Crossword's favorite cookie finally gets its own puzzle
@Steven M. I'd have made a similar comment if you hadn't already. On the other hand, it's a debut for DOUBLE STUF OREOS.
Inspiring story from a constructor caps off a fun puzzle. Brain healing seems special to me, somehow. I don't know how many times I read 4D until I finally noticed there was only one "t" in "sigmatism"
@Francis that got me as well. I think i was on my 3rd pr 4th run through when I caught that
@Francis I saw sIgmatism first pass, and did a double-take, because I had no idea what that could be. Maybe a typo? (Get serious.) I had to wait for the crosses to tell me as well.
"Aren't my jokes about cookies pretty sweet?" "Nah, they're kind of crumby." ("Please don't dessert me!")
@Mike how do you come up with things like this every night and so quickly??
@Mike The British prefer soup and would ask you to bisque it....
@Mike I wanted to say this earlier and forgot, but batter late than never!
@Mike I can hardly wafer your next pun.
@Mike My dad’s favorite joke was Why was the cookie so sad? Because his mother was crumby and his father was a wafer so long.
@Mike Really milking it today, aren't you?
@Mike A digestive biscuit a day, keeps the doctor away.
@Mike This puzzle wasn't showing up correctly for me at first. I had to enable cookies.
@Mike “Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down, Never gonna run around And desert you.”
Bugs always struck me as having more of Bronx accent. Oh well. Splitting hares, I suppose...
@Matthew I think I read somewhere that Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs) called his accent a Bronx accent.
@Matthew According to Mel Blanc, the character's original voice actor, Bugs Bunny has a Flatbush accent, an equal blend of the Bronx and Brooklyn dialects.
Thomas Byrne, your story had me in tears. Thank you for such a personal tale! And I'm delighted that both your wife and daughter are thriving. When I was in grad school, I worked at a restaurant called Oscars. It was a much needed break from writing code and reading papers. One of my regular customers (apparently with quite the sweet tooth) told me her story, which I will paraphrase. Years before, she had experienced a terrible fall which led to a significant head injury, leaving her in a coma for several days. When she came out of the coma, the first thing she asked of her husband was to go to Oscars. When he asked why, she said the persistent thought that roused her from the coma was a strong desire for our banana cream pie. Of course, her husband brought her to Oscars as soon as she was well enough and they told the story for the first time. She was convinced that the existence (and deliciousness!) of our banana cream pie saved her life. It was a story that was repeated in our little restaurant many times over the years, and they were beaming with joy when they told it to me. Thank you for reminding me both of this story and of the power of small things to change lives. 🥹🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@Niki B. You are welcome! I love your banana cream pie story. The mind is an amazing thing and can recover in so many ways. Btw, my sister used to own a bakery and her signature bake was banana cream pie!
Mr. Byrne, I am so moved by your account of your wife's struggle and resilience. May the worst of it be behind you and her full recovery now come in leaps and bounds. As for the puzzle, considering that OREO is the crossword cookie of choice, it was about time it got its very own grid! (I must, however, confess that I have never eaten one with MILK. Never have and never will. I wonder if I'm the only one on EARTH?) This was a delightful puzzle to solve. Many thanks to Mr. Byrne and Mr. Bodily! ............................................. David Byrne and Marisa Monte sing "Waters of March" - <a href="https://youtu.be/US1f_XSuRAA?si=yG9n7F2UF1dpVKx5" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/US1f_XSuRAA?si=yG9n7F2UF1dpVKx5</a>
@sotto voce I agree, Mr Byrne’s notes were very poignant and a wonderful, uplifting tribute to his wife and this community. For those who may be missing out, the constructor notes are always worth a look. Today’s rank up there with the best.
@sotto voce I’m not a fan of sweets or processed food in general, but an occasional Oreo, dunked in milk to get perfectly soft enough to melt in one’s mouth, is a lovely treat. My Swedish hippie mother grew up very money-poor, and milk was a luxury in northern Sweden. So they would dunk their cookies in water. I so remember her standing at our kitchen sink, running a lemon snap under the faucet. My teenaged brother said, “Oh, mom. That just bums me out. You can afford milk now!” Mamma just said, “But then it wouldn’t taste like my childhood…”
@sotto voce I came to the comments in search of a comment like this to “recommend.” It was indeed a beautiful tribute by Mr. Byrne, who is clearly a kind human. I am a caregiver to a spouse with a severe TBI; a life-altering event in many ways. I’m tickled that Mrs. Byrne has progressed so nicely & pray it continues. Oh - and I loved this puzzle! Just the right amount of challenge for my skill level.
@sotto voce. Thank you for your very kind words. We both appreciate it. Creating the puzzle with Dan was a lot of fun learning. Hopefully we’ll make another!
Fun one, well done. I stand by kebAb but if it makes the puzzle work then it's worth it.
@M I never fill in the vowels of that word on my first go-round because there are so many variations of it in crosswordese. Just K_B_B and move on!
@M I'd always seen KABOB before seeing KABAB in the crossword. I now know to keep my mind open for either spelling, just as in ESA vs ESO or similar.
We have a long driveway, and we get a lot of packages. (Who doesn't, post-pandemic?) Because some delivery people (looking at you, FedEx) would sometimes leave our packages in – ahem – inappropriate places (halfway up the driveway in a snow pile), we have a box with snacks in the door of our garage and a note thanking drivers for making it to the top of the driveway. Among the cookies, Goldfish, pretzels, Ritz cheese and crackers and peanut butter sandwich crackers, it is the Oreos that always go first. The Double Stufs seem to disappear before we even put them out! (In the hot summer days, our UPS driver prefers ice water, and if I am home, he gets two bottles. By far, our favorite, most courteous driver!)
The unofficial cookie of the NYT crossword becomes the official cookie of this puzzle.
"By serendipity, the Times puzzle became an important part of her recovery." That's wonderful!
Such a heartwarming story, Thomas, about your wife’s injury and the role of crosswords in her ongoing recovery. Thank you for sharing that story. “Therapeutic exercise” – your words – nails it as a description of crosswords. Good puzzles, like those in the Times, keep the synapses firing while solving all kinds of riddles, while waking up memories long dormant, while injecting humor and beauty, and while bringing TILs, which in their small way, push the brain’s envelope. All this activity is a tonic, keeping the brain humming and happy. Crosswords as therapeutic exercise indeed! Puzzles benefit those who use it for healing, as your wife, but also for those of use looking to enrich our lives and feel as good as we can.
@Lewis. Thanks, Lewis. That is very kind. She is indeed an amazing and resilient person. And the daily challenge is great for me, too!
@Lewis I recently found a website called mindcrowd.org. You can take various memory and focus online games/tests. It tells you how you fare compared to others your age and everyone. I outscore both, and I credit it to the puzzles I do everyday -- NYT Games, Worldle, Nerdle, Canuckle and Waffle. Keeps my brain going strong, even as the body fades....
There used to be a Twitter account called "Is Oreo in today's crossword?", but I think it's been deleted. Sad, because today is the day of all days for Oreos in the NYT.
Oh, I liked this ALLOT. Random thoughts: • I love, in puzzles like today’s, when seeing the empty grid makes me anxious to jump in because it looks like it’s going to be fun. • SMORE is a nice echo in a puzzle about sweet sandwiches. • Say TOOKAPIC five time real fast. • Couple of names not clued as names (AMBER, STU), and a non-name that sounds like one (HEW). • BOTTLES next to MILK. A lovely ping, as I haven’t thought about milk bottles in a long time. • It took impressive skill, IMO, to make the leap from conception to puzzle – bravo, guys! • Had to think a little different than usual to fill in those unchecked theme double letters, and that was very cool. • “Schadenfreude” and OPACITY – two gorgeous words not often heard. Daniel, congratulations on your 15th NYT puzzle, and Thomas, on your debut. Thank you both for a splendid outing!
@Lewis If I may cling to your coat-tails: "SMORE is a nice echo in a puzzle about sweet sandwiches." Of course, the base for a smore is a graham cracker; but why not try an . . . Also, CHOCOLATE COATED oreos are certainly a thing: <a href="https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a25728767/chocolate-covered-oreos-recipe" target="_blank">https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a25728767/chocolate-covered-oreos-recipe</a>/ I believe Nabisco even markets them, on occasion. But in the non-saccharine fill: I liked the parallel use of Sigma in the clues for LISP and RHO, top and bottom of grid. Also, the letter strings [R]STU[V] and [Sigma]RHO
@Lewis I have milk in glass bottles delivered to my door twice a week.
Pretty cute, to amplify the ubiquitous cookie Into a double stuf theme. (I first thought those items were going to be dominoes.) What might we get next? An emu theme, filled with factoids about their egg color and running speed. A kealoa theme, featuring as many as possible. A “contested plurals” theme. You know.
What food could better symbolize the American diet than a Double-Stuf Oreo, Chocolate covered? Double-Stuf, Chocolate Covered, deep fried.
@Gina D While I confess that Oreos are a rare guilty pleasure of mine, I recently tried a (limited edition flavor?) Oreo branded as "Selena Gomez" with a horchata-inspired, cinnamon creme twist to it - quite delicious!
@Gina D Available on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair! Don't forget to check out the seed art.
I held off switching to Autocheck for a while and the puzzle seemed easy enough to keep holding off. I spent 46 minutes correcting first wild guesses with new ones, but it worked. It's nice to have my streak back up to three!
@kilaueabart, Yay!!! Good for you!! We are happy for you. Thanks for sharing your good news!
@kilaueabart Congratulations! My fingers are crossed for you to make it four tomorrow! 😊 We're here for you either way!
Congratulations on a fine NYT debut, Mr. Byrne! I was sorry to read of your wife’s brain injury. But it sounds like she is recovering well. I hope that continues and that she heals fully and quickly. It was fun to see ORC clued in reference to Grishnákh. We long ago had a Doberman we named after that orc. Thanks, gents.
@Eric Hougland A Doberman named Grishnákh. I'm going to be having nightmares.
@Eric Hougland. Thanks for the kind words! It was a brand new and fun experience. Dan Bodily was great to learn from.
Long time player/reader, first time commenter! I gave my 2 year old a cookie the other day (chips ahoy) only to have her yell “NO NO- OWEEOH” so she could have an Oreo instead. Didn’t even know she knew the word Oreo. Great puzzle!
@FireSignFrog They're listening every minute! I was sorting the clean laundry when ~18-month-old daughter grabbed two of her dad's socks and exclaimed, "Static cling!" Yikes. The dangers of daytime TV!
A fun Wednesday puzzle blissfully free of social media influencers, pop or rap singers, and with only one TV reference. As for sports clues, well, it felt like a special gift just for me—my beloved Utes. Whee! I really enjoyed the puzzle despite having been *that* kid for whom the only thing she disliked more than Oreos was the horrid white stuff you dunk them in: m…k (I don’t like to write out four-letter words). Kismet dictated that I went on to marry a guy who also dislikes Oreos—although he does pollute our refrigerator with half-gallon containers of m…k. All this to say that I’ve never in my adult life bought the Cookies That Should Not Be and so, somehow, I thought it was Double StufT Oreo and tried to fit that extra T into 35A. ‘Twas just a momentary hiccup, though. Easy breezy lemon squeezy, just right for a Wednesday, with the kind of fill other Wednesdays should aspire to. Now back to work. Have a good day, y’all.
@Sam Lyons fellow milk hater here; how do people drink that STUF?
@Sam Lyons I saw your comment the other day about having done the WSJ puzzle with all the authors. Today’s WSJ has a literary theme, but it’s much more tightly focused. I agree that the WSJ’s online solving interface is horrible. I’ve gotten around it by downloading the AcrossLite app (which has a free version) and using .puz files (available at Diary of a Crossword Fiend). <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/download" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/download</a>/
A clever new twist to a classic crossword cookie. With thanks to the trail-blazing duo who Byrne'd a new path to Bodily go where none have went before, and much appreciation for the back-story provided. A good lesson to bialy you can be. Salud!
Emus ate my comment in Mike’s thread, but my dad’s favorite joke was- Why was the cookie so sad? Because his mother was crumby and his father was a wafer so long.
Very nice puzzle ... and Thomas, about 12 years ago I had a stroke, brought about by diabetes. When I got home (after a month in the hospital) I was also reduced to just doing the Monday crosswords. Luckily I was also able to keep improving, and now I too can do pretty much all 7 days, so I can definitely relate. (Wonderful organ, the brain.) So kudos to your wife, and to you.
@Gary Scheele. Thanks for sharing your story. My wife be happy to hear about your recovery. Ours a mysterious and amazing organs.
@Gary Scheele, Thanks for sharing this. This can be an inspiration for a lot of people.
Thomas, That is the best testimonial for Xwords I have ever read. Peace and here’s to your love’s continuing recovery.
@Warren. Thank you. Her journey continues but happily we do it together!
Yum. DS Oreos are one of my favorites (mint being the other). Also, I can no longer see the name A(a)ron without thinking of that one Key and Peele sketch. Even though that doesn't fit without the Aa.
@Isabeau. I’ve just bought doublestuf mint Oreos. A twofer
@Isabeau I love that Key and Peele sketch!
I've always considered Athens the quintessential OPACITY. Wonderful puzzle. Even more wonderful notes.
@ad absurdum I understood that reference.
At first glance I knew those were OREOS!! Same old cookies, but this time they seemed intimidating. I never had to stop writing, never had to look anything up, but I felt I was being given a real workout. So many clues were masterpieces of OPACITY, but miraculously the crosses cleared things up every time. Thank you Thomas and Daniel, this was a sweet debut. You're welcome back anytime.
A Geri Allen reference! How cool is that?!
@Eric I was so excited to see her mentioned! I had Ms. Allen as my History of Jazz professor in undergrad. She was an incredible talent and wealth of knowledge. My father is a huge jazz fan and her course provided an additional avenue of connection with him, so it has an extra soft spot in my heart.
"Verily, this vile victual doth offend mine very soul." As a act of self-discipline the ubiquitous indigestible revealer spread along the waistband of these grid was *stuffed* via down squares only. AAARG to solve a grid teeming with spackle-filled hockey pucks. Yes, a good puzzle. Yes, still happy to solve any puzzle, as that implies another happy day on EARTH. But c'mon - How about SOUP? Or RICE? KIWI? CORN? Or PEAS Or anything else? 🤨
@Whoa Nellie "...spackle-filled hockey pucks." 😂😂😂
@Whoa Nelliezzz "Spackle-filled hockey pucks," that description made me laugh out loud! This puzzle was sure a workout. But it did inspire good household conversation, so that much was fun. Eleven cheats, counting those answers from the spouse. (We did have a puzzle featuring tea a while back. So perhaps there will be another food related puzzle. Types of soup, yes, I could see that...)
Really enjoyed this puzzle! (Even though I am not a fan of Oreos). Wishing Mr. Byrne’s wife all the best!
Not just oreos, but theme-flaunting, grid-spanning, proudly overstuffed OREOS! I admire the all-in effort, and applaud the constructors for their bravery. Sweet puzzle, guys. Did anyone else expect some different letters after S_ _ for “R-V hookup”? You know what they say, if the R-V’s a-rockin’….
@Heidi We had the unfortunate experience of camping next to an RV “Hookup” once. We were freezing in our tent (temps had dipped into the 40s), and the older couple (we suspect they were having an affair) in the RV next to us was doing it all night long with Fox News blaring. In the morning the man announced to everyone that he was going to take his morning crap!” We packed up and left as soon as we could in the morning!
Great to see an entire puzzle built thematically around our frequent guest, OREO. Tom and Dan, do EMU next!
@Steve. Ha! We did think (very briefly) about a whole puzzle of only common crosswordese. Perhaps grouped by the editor’s era? And crossed or imbedded in their names? But OREO won out over all the others.
I'm just here to read the comments complaining about product placement. Never fails to amuse!
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine! 😂 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4Bg5HdbI4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4Bg5HdbI4</a> I admit that when I opened the puzzle, I was deliciously anticipating some fun tricky trick but it was still a fun and (very) fast puzzle! I missed setting a new Wednesday record by just a few seconds. Definitely amusing to have a whole puzzle dedicated to such a common crossword fill word. Just had to laugh. But it couldn't not make me think of poor Ralphie and Little Orphan Annie. 😏 Having never bought the things, or had them, to my recollection, I did not know there was only one ef in stuf but it didn't bother me or mess anything up because I'm never surprised by intentional misspellings of food names like that. (Uh oh, having some flashbacks to yesterday's column! Har!) -- Mr. Byrne, thank you for a fun puzzle and also for sharing about the love of your life! I'm grateful to hear she's recovering nicely and how much the puzzles are helping. All my best to you all for continued progress and much more happiness together!
@HeathieJ OMG Ralphie. I'm from Cleveland so I especially love that movie... as you likely know, the story was set in Indiana but it was actually filmed in downtown Cleveland. I rewatch it every year.
Great column today and heartfelt constructor notes. All the best, Thomas Byrne, for your wife’s continued recovery. The NYT puzzle is a family affair for us too, and my son’s degree from MIT came in handy today when I filled in 14A easily. I was always amused by the nickname for their college ring - the “brass rat.”
Nice Wednesday puzzle. Had to look up the spelling of amortize, knew the answer right away. Enjoyed the new way to clue orc. Big LoTR fan here. Did a stage production of the Hobbit once. Played a troll in the first half and Smaug in the second. So I got killed twice in one show. Still one of my favorites. Caught onto the theme very quickly. Had chocolate cookie before coated. Still came in under my Wednesday average
@Megan I'm interested in how you played a dragon. Was there some puppetry involved?
I usually do not comment but a special treat for music lovers today...I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the clue! Geri Allen RIP!!
I liked the puzzle and felt it was more like a Wednesday should be than many recent Wednesday puzzles. I think of Wednesdays as puzzles that have more unusual or complicated themes than Mondays or Tuesdays do, but themes that don’t make the puzzles very hard and may even make the puzzle a little easier. A sort of “Wednesdays are for whimsy” belief. I’m happy this one worked like that and hope the Times publishes more whimsical Wednesday’s.
Nabisco unofficially owns the Crossword
Long may Thomas,s wife continue to improve, — and yes, what fun to see the double stuffed OREO.
Other treats traditionally served with milk? How about that classic pairing, milk and magnesia? Double un-stuff.
This was such a fun one. Very much enjoyed.
Congratulations Thomas Byrne on your NYT debut and your comments, your wife must be thrilled. And a big thanks to Daniel Bodily and the NYT team for mentoring this talent. Well done all.
Interesting find about OREO in puzzles: 386 appearances in Shortz era puzzles, always clued as the cookie, in a whole bunch of differently worded ways, e.g. "Snack in a stack." But... 106 appearances in pre-Shortz puzzles and... always clued as "Mountain; comb. form." or "Mountain: prefix." except for one time clued as "Mountainous cookie?" Brow furrowed. ...
@Rich in Atlanta Yessir, yes, I remember solving puzzles on my Mother's knee, when OREO was a [combining form]--as were [fad diet] and [Character from the Matrix].
Sam's intro to the column made me laugh! Fun puzzle- thank you much, Mr. Bodily and Mr. Byrne. Also best wishes to Mr. Byrne's wife.
STOPUP... Hmmm I didn't know the currency of Laos and was slow to get the R-V connecter. Everything else was well done imo.
Perfect Wednesday challenge for me and I loved the “It might appear to give you options” clue. Well done Tom and Dan. I’m also glad to hear about Tom’s wife’s recovery.
I had a lot of fun with this puzzle, thanks! One where my first pass only yielded 5 or so fills… put it down for an hour, and answers gushed out. Like I crossed into a different world sheet in a many-worlds quantum situation. Always feels weird when things I didn’t seem to know at all flow out of seemingly nowhere. I thought 2 Fs in STUFF. I’ve never had or bought these Oreos. So DOUBLE STUF looks like a sort of oxymoron to me… the double F has been changed to a single F!