Almost got skunked on a Tuesday. Had to take a break and come back to it finish the SW. Took me a while to figure out MTSINAI, and was completely lost on MAIN and APPA. Didn't help that I had ICYglARES in there
@Steven M. For me it was a toss up between glares and stares, and fortunately I guessed the right one on the first try.
@Steven M. Going with ICYglARES impeded me there as well.
@Steven M. That little corner almost did me in as well. Thank the crossword gods for APE.
@Steven M. That’s where I and most others seemed to get stuck. Really poor clueing for a Tuesday
@Steven M.I found it hard for a Tuesday. Was looking forward to a breezy solve and that was not what I got today.
Was about to comment how charming I found this theme, and enjoyed a bit of a crunchy corner. But scanned the comments, and wow! I didn’t know APPA or DESI, But I got SINAI, APE, and LIPS. So , just needed the first letters and MAD worked. The crossings were just so generous, weren’t they? Thinking of the grid I’m constructing now, and it seems like things-I-didn’t-know are getting more and more infuriating to some folks. Isn’t it fun to learn? With the crosses *teaching* us? This is a sincere question.
@CCNY I ended up at the same spot. Once I got MAIN, MAD became clear and finished up the unknown crosses. I thought this one was ok as SANAI is common crossword fill. I enjoy learning from the crosses and only complain in my head when there was never going to be a way for me to solve the puzzle due to 2 unknown trivia terms crossing.
@CCNY When people are playing "Beat the Clock", and/or "Pin a Gold Star on Me Because I Deserve One Every Day", learning gets in the way.
@CCNY Always happy to learn. Usually it comes in handy down the road.
@CCNY For me it was the unexpected level of MAIN cluing that got frustrating- but I guess it just may mean that Tuesdays may be getting more difficult, as this is 3 weeks in a row for me above average. Kimbap and Hied have company.
@CCNY "Isn’t it fun to learn? With the crosses *teaching* us?" Yes, most days. Otherwise it's our cross to bare! [mea culpa 😉]
Hail to the OTOE, official nation of NYT crossword constructors!
@Neal S. What about the CREE?
@Neal S. And occasionally the UTES
I liked the theme, which I thought was very cute and clever. I didn't like cluing MAIN as the ocean, which I never heard of before and doesn't seem like a Tuesday clue, and was right next to APPA, which I never heard of before either.
@Bobby lyrics to an old sailing song. “Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main”. Came to me with crosses.
@Bobby “Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main” is what did it for me. But I agree, not a Tuesday clue.
@Bobby I liked the theme too, although I can no longer take the sweetness of Cotton Candy, my favorite treat many decades ago. Those decades helped me get MAIN, probably an obsolescent use, but I have long heard the phrase "over the bounding main" and other references. On the other hand, I never heard of ON TILT, so thank heavens for the crosses!
@Bobby Here's an example of that usage of MAIN. Looks like Disney. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/8sjj93zz" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/8sjj93zz</a>
@Bobby. On MAIN, as meaning the seas. The most likely source for this usage is “Spanish main”. But this actually referred to those parts of the Spanish empire that were on the MAINland, that is the land not the sea. Somehow we got the meaning shift. What annoyed me was that I was fully familiar with this but missed it.
@Bobby Most KDramas use OPPA instead of APPA, so that doesn't help either
@Sam T yes, I had it filled as OPPA and the down crosser as HOT instead of MAD. Suffice to say, the SW corner was last to fall for me.
@Sal Z TILT was a 'question' on a Jeopardy clue yesterday. I didn't know it before, either, but learned it this week!
This was a pretty sophisticated Tuesday puzzle, although the profusion of three letter answers made it go fairly quickly. It was interesting to see the COTTONCANDY theme juxtaposed with GILSCOTTHERON, whose works of bracing social commentary were anything but fluffy. Pieces Of A Man and Winter In America et al. were highly influential in the eventual development of rap and hip hop, although Gil worked more in the jazz/blues tradition than his progeny. Hearing The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and Whitey On The Moon, which were my introduction to his work, were galvanizing for me. His works remain sadly relevant today.
O Eddie, wherefore art thou, as I have dideth yon riddle verily! Eddie get thee hither! Have ye done did the ridd? Anyway, I love the mind that came up with this near-dad-joke level idea for a theme. What a lark. That SW corner, so nice and complicated, and a fellow pea-pincher when they fall out of a samosa. Why waste a pea? They taste great, they're good for you, and you can also put it under the mattress and insure that the next princess who stays over will toss and turn all night long. Also like peas crossing snaps. Nothing like a plate of sugar snap peas with a little butter & pepper, tossed with some fresh parsley. Nikki Giovanni (d. Dec. 9, 2024) wrote a poem with the great title "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day" (which is true here in Pgh). It begins: Don’t look now I’m fading away Into the gray of my mornings Or the blues of every night Is it that my nails keep breaking Or maybe the corn on my second little piggy Things keep popping out on my face or of my life It seems no matter how I try I become more difficult to hold I am not an easy woman to want They have asked the psychiatrists psychologists politicians and social workers What this decade will be known for There is no doubt it is loneliness If loneliness were a grape the wine would be vintage If it were a wood the furniture would be mahogany But since it is life it is Cotton Candy on a rainy day The sweet soft essence
@john ezra Ah loneliness. Beautiful poem. I’ve finally found When Things Fall Apart (Pema Chodron) and am reconsidering the concept
I love how tastes differ. The spark in humanity lies in the variety of slants found in any gathering of people. It brings mystery and spice. Today, for instance, the reaction to the theme in the comments, gauging it anywhere from corny to perfecto. (Me: Fabulous!) Also, I’m positive that if you asked solvers which were their favorite five answers, there would be great diversity. (Mine: CHUMP, ICY STARES, ALBEIT, POUTY LIPS, STYMIE. Yours?) If your time, BTW, was a bit longer than usual, factor in that there is an extra column. I like how COTT is centered over CY in all three cases. This made the construction more difficult, limiting the answers that could be put in the grid. Bravo, Enrique! I like the contradictory PuzzPair© of BOO BOO and OLÉ. I like the rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilap (SNAPS) in the box with the rare-in-crosswords five-letter palindrome (RADAR). And I love the rarer-in-crosswords six-letter semordnilap (SPIDER)! Greatly entertaining outing for me, Enrique, a day brightener. Thank you!
@Lewis Wonderful! It's been a while since you've commented on the contortions between contentious PuzzPairs©
Personal NATICK eddy for me in the lower left. I didn’t know any of the answers to the clues at all! MAIN APPA DESI No complaints, just rooms me awhile to dog myself out.
@Sophia Jones I'm going to go ahead and complain. That was a, in my opinion, a very, very difficult set of clues and answers.
@Sophia Jones This would have been a very fine Wednesday puzzle!
@Sophia Jones I found that corner tricky as well. But thankfully the gracious crossword gods gave us a couple of decent crosses (MAD and APE and SINAI) that kept it from being truly Natick-y for me.
This was a nice clever Tuesday puzzle! Thank you! It’s my birthday and this was a great way to start it! 🥳
@Kristin Gilbert A very Happy Birthday to you! I hope this cotton candy puzzle is a sign of sweet things to come for you, with much good health to enjoy them.
Sitting AD SLOGANS right on top of GIL SCOTT HERON was brilliant. "The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre And will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal The revolution will not get rid of the nubs The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because The revolution will not be televised, brother" Great juxtapostion between that and the fluffy COTTON CANDY and the absurd COTT ON C AND Y.
The absolute nightmare of multiple naticks (for me) continues, and is accelerating. 60D is a very open clue [Worked up, say] cross three nightmares. MAIN for Ocean? I've heard it used, but never in a poem. Korean for Dad? Jeez. And then a South Asian diaspora? That was brutal, in my opinion.
@Francis I was able to figure out the others from the crossing words, but I had to look up the Korean word for 'father', 'Appa'. Then for curiosity's sake, I looked up the word for 'mother', to learn it is 'Umma'. I don't know if I'll remember it the next time, though.
@Francis I guess we all have different definitions of "nightmare" and "brutal." There are a lot of brutally nightmarish events happening in the world right now causing serious suffering. To me, difficult crossword entries are simply an opportunity to learn something interesting I didn't know before or to stretch my brain to think in different ways.
@Beth I recently played a video game that featured a nightmarishly difficult bossfight. It was beyond brutal. It really was - in its video game context. You can't just ignore the context people use words in. Your comment reminds me of when as a child I was crying over some problem - very important to me at the time - but I was told that kids my age were starving in Somalia so my problem did not matter at all. The fact there is horrific, unimaginable suffering in the world, and that people chose to inflict it on others - a fact that tears me apart and fills me with existential dread - does not mean I may not experience my personal, first world nightmares. @Francis I found that area of the grid way too hard for a Tuesday, too. I dealt with it but guesses were involved. Coming next week: "Daddy in Polish, once: OJCZULEK."
@Francis Sailing, Sailing Over the bounding MAIN... Never heard that? Of course, after those two lines, my brain goes: "The horse knows the way To carry the sleigh..."
Sailing, sailing, over the bounding MAIN; For many a stormy wind shall blow, ere Jack comes home again.
@CRTH So onward go and Edward ho Into the bounding MAIN Enjoy the show, look out below But mind the misty sea or end up Sad like Mr. Me.
@Joe Felice He ended up sad He ended up sad He ended up really really really sad He ended up sad He ended up sad He ended up really really really SAD
So many names, so much trivia, jeez. I managed to complete the puzzle without lookups but it was close... The theme didn't grab me, either - the fact the themed entries were contained in answers that had nothing to do with carnivals made the theme feel random. I did not like the clue for NOKIA. I used to publish papers on telecommunications law. "Telecom" is short for telecommunications, the transmission of signals over distances. A manufacturer of phones does not provide telecom services: it makes end devices, but it does not transmit signals over the network those devices are connected to. T-Mobile and Orange are European telecom giants, Samsung is not, and Nokia never was, either. Also, as far as I know, the NOKIA brand was bought by the Chinese and has been used for them for years now. Barry will say I knew the answer, anyway. Sure, but that does not mean the clue was good. I have fond memories of NOKIA the non-telecom. Poland had had cellphone services for a few years by the mid 90s, but they were offered by a state-owned monopoly, so the quality was low and prices high. In the mid 90s pro-competitive telecom market regulation was introduced. Two more mobile operators entered the market and soon cellphone services became affordable enough for regular people. I was among the first students at my high school to own a cellphone - a huge, heavy, black Nokia - ca. 1998. In fact, all my phones before the smartphone revolution were Nokias. I especially liked the 6210.
@Andrzej didn’t Nokia have phone that also had a two-way radio feature? I remember using them on a construction site for my uncle. It was a push to talk or something like that, but also a cell phone.
@Jacqui J I appreciate what you're trying to do, but the fact that Nokia may have manufactured a niche product, combining a cellphone and two-way radio - the latter a device that provides telecommunications only in the very broadest sense - surely did not make it a telecom *giant*.
@Andrzej You read my mind and parsed it more intelligently/clearly than my garbled thoughts. “Hold on” I said to myself “NOKIA are just manufacturers surely?”
Andrzej, In the U.S., "telecom" (from telecommunication) is used in two senses, the narrower of which you identify in your post, the broader of which is used in the clue. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telecommunication" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telecommunication</a>
@Barry Ancona Apparently we understand those dictionary entries differently. To me, telecommunication (2): "technology that deals with telecommunication — usually used in plural" still only has to do with telecommunication (1): "communication at a distance." For example, technical solutions implemented via hardware (such as routers at network hubs) in the network to manage internet traffic is telecommunication (2). Phones are not: they are only the end devices - which are *not* part of the telecom network - that *people* use to communicate. This communication is enabled by telecom companies, which operate the networks that transmit signals over distances: the end devices connect to the network, but they are not literally part of telecommunication. In fact, distinguishing between the network and the end devices is at the core of the issue of network neutrality: under neutrality, the network operator - the telecom company - must allow the connection of any end device to the network, and the telecom operators should not discriminate against specific end devices. Also, would you call Mercedes or Audi a transportation company? At least in Polish it is an absurd concept. They build cars, and these cars may become part of the transportation system (for example, when a city uses a Mercedes van to transport people with disabilities, as Warsaw does), but Mercedes or Audi are car makers, not transportation companies. The distinction is even more stark with telecoms, IMO.
Andrzej, This isn't about correct usage, it's about common usage, and not by people in or directly related to the fields. The "dotcom/telecom bust" included a wider range of businesses than the "correct" usage.
@Hanson You're correct, of course, in a way. However, as a lawyer and a professional nitpicker I like accurate language and I just can't keep quiet about the improper use of words which actually mean very concrete things. Also, I often enjoy arguing :( Seriously though - you would not believe how often I have issues communicating with my very open and very bright students at university because of how little they value language and its accuracy. For example, I formulate all the question in all my tests so that the language clearly indicates what is meant by what. All too often the students will not appreciate it, and they will make mistakes that would never have happened had they just read the text more carefully and tried to actually understand the individual words and how they relate to one another.
@Andrzej Common usage, at least in the US, seems to support the clue. Nokia is commonly referred to as a “telecom giant” “Telecom Giant Nokia Says Net Profit Rose 89% In 2024 Barron's” “<a href="https://www.barrons.com" target="_blank">https://www.barrons.com</a> › news › telecom-giant-nokia-... Jan 30, 2025 — Finnish telecommunications equipment giant Nokia reported on Thursday an 89 percent rise in net profit for 2024, with sales surging in India ...” I think you are possibly interpreting “telecom” too narrowly, or it’s simply used differently in the US.
No ICY STARES, please,when I say that this puzzle didn't make me feel like one of the STOOGES. I thought it was fun—ALBEIT a bit scary until I realized that the MAIN thing was to just start solving and the crosses would tell me everything I needed to know, and I did need them for the APPA DESI SW corner, which made me feel MAS SPACEY than I care to admit. Good job, Enrique. Tuesdays teeter between the often ploddy Mondays and sometimes cheeky Wednesdays. You got the balance just right. Thank you!
The little icon says there are three comments, yet I don’t see any. That probably means this one won’t show up for a while, either. Meanwhile, I did this puzzle on my phone in the dark because someone ran into a utility pole right outside our house and knocked out the power for several blocks. So for now, it’s off to an early bed and hope it’s back on in the morning. The crews are out there working on it. To pass some of the time before bedtime, we went to a local diner where the Knicks playoff game was on. I’m not a big basketball fan, but it was going into OT when we were leaving. Apparently, the Knicks pulled out a stunning come-from-behind OT win. And then there was a different OT in the puzzle. The kind from BCE. I’ve seen C&Y “candy” themes before, but never one as complicated as “COTT on C and Y”. Kudos for a version that hasn’t been done before.
@Steve L Spoiler alert! I will be watching the NYK v BOS game later on League Pass here in Sydney, AU, and am hoping the Knicks can beat the Celtics. Hopefully you get power back soon.
I'm just here to support my Naticked brothers and sisters. That SW corner was a real pain.
@Jamie B though I am not in the bad theme camp. I love rebus puzzles like this. Deci sion NIbumpGHT and so many others
I'm amazed to find this crossword quite easy. I nearly got annoyed at more film stars, but there was GILL SCOTT-HERON, whose fabulous albums I bought in the 1970's, the beautiful LAUREN Bacall and easy for me EARLS and PEERAGE, BEERMAT, and I knew MAIN. I can't think of an equivalent for BOOBOO in BritEnglish, I know it from previous crosswords. (And from Yogi Bear.) And SHAG has another 'vulgar' meaning, nothing to do with haircuts. Why is kudos SNAPS? Never heard of Denny's or IHOP but have learned they are not in UK because people don't often eat pancakes for breakfast. Crêpes with strawberries and ice cream for dessert is fine. Gill Scott-Herron's father Gil Heron was a Jamaican professional footballer, and the first black player for Celtic football club in Glasgow in 1952.
@Jane Wheelaghan At a poetry slam people snap their fingers in approval instead of clap, or so I've heard. I think many in the US know the vulgar definition of SHAG because of the Austin Powers movies.
Tank top? Being a vet, I went with ‘turret’. Hey, I thought it was brilliant!
Jon, Turret has been clued twice as tank top, but without the question mark. (I already had COTTAGE CHEESE, so I knew it would be GAS CAP.) Short.
@Jon Yeah, I loved the "tank top" clue. Excellent word-play. Brought a smile.
I'm not a vet, but I thought turret too and smiled at what a clever clue that was. Whoops!
@Jon oh that kind of Vet 🙃, lost me for a moment there.
Love to see a Gil Scott-Heron mention. Anybody else have Whitey on the Moon stuck in their head lately?
@Lou so did I! Would love to see more hip hop and rap culture integrated in the puzzles.
Another fun Toughened Up Tuesday, though that revealer was groan-worthy. OT (off topic, not Old Testament) As someone who enjoys seeing what the people wear to the Met Gala, I'm here to report that both of our crossword friends Ego Another fun Toughened Up Tuesday, though that revealer was groan-worthy. OT, (off topic, not Old Testament) As someone who enjoys seeing what the people wear to the Met Gala, I'm here to report that our crossword friends Ego Nwodim, Ayo Edebiri and Ava DuVernay were in attendance.
@Vaer I picked that up too. Some incredible outfits and mostly on point with the theme this year. I think some of your comment got lost in translation though (see para #2). I blame the emus.
Not sure I've ever read a more labored explanation for a puzzle's circled letters than this
You may have found the explanation unsatisfying, but I didn't think it was labored. I thought it was short and sweet. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/labored" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/labored</a>
@wickershee If you have to explain a joke, it isn’t funny. The same feels true of wordplay.
If you have to explain a joke, get a better audience. Themes are explained in Wordplay for people who don't understand them from the puzzle. The explanations tend to be wordy because the columnist wants to cover as many misunderstandings as possible, not just yours.
wickershee, Make up your mind. In your OP, you're complaining about the theme explanation (which is hardly labored). Now you're complaining about the theme.
@wickershee The theme was too clever for me to get by myself, and I thought it was a bit over the top, but I chalked it up to my lack of experience and inability to think creatively. Still, I think it is fine for people to express their displeasure with a puzzle and don't begrudge you your comment. BTW, some of the replies here remind me of a time when I had an intense dislike for intolerant people, not noticing my own intolerance. It's kind of funny how blind humans can be.
"natick" apparently refers to "term i don't know" now, judging by this comment section. fun puzzle, GIL SCOTT-HERON reference made me smile
@J Not quite. A Natick is when there are *two* terms you don't know crossing one another. It's usually raised when both of the answers are quite difficult to guess, like a foreign name or word, or an obscure abbreviation. It's an incredibly useful term in talking about crosswords. And obviously, they are quite personal. But it's a little less juvenile than you suggested. I think.
I thought the theme was wonderful! I wish I'd kept trying to figure it out without the revealer, although I don't think I'd have been successful. Also, WHATEVER'S GOING ON WITH THE COMMENTS, AS WELL AS THE REPLY THAT @JOHNWM RECEIVED AND REPRINTED BELOW(WHICH YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE), IS INSULTING, ANNOYING, DISMISSIVE AND DECEITFUL. I THINK WE DESERVE A SIMPLE AND HONEST EXPLANATION HERE, AS WELL AS, OH, I DON'T KNOW, A FIX. THAT'S WHY I'M YELLING.
@ad absurdum Sod off - Respectfully, Customer Support
@ad absurdum -- I tried guessing the revealer, not even reading its clue, and I got halfway there. I figured out the COTTON part, but that's as far as I got. Still felt good, though, as guessing the revealer is something I'm weak at. Small steps.
Fun fact for the day! Koreans say 'Amma' and 'Appa' for mother and father, which is the same as in the South Indian language of Tamil (my mother tongue). There are some other surprising parallels between the two languages... I'm not quite sure how that came about! Anyway, that stacking of APPA over DESI in the SW corner felt like a nice little nod to that connection... I don't know if it was deliberate, but it made me smile! :)
Challenging puzzle for a Tuesday. One second over my average. Is it time for a refresher on what a Natick is? It doesn't mean just any challenging cross. This is from the source: NATICK PRINCIPLE — "If you include a proper noun in your grid that you cannot reasonably expect more than 1/4 of the solving public to have heard of, you must cross that noun with reasonably common words and phrases or very common names." Rex Parker Thus, the bottom left, which includes mostly pretty common common nouns, doesn't fit. I didn't know APPA, but MAIN, DESI, MAD, and APE were very straightforward. Not a Natick to be found.
@Jack McCullough Thanks for the reminder from Rex Parker. Sounds reasonable to me.
@Jack McCullough Disagree on MAIN, DESI, and MAD. I'm sorry, but in 72 years I am quite sure I've never run across DESI. I don't think I've even seen the word "diaspora" used outside of Judism. N. B. I promise you I am not angry with you, the puzzle, the constructor, the editors, or anyone else. It's just somehow escaped my notice. I know I don't get to define what obscure is, but I don't think they are quite "straightforward", and the reason is the cluing: I don't think MAIN is quite straightforward when the clue is [Ocean, poetically
Good puzzle today. It always makes me chuckle when they puns are groaned. Still I had no trouble with any difficult clues but got stuck on main and desi! That's nearly always my crossword burden.
@Toni-Ann Yup. That SW corner was a killer!
Oh good grief. What a stretch.
A thinking person’s Tuesday—and on a Tuesday, no less! I confess to speeding through it and thus almost missing the theme, but then I confess to always speeding through puzzles and almost (nearly always?) missing the theme. And today I happened to be solving two hours after three cups of coffee, as the bloodstream ratio of caffeine to actual blood was peaking. The [bring to 212°] clue for BOIL briefly veiled my eyes with misty longing for home. Yes, Celsius is a kinder scale. Yes, yes, metric volumes and lengths are easier if you are an alien from outer space, landing in our midst equipped with nothing but an allabogdanite loincloth and basic decimal-system computing skills. For the rest of us from the Home of the Brave, there’re ounces and inches and Herr Fahrenheit. And when we’ve landed in the Old World with nothing but a loincloth and [garment with cups] made of mom and apple pie—and basic decimal-system computing skills—when the thermostat in our new house tells us it’s 22° inside, we whisper to ourselves: “OK, now, so that’s 22 times 2, which is 44, minus 4.4, plus 32… Ah, it’s almost 72 degrees in here. I don’t need socks.” I might add, my husband hears me every time, and every time he asks: “When will you learn that 22°C is a comfortable temperature, period?” And every time I say: “When the Great Salt Lake freezes over.” Which, given its salinity, would require sustained temperatures of 5-7°F below zero. Global warming is real; it ain’t likely to happen soon.
@Sam Lyons An earlier post gave good advice based on the fact that 5 degrees C = 9 degrees F. (Remember that 9/5 factor?) Then learn that 10C = 50F and add 9F for each add'l 5C. 15C = 59F, 20C = 68F, 25C =77F, 30C=86F and so on.
@Sam Lyons Any system you are familiar with will be better for you, personally, than one you are not familiar with. I don't get Fahrenheit, at all, and neither am I comfortable using feet and miles (at least for those though I can make the conversion to metric easily enough, if need be). I used to think of the American measures as inferior to those of the rest of the world - but then I realized they are just different, no worse and no better (at least in everyday applications; I'm not qualified to comment on scientific uses). Americans are familiar with their system, and it works for them - that's cool. The rest of the world is famliar with metric and Celsius. and that's cool, too.
@Sam Lyons Brits of my age (millennials) must be unusual in the world in that for the first 10 years of my life (at least), I only knew of temperatures in Fahrenheit. "Put your shorts on everyone, it's going to be in the 80s today!". And then it was gradually fazed out completely during the 1990s. So I consider myself pretty bi-temperature-lingual, although my Fahrenheit is a bit rusty if I haven't used it in a while.
@Sam Lyons In Canada, our metrification began in 1970 and continued for over a dozen years. Our kids were all born between 1979 and 1991 so were already indoctrinated to/with it. Lots of stories about the process, many details of which I have long forgot, can be found here: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Canada" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Canada</a> A couple of leftovers: 1. Our Canadian-sold automobiles have speedometers showing both metric and Imperial measures, with the former dominating the latter, so that crossing the Canada-US border by car/truck will enable drivers from one country to obey easily the speed-limit signs posted in the other country. (“But officer, I’m from Ontario and I didn’t realize that in obeying a speed-limit of 70 on the highway, I was holding up all those drivers behind me.”) 2. Our stores that sell fresh produce, meats, fish and seafoods by weight are permitted to show the pricing in both systems, but with Imperial units being predominant. I’m surprised that after all these decades since the metrification process was completed, that predominance of Imperial units in signage continues. Interestingly, the cash register tapes show only the metric pricing so you have to do the conversion in your head to ensure you were charged the “correct” prices.
@Tim Your reply to me makes sense to you as a person who has used Fahrenheit. To me it is clearly obvious what I should wear at -30C, -5C, 1C, 12C, 16C, 18C, 25C, and 35C. Actually, before the latest phase of climate change, when temperatures in the warmer months were flatter than they are now, half degrees influenced what I would wear. 16C? Definitely too cold for shorts! 16,5C? I'll consider putting on shorts, if it's not windy! Etc. I'm just intimately familiar with the scale, and it makes as much sense to me as F does to its life-long users. Neither C nor F is objectively "clearly" better in everyday applications. However, the scale you are more familiar with *clearly* makes more sense to *you* - and that is the only thing that can be objectively declared.
@Sam Lyons I love your comment about feeling the stuff you know in your bones! I just *know* when I've walked 500m or a kilometer - I don't even have to consciously think about it. Also, I can always tell you with probably 0,5C accuracy what the temperature where I am is - I just feel it and automatically assign a C value to it. It's apparently 19C in this room as I'm writing this. At the same time, 1 mile is just a number - it only means anything to me when I consciously think of it as roughly 1600 meters. BTW the spelling of "consciously" is UNREAL :D
@Sam Lyons Too bad we can't attach pictures here, not easily, anyway. I'd take a quick snap of the novelty socks I'm wearing, given to me by my generally very serious father: they are yellow with green heals, and feature cartoon camels, palm groves, and several pyramids 🙂
Well, I thought it was fast and fun. So thanks for the smiles, Enrique Anguiano, and the new word, APPA, to add to my xword inventory. I hope you can ignore the snark in some of the comments I saw, and I will be happy to see your name again one of these days on my morning solve.
@Shari Coats Those two P's made me wonder if I had misremembered OPPA as "big brother," until the poetic ocean finally set straight. I don't think I ever knew APPA, "Dad," only APEOCHI/ABEOJI (well, 아버지) "Father."
Beam me up sCOTTY. Tough Tuesday for me, and must admit that I wasn't catching on to the trick at all through most of it. The reveal was one of the last things I filled in, and even then had to furrow my brow for a moment before it finally dawned on me. Don't recall seeing another one like this. But.. pretty impressive to be able to construct it with that much of a restriction. Amazing puzzle find today. I'll put that in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened. A Sunday from May 30, 2010 by Eric Berlin with the title: "Full circle." Ten theme answers in that one and each of them paired with the following theme answer (and the last one paired back to the first answer). Some examples: 22a. "With 24-Across, two things that are stuffed" ROASTTURKEY 24a. "With 36-Across, two things on a farm" SCARECROW 36a. "With 38-Across, two things associated with needles" HAYSTACK 38a. "With 55-Across, two things that spin" RECORDPLAYER 55a. "With 82-Across, two things at an amusement park" FERRISWHEEL And there were more. And then the last answer linked back to the first one: "With 22-Across, two things associated with Thanksgiving" CRANBERRIES Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/30/2010&g=82&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/30/2010&g=82&d=A</a> I'm done. ...
I finally hit Reveal, not because I couldn't possibly finish, but because I just didn't care.
If you didn't care, why did you hit Reveal?
As a Korean-American, I was surprised but pleased to see APPA as an answer. That said: I would agree with commenters who think this answer is a bit obscure for a Tuesday puzzle.
@J.K. Yes, I think "oppa" is more recognizable going back to Gangnam Style and now the more recent popularity of K-Pop and K-Dramas
I am puzzled that a moderator removed my reply on this thread in which I suggested that while the word APPA might be a bit obscure for a Tuesday trivia contest, it had four Tuesday-easy crosses, so those of us who did not know it could learn it.
@J.K. It is also the appellation for father in Tamil! As is Amma for mother in all of South India (often written Umma for the korean equivalent).
ORANGE-COLORED FRUIT PASTRY: About 1# Pâte Sablée, aka 3-2-1 dough (recipe follows) Frangipane (recipe follows) Ripe apricots Butter, melted Sugar Apricot nappage, or Quince or Apple jelly (clear) Line a false-bottomed tart pan with the pâte sablée. Chill briefly, dock, and blind bake in a hot oven until pastry is set but not brown. Let cool somewhat. Fill the tart about halfway with frangipane, the arrange sliced or halved apricots decoratively on top. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a medium oven until the apricots are soft, and the frangipane has puffed somewhat, and is just starting to brown. Let cool. When cool, brush with warm nappage, or jelly that has been melted and brought near to a boil. Can also be made with cinnamon-poached, but still firm, pears. A treat worth three posts on Wordplay!
@Bill Pâte sablée, or 3-2-1 dough: 3 oz. powdered sugar 6 oz. soft, unsalted butter 2 egg yolks (a little vanilla or almond extract, or some lemon zest might be nice) 1/2 t. salt 9 oz. A.P. flour In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Blend in the yolks, the salt, and flavorings, if using. Add flour, and mix slowly, just until dough comes together. Shape the dough into a disc, and chill. OK, now, when the dough has chilled, pull the disc from the refrigerator, and let it un-chill just to the point where it can be rolled out easily. CHEF'S TIP: Alternatively, cut the the chilled dough into chunks, and throw them into a running stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, just until the pieces come together into a pliable mass. Roll out on a floured surface, using as few strokes as possible.
@Bill Frangipane: 7 oz. Almond Paste 3 1/2 T. Sugar 3 oz. Soft unsalted butter 2 Eggs 2 T. A.P. Flour In a stand mixer cream the almond paste with the sugar, until the paste starts to absorb the sugar. Very gradually, as the soft butter, trying to keep the batter as homogeneous as possible. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the flour. This will probably make more than you need, but it's so yummy, try not to eat too much of it by the spoonful. (Not to mention that raw eggs can be a source of salmonella).
@Bill May I just say, I admire so much your baking expertise and gusto for it, notwithstanding your making a living doing it (if I remember correctly.) It's most certainly an art form and I savor every bite of a cake, cookie, or pastry made from scratch, as a way to silently thank the baker. I watch The Great British Baking Show so I can gawk, as well as a reminder as to why I don't bake (I make a two-tiered chocolate cake from scratch, with the Brazilian "brigadeiro" filling and topping, and that's about it.) And so, please know that, despite the fact that I will never run to the kitchen to try out your recipes, I always give you a standing ovation when you post them, marveling at the details. Bravo, sir!
Has the whole "increasing difficulty through the week" thing no longer a thing? Both Monday and Tuesday, I feel, have had one or two places with awful naticks. Not two, not three, but *four* clues that are either very obscure (DESI, APPA) or absurdly open or vague (MAIN) for ocean and MAD for [Worked up]. Between the abysmal shape of forum performance and the really inconsistent levels of difficulty, this really does look like a good to say goodnight, Gracie.
@Francis Regarding MAIN for ocean, the clue is not actually as vague as you might think because of the word, "poetically." It's a reference to the word "main" used in poems and songs, such as in, "Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main..." However, I can see how it might be a bit tricky for a Tuesday. I was already familiar with the term DESI outside of crossword puzzles (one person's "obscure" is another's gimme), but I've also seen it many times in puzzles, so you might want to commit that one to memory.
Interesting to see all the comments about the SW corner! The only clues I couldn't get were Gil Scott Heron (never heard of him), LSU and Sui Generis. It just goes to show different solvers have different backgrounds, knowledge, etc. I definitely did not see how COTT CY was cotton candy until I came to read the column. After getting it, I think it's cute and clever! Maybe a little too clever for a Tuesday...
Happy Thursday everyone, i guess!
@Cameron So, I guess you had a hard time with it. I found it mostly easy, just slightly more than a Tuesday, but not enough to call it a Wednesday, and certainly not a Thursday. But everyone has their own view of it. Some Tuesdays are like Mondays. And anyone reading this post who's not familiar with the puzzles and their weekly run would think I've gone nuts.
I'm a mediocre solver at best, usually, but this one didn't seem all that difficult to me. It required a bit more reasoning than a typical Tuesday, but I finished it in about my average time, without looking anything up. I enjoyed it. I did kind of wince once I figured out COTT ON C AND Y, but I really admired the ingenuity.
Every time I try to copy my comment in case it goes missing, this dang side panel swipes away and my uncopied comment is gone. Three times! I wish this comment section would go back to being bad and archaic in it's old bad and archaic ways, not these new bad and archaic ways. Anyhow, just for the record, I liked today's puzzle and it's fluffy theme and mostly non-fluffy but very gettable fill, but trying to interact here is making me cranky. Maybe it's a sign I should get back to doing my job.
@HeathieJ Now that we know the time stamp trick, the thing that bothers me most is that Return to all comments throws you back to the top of all the comments instead of to the place where you were in the comments. Tiresome. And makes me reluctant to check for new comments if I'm in the earlier ones.
Vaer, If everyone replies using the reply button on the OP in a thread, we won't have to click on the time stamps...
@HeathieJ That's too funny! – the old bad and archaic versus the new bad and archaic. Take your pick. And Im with Vaer on the "irksomeness" of being sent back to the top of the comments instead of the one you were reading. Something else that's been happening since they changed the design of the box in which we write a comment: now i can't scroll back up within the box to re-re-read and edit. Any attempt to do it just makes the whole page move up and down. Yes, please, let's go back to the previous mess!
@Barry Ancona I guess that’s a solution of a sort. But given the long-time problem of uncertainty as to whether one’s comment will appear, I sometimes wonder why I bother commenting at all.
@sotto voce Getting thrown back to the top of the comments is really annoying. I hope they fix this soon.
Eric, I'm replying at 8:27 p.m. ET....
Cotton candy was cute. I was happy i knew gil scott heron on a first pass. We almost lost detroit is one of my top songs. I was also totally lost on mt sinai lol
@Jacob same, with Gil Scott Heron. The revolution will be live... 🙌
I came to complain about the Mini! MOSES is *not* the hero of the Passover Seder, he doesn’t even appear in the traditional seder!
Time really must fly, because I would have sworn today is a Tuesday…? I must admit, I enjoyed that groan-worthy dad joke of a theme, but that was about it. Samosa tidbits? Disposable coasters? Reckless betting? The entire lower left corner?? There was so much I couldn’t even begin to guess. Maybe I’m just a CHUMP, but the ratio of fun to frustration was definitely not on my side today.
TIL about LIP-pumping gloss. My first thought was, "What??? The things some people will do for POUTY LIPS." But then I thought, "Compared to a Botox injection, this seems pretty sane." And then I learned that lip-pumping gloss often contains mint or cinnamon or capsicum that creates a tingly effect. And now I'm not sure that I don't want to try it myself! (Not that I need it or anything.)
I liked it. Great and fun puzzle. It felt crunchy but went quickly. I thought the theme was really good. And “OT high point” is a brilliant clue.
Good stuff. SW stopped me briefly (as others have noted). But BEERMAT was just annoying. I guess I just need to go to my local pub and ask the bartender.
Southwest corner - Main for Ocean is a stretch, but Appa and Desi are quite familiar to any Asian person, or if you've ever watched any TV shows featuring Korean or Indian characters...
@Jasmine "Appa and Desi are quite familiar to any Asian person" I'm not Asian, but DESI was a gimme, and APPA almost was. I couldn't remember if it was APPA or oPPA. MAIN for ocean is quite familiar to those of us over a certain age who are familiar with the song that goes, "Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main..." One person's stretch is another's gimme.
A bit sweet for me. Like a kid who enjoyed too many treats before that spinning carnival ride, was happy to leap off this grid with a gold star and no sticky residue. "Main" for ocean missed the mark for me. Can someone please point me to a poem using MAIN, poetically? Emily Dickinson provides a nice swell of words to lull me to sleep. Good Tuesday, shipmates, all! "The Drop That Wrestles in the Sea" The Drop, that wrestles in the Sea -- Forgets her own locality -- As I -- toward Thee -- She knows herself an incense small -- Yet small -- she sighs -- if All -- is All -- How larger -- be? The Ocean -- smiles -- at her Conceit -- But she, forgetting Amphitrite -- Pleads -- "Me"?
@Whoa Nellie "sailing, sailing, over the salty main" is what comes to mind
@Whoa Nellie Rudyard Kipling, "The Land", 4th stanza: "Then Julius Fabricius died as even Prefects do, And after certain centuries, Imperial Rome died too. Then did robbers enter Britain from across the Northern main And our Lower River-field was won by Ogier the Dane. "
@Whoa Nellie From Lord Tennyson’s Princess vii. (inspiring rosy thoughts, as is his wont): But sadness on the soul of Ida fell, And hatred of her weakness, blent with shame. Old studies failed; seldom she spoke: but oft Clomb to the roofs, and gazed alone for hours On that disastrous leaguer, swarms of men Darkening her female field: void was her use, And she as one that climbs a peak to gaze O'er land and main, and sees a great black cloud Drag inward from the deeps, a wall of night, Blot out the slope of sea from verge to shore, And suck the blinding splendour from the sand, And quenching lake by lake and tarn by tarn Expunge the world: so fared she gazing there; So blackened all her world in secret, blank And waste it seemed and vain; till down she came, And found fair peace once more among the sick.
@Whoa Nellie Greenland Bound: <a href="https://youtu.be/0OYze8EMDSk?si=UOAZSKzFGXjDFd8i" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/0OYze8EMDSk?si=UOAZSKzFGXjDFd8i</a>
@Whoa Nellie Thank you, mates! A bounty of songs have blown oer the foamy main - enjoy: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/79IWxirCTkIp77LZla8R8V" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/album/79IWxirCTkIp77LZla8R8V</a>
@Whoa Nellie I truly wish I could read poetry. Emily Dickinson's words are pretty, but I don't have the slightest idea what she's saying? I mean not a single clue.
The theme left me unimpressed BUT I really enjoyed the challenge this much-better-than-usual-for-a-Tuesday puzzle presented. Gil Scott-Heron is fair game as far as I'm concerned. I remember his Whitey on the Moon was a key answer to a later in the week puzzle a year or two ago.
Adorable theme but I can't let go of how imprecise the "Bring to 212°" is. What are we bringing to 212°? That will only warm up turpentine. What scale are we using? Freedom units, of course, because nothing boils at 212°K. I'm joking but I just think it could have been clued better. Then again, the scientists in me likes things to be precise.
@Sonja if you want to be pedantic kelvin does not have degrees. It’s an absolute unit of measurement and so it would just be 212K. The only options for that clue would be Fahrenheit or Celsius.
@Sonja if the scientist in you likes things to be precise then I’ll just let you know that you don’t measure anything in “degrees Kelvin” since it’s an absolute scale! You would just say/write, for example, 212K Rest of your comment still stands of course
For those complaining about the Natick and obscurity of the SW corner, I would love to see how many people complain about Spanish and German clues which annoy me. I am not Korean but I am East Asian. I've learned of appa from TV shows and elsewhere but it is also coincidentally my dog's name (but named after Avatar: The Last Airbender) and desi (a very common phrase /word heard for me. To me, those are much more common than the random Spanish word references that come up. Don't get me wrong, I did not enjoy the theme and felt many clues were weak and far too much trivia, especially for a Tuesday. 3 names, 2 tribes, Latin, Spanish, and Korean references, all for a weak theme. I did find that the ones most people here are complaining about I had no problems with (ONTILT, SW corner) and just thought it was an interesting view of inherent cultural differences of solvers and constructors.
@Kevin I think your point is well taken. It would be nice if the puzzle could, where possible, err a bit more on the side of specific but perhaps obscure clues in place of "foreign language quiz." That's why DESI doesn't bother me at all, and there are plenty of reasons to know the term even if you're not a member of the community--I think I first became specifically aware of it from some combination of the book and movie of The Namesake. But, by the same logic, I think APPA was a missed opportunity for a quality flying bison reference. Similarly, I'd like to have seen CREE clued with something to suggest a specific group's name to make a cleaner break with 'band' which also felt logical there to me. (On the way back from a hike recently, there was a couple heading up the trail when they heard me give my dog her command for getting in the car "yip yip." They did a bit of a double take and then pointed at their dog and said "his name's Appa." IKYK.
@Kevin I wish you had said "For those *commenting* on the ..." The forum is a place to discuss the puzzle. Sometime a discussion of the puzzle involves pointing out areas that, *in the poster's opinion*, were difficult about the puzzle. I swear, half the time people are commenting on how "glowing" and "uncritical" posts are, and other times how much "complaining" is going on. There really is no winning. My only objection is personal attacks. It's one thing to say that a crossing is problematic. It's a completely different thing to say that a crossing is an indication that the constructor is a monster who doesn't want anyone solving their puzzle.