Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917. The USSR did not exist until 1922.
@Fact Boy Good call. I knew there was something that bugged me about it. Certainly I thought it meant the last ruler as a misdirect. But no way the USSR “ended” the line of tsars.
@Fact Boy Indeed. One could easily figure out what they're going for, but there was a lot of questionable cluing in this puzzle. (See my "pedantic" comment elsewhere about the dinosaurs clue.) The NYT is supposed to be the gold standard for these puzzles. Getting the details right matters.
@Fact Boy A bit of a stretch, but the anti-Bolshevik “Whites” whose defeat marked the creation of the USSR included monarchist factions (among many other ideologies). Thus, if the Russian Civil War had ended differently, it’s *conceivable* that a monarch claiming relation to the House of Romanov with the title of “tsar” might have been reinstated in some form or another. Arguably, then, the establishment of the Soviet Union is what conclusively resolved the question of whether the February Revolution that deposed Nicholas II would simply have marked the start of a short interregnum, or if it meant the true end of tsarist rule in perpetuity, as it did in fact do.
@Fact Boy Picky, picky! The big picture is important here. TSARS and USSR is fine, and preferred. Former history teacher.....
Wendy P, et al, As usual, Fact Boy stated facts. Fact Boy did *not* say there was an error in the puzzle.
@Fact Boy Thank you. That’s what I was missing!
I reckon the NYT crossword is an under-appreciated trivia educational aid. It enables Brits to learn American culture (i now know more about SSNs than I’d ever care to imagine), old fogeys to keep up with the youth speak (what on earth is NOCAP? This is the only way we’d ever hear about it) and everyone can argue about etymology (OCTOPI…. There, I said it!) P.s. my favourite etymological nitpick: “helicopter” is not heli+copter but helico (screw) + pter (wing). I hope that was uplifting for y’all!
@Petrol I love that breakdown of helicopter!
@Petrol Yeah, but it seems odd to say that the news team has a pter on the scene.
@Petrol Cap is slang for lie. No cap = truth.
@Petrol Indeed! I participate in few other online communities!
@Petrol Which means the correct plural for helicopter is helicoptera? ;-) Or is it helicopteri?
@Petrol Fascinating! For some reason I'm a little pterbed at that word.
"You just gave me a deck of cards for no reason." "Deal with it!" (I'm a joker, but that pun was a bridge too far.)
@Mike My MOONDANCE is more like a shuffle. The Stooges were three of a kind. They often played to a full house. Cheech and Chong were a high pair. I could go straight on 'til morning.
@Mike I'm so glad you're back!
@Mike Suit yourself. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@Mike Come on! Is no one gokng to point the extra card? What the DEUCE!
@Mike I've got to hand it to you, you've always got something up your sleeve. Antes a pun, right?.
@Mike I'd like to play SlapJack with you!....:0)
Nice theme. Got a little messed up with MEKONG/MAC/ACCEDE. I had pAl in there for a while, and pEKONG seemed okay to me. AlCEDE looked wrong, but couldn't think of ACCEDE. After double checking, pEKONG and AlCEDE were my lowest degrees of certainty, so I tried to think of a word that would work instead of pAl. Remembered MAC from a previous crossword, and that got me the gold star
@Steven M. Could you explain Bud -> MAC to me pls? I don't get it.
@Francis - Common in 1940's movies. So it's dated.
@Steven M. I got stuck on the same clue. I had MAn there, so MEKONG worked but I couldn't figure out what was wrong with AnCEDE. I admit I had to Google AnCEDE to make sure it wasn't a word and sure enough it wasn't. Took me longer than I like to admit to come up with MAC and felt a little silly it took so long. Fun puzzle
@Steven M. Exactly the same progression of errors for me!
JACKIE ROBINSON seems a tad too close to Jack of diamonds, even "in support of a theme." IMO
@Barry Ancona Yeah, I hesitated there, but the only idea I have for an alternative (M-W's #3 definition of its use as a verb) is something about a jewelry heist, and I'm okay with any reference to #42.
@Barry Ancona I thought the same thing, but I think they let it slide (no pun intended) because they don’t spell out J, just the J.
@Barry Ancona My mind went to Jack of all Trades, but specific to the baseball diamond. Never heard that term used before so probably not what was meant, but it made more sense to me in that context.
Would someone please dumb down that comment for me?
@Barry Ancona I seldom read comments on a crossword, but these are an excellent reason not to. Some say splitting hairs but the French say into fourths: couper les cheveux en quatre. I’ll check in after I find a place in France. This poor puzzle.
@Barry Ancona I wondered if anyone else would take issue with it. I did too. But very glad to see JACKIE ROBINSON in the puzzle.
I'd call this a fine Tuesday puzzle. Perfectly pleasant, but little challenge and no trick. I know the difficulty progression is not set in stone, but I do miss it when a Thursday isn't a Thursday.
@Barry Ancona For me, my nine cheats mean this is definitely a Thursday puzzle. Challenge enough for me!
@Barry Ancona I know what you mean. However, I completed it at 3am cos I couldn't sleep and I'm not sure my sleep-deprived brain could deal with rebuses without self-destructing. I'm sure we'll pay for it with a hellish Fri/Sat and a rebus-filled Sunday just in time for my hangover 😩
@Barry Ancona Agreed. I think they tried to justify with harder clues but to me at best it’s a Wednesday.
@Barry Ancona The last real tough one for me was Saturday. Sundays though are a jipy.
For Joey Tribbiani, 23 across is moo. 😂
"It's a moo point. Like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo."
Another day of having difficulties, only to find that absolutely no one else had even the tiniest problem with it. I gotta learn some Pixar film names. And learn some actors from the 21st century. And NBA stars.
@Francis I struggled in places, too. 🤜🤛
@Francis And Hip Hop Artists.
@Francis I identified two problem areas in a later comment, but my time was still a little below average.
Random thoughts: • What a classy pair of PILLARS to have in a puzzle, with MASTER GARDENER and JACKIE ROBINSON. • My mood turned bright at seeing “Heckelphone”, which feels marvelously cartoonish, partly because it brings smile-producing images of cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle. • PuzzPair© of COMMA and PERIOD. • Beauty in MOONDANCE, PILLARS, MOOT, UDON, BENTO, ACCEDE, and BEFELL. • Lovely fauna references: CUBS, TIGER, DINOSAURS, BARK, COOP, and the creature shouting, “ME KONG!” • Fun to guess at the theme answers with as few crosses as possible. Your puzzle, Emily and Sala, had a sweet lilting feel, a lovely sendoff to the day. Thank you!
BTW, should anyone be interested, this grid is 14x16 rather than the usual square 15x15. It has 224 squares rather than the usual 225. You're welcome.
@Lewis You really do make silk purses out of the grubbiest of sow's ears. It's admirable, and you're a joy to have here. But this puzzle was too easy and unclever.
Since you asked, I have never in my life hard of Millionaire Matchmaker nor Patti Stanger. 'Race' is very commonly used for non-human living things. Often to mean 'subspecies' but more commonly to indicate a level below even subpecies. But sometimes used to indicate any related group of things.
@fehstik thank you for that explanation of race. I used to work with zoologists and I knew it was somewhere in the more complicated "tree of life" renderings but forgot the details... Now to ponder: how does it fit into the "birds are dinosaurs, but not in our common understanding of the term" debate raging in another thread...
Holy cow, you really gotta have thick skin to submit yourself to the comments when submitting a puzzle these days 😲
@Ken I’ve only recently started to read the comments section of wordplay, and I’m disappointed. It’s sad that we can’t create a space of joy to discuss the puzzles we all enjoy so much. Social media - bah! I would think it might scare off possible submissions of puzzles, hard to see something you’re excited about nitpicked to pieces. I’ll probably skip the comments and go back to puzzling in peace.
For once we had a more classic rebus. I was confused by it for a long time, but then things clicked into place. Strangely, the first themed entry I got was JACKIE ROBINSON (via crosses and educated guesses), even though I had no idea who that might be 🤣 (*of course*! A baseball player! Thanks, Google). Is the column right about the Corner:TREE thing? Can "tree" actually be a verb? That's some of the most arcane stuff I've ever seen in these puzzles. The clueing was not really on my wavelength, so I ended up looking up several things (CUBS, MOON DANCE, D-LIST) to generate much needed crosses. Other unknows I got through crosses only, like ELIO and MANU (the only sporting Manu I am familiar with is the French climber Cornu). Remembering the name ERIVO and things like BTU and E-CIG from previous puzzles was a big help. NO CAP, too. Overall I mostly enjoyed the puzzle.
@Andrzej Yeah it’s mostly a hunting term. The dog trees the critter and then the hunter kills it. Fun fact, my dog once expertly treed a raccoon in our yard then looked at me as if to say, “now go grab your gun!” Except I do not own guns and wouldn’t shoot that animal if I did. So I called the dog back inside and, confused but obedient, she came.
@Andrzej I don't know how much you read about Jackie Robinson, but in my heart he's much more than simply a baseball player. He's a man that suffered enormously because of his color and his position on a national team. He did it with dignity and class. And he was a great baseball player. He's personally one of my biggest heroes--a man who managed to maintain his poise against brutal racism.
@Andrzej I just now got the clue. Thanks!
@Andrzej @Francis I enjoyed the conversation here about heroes, mythologizing, and truth. Nice thoughts. I'm reminded of the quotation, "No man is hero to his valet." To which the philosopher Hegel added, "...not because the man is not a hero, but because the valet is a valet." We live in a de-mythologized ("disenchanted") age, and that has both its pros and its cons. Heroes? I'd suggest Gandhi, MLK, Socrates. All of them imperfect, but all of them changed the world for the better.
@Andrzej my middle child lives one kilometer from Wrigley Field, the stadium where the CUBS play. He might be disappointed if he knew I initially put METS in there (because NYC was the first city with 2 baseball teams that came to mind!) (and I would not be surprised to learn I'm wrong about the relative geography of the NYC stadia)
@Andrzej I see your point. We should all be sufficiently adult to realize that all heroes are humans, and all humans are flawed. But there must be a degree of being flawed after which you can no longer be considered a hero. I have major issues with the concept of "hero", too, especially as it is used in the super-hero sense which seems to have sucked so much oxygen out of our cultural atmosphere. Such super-heroes have the effect of being super-human to such an extent that the message is that we mere humans can't do anything to combat the problems that we encounter. Only a "hero" can save us. This teaches complacency and inertia. The heroes that I admire inspire us to be the best humans we can be, and surely we often need such inspiration.
I have nothing but respect for anyone who gets a puzzle published in the Times. It's hard for me to even imagine the amount of work -- or the amount of rejection -- that goes into getting one accepted. And that doesn't even account for having to deal with us idiots and our annoying comments! That having been said, as someone who looks forward to Thursdays all week, I have to agree with so many people here and say that this was a disappointing Thursday puzzle. It's fairly easy to explain why. If the clues had been spelled out -- that is "Queen of Hearts" instead of Q[Heart], there is no gimmick, just clues that are cards. But everyone who has any experience playing cards automatically says to themself "Queen of Hearts" when they see that symbol. And I love Jackie Robinson, but cluing his name as "Jack of Diamonds" would be unacceptable even on a Monday, since part of the answer is in the clue. So, why should J[Diamond] be acceptable. On the other hand there is some nice cluing here. "King of Clubs" is a fine clue for TIGER WOODS, and "Ace of spades" is excellent for MASTER GARDENER. But it's Monday/Tuesday level good. Not good enough for a Thursday. Thanks Emily Biegas and Sala Wanetick for your efforts. Sorry that your puzzle got printed on the wrong day and now you have to deal with us idiots.
No, no. What is this. Besides it being both far too easy and untricky for a Thursday, how is it okay to clue Jack for an answer of Jackie?? C'mon, guys. This is weak sauce. :( ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@B I think they justified it since JACK wasn’t spelled out, but I agree it’s a bit of a stretch of the rules.
@B I definitely raised an eyebrow at that one! Still, nice to see Mr. Robinson in the puzzle.
@B - Jackie Robinson played on a baseball diamond. That answer is in the same puzzle that claims dinosaurs are a race. Just gotta go with the flow of a general knowledge crossword.
@B I wondered about that too, but I decided to let it go.
@B I can imagine a world where the clue is the letter "J" and the answer is JACK and no one complains.
I’m pretty sure I won’t be the only one saying they set a personal best time today. I just don’t feel a sense of accomplishment for it. Given that there was no Thursday-esque trickery, and the clueing was fairly straightforward, I think this puzzle would have been better suited (no pun intended) for a Wednesday or maybe even a Tuesday.
@JPT Not joking that a couple of Mondays have given me more pause than this. I don't understand this puzzle appearing on Thursday. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (emu filler)
@JPT I set a record in a little more than half of my prior best time. No lookups either on this one. I will take it as I am in the middle of a very busy day!
So weird. I am not a fan of the CORNER / TREE clue. I get it but it's a little clunky, if you ask me. I don't recall ever seeing it before. I was just doing a puzzle from the archive, July 26, 1997, and the same clue is in that puzzle. I do love when these coincidences happen!
@Mary I didn’t really buy Tree for Corner either. You wouldn’t say, “We’ve got him treed,” would you? Agree it clunky and a stretch, at best.
On the first pass, I put “PrincessDi” for Q♥️, mostly for SENTIMENTAL reasons. I knew it would not last (*sigh*). Good puzzle.
@Pani Korunova I was thinking about you recently! Where have you been? I missed you. Nice to see you back, if only for one post 😃
@Pani Korunova I’m with @Andrzej. Hope you’re surviving the heat. We’re bad enough but I know you have it worse.
Thank you. I had a death in the family that ate up most of my emotional and temporal resources for the past several months. I’m trying to get back to normal. Yes, it’s been very hot here but my coastal town has cooled down more than many other places in Portugal. Thanks again.
If you’re allergic to crabbiness, please stop reading. I can’t remember the last time I disliked a puzzle more. Millionaire Matchmaker? Cutesy rebuses? Another Bravo show? Names like Erivo from another TV show? Not a single interesting fact to be gleaned from the entire puzzle, and on top of that it wasn’t exactly challenging, only gimicky. 10 minutes I’ll never get back. What I would like to ask of the NYT is that the next time a constructor tells you they were “inspired” by a Bravo show, hold out for one who was inspired by literature or science or music.
@Sam Lyons I rarely really disparage on a puzzle. But there was something so off about this one, that even I, who struggles to find beauty, thought...there's something just not right here. I'm sorry if that is dispiriting to the constructors. And I acknowledge that I have a chip on my shoulder at the moment. Personally, and if I understand construction, the theme was fine. I liked the King of Diamonds being Jackie Robinson. In fact I loved it. But there were a lot of jarring places where I think the clue and answer just didn't seem that connected, in my opinion.
@Sam Lyons I really enjoy an honest, well worded, critical post. Thank you. Also, for once I liked a puzzle more than you did! I'm not used to being more positive than another person 😆
@Sam Lyons Cynthia Erivo is probably a name that will show up again. She is definitely more than “from a TV show.” (She has EGT of an EGOT already.) Additionally, Wicked is a movie, not a TV show.
@Sam Lyons Fair enough that you didn’t like the puzzle; it wasn’t my favorite either. But just to clarify a few things: Rebuses? Where? You didn’t need to hear of Millionaire Matchmaker to just get MATCHMAKER I haven’t. Cynthia ERIVO besides winning a Grammy Tony and Emmy was the star of Wicked which was a top grossing movie last year and also nominated for an Oscar that year. If you haven’t heard of her that’s totally on you.
@Sam Lyons I’m a big fan of your posts, and I appreciate a proper crabby rant, but I encourage anyone who might be curious to do a little dive into the work of Cynthia Erivo on stage and screen (thank you, @Francis). She has a rather impressive bio, an incredible voice, and recently did a great job hosting the 2025 Tonys (sorry, @Andrzej).
@Sam Lyons Your comment reminds me of the emails that sent that later I wished I had sat on and rewrote or never sent at all. I wasn't offended -- the comment just had that flavor. At least you warned of the crabbiness, and I was intrigued on your take of the puzzle, and for that we have no real reason to complain. On the bright side, if not for this puzzle would we have learned (from the comments) the true etymology of "helicopter".
@Sam Lyons I liked the answer for "king of spades" clue. And the puzzle prompted this from commenter Petrol: "“helicopter” is not heli+copter but helico (screw) + pter (wing)." Also, now know "hecklephone".
Would have been nice if J◊ could have been clue number 42
The first guess I entered for the first themed clue was LEMMY KILMISTER.
I loved seeing JACKIE ROBINSON. I grew up as a Brooklyn Dodger fan. I think I still am although they deserted me.
@Margaret - Jackie Robinson played minor league ball in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, so we are part of his story, too.
@Margaret So did I, and whoever went on about flawed hero can exit stage left.
I thought this was a really fun puzzle. Thank you, constructors! And I found the comments today depressing. Sorry about that, constructors! Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'll read the news now to cheer me up.
@ad absurdum The problem with the habitual use of irony is that we who follow your comments regularly can never be sure if you're being straight.
@ad absurdum glad you enjoyed! I get a kick out of all the comments even the negative ones, just exciting to see so many people solving our puzzle.
@X-Phile That's the price I pay for being hilarious. But I really do find a certain level of piling-on to be depressing.
@Sala I'll bet it's exciting. It's truly an accomplishment!
Wow. Now I’ve read the comments. Are y’all grouchy, or am I chipper? Lately I’ve been grouch-solving. Often. But not today. Did someone add some wacky to my tobacky? Some pep to my step? A bit of vim to my vigor? A splash of… Oh. Yeah…okay. I see it now. It’s me.
@CCNY I liked it, but felt that running on a Thursday was just looking for trouble. I admit to feeling a little grouchy when my Thursday puzzle doesn't make my brain stretch, so that makes me less inclined to comment. The theme was very cute and would have fit perfectly in an early week puzzle.
I am almost in this puzzle as Q♠️, since my nom-de-jardin is “Queen of the Garden”. Sample usage: Me: “I think it’s time to renovate the strawberry area this year.” Best beloved: “Do you want to move them back to where they were before?” Me: “Nope.” BB: “OK. You’re queen of the garden.”
@Cat Lady Margaret given your mom de plume, I thought you were going to say something that evoked the bumper sticker: “I ♠️ my 🐈” 🤓
Fun puzzle, once I enlarged the clues and could see that the suits weren't just plusses. Here's a fact that most Americans probably don't know. Robinson started his MLB career in Montreal, with the Montreal Royals (farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers). My kids learned about him in their grade school class called "Éducation morale" (the course was the alternative for the non-Catholic kids, instead of catechism).
@Esmerelda Now you have me wishing that education morale would catch on worldwide.
Fun puzzle to end the day with. I liked NO CAP next to PERIOD. What even is sparkling water ESSENCE!? Hope the constructors enjoy their celebrations! ✌️
@Becky Presumably ESSENCE meaning essential oils (from citrus fruits and whatnot) that are sometimes added to sparkling water to give it a faint whiff of flavor.
@Becky Funny, this one made little sense to me, but as I was reading the column I was drinking a can of La Croix sparkling water and I happened to notice on the label it says, “naturally essenced”. Who knew….
I don't ascribe to the day/difficulty maxim so will just say a fine outing and was fun trying to guess the themers. I did want to give a hat tip to [Curve that gives one pause?] for COMMA. 43 instances of that mark and today's clue is by far the most original and the most fun*. Hope it was the constructor duo's submission. Nicely done. * [Common component of a date] and [Punctuation missing from "Let's eat Grandma"?] are close runners up.
@John Carson Are you certain that there's punctuation missing from "Let's eat Grandma"? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDgSKbapzY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDgSKbapzY</a>
After figuring out the first three themed answers, I was convinced that J♦️ was some kind of jewel thief. When I eventually figured out it was Jackie Robinson, that made sense - he was famed for his base running, especially for stealing home. So “jack of diamonds” works in more ways than one. A lot of people seemed to miss that. That said, I think the theme would have worked better if they were all proper nouns, or all not. The whole bottom third of this puzzle had me hopelessly stuck for a while, but I guess that’s on me. But Dinosaurs weren’t really a race…
I'm surprised this was accepted for publication. Certainly not a Thursday puzzle, and the theme is simply poor. I'd elaborate, but I'd rather read the earlier comments.
@Xword Junkie Just checking in to see what I thought about this puzzle before I (re-)post my, more elaborate thoughts. Yeah, we're in agreement.
@Xword Junkie Write more, please. Would love to read your thoughts (I agree it was a very poor puzzle).
@Xword Junkie With the likes of you, Sam L., and even BA criticizing this so severely, this may be the worst received entry in recent memory. (I think that honor should belong to the Art Theft monstrosity, but even that had its misguided fans.) Still, Lewis managed to find beauty in it. :) Love that guy.
@Xword Junkie I agree. Way too simple and straightforward for a Thursday puzzle. Disappointing.
@Xword Junkie My more elaborate comments have been released by the emus. Let me know if you agree.
Pretty easy for a Thursday. I got MASTERGARDNER without seeing the gimmick, but caught on at TIGERWOODS. After that it was smooth sailing. I would have appreciated the theme a little more if all the answers had been real people, or, conversely, if they’d all been categories of people.
Tiger Woods and Jackie Robinson are real people but the theme was suits of cards, and quite clever.
Figured out king of clubs pretty quickly was Tiger Woods. The rest of the theme answers came pretty quickly. Loved Jack of Diamonds being Jackie Robinson. Had never heard of a Heckelphone before and I am a member of 2 concert bands. However, I had the B and associate anything weird that ends with phone (sousaphone) as being musical. Had karaoke choice as solo for a while, then figured it out. Liked the stack of udon and bento. Nice mix of sports and music clues.
@Megan FWIW, I only know heckelphone from the puzzles, but it has been a clue for OBOE(S) eleven times, including once in each of the last two years.
Regarding 57 Across, I saw this at the Visions Museum of Textile Art in San Diego a couple of years ago. It primed me for this clue! And is a cool SD outing. <a href="https://vmota.org/jack-of-diamonds-by-karen-felicity-berkenfeld" target="_blank">https://vmota.org/jack-of-diamonds-by-karen-felicity-berkenfeld</a>/
By the way, the heckelphone – which has appeared at least ten times in NYT clues – resembles an oboe, but is pitched an octave lower and is about twice as long. Only about 150 have been made (it was introduced in 1904), and about 100 still exist. It was invented by, a person whose last name was, of course, Heckel. It is heavy enough to where it needs to rest on the floor, supported by a metal peg at its bottom. (Thank you Wikipedia.) I think it would be the perfect instrument for making bleating sounds to protest bad jokes made by a comedian at a live performance.
@Lewis 😀 Valuable and interesting information. And protesting bad jokes sounds like a fine resolution to an instrument of which only a hundred exist.
Agree with what Barry said 10 hours ago, which was-- "I'd call this a fine Tuesday puzzle. Perfectly pleasant, but little challenge and no trick."
@Vaer Also have to say that I don't understand the fuss with the clue for JACKIE ROBINSON being J and a diamond symbol.
These have really gotten to the point that they're so easy and watered-down that they're barely worth doing. No point in even complaining about this one specifically, because almost every puzzle is barely Tuesday-level now. It's a drag to go through the archives and see the standard of both difficulty and quality the puzzle used to be at. There's almost nothing separating it at this point from like, USA Today
@a Many of us aspire to your level of proficiency.
@ I have to agree. Thursdays were often undoubtedly for me, 10-15 years ago. And yet every puzzle has scores of comments complaining how hard they are. Heck, even Mondays used to feel like something of an accomplishment. Now they don't take m more than ten minutes. It makes me sad. As you point out, there were ALWAYS plenty of easy crosswords for anyone. There was ONE NYT for those who enjoyed being challenged. I am not a great crossworder, but I enjoyed sitting with a puzzle I could only get three words on. I wish the NYT would not aim to be popular to people who just want ease and a false sense of ability.
@a Although I agree this was easier than most Thursday puzzles, to compare the Times puzzles to the USA Today puzzles is a bit hyperbolic.
@a So not true! I rip through those USA Today puzzles in usually 5 or 6 minutes. They seem like a light palette cleanser after the heavy fare here on the Th., Fri., and Saturday.
19A is dedicated to Mean Old Lady.
Either I'm getting better or the puzzles are getting easier. I lean toward the latter. Yesterday was my fastest Wednesday puzzle ever. Today is my fastest Thursday puzzle -- even faster than yesterday. I'm expecting a monstrously difficult puzzle upcoming.
@Eddie though I don’t think it’s ever been proven… it’s been discussed (and I feel this way every July/Aug) that the puzzles get easier in the summer. Perhaps since there may be younger or more casual solvers playing. No cap!
@Eddie Wait for Friday and Saturday.
Emily and Sala, thank you for this painless Thursday. Clever fills for the theme clues, and a welcome absence of screechy skews to make the crosses work. Lots of smiles while I was solving—I especially liked the punctuation. I hope we'll see another puzzle from you soon. Any day is okay with me.
Maybe I'm tired but I struggled with this one a bit. Especially the SE quadrant. I am not a sportsball person. I had MASTODONS before DINOSAURS. Oh well. I think its so cool the constructors literally invited us all to celebrate with them. Has that ever happened!? If I lived in Michigan I would be there. 🍻
@Deb Amlen, Right on about freelancing! I also did that for many years, entirely against my will, because that's how things were in post-Reagan corporate America, especially in my line of work. Which brings me to a sub-rant, the false belief that I actually chose this path, and the widespread belief that freelancing somehow makes you "free".
Not what I look forward to from a Thursday. There was no great mystery to be solved in the theme clues. Could just as easily have been spelled out I.e. “King of Clubs”, etc. And DINOSAUR is not a race. Race isn’t a biological reality, it’s a social construct, and it most definitely is not a synonym for “species”. Pretty poor, honestly. Wrong on multiple levels. I don’t like to be negative about puzzles because I appreciate the time and effort that go into making them but this was a Wednesday at best.
@Byron You are right of course although the question mark allows it to be stretchy. But interestingly even dinosaurs weren’t a single species. Officially they are a clade (just learned that today) which is a group of species with a common ancestor.
@ByronI agree. Way too easy for a Thursday.
@Byron Even if "race" is not a biological reality, it is a linguistic reality, and that is all that is required for the puzzle. And if you're going to talk about "biological realities", you should know that DINOSAURS are not a "species".
@Byron From the fine folks at Merriam-Webster: Race 2 a: a group of living things considered as a category <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race</a>
Fabulous Thursday puzzle! Clever clues and, of course, it started with the beloved Cubbies! A homerun, Emily and Sala! Grazie!!
Pleasant, not as challenging as most Thursdays.
As a septuagenarian who doesn't watch television, I sometimes struggle with modern cultural and social references. No, I don't live in a cave, but pop culture can stump me at times. I'm grateful to Wordplay for helping out with the more obscure clues and answers. Keep up the great work!
@Jodie Octogenarian here: agreed, but I can often piece it together with other clues and that’s part of the fun. The crosswords are my favorite, but I’m scratching my head going over the grid to find what I did wrong, usually spelling. Enjoy, all.
To answer the constructors's question - I never heard of Millionaire Matchmaker and Patty Stanger. And it's not something I would ever watch, if I had run across it. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, I have heard of, and have watched in person twice. So he was my clue into the puzzle theme. I also know some master gardeners. Jackie Robinson's number is retired by every MLB team, and was another easy answer. I enjoyed the puzzle.
@jennie Where in the puzzle clues do you see "Millionaire"? This puzzle has enough flaws without adding a manufactured one. (Maybe it has to do with the column? If so, that is ridiculous, since MATCHMAKERs have existed for ages in different cultures, and a successful one might well be dubbed "Queen of Hearts." )
Cutesy puzzle. MOONDANCE is one of the songs in our wedding video 🥰 Seeing #42 brought another smile. We always try to go see a game on JACKIE ROBINSON day (April 15). Thank you, Emily and Sala 😊
@Jacqui J Despite my agreement that JACKIE ROBINSON deserves all the honors he receives, I find April 15 to be the most confusing and off-putting day in the baseball calendar. Everyone is wearing the same number, which of course is in direct contradiction with the purpose of numbers, and in accordance with historic accuracy, none of the uniforms have the players’ names on them. It’s a great day to listen to a game on the radio. My grandmother, of blessed memory, used to tell the story of when she was taken to a Brooklyn Dodgers game. When the players were out in the field, her question was, which one was Robinson? (It should have been easy to tell, and she needn’t have known his number.)
I got the leitmotif today. Speaking of which, I challenge constructors to start putting LEITMOTIF in puzzles. It's a great little word and I've never seen it used. You could even kick off the first time clue as: 'What you get when you solve this puzz'. As much as I like filling in OBOE and Arthur ASHE week after week and month after month, I would love to see this relatively obscure answer utilized a couple times....
@Eddie That great little word made its way into Polish, too, and I've seen and heard it quite a times, even if we use the Polish term "motyw przewodni" much more often.
@Eddie Agreed. LEITMOTIF would make an excellent answer to frustrate me to no ends.
@HeathieJ, You’re notable by your absence today. I’m going to take that as a sign that you had a grand time on your birthday, and so hoping that you got your swim in the sea! 🏊🏻♀️
Fun puzzle but too easy for a Thursday, and I agree with others that Jack of diamonds is not an acceptable clue for Jackie Robinson
@James Jackie Robinson is perfect for Jack of Diamonds. Great baseball player.
@James. Maybe the clue is merely J♦️… Jack is not spelled out in the clue, and maybe no prohibition on letters shared between the clue and the answer.
DIsliked Jackie being in the answer clued with "Jack". Also, I personally feel like the theme would've been better without two fo the asnwers being specific people.