How many out there confidently placed CUES in for [Pool shooters]? Et tu, emu.
Lewis, Not quite as confidently as I entered “petty” larceny.
@Lewis @JohnWM Yes and yes.
@Lewis Absolutely. And we had a jacuzzi tub in our previous home! AAAAAHHH after kayaking or xcountry skiing.
@Lewis Thought of it, but seemed too straightforward for a Saturday. This morning I had my first hot tub since hip replacement surgery five weeks ago, and later doing the puzzle while watching the Masters the answer came readily to mind!
@Lewis Not me. I used to date a pool shark's daughter, she taught me proper english.
I had to put it down and come back after a couple of hours, then the northwest corner suddenly made sense. After all the years I've been doing the NYT crossword, I'm still amazed how that works --- from not having an inkling to, "Ah, now I see it!"
@R.J. Smith Your last sentence sums up what I most value in the NYTXW. I'm always happy when it works out that way. :)
POEM When Friday night arrives and the week has left me shattered my synapses fire slowly, my crossword brain in tatters. I start up in the northwest optimistic without cause but like those pesky tariffs I soon must take a pause. My grid remains empty except for an ugly ICK, I wander down to the southeast but still nothing comes quick. My Saturday solving mind has taken a plane to Havana, my deficits as exposed as gazelles on a savanna. I should really hit the hay and end this feckless warring but I get COMIC RELIEF and then URANIUM and suddenly I’m ROARING. Another Saturday in the books, perseverance (and, um, one, maybe two, Check Puzzles) was all it took.
When the jester made a sculpture, it was a comic relief. (He did a marbleous job.)
@Mike Just a few chips off the old block. But Donatellonyone. / / /
@Mike But when it came to pricing his work, he was a chiseler!
Somehow, amazingly, my streak hit the 1000 mark today! Can't believe that my obsession with doing the NYT crossword every day (which began at some point during the pandemic) has slowly but surely taken me to this point (with a couple of lapses here and there). And I had to work hard to get this one. Thanks, Jesse, for a challenging solve! Felt even more like I earned it somehow. I am humbled and honored to be a part of this community of cruciverbalists!
Oh, that magical moment when, with the addition of one more cross, suddenly I see what was opaque every time I looked at it before. It’s not just an oh-yeah moment but more of a joyous eruption – a bliss-krieg. These moments rained on me today. Time after time, that light bulb lit, occasionally in a bam-bam-bam. Fun! There’s an art in cluing to make that happen, and bravo on that, Jesse. The grid design – never seen before in a Times puzzle – allowed for a high 16 longs, which provided a trove of beauty to uncover, such as I MEAN COME ON, COMIC RELIEF, FALSE ALARM, and the gorgeous MOLCAJETES. I love the sing-song word DINGO, which tripped off the sing-song name of a band I haven’t thought in ages – OINGO BOINGO. And then, one of the best Crosslandia serendipities I’ve come across, where answer number 20 is SCORE! Magical moments, beauty, sing-song sounds, and a sweet happy accident – much pleasure in the box today. Thank you, Jesse, for a most lovely start to my day!
Fun and fast! Ron Swanson might be my favorite character. A couple Swanson-isms, There’s only one thing I hate more than lying: skim milk. Which is water that’s lying about being milk. The less I know about other people’s affairs, the happier I am. I’m not interested in caring about people. I once worked with a guy for three years and never learned his name. Best friend I ever had. We still never talk sometimes. Have a great Saturday all!
@CCNY This feels like an opportunity to share our favorite Ron Swanson quotes, so I'll add mine: “Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have. Wait … I worry what you heard was, ‘Give me a lot of bacon and eggs.’ What I said was, give me all the bacon and eggs you have. Do you understand?” “Fishing relaxes me. It’s like yoga, except I still get to kill something.”
@CCNY I like the scene where he finds out his computer has been spying on him, and he throws the whole thing in the dumpster.
Another puzzle that I liked because the answers seemed fresh. I struggled a bit with the SW for some inexplicable reason and with the NE because I had irsagent instead of ASSESSOR for awhile. TIL what a MOLCAJETE is.
Yesterday I ventured to observe in this space that many recent puzzles have been EASYWINS, but NOTTODAY. My comment amounted to a FALSEALARM. The editors apparently read my hollow BOAST and thought "THATSO? Well, then, ITSABET" and evened the SCORE with this SCUD that has WRESTed my false pride from fueling any further EGOTRIPS. Clearly I am no WONDERWOMAN. Well played, editors, and hats off to Jesse Cohn. That was a doosie!
More conversational clues than I like to deal with, but I enjoyed the puzzle anyway. Happily, I knew what a MOLCAJETE was and enjoyed its partnership with MONTESSORI. And there were enough clues that I had to look at two or three times to figure out how to parse them--and that kept me interested.
@Liz B I needed literally every cross for MOLCAJETES. Thank goodness one of my daughters went to a Montessori school for a few years 😊
Okay, hear me out on this Natick ruling: Like many, I first went with “yer OUT” for the base call. I submit that It could be a valid alternate answer. Because, just like we can’t be sure it’s an ego trip fuelling every diva’s antics, are you 100% certain that none of the scenes in “The King and I” happened in a room that was named after someone named Tyrone? But even stronger, I believe in England they are called ArSESSORS. Otherwise, a fast Saturday. I’m out.
@JohnWM What are you? "The Naughty Canadian"? Or "Mr. Lucky".....
@JohnWM A lot of people are unaware and may even be willing to fight me on it, but I'm pretty sure this is one of the lesser-known songs from the show: <a href="https://youtu.be/YY2-mrsXgMM?si=NkvZ3LuIbPVhttrk" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/YY2-mrsXgMM?si=NkvZ3LuIbPVhttrk</a>
@JohnWM I can’t really imagine an umpire calling out HES OUT, but hey, it’s a crossword clue. Hypothetically, it could happen. And hewing strictly to the clue, the [Base ruling] is just OUT.
I managed to fill the grid in reasonable time without lookups. It wasn't all smooth sailing - it was Saturday after all! Not knowing the Mexican mortar slowed me down, and TOG up was new to me, too. When crosses revealed it, I presumed the etymology had to do with the Roman toga, and that does indeed seem to be the case as per Google. It's just slightly weird how the a of toga got dropped - I guess for the sake of smoother pronunciation? TOG up to rolls off the tongue much better than TOGa up would. I've never watched The Office or Parks and Rec, but both have featured so prominently in memes over the last 10 or 15 years that I know the cast and roles quite well 🤣 I enjoyed the puzzle. It presented enough of a challenge for a Saturday, for me, and while it included some proper nouns, their number was within reason. I haven't browsed the comments yet, but this probably means most other solvers found this Tuesday difficulty 😆.
@Andrzej I thought it was definitely in MY Saturday range. I would like to have some timeline of entries, deletions, re-entries, etc, partially to see what my total thinking time is. I'm pretty sure several minutes went by at times without a single change to the puzzle. One place I was really stymied was 43D. I really wanted that to be PETty... grand larceny, petty larceny. But I also really wanted 55A to be DELIMEAT. I couldn't have it both ways. Anyway, it was no cakewalk for me.
Ah, the king is in his THRONE ROOM sitting on his golden toilet typing LIKE MAD off on another one of his EGO TRIPS. Looking forward to the day when I can shout HE'S OUT! FALSE ALARM brings to mind the brave and wonderful Fiona Hill. I just heard an interview with her where she admitted to contemplating pulling the fire ALARM or faking a medical emergency to end the pain of the 2018 summit with you know who.
@Nancy J. Well, she was clearly a bad fit with all her fancy intelligence, logic, and integrity and such.
Definitely showing my age: I had DIONNE (quintuplets) for 56A.
Fantastic clues, IMO. I might even say this puzzle ATE, but then my kids would probably tell me I’m using it wrong and to never say that again. 😂
I was completely on Caitlin’s wavelength today, both with Ed Asher and Lisa Simpson. I can see I’m not the only one to have IRSAGENT before ASSESSOR and probably not the only one to try YEROUT before HESOUT. And like everyone else I be learned MOLCAJETES today— I imagined it would be MOLE something for the sauce. But overall pretty smooth sailing for a Saturday.
@SP Liz B knew what a MOLCAJETE is. I knew it, too. I doubt we’re the only ones.
@SP I hit all those same potholes. I had less than zero idea of MOLCAJETES.
@SP I had bart instead of EDNA. I guess "onetime" in the clue should have indicated it wasn't Lisa or Bart, but I never really watched The Simpsons and didn't know that the kids remained in elementary school throughout the decades. I know now!
@SP Mole has a great etymology. It's the pre-Colombian Nahuatl word for sauce, and guacamole is just a shortening of aguacate mole, or avocado sauce.
@SP Sorry I was being hyperbolic. Obviously some people knew molcajetes off the top of their heads )and kudos to you) but I meant a LOT of people didn’t, which is fair. M
@SP Today I didn't learn what MOLCAJETES were. But I did learn how to spell it. 😁
Struggled a lot with this one, but got the streak to 27 Days. 25 minute solve time. Some FALSEALARMS were cues instead of JETS, seize instead of WREST. Being centrally located, took a while to work around them. Also had PETty larceny in there for a while. And schools have mascots too!
@Steven M. I also had PETty larceny at first too. Guessing a lot of people probably did. JETS is a good one that I only just now suddenly understand!
I'm at that stage in my crosswording where I'm not sure how much of my gold star is me getting better vs just happening to randomly know the specific trivia vs easy puzzle.
“YES, AND” could be a good byword for puzzle solving as well. Petty larceny? Yes, and…it could be petit instead. Noted quintet has 6 spaces? Yes, and…there must be a reason. Mortars for Mexican spices? Sure don’t know that, yes, and… I’m sure all will be revealed.
@Cat Lady Margaret I love this so much! YES AND was a gimme for me and the attitude I aspire to maintain throughout life. Sometimes it's hard, especially with all the cr*p going on these days, but if we could have more YES AND in the Crosswordsphere, there might be fewer complaints here in the comments. (I know, I'm not YES ANDing the complainers. Like I said, sometimes it's hard.)
Solving can be such a weird experience. I was stuck in the SW forever, and now I look back and think — how? Not knowing MOLCAJETES definitely didn’t help. And I only read “campaign” as a verb. The noun never even crossed my mind (which feels ridiculous now). Plus, I was way too happy with prONto instead of AT ONCE. But let’s be real… the main reason I struggled is because I was trying to solve in the same room as a loud TV and three Friday-night, spring break, rascal, kiddos. Once they’re in bed, the puzzle always gets so much easier.
@Striker 😀 I think you're allowed a "parenting" handicap on the time. I'm not sure what it is currently. You might check around.
@Striker Yes. Distractions. I was half watching our former governor in that carefree romp "Terminator II," while listening to the Warriors game (they won) and I kept getting lost in the puzzle. I had ITSABET and took it out for reasons I can't explain, put in HESOUT, then changed it to YEROUT, then back again. Linda was having a heck of a time dodging the terminator terminator and the Dubs can go off the rails unexpectedly sometimes, so I was worried about them too. I must say it was a lively evening, but I wouldn't want to do it again.
Wow, that was fun and tough! My strategy includes filling in wild guesses on the first pass. That did me no favors today. So many misdirects. But I did prevail, only checking the spelling on a couple after I had them filled in. One of these days I will remember that STEVECARELL's last name is not spelled in ways I think it should be. And of course MOLCAJETES did not come easily. I put the J in a few places, knowing it was there somewhere. Which makes me think of the marble mortar and pestle that I bought last year. Now that I'm in the land of pesto, it seemed appropriate to make that pesto by hand. Yum, it's great!! I'm a bit obsessed with it. Pesto season is starting here. Yay.
I see we are once again inflicted with the automatic "Email me" annoyance. Jeez Louise. Never did come back after the persisting Page Not Found yesterday, which is too bad, because Jesse Guzman deserved better fron the NYT. That was a terrfic puzzle! Unfortunately, we don't watch the sitcoms (not since 'Seinfeld'--in the 90's, which may have been reruns, for all I know.) And by 1966 I had long outgrown John Wayne's He-Man movies, besides which I was in a college that was far, far away from a movie theater. (If you had a car, you could drive across state lines to Murphy, NC, to a drive-in...no one I dated had a car!) Oh, well. I finally managed the solve. I liked seeing the rather archaic WREST, which I had put in with tiny letters because it seemed so unlikely a guess. PETTY before PETIT ....aaaaand good ole Maria MONTESSORI, whose 'didactic' toys and teachings are still highly-regarded by folks who want to spend a lot on early education. (Nothing wrong with her principles, but the Quaker nursery school our kids went to was delightful, stimulating, and low-pressure--plus affordable. It wasn't easy to find a NON-academic program for three-year-olds in Palo Alto in the early 80's...)
@Mean Old Lady You started college in 1966? Nice to find out that you're just a year older than I am. ..
@Mean Old Lady: another perspective, from someone whose daughter attended Montessori school from age three through age 14, 2006-2020. Her school was across the street from a BMW dealership, but the people who sent their kids to the school didn't drive BMWs. Their goal (and ours) was not to just spend a lot on early (and later) education. The school was, like the one your kids went to, delightful, stimulating, and low-pressure. It was also as affordable as any of the other choices around, and more affordable than many. We also would have considered a Quaker school if there had been one nearby, because we have great respect for Quakers.
@Mean Old Lady I use “tiny letters” too - especially on puzzles like today’s. It took me a while to get any ‘starter’ fill. And to finish, I had to google three times!
Was I the only one having trouble with my computer yesterday? If not, kindly use your own computer in the future.
@ad absurdum It wasn't US, it wasn't OUR computers....it was NYT's issue.
@ad absurdum 🙌 I missed reading the comments. Nice to see the whatever it was has been fixed.
@Helen Wright I found a workaround. I went to the previous days puzz, clicked on the columnist name and the clicked on their recent posts and found it! 🥳
Took me 59 minutes and nearly floored me, but solved this one correctly without assistance. Was actually surprised to hear the music when I filled the last box. MOLCAJETES, YESAND, ATONCE all had me lost. Completely unfamiliar with the first of these, and still not quite understanding the clues for the latter two. STEVECARELL was barely familiar to me, and I had STEVECATELL for way too long, trying to make sense of CETEAMS and their mascots. The M in TEAMS belonged to MOMCAJETES, which seemed as plausible to me as the correct entry there. Too many colloquial expressions for my liking today---ITSABET, THATSO, IMEANCOMEON, LIKEMAD, TOARMS---but some folks seem to enjoy these. Anyone who entered PETIT before PETTY is way more astute than I am. Didn't like "Base ruling" for HESOUT. The ruling there would simply be OUT. "Announcer's call" might be a bit better. In any case, that was one of the easier ones for me today. A real Saturday challenge for me. Keep 'em coming!
@Xword Junkie The phrase, “Yes, and” is apparently the approach one is supposed to take when participating in improv. ATONCE is what someone is the order one is intending to convey when uttering, “Like, yesterday”. I thought it was a bit of a stretch.
"Anyone who entered PETIT before PETTY is way more astute than I am." Xword Junkie, Or had one of two crosses before looking at the clue (LETS FLY with DELI MEAT). I can't remember this morning whether I checked one of those crosses first last night or just thought of my experience over 50+ years on grand and PETIT juries, but there are no extra marks there on my stone tablet. yErOUT is another matter.
Holy MOLCAJETES, Batman! That's a word I never heard before. Not fond of all the conversational clues. They are too vague, with too many possible answers. Idiomatic and age-related. And probably impenetrable for many of our international solvers. Okay, lemme go find Lewis' comment for an attitude adjustment.
@Linda Jo You are right, the spoken word clues can be difficult. I try to imagine dialogue in a US TV programme. Spellings like 'lemme' and 'wade ya (know) don't help!
Tough but very satisfying. I thought it was sorta easy until I hit the south west. 55m to finish unaided. I enjoyed the clever misdirects. I barely knew the TV boss, so that took a while. Oh well, my lack of desire to watch TV shows means i get more time to puzzle things out, not a bad thing at all.
Not going to go on an EGOTRIP about it but I'm pleased with my performance on this puzzle. My first pass through made me think it might be wayyyy out of my league but it was a FALSEALARM. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain the words MONTESSORI and MOLCAJETES already lived but it took some time for the light bulbs to move from dim to bright on them. My last letter being the J in the latter. Had a hard time thinking outside of the pool table for 42A. Enjoyable puzzle! Apparently, this is currently my 5th fastest Saturday puzzle of all time. (Glad the comments link is working for this Saturday puzzle!) Cheers to the weekend!
@HeathieJ Hey, going on an EGO TRIP is healthy sometimes! I say, (e)go for it 😀 My experience was similar to yours! I was also fixated on a pool table context for the shooter. Then there was MONTESSORI. Being childless and having gone to preschool in Iron Curtain times (when all preschools were state-run, and no fancy Western methods were involved), I should not know MONTESSORI. It just so happens though that one of their preschools is on the way from our apartment to the metro, with a prominently displayed signboard, and another sits right by my favorite bike route. Also, my wife's friend's American husband worked at a MONTESSORI preschool some 8 or 10 years ago, so the name came up in conversation. Thus I was able to get it with a few crosses, even though the details of the MONTESSORI method were not known to me. I love my oldschool mortar and pestles. I inherited two - one large, one tiny - from my grandmother. They are extremely solidly made, from some ceramic I've never seen before, greyish white and hard as a rock. Maybe they were made in the 1920s or 30s in Poland, or they may even be older than that and German - much of what our families owned was lost in WW1 and WW2, but some things from the 19th century survived, like an ornate wall clock, and maybe these mortars? Still, I did not know MOLCAJETES. Have a great weekend 😀. Ours will feature some climbing and a nice meal with my father at our favorite Balkan restaurant 🤩
@HeathieJ I am feeling especially dim-witted. Not only was the puzzle not that easy for me, but I struggled with 29A, and just realized that my son went to MONTESSORI, and *his* daughter is currently there. And still the clue didn't ring any bells. I think a graph of my mental vitality looks like the last few days of the value of the US dollar.
I had heard of MOLCAJETES, but so long ago it was not remembered until I had most of the crossings in place. MONTESSORI was a bit easier because we had discussed putting our daughter in one almost 30 years ago, but didn't. I haven't read comic books in ages, so WONDER WOMAN wasn't my fastest fill, nor was the sitcom boss, because I never watch sitcoms. I did recognize the name, though once I had some crosses. IRS agent was a major stumbling block until I realized that it didn't fit. But, I did manage to put it all together, and was very happy to get the music with my last entry, instead of my usual "The puzzle is filled, but…" Nice one, Jesse, and thanks.
I really wanted "party people" to be "comrades", but alas. Also, I spent longer than I'd like to admit wondering what "URANtUM" was.
@K And I was trying to fit something in there that had to do with political candidates. Similar wavelength.
I think my favorite kind of xword puzzle is the one I can work on for a bit, set it down and come back to several times over a morning (Oh! It's afternoon already?!) so this one was right up my alley. Now I need a nap. Well done. Seeing the comments about yesterday's broken (and apparently never fixed) link to the column I wanted to share that I keep a bookmark to the general Wordplay/Gameplay page that has all the columns and just use that when the regular link is not working (which happens often enough): <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/wordplay" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/column/wordplay</a>
C’était un casse-tête un peu délicat mais grandiose néanmoins!
@Norwood Aw, man. Now I have to learn other languages to read the comments? 😉😂 Bien joué! (I think.)
ooooh, so chewy! i really liked it a lot! i started off thinking, "oh no, this is tough, ack i really don’t want to have to look something up" and then, with the promise of a afternoon nap if i finished within a certain time, i made my brain work extra hard and finished with great satisfaction happy saturday, everyone!
@artlife Enjoy your well deserved nap!
An excellent puzzle, in that I was almost totally at sea at first, getting only tog in the NW, and hardly more anywhere. But then it slowly emerged from the fog. Jesse Cohn mentions the movie of the “King and I,” Which I never saw, but I did see the musical on Broadway with Yul Brinner in the 1950’s, so, already having an m at the bottom of 8 D , I put in Siam down there. Never having seen the Disney show I was even less sure about that cross. I never look anything up, but I am very pleased when it all comes together from nearly nothing. That’s the mark of a great puzzle.
Finished with no lookups but hoo boy my brain, specifically the part that remembers names, was not interested in participating tonight. 3D Oh, you know that cringy boss at the paper company that constantly puts his foot in it. Michael Scott. I can see his face. What drawer in the messy filing cabinet of my mind did I put the name of the actor? For crying out loud. I've seen every episode! 29A What was the name of that special kind of school I used to pass by when I would walk to my boyfriend's (now husband) apartment? I know this! Where the heck is it? 29D Oh, oh, that's the thing they bring to your table to make fresh guacamole in. What's it called? Have I ever known the name? (Turns out no, I didn't in this case. Or if I did, it's now so completely hidden that I don't even recognize it after finishing the puzzle.) It was my last entry, gotten by running the alphabet for the J. The payoff was JETS, which made me laugh when the aha! finally kicked in. 49D What's the name of that guy with the mustache that likes to do woodworking and who is played by that actor married to that funny actress who was on Will & Grace? And yet... 23A Came up with CAAN right away when I've never seen a John Wayne movie all the way through and certainly didn't know James Caan was in any of them... but what other name is 4 letters starting with C?
@Beth Carr. Deborah Carr. I toyed with CARR for quite a bit before I gave up on it. I have no idea if she was one of Wayne's co-star in "El Dorado", as I am constitutionally incapable of watching a John Wayne movie for more than a few seconds at a time before certain reflexes kick in. Sorry to his fans, but I detest John Wayne. He was a complete phony. IMHO.
@Beth I think the emus may have temporarily saved me *intense* embarrassment. I wrote several lines about the actress Deborah Carr. I swear I saw "Carr" when I looked up whether it was "Debra" or "Deborah". But it's actually Deborah Kerr. So in case the original never shows up, please completely ignore the confession in this one.
@Beth Eldorado was one of the Westerns aired to death on Polish "communist" TV pre-1989. It was on every few months. I knew CAAN from it years before I saw him in anything else, including The Godfather 🤣.
For "noted quintet," I had STONES for a while, until I realized it's SENSES.
Since SWAN was in there, I was trying to figure out how to fit in "golden rings". Also the Great Lakes. But now I'm watching this, because I do like early Stones! Actually I love them at any age. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEjkftp7J7I" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEjkftp7J7I</a>
I had only the A in 3D, and confidently filled in Edward Asner. Sigh. I got WONDER WOMAN immediately, though, so it's all good. It pays to be a nerd. (Not literally, of course. Sigh.)
@Katie It DOES pay to be a nerd. I teach AP Lit and American Lit. #nerdpay
@Katie I confidently entered Judith Light, from Who's the Boss, and then quickly figured out from crosses that it was wrong. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of first instincts for that answer by generation (Gen X here).
@Amy, that’s who I thought of when Gandolfini didn’t fit. But a few crosses later and I realized I was thinking too far back! Also GenX here.
@Hope Levav Gen X for Danny DeVito, here! (Followed by Judith Light and Ed Asner mentally, and Steve Carrell with a few crosses.) I enjoyed The Office during its initial run but never joined the cult. 😉
@Amy Gen xer who thought immediately of Ed Asner but got Steve Carell when some of the crosses filled in.
Way back, at Salisbury Beach, one of the carnival rides had a sign that read "The smoke you see is part of the ride", to avoid FALSE ALARMs, I assume. I thought it was hilarious. A friend if mine had a heap (slow, rotting mustang) with a valve cover leak that allowed oil to drip onto his exhaust manifold, creating lots of smoke that poured from the engine compartment. I always wanted to swipe that sign and attach it to his car. The smell of burning motor oil still transports me. STEVE CARELL went in right away, which got things kicked off nicely. Good Saturday puzzle - thanks constructor!
@Jay I had ALECBALDWIN in there for far too long before seeing the light. Then everything came together!
@Alana “Judith Light” over here, which I suppose shows my age.
@CookieWookiee I wanted it to be Ed Asner, which not only shows my age, but didn’t even come close to fitting.
@Karen Ha, I thought of him too, but thought I’d really nailed it with the wording of the clue matching the number of boxes 😆
Love when I can learn new words from the crossword, today I picked up Tog and molcajetes
Well... more of a 14a for me, and had to cheat a bit, but managed to work my way through it. More than a few things that were never going to come to me just from the clues. But.. that's just me (typically). Interesting puzzle find today. A Tuesday from January 20, 2015 by Susan Gelfand. Four theme clues all straightforwardly clued: CAESARSALAD MURPHYBED CRYSTALGEYSER ROCKOPERA And then, the reveal - referencing those 4 answers: "What the starts of 18-, 24-, 37- and 52-Across can provide?" COMICRELIEF Not sure how I would have done on that one. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/20/2015&g=60&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/20/2015&g=60&d=A</a> HASTALAVISTA ...
@Rich in Atlanta Oh... one more puzzle find. Never seen another one like this. A Sunday from November 19, 2000 by Cathy Millhauser with title: "Mrs. Herr's lunch." I don't really grasp the title connection; maybe somebody will get it. Anyway.. some theme clue and answer examples: "On the way to the bus stop to ___ ..." METERMAID "... Mrs. Herr decided she'd ___ albums" CELLARDOORS "At lunch with friends she ___ of meat back and ordered seafood" CENTERPIECES "Just as she started to ___ to her lips ..." RAZORCLAMS "... the waitress tried to ___" CAESARSALAD "A drink was spilled all over her wallet and she had to ___ clean" LIQUORLICENSE And there were a few more. Pretty amazing. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/19/2000&g=53&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/19/2000&g=53&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta I think I remember this one! METERMAID read aloud is "meet her (Herr) maid." CELLARDOORS is "sell her Doors..." (LIQUORLICENSE is quite the visual.) It still took me a minute to make the "Mrs. Herr" connection and it made me smile. Thanks!!!
Fun puzzle. Quicker than usual on a Saturday. Yay for molcajete.
Nice Saturday. It seemed daunting to me at first, but fell together once I conquered the SW corner - there are several ways to misspell LARIAT, and I know all of them. Thanks for the fun!
Thanks, JF There's no doubt about it - Today's Mini is a winner.
@Whoa Nellie Glad you posted this, because it made me go back and take a look. As with those who zoom through a puzzle without appreciating the theme, I had completely missed the grid art! Good job Mr. Fagliano.
Great job Jesse! A real toughie, but not in the way where I have to guess retired athletes' names.
@Joe Felice You and me both, except for the 'retired' part. Those athletes are the ones I might have actually heard of. Give me a Joe Namath or a Muhammad Ali any old day!
Southwest was tough for me. Ended up just guessing and getting it right but still never heard of ATE for "Did amazingly" and didn't see how ATONCE could be the answer for "Like, yesterday." I *finally* got it while writing this comment -- sometimes people will answer "when do you need it?" with "like, yesterday." But would appreciate it if anyone can explain ATE for 48D I'd appreciate it!
@Dave Munger It’s Gen Z slang — I’ve heard my kids and their friends use it.
@Dave Munger The SW was also tough for me. I, too, had never heard ATE for that meaning. For quite awhile, I was thinking it was AcE, though the tense didn’t work. It also took me some time to get AT ONCE…but that was my final fill this morning.
@Dave Munger I knew ATE from hanging out on Reddit. It's not one that I or my Gen Z nieces and nephews use. At least not around me. But here's a very good explanation of it, what it means, and how it originated: <a href="https://later.com/social-media-glossary/ate" target="_blank">https://later.com/social-media-glossary/ate</a>/ .
@Dave Munger It's more recent slang, like "sis ate and left no crumbs". It's one of those terms with origins in the LGBT community like 'slay'
@Dave Munger I had a birthday earlier this month. I turned learning-slang-from-the-NYT-crossword years old, apparently. ATE really threw me since ATE IT is an answer that pops up a few times a year clued as majorly falling or majorly failing.
Jesse ate this puzzle. Fun saturday !
PETIT larceny? 25 years with State and Justice and I am wondering if these are crimes committed by mice. A workout Mr. Cohn, thank you.
@dk Don't know about mice. But a lot of them are committed by rats and other forms of vermin.
(overheard in the Thai throne room) "Molcajetes"!? "What a Krok"?