I never — never — finish a Saturday puzzle without checking this column. This one I did without that, going to the internet for the Ozlem answer, which is so obscure I don’t consider it cheating. And, even better, I beat my very high average for a Saturday puzzle. All you geniuses can whine all you want, but I appreciate a doable Saturday. Thanks.
@Dardanus I bet you would have gotten OZLEM from the crosses. Don't sell yourself short.
@Dardanus The name may be obscure outside Germany, but she and her husband were major scientific contributors to the Covid vaccine.
@Dardanus Same. Maybe if I keep doing crosswords for like 20 years, I'll be one of those people who gets frustrated by "easy [day of week] puzzled," but for now, I'm all about them.
Ozlem Tureci deserves to be better known. She did the mRNA research that led to our quickly developed COVID vaccines in 2020.
@Sue Time Magazine cover girl Ozlem Tureci? <a href="https://www.doyouknowturkey.com/prof-dr-ugur-sahin-and-ozlem-tureci-are-on-the-cover-of-worlds-leading-time-magazine" target="_blank">https://www.doyouknowturkey.com/prof-dr-ugur-sahin-and-ozlem-tureci-are-on-the-cover-of-worlds-leading-time-magazine</a>/
@Sue The emus ate another post in which I'm trying to admit snark and facetiousness / hypocrisy in that I really didn't know the woman's name, and only had a vague recollection that the scientists had been publicized. The emu filter here has not gotten any better. :(
@Sue Thank you for sharing. I had no idea who she was. Glad I know!
On Saturday I want: • At least a couple of out-and-out never-heard-of no-knows to overcome. Check. • A wealth of answers that appeal. Check. • Vague clues that make me wait for crosses, or make me guess. Check. • Enough footholds to keep me fired up, but sparse enough to make me earn my squares. Check. Regarding those answers that appealed to me: BELLADONNA, JACUZZI, PACK ANIMAL, TEMPTS FATE, KERNELS, ECLIPSE, AARGH, BRAIN POWER, ARCH (as clued). It lifts the day to amble through delights such as these. Neither slog nor dash through the park, this fell in my happy zone – thank you, Adam!
@Lewis I liked PACKANIMAL too although I would have clued it "Don't forget pet when leaving"
yesterday was a Saturday. this was a Wednesday.
@Jess I thought today was if a Friday and a Wednesday had a baby but you could tell there was some Saturday a generation or two back in the gene pool.
Avocados guac my world. (These puns are the pits.)
@Mike I'll toast to that. but, UM ACTUALLY I'm a dipsomaniac. You might say I'm a chip date.
@Mike Happened to me once. But it's salsa long ago when I was green. The memory has appeal...
@Mike you keep popping up with your puns! Trying to keep up is getting a bit whack-a-moley
@Mike Someone tried to steal some from my store; I was able to help catch him because I got a peek of the guy-o.
@Mike A touch of acidity makes guac even better. In your country particularly, the LIME's regis.
I SOLVED A SATURDAY PUZZLE WITHOUT LOOKUPS! I do not know how that happened. There were plenty things I didn’t know but I just kept plugging away at it, correcting answers, making educated guesses, etc. Today is going to be a good day! 😊
Is UMACTUALLY the sequel to a very popular Brit rom-com from he early 90s, in which the characters realize they've coupled with the wrong partner?
@joyfulee And also realize that cue cards and wedding videos can be creepy?
@joyfulee Underrated comment right here.
I found this puzzle much easier than yesterday's - I solved it in Wednesday time, and without lookups. Ok, well, I did google one thing once I did not get my gold star upon filling the final square. There were a few spots that looked weird to me (JARTS? Never heard of it before. Why is ARCH playful in tone? My archenemy standing under an arch hardly seems playful; OZLEM and WVU were new to me, too), but in the end it proved to be the composer, who apparently is an ERIK rather than an ERIc. PREc puzzled me, sure, but PREK is almost equally alien to me. Is that short for pre-kindergarten? I assume it is. I still remember how surprised I was by the English word kindergarten when I learned it some 35 years ago. Why are we speaking German now, I thought. In Polish it's simply called "przedszkole" (preschool, which functions in English, too). The place for even younger kids is "żłobek." The word has an interesting etymology. It is related to "żłób", manger, as in the trough for animal feed. Żłóbek, literally "little manger", is where baby Jesus slept. Linguists assume żłobek as a term for Pre-K arose out of the biblical story. Also, for some more Polish trivia: żłobek is pronounced slightly differently than żłóbek - the thing over the o matters; we pronounce "o" as you do your "o" in bog or cog, whereas our "ó" is your "oo" of boom or book.
@Andrzej I used to play Jarts as a kid. It was a combination of darts and horseshoes. It was banned a long long time ago so surprised to see it clued without some caveat. Imagine an oversized dart with a sharp metal point, you’d throw it and try to get it inside a circle from some distance away. Sound like a fun safe children’s game?
@Andrzej I've never understood why we use Kindergarten in the US. I think I knew it was German long before I studied (but never truly learned) German.
@Andrzej Oh and for arch that’s just a weird alternate definition for it that exists in crossword clues but that no one would really use in real life (at least I wouldn’t I’m sure someone will tell me they use it all the time).
@Andrzej “ In Polish it's simply called "przedszkole" ” Much like everyone who struggles with Polish pronunciations it’s the word “simply” that made me chuckle :)
@Andrzej We don’t use ‘kindergarten’ in the UK, it’s either nursery or playschool. The former is a more formal set up, aiming to teach children the basics of reading and writing before they start Primary school at age 4. The latter is more play based, as its name suggests, with the aim of socialising the children. I’m not sure which category kindergarten would fit into?
@Andrzej I truly appreciate your language lessons! My grandmother, who spoke very little English, managed to Anglicize her city of birth (Łomza) when I, as a young girl, asked her where she was from (aside from further confusing me when she told me it was in Russia Poland). But it wasn't until Lech Wałesa came into public awareness that I leaned the correct pronunciation of that Ł. Now tell me how that "n" sound gets into his name before the "s," unless my ears are deceiving me!
@Andrzej these preschools were originally started in Germany, and when the US started them in the 19th century they just took over the name.
@Andrzej The first kindergarten in the US, in Watertown, Wisconsin, was um, actually taught in German. Wisconsin had a huge contingent of German immigrants. Think Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, and Usinger bratwurst.
Fun one. Grew up outside Chicago. Fire drills were a thing, as they are for everyone, but easily twice as often, we had tornado drills. Everyone down to the school basement. Sit against the wall, windows cracked, knees up, arms around legs, face buried. No talking. Dozens of times. No biggie. Except once. There were tornadoes spotted in the area. Close by. In the quiet halls of the basement, fear had nestled itself between us kiddos, and then I heard a voice echoing from another hallway. It was my mom. She took my hand and my sister’s and we ran the three blocks to our house, and straight down to the cellar. The sky was green. No wind. No sound of birds. The creepiest calm I’ve ever experienced. We got hit. Not our house, but our town. But those 5 minutes running through the most odd version of my neighborhood… with my mamma’s hand gripping mine so tightly, determined to get us home and safe… Anyway, have a lovely Saturday all!
@CCNY There were no basements in the schools where I taught in SW Ohio; at a PTA meeting, parents asked the principal what he would do if a tornado appeared. He told the crowd that 8th graders would go to the multi-purpose room, and 7th graders would be sent out to meet it.
@CCNY this is why I come to the comments section.
@CCNY That is a great, terrifying story. Growing up in Colorado we didn't have much experience with tornadoes, and so when I got to a part of the country that did have them, they really freaked me out.
Had to laugh at myself when I got stuck without my gold star, only to realize it was the stinking U in EMU (of all words!) that was jamming me up. I had WVa, thinking West Virginia, and convinced myself that “EMa” must be an indigenous tribe. I didn’t find this puzzle especially easy. Then again, I was watching Happy Gilmore 2 as I solved. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, yes, I was a bit distracted. But given my MEDIA DIET, it might already be clear to many of you that I didn’t start the puzzle with much BRAIN POWER to begin with.
@Striker I think they need grades of gold stars. A slightly less lustrous gold star if you finished with one error. Slightly less than that if you finish with two errors...etc.
@Striker Same here. Must have spent over 30min trying to track down the error. ACT DUMB felt about right -- or more appropriately. AARGH!
Weather report: Hot enough for long enough to where my dog Teddy has splendidly mastered the splat sploot. Et tu, emu.
@Lewis I read "15D Sprawled out, say" and was quite disappointed to see only four boxes for the answer.
BELLADONNA made me think of Beth March in "Little Women", so I did a search to check and at the top of the results was the AI Overview: 'In "Little Women," Beth March does not use or mention belladonna.' UM ACTUALLY... "I looked in Mother's book, and saw that it begins with headache, sore throat, and queer feelings like mine, so I did take some belladonna, and I feel better," said Beth." (Chapter 17) As it says in the fine print, "AI responses may include mistakes."
@CRTH Supposedly Livia painted the figs in the courtyard with the poison that killed Augustus...but it would have taken quite a lot, so who knows? In small amounts, it was a painkiller or a sleep aid. I only remember that Beth had contracted scarlet fever (which is a strep infection that can, indeed, affect the heart if left untreated ....) and Beth was not portrayed as a robust child, so....though she seemed to recover from the infection, she died after some years, Our daughter had a rash and high fever on her 3rd birthday, and I was upset when the doc diagnosed scarlet fever--until he said, "It's just strep; don't worry." What a difference a hundred twenty years can make!
@MOL My aunt had it as a toddler and almost died. It left her with permanent health issues but she still lived well into her 90s, until last year. She and my dad used to talk about what it was like in their house during her long illness.
After a tougher than usual (for these days) Friday, I was disappointed but not surprised to find an easy Saturday. It's a perfectly fine puzzle (thanks, Adam), but not much of a challenge. If Wednesdays sometimes have rebuses or other wordplay, why can't they sometimes be easier themelesses? Give us challenges on Friday and Saturday please!
P.S. No, I did not know OZLEM from the clue; I met OZLEM through the crosses.
@Barry Ancona I felt it was easier as well. No lookups needed. That said, OZLEM was a great name to learn. I think the hardest part of this puzzle was trusting the gut and not overthinking it.
@Barry Ancona It must really be awful to be an elite solver. I have so much more fun being just on the edge of being able to solve Friday/Saturday. Maybe you and B should handicap yourselves by getting drunk first, or something like that. If you're not already.
@Barry Ancona I beat my previous Saturday best by a bit! But I didn’t mind because it was fun to ride the wave all the way to shore. I doubt I’ll beat this one for a while.
Francis, I'm quite sure you can answer chemistry problems to which I -- and likely most others here -- wouldn't even understand the questions. Some of us have more skill with words than others. This was a puzzle. I didn't know every answer from the clue, but I could quickly puzzle the ones I didn't know from one or more cross letters. I don't solve for speed, but this one went quickly. I see I was not alone in that experience. statistics about this puzzle 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Easy Median Solve Time 12:34 Median Solver 39% faster ⚡95% of users solved faster than their Saturday average. 81% solved much faster (>20%) than their Saturday average. 🐢5% of users solved slower than their Saturday average. 2% solved much slower (>20%) than their Saturday average.
Somehow I was convinced that the period coinciding with the growth of the internet should be something unrelated to the internet itself, and so, went for SITCOM BOOM. (DOPE SLAP).
@SIJ I knew it was wrong, but I kept wanting to put in ROMCOM BOOM. Eventually my brain found the right one. I thought of Einstein as I filled in TEMPTSFATE.
In just a few short days, Benny has gathered an ardent following! I recall saying that I wish that I could post pictures, so instead I'm going to plug his insta: @foxy_benny. I eschew social media so don't have my own account, but these 2 are just too adorable (in my very biased opinion) to not have an account of their own. Benny is still dopey from meds, but is slowly recovering to his old self. Benny thanks all of you for your love, well wishes and support.
@DocP That's so funny - I'm not on social media, either, and neither is my wife. We did contemplate making an account for late Jorge the Lab though :D. He would have been a star, just like Benny and Foxy are :) Thanks for putting a name on the... face :D I wish Benny a speedy recovery <3
@DocP I'm so happy to hear that he's recovering!! Best of both of you!!
@DocP I could not resist taking a peek at your sweet pooches. You didn’t lie— they are indeed adorable! Benny looks very much like one that I lost a couple of years ago, so seeing that face brought a smile and some happy memories. I’m so glad he’s doing well, and that Foxy has her friend back.
@DocP I’m so happy to hear Benny is recovering. May he and Foxy have many more happy times together. NB I refuse to engage with all social media bar WhatsApp (and that only at the kids insistence) so I can’t see your lovely hounds.
@DocP Thanks for posting your Insta. Your fur babies are adorable! 🥰 Give ‘em pets for me!
@Andrzej Funny story. Kids these days detest giving out their phone number, so they'd rather "get your socials and DM you". My wife and I were at a sherry tasting, and I started talking to one of the other patrons. She wanted to stay in touch and asked what my insta was. Because I don't have one, I just gave her my wife's account. She thought that I was the weird one for giving her my wife's account instead of my own! Anyway, I didn't realise it, but she and my wife started messaging back and forth for about a year and a half before they setup a double date. We hit it off; that other couple is now one of our closest friends (her husband wasn't with her at the sherry tasting). They love wine and wine trips, dogs, fancy food and Formula 1. He, like me, is very competitive and loves trivia. We always have a blast every time we meet up, but always have to cut our visits short because one couple will always need to get back home to the doggos.
@Heidi I'm glad that looking at Benny brought back those fond memories for you. Everyone should have that wonderful moment where looking at a dog beings them peace and joy.
@DocP Sherry tasting! You're more refined than we are :D Making new friends seems hard for mature people, doesn't it? When you're young it just sort of happens, but later in life you actually have to make an effort. My wife and I having been seeing the same physio for several years. Not only is she - a former professional rower with international medals to her name, and current muai thai enthusiast - a wonderful therapist, she is also a great person. So, only today, we met as friends for the first time, after weeks of planning :D. We had a great time introducing her and her partner to climbing. We will be doing it again :) And no social media were involved :D
@Andrzej Definitely, it is really hard to make friends as we get older. And yet, when we're older, the friends we do make are better suited for us because we are know ourselves our likes and our interests better. In the last few years, I've made some really good friends that are "better" than my previous friends (whom I've now shed) ever were. A lot of this is on my wife though as she pushes me to be more social instead of sitting in the basement watching cinema and drinking wine (which I am perfectly content to do).
Aiyo Came out the CRIB with a blade in my CLASP, AVOCADO OIL in the skillet — cook fast, DOT COM BOOM, but I move like it’s ’96, Slick TIGER in the jungle with them iron fists. Used to CURTSY to the gods in the JACUZZI, Now I light BUSHELS of haze, blow it loosely. PACK ANIMAL moves, I’m a mule with the stash, Wool trench, MAX .40 tucked next to the cash. BELLADONNA kiss — poison on her lips, Tried to TEMPTS FATE, got laced in the script. No IDLE hands — I grip KEYS to the safe, In this GAME of deceit, SEES lies on the face. MEDIA DIET, I don’t feed off clout, I PREFERS solitude — let the whispers sprout. From UNSUNG blocks, where the angels fell, Now it’s cream in the pocket — MEANS WELL, can’t tell.
@Ghostface Killah are you the actual Ghostface? Man. 👐🏻🐝☯
Minority opinion here. Most comments about level of difficulty are calling this one too easy to be a Saturday. For whatever reason, this one took me a tad longer than usual, and while not terribly difficult, hardly qualified as one of the easier Saturdays for me. Those would be when I didn’t have to jump around looking for a foothold. I did get started without too much trouble, but I hardly moved effortlessly through the grid. Different strokes, I guess.
@Steve Sometimes, these "not hard enough for a Saturday" complaints seem like humble brags to me. I also found this puzzle difficult.
@Steve L Now you (almost) know how I felt on that Friday or Saturday recently many decried as a Monday, and u struggled with it terribly 🤪. Albeit rarely, but these things happen.
Steve, Perhaps you haven't recovered from your move yet. statistics about this puzzle 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Easy Median Solve Time 12:34 Median Solver 39% faster ⚡95% of users solved faster than their Saturday average. 81% solved much faster (>20%) than their Saturday average. 🐢5% of users solved slower than their Saturday average. 2% solved much slower (>20%) than their Saturday average.
Steve, (1) The stress of moving. (2) It wasn't the easiest Saturday I've ever seen. (3) I don't care about my time, yours, or anyone else's. (4) As I said last night, I think this would have been a fine Wednesday puzzle if Wednesdays were opened up to include easier themeless puzzles. I found this one a letdown after a challenging Friday.
Geoff, <a href="https://xwstats.com" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com</a>/
@Barry Ancona I kept falling asleep last night with the puzzle open, so my Saturday average is shot. Oh well.
I found this puzzle really easy, which is not a brag because I will freely admit I’m usually waaaaaay slower than most of you. There was just some magic for me in this one - I love when that happens! You get that temporary smug smarty pants feeling that is almost always dispelled the following day …
Get your facts first!? What!? Who has got that kind of time these days, amiright or amiright!? Har! There are socials to post on, comments to make, and a hefty MEDIADIET to consume—don't bore me with your facts. Facts-shmacts, I tell you!! Oh, a little carried away by the Twain quote? It happens. But now I'll return to your regularly scheduled program, the puzzle. Enjoyable puzzle all around. Once again, sailed through except that pesky NW gets me so often! But, once I had my big duh moment and remembered that it's BELLA not prima at 17A, which I had just put in without even a tiny KERNEL of scrutiny when BELLA filled in. Stopped with the DUMBACT, fixed it and the rest simply manifested before my very peepers—huzzah! Might have been a pb if not for that. Pb? Nb! Liked ACTDUMB and BRAINPOWER nestled together and that AVOCADO and LIME were both in it. Mmmm! UMACTUALLY, I really liked that entry. This recent visit to Honduras, my favorite 13 year old (UMACTUALLY, probably my favorite human between my husband's age and 13) kept saying this phrase. Like, if I'd been doing shots for every time, I'd had some serious hangovers, but... it was super endearing and always interesting to hear what she had to say. It was always MEANtWELL not snarky, as I suppose it could be. Speaking of MEANSWELL... what a loaded idiom, I tell you! Anyhow, happy weekend!
@HeathieJ, I have to ask … Is this new shot from Honduras? Inquiring minds want to know.
My first finish of a Saturday <30'. I'm sure it's not a big deal for many, but it is for me. Yeah! Thank you
I enjoyed the puzzle, although I must have less BRAIN POWER than most of you. My solve time was around :35, which beat my average, but still far slower than you brainiacs. But since I don’t solve for time, I don’t actually care. (You may read this as an ARCH comment. 😉) I must take exception to Caitlin’s assertion that the dot-com boom/ Internet age changed humanity for good. Lately, I’ve become less certain that the many benefits are worth the downside. With greater access to facts comes greater access to “alternative” facts, which for too many are indistinguishable from the real deal. Distortion without facts has become a way of life, and I think Mark Twain would be appalled by our “advanced” society.
@Heidi I just re-read Caitlin’s comment, and I see that I misinterpreted it. I read it as “humanity was changed for the better”, which is not what she actually said. My apologies to Caitlin. I stand by the rest of it, though.
@Heidi I've long wondered why lies travel so much faster than the truth on the internet. I mean, it's not even close. Lies spread at least 100x faster than the truth. I think maybe I know why: there are more liars than truth tellers on the internet, and liars can move faster. Liars are far more likely to fire off something they agree with than a truth-teller, who is taking at least some time to try to verify the content, or at least check it for reasonability. That significantly slows down truth-tellers--liars have no such constraint. So the high liar to truth-teller ratio on the internet combined with how much faster liars can transmit lies than truth-tellers can transmit the truth, leads to an environment where the truth is at an enormous disadvantage. I strongly vote that, on balance, the internet has greatly damaged society, maybe even fatally.
@Heidi I kept staring at that sentence thinking along the same lines as you.
@Heidi Yes, that statement, unfortunately, could easily lead to misinterpretation. I certainly read it twice!
A good Saturday. Better than my average. Got stuck on ASU (Appalachian State University) who are also Mountaineers. Learned things, too. Thanks!
@Terry App State was my first thought, too! Beautiful campus.
My first ever Saturday solve fully on my own - it must have been a little easier? Even so, it's going to be a good day!
@Lisa I used to try to respond to "first Friday" or "first Saturday" with a congrats and a hope that the solver would ignore all the "too easy" complaints. "A Saturday is a Saturday", I would say. I guess I'm giving up on that. It's like resisting the tides. Still, I hope you enjoy your Saturday/Wednesday solve. Maybe the next time it won't be an "easy" one.
@Lisa Yes, I think it was a little easier because it was my first gold star Saturday (had one lookup to fill in OZLEM), really enjoyed the puzzle, thanks to the constructor!
It’s just cruel that nightshade and BELLADONNA have the exact same number of letters
But "deadly nightshade" has six more letters.
I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took a jart to the knee...
UMACTUALLY, I rather liked this one, and had BUSHELS of fun solving it, although UMACTUALLY flummoxed me for a bit. I hesitated to put in BUSHELS because I couldn’t see how U could be the first letter of 26D. I also tried date and time before TAKE, which made it harder to unlock the NE. I loved seeing ACTDUMB and BRAINPOWER side by side.
Wait a minute-I thought it was Saturday
That was a fun puzzle, with a few chewy areas. I stared at the few letters I had for 25D -ALANC—-E completely mystified. A good chuckle when I finally got it. Ditto 13A. Wanted stymy for STUMP so that slowed me a little. dARTS and not knowing the BioNtec chap meant I couldn’t see JACUZZI either. But it turned into a pretty fast solve for me overall. Very enjoyable. Yesterday’s post was eaten by the denizens of the Great Victoria Desert. I presume because I obliquely alluded to the subject matter of most of Mr Colbert’s monologues, of whom I’m a huge fan. Stephen that is.
@Helen Wright Not to be too pedantic , but there are few prominent women in science that I wanted to flag that Dr. Tureci is one - so not a “chap” (am now prepared to be corrected that “chap” is non-gendered …)
Friday and Saturday definitely got flipped this week lol
"...I frankly did not want vaguer alternatives that would only make things more difficult." But Caitlin, isn't that the point of a Saturday puzzle? My opinion? This was a high quality puzzle with lots of interesting fill that was let down by the ease of the clues.
In the minority here (hi Steve). Actually found this one unusually tough for a Saturday. More than a couple of complete unknowns and others that were not going to dawn on me just from the clues. Had to look some things up, but managed to get through it. And... puzzle finds today were something I've never encountered before. First - a Monday from February 1, 1999 by Dorothy Smitonick. Three theme answers in that one: REVOLVINGDOOR WHIRLINGDERVISH SPINNINGWHEEL And then... a Monday from July 8, 2013 by Randy Sowell. Three theme answers in that one (in the same order): REVOLVINGDOOR WHIRLINGDERVISH SPINNINGWHEEL Could that possibly just be a coincidence? Hmmm. Have to wonder about that. I'm done. ....
Whenever I finish a puzzle and it seems easier than usual, I assume that I'm either getting better at crosswords or I'm just particularly smart today - especially on a Saturday, when I'm usually caught up on sleep. I can't imagine any way to judge how hard these things are objectively, in a way that controls for the undeniable fact that somedays I'm a lot derpier than others. This one felt very hard at the start, but after getting a few word in place, it came together quickly - except the top left corner, the crossing of 1A and 1D. I love a good rum cake, but never heard a name for them other than rum cakes, and Ms Rexha was a stranger to me. Guess I'll have to listen to her work today so I'll be ready for next time.
@Delg The primary one is called a baba au rhum, and it is delicious. Many recipes are available on line. I recommend it. +
I interrupted my retirement to take a cruise to Mexico. With little else to angst over, I wondered about how well the boat WiFi would work and whether I’d stay on top of my puzzles. Add to that, I usually solve with a posse, left behind in Puyallup. Well, one down and two to go. No KPop. No post 2000 media stars. Just smooth sailing to a solve in just half my usual Saturday time. Whew.
@Kevin D It's really going to be tough to come from back from the cruise to the grind.
This would be an excellent puzzle for someone new to solving Saturday puzzles. It's on the easier range of Saturday difficulty, but it presents enough of a challenge to build confidence to tackle more difficult Saturdays. And, of course, it's just a fun puzzle to solve!
I found this one particularly easy for a saturday! but no complaints here! I really enjoyed the clues and the grid. starting off my Saturday beautifully! I hope everyone is having a good weekend!
I've found recently that I have more gold stars for Thursday-Saturday than I do Sunday-Wednesday. I use the easier puzzles for speed runs. When I finish the puzzle and there's something wrong, I don't have the patience to flyspeck, so I hit "check puzzle", correct, and move on. Whereas with the harder puzzles I really try to suss it out. With today's I had 3-4 clues filled in on first pass, really thought I wouldn't be able to finish without help, but gradually sussed it out. A perfect degree of difficulty for me, though some of those proper nouns were tough. Is the founder of a biotech company that I'd wager almost none of us have heard of a clue we should have in our brains?
@Michael B. BioNTech is pretty important! If you haven’t heard of it that is very much on you. But having heard specifically of the founder, AND retained her name, might be a different kettle of fish.
@Michael B. I totally agree on the company founder. But would love @abelsey to enlighten us on why she’s so important.
As I noted early last night, I did not know OZLEM as clued, but it was easy to meet OZLEM from the crosses. And this is a crossword puzzle.
Scroll down for comments on OZLEM's importance.
@Michael B. BioNTech was involved with Covid vaccine development and made the news regularly in 2020-2021. But I had to look up the founder's name.
About two and a half weeks ago, my streak disappeared and I emailed customer support. I got a reply about three days later, on a Friday, telling me what to do and my streak would be reset. Did it, waited until the following Tuesday, wrote again. Received an apology. My streak was fixed. Wrote a final time, "Yes! It all looks good. Sorry you guys have been swamped. Thank you--and all of NYT--for being there." And, although swamped, the customer support specialist who had been working with me took the time to write this reply: Hi Lynn, Thanks so much for the kind words and support! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything going forward. One note, however, we are not in on the weekends so sometimes requests submitted near the end of the week and over the weekend will have a delayed response time. Please know that we will always get back to you! All the best and happy solving! (And she signed her name.)
@Lynn I also emailed support about a broken streak recently (entirely my fault; I accidentally solved out-of-order), and had a similarly pleasant email exchange with the support team. Kudos to them!
My only quibble would be with the clueing for SEDAN. Coupes would be the more common racer to my mind.
New Saturday PB. 5:22. Played like a Wednesday puzzle.
@Chris g W T Eph. 5:22? My Monday best is 6:00, and I was typing as fast as was physically possible for me. Today was ca. 18 minutes, which is my Wednesday average - so we do have one thing in common 🤪.
@Chris g same; totally shocked. I was within 3 seconds of you. Surely this (otherwise great) puzzle was not meant to run on a Saturday.
Not really understanding ARCH here, nice easy breezy Saturday (more like a soft Wednesday imo)
@E @Heidi explain it to me below. I quote (thanks again, Heidi!): I have seen “arch” in print, in sentences like “He gave an arch reply”. Meaning, his reply was meant to be joking, or in fun.
@E I have seen ARCHly a lot especially in earlier 20th century novels
E, See adjective definition 2. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arch" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arch</a>
When the facts change, I change my mind. Attributed to Keynes.
Hmm 164 Comments already....and how many are going to echo my same feeling?--to wit: this was much easier than yesterday's puzzle!! Do you feel you've been toyed with? AS DO I...or AS AM I? GASP! Before GAPE UNSEEN before UNSUNG (DIGS) in the margin before ROOM (TSAR) in the margin with CZAR PEANUT OIL has a high smoke point; I've never bought or used AVOCADO OIL. Does it have other properties that would make it superior? (Bill in Detroit??)
@Mean Old Lady absolutely yesterday was harder for me. 🤪
@Mean Old Lady AVOCADO OIL is reputedly healthier. Today wasn’t *much* easier for me, but my solve was a bit over two minutes faster than yesterday.
@Mean Old Lady I like AVOCADO OIL when a neutral oil is called for in baking.
@Mean Old Lady Yes. Blue star and reveal words yesterday, Gold star today.
@Mean Old Lady AO is my go-to oil when olive oil won’t do, because of its neutral flavor and higher smoking point. (Although EVOO seems perfectly fine for 350ish degree type frying.) I think AO and PO are considered very close substitutes. IMO, using fresh oil is more important than any other factor. AO may go rancid faster (?), so I buy it in small amounts which makes it more expensive.
@MOL-- since you asked: Avocado oil has an even higher smoke point than peanut oil (520° vs. 450°--I had to look that up.), and a more neutral flavor, and,l well, you don't have to worry about the folks with peanut allergies. Avocado oil is my go-to when I have to make omelets on a buffet line, and, at home, for sauteing mushrooms--although I will then reduce the temperature and throw in a pat of butter for taste. Olive oil--especially EVOO--has a relatively LOW smoke point, and is not all that good for sauteing--if you want the flavor, start out with a neutral vegetable oil, then add some EVOO along the way for flavor.
@Mean Old Lady I had OCCLUDE before ECLIPSE, because the latter answer was too easy for a Saturday. But so was the rest of the puzzle.
I may not have seen every installment in the "Fast and Furious" franchise, but I'm pretty sure all the street racers were driving coupes, not SEDANs. I'm accustomed to NYCers being blissfully ignorant of cars in general, but that's next-level ignorance. Some where, out there, Ozlem Rexha is having a special day.
@Grant The clue makes no reference to The Fast and the Furious movies.
@Grant - I just checked the Wikipedia entry on street racers and most of the cars listed in their "most popular street racers" are sedans. At least, the pictures are of sedans. I assume it is also possible that people who are into illegal street racing turn up their noses at sedans and only buy coupes, if available. But the available evidence seems to support the answer as clued. I don't expect someone who is so blissfully ignorant of the diversity of people who inhabit NYC to accept correction, though. Even though this correction comes from rural Maine.
@CaptainQuahog Okay, I'll accept the Lancer Evo and the Subaru WRX and maybe the Golf R as proper street racers, but very cramped sedans they be. For the record, I do participate in road racing (on a closed course) but never street racing, which is highly dangerous to non-participants, like a drive-by shooting. If you want to race your Cadillac CTX-V, take it to a drag strip and pay your $25. My friend did that, and blew a half shaft, so maybe not recommended?
When I finished this morning, I didn't remember any lookups, but I congratulated myself too soon. I was stumped enough to turn to the Column which gave me the entirety of 17A where I hadn't yet a single crossing. I think I used to know that was a poisonous plant but neither it nor anything else would have been on a list I tried to make of poisonous plants. It was the Column that told me what kind of DIET 20A was and filled in the rest of ____C_MBOOM (I must have heard of that in my younger days?) at 32A. That, plus a good night's sleep got me to a successful finish, although until told so I was still doubtful of some of my wild guesses. I would have doubted OZLEM except the crosses there were undeniable.
@kilaueabart I had nightshade for a bit for the plant before checking it against a few downs.
@kilaueabart I didn’t have OZLEM and so I had CAP for MAX.
Some thoughts while just waiting on a friend . . . I'll always be a crossword person Umactually, my brainpower's certain All I want, for emus not to moderate me I'll always be a crossword person I may actdumb, but my facts are certain All I want is gold star czars to not eclipse me Are clues hard enough? Do words stump you up? Am they AARGH enough? Emus too blind to see? I'll always be a crossword person So boomcomdot's just a lexophile invertin' Jacuzzi hot so in we go, Come on, solvers, enter clues with me! Oh, puzzle twister Pretty, gritty, flitty, witty words You're ritzy, kitzchy, twitchy, natnicky, little words Frisky, shifty, so many nifty, risky, iffy words Come on, puzzle, please, please, please!