"You still competing in hurdles?" "Oh, I'm so over them." ("That tracks.")
@Mike (He keeps his trophies in the vault.) / / /
@Mike Responses so far take opposite poles. Let's discus. Take a shot. Tri.
Congrats to the new graduate! I loved the puzzle. And was able to get it without looking anything up -- which is the ideal for me but not always possible. Also, DINO chicken nuggets taste best.
@Isabeau ❤️🦖🐓 yes! DINO was my first thought for nugget shape since they were my daughter's favorite when she was little. (Who are we kidding... she still loves them as a teenager. 🤣) but no, can that be right?? I was weirdly excited when I had enough crossings to confirm that DINO is correct!
@Isabeau Hah! I had no idea nuggets came in dinosaur shapes, but I got a couple of letters. Then remembered a nerdy meme I saw about the evolution of dinosaurs to birds then chickens then dinosaur-shaped nuggets. Sos I thinks to myself, hmm, I guess those nuggets ARE dino shaped!
Great puzzle, Ryan! Congratulations on your graduation. Big fan of KIMSCONVENIENCE so that long spanner helped me get a foothold. Loved that it crossed with MINIMART.
This one triggered lovely side trips, got my brain bouncing all over the place: • GHASTLY got me thinking about GH-starting words I love, like “gherkin” and “ghee”. • Which brought up “ghoti”, a tongue-in-cheek spelling for “fish” that I haven’t thought about in ages, with the “gh” as in “enough”, the “o” as in “women”, and the “ti” as in words ending in “tion”. • FROG next to ROCK made me remember the kids show “Fraggle Rock”. • Ryan just graduated from Carnegie Mellon, which is in Pittsburgh, which got me picturing scenes from “The Pitt”, a riveting series with memorable characters, and just very well done. Plus, lovely serendipities: ORA touching corners with ARO, RIDES UP abutting FLYING SOUTH, and IGIVE crossing AGAVE (Hi, @Flexibility!). Not to mention lovely answers ANY ADVICE and SO THAT’S THAT, which are both NYT answer debuts. Thus, more of a cornucopia than simply a fill-in. Congratulations on your graduation, Ryan, and thank you for this rich outing!
@Lewis I'm all for a return of ghoti! Missing since 2010.
All the names and trivia... Meh. This was an ideal example of the kind of puzzle that's personally hard for me in the most unenjoyable kind of way - much like last week's Sunday was. Names and abbreviations all around, including at least three sport references. Or maybe four? I have no idea what ACC may be, where Miami is supposed to be. Cultural references were my undoing, too. SLIMED? I had Nickelodeon on satellite tv in the early 90s. My parents had a satellite dish installed on the tiny balcony of our apartment (with a pirated card in the decoder 🤣; almost nobody here could afford Western subscriptions then, and they weren't even offered to us Slavic pariahs for years) despite financial difficulties most Poles shared at the time - to let me watch TV in English. However, I never liked Nickelodeon much. There was something about it... I don't know... Uncouth? Boring, nerdy preteen and teen Andrzej preferred Nat Geo, Star Trek on British Sky TV, and the odd bare bosom on late-night German channels. I wasn't popular at school 🤣 My grid is punctuated by the red marks of reveals - once I realized how much arcana there was, I did not even bother to look things up. My few gimmes (ARLO Parks of the angelic voice and moving lyrics; Rita ORA; OMAN) helped little. Btw. RIDES UP was a gimme, too. For years I struggled with underpants riding up my legs during climbing, and bunching up under the harness. Under Armour Performance underpants were the answer. Highly recommend 👍🏾
🤣🤪😆😜 I just checked the other commmets. Of course everybody else thinks this was too easy for a Saturday, and many "oh so loved it." It's a good thing I'm a contrarian who enjoys being the odd man out. Otherwise I'd be sad 🥲
@Andrzej Overall I did find it on the easier side for a Saturday, admittedly, but there were a lot of sports references. It did seem like more than normal... I also didn't know the Nickelodeon thing and I also am much bigger of a fan of Star Trek!! Took some umbrage at the Friday puzzles nerd alert answer. 😉 Thanks for your tip about underwear! Hehehe!!
@Andrzej, I’m Australian and I did the same. Of course, it’s the New York… puzzle, so I can’t really complain that it’s got too many American references, but today I just gave up.
@Jo I'm not complaining, either. I just don't hide the truth about my personal experience 👍🏾
@Andrzej I agree with you. Just another trivia slog. Hopefully we get a good Sunday this week.
@Francis I'm very particular when it comes to the series I like. Some of the most popular ones I find uninteresting, others repulsive (for example, the gratuitous, sadistic violence of the very popular Fallout series made me nauseous, and I'm very sorry I can't unsee it. I never finished it, and I regret starting). So I never pay any attention to reviews of series, I don't try to retain the titles I hear people mention, etc. Basically, I only know the titles of the very few series I've watched myself.
@Andrzej You got a steady diet of TV in another language and from another culture-- actually two, evidently--as a preteen? I would have given anything to have that kind of access. I had to learn French and German the hard way, German at a much later age. Ditto on learning much about the cultures. We Americans are always so favorably impressed when foreigners speak such good English, without realizing what huge advantages they had.
@Teresa I had to learn English the hard way, too. By the early 90s when sattelite TV became accessible, I had been studying English in a small group with a private tutor for several years. Getting that tutor and paying for the the satellite TV installation apparently was a huge expense for the family at the time, as I only much later realized - so my parents went about it the hard way, as well. The late 80s and early 90s were tough for all Polish people. The old system had been in crisis for years, and then it collapsed, leaving a mess that took years to sort out. Living standards dropped year after year before they finally began to recover, and then improve. It's very hard for me to think of any of us enjoying any particular advantages then. It was rather that some of us managed to deal with adversity, exploiting some of the opportunities that arose, but nothing was handed to anybody on a silver platter. My parents made some good choices as to what to do with their lives, and things started improving for us greatly in 1993, but many Poles only reaped true benefits of democracy and market economy in the 2000s, when Poland joined the EU and prosperity began steadily increasing for everybody. @SP Thanks for the mental support :)
@Andrzej I've had the same problem with climbing harnesses. I've never tried this, but I suspect cycling shorts would be an ideal solution. The repetitive motions involved with long-distance cycling can cause all kinds of problems...I've heard of people putting tape on their nipples, for instance, to prevent their shirts from rubbing them raw and bloody. Cycling shorts are tight, padded, and typically have a chamois gusset to prevent rubbing and pressure from the seams.
@Bruce The Under Armour Performance underpants are brilliant though, really. Especially the long synthetic version. They are durable, too. I've been using them for a year or so and no wear is visible. I use them for cycling, too, under cycling shorts.
@Andrzej the University of Miami is in the Atlantic Coast Conference - ACC. For decades the conferences were stable so keeping up with US college sports wasn’t required - once you knew, you knew. But the conferences change almost every year these days thanks to all the money being poured into US college sports (well, American football and basketball, anyway), so asking about conference affiliation is becoming borderline unfair.
@Francis Captain Picard is cooler, surely?
@Andrzej ayy fellow climber. Some parallels for sure between crossword construction and routesetting/establishing climbs outdoors
It's a Prime misdirect when SAMEDAYSHIPPING and SAMEDAYDELIVERY fit in the same size boxes.
@replay Huh? Prime choice? filet mignon! Heck, it's even sadder Out West when you can't find the right cut of 15-letter bevo to fit that plate - and I don't eat red meat, anyhows!
@replay, along with NEXTDAYDELIVERY! Diverted me for quite awhile.
Ironically, Cupid's aro.
@ad absurdum Wow, so good it made some quiver.... ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
Congratulations, Ryan Judge on your college graduation and this wonderful puzzle! What a fun way to mark the occasion. 🎊🎓 I especially loved DINO shaped chicken nuggets. ❤️🦖🐓 I hope your next move is law school, so you can one day be Judge Judge! 🤣 (sorry, I can't help it)
Unlike others, I didn't find this particularly easy. The many team sports references, a new to me singer and sitcom, and caNS instead of BINS at 6A made it fall on the tougher side for me. The most embarrassing error was putting in Mao instead of MLK. Don't ask why. I don't have an answer for that. All of those snags made for an entertaining solve where I had to buckle down and work with what I know and puzzle out the rest, which is what I like to do.
@Nancy J. The choice of the word 'rubbish (more commonly used in the UK) was a hint to me that the answer would be bin (also more commonly used in the UK)
@Nancy J. Oh, I'm so relieved that you wrote that because I did the same thing! Three letter name starting with M? Throw it in there. Once I figured out 41D, I realized I was wrong and actually read the words (and letters) in the clue. D'oh!
@Nancy J. FYI: the word "rubbish" clues to the British "rubbish BIN." You'll probably see this again.
Not bad, but way too much sports trivia. The ideal amount being, of course, zero.
@Joe Share the sentiment with other topics, but it's always good to learn something new!
@Joe Yes! That is the correct amount of sports content. Even some TV services have finally started to realize this, letting those of us in the quiet/nerdly majority opt out of supporting sports content. (The biggest cost component by far of the typical cable or streaming package.) ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
I got this one done quickly for a Saturday, thanks to the plethora of sports references. I’m sure non sports fans and especially those from countries other than the US will be less happy with them I was happy to see Arlo PARKS in the heart of the puzzle. For one thing it’s a welcome change from Guthrie as a clue, but also because she’s a fine young singer. Her Black Dog (very different from Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog) is a good introduction to her emotionally intense songwriting. I was also happy to see one of my favorite classic bands (CCR) make an appearance too.
@Marshall Walthew I hadn't heard of ARLO Parks before, but I'm glad now that I have! I looked her up, and she has a lovely voice. Certainly a refreshing change from cluing ARLO Guthrie all the time. Sometimes I am put off by the difficulty of Saturday puzzles, but the reward for persevering is often learning something new and worthwhile. Grateful for entries like CCR that helped me get a toe hold!
Congratulations on your graduation, Mr. Judge, and best wishes for your future endeavors! I enjoyed your breezy puzzle and hope to see you back here soon.
Two quick things: 1) I second Andrzej's comment on ACC. From the context, I assume the second C must stand for Conference, but have no clue what the full initialism means. 2) My streak hit 365 today!
@Grumpy, Way to go!!!
@Grumpy ACC = Atlantic Coast Conference Makes sense that Miami would be one of the 18 teams.
@Grumpy Fantastic streak, BUT, is that a streak with zero lookups or other kinds of help, such as asking a friend or partner?
@Laura Stratton It is a streak Grumpy is proud of. Why would you even ask such a thing? What positive motivation could you possibly have?
Andrzej, The search for truth and knowledge is not "positive motivation?"
B, Purity tests? SRSLY? How about candor?
Grumpy, 1. Answers to Laura noted. 2. NCAA. 3. Congratulations.
@Grumpy Your streak rules are very similar to mine. I took my cue from the software: If you hit Reveal, it invalidates the streak, or so my memory tells me. So I don't do anything equivalent to a Reveal (such as Googling the clue). Now that I rarely need outside help, I suppose I could keep an unofficial count of my lookup-less streaks, but honestly, that seems more hassle than it's worth. I kind of miss the side excursions into Wikipedia from my first few years.
Anyone else fall for the misdirect at 26-Down? I had rENt for "Not own" for the longest time (even thought I thought that was too easy for a Saturday), wondering how the answer at 37-Across could end -TLt, but thinking that, since this is a Saturday, anything is possible. When I corrected to DENY the puzzle went pretty smoothly. (Any complaints about the overlap with "Dostoevsky's DENial"? Not really.) Oh, I also thought that the "Base of a pump" might be a hOLE, but that corrected itself quickly. Loved the "Part of a cold pack?" clue! A satisfying Saturday. Thanks, Ryan Judge. Congratulations on your graduation, and best wishes on the transition to the next phase of your life story!
@The X-Phile Fell for 26D lock, stock and 2 smoking guns
@The X-Phile Yes, rENt was another contributing factor to my slower than usual solve.
I noticed the "r" didn't work either.
@The X-Phile And what is a cold pack and why are there paper hankies in it? (Prefer non-branded paper hankies)
Jane, The "cold pack" clue has a question mark. The meaning of "cold pack" is the same in the U.S. and the U.K. The clue is wordplay. <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cold-pack" target="_blank">https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cold-pack</a>
@The X-Phile Yep. Add me to the list. I laughed out loud when I realized the answer was DENY and had to think a bit to catch on to the alternative meaning of "own."
I'm happy for Ryan, but unlike other solvers, I had a hard time with this one. My sports savvy is limited, I have never eaten a Chicken Nugget, and my initial fills led me far astray. "Mescal source" was not "cacti" "Part of a cold pack?" was not "sled dog," which was too bad, because I thought it was one of the most ingenious clues I'd seen for a long time.
@dutchiris I had glacier for cold pack and cracked up when I eventually figured out KLEENEX. And I also had cacti before AGAVE. I gave up on the nugget shape almost immediately but as I read your comment I vaguely remember a bone shaped McNugget in a previous puzzle. I’m glad I didn’t remember that while solving lol.
@dutchiris In a Saturday puzzle from Feb. 16, 2013 the clue for - SLEDDOG was "Part of an ice pack.' Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/16/2013&g=55&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/16/2013&g=55&d=A</a> ...
I was stuck on Prime Choice being SAMEDAYDELIMEAT for the longest time. Eventually, I prevailed.
Ended, ere it begun— The Title was scarcely told When the Preface perished from Consciousness The Story, unrevealed— Had it been mine, to print! Had it been yours, to read! That it was not Our privilege The interdict of God— -- Hauntingly beautiful, as I find so much of Emily Dickinson's poetry. I've actually been mocked for my fondness of her poetry, which is strange to me, but I remain a big fan. And this is my favorite clue for the ever popular ERE that I've encountered in my crosswording time. As for the puzzle, well, what can I say, I even managed to get the sports references... Okay, I only got one without the crosses, RAVENS, again for literary reasons. But the others were very kindly crossed. Fine and fast overall! Many of my first inclinations were correct, which is a bit unusual for a Saturday. I didn't comment on yesterday's puzzle, meaning Friday, but I was very happy to see AGORA. I've been waiting for it since it last appeared in August and I lamented in the comments that when I encounter it, I know it's in my head but I can't pull it out. And a couple of you helped me with a good tip about remembering agoraphobia from fear of the marketplace. I filled it in immediately today! With a huzzah! And a thanks to you more experienced and generous solvers when I essentially asked ANYADVICE?
Interesting to see how 17A affects different solvers. I thought the clue was Monday-Tuesday level, comparing it to something like [Sitcom set in a Boston bar run by Sam Malone]. Of course, I know absolutely nothing about Game of Thrones, so I see this as payback for all those DAENERYS and STARK clues I've been clueless about for all these years.
@Pezhead With 17A - it was so obscure to me I just revealed the whole solution. The downs were no help to me either: LAKER, TVS (a den is in the woods, there are no TVs), I GIVE doesn't mean 'Enough' to me, MINI MART and ACC are not familiar. I don't have tv stations that cost extra, like Netflix or Nickelodeon. Difficult today!
Do you mean that a team name is not protected? That ARIzona can steal the sacred STLouis Cards' identity? Isn't that a felony? I know ONE rock group: CCR. Handy. Wait! Foo Fighters, I know that name too! But none of their music, SO there's THAT. I thought on Saturdays, the NYT would DIAL up the difficulty level, but instead it's just the Junk Factor (SPILL THE TEA, more than one sports team, brank name, obscure or passé TV)... Eager to see tomorrow's Big Beautiful...Puzzle. Adieu, mes amis.
@Mean Old Lady The St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL moved to ARIzona and took the name with them. The St. Louis Cardinals of MLB are still there in St. Louis, causing pain to their fans (as all teams do, at least occasionally). Why the city of St. Louis should be associated with red birds and Catholic dignitaries is a matter for another post.
@Mean Old Lady To make matters worse, the Minneapolis LAKERs moved to LA, where there are significantly fewer lakes. The scandal!
As the "Perfectos", the team wore their jersey with a cardinal red trim and sock striping. Later that season, St. Louis Republic sportswriter Willie McHale included an account in a column of a female fan he heard remarking about the uniforms, "What a lovely shade of cardinal." Fans liked the moniker "Cardinals" and, the next year in 1900, popularity for the nickname induced an official change to Cardinals. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals</a>
@Mean Old Lady The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team has been around a long time, in St. Louis from the start, and known as the Cardinals since 1900. The Arizona Cardinals football team moved to the Phoenix area from St. Louis in 1988, but it was mere coincidence that prior to that, St. Louis had two different teams called the Cardinals. The football Cardinals were originally from Chicago, where they were called the Cardinals since 1901, almost 20 years before the establishment of the NFL. The football Cardinals were actually in Chicago almost twice as long as they were in St. Louis under that name. And they have now been in Arizona longer than they were in St, Louis. The name of both the football and baseball teams derive from the color of their uniform; the connection to birds came later. On a different note: one rock group? Really? Never heard of the Beatles? The Rolling Stones?
@Mean Old Lady From Wikipedia: “The oldest established team in the NFL is the Arizona Cardinals, founded in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club. They joined the NFL in its founding year of 1920. The Cardinals have moved locations multiple times, starting in Chicago, then to St. Louis, and finally settling in Phoenix.”
@Mean Old Lady Hey, what about ELO? Fun fact: CCR were originally called The Golliwogs, because their manager thought it was cute and British, and he wanted them to be like The Beatles. They changed the name of the band when they found out it was actually a racial slur.
@Em I remember a bit of bar trivia (back when it was just tipplers amusing ourselves with a sports almanac at the corner dive) trying to name the Division I sports teams that didn't end in an S. Stanford Cardinal for the win!
Just the right level of difficulty for a Saturday. Spot on!
I was so psyched when I incorrectly entered Fresh off the Boat. But soon saw it didn’t work. Great job, Ryan!
@Elizabeth Connors Did the exact same thing.
@Elizabeth Connors Yep! I was so confident too!
@Elizabeth Connors Hand up for putting in FRESH OFF THE BOAT and feeling smart for 3.2 seconds. Dang.
@Elizabeth Connors Put me in that club, too.
If Sunday Scaries are the feeling you get dreading the work week, I vote Sorrowful Saturday is the feeling you get when you have reached the APEX of the solving week and the Saturday puzzle is behind you ☹️ Fun fact about the SHERATON in Boston: there's a huge sign on top with the hotel name spelled out in 10 foot tall illuminated white letters. For years during Rush week members of the MIT fraternity ATO would somehow get to the roof of the hotel and turn off all the letters except three. After a while the hotel gave up trying to prevent the sneaky undergrads from breaking in and just changed the sign voluntarily for them each year. No idea if this still happens; I'd be interested to learn!
@Lpr I should add this was in the late 1980s. And apparently I had a false memory about the sign which is/was red not white.
@Lpr “when you have reached the APEX of the solving week and the Saturday puzzle is behind you.” Yes. YES.
@Lpr What a sweet story. Early feminists changing the sign to read "SHE" every year. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Lpr I was trying to guess which three letters and noticed that ATO (the fraternity) is the only three-letter sequence in SHERATON that isn’t a common English word.
For once, actually surprised that so many found this one unusually easy. Typical tough Saturday for me, and did have to cheat a bit in a couple of places. Then just a whole lot of pondering and working the crosses. Still a couple of answers that were completely unfamiliar to me - 17a notably. Some puzzle finds today. Here's one: A Sunday from December 3, 1972 by Elmer Toro with the title: "Wild Life." Seven long theme answers - all of them familiar phrases, but all of them appearing for the first and only time in any puzzle: A couple of theme clue and answer examples: "Blake's vision" TIGERTIGERBURNINGBRIGHT "Start of a certain recipe" EYEOFNEWTANDTOEOFFROG And the other theme answers: ANDLETSLIPTHEDOGSOFWAR WHEREEAGLESDARENOTPERCH QUOTHTHERAVENNEVERMORE SAIDTHESPIDERTOTHEFLY ANDWHETHERPIGSHAVEWINGS Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/3/1972&g=94&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/3/1972&g=94&d=A</a> I'll put the other puzzles in replies. ....
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: First one a Monday from January 20, 2014 by Elizabeth C. Gorski. This one might be particularly appropriate at this moment in history (we can only hope). First theme clue and answer in that one: "Site of a 1963 speech by 38-Across" LINCOLNMEMORIAL And the other theme answers: CIVILRIGHTS MLKJR IHAVEADREAM WEAREFREEATLAST Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/20/2014&g=38&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/20/2014&g=38&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta I wonder if Elmer was called El by his friends. If so, he’d be the entry from the other day, EL TORO.
Lots of little delights, like when I caught on to what 26D "Not own," really was instead of RENT. The E and N had served me well anyway.
For this member of the non expat overseas contingent this puzzle was somewhat painful. Tractable but crosses did a lot of heavy lifting Congratulations to the constructor graduating.
As usual, I am running against the grain! KIMSCONVENIENCE was my first substantial fill -- I saw the stage play before it became a TV show. Cried like a baby.
@Lou I had no idea it was a stage play first!
Jeezo. A thoroughly solver-belligerent grid for me today. I developed the hysterical giggles as each impenetrable cutural reference followed the last. I eventually turned on Autocheck because the guessing game had transitioned from fun, through irksome, to downright infuriating. On the upside, KIMSCONVENIENCE was a gimme, which gave me a good toehold at the start.
@Oikofuge Same for me, right from the den (dens are in the woods, and don't have TVs) and without knowing the sitcom. The SE corner .... impossible.
The versatile FROG. Even apart from the amphibians and today's bow frog, those pesky frogs get everywhere: A dent in the face of a brick The horny concavity in the middle of a horse's hoof A swelling under the tongue Oral candidiasis, also called "thrush" A special piece of grooved track at the point where railway lines cross The belt loop to which a sword or bayonet can be attached The decorative fastening of a military coat or jacket And of course a bunch of stock phrases, metaphorical uses and terms of abuse ...
@Oikofuge and for a froggy ear worm <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb02JNAOBZY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb02JNAOBZY</a>
Oikofuge, And flower arrangement thingamadoo: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_frog" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_frog</a>
@Oikofuge The bayonet FROG helped me to rationalize the violin bow thingy...and a bayonet LUG is what attaches it to the rifle barrel.
Quick solve, and enjoyable. This must've been right on my wavelength, because I breezed through it more quickly than most Saturdays. My thanks to the puzzle-builder.
Found a foothold in the SE and ambled on from there. Saturdays are my favorite. Enjoy the weekend!
Congrats on your graduation! Enjoyed the puzzle.
Ah, the mescal vs. mezcal spelling. Always a good reason to stop and consider the peripatetic orthographies of our (largely) bilingual continent. If only the IPA had been around when Hernán Cortés (*not* Cortez) was pillaging and plundering young Mexico-to-be while Spanish chroniclers were MacGyvering their own ad hoc system of transcribing Nahuatl with the Latin alphabet and monastic spelling, er, habits. Just think: They could’ve just preserved mexcalli as /meʃˈkalːi/ (or something very close to that), then sat back and waited. Presto, a few centuries go by and, poof! the Spanish monks are gone, and we Americans can start spelling /meʃˈkalːi/ as meshcali as we take the Southwest for ourselves. No messing around with mexcalli/mezcal/mescal and its, er, prickly etymology. Then we just call it mesh—because if there’s one national trait we all share, it’s to compulsively abbreviate everything. Obvi. Not a bad Saturday, though a quick one. A whole spanner dedicated to a sitcom? That always seems like a wasted opportunity to me, but I’m shouting into the wind as usual. The SHERATON clue was an interesting bit of trivia. And I just pledged some funds to Pete ALONSO’s homeless dogs, so thank you for that link, Caitlin. One thing caught my eye: that Ryan Judge said he’s entering adulthood now that he’s graduating from college. Things change a lot in a generation. I thought my adulthood began with freshman year, crazy as the years that ensued were. Still, all the best to him.
Also, speaking of TV references: ANYA D. VICE sounds like a Russian Law & Order SVU, now available on Netflix with an English voiceover option.
I’m from Canada. How convenient. (Cluing was easy today, but still enjoyable.)
We did this in roughly half of our Saturday average. The grandsons called out DINO in unison and the Korean DiL was raised in a CONVENIENCE store and took violin lessons for years. Something for everyone!
This one was right up my alley... So many long gimmes without needing any crosses: 6D BANANA SPLIT came first with no crosses. Others with no or very few crosses: 17A KIMS CONVENIENCE (which was recommended to me in a Schitt's Creek subreddit a few years ago), RED GIANT, SPILL THE TEA. TEES brings to mind a photo of my brother playing tee ball in the 70s. For others, I was on the right track but needed more crosses to get the exact phrase: was pretty sure 3D had something to do with Amazon, 11D had to be a convenience store at a gas station (was that subliminally suggested by 17A?), 41D was probably something you use or take for a cold, and 36A had something to do with a wedgie. (Very surprised and delighted no one's complained about the impropriety of that one, or maybe I just haven't seen it.) I even reasoned out some sports references. ASTROS are from Houston, right? A star and an H make sense. The RAVENS are obviously named for POE. That one should have been a straight gimme because I do live in Maryland, but it wasn't a gimme because sports. The stickiest section was NE. Fell for rENt instead of DENY and had no idea about the Nickelodeon reference. I think the L in SLIMED was the last to fall after running the alphabet. Made sense and made me laugh.
Cheeky and cute, but not in an annoying way—the best! And weirdly fast for a Saturday, but in a satisfying way—also the best!
KIM’S CONVENIENCE has been on my Watch List for a while, so that was a big help in getting me started. Maybe the puzzle is telling me it’s time to watch it, already! I spent some time trying to make “conga”-something work in the space that eventually became LINE DANCE. At least I was on the right track. This was my kind of Saturday: tough enough to be challenging yet accessible enough to finish without lookups, with a few fun facts along the way. Thanks and congrats, college grad!
@Heidi It IS time to watch Kim's Convenience and you're in for a real treat! It's the most realistic (and entertaining) portrayal of everyday life in Toronto (Queen St. East, to be exact). The Kim family and their customers depict, with humor, the best of immigrants making their way in a new country.
Loved this puzzle. Friday, Saturday puzzles are delivering week after week.
When that last letter went in and I didn't get an error message, boy was I surprised! Some fill-ins were a mystery to me at that point. For 'Miami is in it, for short' first I went with MDC, for Miami-Dade County, having no idea it was a sports related clue, and ended up with the correct ACC, not knowing what that stood for until I read the comments. Sports clues are my nemesis, especially athlete names. You either know them, or you don't. My dad followed every sport, college and professional basketball and football, baseball, golf and even bowling, (remember when that was on TV?? lol) so some long buried memory might eventually work its way to the surface about older sports stars and teams, but other than that, sports are totally off my radar and have been for a long time. I appreciate the rare puzzle that has NO sports, but I get that's a huge part of our culture. Have a good Saturday everyone, and you Weekend Warriors, don't forget to warm up!
@Lily AfC was my choice for a while, thinking there was an American Football Club. At least I had the right sport.
@Lily I went for Fla, too easy. MDC didn't work either. Once I read Ryan's notes, I had to shift my thinking to a young college grad's mind, which can be scary. His is more cultured and relevant
Nancy J. You had *a* sport. The University of [Miami] fields teams in quite a few sports.
@Lily I remember watching bowling, among other things on ABC's Wide World of Sports. (You can still catch it sometimes on ESPN - I'm outing myself...I'm a sports nerd!) "The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat."
@Amy Oh I remember that! Who was the announcer, for ABC, had to look it up, Jim McKay. I also remember the joke 'the thrill of victory, the agony of de-feet'. Well maybe not such the chuckle now, but as kids, we were tickled by it.
Great cluing and a nice Saturday think for me. I'm happy with sub-15 min. LOVED "NFL team whose name is a literary reference". It's GHASTLY when your underwear RIDESUP. TIL - KIMSCONVENIENCE. Got it all through the crosses. I've got bread rising - come over for a piece this afternnon. We can SPILLTHETEA even if it's mostly HOTAIR.
Worthy Saturday. A lot of misdirects that made me laugh when I figured them out. Congratulations, Ryan!
My wife lived in Shelton Hall at BU for four years when it was still a women's residence hall, so I was familiar with its earlier incarnation as a Sheraton hotel. Because men were never allowed above the first floor in those days, I never saw more than the lobby. By the 1960s, it had lost whatever charm it may have had when Eugene O'Neill lived (and died) there, but the stories were still told. Thanks to Ryan Judge and to Caitlin Lovinger for tickling that memory today.
@StevenR Not being familiar with much of BU's housing in the Back Bay, I decided to look it up. Beautiful location! As the only two reviews of it on Google Maps both attest. (I still find it amazing what people will review on Maps!)
IGIVE and AGAVE form a very nice cross, with their intersection also serving as an answer elsewhere in the puzzle!
Great puzzle! I trapped myself with “ghostly” vs “ghastly” and had a very long search to find my mistake, otherwise would have been a Saturday best for me.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Damn-nigh perfect Saturday. I didn't beat my best time...but I was chagrined at clues (briefly), chuckled at others, and had to think outside of several boxes. Good puzzle.
I loved KIM'S CONVENIENCE. I watched the whole series after enjoying Simu Liu in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (one of my favorite films in the MCU) and looking to see what else he'd starred in.
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen He was one of the main Kens in "Barbie," so probably lots of people here have seen him even if they didn't know his name. Very fun today to see "Kim's Convenience" show up in a NYT puzzle.
I loved! Kim’s Convenience is a favorite of mine, and SAMEDAYDELIVERY came to me right away. The sportsball references threw me for a bit, especially in the NE but things worked out in good time!
I had STL for “Cards’ home” until the crosses made me give up on it.
@Roberta I still don't get it. Any hint?
@Roberta me too! Filled it in so confidently early on, and was loath to change it until absolutely nothing else around it made sense.
The NFL team went to ARIzona.
@Roberta true for baseball, but football Cardinals flew long ago 🙂
My fastest Saturday solve ever (20min)! Surprisingly easy for a Saturday, but still a fun solve
@G O Wow. To all those who solved this one in 20 mins or less: 'You're a better man than I, Gunga Din." I thought this was hard and confusing--not a sports fan and don't know current singers-- and I didn't enjoy the misdirections. My mother in law stopped doing the NYT Crossword when she got up there in age. Now I understand why.
@Nobody's Fool I'm with you on this.
I wonder how many non-Canadians are going to get 17A quickly.
@Dave it's an absolutely wonderful show and may still be on Netflix.
@Dave S I got it right away, but only because someone mentioned it in the comments not too long ago, and it was fresh in my mind.
@Orcas You know, the instant I posted the question I realized I had no idea what platforms it plays on, and now I can't delete it.
@Dave S but at least this is one puzzle that foreigners can't complain is too US-centric! 🤣
@Dave S I got it immediately! I think I first heard about it in a Schitt's Creek forum where people were asking what they should watch next.