How sad to learn John Oliver’s view of PUNS! Sure, there are “bad” ones, but has he never experienced one DONE TO A TEE? One with just the perfect amount of HOKUM? The ARTISANAL pun with the fine flavor of AGED CHEESE? LET’S FACE IT: he should hang out with our Mike some time.
@Cat Lady Margaret Oliver knows, "Punning is the lowest sort of wit and therefore the foundation of all wit."
@Cat Lady Margaret I thought he would like puns! That was certainly an Oliver twist.
@Captain Kidnap Yes that whole section a nightmare for me. sobbing for SIGHING, thinking RIGHTO was something like loveTO, boson for GLUON and like you never heard of that dish (or the word METIER) Finally decided GLOCK had to be right and slowly made progress from there.
@Cat Lady Margaret Whatcha thinkin’, Abraham Lincoln? -Mr. Convoid-04
I couldn’t get Mariah Carey to fit in 30 across?
@Nick Roumel Thanks for the laugh, Nick! Made my week!
@Nick Roumel She was my first thought as well.
@Nick Roumel It was a great bit of misdirection. I'll bet a lot of people were thinking of "figure" as a person instead of a number. Mariah would have been a good one!
"Did you shred the cheese yet?" "I'll get to it soon. Cheddar grate than never!" ("That's gouda-nough for me!")
@Mike We can always comte on you over there in Muenster. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Mike We can always comte on you out there in Muenster... ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler) (Repeat post due to random emu crunching?)
@Mike Mike and cheese! Now that's a Krafty dish! Just the Stouffer a chili night.
@Mike “Cool your jets! Stilton of time…”
@Mike Whenever we make pizza at home, my wife is responsible for shredding the cheese. She’s the gratist.
OK punsters, let's strive for at least a paneer of respectability...
Could somebody please explain why "Bass output" solves to ALES? Is Bass a brand of beer? The puzzle was probably fair for its intended, American audience, but I ended up revealing 20 or so answers. Names, abbreviations - they will always be my nemesis. Not caring about my streak means reveals don't spoil my fun though 🙂 SHAKSHUKA was a gimme, even though clueing it as North African confused me - I have always though of it as an Arab Middle Eastern, and Turkish dish. The clue prompted me to look up the etymology - some sources see a North African one, so maybe the clue was OK(ish). SHAKSHUKA is my favorite breakfast at Turkish bars, and I often make it myself for lunch or dinner. It's amazing how such simple ingredients result in such a full taste. I love it, and I also love the smile it brings to my wife's face: Middle Eastern food is her favorite. Btw, in Polish your Middle East is Bliski Wschód (Near East) - probably because we are much nearer to it than English speakers 🤣 Polish trivia time! May 1st, Labor Day, and May 3rd, the anniversary of Poland's first Constitution of 1791, are both national holidays. They and the weekend combine into what is known as Długi Weekend, the Long Weekend, a Polish institution. You wouldn't believe how empty Warsaw has become - many of the city folk have left on week-long vacation, and those who stayed in town are enjoying their time off work - the streets are empty but smoke rises day after day over popular barbecue spots.
@Andrzej You're back!!! Yes, Bass is a beer brand: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery</a> I must have eaten SHAKSHUKA at some point because the answer came to me, yet I have no idea when or where.
Most people live in apartments rather than houses over here. Barbecuing on balconies is illegal, and on the lawns between apartment buildings it is frowned upon. However, every Polish city and town has a communal barbecuing area, sometimes officially designated by the municipal authorities and the fire department. Under "communism," the authorities wanted people to do everything together rather than individually - this also applied to recreation, rest and relaxation. Communal recreational areas were created, with sport, cultural and leisure facilities, often in forests, on lakeshores or riverbanks. It was one of the pretty cool features of that regime. These places survive, like the Park Kultury (Culture Park) in Powsin, on the edge of the Kabacki Forest, just south of where I live. I used to go there as a kid with my parents, and it is one of my favorite destinations for long walks even at present. Well, anyway, democracy and market economy brought with them barbecuing culture (unknown in Poland pre-1989: back then we baked sausages over bonfires and baked potatoes in their smoldering ashes; nobody owned a grill, and we did not know hamburgers). Those "communist" recreational areas have become top barbecuing spots, with hundreds of people grilling away on weekends, and the Long Weekend, too. Ukrainians have had a similar communal culture for decades, so they gladly come to places like Powsin, too. Ukrainian of refugees and expats is almost as common as Polish there now.
@Andrzej “Near East” is in fact an older name for the area in English, especially, in my experience, in scholarship on the area. I’m not quite sure how the “Middle” got attached to what is clearly the closest part of the “east”.
@Andrzej "...SHAKSHUKA is my favorite breakfast at Turkish bars...." Keep going....
@Andrzej Not only is Bass a brand of ale, it's made in England, which means it's closer to you than it is to us in America. I'm sorry to hear that it hasn't made it to Poland. It's not only very popular world-wide (almost?), but it's been around for quite a while. There are even bottles of Bass visible in Manet's famous painting "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère". They're the bottles with the iconic red triangles. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery#/media/File:Edouard_Manet,_A_Bar_at_the_Folies-Berg" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery#/media/File:Edouard_Manet,_A_Bar_at_the_Folies-Berg</a>%C3%A8re.jpg
@Andrzej I had the exact same problems with Bass and SHAKSHUKA. Now that Beth has explained Bass I do recall having seen it in the crossword before, though I’m not sure what the clue was (or the answer for that matter). I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in Aus before
@Andrzej Good to see you back! For me, today was hard as I had to look up some of the words that were gimmes for you. Still, it was less lookups than a normal Saturday, so it was a Best time for me. I had 3 best times this week, so I guess I am getting better at this. I appreciate hardness, as I always come away from it learning something new. And today I also learned about communal barbecuing in Poland. I would love that here as my building has no communal area for it, so I must go out if I want a char-broiled meal.
Loved the quote from ANIMAL FARM. But LETS FACE IT, if George Orwell had one the chance, I’m sure he’d change 1984 to 2025.
Oh, man, this puzzle was so fresh! Many puzzles have a been-there feel – dominated by seen-before words and clues. There’s a charm in running across old friends, yes, but there’s excitement in meeting new ones. My brain exults at cracking new riddles, and my brain’s tail never stopped wagging today. Freshness? How about 11 NYT answer debuts, six once-befores, and four twice-befores (Hi, @Rich!)? That’s nearly a third of the answers bringing the sheen of newness to the box, making for a perfect echo of spring. Mind you, being a debut answer doesn’t guarantee that it’s good. But these are. Look at them! – AGED CHEESE / ARTISANAL / DONE TO A TEE / FACTORIAL / HAD NO CHILL / LETS FACE IT / LOSER PAYS / PREHAB / SHAKSHUKA / ZIP ME UP / ZOOMIES. Wow! So here I am, reveling through the new, when along comes an LOL moment: Seeing [Common tater]. Hah! Big hah! Happy moment on top of happy brain, and Crosslandia comes through again. Sterling, sterling experience, your puzzle, Michael. What a boost – thank you!
@Lewis Forgot to include this in my own post, and quite surprised not to find it already in yours: How about that ADLAI and ADLER pairing in the corners? Nice.
SPITS GAME is talking smoothly???? Yuck.
REIKI crossing TAKI? Kind of a microcosm of this arcana-laden puzzle, at least for me.
@JM You must have missed TAKI when it appeared in the puzzle just a few days ago…
@JM Ever been to a grocery store snack aisle? You may not have noticed them, but they're available pretty much everywhere, so not arcana. I would not call REIKI arcana either. I'm familiar with it because I lived next door to a REIKI practitioner for several years in California in the 90s. So just now I googled, "how well known is reiki?" It appears to be very well known and growing in popularity.
@JM I'm glad you said "at least for me". Thanks for not making it the puzzle's fault.
@JM When TAKI debuted last 2/20/2025, I believe it was Eric H, now from Durango, who pointed out that they played a role in “Orange is the New Black”. Several clips out there on YouTube….
Just opened the puzzle, loved seeing FACTORIAL.
Filling in SnIT for [Small drama], crossed with a dish I'm not familiar with, slowed me down. I like SnIT better.
@Aaron Yeah, me, too. Exactly the same. I *never* think of skits as dramas--they've always been comedy bits in my world.
@Aaron Swapping that N for a K got me the gold star. I don’t think I have ever heard of that egg-and-tomato dish (though it sounds delicious). When I got the “something’s wrong” pop-up at the end, I was surprised that for once, I didn’t have to search for a typo — my mistake was right there in the unfamiliar word.
@Aaron I also had n for K and didn’t get the happy music without help from Wordplay. 😠
@Aaron, me too. But I first had an H there. Was pretty sure the Gray Lady wasn’t loosening up THAT much…
@Aaron I guess I am not alone 🤓. In hindsight, I’ve heard the name of that dish before, but I couldn’t have come up with it or been sure of any letter in it.
"Zip me up, Scotty." "She cannae take any more, Captain! She's gonna Blow!" ("I never said most of the things I said." - Yogi Berra)
Given that US exam abbreviations can be just about anything, I had GUNS for "The lowest form of human behavior". But maybe that's just me (and John Oliver).
@Tim It was my first thought too, given that it was one letter short for a person I might have named otherwise. Maybe it’s the general British loathing of firearms that made it feel ‘right’!
Country that is more than 50% stolen land: Abbr.
@Mason I turn to puzzles to escape the stress induced by comments like this one and the inevitable parries.
@Mason Israel. It has the Negev desert in the south.
Eddie, Didn’t stop you, though, for here you be! :)
@Eddie. Your grammar is slipping. Should’ve been: “This puzz done been too hard.”
@Eddie the puzz done did you, this time
@Eddie, you're not alone. It was too hard for me, too. In fact, as is not usual at all for me, I couldn't complete it without looking up a whole bunch of things. It was truly aggravating.
The Americanisms were killer. ADLAI and Estes? Bass ALES? Another exam with the PSAT? Haw many SATs do you all have? NOELS for winter airs makes no sense at all, and not just because I live in the Southern Hemisphere. ESAU crossing OSAGE was a major natick for me. Maybe I HAVE NO CHILL but I had no idea what “keyed up” meant. I like hard, but this was just specific.
@Ben ADLAI and OSAGE. O.K. Those are definitely US-centric references. Bass ALES? Not ours. From Wikipedia: “Bass Brewery was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK.” <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery</a>
@Ben ADLAI Stevenson ran for president but never won. I knew him from hearing my grandmother talk about him, and I'm 70. So it's been a while. I believe Bass is a brand name. The whole LSAT/PSAT/SAT thing overwhelms me too, and I took at least one of them. OSAGE is indeed a Native American tribe, and ESAU is out of the Old Testament, so he seems fair game to me. As to the rest of it, I'm almost as much in the dark as you are. Take heart, Southern Hemisphere friend.
@Ben NOELS can mean Christmas carols, and "airs" can mean tunes. Just a gap in your knowledge base, I guess; it made sense to me. The SAT (once short for Scholastic Aptitude Test, then changed to Scholastic Achievement Test when people claimed it didn't measure aptitude very well), and now is just alphabet soup, is an exam taken in the 11th or 12th grade that may have a major bearing on college admissions decisions. The PSAT (P for preliminary) is a practice version of the SAT given in 10th or early 11th grade; in addition to being a practice for the SAT, it is also a qualifying exam for national merit scholarships. The LSAT is the Law School Admissions test, and is not related to the other two.
@Ben I’ll give you ADLAI, PSAT, and OSAGE, but the others are not Americanisms (though I also didn’t know about Bass ALES). ADLAI and xSAT (or MCAT) do appear pretty often, though the clue for ADLAI especially was pretty brutal today
@Ben I mean, I’m a Seppo by birth, myself, but anything from the general area of the state of Oklahoma is more often than not going to be as obscure to me as it would be to you. The only reason I could personally fill in OSAGE without any crossings is because I happened to have seen the film adaptation of the book referenced in the clue… at a cinema in the Kabuki-cho district of Shinjuku.
I'm guessing Eddie dun did this puzz. So dun I.
Didn't know SPITSGAME, REIKI, SHAKSHUKA or HADNOCHILL, but, LETSFACEIT, THATSONME. Nonetheless, solved this puzzle unaided---but only because I (think I) recalled TAKI from earlier this year. This one seemed like an appropriately challenging puzzle for a Saturday. It also seemed quite fair, given that I was able to use crosses to cover for my ignorance of some of the fill. Never had an ELKHOUND, but when my beagle mix got the ZOOMIES, he was certainly thinking "[Get out of my way!]"
@Xword Junkie My sister had a NORWEGIAN ELKHOUND many years ago. Sweet dog, very handsome.
@Eric Hougland My cousins had them years ago, so that was a gimme for me. Handsome dogs.
10 minutes for 99% of the puzzle… …10 minutes more to figure out that small drama was a SKIT, not a SnIT. SHAnSHUKA sounded so eminently, well, possible. All in all, an excellent Saturday puzzle. Great wordplay, brainy clues crossing sassy everyday-lingo ones, and the centerpiece of ZOOMIES, which 90 million Americans (it’s how many of us have a four-legged family member) can fill in without hesitation. Also, SALE PRICE having the same number of letters as “mall Santa?” Diabolical. Michael Lieberman, come back soon; come back often.
@Sam Lyons I silently complain every time they clue SKIT as having something to do with SNL, but man, it would’ve saved me a lot more than ten minutes.
Where is Eddie to say he didn't 'done did this puzz'?? I need to feel better about how much I struggled with this one. Needed the article and some look ups for proper nouns, even then needed auto check to finish, brutal
@Ciptir Eddie was higher up, i.e., later in time. And he said that he couldn't finish today, as it was too hard. Apparently, he doesn't cheat.
Not sure a country that's committing genocide and recently bombed an aid boat should be a crossword clue, Michael.
@N Remind me again who committed a massacre on a music festival on October 7? Oh yeah.
Puzzle criticism from a poster who can't tell a clue from an answer? No thanks.
N.B. Idi AMIN was here less than two weeks ago, and I don't think that was a policy endorsement either.
@N As I replied to @Mason, I turn to puzzles to escape the stress induced by comments like this one and the inevitable parries.
I wish constructors/editors would avoid references to “Israel”. I do puzzles to take my mind off of the world’s problems; I don’t like to be reminded of the genocide we’re aiding & abetting.
@Rob Welch - Cancer has taken the lives of many solvers, and darkened the lives of many more, including me. Is "cancer" a word that should not appear in crossword puzzles?
Rob, No problem with GLOCK, though? And you don't mind living in ANIMAL FARM? It's hard to keep the world out of the puzzle.
@Rob Welch I could not agree more with you on your take of world problems. I agree completely. However, I've never understood "take my mind off of..." I don't think I'm ever unaware of the awful things about our world, especially in the last few months. Moreover, I can expect others to honor my desires, regardless of how that affects their lives. Would haver it been better for *everyone* had this puzzle not been published? I doubt very much the constructor would be. I, for one, can't turn off my dread and fears while doing a crossword or any other time. I wish I could.
@Rob Welch I would prefer you didn’t spout words like genocide in the comments section of the puzzle. There are many who would dispute that, and I’d rather not get into that in the comments section.
@Rob Welch Perhaps we can all make a list that we find unpleasant to us so that the constructors can make puzzles that upset no one.
SHAKSHUKA? REIKI? TAKI? ZOOMIES? I started feeling like AGED CHEESE while I chipped away at this one, but actually, it was DONE TO A TEE, with mostly enlightening crosses, and if have never before encountered someone who SPITS GAME or HAD NO CHILL, well LET'S FACE IT, it's not you, THAT'S ON ME. (I have to admit, I CARE). Classy puzzle, Mr. Lieberman. Now I think I'll go to bed.
@dutchiris I take it you've never lived with cats? 😹 My girl is starting to get the ZOOMIES right now!
@dutchiris you live in Berkeley and you’ve never heard of reiki? That seems impossible !
@dutchiris I fell asleep at 9 pm but did this at midnight because kitty had the 23 across. A puzzle is not complete without a reference to my fur-ball. He gets an extra hug when that happens. It seemed difficult at first but filled in easily. Pleasant dreams, everyone.
@dutchiris My wife, who is a lifelong cat lover, has always referred to them as the whomps. This would seem to be more apt with our current resident house cat, Kato, who has been known to take out occasional pieces of furniture when he is in that frame of mind, usually around 3am. Bless his heart.
@dutchiris I enjoyed reading it both times. 😉 We're on our third greyhound, so I know all about ZOOMIES. I just wish I had known what they were when my first dog (I was an adult) caught a case and started tearing around the living room jumping on and off the furniture. I called my husband at work crying that the (sweetest, gentlest, meekest blue tick coonhound ever) was trying to kill me. 🤣
@dutchiris Oh, my goodness!!! How fortunate that he was there for you AND Buzz!
It would never occur to me to do the crossword in the Guardian or the London Times and then whine when the puzzle uses specific British references that I don’t understand. I like hearing comments from international puzzlers explaining which clues they didn’t know - that can be interesting! It’s nice to hear from folks around the world. But some of you guys seem to take personal offense that a regional newspaper employs regionalisms in its puzzles.
This solved really fast--too fast for a Saturday, IMO--until it absolutely didn't. I ran aground at SPITS GAME, which I finally got from the crosses. Still, I finished in less than two-thirds my average Saturday time. I did enjoy a lot of the wordplay and cluing, and overall it was a pleasant experience.
@Liz B Kind of what happened for me, except I was confident about "laps" and lame for too long... ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
There were several words and phrases in this puzzle that I was unfamiliar, but they didn't slow me down. SPITS GAME is an especially fun phrase to learn. (However, I don't think I'll be adding it to my conversations anytime soon.) But by far my favorite was the term PREHAB for "physical therapy before an operation". Even though I'd never heard of it before, it's the kind of word that, when you see it, you think, "There's a word that ought to exist."
@The X-Phile We'd never heard it either, but when DHubby had the knee replacement, you can bet it made a difference!
Three clues labeled as colloquial or slang with answers I've never encountered anywhere. An average number.
I didn't enjoy the cluing, and I thought the slang phrase odd. Some answers just didn't make sense to me. I don't know what a spitsgame is and don't care to know. Gluon? Taki? I hate when the right answers seem wrong.
@Asher " don't know what a spitsgame is and don't care to know." So, it's not really a puzzle problem but the fact that you're not interested in learning the terminology. I didn't know it either. Now I do. And apparently it's been around for decades.
@Asher Whenever I see "don't care to know," I think, "this person has the wrong hobby." It's like being a baseball player and not wanting to take batting practice.
Yesterday I got my fourth fastest Friday and today I got my third fastest Saturday. I might have had a personal best today if I had known SHAKSHUKA (I’ll be looking for recipes for that soon). I smiled at seeing NORWEGIAN ELKHOUNDS in the grid. My oldest sister had one about 50 years ago, a sweet pup she named Tigger. (Why name a dog after a cat? Because there are no dogs in “Winnie-the-Pooh.”) But I really could have done without GLOCK. There’s only one reason I know that name. <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/glock-pistol-omar-mateen-orlando-mass-shooting" target="_blank">https://www.vice.com/en/article/glock-pistol-omar-mateen-orlando-mass-shooting</a>/
@Eric Hougland I could have done without it too. I remember that shooting. Just terrible. Please let us know how your SHAKSHUKA turns out. I'm still trying to remember why I know that word and when and where I might have eaten it. You know you've had a good life when you've eaten too many different things at too many different restaurants to remember. It helps that I lived in the SF Bay Area for 27 years.
@Eric Hougland If you’re looking into SHASHUKA recipes, also consider “eggs in purgatory” , which is the Italian version. Same tomato/poached egg idea, but with different spices.
@Eric Hougland For me, Glock was a good memory. Years back I ran a sideline calligraphy business. One of my corporate clients was a retired police officer who taught other officers how to use the Glock. Once they finished the course, they got a certificate with their name done in calligraphy, by me!
Whew - this one was even tougher than the usual Saturday for me. Eleven debut answers and six others that were only in one other puzzle. Don't recall seeing that before. And some of those were never going to occur to me. Anyway... a bit of cheating and then just a whole lot of pondering and working the crosses. THATS(all)ONME. And.. my usual puzzle finds today. First - a Sunday from March 11, 1973 by J.A. Felker with the title: "Answering Service" Never seen another one like this. Five 23 letter grid spanning theme answers, and it was all in the clues. Sort of a reverse of clues and answers in a way. Here they are: "Forget-me-not" WHATISTHEFLOWEROFALASKA "Snails, for one" WHATARELITTLEBOYSMADEOF "Two" HOWMANYPINTSAREINAQUART "Tipperary" WHEREISITALONGLONGWAYTO "Rome" WHEREARETHESPANISHSTEPS Pretty amazing. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=3/11/1973&g=67&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=3/11/1973&g=67&d=A</a> I'll put the other puzzle in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Sunday from March 2, 2003 by Brendan Emmet Quigley with the title: "Stop me if you've heard this one." Five theme answers, all the clues being "Start of Joke #1" and then #2, #3, etc. Those answers: WHYDIDTHECHICKENCROSS WHATDOYOUCALLABLONDE APRIESTARABBIANDAMONK HOWMANYLAWYERSDOESIT THREEGUYSWALKINTOABAR Pretty amazing. Here's that Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/2/2003&g=87&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/2/2003&g=87&d=A</a> I'm done. ...
@Rich in Atlanta Wow! Both are incredibly impressive. Thanks!
Disappointed with the use of ISR as an answer given its current war crimes, including deliberate massacre of paramedics and ongoing bombing of children.
@SV Regardless of what is or is not going on in the middle east, Israel is a bona fide country, and there is no judgement implied or explicit, in its inclusion in a puzzle. As Mr. Ancona points out below, Idi Amin was in the puzzle recently. No one thought the NYT was endorsing him.
@SV Agreed war criminals have no place in the puzzle.
Andrzej, I see now what you’re talking about. I replied to your comment about barbecuing in Warsaw with a description of how I cook outdoors here in Colorado. I thought my reply was in emu-land, but I can see it if I click on the timestamp of your comment. That’s no way to encourage a dialogue, which is the main attraction of this forum for me.
@Eric Hougland and @Andrzej i THINK I always see all replies if I click on "See all replies" but how could I be sure? Clicking on a timestamp doesn't seem to do much for me, and every time I do it I've lost my place in the comments because the only option becomes "Back to all comments" which puts me at the beginning. FWIW this is on Android phone and NOT in the app
@Eric Hougland My current theory is that there's something wrong with the mechanism that puts up the "View More Replies". If it is there, then you can see them all without clicking on the timestamp. If it's not then there may be replies that are not being displayed. It's really confusing. And I wholeheartedly agree that the discussion aspect of this forum is the unique and most valuable part.
Is it cheating when you have the whole puzzle done except for one square and you put every letter in the alphabet in, one at a time, until you finally get the music? Because that's how this puzzle ended for me
@Jamie That's for you to decide.
@Jamie And if you can't decide for yourself ... yes, that's major cheating!
@Jamie The way I see it, you make your best guess and go with it. If you're wrong, it's a failed solve. Better luck next time. But I don't get to decide for you.
@Jamie It’s not cheating, this isn’t a competition, you’re not winning or losing, you’re enjoying a puzzle and learning for next time ;)
@Jamie Why does it matter how others define cheating? It's not a competition. I don't really understand the concept of cheating outside a competitive context, and especially in a game that is not zero sum. To me treating an alphabet run for an arcane square as cheating sounds crazy.
@Jamie Cheating at a crossword is like cheating at solitaire. The only one you're "cheating" is yourself, so it's up to you how to feel about it. I personally have no problem running through the alphabet to finish a puzzle, or looking things up on Wikipedia.
@Jamie sometimes you have to claw your way to victory
@Jamie Nope. Or at least, I hope not 😆
@Jamie NYT editors famously say, “It’s your puzzle. Solve it any way you want to.”
@Jamie I'm with you. I often have to search for an error, and sometimes resort to just a brute force search. I wish that there was a way to admit that, then I could know how much of my "streaks" have truly been streaks. In the final analysis, in my heart of hearts, I agree with Nancy J. She's defined the gold standard of solving.
I always assumed TAKI was short for taquito, since they're both rolled-up tortillas. But yes, the flavors are terrifying. I feel like there are only two types of people: people who like TAKIs, and people who respect their 56A health. I will eat a bag occasionally, but it will hurt me.
Yay! GLUON and FACTORIAL -- be still my geeky heart. And SNIT vs SKIT taught me a new word. I need to find a good recipe and try it out. Thanks for the fun Saturday challenge! Timing-wise, it wasn't too bad, but I had to think!
This was a very satisfying Saturday for me. I'm pet-free, so ZOOMIES was unknown to me - and so were SPITS GAME, LOA, SHAKSHUKA, REIKI, TAKI, ELKSHOUNDS, and the delightful HAD NO CHILL. Yet, no lookups for me today, which I attribute to adroit clueing of crosses and simple dumb luck. I gasped, truly surprised, when changing SNIT to SKIT gave me the happy music. Thanks for the fun!
@Peter C. Wonder how many of us got the happy music that way today? Count me as one.
I don’t think this was particularly easy, but I have never had a puzzle written so precisely for me. ANIMALFARM, ZOOMIES and FACTORIAL were absolute gimmes, as was SHAKSHUKA which is a staple in our house (yum!). Loads of fun. The only misdirect I had was SPOUT instead of SPIEL for “pitcher’s output”.
@SP I first guessed speed for pitchers out put. Got me to an answer of “had no child.” Which I kinda liked for an erroneous answer.
The northwest corner here was unbearable — way too much obscure stuff.
As a Canadian, that upper-left corner was BRUTAL. An obscure American politician, an abbreviated US federal government organization, a British brewing company, a Hawaiian word… The cross of 1D and 22A was also very difficult without knowing that obscure politician, since there are many countries with more than 50% desert and guessing without the first letter is pointless. When I had “CEI” in a row from FACTORIAL, ATEAM, and REIKI (all straightforward clues) I assumed the end of “Let’s be real…” involved DECEIT, not FACE IT. Not an easy solve for me at all.
@MRR When you see a clue for a Hawaiian word, say to yourself: What Hawaiian words might I be expected to know? I originally had "lei" (the L was in place already), but it was a guess, and when it didn't work, I thought about what else it could be. LOA came quickly enough. (KEA means white, I believe.) Don't they have Bass ALES in Canada? I'd know Labatt's...and I don't even drink beer.
MRR, I can appreciate that a Canadian might not know ADLAI as clued, but a two-time major party presidential candidate is not "an obscure American politician."
@MRR The upper left corner is not Canadian; misplaced modifier! No soup for you! I note that British goods were always readily available at advantageous prices in Canada, so BASS should be a gimme even if all Canadian beer (BIER?) is superior. Do you prefer Molson's or Moosehead? (Reminiscing about visits to the LCBO way back when...)
@Steve L Never heard of Bass Ale before today. Plenty of Wisconsin-made beer around here. Don't need the imports. Unless it's Löwenbraü.
Fifteen seconds off my best Saturday time, and that was after getting about five across answers on first pass. So many fun ones: ALES, ZOOMIES, ELKHOUND, and PREHAB were favorites for this Bass-drinking, dog-adoring physical therapist, but how could you not also love SPITSGAME, HADNOCHILL, and AGEDCHEESE? The German spelling for "Lowenbrau product" and the clue for GLUON were also just lovely. I just wish it didn't go by for me as quickly as it did! A happy May weekend to my puzzling fellows!
This clicking on the time stamp thing is truly annoying. Once I've done that, X-ing out of that window takes me back to the top of the comments, so I have to scroll down all over again if I want to keep on reading. Here is a comment of mine that got buried: We all learn in our own ways. What some call "cheating," I call "scaffolding." The use of scaffolds generally fades over time as we learn. As has been noted here, before we solved these online, many of us researched answers. I kept a dictionary, the OED, a Bible, and my copy of Shakespeare at hand. Online, I personally don't want to search a clue because that just brings up the answer, akin to doing "check word" or "reveal". But digging around Wikipedia for a half hour searching for some landmark in ancient Mesopotamia or the half-human niece of a minor deity used to be a lot of fun. We don't seem to get those kinds of clues anymore, and I can almost always get things on crosses, but I kind of miss those meanderings.
Lynn, 1. We still get those kinds of clues, but after your years of solving and research you know the answers. 2. By the time everyone figures out the workaround to see the missing replies, that will have been fixed and there will be another issue needing a workaround. This par for the course with NYT Comments.
Enjoyable but a toughie. So many phrases/candidates/ science-ey based stuff I didn’t know, it felt like a proper workout. I thought I was off to a flying start with 1A and 23A total gimmes, then the wheels fell off. Not complaining though; my brain thanks you for the workout. Haven’t got any energy left for ZOOMIES, so a gentle stroll with the HOUND through the orchards will do. The blossom is out, the heat has abated to a more seasonal 20c. Lovely.
@Helen Wright Do alpacas get the ZOOMIES? Inquiring minds want to know.
I see our favorite EGG-HEADED politician and "two-time loser to DDE" is back for more abuse. My favorite ADLAI Stevenson quote: "Newspaper editors separate the wheat from the chaff, and then they print the chaff." I might not have gotten that answer without knowing Estes Kefauver was his running mate. Wow, that's a tough clue! But hey, if we're making Saturday hard again, count me in. SHAKSHUKA? I had SnIT crossing, as did many, I see. Fun Fact: Bass ALE'S distinctive red triangle was the first registered trademark in the UK. Legend has it that the brewery dispatched an employee to wait at the patent office overnight, so that they could be first in line.
@Grant So I looked up Michael Lieberman on xwordifo, and I think he’s probably in his late 40s or so. I wonder why he would even know Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver? I barely remember their names from when I was 7 years old in 1956.
Oof five minutes above average and had to start googling to check my spellings and entries after I had it filled it. The error I couldn’t see was I had SNIT for “small drama”, and though I’ve eaten shakshouka, the word didn’t come to mind and it appears to have several spellings in the Latin script…. I think I’m trying to justify my googling to myself. I’m fine with it. Thanks for letting me talk that out fellow puzzlers.
@Mick - My personal rule is there's no shame in Binging (I don't Google) if I've given it an honest try and I'm just plain stuck. Today, amazingly, I had no lookups despite many new-to-me answers. I was very surprised to get the happy music when I changed SNIT to SKIT.
So many vocalizations. I hate those as much as most commenters seem to hate rebuses. It's like we're relying on needing to be psychic to make the puzzles difficult instead of wordplay and misdirection. Leaves me wanting a challenge. Time to go back to the archives.
@Kelli If you get frustrated by the fact that each of the vocalizations has multiple potential spellings, I know how you feel. But I will save someone the trouble of commenting and saying that it's a puzzle after all. Yep I get that.
I did fairly well, but being unfamiliar with SHAKSHUKA, I had SNIT for "small drama" forever until SKIT occurred to me.
@surfertom007 Shakshuka is a great alternative to meat for dinner, but wait until the cost of eggs go down, any day now.
I’m not up to skill level of the early birds here. At first I had nothing. Just blank, and thought the puzzle impossible. But then SHAKSHUKA and THAT’S ON ME got me a toe hold in the east. Lots of misdirects or perhaps just misses. Like wanting Last Round instead of LOSER PAYS. Muck before MESS. And on the tip of my tongue for OSAGE and REIKI. Gratifying to fill the last square (SPITS GAME) and get the happy music.
Cool puzzle, liked kicking it off with Animal Farm. And in the 'today I learned' section is the phrase 'has no chill'. Ths is new to me and something I'm looking forward to using, most likely incorrectly.
@CB I plan to use it the next time my husband gets upset about something, Given that he’ll wake up in about five hours, I should have that opportunity in less than five-and-a-half hours.
2D seems a little weak. And why spell out the T in 15A? But I really really hate the colloquial phrases as clues, like 17A. They just seem lazy to me, way too many options to be known or guessed with any confidence.
@John Absolutely agreed! I keep griping about the random colloquial phrases but they keep appearing. Spelling out the T was also out of bounds as far as I'm concerned.
@John To each his/her own, I suppose. I think the colloquial phrases are often fresh ways to liven up a puzzle, and I enjoy seeing them. It keep the puzzles from being too academic or stuffy.
@John I am not an editor, but it seems to me in formal writing (as opposed to an email for example), it's proper to spell out the letter in a phrase like DONE TO A TEE. I'm also thinking of examples where that's not true (who spells out aitch?), but tee is commonly spelled out. Except for when it's not...
@Teresa needs editors who are clever not those who confuse with obscure
Thanks to SHAKSHUKA and FACTORIAL this was a quick Saturday for me. Very funny to see the clue “Bass output” having grown up not too far from Burton-on-Trent.
It's been too long since I read ANIMAL FARM, apparently, but eventually I worked it out, and it gave me 7D (when was that adopted??) Really great puzzle, though I saw the byline and moaned, because we need to get out the door and on the road. Happily surprised to get the grid filled in jig time. Manchego is our new fave ingredient! Those who are lactose-intolerant will be pleased! Doubt I will meet SHAKSHUKA along the culinary road of life, but I do hate missing out on yummy food. Good solving, friends!
@Mean Old Lady SHAKSHUKA is sooo easy to make and incredibly delicious. One of my favorite weekend breakfasts. I highly recommend you give it a shot
@Mean Old Lady SHAKSHUKA is extremely easy and quite cheap to make - you need tomatoes, eggs, lots of olive oil, and spices, which must include cumin that gives the dish its Middle Eastern/North African taste. There are loads of recipes for its many variants online. You can literally whip it up in 10 minutes. The crazy US price of eggs might be a factor though. Over here eggs are still affordably priced.