For some inexplicable reason I woke up at 4 AM (CET) and yet under these weird circumstances I solved the puzzle in Wednesday time (16-ish minutes). This probably means somebody will post about doing it in 4 minutes 🤪. I enjoyed the solve. Perhaps there were a few too many straight forward clues, but I liked what misdirection there was. I just don't get why "Go pfft" solves to DIE. To me, "pfft" is the sound of a mildly annoyed sigh, but maybe that's a Polish thing? It was the only area of the puzzle where I struggled today. Spelling LICENcES with a C and not understanding the pfft clue wreaked havoc with spotting DOSAS (I had _OcAS there for a long time). I resolved it in the end but still don't see how the pfft clue works. SWEAR JAR reminded me of my mother - but not for the reason you might think. She was a published author, university professor, high ranking public servant and recipient of Poland's highest honors for contributing to the discovery and publishing of key details from our history. Always elegantly dressed, she was partial to a game of tennis and a bottle of good wine. She also cussed like a sailor 🤣. Obviously it rubbed off one me from an early age 😆. When I was 12 or 13 she heard somewhere about the concept of a swear jar, and tried to implement it at home to tame my tongue. Soon enough the jar was gone - as it became clear mom would have to feed it more often than me 🤪. The passion with which she said her kurwas was next level. I miss her so 😢.
@Andrzej I really struggled with "Go pfft!" I'm much more inclined to think that ghosts and genies and leprechauns go pfft when they vanish, but they're still alive. My mother was the exact opposite. Absolutely viceless, unless you count chocolate. No swearing, ever. When I got a lot older my future wife and I talked her into having a bottle of wine with dinner. She allowed it, but we had to close drapes so no one could see us. So I had to pick gutter talk up off the mean streets of Pueblo, CO.
@Francis That's so interesting! I've always been under the impression that you and I are quite similar in many respects, but apparently not because our mothers were alike 🤣 My mother had many vices, and she revelled in them all 🤪. Speeding, swearing, drinking, smoking, and more - you name it, she did it, probably (I managed to make her quit smoking when I was 12 or so, and I finally talked her out of speeding near the end of her life). She was a great mother though, always there for me. I could - and did - talk about anything with her. She knew how to listen, and she never made me feel like she didn't care about any of my problems. I got so many ideas from our talks, too. Even though she was not a lawyer, her perspective often influenced my scholarly papers. Also, only now I realize how she taught me respect for women. She was so much better at so many things than any man! One simply can't have a single misogynistic thought having known a woman like that.
@Francis You must have a weird definition of "diss"! I can't even begin to imagine how strong and determined your mother must have been to handle all that. And look at you! You seem like a really good guy, and you owe it to her, surely. Respect, Francis's mother! My mother had it easy. Her father was a party bigwig - his driver in a black, Soviet limo would drive her to summer camp. In "communist" era terms they were the 1% (it wasn't about wealth. Nobody was wealthy over here back then. It was about power and ins, and those her father had in my mother's formative years). I have no idea how she managed to be as down-to-earth as she was, having experienced such privilege. She never looked down on people, and treated everybody as an equal. I never got to know her father - he died before I was born. He must have taught her well, I suppose. It sure as hell wasn't her mother - a haughty, cold, fakely polite woman who fancied herself an intellectual despite lacking any intelligence, who never did anything nice or smart in her life (as a child I was so envious of everybody's grandmothers - mine was so different, and so much worse!) @NYC Traveler Thank you for the sentiment. She never believed in an afterlife though, and neither do I. If there is one, and it's anything like Catholics would have it, I'll meet mom in hell 🤪 I know she was proud of me though, and I'm trying to keep her proud, by following the advice she gave me when she was dying: Be yourself and be happy.
@Alexis She sure was :) And - wait for it... Alexis was her favorite character on Dynasty :D
@Andrzej -- Your lovely tribute to your mom was very moving, beautifully expressed.
@Andrzej I am positive that the English translation of that particular word would not have been published in this prim and proper paper. I worked in an orchestra with quite a few Poles, and whenever the conductor (in rehearsal) told the orchestra to start at letter 'K', there was a fusillade of 'kurwas' from the Polish members and laughter from everyone who knew what the word meant.
@Andrzej I never know what I’m going to learn each day from this site. Your comment led me to a Wiki article entitled, “Polish Profanity”, no lie. It cites a linguist that proposed that there are only five basic Polish vulgarisms. Your word seems to be the most important one. Interested on your take of this…
@Lewis @Mean Old Lady Corny as it may sound, I wrote from the heart. The words just came to me. @Infidel Maybe, but over here it's a very common profanity, quite strong, granted, but few are shocked by it, especially when it's not aimed at a woman, but used as an exasperated exclamation (targeted at a woman it would be way over the top, and I don't go there; I just snapped and did it once in my life, when I was in trouble and a stranger laughed at me and insulted me rather than help me or at least show understanding; even so, I'm not proud of the incident). @Hardroch Only five? Surely there are more? I can think of more in 5 seconds, anyway. Also, Polish is very conducive to using profanities in many ways: the same word may be used as a noun, verb, or adjective, depending on the prefix and how you declense or conjugate the word. I can write a whole paragraph with profanities for all the words but the conjunctions. I've been known to go off on rants thus-styled many a time :D. I had a great teacher, after all.
@Andrzej @Francis Thanks for the stories about your mothers.
@Andrzej @Francis I love these stories so much! I wonder what my kids will say about me someday. My daughter seems convinced I was a saint as a teen. She has very high moral expectations of herself, so I am gently trying to disabuse her that misunderstanding. I’d love her to behave better than I did, but she’s so hard on herself. How do I show her that it’s good to be a little bit wild? Break a few rules…safely? Ahh parenting is an adventure for sure!
@Andrzej I thought Go pfft was a reference to the air being let out of a balloon, thus, it died.
I never did some of the more debauched things my mom encouraged me to do. I sort of regret it now. Still, there are few things I know less about than raising children, as I never wanted or had any, so I can't offer advice.
@Andrzej My Mom didn't smoke or drink or swear -- but she always drove as fast as she could go without hitting the car in front of her -- except when she DID hit the car in front of her. She ended up on 'assigned risk' insurance. That's the very expensive kind. The state says you must have insurance to drive, but the insurance companies don't want you, so each company has to take a certain number of these really bad drivers, and they charge a fortune for the privilege. This big hit to her budget finally made her slow down, at least a little. I thought of her when I heard a cute story last week. Speeding driver is pulled over for doing 70 mph in a posted 50 mph zone. But he says to the officer, "I thought 70 is the new 50?"
There is something really satisfying about a classic, solid crossword puzzle like this one. I enjoyed it very much.
@Asher Agree that this is a classic, solid Tuesday difficulty level puzzle.
When the geologists formed a band, they rocked! (They had such a gneiss sound.)
@Mike I was worried I might miss your pun today but you’ve taken a lode off my mine
@Mike Your post sent me on a sedimentary journey.
@Mike You can’t take things like that for granite ;)
@Mike When I saw this, I said "I'll have to send mica reply." I guess that will give people something to talc about.
For me, a pleasant themeless Wednesday. For you?
@Barry Ancona Closer to an average Tuesday, but enjoyable, nevertheless.
@Barry Ancona So...where does one go when the weekend NYT crosswords get too easy? I'm not there yet, and possibly never will be, but I am curious.
@Barry Ancona Same as for you, for once 🤩 🤜🤛
@Barry Ancona Same. But if it was a Wednesday for me, it must have been a Tuesday for you.
@Barry Ancona This relatively gentle Friday puzzle could have passed for a Thursday. I appreciated the break. Only five cheats needed instead of ten.
@Barry Ancona Love Musa, but this was CRAZY CRAZY easy!
Lovely when a puzzle evokes more than simply the satisfaction of a fill-in. Today: The sound of a sizzling FAJITA as it’s set on the table. The grace and color of a beautiful SARI. The way OLD SONGS sounded on my transistor radios. The cool, smooth, intimate feel of the BOSSA NOVA. The signature sound of a conductor yelling, “ALL ABOARD!” The dense and marvelous forest smell of PINES. Not to mention, joy at lovely quirks: The rhyming top line of GAY BAR and SWEAR JAR. The contradictory neighbors of WISE and DUH. The vastly different meanings of LETSGO depending on whether or not it has quotation marks. When the box is filled with little riches such as these, Rafael, it brings treasure into the day. Thank you so much for making this!
I am reminded of this quote: "Many people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it." William Feather
Becauss of my crossings i really thought 27D was ANISE, because yeah, star anise is a cluster of pods, that makes so much sense, and i didnt know what EDT was nor have i watched good dinosaur yet.
@Elijamin EDT is Eastern Daylight Time, in case you haven't looked it up yet. I had ANISE as well and took forever to let it go.
@Elijamin Me too! I couldn't figure out what was wrong and gave it up in the end. Also was totally thrown by the preposition in "played ON". Does anything happen ON Eastern Daylight Time? I just figured it was something I'd never heard of, being a sports clue. The cross at L/N was no help whatsoever.
@Bob T The nuances of on/in/at also vary between American English and British English.
Solved this one in a quarter of the time it took me to solve yesterday's. Must be my love of Indian food, and my large, multi-brand collection of nail polishes.
@TinyDancer Love your handle! – one of my favorite Elton John songs. :-)
The speedsters seem dissatisfied… not clear why. After all, if you’re after a PB why complain that it was too easy to attain. I found it a splendid puzzle requiring some lateral thinking and very few facts. Indeed it was somewhat faster than normal for a Friday but still very enjoyable. Thanks
@Ιασων Right? "I wish the steak had been less juicy - I would have had to chew it longer!" 🤪
@Ιασων I’m not after a PB, I look forward to a Friday challenge. This wasn’t one. Clever puzzle better suited to earlier in the week.
@Ιασων Many people who solve speedily are not solving for speed. They’re just going at their own pace. It’s like when you’re taking a walk and someone walking faster passes you. Their natural pace is just faster than you. They’re not timing themselves. And of course, if it’s Monday and the puzzle isn’t challenging you, switching to speed mode adds some level of interest to the solve.
@Ιασων I am not a speed solver. I time myself out of curiosity and don't hurry through the puzzle, taking my time to enjoy the process and check it over for errors before calling it done. I don't mind easy early week puzzles because having a progression of difficulty means there's something for everyone. What I look for in late week puzzles is the opportunity to work through a challenge. Getting a PW (personal worst) would make my day. The trend of increasingly easy late week puzzles is disappointing and makes me wonder where this is headed.
@Ιασων I'm not a particularly fast solver, and I don't particularly care if someone solves faster or slower than me. What I do mind however is when someone BRAG's about how fast or clever they are. In my book, bragging is boorish behavior. We get enough of that from Potus.
The dual nail polish clues made me wonder about some possible trendy polish color names in the puzzle: SWEAR JAR SLAM DUNK FAJITA RIBEYE INSIDE JOB Hang on - I think almost anything could be a nail polish color! YETI WOO HOO EL DORADO Help, I can’t stop.
[Nail Polish Brand] (3 letters) = OPI [Nail Polish Brand] (5 letters) = ESSIE Whuddya say we just go ahead and remember those for the rest of our life now, Striker. 2 years in… these should be a gimme at this point. It seems one of the two pops up every couple weeks. And yetttt. I never remember. Ever. (OPI, ESSIE, OPI, ESSIE, OPI, ESSIE)
@Striker Thank you for answering (with great specificity!) my TCS question from Wednesday.
@Striker It's one of those crossword things you have to remember, like ORR is the hockey guy, and OTT is the baseball guy.
For ages, my Saturday best time has been better than my Friday's. It was an aesthetic blemish in the stats section in my games app: a slow, steady increase in the blue average times over the course of the week, and an echo in yellow record times, until the start of the weekend where there'd be slight downtick due to a freakishly easy Saturday from November 2022. Ever since that freakishly easy, and potentially miscategorized Saturday in November 2022, for every Friday puzzle I've put on my racers hat and tried to right this temporal wrong. Every Friday puzzle since then, I've tried and I've failed, occasionally chipping away at my Friday record, but not overcoming my Saturday. Until today. Thank you Rafael for making my crossword world make a little more sense!
@Steve That freaky Saturday in 2022 was my best Saturday time too. In fact, looking closer, I see that my best times for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays all happened in 2022.
@Steve I had a similar situation for a very long time where my Thursday record was 1 second longer than my Friday record, and it bothered me way out of proportion to the amount that it should have (which is none). I finally rectified that earlier this year, and all's right with the world now!
A classic kind of puzzle, with clever clues and fills that were not a stretch for believability—a perfect close to a beautiful day. Sunset here, and looking out the kitchen window, the five feet tall geranium has taken on a luminous fuchsia purplish color, and the yard, as it often does at this time of day, looks watchful and almost sinister—the plants and trees reveal more personality than they do in full daylight. An M.R.I. tomorrow morning, and I can almost hear the clanging now. No big deal. Just another test.
@dutchiris Good luck! I have always wondered if MRIs would be less expensive if they didn't have to hire those people to smack pans together while the test is going.
@dutchiris Hope everything goes well! The changing doesn't bother me (nor the enclosure, since I close my eyes and daydream) but if it bothers you, remember there are noise-cancelling headphones at the ready. All my best to you. 💕
@dutchiris Over here the sun has been up for two hours now. All my life I have found it amazing how time zones feel like time travel. And you're so right about light making such a difference to how we perceive the world around us. When I wake up as early as I did today, I sometimes take the dog for a walk at sunrise. Especially on days after a rainy night the experience is magical. Trees emerge from pink-tinged mist, and the soft, early light blurs the edges of everything. One feels like nothing bad can happen in a place like that. Of course, it's only an illusion...
@dutchiris I spend much of the time in an mri trying to figure out why they clang like that. I’ve decided it’s deliberate, a distraction to keep you from thinking about what they’re looking for. Good luck ;)
@dutchiris Thank you for all good wishes! MRI was AOK, no changes from last year (whew). Francis, you will be please to hear that they now have a complete combo for the noises. New ones, like horns, hysterical birds, etc.
Not as hard as most Fridays, but an enjoyable romp nevertheless.
I keep dancing on my own . . . At the gaybar, a salty patron challenged any comer to fill the swearjar. "GOL!" bystanders shouted as anew word was added. A sweaty Yeti tried distracting her with a sly bossanova, but the dance angels didn't bless him - more REO, less hero. It was a oneone between the Queen of hotsauce and a sexy man-shrub stranger (neatly trimmed WOOHOO!) She said "Letsgo" and added every raunchy ditty, anthem, rocksong, etc, till Yeti returned, begging her askprice for a waltz. "Duh, no." She turned away, rabid with pride and crowed, "I Juan!" "You'd be wise to get on that conga line - when Yeti pines for romance, he means it!" the stranger whispered. "Ohso that's how it is," she mused, drawn to the tall slice of sodabread who looked like he fell otter a TV ad. "Seems I found my El Dorado." Sadly, Yeti was having nun of that and he attacked, yet his dazing bonks were no slamdunk so he retreated. The Queen of hotsauce cooed, "I care fir you!" to the stranger laid out on the frayed tatami. "Beloved Nike, stay with me! Let's dance the old songs, and nosh on fajitas at dawn." "Imokay with that - but make it a ribeye!"
@Whoa Nellie you're the best. Day made! "Beloved Nike, stay with me! Let's dance the old songs, and nosh on fajitas at dawn." Woo hoo!
@Whoa Nellie Whoa For a moment you transported me back to the T*tty Twister bar in the movie From Dusk til Dawn with Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium performing her iconic snake dance for Tarantino's odd lot. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naq2DF5aRdM&t=1s" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naq2DF5aRdM&t=1s</a>
I've been thinking for a long time the the venerable NYT crossword is gradually getting dumbed down, testing knowledge of pop culture more than words and wordplay. And two nail polish brands - really?
@Mary ESSIE was clued 15 times from 1953-2003 as an actress from either Ah Wilderness (1935) or the Matrix movies. Seems like this pop culture "dumbing down" has been going on for 72 years?
@Mary No, it's that the more you do them the easier they get. You learn the tricks of the word play. You remember the crosswordese. You can recognize strange definitions for OREO.
Any Texan can tell you that the dish in 59A is FAJITAS, not FAJITA.
@Puzzled I guess no Texans have edited the wiki page - you should get on it: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajita" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajita</a>
@Puzzled Any dictionary can tell you that a marinated strip usually beef…is a singular fajita even though it is usually used in plural.
AYE, I thought this puzzle was OHSO good. There was not much general knowledge, and lots of food for thought: DOSAS, SODABREAD, and RIBEYE, all washed down with some nice REDS.
@Marshall Walthew And I forgot the FAJITA.
@Marshall Walthew Now I'm all hungry again 😉 12D inspiration: Fellow solvers, how about some lovely, Welsh cakes this weekend? Five simple ingredients, no hot oven needed, and the resulting raisin-studded cakes* are a divine treat - along with a cuppa and the Sunday crossword - <a href="https://www.visitwales.com/things-do/food-and-drink/welsh-food-and-recipes/traditional-welsh-cakes-recipe" target="_blank">https://www.visitwales.com/things-do/food-and-drink/welsh-food-and-recipes/traditional-welsh-cakes-recipe</a> *a sprinkle of allspice to flour won't go amiss
I thought "Star cluster?" could refer to ANISE...and unfortunately, I had no clue about "The Good Dinosaur" (A dead one? Or...ARNO seemed possible) and even though 43A as EDE made no sense, it was all I could figure out ...and I was ready to be finished with the puzzle. PFFT, indeed. For much of the puzzle I didn't even read the clues for the Downs. Have never heard of DOSAS, ESSIE, ECOhotel. Back to the Sixties with BOSSA NOVA (no use trying to blame that; it's Rafael Musa's fault.) So ...finished with 2 wrong letters. I don't know if the puzzles are getting "dumbed down," but *I* certainly seem to be.
@Mean Old Lady I was very stuck there for the same reason. ANISE just worked too well for the clue.
@Mean Old Lady A little into it I was fearing that it would become a PPP-fest. To my surprise it unfolded spilling out lots of open compound words of the usual variety. ...and it's Friday!
So many reasons it wouldn't be the correct answer, but I chuckled thinking that [Establishment that might host a drag brunch] could be nAscAR. Alien trying to fit in at a concert: "LET'S GO, ROCK BAND!" Smooth, fresh puzzle. Are we there yet?
I threw away a good 2-3 minutes on my solve time because I opted for the Canadian spelling, DRIVERLICENCES. Nice one, you hoser.
@Jamie Me too, plus another few minutes for channeling my inner Homer Simpson, D'OH! "Okay, but what is a SHROB?" Steve L. wants to ask. I don't know, but neither did I know topiarist, so yeah, that took a while.
Rafael is so easy to vibe with, he makes crunchy seem smooth. The answers reveal themselves like fill, but they’re *not* fill! Bossanova, one-one, scions, all aboard… His puzzles flow like a babbling brook. Except that tossed in saDSONGS. Which took me a couple minutes to fix. Duh! Don’t worry, I’m okay. Happy Friday all! I hope something really nice happens to you, for you, or with you today!
@CCNY When all hope is gone, Sad songs say so much.
Not all that easy for me, of course. A typical Friday workout but managed to get it all together. Ended up being an enjoyable solve. Five debut answers in this one, and was surprised that some of them had never appeared before - e.g. - OLDSONGS and ROCKBAND. One answer history search was inspired by BOSSANOVA. Looked up the string of letters - BLAMEIT. And.. Nope - never been a part of any answer. Was a bit surprised by that too (some of you will get that). And, of course a puzzle find today. Quite unusual one. I'll put that in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Sunday from August 29, 2010 by Derek Bowman with the title "Going for a run." I've never seen another one like this. Theme answers were all two letter phrases -straightforwardly clued, and the only way you could understand it would be to look at the first letter of each word in those. Here are the first few theme answers with those first letters capitalized: ArmyBrat CarbonDating ExhaustFans GrayHairs InsideJob KittyLitter MixedNuts And the last one, of course, was: YearZero Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/29/2010&g=58&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/29/2010&g=58&d=A</a> .....
@Rich in Atlanta Nice, Rich. After reading your first two sentences about the Bowman puzzle, I avoided scrolling down because I didn't want to see what the theme was. Went straight to that date in the archives. It was a fun 45 min. Got the theme on my second pass through the puzzle and I would not have been able to complete it without that. Thanks for the recommendation! A lot of delightfully tricky clues.
When I saw Rafael Musa’s name on the puzzle, I knew I was in for a fun ride. He’s one of my new favorite constructors. After a tough week, I needed a puzzle clever enough to entertain, but not too hard on my brain. Thank you, Rafael!
I must have been on the same wavelength with Mr. Musa. That was fast solving time for me for Friday, yet very satisfying. 43A was solved incidentally by filling down clues. Wimbledon - lawn, Roland Garros - clay, and Australian Open and US Open are hard courts so I thought it was some acronym for fancy surface until I came to this page. Essie - I will have to remember that for future reference.
Gay bar! 🤦♀️ How did I get that wrong?? I thought it was wordplay for drag racing and answered NASCAR. 1D. NOL - must be a British thing 3D. SETI - Yeah I've never heard of it, but the clue did say it's elusive 4D. COSSANOVA - I've never heard of bossa nova either, so why not? Time to go broaden my cultural horizons and learn more about sports and music.
@Kimberly Love the Nascar moment:) I think you'll find your answers make more sense as GOL( like Goal), YETI, and yes , Bossanova. Hope that helps.
I don't usually feel compelled to comment on the difficulty of a puzzle but in this case I do. Maybe it's time to make a case for returning to the greater difficulty level of even a few years ago. For now, playing through the archive is always an option for the disappointed.
@Madalyn I agree. I look forward to Friday and Saturday being a challenge. This puzzle, while fun, was not. Better suited to a Tuesday.
@Madalyn I finished this one in good time, without lookups, so I expected comments like this. The ones saying it was Monday-level difficulty were kind of a slap in the face, though. But I see your point.
Like yesterday's puzzle, I was stuck again because there were three areas of uncertainty. Did not know DOSAS or ESSIE. Did not know TATAMI, and it took a while for TENS to dawn on me. But the real problem was that star AnISe is a thing so it took some time to decide it might be wrong. The cluster part of the clue is what made me rethink my answer. But like yesterday, my persistence paid off with a gold star.
Pleasant puzzle with some nice clues, but more of a Tuesday or Wednesday level. I look forward to the Friday puzzle to wake up my brain, but this puzzle didn’t quite do it.
@Merlin - Agreed, I sped through it, didn’t feel like a Friday challenge
anybody else use "anise" for the clue "star cluster?" I was so proud of myself for thinking of star anise, and all for naught!
@dafsgirl Me too! One I wrote it down, it inspired me to get myself a glass of pastis. Then I quickly filled the rest of the grid and, alas, had to replace the word that inspired me.
WOOHOO, indeed! My first 1000 day streak! I've broken several long ones on days I was having too much fun to get to the puzzle, but since learning here that I just needed to continue consecutively*, I've been able to have my DOSAS and eat them too. (One thousand days ago, I was in Denver for a four night Phish run over Labor Day. ⭕🕺😁) *On the app, anyway. The website shows my current streak is 6 because, you guessed it, I was at my favorite music festival this past weekend and missed Saturday. I remembered to crank it out on Sunday, and was happy to have two puzzles to assist with reentry Monday. (A wormhole to my back porch would have been nice.) Thank you, comments community, for sharing your insight, knowledge, and stories. This has been pretty fun, too!
@Cindy, Hooray!!! Congratulations on reaching 1000!! 🎉🍾🎆🎈
@Cindy you are already a winner for your fantastic taste in music. Cheers!
I'm not sure I'm loving "super-duper" = OHSO. I'm having trouble articulating why, but here's my shot at doing that (if someone else agrees, maybe they can explain better): I think of super-duper as meaning extreme but with a positive connotation usually, or at least a lightheartedness to it. I think the rhyming "duper" gives that lightheartedness. OHSO can mean extremely, but I feel like more of a negative connotation or negative emotion. I'm having trouble thinking of a sentence where you could use super-duper and OHSO interchangeably. Saying something is "super-duper big" carries different connotations to me than saying something is "oh-so big."
@BB this was definitely the hardest corner of the puzzle for me, but I like this clue. The internal rhyming of "super duper" and "oh so" is a nice hint. I think they mean approximately the same thing; they're just used by different speakers. I imagine "super duper" coming out of the mouth of a Midwestern mom and "oh so" being uttered by a Manhattan socialite.
@BB I am oh so excited that the weekend is here! I am super-duper excited that the weekend is here! This is oh so disturbing to the super-duper large emu.
I was halfway through the solve when suddenly, wondering who the constructor was of this super-duper puzzle, Rafael Musa came in a flash. And so I checked and... SLAM DUNK, right on the nose. It's a certain style, a certain touch, a sprinkling of current jargon, a WISE and A-LIST kind of thing that has Rafa's unmistakeable fingerprint all over it. And it's a beauty every. single. time. Thank you, Rafa for a [hell yeah!] WOOHOO ride! And now, of course the Brazilian in me must leave you with BOSSA NOVA. Here's Sting singing, with Tom Jobim, the English version of an OLD SONG ("Insensatez" in Portuguese, adapted to "How Insensitive" in English) – <a href="https://youtu.be/gL6cCNQzOKc?si=SFkxz7OAbsb4D24Z" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/gL6cCNQzOKc?si=SFkxz7OAbsb4D24Z</a>
@sotto voce 17 A instantly gave me The Feelies. Some songs are just a good groove <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iDx-Lfjyk" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iDx-Lfjyk</a>
I was so excited to finally remember OPI, but then they go and toss an ESSIE at me. That, plus the unknown DOSAS, made my chances of a lookup-free solve go pffft.
@Heidi When you get the chance, have a masala dosa at an Indian eatery :)
@Heidi @Andrzej Most Indian restaurants in the States don't serve DOSAS. You have to find one that specializes in Southern Indian cuisine. But they're certainly worth seeking out! Yum!
@The X-Phile Oh, really? I had no idea. We live a short walk away from one of Warsaw's best Indian restaurants, and they deliver, too. They have dishes from all over India, and Indian-European favorites, as well. I sometimes order a dosa.
@Andrzej I've certainly had dosas at Indian restaurants, so maybe it's different in different parts of the US? I also buy the batter at my neighborhood coop and make them at home.
As a relatively new solver, I appreciated this Friday puzzle that I could solve without a lookup. It made me feel as if I am making some headway. I actually knew the nail polish clues from doing previous puzzles. Yippee! Thanks, Mr. Musa.
Ooh, that was a swift one. It’s nice when the puzzle gods throw you a bone. Thanks Mr Musa.
Fun puzzle that solved very quickly for a Friday, despite having Travel Documents and Sourdough before DRIVERS LICENSES and SODA BREAD. Loved the paired nail polish and Indian wrap clues. Taking nothing away from Rafae,l our constructor, have to agree with those who called this more like a themeless Wednesday.
Dazing? Maybe my vocabulary isn’t what I think it is. Got both of the nail polishes tho’. 💅🏻
A smooth and fun solve but I managed to get myself wrapped up in the South Asian wrap block with my DRIVERS LICENcES entry. I have a mental block on the spelling of some words and that is one of them. Turns out I'm probably just channeling my Scots-Irish ancestors: "License is both a noun and a verb in the United States. If you live in any other English-speaking country, you will spell it licence when you use it as a noun and license when you use it as a verb." "Of course, this source went on to admonish me with: There are plenty of things you can’t do without a license—drive a car, fly a plane, be a doctor, or be a fisherman. And because licenses are so important, you might as well learn how to spell them correctly." Sheesh! <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/commonly-confused-words/licence-license" target="_blank">https://www.grammarly.com/blog/commonly-confused-words/licence-license</a>/ Nice puzzle by the way and thanks.
This is a confidence booster Friday puzzle. Feels great going into the weekend knowing you could do this fast and efficiently. Then comes tomorrow and we will all be complaining about how esoteric the clues and solves are. LOL.
@Dominic A confidence booster Friday: Well put. It wasn't easy the way a Monday or Tuesday is easy, but the challenge was reasonable. A friendly Friday.
I really do think I need to go to the drugstore and learn the names of nail polishes.
@Sue with ESSIE and OPI you should be set. Just like EDYS ice cream, it's a short list.
I agree that it was a bit more accessible than most Fridays, but it made me feel good. Thanks Rafael.
I adored this puzzle from the moment I saw Rafael's name under the Play button! That wonderful feeling as one clue after the next just clicks, the squares fill so smoothly you have to take a breath and slow down just to be able to savor it a bit more -- like the best novels or bonbons. Mmmm!! Then I came screeching back to earth in the SW! Like staring blankly at a wall. Put the puzzle down... and more than 12 hours passed before I could return and zip up the finish. I loved the interplay between certain clues, mini thenes between answers, and So. Much. Yummy. Food! By the time I got to RIBEYE, my stomach was growling. Favorite clue probably was [See what someone is saying?]. Brava, Rafa! Thank you for this confection. Chef's kiss!
@G Having read down through a bunch of comments, I have to say it's a real drag to slog through post after post droning on about what level of difficulty any given puzzle is. It feels like those comments overwhelm the conversation -- and for the most part it's really boring! I always feel people should be able to speak their mind -- respectfully -- here. But everything in moderation, I guess. With 300+ comments now, I'm not going to wade through to find the gems. I'll simply repeat that I found this puzzle to be lots of fun. A breezy romp!
Very breezy for a Friday! I finished faster than my time for this week’s Tuesday (and Wednesday and Thursday) and only a minute or so outside my Friday PB Surprised that OPI has only appeared 34 times — it feels like every other week..
The easiest Friday I've ever done- it was a Monday or Tuesday level of difficulty.
What a friendly and fun Friday puzzle, especially after some toughies earlier this week! Thanks, Mr. Musa, it was an enjoyable and challenging 30+ minutes of brain stretching.
Very enjoyable and crunchy Friday puzzle with lots of original clues and entries. Loved the Ted Hughes quote, the cascading earnestness of MEANSIT, ICARE, SEEMS and SLAMDUNK and the four-way natik of OPI, ESSIE, SARI and DOHAS. I took the bait and got hung up on “What the heck IS a Dosa anyway?” before realizing LIP READS was more apt than LIT READS. Correction made and completion number 2,546 in the books. Cheers
Most Indian restaurants serve northern fare. Dosas hail from the south. But a dosa is good. Soooo good. Like crepes and curries had babies. Do not hesitate to order one if you see it on the menu.
@Michael If you don't mind a short drive out to Arden Hills, on Lexington just off 694, this is my very favorite Indian restaurant in the Twin Cities. They have dosas aplenty. Super delicious! <a href="https://www.namasteindiamn.com/menu.html" target="_blank">https://www.namasteindiamn.com/menu.html</a>
I’m with those who thought this wasn’t up to Friday standards. Usually the misdirections on this day make it a real challenge. Not so much this time. DArING crossing rOE left me flyspecking.
At first I thought Ms. Swift wanted me just snap but finally just staying made more sense, The "Swift Boat' has left me way behind. This puzzle was a very nice start to the weekend.
@Once a Marine "Swift Boat"! Thanks for the chortle.
Seemed like another "themeless Wednesday" puzzle to me. Breezed through the upper two thirds of the grid, and then had to work just a bit at the bottom. DAZING is new to me. I'd have changed DAD/DAZING to DAL/LAZING to keep the South Asian meta-theme going. Why include the question mark with "See what someone is saying?". It's not needed, and this is a Friday puzzle after all. Maybe I'm just feeling a bit let down after yesterday's stellar offering, but this puzzle and it's cluing struck me as adequate at best.
@Xword Junkie I think DAZING is pretty intuitive if you read [Stunning] as a present participle, rather than an adjective: "The brick fell on his head, stunning him."
@ Oikofuge Yes, of course. Thanks. I was misdirected, and viewed "stunning" as an adjective. And then assumed that DAZING was an obscure variant of "dazzling". Call me dazed and confused.