I really liked this puzzle and how my solve progressed. At first I was dispirited - I had little on my initial pass, and many clues looked like I would never be able to deal with them (for example, what on Earth is a sodding hypocorism, I thought angrily🤣). But then I used a technique that works for me in climbing when I'm dealing with a complex route at the gym: I relaxed and opened my mind. And it helped! Slowly (or so it felt) but surely I made progress, actually finishing the solve quickly for a Friday (just a few minutes longer than on a usual Wednesday). The unknowns resolved themselves with crosses exclusively (SISEPUEDE, PAESE), educated or lucky guesses (SEN, CORDS) and wild feats of memory supported by crosses (NEYO, SYNE). At one point for the long entry in the middle I only had ___EWEWERE. That looked so strange 🤣. Of course I know I'm solving in English but when I encounter something I don't yet understand, I instinctively look at it as if it were in Polish. That's just an impossible sequence of letters in my native tongue (but chrząszcz is a legit word for us 😆). For me this was this week's most enjoyable puzzle, by far 👍🏾 I'm also happy because old Jorge the Lab's latest health crisis turned out to be a minor indisposition, and my aging Mustang - which I thought might require major electrical work - just needed a new battery 🤣.
@Andrzej Good for Jorge, and good for you. I was going to make a joke about being careful tightening the nuts on that Mustang, it could kick you, then I decided that was juvenile and beneath us.
@Francis I say, verily, dear Sir, such puerility would not befit us, gentlemen.
Argh. The Mustang broke down on the way to my students' graduation 🤣 I'll be arriving in an Uber. The dog's still good though 😆
@Andrzej Thrilled to hear about Jorge! And look at you, for-real happy today. Yesterday’s ruse is taking hold! Andrzej is leaning to the dark (not dark) side! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!!!!
@Andrzej Hooray for Jorge! chrząszcz is just cray-cray
@Linda Jo You'll love this Polish tongue twister 🤣 W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie (A beetle is resounding in the reeds in Szczebrzeszyn) @CCNY No worries, normal service will resume soon enough - maybe tomorrow already.
@polymath They do when you twist their tongues. Seriously though. Brzmieć doesn't mean buzz. No idea why it's been translated like that in the YT video. It just means "to make a sound", which is why I translated it as resound. Still, we have these huge beetles here, chrząszcze majowe (May beetles in direct translation) that make a very loud, distinct, deep, buzzing sound when they fly. Or at least we used to have them when I was a kid. I just now realized I haven't seen one in ages. Leftists should stop making up climate change - they've taken it too far.
SO THERE WE WERE, baking under the Black Rock Desert sun, and paying our respects to a then 85-year-old Dolores Huerta. It was Burning Man, 2015, and she was just as vibrant and passionate as ever. I treasure the photo I have if her in a bright yellow dress and purple shawl, her lipstick deep red, eyes sparkling, and boots covered in playa dust. She led us in a ceremony of remembrance for the peoples and species that are no longer with us. Can we stand up to injustice and fight the powers that be into our 90s and beyond? "SÍ, SE PUEDE!" This puzzle was full of memories for me. Savoring chicken KATSU in San Francisco's Japantown or fish tacos from a local POPUP after flying KITEs in the marina. Memories of my grandma, not her SPOON REST, but the little green ice cream bowls that would overflow with fudge sauce at the end of every dinner at her house. Memories of Hawaii, the land where I was conceived, where they have no need for DST, and where the MONGOOSEs run wild because they have no natural predators, having been introduced to the islands to kill the rats, but instead becoming invasive species themselves, as rats are nocturnal and mongooses diurnal. Memories of the forlorn elephant I saw at the Honolulu ZOO, pacing back and forth its tiny enclosure. "I'm sorry you got such a RAW DEAL," I whispered to him. He stared at me with eyes that seemed to say, "Ah. SUCH IS LIFE." "I would rescue you if I could." "No, no SE PUEDE," was his silent response.
@Beth in Greenbelt That was beautiful and touching. Thank you.
@Beth in Greenbelt Evocative stories of time and place. Thanks.
@Beth in Greenbelt Yes you can! Well told. You've been around the block, that's for sure! Si se puede!
@Beth in Greenbelt Oh, Beth, that last paragraph…
"Was that steak tartare cheap?" "No, I got such a raw deal." (This pun is hardly well-done.)
@Mike Don't have a calf, man. You've got a legitimate beef.
@Mike A raw deal for steak tartare? You must be yolking.
Mike, Our puzzling day isn’t done until your post is red.
@Mike I enjoy your daily caper with our language.
@Mike I just saw that your comment on the Sunday puzzle of Logical Fallacies from July 21, 2024 was suggested for MOY: Mike of the Year!
I may cry. We have four children. Our oldest three are boys. 11 years ago when I was about three or four months pregnant with my last and my only girl I read aloud to my husband my favorite short story of all time.... A little known tale of a man utterly lost in the depths of war who was only able to crawl his was out because of the kindness of a little girl. Through my tears we decided right there to name our daughter after her. I feel so blessed that the inspiration for my daughter's name was honored in NYT today. Thank you!!!
@Carla What a nice story. Thanks for sharing with us.
@Carla I love the Salinger piece. And your story makes me love it even more. I hope your life is wonderful.
@Carla I just borrowed the story from my library after reading this comment
@Carla — Wow…thank you for this story! I feel honored to have your daughter’s name in my puzzle. Btw I also have four kids…though I am usually not successful at working any of their names into my puzzles! Maybe next time. :)
I def had more trouble with Simeon's jam yesterday than here with Davies Lynch, but it was nice to finish up in the SE where it was tricky, but I bear the puzzle no animus, quite the contrary. Loved seeing Si se puede ("Yes you can") which UFW founder Dolores Huerta said in reference to Chavez's hunger strike. Those were great people, true patriots of America, not like the [emu'd] wrapping themselves in the flag these days. Speaking of red tea, I got caught up reading "For Esme with Love and Squalor" again. Told in the first person, it reports on an encounter an American serviceman has in a tea house in England with a girl of indeterminate age, a precocious tweener in uncertain times whose parents have both died in the war. The whole grown-man-with-young-girl thing prefigures Salinger's later weird relationships with young girls and almost tarnishes for me what should be, in a more innocent reading, a heartfelt tale of compassion and connection when you can't trust the State to protect you or your loved ones. Like Andrea Velez, 32, a US citizen. So I'm going for Si se puede over Such is life!
@john ezra I loved that short story, too. I am resisting the modern spin to that the narrator was a groomer, or anything like that. Rather, he was a terrified young man going to war. If that doesn't get you a bit of benefit of the doubt, I don't know what will. And the finish was vintage Salinger. A person tormented by the world, finding a tiny oasis of peace in a tumultuous time. And people who think their citizenship, or their color, or their economic status, or their voting habits...anyone who thinks they'll be saved by any of those things are simply kidding themselves. One ruling half of the country hates the other to a terrifying, and increasing, degree. I absolutely do not trust strangers at all anymore. As in the Crosby Still and Nash song,"Ohio"..."we're finally on our own."
So there I was, in the northwest corner. I've read "The Catcher in the Rye" (read it in my twenties after walking the streets of a city for hours, depressed, and picked it up in a bookstore knowing nothing about it but the title, thinking it might cheer me up), and "Franny and Zoey," but had never encountered ESME. I've been a vegetarian for about fifty years, so chicken recipes, much less Japanese chicken recipes, are not part of my life. I've never encountered the phrase ICE IT before today. I've never memorized the motto of the United Farm Workers. I was left trying to figure out one across strictly from the mysterious clue, because I had none of the crosses. It didn't help that I don't think of KITEs as toys. Hobbies, scientific tools, jury-rigged propulsion methods for boats, an art form...sure. But not toys. I know the argument can be made for it...it's just not how I see them. So now I'm all bitter and frustrated about my ignorance, and I'm going to deal with it by blaming the totally innocent constructor and the entire staff of the New York Times, and finish with some idle lies about cancelling subscriptions, and stomp off somewhere and sulk until tomorrow. I'm fine with rebus puzzles, though.
@Bruce Catcher in the Rye is probably my favorite book yet I only got ESME through crosses. Although now I know where my friend's cat probably got her name from. Hilarious last paragraph btw, haha
@Bruce Your penultimate paragraph was a masterpiece! A perfect description of how I handled the inability to get a clean solve today. Bravissimo!
@Jim I've actually used that word a few times 🤣
Jim, I use and hear "penultimate" all the time. I do try to avoid "antepenultimate." YMMV
@Bruce -- Let me pile on with more bravos and thumbs up for that penultimate paragraph. Perfect!
Oh, that center stagger-stack! Do you know how hard it is to create a triple stack with 100% smooth crosses, like this one? To fill it completely with answers that shine with interest? And with vibrant answers, all three being NYT answer debuts? Just gorgeous. A gift for solvers and crossnerds like me alike. Then I had the kick of a triple blast in the SW, where [Places to bear witness?] gave me, with a “Hah!”, ZOOS, then that Z triggered STANZAS, and in a splat, the whole corner fell. A thrilling boom-boom-boom rush. Beauty and thrill. What more can you ask for? How about more beauty, such as SO THERE WE WERE, SUCH IS LIFE, RUNAWAY HITS, MONGOOSE, FITTED OUT, SPOONREST, START HERE, and RAW DEALS? How about zingy clues, such as [Shops for a short time?] and [Found a parking spot]? How about sweet moments, such as when when I started inwardly singing “So Long, Farewell” and picturing the "Sound of Music" scene? Your puzzle, Carolyn, made me think of Marie Kondo, because it sparked joy. Three puzzles in, you’ve become a not-to-miss for me. Thank you!
@Lewis Thank you and Jeff Chen for the Thursday puzzle of 27 January 2022 which I just completed from the archive. I found it hard but extremely enjoyable - the trick was impressively thought out and perfectly implemented into the grid, and the clueing rocked, giving me a crucivergasm 🤣. I solved with two extremely intelligent ladies - friends from my faculty, some of the best minds this country has to offer. We struggled but enjoyed it all the way 🤩
@Andrzej -- I'm so glad you enjoyed that puzzle, and ... and ... CRUCIVERGASM!!!!
@Lewis I thought you'd like that 😃 And you gave me one alright - you can put that on a t-shirt 🤣
@Lewis Did your boom boom boom rush involve TNT? ;)
@B No worries, I'm carefully curating what I do and don't say about myself. Also, none of it may be true. Nobody has ever called me a beloved *anything* before BTW, even ironically.
@B Unwittingly, apparently, as I'm not into Marvel (or DC) - the bombast of superheroes and supervillains is just so boring. I tried to watch The Avengers once, but I fell asleep five times in the first hour and gave up. The only superheroes I ever cared about were the X-Men, probably because I enjoyed the cartoon in the 90s, and then because the cast of the 2000s movies was great. I guess Deadpool is related to X-Men, and I even saw the original movie, but it did not thrill me, so I ignored the sequels.
I seem to be on the same wavelength as the constructor, as the puzzle revealed itself to me sequentially. I confess, one of the reasons I enjoy crosswords is the way it introduces me to new words. Usually those words are in the puzzle, but today they came from the clues: hypocorism and syzygy. Now I just need to work them into conversation!
@Caitríona Shanahan That's the perfect way to make others think you're a pretentious snob though. Knowing words is great. Knowing when to use them and not use them is good, too. My mother - professor, author, public servant, who probably had a broader vocabulary than 99,5% of the Polish population - never respected those who revelled in intimidating people with big, unusual words, knowing they would not understand them. The smartest people I know have mastered the skill of talking simply about complex matters. They know the big words, but they also know they are not for regular conversations.
On Fridays and Saturdays, I might as well have an arrow, with the words START HERE, pointing to the lower half of the puzzle. I don't know why I even bother starting at 1A or 1D when the NW is invariably always the last to fall. Today it was the lower right quadrant that gave me a toehold, and my eyes lit up when I saw "syzygy," a word I've always found beautiful since my first encounter with it (though I didn't know it in the context of Yungian psychology, only of celestial bodies aligning.) My eyes again lit up when I saw "So." Before VERY came to me, my mind went straight to that legendary Peter Gabriel 1980's album. Here he is (also accompanied by the underrated Paula Cole) with a magnificent live performance of "In Your Eyes" which was first released in that album - <a href="https://youtu.be/evN6DIGPIJM?si=OYz0hxMHn5zzu-uq" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/evN6DIGPIJM?si=OYz0hxMHn5zzu-uq</a> With every quadrant of this puzzle, my eyes kept lighting up as what initially seemed impenetrable became perfectly doable. This was stellar puzzle, Ms. Davies Lynch, and right up my alley, so thank you so much!
Did it really come out as Yungian instead of Jungian? How embarrassing! 🤦🏻♀️
@sotto voce wrote “ I don't know why I even bother starting at 1A or 1D when the NW is invariably always the last to fall.” Haha, I feel that way all the time. At one point I was convinced that the NW was purposely more difficult, but now I think it may just be that it’s more noticeable when it does happen that way. 🤓
@sotto voce Oh to be Jung again! ps: I try not to tell the constructors it’s easier on the bottom or else they might just tighten that part up, too 😂
She witnessed a bear By the big bamboo tree She cried, I bear witness! The bear turned to flee. At the freshwater pond She saw some fowl play She hollered, C’ést mon goose! The goose swam away. To yell at the zoo Is foolish, of course. All the bipeds will scamper And just leave you horse. . . . . . . (This is an second attempt to post my zoo verse. Did I anger the emus, and bring on their curse?)
Aaand… 11 hours later it appears, just like that! Wish I had a delete button, to remove the duplicate (which only took 12 hours to post).
@Heidi Could you please write an otter verse with hamlet and samlet?
@Heidi Love the little ditty you wrote! I wrote it down to share with my family, my mom loves clever wordplay
The clues for ZOO and SPOONREST were my favorites. I think this was one of my most enjoyable Fridays ever. Thanks, Carolyn
The last few days have been a lot as I write you from a tiny island in the Caribbean. I've managed to complete the puzzles in order but no time to read the comments other than top reader picks, and I was delighted to see how VERY much Andrzej loved Thursday's puzzle!!! O glorious Thursday!! His joy filled me with an overabundance of joy, since I, too, was already full of puzzle joy, which both Wednesday and Thursday brought me. 😆😘 Anyhow, yes I really did enjoy the past 2 days immensely, along with today's. Today was my second fastest ever, which is good because I need some sleep, but it was a fun fast! Especially enjoyed SOTHEREWEWERE and SUCHISLIFE but it all felt good and fresh! Appreciated ODORS atop TEAM SPIRIT.... 😆
@HeathieJ Good to hear from you. I'd forgotten you were traveling and I was wondering why you weren't showing up as usual. Have a good time.
@HeathieJ Andrzej got really really good with the touchy-feely emojis last night. I guess he decided to get a few more out.
@HeathieJ Nice to see you pop back in during your vacation. How you're having a grand time. Don't forget to send us a postcard!
@HeathieJ I put in the Tuesday and Thursday comments my thanks and comments on the Logical Fallacy puzzle from July 21, 2024! Come to think of it I’m not sure whether paradox even is a logical fallacy. I think it’s a thing where we have to hold the opposites at once. Enjoy your trip!
I felt like I was on Carolyn’s wavelength. The solve flowed pretty smoothly from beginning to end. As a native Californian, we learned SI SE PUEDE in elementary school and the importance of César Chavez and Dolores Huerta to farm workers. Seeing it in the grid really resonated with me with all that’s going on here in my state right now 😞 And of course I’m now very curious to see what @Andrzej thought of this puzzle 😂 Happy Friday!
@Jacqui J Yeah, me, too. Why isn't he here yet? What the heck is he doing? Being with his family? Keep up with current events? Where is that slacker? Keeping us waiting like this... I think if we all just be very quietly say "I believe", maybe Andrzej will suddenly appear, like Tinker Bell. And if we listen very closely, we'll hear a quiet--a quiet that means an Andrzej is about to appear, like a moose from the woods.
@Jacqui JWe were never taught about Chavez in school but he did visit Hunter College and I saw him there. I volunteered at a UFCW group for a while.
Aaaand the moose is here. I actually don't know who Tinkerbell is btw. I'm familiar with the name, but that's it. Polish people, eh? I usually solve in bed before getting up. My posts only appear early on the board when I have trouble sleeping (recently it's been most days...) and wake up at 4 AM (CET), which is the time for the puzzle's release in this part of the world. Today I slept until 5:40, a huge win for me 🤣. It was a fine puzzle. I enjoyed it.
I have such disregard for irrationality I'm borderline offended by jokey suppositons I may summoned by magic 🤣
@Francis Next step - praying to me 🤣
@Ms. Billie M. Spaight Which version did you prefer?
I know all the vets are saying how fast they blew through this one, and that’s great, but “katsu” and “esme” crossing with “sisepuede” was diabolical for me. Not a chance in Montana I was going to get that.
@Aaron Teasdale I concur. KATSU crossed with SISEPUEDE- My Natick of the week (so far). Still, 8+ minutes below my Friday avg.
@Aaron Teasdale and James, Katsu is sneaking in more and more, lately. It can also be “tongkatsu” but chicken + Japan + 5 letters is likely gonna solve as katsu. Same goes for Salinger’s “For Esme, With Love.” That letter combo makes it very convenient for a constructor. I’d plop both in your pockets for another day!
@Aaron Teasdale Much agreed. I was pretty sure about katsu but ALL the rest were mysteries, and even kite took me way too long. Sise puede seemed like some weird Latin motto and completely unknown to me. Not a good corner at all.
@Aaron Teasdale ESME is pretty common crossword fill, so it's worth your while to learn it if you're a crossword regular. It used to be always clued to the J.D. Salinger short story, "For ESME--with Love and Squalor"[as in "Title girl in a Salinger story"], but more recently constructors have used the actress ESME Cullen to clue the word.
@Aaron Teasdale Luckily my better half remembered KATSU chicken (she is my only “allowed” cheat). I already had TEAMSPIRIT, and was quickly able to fill in the rest of the blanks in the NW. No Bento Boxes in M’zoo?
@Aaron Teasdale KATSU may be common in the future, but ESME is a perennial favorite (175 appearances, averaging about twice a year so far this decade). It's worth committing to memory; this is only its first appearance this year, so it's due for a return by New Year's Eve. (SI SE PUEDE is a debut.)
My brain will never parse ATEAT correctly, regardless of how many times I see it. I always want it to be about a suckling mammal. Anyway I liked this puzzle! Fill I didn't know, like NEYU, I got with crosses. Had lawn before CASE, ideaS before ODORS, ICEIn before ICEIT, kITTEDOUT before FITTEDOUT, and STARTsnow (starts now, not start snow) before STARTHERE, but those were fixable without too much fuss. The clue for ZOO is un-bear-ably great. Also TNT.
@Isabeau I have the same issue with ateat. Lol
@Isabeau @Megan We’re not alone. Google “ateat” and you’ll see many questions about its meaning and pronunciation. (“Ah-teet”, according to one source.) It always gets me, too.
@Isabeau I struggle mightily with ATEAT. It's like one of those optical illusions, and you have a strong preference for one of the two states.
To celebrate my first completion of a Friday puzzle in quite a while, I offer you this: So there we were, all of us arriving for a contest on who could read the most pages of fantasy novels in a single setting. We all lined up, as instructed, under the big sign that read “Start Here.” The judges were all a bunch of micromanagers, ensuring no cheating occurred. Fans showed up from everywhere, even as far as Lithuania. And there was a small contingent of U.S. farm workers cheering us on with a banner that read “Si Se Puede!” Despite all that team spirit, in the end, none in our group came close to winning. Such is life. And though we were exhausted after those 24 grueling hours, all contestants were treated to free gifts from a few pop-up stores. And being true to our nerdy selves, we each opted for sets of fantasy novels that had been runaway hits. Then we left for home, fondly bidding each other adieu.
@Diane Schaefer, Brilliant!! And congratulations!
Not my best Friday time ever, but I finished this in about 60% of my average Friday time. It went so smoothly! Everything just fell into place. I'll enjoy that while it lasts, and will greet Saturday's puzzle with trepidation.
I thought this was going to be a long haul one, as I had no idea with the first few clues (I start at 1A mid week onwards). But I surprised myself as the long spans filled in easily, making the crosses so much more accessible. I assumed I had 19a totally wrong, as it looked like gibberish to me. Thank you @Michael for clarifying the phrase. The only Spanish I know has been learnt here. URDU and LITHUANIA were gimmes, thanks to my multicultural childhood. A very enjoyable Friday outing. Saturday brings our annual village barn dance; I did the alcohol run yesterday (I run the bar); my two large trolleys full of booze raised a few eyebrows at the supermarket. We’re a thirsty lot.
@Helen Wright I found 1A to be a gimme, but then again, I never shied away from mathematics (although ultimately, it didn't figure into what I did with my life). I could see, on the other hand, how someone with the "I was told there would be no math" might have found that clue off-putting. ("Symmetry along its diagonal" has been used in describing crossword grids as well.) As a one-time director of an ESL/bilingual program, URDU was also a gimme for me, and LITHUANIA I got with only the U filled in (if I remember correctly). And of course, as a former Spanish teacher, SI SE PUEDE was a gimme for me. However, here in the US, some non-speakers might still know it because of the newsworthy connection; Obama used an English version in his campaign: Yes, we can! (SE is an indeterminate pronoun, like "on" in French.)
@Helen Wright The picture you paint of your village is reminiscent of Port Wenn. From the alpacas, to schlepping booze, you live the dream. If Bert Large should show up, beware of his shenanigans and question the food he brings. And do not imbibe with his homespun spirits, lest you find yourself in Doc Martin's surgery. Have a wonderful time!
@Helen Wright I had a bit of a chuckle with SISEPUEDE. I learned Spanish in high school in New York City with a teacher from Spain and I had very little exposure to Mexican or Latin American culture (or farm workers). Since there are no accent marks in crossword puzzles my first thought when I solved this was why the farmworkers’ motto would be “if we can…”
Can we find more ways to insert ASP into the puzzle? SI SE PUEDE!
I never felt like I fit in, always fitted out. I was pleased no end by this fun, fresh puzzle. Especially enjoyed that central stack. A spoon at rest remains at rest, which is how I got katsu in the cradle. Love how the little girls in the picture are being so careful not to spook the teddy bears.
Straightforward Friday. 13:32. Thanks for a lively fill. I like your style of noting down interesting things you hear on the street for your word list.
I liked the crossing of START HERE with SO THERE WE WERE.
“Syzygy, inexorable, pancreatic, phantasmagoria – anyone who can use those four words in one sentence will never have to do manual labor.” — W. P. Kinsella
@Cindy But, they will have to obey Nurse Rached when she hands out the meds 😉
I think this is my first Friday without needing lookups!! I must just be on the same page as Carolyn today, so thank you for that. Just under 20 minutes for me compared to over an hour or my normal Friday times. I'm thanking my love for FANTASY NOVELS for this one as I got that right away and it helped with lots of crosses.
@Katrina S. Congratulations! The first Friday and Saturdays are memorable events.
I couldn't do it without a lookup. I vaguely (and incorrectly) remember Bel cAESE cheese, and there was no chance I was going to know the caterpillar, although it made sense once I looked up Bel PAESE. Otherwise I don't want to comment until I know what kind of mood @Andrzej is in.
@Francis I had the A and S from the crosses and guessed P because ASP bites sting, right? It was my last square, and it worked! Now there's a new cheese I need to try.
@Francis You and @Andrzej could fill the entire comment section all by yourselves and we would happily read it from start to finish. Well, OK, maybe some of us.
@M. Biggen I've been told to stop wasting board space and everybody's time more than once here 🤣. Of course, that only inspires me to post more. I did not know the cheese (_AESE emerged from crosses), but what else could the AS_ caterpillar have been? It had to have been ASP.
@Francis That cross was my personal Natick. I began with an “h” and had to guess my way to the “p.” All the rest of the crosses in the puzzle were kind to me.
I found the puzzle *delightful*, but I would *not* have been bothered if the clueing beat me up a bit. And took my lunch money. I’m guessing I’m not the only one- and it may be most all (?) of us - but when I open a Friday or Saturday grid I put on a different hat. Or brain. I shove a different brain in my head. Ok. Let’s just run with that one… My Friday/Saturday solving brain is focused on misdirects, hidden capital letters, obscure clues in languages I am shocked to finally crack with crosses and expect to pick some grit and gravel from my teeth when the music plays. So, [ Places to bear witness? ] simply reads as [ Place to see a bear ], to me. Sometimes, I think it *must* be the reverse. Too easy. So when ZOOS jibed with STANZAS. the SW was a fill-in-the-blank. But the puzzle was awesome! Thank you Carolyn! I would gently request only that the editing team have a bit more faith in us. At *least* one of us just managed to shove a different brain into her skull, so… we got mad skills, over here. Amirite? Yeah? Nah? Have a *fantastic* Saturday all. Eat something delicious and put your bare feet in some grass with infectiously happy music playing in your ears!
@CCNY That was a delight, right up to the image of bare feet and infection, followed closely by an ear. Sorry, must be the germaphobe in me. 😂 But seriously, I thought that was very creative and very funny. 👏👏👏👏👏👏
I really enjoyed this puzzle, simple, slightly nostalgic, and everything @Beth in Greenbelt so eloquently phrased. Very nice writeup, madam Greenbelt! For a seemingly themeless puzzle, I detect a very subtle er, nudge, shall we say? From the erogenous zone, to the Jungian syzygy anima, toss in ateat, we have a motif, my friends. And, very nicely topped off by spoonrest. OK, that one was reaching. Whether it be a top 12 athlete or a Native American tribe, doesn't UTE tease out one of the greatest legal minds of cinema… Mr. Gambini? Did you say utes? Yeah, two utes. What is a ute? Oh, excuse me Your Honor: two youTHs Thanks for mentioning Big Sur, one of the most breathtaking (not the kind used in Seinfeld) coastal drives on our Pacific coast. The cliffs, beaches, the Bixby Bridge… gorgeous! Brings back great memories. If you feel brave, drive Old Coast Road, which runs behind the Bixby, used by early travelers prior to the bridge. Hope your vehicle has good brakes, but I'd use low gear on the downhill portions. I tried to squeeze “visiting relatives” into 14A… wouldn't fit. Loved the comparison to odors, though. I joke, of course, we know when to leave my brother’s beach house on LBI. Stanza is always a welcome reminder of early song compositions and I will surely try to fit Hypocorism into my ever dwindling vocabulary. I do like both words.
A terrific variety of entries to make up for no theme.
Many commenters found PAESE, ASP, KATSU, NEYO, tricky. Yet no mention of them in Tricky Clues. Meanwhile, few if any mentioned finding STAN, OPUS, AMEN, ACES tricky, but there they were in Tricky Clues.
And if Deb had instead discussed the first set of answers in Tricky Clues, many commenters would have asked about the ones in the second set she did discuss.
@Barry Ancona - Seriously, OPUS, AMEN and ACES were not tricky (unless you are not Judeo-Christian).
@Lisa I often feel the "tricky clues" in the articles are just a few clues picked at random to write about. I guess we all find different things difficult and easy
I don't usually comment on much, but I have to this time. This was an especially good puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed solving it. I only had to look up one or two of the clues, but I got all the long answers without trouble. I loved it! I hope Deb brings us more like this. Thank you!
Lovely puzzle. Spent some time considering AIBOTS instead of AGENTS and being simultaneously wrong and annoyed because an AI bot is not a worker 😀 TNT was delightfully clued It’s not always a PAWN so an ‘often’ would have made this pedant happier Thanks
@Ιασων ooh, AIBOTS...that's a great guess. Kinda scary, but great.
@Ιασων But the clue wasn’t “One always making the first move,” it was “One making the first move ❓ ” with a question mark.
I’ve rarely been so sure of myself as when I happily plunked down ONCE UPON A TIME for the stage-setting clue. Alas, crosses let me know that my perfect fit wasn’t so perfect after all. SO THERE WE WERE. Thank you for a fun romp of a puzzle!
No tricks or a theme. Oh. Right. It's a Friday puzzle.
N.B. It took The Times longer to post my comment than it took me to solve the puzzle. Si, se puede? I'm not sure.
@Barry Ancona If looking for a theme, look closer EROGENOUS SPOON TEASE GOOSE STARTHERE RAW FANTASY
@Barry Ancona I thought of you when I saw [Get off my ____!] and immediately plunked in LAWN before CASE. :-)
I came within 23 seconds of beating my best Friday time.
@Cindy l keep trying to reply and keep getting an error. I've replied to another comment today just fine. Congrats if this time works
So great! Mongoose and spoon rest are not only fun to say but also share some pleasing diagonal symmetry, at least in my brain.
This one felt really smooth and satisfying to solve, with a lot of clues relevant to my interest. I loved “fantasy novels”.
Took me just under 11 minutes. Fairly straightforward clueing, no tortured filler words. Elegant, but a bit too breezy for a Friday.
Fastest Friday time! Briefly stumped trying to think of a toy with "KA_E" because I had "ACEDIT". But then I ICEDIT!
Your first try at solving Friday puzzles? With this one you'll see that SI SE PUEDE! A bit kinky, with some clever TERNS of speech, but know that there will be plenty of TEAM SPIRIT cheering you on. And if you need help with solving it, MOS SEN NEYO, or SUCH IS LIFE.
@dutchiris I wasn't expecting Jonathan Richman to come in handy for 19A. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbZzC7DTs_U" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbZzC7DTs_U</a>
My best Friday time ever, yay! Fun puzzle.
She witnessed a bear By the big bamboo tree She cried, I bear witness! The bear turned to flee. At the freshwater pond She saw some fowl play She hollered, C’ést mon goose! The goose swam away. To yell at the zoo Is foolish, of course. All the bipeds will scamper And just leave you horse.
Deb, in reply to your question I'd have to say that I prefer the themeless puzzles, probably because they tend to be on the tougher side, usually, and also because of the more free range feel to them. Carolyn, you asked about the solving experience: I scan the clues before starting and spotted the [First nation to restore its independence . . . ] clue so had to accept that challenge and worked out from the SE. The longer answers were fun to guess but I did stumble at [Bossy bosses] thinking they were _______MoNstERS for a bit. Well done and thanks.
@John Carson I tend to prefer themes, but only because we have themeless puzzles to counter balance them. Gotta have both to appreciate either.
R&B stars will never shine for me...nor rappers, rockers, etc. I depend on crossings SO often! My hat is off to LITHUANIA. What is the Other Half that goes with ANIMA? I join the club of, "Get off my LAWN!" The MONGOOSE was certainly regarded as a pest in Hawaii, but Rikki-Tikki-Tavi makes you love the little rascals. At Girl Scout camp on Oahu, we were warned to keep any foodstuffs in our 'foot-lockers' or be faced with a big clean-up job, not to mentiion the loss of our goodies. (That camp is still there!) Eagerly awaiting the Saturday puzzle! SI SE PUEDE!
@Mean Old Lady my oldest son went to Boy Scout camp on Oahu! It was his favorite of the many different ones he attended over the years and we enjoyed “having to” fly out and pick him up from camp. We spent a couple of days with him on Oahu followed by a week on Kauai. One of our best vacations with him. It was only topped by our two weeks traveling around Spain with him after he finished a semester abroad there in high school.
@Mean Old Lady I know you don't always read the column. Deb explained things thus: 41D. I, as someone who has never studied to be a psychologist (in case you couldn’t tell), had to look this one up. A syzygy is a pair of opposites that are connected in some way, such as yin and yang. In Jungian psychology, the ANIMA and the animus are syzygies. Put simply, the ANIMA is the unconscious feminine side of a man, and the animus is the unconscious masculine side of a woman. I didn't know either.
@Mean Old Lady -- was that at Camp Timberline (now Pālehua) up in the Wai'anae Range? I've spend several weeks there over the years.
Personal best! Like others, I sailed through this one, but I also found it delightful and timely. Si se puede!
I did love the answer ZOOS…. Always good when you get a laugh out of a clue/answer
Three OLES! for the Farm Workers of America and Senor Chavez! One Ole for me for "3 Friday solves in a row" as reported by the current NYT puzzle bosses who have "micromanaged" my solving records since February of 1967. Thank you Carolyn for a fun start to the weekend.
Enjoyed this, ten seconds slower than my fastest Friday. To answer Deb's question, I prefer themeless - but maybe that's just because they're more challenging. I love that feeling every Friday and Saturday of approaching the empty grid with that slightly ridiculous feeling of nervousness - will I be able to finish it with no lookups? Like - who cares?! But obviously ... I do. HA!
I've been surprised lately that after having bombed the Wednesday and Thursday puzzles badly, I find the Friday puzzle to be completely doable. Anyone else?
Post break up my stupid ex is still helpful even if he’s ignoring me (good thing). He was an exchange student to Moscow in high school and was in a classroom in Moscow when Lithuania declared its independence and tanks rolled through the streets. So Lithuania came very quickly. I love reading fantasy novels and studying the maps to understand the geography (Tolkien, Lackey, Pierce, McCaffrey) so that came fast. Micromanagers, team spirit, and pop up stores also felt easy. Enjoyable Friday with lots of fun fill.