When I saw the tough exam on the Greek alphabet, I let out a deep psi. (Iota know it better.)
@Mike I’m sure you’ll do beta next time
@Mike I think you were unjustly delta lot of nu questions.
@Mike You deserve pi for breakfast.
@Mike I think it's time you throw in the tau. (The emus said theta blocked this if they'd seen it.)
@Mike Say, do you remember that Fifties hit with "Gamma Lambda ding-dong"?? I can't get it outta my head....
Just wanted to point out that TIP ROAST and "top round" share an insane number of letters. Ask me how I know.
@Steve L I take it you have a beef with TIP ROAST? That's really not all that rare.
@Steve L Well, I had TIP in there and nothing else. I kept wanting it to be ToPROund, but I was pretty confident in ITS because I already had META and HIDDEN STAIRCASE. And then old HARRY showed up, and the only other meat-related word I could think of that fit was ROAST.
@Steve L So does rIb ROAST.
Started confidently at 1A with "WARSAWPACT". Oops.
@John Rarely as confident in a 1A as I was in that one. I even thought, could this be my new Friday record?
@John Luckily, I couldn't remember Warsaw Pact so dropped in a few crosses to remind me and there it wasn't.
@John yeah, for like a second, seeing almost immediately that the W couldn’t work.
@John I guess, you weren't saved by the, " Fighting Illini." Bummer
@John I started out with sinosoviet. The right idea??? Just a little backward.
fighting illini crossed with mai is a nattick :/
@pmom It sure was for me too, but I got it in the end by running the alphabet. Fortunately, it was the only area where I was stuck.
pmom, It may be, but it isn't a Natick.
@pmom And in addition crossing with some video gaming initials.
@pmom Not in the Midwest it isn't. Family members are alums. If the Fighting Ilini had a better football program, you would be more familiar with it.
@pmom Sorry, Natick Police have arrived. You're under arrest. 😂
This one pulsed with freshness in the best way, like bread right out of the oven. Sparkling answers never seen before in a Times puzzle, and all strong – my favorites being AND WHATNOT, CARBO LOADS, HIDDEN STAIRCASE, and LUMBERED IN. Answers like this lift a puzzle out of the doldrums. They bring clues never seen before and remind me that the language I use every day has color and interest. They trigger images and memories. I saw that hidden staircase. I saw someone lumbering into a room. Every across answer in the NW and SE awakened images and memories – which made my solve more of an outing than simply a fill-in. Of those eight answers, five are NYT debuts and the remaining three are once-befores. Wow! Making a puzzle shine like this requires art on top of skill. That is not to belittle the skill underlying this grid that has nada junk, in this debut NYT puzzle design that allows for a soaring 17 bigs. Simply put, a gem, a joy to uncover and to behold. Bravo, Adrian, and thank you. Standing O!
@Lewis If my bread "pulsed" when it came out of the oven, I'd run for cover.... Srsly!
I’M ALL ALONE in my Amtrak “roomette”. I LUMBERED IN after taking a too-long walk in Chicago. (Redbuds blooming! Fun street art. Nice walk signals that you don’t have to push a button for. Lots of city parks.) Taking a cross country train trip, one inevitably CARBO LOADS in the dining car. May I recommend the butter cake? Dining with other travelers, you learn the INSIDE DOPE on other routes, places to go, how not to get left behind at a fresh air stop. SPEED TRAPS there are none; instead we wait for the freight trains. Enjoyed this Friday - my only funny first thought was PETS for makeshift percussion instruments- I do it all the time with the reverberant cat bellies.
Hi Cat Lady Margaret. The redbuds are in bloom here in Denver also. They aren't a great choice for our climate but people have fallen in love with them anyway, and they're all around my neighborhood. I can't think of a word that's powerful enough to describe that color. Love 'em.
@Cat Lady Margaret Are you heading to Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles?
@Cat Lady Margaret Have a wonderful journey and please do keep us posted on the sights and sounds!
@Cat Lady Margaret Reverberant cat bellies -- I'm in awe! .
@Cat Lady Margaret Sounds wonderful! This is on my bucket list. Nice to hear some details of your trip! Hopefully you will add a few more details as you lumber along!
@Cat Lady Margaret If I tried to play the drums on my cat’s belly, she’d probably play the piano on my eyeballs
@Cat Lady Margaret, Were you on the California Zephyr? The stretch between Glenwood Springs and Denver goes through canyons and mountains and follows the Colorado River for a while. Completely awesome scenery.
The HIDDEN STAIRCASE is the title of the second Nancy Drew Mystery novel and popped right out of my brain and into the puzzle with no crosses, so I was chuffed about that. It was a very entertaining puzzle to solve, so thanks Adrian.
@Vaer I wanted an UNDERGROUND PATH or a SECRET TUNNEL or a FALSE BOOKCASE.... ....Adrian? Please?
@Vaer, I immediately thought of Nancy Drew as well! Great memories; for Christmas or my birthday I always got the newest volume!
@Vaer I knew that sounded familiar, my sister had those books. Hmm, BRASS=BOUND TRUNK also has 15 letters, note to a future constructor?
I can tell a Friday puzzle is going to be a breeze when I can get 1A right away, and WARSAW PACT was a gimme. Too bad it was completely wrong.
Grant, Right there with you.
Those quads - just astonishing. Tough and fair, TGI double-F indeed. And the story the bottom quad tells, someone training in Chicago for the marathon, carbo-loading at those Chicago style beef sandwiches made famous in The Bear (and I wouldn't be surprised if one of the shows involves tip roast), and if that's preparation in and of itself, well of course you're gonna lumber in to the finish line at some point long after the hourglass emptied of sand, because, truth be told, at your pace, no speed trap in the world would cite you for speeding, bub! The top tells a sadder tale: who'd have thought at the time this puzzle was first submitted, that we'd be part of the Soviet Bloc? OK, ok, I'll get on with it, I won't spell out what's been ceded to whom, or who has the inside dope on what or who ran like mad but still got the jab and the scan... At some point in this fine puzzle, I had MEDAL going down and the clue was what were nine presidents while in office? So I had: _ _ _ _ D ... hmm, were nine presidents BLOND while still in office? LOVED or HATED? (I counted the presidents I love: 5). Were they LIVID while in office? TEPID, PAVED, CAGED, SAVED MACED, CURED, VEXED, HEXED while in office? When unwed finally occurred to me I was somewhat disappointed. Nine hexed presidents.
My favorite kind of weekend puzzle--looked daunting, but solved smoothly and entertainingly. I liked those big stacks, especialy after I got the right vowels in the right places in AYO EDEBIRI's name!
@Liz B I not only didn’t know who that was, but even after getting the happy music I had no idea where the first name ended and the last name began! Thanks for clearing that up 😄
@Liz B I had a similar experience. Had very little while going through the acrosses until I got to AYOEDEBIRI, and that got me going for an average solve. I was glad to have a Friday that made me sweat a bit.
@Liz B The clue [Edebiri of "The Bear"], solving to AYO, was just in Tuesday’s puzzle.
"Styles of music" is a top tier clue, got an audible chuckle from me. Overall a pretty nice puzzle!
Yea big or yea high etc. (I admit that many people like writing yay, but I will never be one of their company) are examples of deictic or indexical words: words that have no precise meaning unless accompanied by physical gesture or other contextualization. To say “I caught a fish yea long”, without using outstretched hands to show it, is to convey no meaningful information. In deixis, the speaker is the center of space, time, and community. Today, last week, come here, go over there, you, they. All take on their actual communicative meaning in relation to the speaker. Yea as a modifier of size must be accompanied by some gesture that indexes / indicates the meaning.
@David Connell Thanks for expanding my vocabulary nice again. You’re absolutely right. I read YEA big and picture someone estimating a size with their hands.
@David Connell Very interesting. Thank you the clear explanation of this linguistic feature.
@David Connell Thanks, absolutely fascinating. TIL there is also the concept of deictic gestures, like pointing with the index finger without using words. I suspect our friend Oikofuge may have something to add on this topic. The stuff I learn from this column!
@David Connell Deictic and iconic gestures play an important role in education research in order to understand what students are trying to convey, especially when they are talking about things they are only beginning to understand.
David Connell, First, I will echo others’ appreciation of your introduction and explanation of this interesting terminology and the associated linguistic and philosophical concepts. It has already prompted me to do some reading, and I will do more. I find it hard to avoid a joke in almost any situation, so let me just say that it has been a long time since I have encountered something in the puzzle comments that was *this* deep. :)
I admit, I've never been comfortable with yay/yea/yeah-- So, in my mind, "yay" means "Dad's gonna buy us pizza", whereas "yeah" means, "sure, I'll have another slice of pizza, but bring it to me, 'cuz I'm too stoned to get off the couch." But "yea"? well, there's "yea, verily, she hath made a toothsome pie," and there's "the anchovy referendum ended yeas, two, to nays, four; so I guess pepperoni it is," but by itself--no clue what those vowels should be. And although I've said "Y-- big" any number of times, I'd never even considered putting it into writing. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vytqeDU8rRk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vytqeDU8rRk</a> . . . even in the King's chamber.
So I've been saying it wrong all these years when I say "ON PAR with" instead of ON A PAR with. How embarrassing. On the other hand, no one's ever corrected me. It could be out of politeness. Or it could be they've all been saying it wrong as well, he he. I wondered if I'd missed a world history class when all that came to me was NATO (too short) and Warsaw Pact (I already had the S of SIRI and the O of OMAN in place, so that was a no go as well.) Ah, SOVIET BLOC! Oy. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. You've done it yet again – beautiful clueing, great misdirects, superb end product. Please let us know if anyone responds with a "YEA, me!" to any or all of your criteria in the shout-out.
Loved your puzzle, Adrian Johnson! 1.Two years ago we got a dog named Oreo from a rescue organization in Romania. We love him dearly, but he sure is some weird cookie! We call him Bosco, but he is a livestock guard dog, and, like those of his ilk, he prefers to decide for himself about things like coming when called. The mention of a bone or the rattling of a leash does help though. 2. My middle name is the first name of my mother, Mary. 3. I ate at a family restaurant in Hamburg on Wednesday, but I chose the lamb, because Matjes (young, cured herring) aren‘t quite in season yet. 4. I wildly pursued a college passion project that my advisers deemed too ambitious for me, and it turned out they were right. (No great loss, though. It turned out to be just one step along the way to achieving my greatest life passion: cultivating a garden.) Even though I don’t exactly meet all the criteria, I’ll be happy to drink a Schnaps in your honor and would love to have coffee with you if you happen to be in northern Germany.
@Hobby Gardener Is Bosco an Australian cattle dog, by any chance? The Oreo-colored girl (RiP) in my avatar photo was. The selectiveness of her hearing was directly proportional to the complexity of the project she happened to be involved in and the distance from her humans. Also, inversely proportional to the distance from any squirrels…
@Hobby Gardener Where do you live? I was near Giessen for a couple of years (Grossen Linden)... still have friends living near Marburg. We thought we would travel more after our honeymoon in 1979...but life got in the way. Now the thought of flying is daunting... ...but I would SO love to have Dallmayr coffee again.
Wow. It’s Adrian’s puzzle, and we’re just living in it—thank you for a fantastic ride! When our boys’ frontal lobes were still forming in their late teens, we occasionally (affectionately!) referred to them as the Law Firm of GOOBER and GOOBER, so particularly loved that entry.
Quite a bit of clever misdirection. Loved the Styles clue.
@Mick That is a nice clue, but it’s not particularly original. November 30, 2024 (Oliver Goodrige and Juan Gavarito) had [Styles of singing].
@Mick a good clue, but a real HEAD SLAP moment for me when I finally figured it out, because in hindsight it seems like it should have been way more obvious to me from the start that it was a hidden capital (is that what we call it?) situation.
I've always heard it as "carb-loads", not CARBOLOADS ... wonder if that's a regional variation? (I'm in Cali.). Though I'm not particularly athletic so don't hear it frequently. Now that I'm saying it aloud, the version with the added O sounds more like carb bloated, lol.
@Isabeau I was gonna say the same thing. Carbo just sounds completely wrong here and was my only complaint on the puzzle. I’m originally from Cali though.
@Isabeau I learned about CARBO LOADING while training for a marathon and living in Northern California. It was definitely CARBO, and in fact, this was the only gimme in my first pass through the long acrosses with no other letters through it. So it wouldn't be a regionalism if you're talking about Norcal. Are you in Socal?
@Isabeau Huh—interesting; I’m in CT and have only ever seen/heard CARBOLOADS.
@Isabeau @ChrisJ The first thing I note in your comments is how you two own ‘Cali.’ Given the disdain of that word in the golden state. That said, as I repeat the term over and over. Maybe I say carboload and carb-loading. Honestly not sure. I abandoned exercise a long time ago, sadly. But something makes me want to keep the term at three syllables. I used to do Ironman races less than 10 years ago. Now I don’t even run a mile. Smh.
@Isabeau I've always thought of it as carb loading (not carbO), but saying it out loud, that extra O does make for a nicer rhythm - and my ear hears the BLOAT if I omit the extra O Regional wise, I was on a girls' track team in NM ages 10-18, and returned to running decades later in Michigan. Our HS XC coach recommended we do our carb loading on Thursday night for Saturday morning meets.
@Isabeau goes along with the extra vowel in ON A PAR.
@Isabeau West of the Mississippi it’s “Carb-loads” East of the Mississippi it’s CARBOLOAD
Thank you for a lovely Puzzle Mr. Johnson. It was smoothly elegant, lively and remarkable made. You created what had to be difficult feel easy breezy. I haven't solved a puzzle so coherent (I couldn't think of another word to describe it) and well constructed in a long time. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to your next offering. Cheers.
wow! I had a lot of trouble with this. So much obscure trivia. Not that enjoyable for me. My hat is off to those who can zip through puzzles like this, or say they can.
I own a first edition of the Nancy Drew mystery, "the HIDDEN STAIRCASE."
Never heard of yea big. I’ve heard of yay big.
@Mark Nah, you’ve just been spelling it wrong all along. It’s correct in the puzzle. YAY is for hearing good news.
@Mark I've been spelling it wrong in my head this whole time too and read the answer like "yeah big," which isn't a thing. Lifelong learning!
Any person who, given a few sentences to appear in the Times, chooses to give a shout-out to his fellow hostel-dwellers from a recent stay in Albania is a person I'd be happy to have a coffee with, even if I don't have any of the other requirements. Congratulations, Adrian Johnson!
@The X-Phile Adrian's parents knew he would be a crossword constructor when he named his dog OREO.
All those beautiful vowels! If AYO EDEBIRI did not exist, it would be necessary for crossword constructors to invent her. And all those beautiful stacks! Loling at the thought of The Beast with a Bebe On Board decal.
Sometimes you have to wait for it. A "1997 Peter Fonda title role" led to 68 appearances in the grid (starting in March 1998) for ULEE. P.S. Love your Illinoises!
@ad absurdum Yes, she has been used in crosswords a lot lately.
4D ILLINI was a gimme for this graduate of the University of Illinois. My dad went there on the GI Bill after serving as a B-17 crewman in WW2. So when it came to my college choices, there was only one school he would pay for.
@archaeoprof My father went there similarly after his Korean War era service, so I and my brother followed on for the same reason.
@archaeoprof My dad was a B-17 pilot. Got shot down over Germany and spent the last several months of the war in a POW camp (Stalag Luft I). I actually visited that place several years ago, and it didn't take me long to realize why almost no one ever escaped from that camp (it was on a peninsula in the Baltic). ....
Lomo saltado! It's an absolutely delicious example of "Chifa", Chinese-inspired Peruvian food: stir fried beef, potato, rice, tomato, onion and mild chili pepper with a meaty soy sauce jus. If any of you ever find yourselves in Lima, please go to "Isolina" restaurant in Barranco and order the lomo saltado, it will be the best decision you make for a long long time! Nice puzzle, thanks Adrian.
@Alex I just had Lomo saltado last weekend! It was in a Colombian restaurant! So good! I was out of town for that, but there's a wonderful Ecuadorian restaurant near me that serves it. Delicious and an immediate gimme for me in the puzzle. Hopefully, one day, I'll make it to Peru... or at least a Peruvian restaurant and try it there. ☺️
@Alex I knew the answer because I had read the NYT Cooking article referred to in the column. I was so enthralled I bookmarked the recipe -- but I'd *much* rather sample it at the source! Meanwhile, I'll have to "settle" for a local version here in NYC. The puzzle, and your delicious description, reminded me that I must locate some lomo saltado -- stat!
Sometimes I think knowing less actually helps me with these puzzles because I don't know enough to get stuck on the wrong answers. Warsaw Pact never entered my brain. Nothing did until I had enough crosses to see the answer would be SOVIET BLOC. Did have a few false moves... info before DOPE, fMRI before SCAN, onHAND before ATHAND, yes before CAN, tAbLET before CAPLET, SoOt before SMOG, HAst before HATH, waiTASEC before JUSTASEC, exPLODED before IMPLODED. Still, I finished a minute faster than my average. The only really sticky spot was the cross of ILLINI, NES, and MAI. I ran the alphabet at the end to get those last two boxes, and because there were two, I had to keep changing the first letter of 21A and then running the alphabet on the last letter of 24A. But I finally got the happy music (in my head because the sound is turned off.) (Pretty sure I've seen NES in puzzles before but didn't remember it.)
@Beth Props to you for brute forcing your way to the finish line through a double natick! And thank goodness you didn’t go through all 676 letter combinations only to find out that you had an error somewhere else in the puzzle!
Welp, I got AYOEDEBIRI, a name I am *so* unfamiliar with I cannot even put a space in there to separate first and last names. Cuz I don’t know. But the fact that I got it, entirely with crosses, sings Friiiiiidayyy 🎶 to me! Thanks Adrian! Happy Friday all!
@CCNY She is a fantastic actress, and the show is well worth watching. More importantly, though, I suspect her name will keep her in crossword solver’s minds for many years.
Well that was dreadful for me. After many years of doing this it is clear that the general knowledge aspect of the puzzle dictates my reaction to it. When it is less of a “puzzle” and more of a “quiz” it means it’s a slog. The puzzle aspects are fine irrespective of the day of the week. The other stuff is pure luck. MAI, ILLINI, NES and UCLA all getable from the crosses but utterly uninteresting. Thanks to the constructor for the effort but this one landed flat.
@Ιασων I'm old and don't watch cable TV or movies. I hadn't heard of any of the people in today's puzzle. I did know the Fighting Illini, since I'm a Buckeye. Also, CARBOLOAD???
I liked the puzzle a lot; it seemed to fall into place with a lot of spunk. And while I’m not usually one to give shoutouts to movie or TV name mentions, I liked seeing Dev PATEL, who is as talented actor to show up in film in the last ten years as I can think of. Also, adding my hand up for CARB- vs. CARBO-LOADing. I’ve run my share of races around the country and I carb-load quite regularly. If anyone has carbo-loaded within my earshot, I must’ve had selective hearing. (Which, granted, if you ask my husband, is an affliction I do suffer from.) Either way, fair for a puzzle, though my brain did resist it on the first pass.
Yesterday nearly killed me and today was speedy. Puzzles are weird!! I thought the designer clue would be ACCENT WALL and I had a whole snarky comment "the early 2000's called and they want their dated design idea back" planned, but then it was a more timeless LAMP so my snark is now foiled. HIDDEN STAIRCASE brought back memories of a friend with an old farmhouse that had a SECRET PASSAGE (sans staircase) that my little brother and I were just crazy about that we couldn't wait to visit! Also loved LUMBERED IN, RELAY, SPEED TRAPS, and RANLIKEMAD, such wonderful visual answers that make me currently feel like a CARBO LOADING couch potato. Shout out to three-letter named talents MIA, MAI, and CHU. Happy weekend to all ... I will be working in my yard and garden and can't wait to freshen things up for the Spring!
I feel like in the '80s and '90s, we were afraid of quicksand. Like, surprisingly, unreasonably worried about randomly falling into it. Huh! Anyhow, I've never actually encountered quicksand and it didn't fit right.... I briefly also thought it might be something about SPEED as in the drug. You know Nancy Reagan had us all scared straight. Or at least she tried her best, I guess... Hmmm. My thoughts around that have evolved quite a bit from the '80s, but moving on to the actual correct answer, SPEEDTRAP gave me a good chuckle. Was making pretty good progress on this lovely puzzle, except for the upper left section, where I had nothing but ILLINI and, wrongly, DONATE. That slowed me way down but I was able to work it all out once SIRI popped into my mind for 1D. I am bested every time by the likes of 23D, "Styles of music." HEADSLAP! But I also laugh at myself every time. One of these days, I'm going to catch it on the first round, or even second, and you will hear my joyous huzzahs ringing out in every nook and cranny throughout Crosslandia! Especially after yesterday's COZYMYSTERY, I extra appreciated today's HIDDENSTAIRCASE going right through the middle.... Nancy Drew and the HIDDEN STAIRCASE being one of my first experiences with a cozy mystery, though I don't think we called them that back then. I haven't looked it up or read the comments yet to see if this was brought up, but I was surprised at the spelling for 33D. I always thought it was Yay big.
@HeathieJ I thought the 80's and 90's clue referred to colonoscopies!
@HeathieJ There was always a quicksand trap in shows in the 70s, like the Six Million Dollar Man. I was unreasonably afraid of it as a kid too.
@HeathieJ Yes! Quicksand and accidentally looking directly at the sun were my two big fears back then. In the end, quicksand just never ever became a thing, and accidentally looking at the sun happened so frequently that it stopped being a thing. Phew!
@HeathieJ So. True. The quicksand threat just never materialized. Did the trope gain traction because it’s such a good metaphor for losing control? Or did it become such a useful metaphor because it was such a common trope? Only Princess Buttercup may know.
I think this is the fifth time Ayo has been mentioned in the crossword this year. As a fan, very cool to see :)
@Olivia Yes, just came to say that! NYT Crossword makers/editors seem to be fans too :)
This is the first Friday puzzle I’ve finished without coming to this column. I expected to see lots of comments complaining that it’s too simple but don’t see any. Maybe the usual complainers (whiners) are taking the day off, which would be fine with me.
@Dardanus Well, it kinda was, and kinda wasn't for me. I finished filling in the grid relatively fast. But I had an error. And it's practically a miracle I found it. BaBE to BEBE. If I hadn't been a fan of "Schitt's Creek" I absolutely would not have gotten this puzzle. So, to me it seemed easy, except where it was impossible (for my particular internal mental map of the universe).
@Dardanus Yes, I sailed through this one, with all those long entries just falling into place beautifully! Actually finished quicker than yesterday, and came here fully expecting to see tons of 'too easy" comments. I guess it's just a case of being on the same wavelength as the constructor!
Didn't enjoy this one. Note that I'm not saying it's a bad puzzle, just that I didn't have any fun solving it. Collegiate sports references and names from the current (i.e. the last 25 years) entertainment industry just make it a slog for me. Also, I don't think the clue for SINS is very good, and can somebody please explain OMNI?
@Grumpy Google "stain of sin" and you will perhaps change your mind about the clue.
@Grumpy agree this is one of the worst on a while and the last few months have had a lot of contenders. There seems to be a new set of editors who think pop trivia is interesting. It's dull slog.
@Grumpy SINS was my last solve. Was surprised to find the puzzle was finished. Wouldn't say it's the worst clue but it was definitely a head scratcher!
@Grumpy I can’t say I come to wordplay column too often. But is this a shtick? Handle is grumpy. And you are grumpy. Not complaining. I like it! Does grumpy make happy comments on puzzles where every entry is in their sweet spot?
One thing I appreciate about the NYT CW is how it is so often egalitarian…using clues/fills that I have no idea about while others know instantly (Ella MAI, MIA Toretto, AYOEDE BIRI), but others that many haven’t the foggiest about but which I (a baseball fanatic and True Child of the Big Ten) know instantly (yesterday’s Dave STEIB; today’s Fighting ILLINI). Today’s CW was about right for a Friday, I think…a couple minutes under my average time, but a few quadrants I had to pick my way through…and, yes, anyone who gives a shout out to hostel mates is okay in my book…
I owe my decent time on this one to the crossings for Ayo Edebiri.
The cluing for "Cold War alliance" is just plain wrong. Completely. It was never an alliance in no shape or form. I didn't even consider the answer could be anything different from what it should have been, and then the rest of the crosses made no sense :(
Stefan, Quite a few of us wanted Warsaw Pact, but... <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/soviet-bloc" target="_blank">https://www.dictionary.com/browse/soviet-bloc</a>
@Stefan - Actually, the answer "should be" what the crosses make it - and clues are hints, not definitions.
@Stefan. Good point. For most here, I guess, it’s great to hear perspective. It’s part of the fun of crosswording, to hear different takes on the clues/answers.
BEBE crossing AYOEDEBIRI. Enough said.
Random phrases, sports, entertainment and brand names. Nothing wrong with the puzzle itself, but the clues leave something to be desired. is an unimaginative fill-in-the-blank really necessary to clue EMMY? Does a storied university like UCLA always require a sports reference? There are so many ways to clue OMNI that don't involve boring hotel chain names. Maybe I just got out on the wrong side of the bed this morning. DEEPSIGH.
Just the kind of challenge I like on a Friday. Started with nothing, and was considering look-ups...panicking...then got a toe-hold and climbed out of the hole. It was very satisfying to see the gold star. Thanks, Adrian Johnson!
Fortunately, solving this puzzle did not require parsing AYOEDEBIRI.
Typical tough Friday workout for me. Had to look up some things and still had to work the crosses almost everywhere before I finally got it. And... ... pretty amazing feat of construction. One 15 letter answer and ten 10-letter answers and of all those - 8 were making their first and only appearance in any puzzle and the other 3 had only appeared once or twice before. Don't recall ever seeing that before. And one of those led to my puzzle find today. I'll that in a reply. ....
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: a Wednesday from October 1, 2014 by Elizabeth C. Gorski. The 'reveal' clue and answer in that one: "Lowdown ... or a hint to 17-, 24-, 36- and 53-Across" INSIDEDOPE And those three referenced answers: GRANDOPERA AVOCADOPEAR PRIEDOPEN WALDOPEPPER Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/1/2014&g=61&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/1/2014&g=61&d=A</a> And... one other puzzle find. A Wednesday from June 15, 2011 by Jeffrey Wechsler. Three pairs of cross-referencing theme answers in that one. 22a: "What 16-Across has?" HIDDENAGENDA and... 16a: HAAGENDAZS then.. 39a:"What 28-Across has?" DENTALFILLING and 28a: RESIDENTALIEN And then: 58a: "What 46-Across has?" INSIDEDOPE and 46a: "Ribbon-cutting event" GRANDOPENING Don't recall seeing another one like that. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/15/2011&g=58&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/15/2011&g=58&d=A</a> I'm done ....
Per the OED and other dictionaries, the proper form is “YAY big,” though the probable etymon is YEA.
@Serge I was surprised to see the two expressions running neck and neck on Google Ngrams: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/5yztb8v4" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/5yztb8v4</a> (although "yea big" was dominant until about 2000; I feel that rampant misuse eventually became acceptable) but Merriam-Webster has this definition for YEA: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yea" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yea</a> and this one for YAY: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yay" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yay</a> Collins and Cambridge have it reversed, so maybe it's a British/American thing to a certain extent (particularly Northern, as one source says). Some grammar sites state that "yay" big comes from a corruption of the original YEA big (with an OED cite for the latter): <a href="https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/83706/something-is-yay-big" target="_blank">https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/83706/something-is-yay-big</a> But in short, it seems like both versions are in use these days, with YEA being the original and more logical version (as YEA means truly, really), and YAY being more phonetic. Note that "yea/yay big" sounds very old-timey, but "yay" as any kind of word only dates back about 100 years. I will continue to spell it as "yea big", as this seems more normal to me.
7D - BLED for running through laundry? What an awful clue. 9D - On *A* par? Said no one ever.
@Dave K. Pair of red socks... and a new pink tee!! Works like a charm.
@Dave K. Think about colors bleeding from one garment to another, not human blood. I got it pretty quickly. Read the comments re "on a par," and you'll find plenty of people who use that phrase. Perhaps next time, check the comments before proclaiming no one has ever said a particular thing.
9D - On *A* par? Said no one ever. Dave K., You should get out more.
@Dave K. I guess us westerners are more used to A being on a par with B: I've said it, and heard it, a lot.
@Dave K. There was a local TV commercial where Eric Lindros pops his head into the laundry room and asks the team manager, "Hey, have you seen my lucky red socks?" The guy looks at the white jerseys tumbling in the washer, and has a panic attack. The closer: "Need Flyers gear in a hurry?"
@Dave K. The clothing industry nowadays is much better at making dark colors colorfast. Still, don't wash denim and reds with white shirts. I bought a red tee in Italy that I had to wash alone because it always bled. Including when sweating.Finally tossed it. Too "dangerous".
Just a brutal amount of pop culture trivia, but all were gettable on crosses. I guess this is why this is a Friday. TIL on TIPROAST.
@Paul R A Tip Roast is more commonly known as tri-tip in California, where it's a staple of barbecues and restaurants throughout the Central Coast (from Santa Barbara to Monterey).
@Paul R Absolutely agree on the overabundance of pop culture clues today. I greatly prefer clues that make me think, reason them out, and then enjoy that wonderful sizzle when I finally get them. When my streak does get ruined, it's usually by some trendy show or popstar that's all the rage with the kids but couldn't interest me less.
Some incredible stacks today. I love the stories hidden inside. The NW is Adrian Johnson channelling his inner John Le Carre. The story of a spy in the SOVIETBLOC, (IM)ALLALONE as they RANLIKEMAD to find the INSIDEDOPE to bring back to their handler. And the SW is the trailer for a new version of The Infredinle Hulk starring AYOEDEBIRI. I can picture the scene of two dumbfounded cops, shocked after the Hulk, hopped up on Gamma Rays and CARBOLOAD(S)Ed, LUMBEREDIN so fast that it triggered their SPEEDTRAPS.
Nice challenging puzzle, but too many semi-obscure entertainers. Not really a criticism of this constructor as it has become a constant presence in these puzzles. Today Dev, Harry, Jon, Ella, Mia and Ayo.
@Ambrose I did seem to be heavy on random trivia, and was a very quick solve.