I thought the themes were to help complete a crossword puzzle, but lately it seems they're irrelevant and unhelpful to solving a puzzle and more of a post-puzzle puzzle, especially when the theme is tenuous as it was in today's puzzle. I used to like to identify a theme and use it to help solve a puzzle. Now I often ignore the theme because it's easier to solve the puzzle than it is to figure out the theme.
Interesting. Different strokes. I got the theme from the title before I even started, and used it to solve the theme entries.
@Tom I got TO EBAY OR NOT TO EBAY from the theme.
@Tom I used the theme a lot. It also helped to know the themes ended with an ay sound
@Sara W I got it from Shakespeare and the crosses.
@Tom I wish I had looked at the theme before solving. It certainly would have helped me understand some of the stranger entries! It also would have made the solve a bit more fun. But I’m guessing you don’t know Pig Latin, and that’s why it wasn’t helpful to you?
@Tom translating the last word in pig Latin changes the meaning of a common phrase to match the clue, for example "Not your average Joe" changes to "Not your average O-Jay (OJ)", aka a good breakfast drink. If you clock this pattern part way through you *can* use it to help solve some of the themed clues if you have worked out the common phrase it's spinning off, I got "to ebay or not to ebay" and "toss in the ashtray" this way. Although certainly not for all of them, I had to get "jumbo entree" and "extra old bay" just from the clue & filler
@Tom I get where you’re coming from. For me it’s maybe 50/50. But maybe, like me, you don’t look at the title before you’ve solved the puzzle? Because of that I didn’t pick up on the Pig Latin theme until after I solved the puzzle and saw the title, and then went back and figured out the oddball fills.
@Tom I'm really not getting your complaint. I don't think there's any rule book saying the theme has to help complete the puzzle. I've always thought it was the opposite: filling in the rest of the puzzle helps you find the theme. As for today's theme, it was pretty obvious from the byline and title that it was going to be about Pig Latin. If you don't know Pig Latin, that's on you, not the constructor.
@Tom I don't understand what you mean by irrelevant. The theme clues were all consistent and related directly to the title. Pig Latin was the theme so they were all relevant and IMO pretty clever. I, for one, did get some of the answers based on understanding the theme and thinking backwards
@Katie of course there's no "rulebook" for crosswords. That's an absurd point to make. But it is completely on the the constructor and editors for publishing a puzzle (on a Sunday, no less) that is one gigantic Natick
@Tom I thought the theme was helpful in that it told you to build a response that could be read as Pig Latin and that translated from Pig Latin into a familiar phrase. Once you have that clue and a few crosses to guide you, “TO EBAY OR NOT TO EBAY” practically writes itself.
A theme based entirely on Pig Latin is drudgery for me. By the time I got to the lower third, I was just plodding along just to get finished. I'm sure a lot of solvers loved it, but as they say in the decluttering business, it didn't spark joy for me.
@Steve L My problem is the theme doesn't do what it suggests. It's just a phonetic gimmick. The theme answers are plain-read clues that properly correspond to the clues. They all phonetically end with the "ay" sound but don't all end with those two letters. Then reconstructed, it's another phonetic gimmick.
@Steven M. Thanks for explaining. I could not see what this has to do with pig Latin. It was tortuous to solve.
@Steve L Nothing much to say--just tossing another Steve/Steven into the mix. But the puzzle was fun, even without any Pig Latin knowledge.
@Steven M. Pig Latin is a phonetic language, so I don’t think it’s a problem that the gimmick is phonetic as well.
So, was the theme to ixnay a rule here or to ixnay consistency altogether? One entry ixnayed a sound, another ixnayed a letter, another ixnayed my patience. By the end, I wasn’t solving — I was just ixnaying the whole idea. Fun fill in spots, but themewise this was more “Ixnay That!” than “Aha That!”
I liked the variety. If all of the themers had been Proper Pig Latin, I would have become quickly bored doing the solve. YMOV
I enjoyed the variety. If all of the themers had been Plain Pig Latin, I would have become bored after two or three. YMOV.
@Steven Golus I'll disagree. I thought the theme entries stayed true to Pig Latin, although they required thinking about the pronunciation, not the spelling. The one that took me a while to parse was JUMBOENTREE. Is that jumbo tren? What's a tren? Train? Took a while before I stopped looking at the letters and thought about how ENTREE is pronounced ontray, so TRON. Same with AULAIT. Pig Latin is a phonetic language. Attempts to write it are fraught with peril. Plus it's variable; I grew up with yay at the end of vowel words, so end would be endyay. Apparently others use way, so endway.
TO EBAY OR NOT TO EBAY gets my vote
A very puzzling puzzle. I have been fluent in pig Latin from childhood, and possibly this was an obscure dialect, because I just never got it. Finished it, but didn't get it.
@dutchiris It's not a dialect, it's just phonetic (Joe becomes oejay which is pronounced like OJ not oejay, low becomes owlay which is pronounced like au lait)
SUFFER is a pretty apt clue for a Sam Ezersky puzzle
@Hugh Ordinarily I’d agree! But I found this one very accessible, even without getting the theme. I’m just glad I didn’t see the constructor’s name before beginning, or I’d have been ightened-fray!
What a fun one! EXTRA OLD BAY made me laugh out loud for some reason - even though it might not be the funniest of the themers. I was stumped with no gold star until I swapped the Z with an S, in SUZIE. … And CALF for [New Jersey?] was also a funny one I landed at the very end. Once it finally dawned on me. Stellar, as usual, Amsay. Perhaps a bit gentler than most of yours but absolutely great.
@Striker "Susie-Q" — Dale Hawkins, 1957 "Suzie Q" — Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968 The song has been covered almost 100 times. <a href="https://secondhandsongs.com/work/4489" target="_blank">https://secondhandsongs.com/work/4489</a>
Didn't like this one at all. Inconsistent and tortuous theme, odd fill and US centric cluing with obscure references all over. yuck Even yesterday's one was oddly tough but fair.
@Ernest fully agreed, tough one for the non-US contingent and not in an enjoyable way. Better luck next week!
Dear constructors and editors: I hope this comments section has no impact on the decisions you make. Please keep challenging us with fun, creative themes. I enjoy these *because* they’re difficult, and I hope you keep finding news ways to make my brain hurt. Thank you for another great puzzle!
@Mark Counterpoint - I hope they are listening and encouraged to provide puzzles that their most ardent subscribers find superior and satisfying. I can't imagine why you'd think "ignoring customers" is good advice. They need to use both their own judgment - art is art - AND listen to feedback.
@Mark you really aren't paying attention to critics if you think it's because puzzles are "too hard". I honestly hope NYT is paying attention to more than just their fanfics
I have never been so out of sync with a Sunday puzzle. Once it turned into tedious work, I stopped, and I hadn't given up on a puzzle in years.
A vodka cocktail? Oh no. A proper gimlet is gin. Always gin. Only gin.
@Eric I fully agree, although I did get the answer right away.
@Eric Jury is out on this. Most dictionaries say it can be either. SOED says "A cocktail of one part gin (occas. vodka) to one part lime juice"
@Eric as a bartender, I agree in principle, however, as with Martinis I have to ask the customer preference before making because many, perhaps most, don’t know.
@Eric yeah, this one annoyed me. I get not wanting it to be too easy a puzzle, but cluing a definitively gin cocktail with vodka variants as vodka cocktail when it could have just been gin cocktail is needlessly obtuse. Tau instead of chi was similarly weird, as was Minorca instead of Menorca - though judging by my autocorrect perhaps the last one is just an Americanism that hasn’t travelled
@Eric When I saw the clue, my first instinct was Moscow Mule, and only got GIMLET when I had the G in place. I’m with you. A proper GIMLET is made with gin. Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe agrees. I also feel that it’s really only a GIMLET if made with Rose’s Lime Juice or some sort of lime cordial.
@Eric I feel the same way about martinis, but some people remain steadfast in their erroneous ways. I don't know what the proper punishment is for such miscreants.
@Eric from Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep: We sat in a corner of the bar at Victor’s and drank gimlets. “They don’t know how to make them here,” he said. “What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.”
@Phil and it doesn't help that ser is a variant of sir... I resorted to looking at the answer key.
I finally broke my longest streak record with this one. Streak of 17!
@Mary, So yesterday’s monster was part of your streak, too. Well done!
@Mary I'm sure you'll get that streak back soon!
I solved the whole thing without getting the theme, even though I knew from the title that it had to do with Pig Latin. Even after reading the explanations, I'm not sure I really get it. If you had told me it was a themeless puzzle, I'd have believed it. Maybe it's because I was too old when I first encountered Pig Latin. 😅 Not my cup of tea. Or OJ or au lait...
@Bob, Same! And I even grew up using Pig Latin.
Solved this one unaided in about three quarters of an hour, hating almost every minute of the experience. Let's stop there.
Wow, I'm seriously surprised at all the complaints. I thought this was a fantastic, fun puzzle. I wish more people would abide by the adage "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Far too may of these negative posts don't have any legitimate criticisms, they just say "yuck." At least show a modicum of respect and say WHY you disliked the puzzle. There is no excuse for rudeness. There's enough of that in the world right now.
@Katie from one Katie to another, I agree! I tend to not be on the same wavelength with many of Sam's puzzles but this Amsay guy seems to be much more my speed. Also did not know he's a fellow Buffalonian. Go Bills!
@Katie Actually, I disagree. I think this place would be boring if there were no complaints. That being said, complaints should be stated subjectively, as in "I'm not a fan of...", rather than finding fault with the puzzle or the constructor. Second, complaints should give reasons as to why the solver didn't like it; otherwise, it's just an opinion, and opinions are like the thing that everyone has one of. And finally, complaints should include a bit of wit that makes them enjoyable to read. And that's my two cents.
@Katie it’s good to hear from the community so you know you’re not alone in the frustration or dislike — or the enjoyment of a puzzle. Some of the comments to this thread about the proper way to respond hold good advice.
@Katie - I disagree. To the extent that some people want to declare how much they love a certain puzzle, it makes equal sense to provide a forum where people want to express that they didn't like it. Otherwise what's the point? Personally if I dislike a puzzle I like to explain why -- but if people can't just say "YUCK" then you also have to ban those people who just say "GREAT."
This was a steady solve for me although I did get tripped up by GAYETY. I had never encountered that spelling before. The theme did not excite me, although I did enjoy TOEBAYORNOTTOEBAY and EXTRAOLDBAY. I also got a good laugh out of TIS but a scratch, which caused me to mentally replay all my favorite bits from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I was also happy to see Michael STIPE get a puzzle shout out. Probably my biggest and only coup during my brief time as a freelance journalist was to be the first in Philadelphia to review R.E.M. (both their EP Chronic Town, and their first LP Murmur). My only other notable journalistic moment was to write a mildly negative review of Springsteen’s Born In The USA, a big no no in the heart of Boss country. I drew hate mail for that one, but at least I knew that someone had read my work.
@Marshall Walthew R.E.M. was often on my turntable during my college and law school years. Only managed to see them once, probably around 1985 I too enjoyed the Holy Grail reference.
@Marshall Walthew The “sometimes” part of the clue made me think that gaiety would not be spelled in the usual fashion, so I subbed a Y for the I and it worked. As for REM, I’m always happy for an excuse to listen! <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gD3cYh5Pp1I&pp=0gcJCf8Ao7VqN5tD" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gD3cYh5Pp1I&pp=0gcJCf8Ao7VqN5tD</a>
@Marshall Walthew My review of Springsteen BITUSA was quite negative but it was published in a college paper so I didn't get much reader backlash. I can imagine what would have happened to me however if I panned an REM album...
@Marshall Walthew as a long time Python fan, that answer seemed so obvious to me I completely failed to recognize it as Monty Python 😂. Maybe also because earlier Saturday evening I had seen a community theater production of “Much ado about nothing”, and Shakespearean language was in mind. Oddly, it was 93 across that reminded me of Monty Python: "be ot or bot ne ot, tath is the nestquie."
Ummm speaking as a crocheter, spinning is a different craft! Crochet is pulling loops through loops, and while it does use yarn, spinning is generally not involved. *good-natured grumble* New Jersey / CALF is my favorite clue, but I liked the theme-- no trouble with it being phonetic. It didn't help me in figuring out the fill, but I've noticed some themes are needed to solve and some kick in after solving, and this was the second sort. You didn't even need to know Pig Latin to solve it, because it was clued straight -- the theme was pig-latin-ization of common phrases, not "take answer and apply PL before entering" (or "clue is to the PLized phrase but you enter the original"). And it was more my flavor of puzzle than yesterday's, so *heart emoji*
@Isabeau Ha, ha! As a fellow crocheter (aka "hooker"), I agree, 100%! [Spin a yarn, perhaps?] was a funny clue, but it didn't really seem to work. Us hookers are arguably easy going folk, though, so yes -- it's only a *good-natured grumble* for sure.
@Isabeau I spin and caught that, too. Mistaken understanding of niche hobby items (and/or historical paraphernalia) seems very common recently, as in last week's puzzle when "corset supports" inexplicably solved to STAYS.
Beginning strongly to suspect that most cluing in specialist areas is often more about word association than accuracy, but we only notice when it edges onto our own territory! (Certainly, many of the history-themed entries drive me up the wall...)
@Isabeau that nonsensical crochet clue had me utterly stumped until I remembered that it's 2025 and apparently words no longer have meaning, especially wrt fabric. As a knitter and weaver, I've recently been baffled to find that even clothing manufacturers seem to be using those words interchangeably. One company keeps referring to their athletic fabrics as "woven," when, of course, they're knits. Knits stretch and move with the body, so they're great for athletic clothing. I don't want woven panel on the sides of my leggings - it won't move right. I think they've decided that "woven" is classier, but it's just misleading and wrong. As someone who thinks about fabric and materials quite a lot, it's baffling to find I live in a world where even clothing merchants don't!
@Isabeau General rule: When the clue ends in a question mark, the constructor is creating wordplay, which may bend the meanings of the words a little beyond what they really mean for the sake of a pun. This kind of thing occurs again and again, and is considered a feature, not a flaw.
@Steve L naw, man. Wordplay requires understanding and playing off the meaning of the words. This just kinda rubbed related things against one another and preeningly thought rather highly of itself.
@Jane Wheelaghan yes, that clue took me right back to my mum talking about her "stays". One of those things that I'd forgotten over the decades (half-centuries, even!).
@Isabeau. Judging from my Amazon shopping, I believe the problem is that the manufacturers, esp. in Asian countries, are not particularly careful regarding any English translation. They are not employing professional translators, probably using the skills of their neices and cousins. They come up with often hilarious word choices. Nevertheless, I am grateful for my very affordable summer uniform of linen-blend trousers, very cool and surprisingly well -cut.
@Isabeau If the clue were referring to actual spinning, it would not have ended in "perhaps?" So I took it as wordplay, doing something with (already spun) yarn. I have a strong mental image of watching my grandmother repeatedly loop the yarn around the hook. Which, perhaps? could be described as spinning it around the hook. The answer had to fit the humorous wordplay of the clue.
@Name I hear you! My preferred PJs (Jeeps?) are woven, not knit, and I struggle to find accurate results when searching for woven specifically.
Ugh. I sat with eNact (____ change) and eNtices (arouses) for a long time, and could not find my problem. Despite my issues, this was a great puzzle. I had a Spanish teacher who used to say that Ashtray was the only word we borrowed from Pig Latin.
@Rick There's our local Colorado favorite Pig Latino, John Elway.
@Rick Ditto I wish I read your post before I checked puzzle
@Rick I was stuck staring at that word pair for an excruciatingly long time too, except I was parsing it as EnCITE/EnACT, thinking “I could have sworn incite starts with an ‘I’…” There probably could have been a more forgiving pairing of clues, but c’est la vie.
@Rick It took me over an hour to find this same mistake.
A vodka and lime cocktail is NOT a gimlet! That's gin and real lime juice. “We sat in a corner of the bar at Victor’s and drank gimlets. ‘They don’t know how to make them here,’ he said. ‘What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.'” -- Raymond Chandler
@Moira I recommended this but also need to comment since a daily shot of Chandler merits more than merely clicking “recommend.” Thank you for helping to make my day.
@Moira, officially Rose's Lime Cordial, but fresh lime + simple is better.
@Moira, a lot of people prefer a vodka gimlet. I, for one, am allergic to gin, sadly. (p.s. Anything with Rose’s “lime juice” in it, let alone half the glass, would be disgusting. Marlowe should have been introduced to real lime juice!)
@Moira Any comment that cites Chandler is okey in my book.
Just had a thought. If some brilliant constructor could come up with a puzzle with rebuses and also used Pig Latin, maybe with a few sports and math references thrown in, that would have to set the record for number of comments and maybe even break the internet.
Oh, Amsay is kinder today than his namesake, who can be Saturday vicious, but my brain’s workout ethic was still well satisfied. Plus, there were clues that made me smile, i.e. [Like Manhattan in the 80s and 90s?], [Anchors provide this], and [New Jersey]. This already brought my thumbs up, but even more thumb lifting was Amsay’s creativity and skill in pulling off this theme. Our language doesn’t provide many Pig Latin gimmees, like TRASH/ASHTRAY, and for most of these theme answers, he had to: • Invent Pig Latin pairs from sounds, such as TRON/ENTRÉE and LOW/AU LAIT. • Find eight in-the-language phrases whose endings could be Pig-Latinned. • Have them fit symmetry, that is, come in four pairs, each with the same number of letters. • Have those theme answers be Sunday substantial (and they are), and design a quality grid to accommodate all eight. Wow! Turned my thumbs up into V-for-victory hands up. Grit, grins, and greatness. What. A. Treat. Uperbsay, and thank you, Sam!
@Lewis I agree with you completely and my personal appreciation of a crossword takes into account artistic quality and level of difficulty of construction, but many folks will argue that the solving experience should be the ONLY criteria and if they didn’t enjoy the solve they don’t care at all. For me both the artistry and the solve were enjoyable on this one.
@SP -- I agree that the solve trumps all, and like you, I enjoyed that as well (as I indicated in my first two paragraphs). And thus, for me, this puzzle -- with its satisfying and fun solve, plus appreciation of the remarkable skill and creativity behind it -- was superb.
It's amusing (as always?) to review the comments. Some people liked it, some didn't. What does that tell us? Not much besides "Your mileage may vary." What's strange is the number of commenter who want to disparage those who are in the other column. I guess people want to see their view as "correct" rather than merely their opinion. Which is only odd in that we're all crossword lovers (x-philes!) in this boat. Why can't we just get along??? By the way, you can put me in the "pro" column. I liked this puzzle just fine.
Not one of the better puzzles because some clues were really a stretch, rather than clever. Also, I am still annoyed because a Gimlet is a drink with gin and lime, never vodka.
Two observations (which may or may not be related): 1. An ever-increasing number of commenters resent being puzzled by a crossword puzzle. 2. The emu filter algorithm is trapping an ever-increasing number of comments.
@Barry Ancona I’ve noticed #1 as well, more and more lately. The comment thread seems to have become primarily a complaint thread. (And I’m actually a little guilty of that myself today.) And I was victimized by #2 today myself. I have no idea why a seemingly innocent and non-incendiary reply from 11 hours ago finally appeared within the past half hour.
@Barry Ancona yes to #1. If you don't want to puzzle over your puzzles, go do anything else. These are supposed to be tricky. There is no point to grids everyone can easily film in (sadly an increasing trend as well).
@Barry Ancona #1: If the resentment bothers you maybe just ignore it. If it doesn't bother you, why mention it?
Not sure why this won't post as a reply... I was delighted with, not confused by, the themer variety. If they had all been in Plain Pig Latin, I would have become bored after two or three of them.
@Barry Ancona @JJ Thanks for pointing out that it was Ainplay Igpay Atinlay. I noticed that while solving and should have mentioned in my Fiend review.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘goodoh’ being used outside of comedy sketches about posh people. The word has never crossed the lips of anyone I know.
This one took an above average number of lookups, but I finished. Albeit without understanding several of the theme entries.
Loved this one, extremely clever, chewier than your average Sunday but not as chewy as your average Sam Ezersky. I had to use check puzzle though, here’s a Schroedinger moment for you—I had ENACT change instead of EXACT change which seemed perfectly reasonable and ENCITE instead of EXCITE—which I raised an eyebrow at but looked up and it is an archaic form of INCITE and you know how esoteric Sam gets. So 20 minutes of flyspecking and a still had nothing. My favorite clue was New Jersey!
Well I guess I was one of those who did “ inishfay this olehay uzzlepay without ussingsay its emethay.” That’s not entirely true. I got the reference to pig Latin, I just couldn’t work out exactly how, even after completing the whole thing. I kept trying to relate the “ay” sound to the start of the answer, not just the last word. It’s always a bit of a let down when a puzzle just doesn’t click.
"[Y]ou could practically inishfay this olehay uzzlepay without ussingsay its emethay and go on with your ayday...." Yes, and I don't feel that I missed out on much of anything with this approach.
My emubargoed post praising “to EBay or not to EBay” said I was going to look for more pig Latin Shakespeare. I found one! Polonius, after lecturing Laertes, turns to where our @ad absurdum is sitting in the audience, and says: “To thine own self be outre.”
@Cat Lady Margaret That's good, although only effective with a strong accent. "Embargoed" is even better. I've tried two first posts that are being gnawed as we speak...
@Cat Lady Margaret, I ❤️ “emubargoed”!
@Cat Lady Margaret, I love this! 👏
"I cracked your Pig Latin message!" "It was nothing serious - just a common code." (You'll cipher these puns.)
Mike, Glad to see your post liberated from the filter. The algorithm must have been acting up.
@Mike Back when there were only a couple-hundredComments I went hunting for yr pun! To no avail! It is 3 a.m. Monday and I had to scroll thru about 600 to find you.... and so to sleep soundly at last....
Absolute ashtray... Just like yesterday.
@Michael And yet, you carried the theme through to your comment. Perhaps you liked it more than you realize!
I absolutely despised this puzzle (and I don’t say that lightly)! I have never understood pig latin (but knew that’s what “Ixnay” indicated), and I have never liked “sounds like” puzzles because they’re too subjective. So I went right to the column to see if someone would explain how pig latin works. Yes! I thought that would actually help me solve the puzzle. No! I went back to the column again - even the answers don’t make sense! Could someone please NICELY explain how the theme works? I finally gave up, decided it wasn’t worth the frustration, and revealed the puzzle, which I have never done. 😠
Cherry, Please scroll down through the comments. The theme has been explained here nicely several times. (OTOH, if you've already revealed the puzzle, can you discern the theme from the themers?)
N.B. Here is a link to a thread that started yesterday that nicely explains how the theme works: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/49kkb2?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/49kkb2?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a>
@Cherry Sure. In pig Latin if a word starts with a consonant you move the consonant to the end and add an “ay” sound so Joe becomes OJ, low becomes au lait, etc. You are right about the sounds being a bit subjective, I would pronounce au lait more with an “aw” sound. Frankly I pronounce silence with a short e sound rather than a schwa too. Anyway if a word starts with a vowel you just add “way” at the end but that didn’t apply in the puzzle. That’s all there is to it!
Gotta chime in to balance the negativity! I thought it was a delightful challenge, a good brain stretcher. Had that elusive aha moment when filling in the final F of CALF (as I’d also never heard of the crossing TV series)—“New Jersey” made me smile.
This was fun, though I almost gave up because I couldn’t figure out my error. I had ENACT change instead of EXACT. Which also works on the cross if using the archaic ENCITE. Whew!
@Manda Adams Understandable, as they don't have toll roads out your way. Before EZ Pass, we had to make sure we had plenty of quarters and dimes in the car to pay the EXACT change of 35 cents at every booth.
Manda, Variants may appear without warning, and second and third meanings are common, but the NYT XWP does still note in the clue if the entry is an obsolete word.
The pig Latin isn’t consistent and the sound shifting only sometimes makes sense. Thinking that JUMBO ENTREE should be JUMBOTRON is jumping the shark a step too far. It’s too much for me to go from JUMBOTREN to JUMBOTRON - why not JUMBO TRAIN? And the ALL TIME AU LAIT really is another leap too far for ALL TIME LOW. The theme isn’t fun. Thankfully the puzzle clues overall are Sunday funday great.
@Michael Gaobest Yeah I didn't find the theme that useful or fun, the pig latin phrases didn't have anything to do with the clue so you couldn't guess them easily
@Michael Gaobest Train wouldn't work because entree isn't pronounced "ain tray". So the tron part of Jumbotron pig-latins to on-tray, which sounds like entree. That said, normally PL is done by word, so Jumbotron would be Umbotronjay. But for this puzzle they seem to only apply to one syllable, mostly the last except for EBAY.
Not a great puzzle! I’ve never understood Pig Latin and it puts those of us who do at an unfair advantage at a Sunday puzzle that’s unnecessarily difficult.
Do you think it is unfair to have a Pig Latin theme because the OP doesn't understand Pig Latin?
@V It seems even if you don’t know pig Latin you could still deduce the answers, and probably figure out how it works by comparing to the phrases they are based on. Admittedly wouldn’t be as fun but not unsolvable
@V I solved the puzzle without realizing pig Latin was involved. I definitely thought some of the answers were a little odd, but they weren’t out of reach, atinlay or no atinlay.
@V I don't understand this puzzle at all. And pig Latin doesn’t work in my brain. It never did. Kids could speak in class and I would have to think of every single word separately and piece it together. Maybe I’m just not great at picking up languages in general. My only blue star of the week. Not fun at all, I hated this one.
Correction: For 47A, the character's accent is actually Trinidadian, not Jamaican, per the voice actor who portrayed him (who, incidentally, is neither Jamaican nor Trinidadian).
New Jersey? ... good one!
@Michael can you explain it to me, please? That was my last fill and I had to go through each letter until I got the music. Is there a new football player named Cal F.?
@Carley In case you haven't found the answer in the other comments, a Jersey is a breed of cow. A new Jersey is a CALF. Moo.
@Carley A Jersey cow. My grandfather used to have them on his dairy farm.
@Carley Jersey is a type of cow, and a baby (new) cow is a calf.
Theme was very disappointing. I copped onto the pig latin from the title alone. But the answers? Good grief I feel like the theme couldn't decide if it wanted to be a straight or meta. The straight answers weren't in pig latin, some of them fit the clue some of them didn't. And the meta answers were hardly in pig latin, some of them fit the clue some of them didn't. My (extremely amateur) opinion is that the theme lacked clairvoyance. It's almost impossible to know what to do until you have the correct letter string in front of you, and even then there's a leap in logic. Most people can't do a crossy downs only, how would one ever arrive at that string? to then even start solving the puzzle? I get that this setter likes really tough puzzles, and I'm definitely a Monday/Tuseday sort of person. But a good, hard, puzzle, leaves you feeling good even when you reveal it. This one doesn't land even knowing the answers. Next time I go shopping online I guess I'll buy a jumbotron for dinner and get a promotion for smoking. Until next time.
@Abby Carr Clairvoyance is a person's ability to perceive matters beyond the range of ordinary perception, like a fortune-teller or seer might use. An inanimate object cannot possess clairvoyance. I think the word you were looking for here is "clarity", which is the quality of being clear, or easy to understand. This can apply to an essay for example, or in this case, a puzzle!
@Abby Carr I can understand the theme being frustrating, but I don’t see a single example where it was inconsistent. In every case, the clue related directly to the piglatin phrase, which — if unscrambled into non-piglatin — was a valid English word or phrase. In these cases, you have a sort of third “cross” at play: the realization that every answer needs to translate into a well known English word or phrase. For example, “All time ____” could fit plenty of best coffee beverages. But only “au lait” fits piglatin and translates into a well known phrase “All time low.”
I hope everyone has a relaxing time with this Amsay Sunday after the Byron Saturday worthy of yesteryear. No IXNAY from me.
@Barry Ancona Heartily agree. Solid, gorgeous Saturday. Sunday funday with some silly chew. Not to sound dramatic, but faith feels a bit renewed.
A Byron Walden Saturday followed by a (masked) Sam Ezersky Sunday. Sometimes the gods just smile on us.
I mean it as the highest compliment when I say that I would like to fight Sam Ezersky in the street … I for one thought this was a great puzzle
[They're usually found to the left of Q's] I think it's funny when I try several different fills and the answer turns out to be right under my fingers.
@Alan I got a Computer Clue Instantly! Please alert the media.
Ended up solving it as a themeless as the pig Latin was stretched so thin. Some gems here like [New Jersey?], some pitfalls like that U in the 68 square. Had EMOJIONXRAY for 53D which I found amusing (I had given up on the pig Latin by that point) and was sad to see go. I think a pig Latin theme could work well, but the clues and dual phrases don’t seem connected well enough here. For example, 15D, I don’t get All Time Low from the clue; while 60A ties together really well.
@Anthony I had to treat it as themeless as well. It felt like my first experiences with Magic Eye puzzles - once the whole puzzle was done, I stared and squinted and tried not to swear out loud, and eventually I sort of saw the picture but not really.
Well, I finished the puzzle (slightly under my average time) but, despite believeing myself to be verbally dextrous, I am one of those people who has never really developed any skill with Pig Latin or similar language games like Ubbi-Dubbi. My brain just won't do that. So I completed the puzzle without really "getting" the jokes (even after they were explained in Lovinger's commentary.) But I guess I feel that at my age I don't feel that Pig Latin is a language worth putting my time into!
I was sure I was done but no confirmation and ended up blowing my streak counter by checking- I had Menorca (preferred) and ser instead of Minorca and sir. Thanks a lot GRRM.
@wsbca I did exactly the same. GRRM did us wrong :)
@wsbca and @Ben Had to look up GRRM. Turns out it's the author of the books that GOTR (is that right for Game of Thrones?). Needless acronyming! Anyhoo, I suppose you both blame it for popularizing SER over SIR. And If Menorca is now the preferred spelling, ok, but it's been Minorca for a long time. Maybe just my age.
Solid hour for this one. I am not a person who has ever clicked with pig Latin, but even so, the knowledge that it was in play helped me figure this whopper on my own. Believe it or not, I solved this on my iPhone mini. For a while, I thought about switching to my laptop, but I like that the phone travels well. I am ashamed to say I was a boob and took the bait at 79D!
I'm pretty disappointed to see such a blatant mistake as what we have with 74D. Gimlets are made with gin, not vodka. While you can make a variation of a gimlet using vodka, it is just that—a variation. True gimlets, just as they were originally created, use gin. This is a pretty big miss on the part of the editors.
@Dan I thought so!!! Took me way to long to fill it, thinking it was wrong