Wednesday, August 13, 2025

@Francis I've also noticed they no longer have a search function. When did that disappear?

@Francis You reminded me of my favorite YouTube video it’s called “Medieval Help Desk”. Check it out! <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ</a>

@Francis Sometimes I have to stop myself from doing that in public when I’m reading small print.

@Francis I typically read on a Kindle and have been for years, but this week I have a hard cover book and I'm embarrassed to admit how close I've come to trying to tap the page to turn or enlarge the font.

@Francis Even babies think books are defective these days <a href="https://youtu.be/uqF2gryy4Gs?si=52Va_Gd0kXdGVdw9" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/uqF2gryy4Gs?si=52Va_Gd0kXdGVdw9</a>

@Mike “Cirrus-ly?”

@Mike Your weather puns feel hotter because of the humoridity. (If you don’t find that funny, maybe you mist the joke)

@Mike, I find your puns partly sunny.

@Mike Long may you reign! No, that's not a snow job. Just thought a positive comment would help with lightning your load; not trying to steal your thunder.

@Laura Smarty pants! Or, as we say in Britain, clever trousers!

@Laura I’d go so far as to say ERUDITE.

@Juan Pablo I interpreted it the way you did. It works both ways, but I now suspect that the clue was referring to Anne Frank.

@Juan Pablo I did.

@Juan Pablo I interpreted it the exact same way.

@Juan Pablo The question mark definitely implies a play on words so I’m certain they were referring to Ann Frank. But if I were editing it I would have added an exclamation point which implies a literally meaning as well, since it is a frank account— “Frank account?!” Suggesting you can take it both ways.

@Juan Pablo Yes, it was cleverly clued, and I read nothing into it. We don't know what the constructor had in mind, but his comments do reveal his background as a comedy writer, and he never mentions the diary.

@Juan Pablo I thought DIARY at once but waited for a crossing or two... but a connection to _The DIARY of a Young Girl_ (or _The Secret Annexe_) didn't come to mind. However, I don't think it is insensitive or in any way disrespectful...just adding an extra layer to the clue. Having visited the 'Annexe' I will say this: one can scarcely understand the Holocaust--the destruction of 6 million--but the thoughts of one girl in hiding--a family's desperate gamble to stay alive-- that is something we can encompass. I have wondered if Anne's belief --that people are good at heart-- lasted until the end.

@Juan Pablo -Same

@Juan Pablo Same here. Sam's write-up twigged me to the Anne Frank reference, which added a deeper layer to the clue (which I felt was in no way disrespectful). I read Anne Frank's diary many times as a young girl (I'm 61 now), and it had a powerful effect on me. I then started reading more and more books about the Holocaust. I grew up in a predominantly Jewish suburb of NYC, and my young and naive mind could not grok why anyone would harbor such hatred for people like my neighbors. And here we are, experiencing the USA of 2025... (Note: I emigrated to France in the summer of 2023 because I was just too afraid of another Trump "presidency.")

@Megan if you are wondering, I became a teacher

@Megan What grade level(s) do you teach?

@Megan When I was growing up, I went to eight schools between kindergarten and finishing high school, because we moved a lot and one year I changed schools because I’d been going to the parish school but my father, in my mother’s words, “went to war with the Catholic Church” because of Vatican II. As a result, I spent a lot of time in libraries as a refuge. In the sixth grade, we had class officers for the first time in my life (at a school I only attended for half a year). To gain an office, we had to submit essays arguing for ourselves for a particular role. I wrote that I wanted to be class librarian and when the teacher announced that I’d gotten the position (I don’t recall if anyone else applied for it), I honestly thought of it as a holy duty.

@Liz B I was thinking that the picture is of fashion floor models... And they're grounded too. 🤷‍♀️

@Marshall Walthew. I haven’t read the novel but have seen the movie a few times now and think it’s great.

@Marshall Walthew I loved Cloud Atlas! And I remember loving Black Swan Green which I think that may have been at least semi-autobiographical based on a year in David Mitchell’s childhood. Haven’t read any others by him but, remembering those two, I’m thinking I might have to!

@Marshall Walthew I've read and loved everything David Mitchell has written. I always recommend people read all his books in order, as there are recurring characters - although I think each is also enjoyable without having read the others.

@Marshall Walthew I was fortunate to see Hozier at Fenway Park earlier this summer on the second hottest day on record for Boston. It was wild. He played Nina Cried Power in the encore set. I love that song so much both for its recognition of her amazing catalog that speaks truth to power and also the nod to her literal screaming of the word "power" during one of my favorite songs, Sinnerman. Hozier was amazing live, but his show did not top seeing Nina herself in concert at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor in November 2000 (my senior year at UMich). She pranced on stage with a feather duster. None of us quite understood why, but we were AMAZED.

@Marshall Walthew also a Hozier fan and "Take me to Church" is just so haunting and gorgeous and filled with longing and emotion. My Congregational church has an incredibly talented music director (he has a PhD in music and a large number of our soloists end up going to NYC for various Broadway roles). One year, 100% of the music he arranged was by women composers for preludes, postludes and some other parts of the service. (Of. course we also have traditional hymns.) In another, he arranged only Americana. You get the idea... So this past year he did audience requests (taken in advance) and he'd arrange them in wonderful ways. Was a huge hit and he did it again for the coming year. One of the songs was "Take me to Church." Now our director has to know that the song isn't exactly a positive treatise on organized religion, but he really made it work, with our incredible bass soloist bringing down the house. Given that my church is about inclusivity (we voted to be open and affirming way back in 2004), acceptance, and love, it was just one more reason to love our music director and my fellow congregants.

@Marshall Walthew While I enjoyed Cloud Atlas, I’ve always compared it to Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Years of Rice and Salt, which I prefer. That may simply be because Robinson’s book came out earlier and I read it first. I also appreciate the alternate history angle (it posits a world in which the Black Death wipes out most Europeans) and getting to experience the reincarnations through the eyes of multiple characters. That said, any book that makes you think is good.

@Connie I completely agree! I am an elementary school library specialist, and I was delighted to see that this year's Oregon Battle of the Books list includes Number the Stars. (This means I'll be writing upwards of a hundred practice questions for it, discussing it with students, and quizzing them on its details.) This book is on my short list of books written for young readers that I believe all adults should read *as adults*, whether for the first time or as a re-read. I'm one book away from finishing a years-long project of reading all the Newbery winners. While many of them are products of their time and must be extended some grace based on the prejudices of the day, Number the Stars continues to be (sometimes painfully) relevant.

@Connie I didn't know the book in 48A, as it was after my time, but I do remember reading about teenagers helping the Norwegian Resistance. Google gives me "Shadow on the Mountain" by Margi Preus, but that didn't come out until 2012. It sounds like the same story, though; there was lots of cross-country skiing involved.

@Connie Sorry if I wasn't clear, there was a book I read in school that was very similar to "Shadow on the Mountain" but I can't remember the title. (It was back in the '70s or early '80s.)

@Norwood Here you go, well earned 😁 <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS_gQd8UB-hJteMnKYsmnwMsk-syRwH7F&si=1IAuJwe0_zKJDLiw" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS_gQd8UB-hJteMnKYsmnwMsk-syRwH7F&si=1IAuJwe0_zKJDLiw</a>

@Norwood You said it.

@Norwood - When you have a cabinet entirely composed of unqualified hacks such as 7D, that is what happens.

@BarbWho That’s awesome! So impressive!

@BarbWho, Brava! 500 is a huge milestone! Congratulations!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@BarbWho 👍🏽 Good on ya!

@Casey came here to find this comment. Totally agree

@Lewis Welcome back! I also appreciated the “Message from a pilot” clue.

@Lewis I'm surprised that you had not heard of OLLA--it's a crossword staple going back to the 1970's (or before); I have one, sitting on my pantry sideboard, right next to my épée and my favorite étui.

@BNTJ Overall, laudable sentiment, but recipe books for mother? Gag me.

@Deanna Behrens Can you be more specific? At the risk of being insensitive, what are you referring to?

@Petrol I think they're referring to 14A which was a reference to Anne Frank's diary, which I thought was insensitive as well

@Deanna Behrens Personally, I liked the clue about the diary. My first thought was actually that where can you be more frank than in your diary, where you're theoretically the most honest... Then I realized a bit later that it was probably about Anne Frank. But I don't personally think it's disrespectful, especially considering how it's one of many books on banned book lists by people trying to rewrite and white wash history. For that reason, I was glad to see such an important book show up in the puzzle. I dunno... That's just my take.

@Deanna Behrens The only place I have seen or heard Rona is in these crossword puzzles, twice. Everyone here just said Covid. As in Covid vaccine. ( And it's about time for the next jab.)

@Deanna Behrens As a Jewish person, it gave me a second of pause, but I don’t think it was disrespectful and in the end bringing it up at all seems more valuable to me. (Unlike Justin Bieber’s comment in the guest book there who said “I’m sure if she had been around today she would have been a Belieber”). As for RONA, as a doctor, it doesn’t bother me, except for the fact that no one really calls it that.

@Deanna Behrens For what it’s worth, I’ve seen that same 14A clueing in an archive puzzle, and had the same sense of distaste.

@Deanna Behrens Two things: - A “Frank account” could simply be an honest account, which is what a diary is. This was how I read the clue. - Rona, as slang is a real thing. There’s nothing more harmful about it than calling a sinus infection “the sniffles”. People have slang terms for things. The virus isn’t a person, it cant be hurt or offended.

@Kev 3000! Wow! That's over 8 years. Now that's dedication! I'm happy that this was 500 for me.

@kilaueabart Yay! Congrats!! I love it when wild guesses pay off! So much fun! ☺️

@kilaueabart You sound a lot like me! The 'Pepsi guy' can surely be recognised as 'obscure'? I'm always leaving the crossword unattended and have solve times of hours ... days ...

@wickershee - Both of him! The other English David Mitchell is the author of “Unruly”, a funny and informative take on the British monarchs up through Elizabeth I. They’re almost the same age, the this one is primarily a comedian.

@wickershee Your correction prompted me to read David Mitchell’s Wikipedia entry which was interesting. FWIW he did get a master’s degree in American literature, and seems to have globetrotted in his life, but is definitely British.

@wickershee As is the other one!

@Bill in Yokohama Well that’s embarrassing!

@Bill in Yokohama it has been argued that American is a form of misspelt English 😀😀

@Ιασων At this point, there are many more English speakers in the US than in the UK. Perhaps the Brits are spelling color wrong.

@Striker Join us in Oshkosh next July for EAA AirVenture. You will probably see some skywriting.

@Striker The last time I saw a SKY WRITER was at the EAA air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. If your kids are into aircraft, it’s quite something to see.

@Striker I see skywriting almost weekly where I live. And the Goodyear blimp has a home base not too far from me, so that flies over our house pretty often as well!

@Striker Calling the Goodyear airship a blimp is one of my new pet peeves. While the older ones were, in fact, blimps, the airships now in use are not blimps, they are dirigibles.

@Striker Striker! Like in the movie Airplane. Apt name considering today's puzzle theme.

@Striker We had one in the Orlando, FL area a few months ago. Can't remember what he was "writing" but the smoke was disappearing quickly so it was hard to tell. Pretty much only one letter plus the one he was working on were visible.

@Striker I guess not in Shawn.

@Jonathan laten as in get later in the day, closer to dark (I was confused at first, too)

@Jonathan, As opposed to earlien.

@Jonathan It's some archaic word crosswordise that several online dictionaries couldn't give a definition for. It's a shame that a better NE corner wasn't constructed.

Jonathan, When you "google" a word, add the word "definition." Your first hit may well be at a dictionary: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laten" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laten</a>

@Grant When v becomes a letter that crossword creators don’t look at with horror especially at the end of a word.

@Francis No, silly! It's just that the sea otters pay big money to get advertised in the Times crossword puzzle! Publicity, publicity, publicity!!

@Francis No, silly! The sea otters are paying big money for this kind of representation in the Times crossword! Publicity, publicity, publicity!!

@Francis I cannot understand why my three comments to you about this are not showing up. If they ever do, let me know if you can figure out what didn't make it past the emus.

@Francis Interesting theory. But even without constructor tools, I’m sure people who do this sort of thing look at each other’s work, and so certain useful words or phrases can’t help but get tucked away in the brain. I guess the only way to know would be to lock a group of novice constructors away in solitary confinement, with no tools or examples, and see how many Utes and Enyas emerge. I’d volunteer, but I’ve already eaten too many Oreos. (Not to mention the IPAs.)

@Francis So as an occasional constructor, everyone uses software with a pretty huge word base. The challenge is usually screening out the dreck and the crosswordese as much as possible. The common words are just common because they have common letters or letters in certain order. Obviously OREO for a lot of vowels. ENYA because sometimes you need a Y in an odd place. Short words with a more unusual letter are quite valuable and necessary sometimes, like KIA say. As for something like SEA OTTER I think there is a recency bias. There are tons of words in these puzzles and occasionally two slightly more unusual ones overlap in the same week, it’s just going to happen. When it does we remember it, and don’t remember when it doesn’t. It’s like the fact you only need 23 people in a room to have a 50 percent chance of having the same birthday. Seems like a coincidence but it’s not.

@Francis And one more observation. When I construct and need to a use a slightly more unusual word that’s not common to my vocabulary I look to see how often it’s been used before both in the New York Times and elsewhere. So I don’t use Etsy in real life, and it may be a popular website or not, I don’t know I just know it from Crosswords. So if I were constructing and it came up in my software for the first I’d be more likely to be reassured it was ok if I saw it frequently vs. not. So there could be a bit of a snowball effect and it may take a minute for a useful but less common word or name to start cracking into crosswordese.

@BJ I did. My son in Phoenix (at the time) texted at one point saying he'd caught the "rona".

@BJ Unfortunately, yes. Fortunately, though, in my case, only once.

@BJ Yes. My DD was an ER nurse in a London major trauma unit before, throughout and after Covid. All the staff eventually called it RONA. As she put it, it was to dispel the fear of the disease for those who worked on the front line (and caught it several times, some of her colleagues died). I liken it to soldiers using nicknames or slurs to describe the enemy during a hot war.

@BJ I started working in emergency management in NYC during the COVID crisis (before the vaccine existed and during the lockdown), so my entire world was consumed by COVID for about three years of 60-80-hour work weeks. In the beginning, we definitely used RONA as shorthand. I myself noticed the eventual disappearance of that word a year or so later, and now it seems that everyone just says COVID. Fun fact: I never caught COVID once in NYC, despite the fact that I was commuting to Brooklyn from Manhattan (using subways, buses, Ubers) every day and working crazy hours. As soon as the vaccine was available, I got it. I did catch it once, though: after attending a football match at the Paris Olympics. But it was like a very mild but annoying cold for about 2-3 days, and then I was fine. (I tend to never get sick, knock on wood--I attribute this to my powerful Lithuanian immunity. 🤣)

@BJ I feel like I heard it a lot from teenagers

@Bill As someone said before, you cause the day to earlien.

@Bill - Love Wind, Sand, and Stars. Did you know that St. Exupery was in the U. S. to accept an award for that book when France fell to the Nazis. He couldn’t get home, so he stayed on Long Island and that is how The Little Prince came to be written here. Some years ago the Morgan Library in NYC had an exhibit that included the original manuscript. He did eventually get back to fly for the Allies but his plane was lost over the Mediterranean. The Morgan exhibit included his ID bracelet that was found in a fisherman’s net decades later. I cried when I saw it.

@Bill In the finance world, many countries "peg" their currency to the US dollar, rather than have it "float" in the international exchange markets. China UNPEGged the Yuan from the USD in 2005. In a laundry context, however...??? We used clothespins. TIL that Aruba's currency is still the Florin.

@Connie That was a wonderful exhibit! I love St.-Ex's writing.

@Natdegu Yeah, a propos Spelling Bee: I used to comment there regularly that someone should take the constructor out in a boat. I think maybe he did finally let in LATEEN but maybe not....

@Don H. How about two words— My Way?

@Jerry I think it is worse lately. There’s always a certain percentage of political comments—or especially about the political correctness of certain clues or entries—but people are even more sensitive now. I knew as soon as TULSI or CDC came up it would raise some hackles, even something as innocuous about Easter Egg Hunts on the White House Lawn engendered comments. And don’t get me started on any clue God forbid remotely related to LGBTQ. Definitely a high level of anxiety out there, right or wrong, that people sometimes need to vent on these forums (looking at you Frances). I wish it weren’t so but I’ve learned to look past it (not a reflection of any political leaning, just a reflection of my desire to use crosswords to escape from the real world not to be reminded of it).

@Jerry No! Don’t go! I always look forward to your comments. I know it’s tricky out there now and I understand some clues/answers may be triggering to some people. I tend to skip over those unless it’s someone whose comments I read regularly (it rarely is). Sometimes we need to remind ourselves this is just a crossword. Full disclosure: one of the first comments I made, eons ago, was a horrified response to a clue that solved to Car Bomb. It’s some sort of green cocktail on St Patrick’s day? As a Brit who lived through the IRA bombing campaign and was personally caught up in the Harrods bombing that was beyond triggering.

@Jerry I used to troll the libs but it's no fun anymore - too easy. If you're complaining about "dat 'rona," you're basically trolling yourself. I just roll my eyes and move on.

@Jerry You know, it's not just you that are suffering. I am someone you would use the "w" on. I have been called just about every name in the book, including a D that won't and is too lazy to work. I have worked ever since my father died when I was 11. I mowed lawn, did yard work, until I was old enough to get a social security number, then proceeded to work through school, in power plants and as a janitor, working my way through school, becoming employed immediately out of grad school (no break year for me) until I retired at 66. So how do you think I feel being called lazy, when I worked over fifty years of my life? The only time I ever took any government assistance is for the few years we received my father's social security. So don't get me started on words the emus ought to look for, ok?

@Jerry So in other words you would skip your own comment. Got it.

@Jerry Fine with me if you leave.

@Moira why were you disappointed?

@Moira I thought it odd she was clued as a politician, rather than as a current administration official or her title. Though not long ago, one might've questioned her longevity there, she could've been Scaramucci'd by now. Maybe later in the week they could clue "tulsi" as the herb holy basil, but that's a bit too arcane for a Wednesday.

Wow. Isn't there just something about an Army LTC with two Middle East tours of duty (one being a combat tour), that irritates people? Now, let's just toss in a well-kept, well-spoken woman of American/Samoan descent, an accomplished surfer, a yoga and martial arts practitioner, and it just brings out hatred and dissent? Or, it could be her adopting Hindu faith? Wasn't there another more recent female politician of mixed culture, without the afore-mentioned credentials, being worshipped as the second coming?

"ATAS" shrugged! Oh, well.

@mainer Seems to be an exhibit by Chanel at Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010

@mainer It looks PhotoShopped. You can tell by looking at the seam above the grass (and by everyone ignoring the models).

Never mind. Google confirms what Zachary said.

@mainer It is downright peculiar.

@suejean Agreed, I found that clue/answer pair distasteful.

@suejean What machinations does ones mind have to undergo to find something insensitive or distasteful with that entry? The book is commonly referred to as "The Diary of Anne Frank". What could be clearer or more innocuous? Seems like many here just look for something to complain about.

@Francis I knew the word. I thought that it might have been too obscure for them to use, but I was on Turn 4 and I had all but the eventual first letter as yellow. One letter left from just anagramming the whole bunch. So I played around with the letters I had, and the ones left to choose from for the missing letter, and the answer word was the only thing I could think of. I thought to myself, I doubt this could be the answer, too niche, but I have two turns left after this, and at least I might land a few greens. And lo and behold, it was the word. It gave me a 100-day streak, which should have been longer, but I missed a day. (I did the missed puzzle late, though.) Don't give up.

@Francis You're scaring me.

@Francis Isn't there a better place for Wordle comments?

@Francis Same here. Almost. But got in on the fourth line. Whew . I knew the word but have never used it in a sentence

@Francis - I entered XERIC for my fourth guess. The 'bot claimed it was a valid word, but unlikely to be the answer based upon what it knows about Wordle. I think it is at least as likely a word as the final answer. I did get the answer on my fifth guess. But as I entered it I said to myself "Self, this probably won't be the word but I can't see anything else..."

@Francis Took me 6 too. I guess I vaguely have heard of the word in retrospect but when I entered it I had no idea, just were the only letters left. And people were complaining about LORIS!!!!

@Francis Seven appearances in the NYT crossword in the last 25 years. I didn’t remember any of them, though. It took me four tries but I was surprised at the answer.

@Francis lol. I got it in 4 but it was surprisingly hard considering it's a common sight in my weekly shopping. I was saying to myself "now they've gone and done it, there is NOT A WORD-- oh!" 😂

@Francis I should mention that I'm not giving up *doing* Wordle. I just had to "swing out" on todays because I simply could not make a word that seemed like a word to me. So I quit *that* puzzle, not Wordle altogether.

@Dom D If you ask me, the sounder the entry, the better! Har! I jest! I actually agree with you on all counts here! ☺️