A gentle theme and a pleasant puzzle. Perfectly cromulent.
@Marshall Walthew Cronut!
First time I completed a Wednesday without looking at the wordplay column or using any cheats!
@Shaun Great! Don't let anyone rain on your parade by telling you it was too easy.
@Shaun Congratulations. That’s a great feeling. Imagine what it will feel like when you solve your first tricky Thursday without help. And so on.
@Shaun Not my first time, but it's still rare enough to make me beam. Feels good, right? Congrats.
@Shaun You should be very proud, Shaun, of the deed!
@ad absurdum We should celebrate at the Winchester!
For a while I wondered what gene rations were.
My dog and best friend of 14 years, Benny, is going in for major surgery tomorrow (Wednesday). He has a 6 cm liver mass, statistically likely to be hepatocellular carcinoma (doggy liver cancer). He was a stray when we got him, so I have no idea how old he is. And it may seem cruel and selfish to do surgery on an old dog, but just yesterday he was out sprinting me like he did all those years ago. The vet says that with surgery, he likely has a few more years (without surgery, months). Yes, I knew that this day would come eventually. But it's never easy. I haven't been able to focus at work, and so had to cancel my week. All I can think about is my best friend, and the great times we've had, and how he carried me when it was just me and him for years. That is all I can think about... Besides when the next crossword is going to drop. Stupid streak.
@DocP Hang in there, Benny and DocP ❤️
@DocP Best wishes for a smooth surgery, fast recovery and many more years with Benny.
@DocP Those are very tough decisions, and there's very little to go on, especially with a stray. There really is no right answer, as far as I'm concerned. My heart goes out to you. Best of luck for you both.
@DocP You are now going to have a lot of people thinking about your sweet pup and wishing for him to come through with flying colors. I know I will be.
@DocP Fingers and toes crossed for the best outcome. May he be sprinting alongside you again very soon.
@DocP I’ll be thinking, praying and hoping your Benny is bouncing again, very soon. They are family. In many ways, our very closest family members. Please keep us posted.
@DocP Best wishes for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery for Benny.
@DocP Thank you everyone for your well wishes. We are at the hospital right now. Benny is being prepped for surgery.
@DocP Sending healthy wishes to Benny - the crossword comment crew is a perfect place to garner healing energy vibes.
@DocP Best wishes for you and Benny. A few more precious months together...relish every single day of them with your buddy!
@DocP We've all heard "Where there's life, there's hope," and hope should never be lost. Benny can recover from this surgery, and while it may take time, he would want a chance at more years with you, as you do with him. Age should not be a barrier for treating a disease. If my doctors had listened to those who said it should be, I would be dead, instead of alive now, nine years later. Whatever the outcome, you made the right choice.
@DocP UPDATE! Benny is out of surgery. The surgeon was able to completely resect the tumour. She said that he looks really really good for a 15 year old. We had a chance to see him post op, wearing the cone of shame. He was happy to see us. I fear we may have excited him too much. Poor Foxy, his best friend, has been waiting by the door, waiting for him to come home. I wish I could post pics. I'll post again with an update when he comes home tomorrow. Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I have to think that the positive energy being sent his way have helped him so far.
This puzzle was so much fun. Clues were perfectly clever: not too easy, not too obscure - snd the theme was "gettable" with some thinking.
Great puzzle and a very fun theme! I think it's PIT as in the NASCAR stop for new tires, versus the sunken spot in a garage which is for oil changes.
@KandB I believe cars are raised or at least jacked up to change tires. The clue and answer didn't make sense to me.
@jennie Okay - a racing "pit" area makes sense. It's not really a pit at many tracks.
@KandB I agree. At a race tract, it is a PIT stop in the PIT area where the PIT crew changes your car tires in less than 10 seconds. The PIT is definitely the "Place to retire."
Special place in my heart for Joseph Gangi, today’s constructor, because he made the cutest-looking puzzle I’ve ever seen, no exaggeration; I’m smiling in my heart just thinking about it. You owe yourself a look: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2022/03/16" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2022/03/16</a> . My favorite part of today’s puzzle was the riddles – trying to guess the theme answers from their clues alone, not even looking at the crosses (the theme was clear after getting the first theme answer). I come into the box hoping to satisfy my brain’s work ethic, and this did that for me. Oh, I liked the three palindromes (EWE, LIL, EXE) and the cross of words that sound like letters (CEE, ESSAY), but I loved the riddles. Joseph must have seriously happy-danced when he saw that CHEMICAL SYMBOLS could be crossed in just the right places by POSTAL CODES and GENERATIONS. A just reward for those uncountable times in a constructor’s experience when things don’t turn out that way. And Joseph, you brought my heart and brain a lovely reward today as well – thank you!
@Lewis thank you for sharing that 2022 puzzle! It was, as promised, adorable (and a fun solve, as well).
@Lewis I laughed out loud at "come into the box"—I've never heard that before. So serious! Can't help but oppose it to the "octagon" and hear it in Deidrich Bader's Rex Kwon Do voice. 😂
@Lewis Thanks for the link. What a great grid!
@Lewis Thanks so much for the link. That was a very enjoyable puzzle.
I was seriously concerned about 5D. Six letters for [Perform dreadfully, so to speak], and I had the _UCK__ I really thought for a moment we were going to start a new era in NYT crosswords. Really, I thought for sure it was going to be something obscene like MUCKUP.
@Francis There will be pearl clutchers will consider the actual answer beneath appropriate decorum as well.
@Francis I thought it was SUCK iT not AT. Fun puzzle. Gentle but I was thinking :)
@Francis That was my "at least one error." I decided that after all ALBUm was a nice word, but a lousy name.
I think [Periodic __] would have been a great clue for TABLE. I enjoyed all of the different ways the theme letters had things in common, but also unique from each other. Tight theme. Thank you, Joseph. Happy hump day, crosslandia 🐪
@Jacqui J I’m a fan of finding or cluing a lot of connections inside a grid—to be honest I’m not sure the editors always are, I’ve heard some solvers are annoyed by too many direct references to other clues, and even having several clues on the same knowledge base (chemistry, math, sports, pop stars etc) puts some people off. I think it makes the puzzle more interesting, personally.
So, I’ll put my hand up with the current and future commentators who think it was a little easy for a Wednesday. That said I thought the theme was very entertaining and the other two longer entries were interesting (I noticed that even before I saw the constructor’s note). The other shorter entries were pretty unremarkable (I did like PIT though). I was amused by IMON right above LINE (I imagine an understudy finally getting their chance and then getting nervous). Finally a shout out to puzzle construction—it’s not easy to have two down theme entries that cross a theme entry going through the middle, that are all as smooth as this one. So give credit where credit is due and don’t get hung up if you think the general puzzle is too easy.
@SP I liked today’s puzzle, but yes, I was 12 seconds shy of a PB for Wednesdays with this one.
@SP Agree Fun theme, but easy cluing. Took me less than half my average time.
I ended with the NE corner and broke out in song upon completion… low bridge, everybody down, low bridge cuz we’re coming to a town, and you’ll always know your neighbor, you’ll always know your pal, if you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal. And I did! Early 2000’s, Seneca Falls to Rockport in a 42 foot steel hulled canal boat. It think it was 16 locks we went through. When a crossword puzzle throws you into good memories…. Thanks.
@Clare I started singing the song, too, because this old brain had a senior moment trying to come up with the name of the canal, which has been in a puzzle at least once a week since I started doing them when I was a teenager. As an east coaster, I never had the opportunity to navigate the Erie canal, but I did get to do the Panama canal in a speedboat. Are we still allowed to call it the Panama canal, or has that name been changed by the Taco-in-Chief, too?
@Clare Wow! 16 locks? I went through the Soo locks in Sault Ste. Marie, MI when I was 12 with my parents. I thought locks were the coolest thing ever! (Though, that may have been because it was the first time we went on vacation anywhere.)
@Clare I did not know the song or the reference. Thank you!
@Clare A nice song and we definitely learned it in school (in NY state anyway). But I like the other song better: We were forty miles from Albany. Forget it I never shall. What a terrible storm we had that night On the EE-RI-EE CA-NAL-AL-AL; On the EE-RI-EE canal. Oh the EE-RI-EE was a-risin' And the gin was a-gettin' low. And I scarcely think We're gonna get another drink, Till we get to Buffalo. Goes on for several more verses. Covered by Pete Seeger.
Ok credit for at least a somewhat creative way to get “eels” in there, it comes up so often must be hard to find new ways to spin the clues.
@Jason - yes - I have yet to see anyone clue it with “water denizens resident around Canterbury Cathedral”
@Jason But I had never seen/heard that particular Ogden Nash poem, so it was a fun treat. Read it aloud to the DHubby!
While a PIT *is* a sunken bay in a car repair shop, Sam, you would never change a tire in or from one. You re-tire a race car in the PIT at a racetrack. Who knows, it's etymology might spring from the pit in a garage, though.
@Walj I was told (North Carolina is NASCAR country) that the area in which race cars get quick service was initially an actual pit or trench that would allow access to the underside of the car. That tended to go away with the advent of efficient hoists and jacks.
Loved it. No sports, no foreign words, only one college abbreviation and it was an easy one, and very few proper nouns.
Any puzzle that starts with Dumbledore is ok with me. Got the theme early with 17A, but it took a while to work out the rest. I’m ashamed to say that I thought GENE RATIONS was a perfectly good answer, given that I’m completely scientifically illiterate. I’ll get my coat.
Chemist here. Of course I love all chemistry-related clues, but I take a small issue with 6-Down. The sum of protons plus neutrons is what we call the mass number and is specific to a particular isotope of an element. The atomic mass is typically understood to be a weighted average of the masses of all isotopes. The mass number is always an integer, while the atomic mass generally is not. Not trying to be a buzz kill, just taking the opportunity to educate! I managed to get the answer anyway. ;)
@Mary. Yup of course… note the “roughly” in the clue. But you bring up a key point and one of my favorites. Originally atomic mass used in the 1800’s because that was what they could measure. Then hands on experiment by Moseley deduced unexpectedly that atomic number, which is the number of protons in the nucleus, was a better source of the causation of the pattern in the periodic table, and about the same time, isotopes of neon and then of other elements we’re unexpectedly discovered. Finally Einstein’s E=mc^2 finished the story of atomic mass, applied to the nuclear binding energy. Terrific journey of understanding the atom and the nucleus.
@Mary The terminology is tricky here, and maybe not as well-defined as it should, but... The way I read it is that the mass number of any specific isotope of an element is the sum of protons and neutrons. The weighted average is *molar mass*, or in older terms, the "atomic weight".
On Tuesday I barely remembered not to turn Autocheck on--I save that for Wed~Sun. Last night when I started today's puzzle I forgot to turn it on. But by the time I remembered it was going well enough that I decided not to. Things I needed to do made me shut down the computer, but I finished up quickly (quickly for me nowadays = 30 minutes) when I got back to it this morning. It had been quite a while since I last got my streak up to 3!)
@kilaueabart, No Autocheck on a Wednesday? Well done! 😄
“If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended-- That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend. And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearnèd luck Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long. Else the Puck a liar call. So good night unto you all. Give me your hands if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.” Curious if Mr Gangi was extending an apology if he offended us in anyway by making this quote the second to last clue of the puzzle. Big fan of this monologue. Loved music notes and chemical symbols. Think I might need to memorize the characters of the office as it was my one hang up
@Megan Some shows are topless but you'll never see a Bottomless Dream. The director would make an [expletive deleted] of himself.
@Megan Just saw MSND this weekend at American Players Theater.
@SBK Dear SBK - Wisconsin's American Players Theater is also outdoors. And we are going to the Stratford, ON Festival (theater) in September.
I vibed so much with the constructor that it felt like a Monday. Lovely puzzle and a new Wednesday best time!
Sam, Re: 62 Across You don't need a garage. In an auto race, the cars make a PIT stop to retire.
...and in the ones I've seen, the car's wheels straddle the garage PIT; to retire, you'll want a lift.
@Barry Ancona My thoughts exactly. For my solve, mental imagery went to racecars, not my little Hyundai...
Really lively theme with good misdirection in the clues. Nice job and thank you, Joseph!
Enjoyed this puzzle. My fave clue was “place to retire”. I an getting closer and closer to remembering what a cryptid is. And I always enjoy a little Ogden Nash. Do they teach old songs like The Erie Canal any more in schools? Thanks for a pleasant Wednesday puzzle!
Enjoyed this, and very smooth for a Wednesday. Serendipitously, I got PIT by an alternative definition in British English: a slang word for "bed". A perfect way to retire (and never re-tyre)
@OsteoSynth That was my thought too. Are the flags at half mast for Ozzy up there in the Black Country?
Delightful! And a brag: I finished it (in 24:36) without using any of the Down clues — I only looked at the Acrosses. By my reckoning that mashes it an excellent puzzle, and perhaps slightly easy, but I’m not complaining!
@Petrol That's really amazing!
@Petrol I completed the puzzle in 10 seconds, using only every second down and across clue, while standing on one leg, naked, and balancing a stack of plates on a stick on my forehead! Honest! 🤪 Seriously though, congrats. I've never even tried solving only across or down clues so the feat sounds quite amazing to me 👍🏾
@Petrol et al. Several people here talk about solving the puzzle only by filling in the Acrosses (or Downs), and I think I could do it myself, occasionally on early-week puzzles. But, by not reading half the clues, isn't one missing half the fun?
@Andrzej ¡Nolite te bastardes carborundorum! 😄
M, T and W have been as easy as ABC this week. Heres hoping for a sinister Thursday!
@Striker Is that a proposed clue for this puzzle -- M, T and W but not ABC?
@Striker And definitely not as cruel as CBS.
Perfect Wednesday puzzle.
I thought "pit" as a place to retire in terms of racing, where a car might need to drop out of the race after going to the pit if there are substantial issues. Fun solve! When filling in the last few squares I was sad that it was coming to an end.
@Matt R. The "pit stop" could be for many reasons, but usually a tire that is failing. The crews are trained to be lightning-fast at such tasks.
This might be the easiest Wednesday I've ever done in my life?? 4m 34s. No hints or anything. I loved the clues and the theme but I tore through this. My W average is like 9-10.
@Matthew S. Yep. Just over 5m for me, and that’s with getting the theme, which usually eludes me when solving after just waking up. A really neat theme, by the way.
@Matthew S. Same. I shouldn’t be doing a Wednesday puzzle sub 5 minutes. That was faster than my fastest Tuesday. I also liked the theme and thought it was well constructed, but a Wednesday should give some resistance
I found the puzzle a bit of a let down. To me this felt and solved like a Tuesday (judging by my time), and a themeless one, too. There was nothing wrong with it, really, and yet it personally did not feel fun or interesting 🤷. I know there was a theme, in a way, but the "themed" entries were loosely connected - just by the letter/abbreviation thing... Oh, and, the grid looks a bit messy, doesn't it? I generally pay no attention to that but I was just poring over the filled grid, desperately looking for something interesting or nice to say about it, and that's what I got in stead... The NW corner would have been problematic for me had I not known the Japanese car brand. I only vaguely remembered the name of the guy from Harry Potter - I never got into the books or films.
@Andrzej I enjoyed 40A. By that time I could see that some clues weren't saying what it looked like they were saying, so I realized He and I were the symbols for the elements helium and iodine. As far as the grid looking messy, I dunno what a messy grid and what a neat grid looks like. A billion years ago, when I was a teenager working in a newsroom, one of the things the national editor always charged with worrying about was the layout of the front page--whether it was pretty or not. I could *never* see any difference. And I was never able to find anyone who could explain the difference.
@Francis Regarding the beauty of grids (and front pages), I like to think of the art of Piet Mondrian. If you've ever seen his work, I think you'll know what I mean. Just a bunch of black lines, in a rectilinear formation, with a few patches of primary colors. So simple. But, they always (or almost always) look "right"; not too busy, not too boring; just satisfying. A sense of order that makes you say, "Ahh." He didn't work with a formula, so the sense of "rightness" can't really be explained, but if you get it, you get it. (And if you don't,....)
I'll join the chorus (daddy sings bass). Good long workout for me but a really clever theme and an enjoyable workout. Answer history search today was for CHEMICALSYMBOLS. It's appeared in two other puzzles and was a part of a clever (and unusual) theme in both of them. One of those was a Tuesday from August 30, 2016 by Roland Huget. It was the 'reveal' in that puzzle with the clue: "This puzzle's circled letters, for the words that precede them" Some examples of the answers: COPPER(CU)PS IRON(FE)NCE SILVER(AG)E And the other puzzle was a Monday from October 2, 2017 by Trenton Charlson. The clue for it in that puzzle was: "B C F H I K N O P S U V W Y " And some other clues and answers: "A B C D E F G" MUSICNOTES "G R X" MOVIERATINGS "A B O" BLOODTYPES and... "B C F H I K N O P S U V W Y" CHEMICALSYMBOLS Here's the Xword Info link for that one: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/2/2017&g=39&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/2/2017&g=39&d=A</a> I'm done. ...
RE:62D--- I'm retired, so I can attest that it can be the "PITS". But, i challenge the term "PIT" to mean a site in a car shop where tires are changed. That's where jobs like changing the engine oil, but in my decades buying tires I've never known the work to be done below ground level. IMHO it's always done with the vehicle slightly elevated, so the old ones can be easily pulled off the lugs, to be rolled over to the special stand where each tire in turn is removed from the rim, and the new tire is installed. Then the newbies are rolled over to their places on the car. Some alternative clues to consider: 1. Poe's place for a pendulum. [His short story "The Pit and the Pendulum"] 2. Place for bad stomach vibes. [e.g., "bad feeling in the pit of my stomach"] 3. What a drupe contains. [A "drupe" is a type of fruit, such as a peach or plum -- any fruit with a central seed, the "PIT"]
@William Schrader I think you are forgetting the terminology used in auto racing when cars make PIT stops for refueling and tire changes. Although there is technically not a true PIT as found in an auto shop, the name is used for that area for car servicing. As far as the puzzle, I enjoyed the wordplay involved in the theme. As a retired science teacher, I at first I wondered what CHEMICALSYMBOLS had to do with pronouns, but then had the “aha” moment. Fun puzzle.
@William Schrader Pits, as in pit stop. The place where race cars are serviced.
@William Schrader However, if you think of PIT as where a PIT stop takes place during a car race, then the clue is perfectly fine. It's possible that @Sam Corbin wasn't thinking about that possibility.
As noted here earlier by others, the clue and answer are fine, the explanation in the column is incorrect.
@William Schrader It's interesting to note, that before hydraulic lifts became universally available, mechanics dug PITs in the ground so that they could work underneath the car. This is presumably where the term from auto racing comes from.
But since the car straddles the pit (in the ground or in the garage), it is of no use for changing tires.
Excellent & fun puzzle. Funny how some entire puzzles seem to just be in our “wheelhouse,” as today’s was for me. While others (Monday’s) almost seem alien — to me, that is. Have a lovely day. If you’re in the N Y City area, enjoy another day of gentler weather!
Fun! Seems more like a Monday puzzle?
@Susan Avallon No, not for me.
A letterally satisfying puzzle, with some CATCHy clues. My puzzlement about the INSIDEJOKE only LASTED briefly (actually, I TORE through the whole thing pretty quickly). You're saying I INEPTly mined the grid for a few NIeCE comment words? Well, what will you say if ISUZU?
@dutchiris I once saw a license plate in California that read ISUZU. The plate holder read “you hit me”. I had to take my mind off the road for a sec to get it, but I smiled when I did.
Those with longer memories, or better resources, could tell me, but it's my feeling that all of these clues have appeared before, as punny clues in Friday or Saturday puzzles--I know the [He and I] one has. Still, among my favorite *types* of clue! Brief memo from the Dept. of the Nittery: NOTES vs. tones vs. pitches (or even "pitch classes")--technically different concepts, but close enough for Crosslandia, or Joseph II: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUFwk1Ibwkc" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUFwk1Ibwkc</a> Don't forget: Nothing Compares 2 Uranium: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlzN0Gtpp8&list=RD_ZlzN0Gtpp8&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlzN0Gtpp8&list=RD_ZlzN0Gtpp8&start_radio=1</a>
@Bill Oh, and like you, Sam, I wanted the [Organ with a distinctive shape] to be a musical instrument: <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d7/58/23/d75823d25ba75976bd152b7cd303cb3b.jpg" target="_blank">https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d7/58/23/d75823d25ba75976bd152b7cd303cb3b.jpg</a>
Really cute theme! Maybe a *mite* too easy for a Wednesday, but fun nonetheless.
@Rachel C Hey, I'll take easy when puzzles are as clever as this one. Really enjoyed this one. Thanks, Joseph Gangi, and Steve and Ian, whoever you are.
"Place to retire" made me think of F1 racing, where drivers sometimes have to retire their cars in the pit.
@Plastic Jones Good comment, I was misled thinking of re-tire and that PIT was not a good answer since the car is still resting on the tires when you drive the car over a pit. I grew up in a garage so I let that mislead my head. A great puzzle today.
I just loved this theme. There aren't many puzzles that induce me to show my husband the puzzle as soon as he comes down in the morning, but this was one. Easy? Sure, but I never complain until Thursday. ; )
Immensely enjoyable, with a great theme and on point cluing. Thank you, Mr. Gangi! . . . Here's ASIA with "Only Time Will Tell" (and hopefully it doesn't take EONS...) <a href="https://youtu.be/AWs8SbT4__E?si=cZCXv2ACPliEq4D5" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/AWs8SbT4__E?si=cZCXv2ACPliEq4D5</a>
Fun breezy puzzle. In his notes Joseph refers to 32D (INSIDEJOKE) as a non-theme answer. I'd say it's semi-theme, as the theme clues are all in a style that long-time solvers recognize, and still chuckle at. I've been stumped before by the contronym 51D (TABLE), which has opposite meanings in British and US English (Canadians go with the Brits on this one). Although maybe it's not a true contronym since it depends on the speaker and not the context -- I don't know what else to call it.
@Esmerelda oddly, I've never heard the word "contronym", but I love it! (66 years, and an avid "wordie"!! - Thanks!)
Another breezy puzzle. So far this week I fell two seconds shy of my best on Monday, and set new bests yesterday and today.
@Rick C, omg what a coincidence! The exact thing same happened to me - except I was 9 seconds off my Monday personal best.
That was quite a photo for today's column! I can't find a definitive answer as to when they sold their first million burgers, seems to be around 1952. Maybe someone who knows automobiles can date the photo from the cars. And maybe someone who knows photography can say something about the photo itself? Mr. Simon? Kodachrome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world’s A sunny day, oh yeah One nit about 43A. I found there is such a word as rocketEER but I'm thinking there may be a typo in the clue as racket would be a lot better. Nothing more. I see we're all clear on pit.
"One nit about 43A. I found there is such a word as rocketEER but I'm thinking there may be a typo in the clue as racket would be a lot better." Roberto, "Racket" would have been a lot easier, which is probably why it wasn't used.
@Roberto I'm not a car expert, but that Ford on the left looked mighty familiar, as my dad owned it when I was a baby. It was a 1956, which was the same year as I was born. But he had it until 1966, so I had a clear memory of it. The car on the right is an Oldsmobile, probably an 88. A quick search came up with similar pictures that were of 1956 cars, as well. But either car could have been a '55, as the design changes weren't that significant in either make.
@Roberto Alas, it looks like this building was demolished sometime in the last year or two. It was the McDonald's 1 Store Museum in Des Plaines, IL, at 400 Lee Street, just off of US 45. I had been by this several times as I would sometimes take US 45 down to Chicagoland when I lived in Kenosha, but it always appeared to be closed. Last time I was there was probably late 2022 or early 2023.
@Roberto - Those are a 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria and an 1955 Olds Super 88. So, the oldest the picture could be is Fall 1954. If it was staged, they probably used new cars for the staging.
@Roberto Wow, thanks to everybody for the responses! Nailing down the actual location, wow! All I can add is, that the burger cost 15 cents. Still I'd prefer Mel's Diner. To JG our constructor of the day, I enjoyed the puzzle. It's just you have to compete for attention with one of Sam's always intriguing photo choices!
When I saw 51D, I knew that might cause some agita for our British friends, where the verb TABLE means the opposite of what it does here.
@NYC Traveler And for us boring Polish people, table (stół) only means table... Not even any agita for us!
@NYC Traveler Thanks for that! I wasn't previously aware that "table" had those opposite meanings. The example I have in my head of a word with opposite meanings is "sanction," but "table" is a great one. I wonder how many other such confusion-inducing words we have in English.
@NYC Traveler What!? How interesting! I had no idea about that difference. Thanks for sharing! ☺️
very fun puzzle, but probably too easy for a wednesday
Finished it with a new personal best, 8:15! I feel each of the themed clues were part of separate crosswords in past
I really enjoyed this one. I even liked the gimmick, which I rarely do.
Really fun and great theme. PB for a Wednesday for us.
Just right for a Wednesday which are often either too easy or difficult (for me anyway) . Well done, Joseph.