We all know Uncle Rebus, now there is Ant Rebus. I thought the puzzle was clever and masterful.
Wow. My first gold star on a rebus puzzle. I never thought that day would come. What a fun solve! This would make an excellent introduction to someone who's never heard of rebuses. Thank you for this memorable Thursday.
@Clemens Way to go! 🏅
@Clemens Lately I've found some of the rebus puzzles easier than other Thursday/Friday puzzles just because once you figure out the theme half the puzzle rolls out quickly. Whereas in regular Thursday/Friday puzzles there's more likely to be an entire corner I can't get a foothold into.
@Clemens Congrats! I too didn't think I'd ever solve a rebus puzzle. I still remember the first one I got, where the rebus was various makes of cars. I felt like a genius for two days, until the next Saturday puzzle brought me back to earth.
Arigato (thanks) for this fun crossword! The crossword theme bears an uncanny likeness to a well known Japanese wordplay: There are ten ants. = Ari ga to. ARI is Japanese for ant and TO is a way to say ten.
@Mutsukoh This type of fun fact is why I check out the comments section. Like icing on the cake. Arigato !
@Mutsukoh Today I learned some Japanese Wordplay! Thank you/arigato!
@Mutsukoh Do itashimashite! (For non-Japanese speakers [that includes me], take a guess at the meaning. You're probably right.)
@Mutsukoh I'm getting dimwitted. The theme didn't make me think of 蟻が十 for 一秒も in all the time I was working on it.
@Mutsukoh Was in Hokkaido and embarrassed myself by holding the "o" at the end of arigato. My friend laughed and told me that I had just said "ten ants." Ugh.
I always know I’m having a stressful time in life when my crossword streak starts back up. This is the first time I’ve done a puzzle with a rebus and figured out the gimmick all on my own! I’m very proud of myself. I loved this one, I had a lot of fun.
@Misha Congratulations! Yeah, for some reason our brains give us a huge dose of happy hormones when we nail something like this. It's addicting. One finds out how addicting when flopping completely. One really misses those happy hormones.
Pink panther theme is running through my head: Dead ant, dead ant Deadant deadant deadant deadant deadant Dead Ant…
@Peabody It got me thinking about Robert Frost's poem "Departmental." Got me ear-worming, in fact. Ants are a curious race; One crossing with hurried tread The body of one of their dead Isn't given a moment's arrest- Seems not even impressed. But he no doubt reports to any With whom he crosses antennae, And they no doubt report To the higher-up at court. Then word goes forth in Formic: "Death's come to Jerry McCormic, Our selfless forager Jerry. Will the special Janizary Whose office it is to bury The dead of the commissary Go bring him home to his people."
Fun Thursday. Was really really hoping for a picture/emoji of an ANT in each box upon completion.
@Rahul Yes, in my imagination, after we finished solving, the [ANTs] would become animated and crawl around the puzzle. But this might be asking too much from the over-worked tech people who have to fix everyone's streak, as well.
@Rahul me too. I solve with overlays off, but after I completed the puzzle I was excited to turn them on and see what they would do with the ants. Sadly, nothing 😢
"My mom's sister keeps ruining everything." "Sounds like you have an aunt problem." ("Yeah, relatively speaking.")
@Mike <a href="https://www.ispot.tv/ad/2NiX/geico-aunt-infestation" target="_blank">https://www.ispot.tv/ad/2NiX/geico-aunt-infestation</a>
@Mike Give her a knunckle sandwich if she starts cousin! Harsh, I know, and possibly it's not really the aunt, sir.
@Mike Time for me to cry… Puncle!!
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot, and 50A is a terrific show which has earned mention. I think it was 28D where I began to suspect a rebus, so I ran with (ANT)LERs But it all reminded me of something really embarrassing. When I was in the sixth grade, I was a patrol boy for my elementary school. I was elected to be the class's lieutenant. But I couldn't remember how to spell lieutenant. To many vowels an such. So I visualized it as a command to a group of ants. That is, "Lie, U ten ant(s)". It seemed reasonable to trade "U" for "you" and to ignore the plural of ant, which, from what I learn from here, is anti.
@Francis what does a class lieutenant do? I was the leader of the safety patrol in sixth grade and I'm now wondering if it's the same thing? I got a super cool yellow flag and vest as part of the deal!
Had never done a rebus before. Or knew what one was. But I knew something was amiss. But when I did figure it out it was fun (and a little easier than usual)
@Dom D You've never even knew about rebuses, and you solved a puzzle with one? Hats off!
@Jane That would be fastic. And the 13 folks who have recommended your comment shouldn't be allowed to work as copy editors. Though they're probably less obnoxious than I am.
To all the plural pedants, lighten up! There is a reason the crossword column is titled “Word Play” and not “Oxford English Dictionary.” The games afoot—let’s play!
@Robinette Can't tell if you left that apostrophe out on purpose, but it's bugging me all the same. :)
A MUTANT, an INFANT, and a PEDANT showed up for the open house, knowing they were competing with seven other ants for the lease. The infant said “KIDDOS are really fun to have as neighbors.” The mutant said “I’m really quiet since I’m part SNAKE”. The pedant said “Actually, there aren’t any ANTS in this apartment, that’s just a suffix.” The manager just sighed “THIS CAN’T BE.”
Yarrrgggghhh, had it all solved except for 1D. I was stuck on MICS and just could not figure out how to fix the cross at SNCLOSE. I got lazy and took a revealer instead of brute-forcing it, and then felt shame. Funny how one's mind (at least mine) can get stuck on something so clearly wrong when the right and not-so-harf answer is staring at you.
@Michael B. I generally kick myself HARD when I do a reveal. What I'm really revealing is what an idiot I was to miss that.
@Michael B. Plus I do not think the plural of computer mouse is MICE. Mouses. Not that we usually have more than one. Took me a while.
@Michael B. I feel you! Some days you have the patience to take it out and start over; other days you just hit reveal. No shame in either!
@Michael B. I could almost guarantee that if you had walked away from it for a short while, the correct answer would have jumped out at you. I've been doing NYT puzzles for many decades, and it's amazing how the mind works. And often, your subconscious will be working and you won't even need to be near the puzzle for the answer to come.
Seen on side of pest control truck: "We Make Ants Say Uncle"
@Nancy J. I spent the last day of this heat wave catching up on episodes of Bob's Burgers. Each opening has a different puntastic name on the side of an exterminator's van. I wonder if yours has ever made it! (Like puns? See also the name of the shop next door in the openings and the Burger of the Day during the episodes.)
Ants ants ants! (Sprockets reference). OK. Two ant poems. The first is by Virginia Hamilton Adair, a late-in-life poet who used to publish poetry in the 1930s-40s, then stopped for several decades, not liking the hustle and the egotism of that world, only taking it up again when her husband died by his own hand in 1990. Her book "Ants on a Melon" was a bestseller for a volume of poems. Here is the title poem: Once when our blacktop city was still a topsoil town we carried to Formicopolis a cantaloupe rind to share and stooped to plop it down in their populous Times Square at the subway of the ants and saw that hemisphere blacken and rise and dance with antmen out of hand wild for their melon toddies just like our world next year no place to step or stand except on bodies. *** The second is by Robert Desnos from 1943, a poem for children about the outrageous lies they were told by the occupying Germans (the parallels to our current mendacious leaders are clear), called in French "Le Fourmi" (The Ant): An eighteen-meter ant With a hat on its head, That doesn’t exist, that doesn’t exist. An ant pulling a cart Full of penguins and ducks, That doesn’t exist, that doesn’t exist. An ant that speaks French, That speaks Latin and Javanese, That doesn’t exist, that doesn’t exist. Well! Why not?
@john ezra That second poem is a gut punch. Thank you for sharing it. As for the first poem, I love the phrase "melon toddies." Thanks for the introduction to a new (to me) poet.
Probably one of my favourite rebus puzzles. Took me a while to find the ANTS, then had a ball seeking the rest. DEvIANT held me up a tad. vAA made sense to me, though as DH is a pilot I really should know better. Went with c (Civil) AA first but clearly no feral, deviant DEFIANT type would include a c. 5D one of the last to fill as it never occurred to me the bordering state could be in a different country! Deb; a spray bottle with half water half vinegar aimed at their entry point into your house does the trick. It disrupts the pheromones so they don’t have a trail to follow, but is still eco friendly, so no nasty pesticide to breathe in. Vinegar not the best odour in the world, so I spray the room with diluted essential oil afterwards.
@Helen Wright Thank you! Our problem is that we live in a very old house and can’t find the entry point, but I will try your suggestion
@Helen Wright I couldn't find any vAA reference for the UK, only CAA. Can you educate me? I love your livestock adventures, but I'll settle for pheromones today. I use a product called Delta Dust for the nasty little biters that try to gain entry. I apply that around the outside foundation to discourage the climbers. We also have little families of geckos that dine on the ants. They are very well fed. Cheers!
@Deb Amlen. Read the recent recommendations in Wirecutter regarding ant control!
Ants are captains of industry, they always seem to be on task. If you pick one up and place it down far from where you found it, it immediately goes right back to work. Ants get things done. They always seem to know what to do. They seem absolutely in tune with the universe. We can learn from these creatures. And be amazed as well, as I was after a quick ant fact hunt. Ants are strong; they can lift objects 50 times their body weight. A super ant colony was found in South America that was nearly 4,000 miles wide. Most of my experience with ants has occurred during three weeks in the spring, when they invite themselves into our house, and there is no keeping them out. They mean no harm; this is just part of their work, and when it’s done, they’re gone. This puzzle was not only fun to fill in, it reminded me of a fantastic Barbara Kingsolver novel (“The LACUNA”). I also like how SARGE echoed the theme, because you can append ANT to it. Your puzzle, Alexander, happified my exercise-loving brain as well as sent me galavanting into Ant World. What a blast – thank you!
Administrative note: I shall be away on vacay, back a week from Monday. If I can’t sneak in my clue list this coming Monday, there will be two lists when I return. Wishing you well, and it will make my heart happy to rejoin you all!
First rebus completion ever and a very rare - for me - Thursday solve. Tweaked to it with ATLANTA and SANTA then got TENANTS and was on my way. And even rarer still - no frustrated Thursday rANT from me! ;>)
I’m shocked! Shocked, I say, that we didn’t get 10 squares with little animated ants after completion! 🤪 I do love a clever rebus puzzle so thumbs up from me!
@BonnieS I would have loved the animated army too but the best I can offer is 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
I have been doing the NYT Crossword for a little over a year now. This was my first time completing a Thursday and finding the rebus without outside assistance!!! It was a fun boost to start my day!
Appreciate LACUNAs crossing with COILs.
@Elyse I noticed this also! It had to be intentional
@Elyse Didn't Shred the GNAR open for them?
There was an old lady from France Whose house was infested with ANTs She tried gasoline And her figure was seen Hurtling over Penzance. (I think I was 12 when I wrote that Limerick.)
Grant, A 12 year-old’s Limerick - Grant’s - As art did not rival Rembrandt’s. But his caution’ry verse Likely saved from the hearse A few anty- but non-smarty pants. (I don’t have the excellent excuse “but I’m only 12” ;)
Buoyant, brilliant, important, well-meant. Blatantly, rampantly, triumphant!
Great puzzle. Fun rebus. I wasn’t sure if the ANT in TENANT counted as one of the TEN ANTS. (It didn’t. DidANT)
Excellant! (Although it seems I may still be a letter off.)
I’m a first-time commenter but have been reading and (mostly) enjoying this section for quite a while. Had to chime in today because I LOVED this puzzle! Super-cute and not too difficult for a Thursday. Great job!!
@Lisa 18...no make that 19 recs...not bad for your first post! You should jump in more often.
I was ready for this. Clue one MUTANT knew we had a rebus. Not possible we have a continuance of our summer loving theme is it? After all those cookies and ice cream fell onto the floor, we got ANTS!!
PSA: Ants hate the smell of cloves. If they show up in your house, figure out their entry point and use cloves, clove powder, or clove oil mixed with water (in a spray bottle) around that area. It once worked beautifully for me. That said, the last thing I wanted to spread all over the grid was cloves. I wanted more ants! The more ants the merrier, so I Ieven popped in some Adam Ant for the full experience: <a href="https://youtu.be/meForQt7EK4?si=Qc2JGVy7fu11oXQo" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/meForQt7EK4?si=Qc2JGVy7fu11oXQo</a> Loved every minute of it. Thank you so much, Mr. Liebeskind. Despite being infested, your puzzle has brought much joy!
The plural of lacuna is.... ...whatever the dictionary (and the crosses) say it is.
I don’t usually comment, but I loved this one today! Good balance of tricky and straightforward clues so that it was interesting but not “bang my head against the wall frustrating”, and I could get the ones I had no “clue” about on the crosses. The ANTs were super fun to find, it was the “Dear SANTa” that got me onto it 😸
More fun than I could have anticipated! She's got legs, she knows how to use them.
Big Day today! I completed my first 4 day streak today. Monday through Thursday all gold stars. Came close three times before. So happy! We'll see if I can pull off the fabled work week sweep tomorrow. Fingers crossed
My wife and I are militANT about doing the crossword every day, but she was adamANT that I write my first ever comment today about the abundANT fun clues. Once we knew we needed ten ants in the quadrANT we had an advANTage but became frANTic trying to work out where they were. Overall, totally elegANT and brilliANT, and our time turned out to be fANTastic. TriumphANT!
@Sukey Your wife was absolutely right!
This one really nails the landing. TEN ANTS is a terrific revealer! I'm always a happy camper when there's a rebus -- and I especially applaud this one for its theme density. Ten is a large number of ANTS to embed. And the more ANTS you have, the more likely it will be that some of them will stymie the solver -- at least for a moment. Now ANTS does happen to be a letter combo that appears in many, many words -- but you try embedding them 10 times. Which of course means 20 times when you take both Across and Down into consideration. Impressive. Although I know nothing about the X-Man, I nevertheless picked this up at 1A: MUTANTS. I owe it all to ANTHOLOGY, of course. And because this one was the first rebus, it was also the hardest for me. Toughest answer for me: MCLAREN. Favorite clue: REGATTA. Biggest "Huh???": Shred the GNAR, whatever in the world that means. Very enjoyable Thursday. Bring on the rebuses -- I can never get enough of them!
@Nancy This comic book nerd got MUT(ANT)S right away, as the X-Men is still my favorite series.
@Nancy This is more for my edification than yours, but I just HAD to look this up. It's not only a slang, it's an acronym, as well. <a href="https://www.activenorcal.com/how-two-tahoe-skiers-invented-the-term-shred-the-gnar" target="_blank">https://www.activenorcal.com/how-two-tahoe-skiers-invented-the-term-shred-the-gnar</a>/ I wouldn't have known this, either.
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah... My first pass on across entries I had the correct answer appear immediately for most of the themes, but then it was the wrong number of letters so said to myself THISCANTBE. But then doing my first pass on downs, I had enough letters to guess TENANTS and suddenly a bunch of things made more sense lol. Also I was playing with alternate definitions for the ant words (ERR[ANT] is an ant making a mistake? ME[ANT]ALOT is Cookie Monster repeatedly having tiny friends for dinner) and the word "sextant" popped up. I really don't want to think about that ;)
Took a few minutes to find my mistake. VAA meant as much to me as FAA. A deviant could be untameable....
@Ciarán Exact same problem here too, thanks for the assist
@Ciarán Joining the DEvIANT team 🙌
Brilliant puzzle. Possibly my favorite Thursday ever!
Baby's first rebus! Oddly, I got "TEN ANTS" first ("ones paying flat rates" that could be read as two words), and that helped me to figure out that my instincts were right on MUTANTS, AVANT-GARDE, and DEAR SANTA. Some folks say there's a rebus to blame, but I actually found them to be really helpful, because wherever I was stumped I had three whole letters to try!
@Kaitlin wasting away again in rebusville
This was super fun! Figured it out with no help thanks to Donald Glover!
Loved it! Figured it was a rebus early on. An accomplishment for me! Loved the clues. I am often awed by what constructors are able to do. Better than my average Thursday. Thanks!
As an IDAHO native and lifelong skier (never in the White Clouds which I think are wilderness) I’ve never once said “shred the GNAR” but I guess there’s still time. ;) Thanks for a fun puzzle.
@Briana It’s my internal mantra as I pull on my ski jeans.
Color + black = shade Color + white = TINTs Had to look this up for my daughter recently
@Steve That's so simple it's amazing.
@Steve True. I've seen this in puzzles before, though. A lot of people don't know the distinction and just use both words to indicate any variation of a given color. It's another example of words losing their precise definition for a less specific one due to people assuming a meaning from context, and if you object to it you get accused of being pedantic. I did the mental shrug.
Just want to add my voice to the praise this puzzle is receiving. Next time NYT puts together a pack of rebus puzzles or a book of Thursdays, this should be first in line. Great work!
If Alexander was a red headed country star, his stage name would be Rebus Max Entire. Seriously, I enjoyed the puzzle. A higher rebus count than I've seen in the past, but I liked that it kept me on my toes right down to the last clue. And that the rebuses worked in both directions, which isn't always the case. Oh, what a busy farm he built When first he stocked it without guilt
I shouldn't do this, but I started a Thursday without turning on Autocheck. I didn't get all that far before I had to give it up for the night, but I found one of those formic acid bugs fairly early this morning and all of a sudden, I could make sense of some of those weird strings of letters I had come up with last night. It still took a lo-o-ong time to finish. The middle left was the last to go, where I stupidly could not think of a three-letter word for "filled up with" and kept thinking a "Full House" pair ending with -ENS must be queENS (I tried to think of a blank-blank AN TENS, but no six-leggers there). At long last I realized what came before GARDE and was able to wrap things up and bring my streak to an amazing five! (I'll never beat what the stats claim is my longest streak of 113. That dates from the days when I looked up anything I could and especially went for what googled up as "New York Times crossword clue.")
@kilaueabart Yay! I was looking forward to seeing what your experience was today! Nice!! ☺️
@kilaueabart Nice going Bart, and keep on working at them. There are a lot of us here that keep rooting for you!
@kilaueabart, WOAH, dude! Five??! You’re awesome! Good for you!
I loved knowing there were exactly TENANTS.
@Joe P there were actually eleven
After about 10 years I finally complete my 1st crossword w/a rebus, w no cheating, no looking at answers, no reading Deb's column. . I already had filled one in, but seeing 39a really made it clear on how to proceed.