity was all I saw, these days it's also the satire and parody.
@Pezhead Ahem, 14 year old boy cunningly disguised as ageing female punk here 👋
“Nut for a Thanksgiving pie”= myself. I am a nut for them. All of them, any kind, any combination. In other news, I tried making {19, 27, 45} mean something gnarly with regard to probability. Nope, they’re just ODD!
@Cat Lady Margaret I saw the clue numbers of the TEN-ONE pair as "two" apart at 19 - 21 29 - 31 53 - 55 So, "TEN two ONE" But the TENORSAXOPHONES blew that theory out of the joint with 45 - 49. That was just ODD. But not this: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp8r2ouBIbE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp8r2ouBIbE</a>
@Cat Lady Margaret Easiest pie on the planet? Cherry pie, filling made with a can of Oregon tart cherries. I can knock one of these out (including making the crust) in around 20 minutes plus baking time. Fans weep with pleasure from bite one.
It's not just the four theme entries that are odd -- the words TEN and ONE all start in boxes with odd numbers.
@mnemonica Oh my goodness, well spotted!! I hadn’t even noticed!
@mnemonica I think the revealer would have worked better without the shaded squares, but it is a Monday. I liked the repeating tens and ones but the fact that they were on odd numbers didn't help or hinder solving in any way, unless perhaps for someone who got stuck on 53a, the revealer itself.
I know nothing about betting, but the odds were TEN TO ONE I would do alright just because it's a gentle Monday puzzle. I also know not much about liquor but if anyone else is having an overcast Sunday afternoon of April rainshowers, I say bring out that single MALT whiskey, nibble on some slices of toasted French baguette smeared with BRIE, and listen to some TENOR SAXOPHONES wailing, as you maybe read some engaging PROSE and wile away the time. <a href="https://youtu.be/pc6CWfBgIt8?si=NEz0PWnYCzR4gJqp" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/pc6CWfBgIt8?si=NEz0PWnYCzR4gJqp</a> Thank you, Jeff & Jeff, for a very smooth puzzle and satisfying solve. Tchin tchin.
@sotto voce Love your music picks! I can also confirm your excellent suggestions apply equally well on a rainy PNW Monday afternoon. Between the April showers and the daily news, I'm going to need a bigger bottle of single malt...
Today was puzzle #2000 in a row with a gold star for me :) Just back from the ACPT - puzzles are definitely my happy place right now .
@Cathy Parrish Huge congrats! Any close calls along the way that make a good story?
@Cathy Parrish Amazing streak!
@Cathy Parrish That is quite an accomplishment; congrats! I went to the ACPT for the first time and had a great time.
Nice Monday puzzle. Just a bit on the slow side for me and the 'reveal' was just about the last thing I worked out. Just made for a nice 'oh, of course' moment. Unusual puzzle find today. A Sunday from December 30, 2001 by Elizabeth C. Gorski with the title "Dropping the ball." Probably would have been more appropriate on December 31, but that wasn't a Sunday so the puzzle wouldn't have fit. There was a seventeen letter answer down the middle of the puzzle with twelve rebus squares. In order those were: (TEN)(NINE)(EIGHT)(SEVEN)(SIX)(FIVE)(FOUR)(THREE)(TWO)(ONE)ITS(TWO)OO(TWO) And MIDNIGHT was another theme answer. Hard to describe the rest of it. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/30/2001&g=25&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/30/2001&g=25&d=D</a> I'll shut up now. ....
ODDS are some WELL-INTENTIONED ONE will PICK something to knock about today’s puzzle, but I thought it was a TEN!
Hi, I’m a pretty new solver and just want to say I solved this fun puzzle in 9 minutes, which I’m sure is molasses to experienced ones, but I am feeling very pleased! Forgive my little crow!
@BetsyRayBans Wow that’s pretty good. I am neither new nor expert and it took me more than 10 minutes 👏
@BetsyRayBans Welcome! I'm picturing you writing that proudly, with your hands on your hips.....which admittedly would be impossible to do.... :)
A nice Monday offering. I confess I needed help understanding 24D, but as always @Steve L answered @Jane Wheeligan’s query perfectly. A county that the Thames flows through? Well, you could have Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Greater London, Kent, or indeed, ESSEX. Take your pick! (It’s a long river). Nursing a squished foot today after helping a friend move her cows. Bloomin great heifer stood on me rather walk through the wide open gate. The cow that is, not my friend. TIS but a scratch. I’ll walk it off.
Helen, An objection to ESSEX (as clued) was raised here yesterday: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/46lhka?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/46lhka?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a>
@Helen Wright So the "county" as clued could solve to SHIRE. Maybe not on a Monday, though. And the county to the north of me is simply called Bucks, presumably because William Penn was tired of saying Buckinghamshire all the time. Hope the foot heals up nicely, heifers can be such a trial.
@Helen Wright exactly what I was thinking regarding the Thames River! It’s very long and I wish I was in your neck of the woods since being across the huge pond is extremely “magenta” now. I say “magenta” because I picked it up from Blanche Deveraux on Golden Girls EONS ago lol! Anyways, I hope you’re having a Marvellous Monday even though you’re not feeling super well. Sending positive vibes and prayers, Namaste!!
@Lady Morgan Kelly Diana I had to look up the "magenta" clip and I'm very glad I did. Thank you!
Pedantic editor: "Are there any news?" Sassy reporter: "Not one new."
As a linguist, I must point out the difference between interpreting and translating— interpreting is done in real-time/with spoke language while translating is properly used to describe to convey meaning from one manage to another for deciphering text. 3-down clue is inaccurate.
@Ryder H. YES! thank you for pointing this out. This clue answer is just plain WRONG.
@Ryder H. Yes but don't you have to translate the words in your mind and then say the translation? I understand what you're saying, but it seems like kind of a nit pick when most everyone will figure out the answer from the clue. And as others have said, clues are clues, not definitions.
@Ryder H. This is one of most absurd nits I’ve ever seen in these comments. Translators translate written works. Interpreters translate in real time, usually orally. Dancers interpret.
@Ryder H. As a Signals Intelligence Voice Interceptor (Army linguist) TRANSLATING was one of my jobs, but so was changing the oil in my Humvee.
@Ryder H. Crossword clues tend to use common usage, not official definitions. I work in a school where 60% of the families do not speak English in their homes. We commonly provide "Translation" for meetings and parent-teacher conferences. Sometimes done simultaneously, sometimes sentence by sentence. But we pretty much always refer to it as TRANSLATING.
All my friends, OPI, EGO, CEO, and APT are here… but there’s an IRA shaped hole in my heart. :p
@Robin Indeed, they've EBBed on some of the faves, but the puzzle was so full it was SRO, so I guess they couldn't fit without others making their ESC
Nice easy Monday, done in a Jeffy. No nits to PICK.
I see we all enjoyed this puzzle. And it also looks like most of us are having dreary weather. It’s a rainy day here in northern CA, after several days of sun and clouds. Thanks for a terrific Monday puzzle, Jeff and Jeff. I also really enjoyed all the comments. Lots of good humor, which we all need now. I started my day with a FaceTime visit with my daughter in Texas and our 3 year old grandson, and 1 year old granddaughter. They are both the funniest little munchkins! Great start to the day 🤣🥹
A fun Monday puzzle that could also serve as a primer for new solvers, as it’s full of greatest hits: OPI, OREO, MIATA, OSHA, IOTA, to name just a few. “Eno” is missing, but ENOS is here! The best part is, the Jeffs have used these familiar answers in a way that is charmingly refreshing and new. OLE!
@Heidi BTW, the Mazda is not called Miata in Poland - it's always been sold as an MX-5 (not MX-5 Miata, just MX-5). I know the American name though, but I'm wondering where from? Maybe some older Need for Speed games :D ENOS may be here, but ESAU is not. And what about UTE, OTOE and EPEE? And OBOE? :( Not even an ERA in sight, but we do have EON (rather than AEON, which also goes...)
@Heidi If Brian Eno cloned himself, we'd have two ENOS. (Gonna finish my coffee now...)
Lovely crossword. I could even guess the baseball clue! That's a first.
@Jane Wheelaghan Without crosses? 😆 I think my experience was much like yours. For once I was able to deal with a baseball clue that had not been explained to me by the community, and especially Steve L, but only because I had plenty of crosses, and it was quite a natural term, not jargon.
@Jane Wheelaghan Glad to see my verbosity came to serve a purpose!
Ah, me...over too soon. Unlike the stock market plunge... I admit I checked the spaces between TEN and ONE in case those two words bracketed an ODD word, or the name of something (or someone) ODD....even though I knew it was a lot to ask on a Monday. Congrats to Jeffrey on this nice collaboration with Jeff. Y'all come back, hear?
@Mean Old Lady ten to one odds, the stock market plunge is NOT the fault of “RepLoyalists” since when they do anything right, they rave about it; however, when they do anything wrong they either dodge it and/or play their blame games. Anyways, I hope you have a Marvellous Monday and Namaste!!
On a scale of 1 to 10, this was a Monday 10. Bravo, J & J!
Objection, m'lud, but the Thames does not flow through Essex. It barely flows past it.
Just did the mini and “unique letters” was such a bad clue.
@Kyle Given that nobody else is commenting on this I know this is probably me, but I don't see that clue in the mini.
Kyle, Are you objecting to the use of "unique" in the clue? If so, why? <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unique" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unique</a>
I thought the clue was clever but when I saw it I immediately skipped past figuring it would be a time sink. As it was I plugged in fiGht at 6A which blew up the game anyway (1:42). Oh well.
Just enough meat for a Monday. Guess I need to start working - I guess that's one way to stay away from the news. Oh..or I could just go play in the archives.
On a rainy. Monday, my least favorite puzzle day, this crossword put a bright spot in my day, thanks to the constructors. A wonderful Monday puzzle, what are the odds?
@AABB I’m totally with you on that one! Given that we’re dealing with a dreary day so far, I enjoyed the puzzle especially since there was a theme and no current “political content” was mentioned once. I hope this weather makes up its mind too! One day last week, I had to put the AC on and now I’m under my Easter Peeps Throw Blanket. Mother Nature is surely having a great time showing off and reminding us who’s the boss! Hopefully you’ll continue to have a Marvellous Monday and Namaste my fellow Jersian!!
Given that there was a theme, I didn’t have to type/see/read anything about current “politicians”, and I solved it in 44 minutes without any help, I’d say it’s totally worth it and great job especially for a dreary morning. I hope my fellow NYTers have a Marvellous Monday and Namaste!!
Tough for a Monday. A little over five minutes. Didn't understand the gimmick about the odd clue numbers until after I was done
I'm curious whether it's more common for solvers to get the theme before completing the puzzle, or to complete the puzzle before getting the theme. I estimate that is solve 80% of themed puzzles without understanding the theme, and I see this same sentiment often echoed in the comments here. Yesterday I had to understand the theme (lichee vs lychee) to get the solve, and even then only the spin but not the class part. Today, while I saw the theme, I didn't dwell on it or appreciate it until I had completed the puzzle. I tend toward the latter.
@Aaron I started out solving the crosswords in the NY Times newspaper and was unaware that there were themes, so tend not to see them now, unless I notice one while I am solving or am hopelessly stuck and come to the column.
@Aaron What I would say is that a puzzle theme is pretty useless at first. Especially with a puzzle like yesterday. The theme words were 12+ letters long...AND pieced together from 2 other words and a spinner. So to even be able to use the puzzle title you need to have some decent level of groundwork which starts to make the random letters from the acrosses and downs make sense. So i would think that that getting a foothold on the theme typically would get one towards the 40%-50% of the puzzle complete before the secret starts to reveal itself. So one might know the form of the them answer at around that midway point. I think on this Sunday's puzzle I knew pretty quickly exactly what the spinning space represented....Although knowing the letter direction was going to be part of the challenge. I also think last week or so there was another themed puzzle where the type of answer was tipped off from the Title of the puzzle...Those are really just the experience of many many years of seeing puzzles. But yeah...I think you need to typically be a sold chunk in before you can land the first theme word...not 80% of the way in...but a lot.
@Aaron I find with an easy puzzle like in a Monday I don’t usually get the theme before hand, but with a harder puzzle the theme can be a big help. My favourite situation is when the theme is tricky, but one it becomes apparent it helps to solve the rest of the puzzle. I found yesterday’s theme was a big help.
@Aaron A great example of a puzzle that I think would be impossible without understanding of the theme was yesterday's (Sunday's), with the spinning classes.
@Aaron It depends on what kind of theme it is. If knowing the theme is important for figuring out some of the answers (like yesterday's theme, or a 2023 puzzle I did yesterday where there were Zs on the ends of phrases that otherwise wouldn't have Zs. If the answers don't make sense without knowing the theme, then it's important to get it pretty early on. But if, as with today's puzzle, the theme doesn't really affect the ability to solve, I generally only notice and appreciate it after I've finished.
@Aaron What is key to a great crossword puzzle is having several different ways of not just solving it, but checking your work. The crossing words of any given entry provide different opportunities to arrive at the correct entry. When there is a good theme as well, there can be another way to arrive at the correct entries or check your work. In a great crossword all of these add up to many well reinforced "Aha"! moments. The more routes to solving the constructor provides, the better the solving experience for everyone. With that said, if we have had enough coffee and are feeling cocky we will tackle the theme first. If we feel lazy, we try to float along doing the easy fill first and wait for the theme to surprise us. Play the puzzle a different way every day and watch your streak grow.
Nice! Nice to have a Monday puzzle with some long fill that one can confidently march through!
Well, I used to get nail polish to paint rocks (a favorite summer activity) but, the brand was not OPI as the polish came from the dollar store. And, if you have a fragile EGO avoid rock painting with accomplished artists. The Infant of Prague on a rock.... give me a break. Nice Monday. Thanks to J&J.
my mother, an interpreter, corrects anyone who calls her a translator. different things!
@gem The joys of Polish - there is only one word for either in our language, "tłumacz". It may come with additional descriptors that make it clear what kind of translation is involved in the particular translator's work, but those descriptors are part rather of translators' jargon than common Polish. For example, somebody may be a "tłumacz symultaniczny"(male)/"tłumaczka symultaniczna (female) [that's in th nominative case, even though if this sentence were in Polish, I'd be using a case we call narzędnik, the rough equivalent of which is the Latin ablativus] which is pretty much the equivalent of your "interpreter". Random Polish trivia strikes again.
@gem That wasn’t the clue. We’re not talking about what the name of the job is.
That was easy, even for a Monday, but fun. Didn't notice the theme until after I'd finished.
Circle any letter I (eye not ell) in your completed grid. Now count the number of black squares in the column containing your circled I. If there's just one, you just beat TENTOONEODDS against you. Congratulations! Brilliant that the constructors somehow baked this amazing feature into their construction. ;-)
Wow, two Jeffs! This one had a nice mixture of old and new: Peter O'TOOLE and the ADDAMS Family, ASH Ketchum and EMINEM. (Though now that I think about it, Pokemon and EMINEM have been around for decades, haven't they? Am I old now?)
@Katie I've never played Pokemon, nor watched the cartoon, but I somehow knew the character's name was ASH. Gotta Ketchum all!
Starfleet transporter user manuals emphasize the importance of not getting too excited while operating the equipment. Fun Monday.
Anyone else notice the extra space in 43D's clue? I tend to overthink and couldn't decide if it was intentional until after finding the answer. My first time seeing a potential typo.
@Erin N. The extra space is definitely there...
@Erin N. I print the puzzle....there's no extra space on my page...and I wouldn't make anything of it if there were. DHubby just brought me a bowl of cereal and fruit (with almond milk.) No spoon. Now, THAT got my attention,
@Erin N. It may have been corrected in the online version, because extra spaces are my specialty (i.e. they make me itch) but definitely not there now.
Twas a fun Monday! But over too soon, a new PB time for me. Very enjoyable though.
Take a closer look, and you’ll see the ONEs are also all on odd clue squares.
@Jester of Xanadu But how does it correspond to the denouement?
Not only do the themed answers start on an odd number (19A, 27A, 45A and 53), but the words TEN and ONE in each of these answers all start on an odd-numbered square in the grid (19, 21, 29, 31, 45, 49, 53, 55)! Pretty Amazing!
@The X-Phile I enjoyed that too. It made the puzzle and theme even better! Namaste!!
As a fellow Geoff - with a G(!) - I thoroughly enjoyed this one!
Eh. Interpreting and translating are two different things. An interpreter's job is to interpret; translator, translate. It's in the name. :)
@Kristopher Yes indeed. That's a REALLY good way to annoy the heck out of an interpreter---calling them a "translator".
@Kristopher Specifically, a translator deals with written text while an interpreter deals with spoken words.
@Kristopher I used to work with a Japanese bank. When they came to our US office, they always brought a) gifts and b) a person we referred to as an intepreter. That person listened to what each person said and conveyed it back in the other language. Are you saying that person is not translating? Or would you say that person is not an interpreter? No snark intended, I'm genuinely curious.
Didn’t get the theme, and the clue for OREO was weak. Otherwise, a fun puzzle!
@D, I was thrilled to see a different clue for Oreo! And I didn't find it weak at all. I guess if one doesn't eat Oreos it might seem unhelpful. (I don't eat Oreos, but my children used to, and as a third grade teacher I see them often in snacks and lunch boxes.)
Strands! No spoilers, plz, 'til after "view all replies" I'm a little late getting to it today, butI enjoyed it once I figured out the theme. I needed a hint to get there. Not half bad. Strands #400 “Half-and-half” 💡🔵🔵🟡 🔵🔵🔵
@Linda Jo Strands #400 “Half-and-half” 🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🟡 Whew! So many non-words before one toward the SE took. I had half a mind to give up!
@Linda Jo Strands #400 “Half-and-half” 🟡🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵 I was lost until I spotted the first half of the spanner and then it clicked. This was a good one. How do I know? It stumped my wife. :)
Do people say "well intentioned"? I would have thought "well intended.". Because, well, verbs. (Fyi links to dictionary entries are, while likely well intended/intentioned, unnecessary - yes it's in MW etc.)
@Mike Interesting. I’ve definitely used both, but I’m struggling to figure out what determines which expression I use. Maybe a person can be WELL INTENTIONED but a thing is well intended? It l feels wrong if i say, for instance, “The plan was well intentioned.” but now i’ve thought about it for too long and everything sounds wrong. hm.
@Mike "Well-intentioned" is actually more commonly used than "well-intended" (with or without the hyphens) in both American English and British English, according to Google Ngram. There seems to be an effort to reserve "well-intended" for actions and inanimate things, and "well-intentioned" for people, but it's imperfect. Some real-world research here: <a href="https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/226582/usage-of-well-intended-vs-well-intentioned" target="_blank">https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/226582/usage-of-well-intended-vs-well-intentioned</a> 'The results for the recent block of Google Books matches work out to seventeen animate and eleven inanimate objects connected to "well-intentioned," and one animate and fourteen inanimate objects connected to "well-intended." These results indicate that many writers (and their editors) probably make the same distinction between "well-intentioned" for animate things and "well-intended" for inanimate things that the OP does. Still, it seems clear that "well-intentioned" has always (since 1803, anyway) been applied to a significant degree to both animate and inanimate things, while the preference for limiting "well-intended" to inanimate things has always been quite strong.'
Why a double space 43d's clue?
@Bobby Fraiche They'll never tell you!
@Bobby Fraiche Some people saw a double space, others didn't. Scroll down to the comment from Erin N.
It has become more common for themes in the NYT crossword to not really work. Today's puzzle: "Ten to one odds" is a phrase. OK. And then we have words that have "ten" and "one" highlighted within them, with the ten appearing prior to the one. OK. And? Those two elements are only vaguely related. The gag is not amusing or interesting, nor does it aid in solving. It's not even sensible to say that the key phrase somehow relates to the other answers. "ten to one" would imply that the ten leads TO the one, but it doesn't. It's just in the same word. I've got a joke for you: A priest, a rabbi, and a minister exist.
Asher B., Thank you for sharing your take on the puzzle. If you read the comments (and column), you will find that others thought the theme worked well, and in some cases helped them solve the puzzle. You will also see some attributes of the puzzle you apparently missed.
@Asher B. > OK. And? ... and the beginning of all the gray squares is odd, as the revealer said. Aha, ten to one odds! This theme didn't knock my socks off but it is decent, i.e. it "works". I wouldn't say there's a trend of themes that don't work. Off the top of my head I can't remember any recent clunkers.
@Asher B. Rex Parker agrees this theme "doesn't quite work" so you have company. <a href="https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2025/04/ketchum-pokemon-protagonist-mon-4-7-25.html" target="_blank">https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2025/04/ketchum-pokemon-protagonist-mon-4-7-25.html</a>
@Asher B. asher what are you on