@Eddie Hey, it’s been a while. Welcome back.
@Eddie Back by popular demand.
@Eddie Dang glad you done did dat!
@Eddie [POP] [FIZZ] I done did this dew fer you! Long time no see!
@Eddie Feels just like an old friend just showed up at the door. You somehow remind me of one of my favorite movie characters, Chauncey Gardiner, portrayed by Peter Sellers in “ Being There”. Just a simple sentence has enamored you to this crowd. Nice…..
@Eddie So good to see you back!
Britney was and is, and will forever be the only princess of pop. All others rise on her.
@Red Carpet agree—I was confused that there weren’t enough letters for B-R-I-T-N-E-Y.
@Red Carpet Yes. I don’t think she’s been dethroned as of yet.
@Red Carpet The Queen of Pop (Madonna) practically anointed Britney 20+ years ago.
Very nice! This (mostly) solved smoothly for me, with a couple of misdirects (like LARD as a first guess instead of GHEE). I really liked the clues for the long answers--the care taken in constructing them was evident. Part of me wishes it had been a little harder to complete, but I shouldn't complain--it was fun.
@Liz B I confidently plunked in OLEO at first. Because...of course it had to be the crossword stalwart...
@Liz B I tried SUET first, not realizing that tallow is derived from suet. (True suet is almost impossible to find in the USA; we brought some back from England once so that my husband could make a proper Christmas pudding.)
@Liz B I had SUET, then LARD, then SUET again after filling in BARBIEDREAMHOUSE, and finally GHEE after I got GRAPH.
@Liz B Lard, too. Then I had to wait for crosses to get it! Fun! Keep puzzling Christina and Doug.
That was fun! Had difficulty finding a toehold at first, but Barbie and sibling rivalry saved the day. Never had anything Barbie in the 60’s because we were too poor, but we had plenty of sibling rivalry. My mother’s favorite catchphrase when we were engaging in “sibling rivalry” was “let it go” so I loved seeing both answers in the same puzzle. Happy Friday!
@Valerie Liz Callaway and Ann Hampton Callaway put out an album called "Sibling Revelry". ;)
The people who found this one easy were lucky and got one in their sweet spot. For the rest of us, all those proper names were a quagmire. But once I got the inevitable look-ups out of the way, everything was very quick, and the fills lit up like smiling innocent friends. Took some time out in the middle of the solve to watch Episode 6 of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." When things get iffy we often haul out the DVDs and rely on some timeless entertainment to divert us—this time from the frightful situation we're all in these days. Guinness and that terrific cast have offered help through other difficult times in the past. Christina and Doug, your puzzle was a good one, however much any of us complain about people we didn't know, sometimes presented in unexpected ways. Good for you. You did a fine job, and thank you.
@dutchiris I never knew that to be a series. I looked it up, and yes, from BBC days of yesteryear. I just finished watching The Americans (speaking of spy series) for the third time in 4 years. Incredible story, also based on a real Soviet KGB caper (to put it mildly)
@dutchiris It's a crossword myth that those of us who solve difficult puzzles without lookups just happened to know the answers because they were in our "sweet spot" or something like that. I didn't know PISTOLPETE, LEN, ORA, LOESSER, LEWIS, SNERD, or OREN, but I solved it without lookups because crosswords are a test of your ability to think laterally. I used crosses to get most of them. Where there were challenging squares due to crossings I didn't know, I used my knowledge of how words and letters work (and don't work) to narrow the options down to the correct entries. Nothing lucky about it.
@Tex I find both to be true. Some puzzles that others find hard are clearly in my sweet spot, while others I get through with craft and wile and teeth gnashing.
Took me forever, mostly due to the abundance of proper names of mid-tier notoriety.
@Shrike right, not just mid-tier notoriety, vague attribution. Enough with the proper nouns at all.
@Shrike There was a time when "notoriety" was not a synonym for "fame", but I suspect that time has passed.
Tough but fair, really well done, no dud clues and some excellent ones.
@Orcas What's fair about a trivia-heavy grid? I'm sure many people enjoyed it, and I don't think it was a bad grid, for veterans. But when there is as much trivia as this, the last word I would use to describe the puzzle is "fair".
@Man and 2 dogs The thing is, when there is a lot of trivia one does not know, it gets terribly hard to generate crosses, which is an issue with Saturday level clue difficulty. If you know the trivia, you're golden, if you don't, you're effed. IMO there is an element of unfairness to that 🤷 As for the trivia that had *me* stumped - most of it 🤣 As usual! Even stuff I do know was clued in a way that didn't help me at all. I know of AIDA, for example, but I'm unfamiliar with titles of its arias. I guessed Rita had to be ORA, even though I had no idea she was involved in the Shades films I have never seen. Etc.
A-one. Top notch. This had so much: • The spanners, part one: Fresh! Three are NYT answer debuts, and the fourth is a once-before. • Part two: RAILROAD STATIONS is downright plain, but its clue – [Training facilities?] – buoys it into the stratosphere. • Part three: BARBIE DREAMHOUSE throws glitter over the whole box, turns the puzzle into a party. • Lovely non-spanners: CUDGEL, SVELTE, THREW ON, PRIVATE JET, POLICE TAPE, RANG OUT. • As with yesterday’s puzzle, when I look over the completed grid, it is so clean that my whole being calms down, and I become 45D (AT ONE). • Non-astronomy clue for a form of MOON second day in a row. • 5D! • Sweet PuzzPair© of DONG and RANG OUT. • Plenty of vagueness, misdirects, and sharp wordplay in the cluing, just what I hope for on Saturday. Christina and Doug, you make crosswords a fine art as well as fun. Thank you for that, and for the day-lift today – standing-O!
@Lewis How are you able to bulletize your entries?
Does this render as a bulleted list? Coffee Tea Emu
Nope. How about this? • Coffee • Tea • Emu
• Coffee • Tea • Emu
Nice puzzle that had tons of sports and music answers that were right in my wheelhouse. PISTOLPETE Maravich crossing LEN Dawson brought back sports memories from my youth. Maravich, with his floppy hair and floppy socks was one of the NBA’s preeminent long range shooters. Alas for Pete he played 9 of his 10 seasons before the NBA adopted the three point line. Pete routinely shot from three point range when such shots were worth no more than a layup. Then by the time the league adopted the three pointer, injuries had severely limited his effectiveness and he retired. Eight years later he died at the age of 40. His candle burned brightly before it burned out.
@Marshall Walthew I just read about Maravich’s early death. It’s surprising that he lived as long as he did with that sort of a heart defect.
@Marshall Walthew Pete Maravich was nicknamed “Pistol” because of his unique shooting style. He would shoot the basketball from his side — almost like he was drawing a pistol from a holster — rather than the more usual from above his head. The nickname also reflected his flashy, gun-slinger style of play - he was known for his creative ball-handling, no-look passes, and long-range shooting that was ahead of its time. Maravich played with a flair and showmanship that made him seem like a quick-draw artist on the basketball court.
@Marshall Walthew I went to high school with Pete Maravich in Raleigh, and he was a unicorn even then. 6’4” and 150 lbs, he would end pre game warm up sessions by making right and left handed hook shots from the top of the key. Some things you never forget.
@Marshall Walthew I was pleased to remember PISTOLPETE right away. And I was glad to see LEN Dawson, too. It's good to see that the trivia lurking in my brain comes to some use!
@Marshall Walthew I remember the Vitalis “ball control by Pete Maravich, dry control by Vitalis” ad from the early 70’s. I could swear there was one that said something like “Maravich’s hair goes down court,” but it might have just been a humorous comment someone made about the ad.
"Black and yellow demarcation" stumped me for a while - police tape in Australia is blue and white!
@Max Nicks I knew the American colors well enough from crime series, so the entry was a gimme. Still, Polish police also use blue and white tape.
I really enjoyed this one. It was quite challenging and a very satisfying solve.
" Some very clever clues. In particular, I am reminded of my grandfather's appearance in court to protest a ticket for rear-ending another motorist. "Your Honor, the man in front of me STOPPED ON A DIME--and I STOPPED ON eleven cents." Judge was unmoved and Grampa was fined. TSK.
This is a philosophical rhetorical question...so it may be a little longwinded. In recent history, I've noticed complaints about too much "trivia" in some puzzles. Im not really sure what that means. Aren't crossword puzzles all trivia? Where's the line between things one is assumed to know vs things one may not know? And if one doesn't know it, does that make it trivia? As an example...there are dozens of European rivers which have shown up in crossword puzzles over the years...Some of the easiest are the Thames, the Seine, and the Danube....But there are dozens after than which a person will be less likely to know off the top of their head. Or is the real issue with "trivia" really about pop culture and age? If youre of a certain age you'll more likely know an answer...and if youre not of that age you might not. If the question was "Mondale's running mate?"...You might get an answer immediately...or a few seconds of forget with an easy fill with a few letters...or you might get Who is Mondale? It just seems to me that every inch of a crossword puzzle is trivia...and the question then becomes...How broad is your knowledge? AND do you want to expand that knowledge for the next puzzle?
Paul, In the Wordplay Comments these days, "trivia" means proper nouns and other facts, and sometimes includes expressions. "Obscure trivia" means things I don't know.
@Paul I agree. It's not whether you "know" something, it's a challenge to figure it out using crosses and rules of phonetics. As others have pointed out, if we knew all the answers it would be a fill in the blank exercise and not a *puzzle*. However there will always be people who come here to complain about trivia. Usually it's people who are newer solvers and eventually they get in the groove and stop complaining. Then even newer solvers show up. 😊 I guess our job is to welcome them and gently explain that it gets easier over time.
@Paul It is philosophical if what it means is - what is important and worth remembering? Almost impossible to answer. What has value for me is different from anyone else. For me, the brand name of eg a bar soap is the most trivial of all, as are most brand names. The plural if octopus - trivial for me, not for others. Most sport - trivial for me, not for others. The names of Shakespeare plays - not generally considered trivial. I think most people know what trivia means to them. Most people have a rough idea about what's not trivia, but in between there is the hugest of grey areas. And no, I don't want to expand my knowledge to take in famous basketball/football/baseball heroes for a crossword. (World Series? I don't even know what sport the is). Or famous rappers. I'll look it up.
@Jane Wheelaghan I'm with you on this 👍🏾
@Paul I, too, am mildly astonished by the number of commenters complaining about "trivia" in today's puzzle. My interpretation: trivia = "stuff that I don't know and find insignificant and therefore am justified in looking up, rather than trying to figure out."
@Paul Geraldine Ferraro. Wow, that took me a minute! I tend to enjoy being grumpy about modern pop culture, because so much of it is not very good, or there's just too much content out there with which to keep up. How many streaming services does one person really need? And then I take perverse pride in not knowing anything about "Wicked" or "Hamilton" and I've never seen "Titanic" or "Avatar." It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me. @Jane Shakespeare was pop culture...in the 16th century.
@Beth in Greenbelt I never said Hamilton or Wicked were "bad" per se, but I know I wouldn't like them because they're musicals. Also, Aaron Burr was an actual hero of the Revolution, and Alexander Hamilton was always jealous of that, because he was just a staff puke. And he wanted Washington to be named king. Also, hi neighbor! (I grew up near Rockville.)
@Paul I disagree with your assertion that crossword puzzles are all trivia. They are a combination of trivia and wordplay, as I define those terms. Trivia are facts: proper names, geographic locations, book titles, etc. Wordplay is words or expressions that can be deduced from the clues. I find trivia-heavy puzzles more difficult overall because you either know the answer or you don’t. Wordplay can (and must) be figured out. That can be more challenging at times, but it’s also more fun. (In my opinion.) It’s also more accessible, ultimately, because everyone has the ability to solve a word puzzle. Not everyone knows the lyricist for a given musical, or the name of a specific quarterback.
Overheard above a.svelte airkiss at the doll house: Hide this barbiedreamhouse from my eyes It's eerie, but it's no big surprise Do you think an easya is what I planned? Oh pleas, just tri to understand 'Cause I'm just a word, oh, little old me Well, don't let me out of your sight Ohhi I'm just a word, a pretty pistolpete So don't you cudgel me tonight Oh, I'd like a rebus here! The moment I slip outside the lines So many sneered, I blew more than one prim mind I can't do the little bits I hold so dear 'Cause it's those sparse white squares that you fear 'Cause I'm just a word, you just solved me 'Cause your antenna hit my gspot this time Ohhi, I'm just a word, no privatejet for me 'Cause autocheck has me stoppedonadime Ohhi, I'm just a word, take a good look at me Just your typical puzzletype Oh, I've had it up to here Oh, am I making myself clear? I'm just a word I'm just a word in the world That's all that you'll let me be
I got BARBIE DREAMHOUSE immediately, though I never had one as a kid. My Barbies lived on the couch and drove a dump truck.
@Katie The girl down the street--an only-child-- got a Barbie the first year they were out--1957 or 58 (I am sure, because after that, we were stationed elsewhere.) I was 10 and already a little too old to play with my large family of baby dolls; (some were my sister's, but they had to be re-homed due to parental neglect.) Another neighborhood girl had a Queen Elizabeth I Coronation doll, but of course that could not be played with. The first-generation Barbies never even dreamt of a house!
@Katie GI Joe was known to occasionally spend the night in Barbie's Dream House. My sister would be scandalized in the morning. @MOL I was about to ask if the Coronation doll came with CORGIS, but that would have been QEII, not QEI.
The bad thing about trivia-heavy puzzles is, if you don’t know the trivia you’re screwed. The good thing about trivia-heavy puzzles is, the lookups are quick and easy. Once I got the necessary lookups out of the way, the rest of the fill came together nicely. I found this puzzle challenging but fair. It just wasn’t in my wheelhouse.
@Heidi I don't know all the "trivia" either, but I'm surprised how often I can get those entries correctly filled in simply by using the crosses. Every box belongs to *two* answers, after all.
@Heidi I didn't know most of the trivia but was able to complete without looking anything up using the crosses and some logic. I realize that's just my way of doing it.
@Heidi My reply to someone else above also works here, so repeating: It's a crossword myth that those of us who solve difficult puzzles without lookups just happened to know the answers because they were in our "sweet spot" or something like that. I didn't know PISTOLPETE, LEN, ORA, LOESSER, LEWIS, SNERD, or OREN, but I solved it without lookups because crosswords are a test of your ability to think laterally. I used crosses to get most of them. Where there were challenging squares due to crossings I didn't know, I used my knowledge of how words and letters work (and don't work) to narrow the options down to the correct entries. Nothing lucky about it, and no "trivia" knowledge needed.
Congratulations to everyone who can figure out the unknown answers without lookups. I try to do it that way, too, and many days I’m successful. Some days I’m not. Some days the crosses need a little help, too. I also have knowledge of how words and letters work, but sometimes the wordplay isn’t just speaking to me. On those occasions, I do some lookups. And I don’t feel bad about it.
That was tough for me. I got STOPPEDONADIME right off the bat with no crosses, but slowed way down after that. Lots of things I didn’t know and I resorted to a few lookups. So I made it through but in a qualified way. All’s fair in love and Saturdays. I usually don’t post because I tend to solve in the evenings, but I still like to read the comments even though they are many hours old at that point. So when I do solve in the morning I like to pop in and say hello. Hello!
A beaut of a puzzle! My mother is Swedish, and a gap year turned into a marriage and four kids in America. She’s also quirky. And has a heart bigger and stronger than the smell of a freshly opened can of surströmming. So holiday traditions were a bit muddled. I got the Barbie Dreamhouse ( didn’t it used to be the townhouse..? ) in my stocking. How did Santa fit that ginormous box into a sock, you ask? Santa took twine and ribbon, and tied *stacks* of boxes together, and then tied the end of the string to the hook that held our overly stuffed stockings. So we’d grab the stocking and the string and drag our embarrassment of loot to a chair and dive in. We were poor, though. So in January, like clockwork, the phone would get shut off, then the electricity… But, man, those Christmas mornings were pure magic. Happy Saturday to my wordnerd friends!
@CCNY What a beautiful snapshot of your childhood 🥰
I needed at least a dozen lookups to make any real progress, but even then I had almost nothing in the bottom 40% of the grid. I needed to turn on autocheck to finish. This was probably an enjoyable challenge for crossword puzzle veterans. Me it defeated. What is an ORG chart and why was there no indication of an abbreviation being involved? Is it an organizational chart? I have no other theory, but then, why no "abbr."?
@Andrzej It was originally “organization chart” but “org chart” is so dominant and so widespread as to no longer be considered an abbreviation.
@Andrzej You are correct: it's an organization chart. It's jargon now, and no longer an abbreviation (at least in my experience). I worked in state and federal government in emergency disaster relief, and org charts were very important to us--they denoted the chain of command, as well as our own place in the organization. In this line of work, people were always coming and going (consultants, subject matter experts, reservists, et al.), and the ORG CHART was sometimes updated weekly.
Thank you. In Polish the thing is called "schemat organizacyjny", and we don't bother abbreviating it 🤷
@Andrzej Yes, ORG is short for “organization.” I suppose ORG chart is common enough in corporate-speak that the clue didn’t need to indicate the shortening.
@Andrzej That is a truly tremendous name for something so banal!
@Andrzej I think that people who create and use ORG charts just don’t have the time or patience to write or say “ORGanization”.
@Andrzej -- Hey, have you started making puzzles yet? You've got it all -- the analytical mind, the gaming psyche, the humor, and a terrific way with words...
@Lewis Praise from a constructor as fine as yourself is something special - thank you 🙂 I sometimes think how nice it would be to construct a puzzle, but then I consider the difficulty, and my testy impatience, and I give up before I begin. I would love to do one where names and nicknames of board regulars would feature: Lowlands blooming bulb? DUTCHIRIS Where Barry could moor on the Adriatic? ANCONA Etc. Alas, it will likely never be.
It would be hypocritical of me to include Polish words - I am usually annoyed by answers being in any other language than English in these puzzles. Also, we have words like nieprawdopodobieństwo (improbability), rzeżączka (gonnorhoea), źdźbło (blade [of grass]), szerszeń (hornet), konstantynopolitaneczka (little girl from Constantinople) - would you really like to see one of those in a grid? 🤣
@Andrzej "words like nieprawdopodobieństwo (improbability), rzeżączka (gonnorhoea), źdźbło (blade [of grass]), szerszeń (hornet), konstantynopolitaneczka (little girl from Constantinople) - would you really like to see one of those in a grid?" As long as they don't have diacritical marks, why not? Oh. Guess that leaves konstantynopolitaneczka as your seed word. That's just 2 letters more than a usual Sunday grid. Surely they could accommodate? Clue: See the crosses.
@Andrzej As others have said ORG chart is standard usage in N. America. But I suspect that it's been so standard, for so long, that there are entire generations that have grow up without ever having thought of it as being short for anything. I remember hearing "ORG chart" at my first job (at a bank) in the late 70s. But I'm not sure when - if ever - I last heard or read ORGanization(al) chart fully spelled out in a business setting.
@Lynn Given I skip Sundays these days, because they usually contain too many arcane entries, my constructing a Sunday puzzle with a Polish spanner would be ultimate hypocrisy. I could not look at myself in the mirror 🤣
Random thoughts: I didn’t notice the oddly-sized grid until I read Caitlin’s column. I never knew BARBIE DREAM HOUSE didn’t have a possessive in the name. My sisters had multiple Barbies, but they had nowhere to live. Having looked at the pictures of Barbie’s home, I HAVE TO say it has totally inadequate closet space. I wish I had seen the clue for PISTOL PETE Mavarich sooner. I’m generally not good at the sports trivia, but that would have been a gimme for me. Fun puzzle. Thanks, y’all.
@Eric Hougland PISTOL PETE was a big deal in ATLanta... it was tragic when he died so "young." (I was in HS when he was at Tech, if I recall correctly.) As for BARBIE ....I was dead set against giving our daughter one of those s*x-pot dolls. And then for her 4th birthday, a party-goer gave her one!! And I could see the error of my ways: Barbie was very portable--fit in a pocket! Our daughter was still very unsteady as to ambulation, so the small, light-weight Barbie was a good choice...and her Gram crocheted many tiny outfits (none of which were suggestive.) I had to concede.
@MOL I lived in Georgia at the time and was totally in love with Pistol Pete. That hair!
I had "pie", then "eye", before I found ORG. I had "AnkA", then "AbbA", before I found AIDA. I had "bAH" before I found GAH. I had "I HAtE TO" before I found I HAVE TO. You know what I have to say to all this??? LET IT GO!!!! Excellent Saturday puzzle. Thanks, Christina Iverson and Doug Peterson. We look forward to your Sunday endeavor.
The roll of failing eyesight on puzzle solving. I finished with no success. I looked and looked and looked. I had 55A as bANGOUT, because I read the clue as [Toiled], not [Tolled]. Good thing I was pretty uncomfortable with bANGOUT and was inspecting it. Just for giggles I tried an R and happy music. *Then* I realized the clue was "Tolled" the whole time. Why are they making clues so much smaller these days?
@Francis As counterbalance to your massive DONG? I'll see my mercurial self out.
@Francis What are you using to solve the puzzles? The iPad version of the NYT Games app has four settings for clue size. I presume the default is Normal. I had to delete and reinstall the app earlier this week, and the clues were too small for me. Even set to “Larger” they’re not that big, but I don’t often misread them.
@Francis Sigh. "The roll of failing eyesight..." should be "The role of failing eyesight.." I guess it's not just the old eyesight that's going.
@Francis Same eyesight problem here. So I figured it should end with EDAT plus I always think the Algerian city is OMAN (despite having read the Camus novella). Messed up the SE but fortunately not for too long. I am STILL not going to use the app even with that feature; too many horror stories here about its other flaws.
@Francis That R was my last square to fill in. Funny how tricky some letters can be, tried hANGOUT, bANGOUT, ran thru alphabet. Yes, I also read it as Toiled first, we just do a slightly different version of the crossword puzzle!
Hi all, I used to be a regular here but haven't been for over two years. Just fell out of the habit, unfortunately. Part of the reason is for the past year or more I've only been doing Friday and Saturday puzzles. I plan, eventually, to catch up on the others. When I have extra time during the week, I'm working my way backwards through the archives doing all the Fridays and Saturdays. This week I encountered one I simply could not solve. I needed not one but two lookups to do it. It's very rare that I need even one. So if you are looking for a challenging puzzle, try May 27, 2017. In the meantime I hope you all are doing great!
How is it possible that 2017 is already eight years ago!!!
@Mr Mark -- Welcome back, MM! Happy to see you!
@Mr Mark Thanks for the cite to the nicely challenging 2017 puzzle. I almost got it unaided, but got stuck in the SW and had to look up the pitcher's name, after which things filled in. Oh for the thrilling days of yesteryear! TIL the word for Bible peddler!
So many delightful stories about Barbie memories below, especially from those of us who did not have Dreamhouses. Here's mine. When all the neighborhood kids of the female persuasion were playing with Barbies, my mother finally broke down because she was concerned that not having them was affecting our socialization. So she decided to get us some, but she did it her way. First, she did not believe in gendered toys. (This was in 1964.) If one of us got a doll, we all would. Finally, she compromised and got a Barbie for my little sister, a Midge for me, a Ken for one brother and an Allen for my other brother. Then she told us that this was _all_ she was buying, what they came in. Any accessories, we'd have to make for ourselves. This lasted until my father's mother jumped in. An accomplished seamstress who made all our clothes (including our winter coats and most of our underwear), she fashioned all kinds of jewel-like clothes from scraps from her regular sewing, including tiny bras and bathing suits. I really wanted a Dreamhouse, though. Until one of my friends got one. I took one look at it and thought, "Meh." No where near elegant enough for those wonderful clothes. As much as my mother tried not to treat us differently according to gender, her efforts with the dolls failed. My sister and I ended up with our brothers' dolls. We still have them.
@Lynn Lovely story. Thanks for sharing it.
@Lynn Nana/Gram to the rescue! My wife is always making things for the grandkids. I wish I could, but anything along those lines are definitely well beyond my skill set. Even as a little boy, I could see that Barbie was a trap: buy one doll and then you're pressed for $500 (in "good old days" dollars) in extras. I was watching an old TV You Tube, and they played a couple of toy commercials. They looked fabulous. Occasionally they'd have the price at the end. One of them was "only" $11.95. In 1958. That like $130 today.
@Shari Coats - Thank you. Reflecting on this now, I'm not sure where my mother got her forward thinking. She grew up in the fields, picking cotton in Georgia. Was given an unexpected opportunity to go to college. Not many White kids picked cotton and her main playmate was Black. For whatever reasons, she seemed to have an outsider's perspective on our middle class life, and a lot of confidence in that perspective. Fortunately, my dad agreed with her. Although we kids were not always particularly happy about that.
@Francis - Yes! And the stuff never looked as good once you bought it. Another story. The kids across the street got a fancy mini car, with a real motor and headlights and chrome. We wanted a mini car with a motor and headlights and chrome! So my dad made us a Go Kart. From old lumber, cut up bicycle inner tubes, and rope. And candles inside tin cans for headlights. With the lids fastened to the tin cans with inner tube strips and fishing twine leading back to the driver so we could make them blink. Powered by a sibling running behind the Kart, pushing it with a broom handle. Guess which one was stolen? Ours. Someone apparently had good taste along with a criminal streak. I appreciate both parents a lot more in retrospect.
@Lynn Barbie and I were born the same year, so we’re going on 66! I had a Dreamhouse, but agree it wasn’t that great. However, I also had a fabulous grandmother who made my clothes, Barbie’s clothes, and unbelievable Halloween costumes! No coats, but exquisite sweaters.
@BarBee Great! Grandmothers rule. Sweaters for you, I hope? Can't imagine trying to make one for Barbie.
I was very frustrated about 'toiled' cluing for "RANGOUT" -- until I put on my glasses and found 'tolled.' Never mind!
@Jennene *Exactly* my problem. I just had bANGOUT, although that's an pretty loose fit with toiled.
@Jennene same, I had LABORED there for an embarrassingly long time.
Well, it’s summer Solstice, which round here means stay away from all major roads until tomorrow. We are so close to both Stonehenge and the Avebury Ring as well as Glastonbury Tor, so we’re gridlocked while the Druids, New Agers and tourists ticking off their Insta list do their thing. Do I sound cynical? Not with the spiritual aspects; I have ley lines running through my home, according to how my quartz crystals react when placed in certain areas, plus our local wizard (I’m not making this up, Somerset is a very spiritual area) is a dab hand at water divining and crop boosting. But the crowds around these wonderful places seem more interested in photobombing the Druids than observing the rites. We stopped going years ago because of it. Anyhoo, a perfect morning to spend with the Saturday crossword, which of course was brilliant, being from such fiendish constructors. This was a lovely chewy grid, hard enough to tease but not impenetrable. SATIRe held me up a tad. I knew it had to be That Song, but couldn’t make it fit. It’s now my ear worm of the day, so thanks. Not. Wasn’t sure of GAH for ugh. Can’t say I’ve ever uttered that noise. Gram for NANA? Ok. Not familiar with that, but I guess a cultural linguistic term. It’s GraN, Granny, Grandma or (if you’re v posh) Grandmother with us. I’ve muttered about NANA further down the posts, so won’t repeat myself. Not a fan, but that’s just me. With apologies to everyone’s beloved NANAs.
@Helen Wright awwww....i miss StonehengeI had a lovely time when i was there...Wish I had more time to go to a pub in the nearby town.
@Helen Wright I can only imagine. Does the whole place reek of weed smoke? I'm thinking back to Esmeralda's lament on having the Formula 1 circus descend on Montreal. (I've been part of that a few times.) And then there was Spring Break in Atlanta, AKA Freaknik. That got so out of hand that local businesses would shut their doors for the entire week. My sister and her husband would always try to be out of town for that nonsense.
@Helen Wright A slightly over-excited person has just been interviewed on the BBC News, telling us that people have been celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge for thousands of years. But the evidence from Durrington Walls is that the *winter* solstice was the time at which people gathered and feasted at Stonehenge. Do you get a big turnout there in winter? Or are the Modern Druids strictly summertime celebrants?
BARBIE DREAM HOUSE crossing SIBLING RIVALRY was particularly potent for me. I was insanely jealous of my sister two Christmases in a row. I'd written to Santa to ask for both the dream house and the Barbie Country Camper. We came down Christmas morning, and there they were, with my sister's name on them both times. What? Turns out that while I had kept my wish between me and Santa (and mailed my letters myself without letting anyone see them), my sister went right to the actual source and told Mom what she wanted. Loved seeing ARIANA in the vicinity of LET IT GO. One is a singing princess and the other is sung by a princess. Tried to fit some version of First Class into 9D and then realized I wasn't thinking fancy enough! A lot of the factual clues I had not a clue about, but it didn't matter. It all came together through crosses and logic.
@Beth in Greenbelt as a Barbie lover, I am gutted by this story!! Did you get to play with said Dream House? Did your sister share? My inner child needs to know if everything turned out ok! I can't even imagine Lol
I finished in almost half of my Saturday average, which surprised me greatly. I struggled a lot to get going, but after I did, it all fell into place smoothly. I just watched How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying for the first time ever a few days ago, so it was fun to see it mentioned in the puzzle. I also just learned the word tallow a little while ago while checking out bird names in English, and it felt serendipitous to run into the word here again. I learned lots of new things today, which always makes me happy! The last letter to fill was the 52 square. Off to research what 52D is. And what the difference between tallow and suet is. The things crosswords make me ponder… Thank you for the puzzle!
@Anna MUNI is short for “municipal.” When states and cities borrow money by issuing bonds, the investors who buy them to not to have include the interest they receive in their income when they calculate the amount of federal tax they owe. So many high income people like to buy MUNI bonds.
My sister and I never had SIBLING RIVALRY. We joked and played too much for that, and as we got older but before we left the house, we came up with a name for it, a name that stuck: sibling ribaldry.
@Lewis That sounds...a little upsetting.
@Steve L -- Yikes! We always thought of ribald as being simply meaning full of jollity. I still do, or did, until I read your comment and looked it up. Hah!
Tough one for me today because of all the name clues: ARIANA ORA JODIE LOESSER LEN LEWIS AIDA SNERD HAILE KARO PISTOLPETE
Much too hard to enjoy.
@Ms. Billie M. Spaight That's what she said. (Sorry. Francis and Andrzej are really bad influences today)
I'm just here for the DONG jokes...and I see that Andrzej has things well in hand. "Mommy, what's a G SPOT?" "Don't ask your father, he doesn't know." Okay, okay, the puzzle. Tough to get a foothold on this one, but we did HTSIBWRT in high school, and I was in the pit band, so Frank LOESSER was a gimme. Hopefully I won't be singing "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm" for the rest of the day. Then I got JODIE for "Foster kid," which was very clever, and the NE just opened up. Not an EASY A for me, but quite satisfying.
For some reason, I was able to get the long spanners with either no crosses, or fewer than I usually need. That was crucial, because this time it was the shorter ones that bedeviled me: ORAN, TRI, PLEAS, PIERS. I will say that I got 44D fairly quickly. Does anyone else miss Dr. Ruth Westheimer? I loved hearing that sweet little old lady talking about the most scandalous topics just like she was giving a pie recipe.
@Francis ORAN was one of my very few gimmes today. I owe it to Proust. Considering intomate topics "scandalous" seems so puritanically American! I'm writing intimate rather than s-ual because, case in point, I've had s-word posts withheld by "moderators" before.
Camus, not Proust, d'oh. A glum French guy, anyway 🤣
@Francis Too err is human. To be scandalous, divine!
Nice Saturday puzzle. Not all that easy for me, of course, and had to look some things up. But, had a lot of 'oh, of course' moments when something finally dawned on me from the crosses. Was surprised to see that three of the grid-spanning entries were debuts (and the fourth one a debut in the Shortz era), since they all seemed like familiar terms. It was only after I reviewed that I realized this was a 14 x 16 puzzle instead of the usual 15 x 15. That makes sense. And of course my usual puzzle finds today. I'll put those in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: First - a Sunday puzzle from October 12, 1952 by Jules Arensberg with the title "Jigsaw of Words." Three grid-spanning answers in that one. I was surprised to see that all of them were making their only appearance in any puzzle, as they were familiar phrases. But then I realized that the puzzle was 23 wide; that explained it. Anyway - those 3 answers, all straightforwardly clued: SEVENTHSONOFASEVENTHSON ONEHUNDREDTHANNIVERSARY FIRSTLORDOFTHEADMIRALTY And some other 'theme' answers: TENTHMUSE SECONDRATE Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/12/1952&g=25&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/12/1952&g=25&d=A</a> One more puzzle in another reply. ....
Diabolical... del Diablo! 👹 I definitely will work in svelte and sommelier into my casual conversations at the local gym… then run! Storage units are almost always BINS, but oh, no! Bits, bytes, data archives, how many were going to St. Ives? (Hey, I'm no Whoa Nellie). I recall laughing at Edgar Bergen (Candice’s dad) with that iconic dummy. I just never knew he appeared on Sesame Street. How clever of Jim Henson to honor the past. 12D and 39D, almost a vuja de moment (think about it) A case book? Is that Police Detective-related? Germany a bobsled powerhouse? Was all of John Candy's work with the Jamaicans all for naught? Ghees!
@Jerry I know CASEBOOK from law school.
@Jerry Doctors used to keep CASEBOOKs too. It might have influenced (Dr) Arthur Conan Doyle when choosing the title for "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes", because he modelled Holmes on an expert physician.
Good to see one of my favourite utterances, GAH, get another outing. Weirdly, I got BARBIE DREAM HOUSE on the basis of about three crosses---how did that happen? As well as the usual cultural unknowns, a crop of American English usages made some solutions invisible to me for longer than necessary. BOBSLED, RAILROAD STATIONS, SATIRIC. I had all but the first letter of EASY A, and still couldn't see it. HEART SMART is unfamiliar, too. I just texted a sommelier friend with the solution POURER. His reply has melted my phone. Very enjoyable Saturday, which clicked along nicely overall.
@Oikofuge I had a feeling the SOMMELIERs would have feelings about that one.
@Oikofuge And would They have been even more upset with my first try, SERVER? (Please note use of capitalized They as nonbinary singular pronoun per suggestion of linguist John McWhorter.)
Oikofuge, If Paul Simon, a native speaker of American English, could put "railway station" in a lyric*, you should be able to handle RAILROAD STATIONS. *"Homeward Bound" Brief TCS hesitation for me after RAILROAD. Having worked on railroads, I could think of several second words; then I realized the constructors likely could not.
Dear Friends, They finally published one of my comments in the news! 🗞️ It was a reply to the first reader favorite so maybe it was an accident. It was open minded and not too axe-grindy but I still love NYT XWP comments very much! I feel this isn’t the place for it as many find XWO a refuge from the news 🗞️
its not a good sign when a puzzle this good and on point difficulty wise for a Saturday gets a 'meh' from so many on this chat feed.. This is a great puzzle every clue every answer its a classic folks need to work harder that's the point puzzles getting harder by the day - if only Sunday would finish the job and stay at a high level.
The glow of satisfaction I got from filling out NAILS IT as my last entry and seeing the congratulations screen pop up - unparalleled. Also pretty proud of myself for knowing ORAN from The Plague! Demanding but do-able, the perfect Saturday for me.
@IL Different generations. I learned of Oran from uncles who visited courtesy of the US Army in WWII.
TIL—that Bobsleigh is the offical Winter Olympic event name, not Bobsled. sanctioned by the official Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing. Officially yours, Robert Sled
Guess what would make a good sport nickname? PISTON PETE. My other desired answer, just because I like the word, sadly did not fit: SHILLELAGH.
@Cat Lady Margaret That was my first guess too, not having heard of Maravich. Makes as much sense to me as PISTOL PETE. But NEN just didn't seem like a likely name.
Clues too cryptic and obscure to enjoy. No balance in this puzzle. Every clue was so vague you couldn't get a foothold...
Just started, but I am stunned that apparently Britney Spears is no longer the princess of pop. When did that happen?
@Lin Probably about the time she shaved her head.
@Lin Agreed! Kylie didn't fit either
I'd wager a g-spot that Britney is still more the "Princess of Pop" than Ariana will ever be. Even if she doesn't fit in. And that brings up "Đồng". The accents are everything. The crossbar on the "D" indicates a hard "D", without it, its a soft "D", pronounced like a "Z". It can carry easily 6 or more meanings depending on how you prounounce it. Dong (no mark): Mid-level, flat tone. Đồng (grave accent): Low, falling tone. It means the Vietnamese currency. Đỏng (hook above): Dipping and rising tone. It can be found in words like "đỏng đảnh" (petulant, fussy). Đõng (tilde): Rising and glottalized tone. It can be found in words like "đõng đà đõng đảnh", which suggests a flirtatious or coquettish manner. Đóng (acute accent): High, rising tone, meaning "to close" or "to seal". Đọng (underdot): Low, heavy tone, meaning "to accumulate" or "to be left over". Very difficult for non-native speakers to get right, so you wonder why they are laughing when you weren't trying to make a joke. I liked this puzzle. Even tho— 34% PPP (Pop culture, Product names, and other Proper nouns) 18% Trick/Phrase clues (in a way, for short, ?, perhaps, say, e.g.)
@replay Phew, I'm so glad Mandarin only has four tones. I think Cantonese has seven? Vietnamese sounds like a real bear to learn.
Ha, NANA confused me for a minute-- funny, considering I am a new grandma, to a sweet and snuggly 6 week old! My grandma name is Mimi, but we will see what she does with it. I can already tell she's going to do the crosswords with me!
@Leontion Congratulations, and welcome to the best club on earth!
@Leontion Even a curmudgeon like me smiles when reading about a "snuggly 6 week old". I'm trying to wring every bit of pleasure I can out of my grandchildren while they're still young. They all reach a point, as they probably should, when all things parents and grandparents embarrass them to death. But the memories I'm sure will stay as sweet.
Here's the reasons I knew Frank LOESSER. First of all, he has a great first name. Secondly, when I was in high school I was in the choir, and a young lady friend and I decided to try to work up...(wait for it, and get ready to plotz) "Baby, It's Cold Outside". We approached it as if it weren't the "r-word" song. Anyway, it was written by Frank Loesser. And the musical notation to indicate attitude or speed, such as "pittzicato" or "vivace", it had "Loesserando". So I thought it was funny, and 55 years later it gets me a crossword entry.
@Francis That song has gotten a lot of hate in recent years. To put things in perspective, here's a recording of it, as performed by Frank and Lynn, Mr. and Mrs. Loesser. Don't you wish you had been at that holiday party? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pfvZo2gmm8&list=RD0pfvZo2gmm8&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pfvZo2gmm8&list=RD0pfvZo2gmm8&start_radio=1</a>
@Francis But I doubt that is what the song referred to. Having watched my father mix hundreds of drinks for the family friends who came over, and having spent some time in bars, I recognize that drinks can be mixed to varying degrees of strength. I take the song to be innocent in the sense that the woman and man are attracted to each other, but she lives with her parents and sibling, and can't stay out as late as she would like.
They couldn't fit any more names in there?
CLUB= short, possibly heavy weapon CUDGEL= long thick stick, useful as walking stick or weapon; metaphorically, instrument for making one's brain come up with elusive information...
@Mean Old Lady Interesting. In BrE a CUDGEL is a short, heavy stick. This short of thing, though also a bit longer: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/3cn3hhsb" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/3cn3hhsb</a> I'm not sure what I'd call one long enough to be a walking-stick. Stave? Staff? Bo?
Well, yesterday was the Summer Solstice--hope you all had a good one! And although I know they're talking about the *other* solstice, let Ian and his boys get you in the spirit: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFScfq8Wlq8&list=RDRFScfq8Wlq8&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFScfq8Wlq8&list=RDRFScfq8Wlq8&start_radio=1</a> (I suggested to my Partner that we throw on some white robes, build a bonfire, and leap over it; but instead we just watched the sunset from our high-rise co-op apartment.) Happy Summer everyone, and Good Puzzling!