The overlay reveal at the end was really cool.
@Maverator I give it an A+.
This is a great example of a puzzle where you don’t need to get the theme to solve it, but when you do, it’s a delightful surprise. Lovely constructor note — looking forward to tomorrow’s puzzle.
First time I’ve left a comment although I’ve been a fan of NYT puzzles and this column for ages. And I just wanted to say, brilliant!
@Khurram Welcome to the show!
@Khurram Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome.
I give this one an A. Just because.
"How'd you do on your primatology exam?" "Great! Got an ape plus!" (Sorry for gibbon you that one.)
@Mike You can do well if you go really slow.
@Mike Quit monkeying around with us. We're not a bunch of chimps.
@Mike Actually, it orang a belle, Lucy-ly speaking. An old story.
@Mike i think you probably intended to include a url for a website where we could go to see how this joke evolved. Is there perhaps a missing link?
@Mike Mike, please stop monkeying around!
@Mike I sent a rather innocent reply last night. Maybe the National Guard was called up to aid the emus.
@Mike A pun tht has to be explained is not much of a pun, but in my defense: <a href="https://leakeyfoundation.org/lucy-the-iconic-ancestor" target="_blank">https://leakeyfoundation.org/lucy-the-iconic-ancestor</a>/
To me it's nearly incomprehensible to even approach creating a crossword puzzle. But to then do so with the requirement that all the "A"s in the puzzle make one giant "A".... ...it just beggars belief. I've never used "beggars belief" before, but it seems just the perfect words for this moment. My belief is beggared. That doesn't sound quite as cool, somehow.
@Francis 😎😎😎😎 I was also bowled over!!
Loved it. Impressive creation. Also interesting because for me it was a cakewalk, but many others, judging by the comments, found it difficult. Other days I take a beating and come here to find comments calling it easy. I have no grander point but to say that I find the differences in human minds fascinating.
(second try) You rascal, you, Kevin Curry. The Times crossword submission guidelines specifically say “Crosswords must have black square symmetry”. It is what the guidelines call one of the few “hard rules”, rules that are broken “with extreme rarity”. Yet you found a way, came up with a theme so novel that they couldn’t say no. After all, here is a theme that has no theme answers – Hah! – not to mention that it features symmetry within asymmetry in a way that has never been done before. Oh, I saw the asymmetry early on, when the design didn’t fit even some of the rarest symmetries is Crosslandia, but never saw the A factor, and let me tell you, Kevin, when that big A lit up the digital grid upon completion, well, that was a jaw dropper in the best way. (Yes, I am a cross-nerd.) Thank you, Kevin. You created a classic puzzle that I will remember, possibly for aeons. One of the most brilliant of the year. A bow and a wow, sir!
This deserves a A+ for constructive creativity. I shall BLEAT it from the mountaintop. No keeping it ON THE Down Low. 👍🏼👍🏼 2 thumbs up from me Thanks, Kevin 😎 Happy Tuesday!
A-mazing. While ASYMMETRY was an obvious answer for part of 66A, I didn’t get the second part of the clue until the big yellow A appeared. And while I know some solvers find such “tricks” indulgent and unnecessary, I am thoroughly impressed by the level of skill it takes to bring this type of vision to life. Especially when the fill is this engaging. A puzzle doesn’t have to be just a puzzle. It can also be a work of Art. Thanks for sharing, Mr. Curry.
A much harder Tuesday than usual. Liked the puzzle a lot though.
Such a nice crossword today! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who hadn't heard of SALMONBERRY. It's non-native and invasive in the UK. I got caught by the kerb/CURB issue, which held up COGSCI (itself quite tricky for me) and the clue reminded me of the Shel Silverstein poem: There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins. And there the grass grows soft and bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind.
@Jane Wheelaghan I always wonder about UK'ers with the NYT Xword, as it's not nearly as cryptic as the London Times offering (which I've never been able to make a dent in). But I wouldn't have anticipated the kerb-curb thing. (Spelling Bee accepts some Britspelling, such as "tonne", but not others, e.g., "lorry" and "gaol".) Heard the BBC this mroning, speaking of reCAPTCHA, noting that it can be hard to figure which picture(s) actually do contain a crosswalk. And they said that "crosswalk" is pretty much a US-specific term. I'd had no idear! Two nations separated by a common language. You bet.
@Jane Wheelaghan Having that poem running in my head was such a distraction that it took me quite a while to come up with CURB!
@Jane Wheelaghan Love this poem! Also, KERB is so much more fun to write than CURB!
Lovely theme! Didn't even notice the ASYMMETRY till I filled out ASYMMETRY lol
I actually said WHOA when I finished and the A lit up. Nice. Also yay for cog sci getting a mention! That was my major in college (under a different name though)
Let me be the first to gratify today's talented constructor by saying I loved tomorrow's puzzle!
and I don't think anyone has mentioned that the ONLY A's in the puzzle are the ones in the reveal. Didn't we have a puzzle recently with restricted O's? Another hat tip to the constructor.
I spent too much time looking at the picture accompanying today's Wordplay column, trying to figure out how this image of six women (and two dogs) taking time out from working on a farm in 1918 had anything to do with today's puzzle. And then I looked at the title of the column "Overall Impact". Well, what sort of "impact" are these women making? Think again, X. All of the women are wearing Overalls! How impactful! Thanks for the additional brain teaser, Sam!
Quite a feat of construction. Nicely done. And lovely constructor's notes - made me smile and was a much needed break from all the depressing headlines. Looking forward to the Wednesday puzzle now.
Before starting the puzzle, I spent a little bit of time trying to find symmetry in the black squares. If I just fold the puzzle this way . . . or that way . . . nope! So finishing the puzzle and seeing the overlay show up was definitely entertaining. Other than that, SALMONBERRY? That's a new one for me.
@Liz B It’s a Pacific Northwest plant-familiar to all hikers.
@Liz B (& @Jim) Salmonberries and Marionberries are both brambleberries (genus *Rubus*). The botanical taxonomy of the genus is extremely complex--by some listings, almost 1500 species, with hybrids occurring both naturally and agriculturally. Consider that the next time you taste your forkfull of Marie Callender's Razzleberry® Pie: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rubus_species" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rubus_species</a>
!!! Whoa, indeed! 😉 Yours, Astonished Out West
@Whoa Nellie, I was so afraid it was going to be WOAH again. 😒
@Eric Hougland Was it your mother's mother's daughter's daughter's daughter? (And now daughter looks weirder to me than woah.)
My son graduated from Tufts in 2008, so I sent him a screenshot of today’s puzzle with that answer filled in, along with PROUDPAPA(S) above it. Very nice.
@NYC Traveler Ohhh, I love that!! ☺️
You devil, you, Kevin Curry. The Times crossword submission guidelines specifically say “Crosswords must have black square symmetry”. It is what the guidelines call one of the few “hard rules”, rules that are broken “with extreme rarity”. Yet you found a way, came up with a theme so novel that they couldn’t say no. After all, here is a theme that has no theme answers – Hah! – not to mention that it features symmetry within asymmetry in a way that has never been done before. Oh, I saw the asymmetry early on, when the design didn’t fit even some of the rarest symmetries is Crosslandia, but never saw the A factor, and let me tell you, Kevin, when that big A lit up the digital grid upon completion, well, that was a jaw dropper in the best way. (Yes, I am a cross-nerd.) Thank you, Kevin. You created a classic puzzle that I will remember, possibly for aeons. One of the most brilliant of the year. A bow and a wow, sir!
I'm very sorry about this repeat post -- I can't imagine what was in it to get emu-ed, but after waiting for a long time, I changed "devil" to "rascal", and it did post a while back. (Really, there's something wrong with the word "devil"?)
@Lewis Let's try this: Miroslav Šatan never played for the New Jersey Devils, which would have been appropriate. But he was a winger, not a center. SRSLY, the possessive in that clue really threw me off.
Every time I think I might try my hand at crossword construction I get wowed by a brilliant offering like this, and I scurry back to reality.
This Tuesday was less direct than you'd usually expect for a Tuesday. Not all that hard, 16 minute solve for me, but had a few vexing corners. For example, I thought 31A initially was LEOTARD rather than UNITARD which made the down clues confusing. And there's some long crosses like ONTHEDL where until you get it, the letters you see next to each other makes you think you got a cross clue wrong.
@Chris, I also got caught up with LEOTARD/UNITARD.
My name has 5 As, my undergrad was in cognitive science, and I went to Tufts. This hit home hard. (Sadly, I am not a blonde...)
@Dan. My name has five As too!!! ( my middle name is Anne)
I don't know where else to put it so I'll just drop it here: I'm really starting to like the new pips game.
@Ken Ooh I didnt see that! Will check it out. I like Letter Boxed sometimes too.
@Ken I've been enjoying it, it's a nice snack before a delicious meal of a crossword.
Such wonderful cluing on this puzzle! I don't think I've enjoyed the clues so much since, perhaps, the Eugene Maleska days! (That may not be true, but I'm old enough that my memories prefer to go to the back of the stacks). I spent more time enjoying the clues than worrying about filling in the answers, so no rushing on this one...just pure enjoyment. Add to that, I have yet to run into a commenter complaining about the puzzle. A miracle? Or, I just haven't read far enough... Yesterday, during my volunteer shift in the ER, one of our visitors said to me, as I escorted her to visit her husband, "I have to see him before he falls apart. He hasn't finished his Sunday NY Times puzzle, and his week doesn't start until that's done!"
Ha! What a wild coincidence! Today's my Glu Day at the gym. Gotta stick to your workout plan! Butt, seriously!
I feel like I’ve been A-framed! Completely dazzled by the plot twist! It was like a Dad on a car trip, looking at the map and insisting, with indignant self-confidence, that the street sign definitely, certainly, can’t be right… “Symmetry? What symmetry? There’s no symmetry here!” And… smack!
Not me crying at the constructors note
@Sarah quite literally just texted my friends exactly this and then opened up the comments to this up top! Glad I'm not the only one :')
Happy Birthday to Will Shortz! A long, happy, and healthy life to you, with the worst behind you and only the best of life in years to come. Thank you for your superb dedication and expertise, keeping us entertained day after day. I raised a glass to you, sir, with much gratitude and best wishes!
Didn’t know that it was Jacque Tati Week for the crossword.
@NYC Traveler Especially when he last turned up in 2022. When I was younger, it seemed like he was constantly appearing. (Including in puzzles from other outlets.)
Bravo, Kevin Curry! If I were grading this crossword puzzle, I think you know what I would give. Have a great day, everyone.
Phew, I found this pretty tough for a Tuesday. But I got a kick out of the theme and I loved seeing TOAD HALL. It’s been a long time since I read The Wind In The Willows. A charming funny story about friends, no evil geniuses or saving the world involved (as seems to be the case in most of today’s movies for kids)
@SusanEM And I thought there was also a TWITW theme for Connections, but no. it was a misdirect. Too bad there was no double whammy!
@SusanEM oh i dunno. The weasels and stoats are pretty evil in that book. Quite a lot of violent cudgelling involved. I've never seen the movie but theoretically shouldn't it be R-rated? Or does animated violence get a pass?
Ah, the pleasure of a stone tablet solve! Saw the "asymmetry" immediately. Found the "A symmetry" on my own after reading the revealer clue. Nothing lights up to give it away. Nice one, Kevin. (I favored QT for ON THE __ , but it was EDEN or ELSE for DL.)
@Barry Ancona Yeah. I had to Use My Eraser. FriXion pens have an "eraser," but heat also works...
@Barry Ancona That occurred to me. Maybe the app need a Warning Section... "Turn off Overlays!" "CONTAINS REBUSES!"
For hardened and cynical veterans. This could be the most shining example of an early week masterpiece. Of course. Every rule of early week was broken. So there’s that. But man. What a cool reveal. When solving in the phone. Take that paper solvers!
Brilliantly constructed — and a great solve. I really, really enjoyed it. I got tripped up at the end by the NW corner for the silliest of reasons. I had AftER for [In line with], which gave me PROUDtAtAS, a nod to the multilingual among us, I thought. Then I wracked my brain for The ECONO_IFT, seriously considering ECONOgIFT for awhile, even though… I subscribe to it. Did I mention I’m sleep-deprived today? Again, a brilliant Tuesday. Thanks, Kevin.
What a fun puzzle, and a sweet constructor’s note! Very excited for tomorrow’s, now! It’s a family affair.
I loved the elegant theme and the yellow lines forming an A that popped up on my phone after I solved it. Also, the constructor's notes in the column were great... I'm looking very forward to playing his wife's puzzle on Wednesday.
Finished this (had to change END to NET to get the right EFFECT) and thought "oh wow, that's cool!" Didn't notice what was going on while I was solving, but truly a tour-de-force of construction, particularly for a Tuesday. I think this one should go into the "puzzles of the year" file! Thanks, Mr. Curry!
I never comment on puzzles but this one was exceptional. Unbelievable skill involved to construct it. Thank you Kevin!
Crossword puzzles: helping us find balance in an off-kilter world. (nod)
Lovely lovely construction and a lot of fun clues for a Tuesday. Have we ever seen husband and wife crossword team with two crosswords on consecutive days before? (I’ll ask again tomorrow). Only question, does it count that Marilyn wasn’t a natural blonde? Do we cancel her for colortural misappropriation? (This joke was “do” or dye).
@SP the “joke” was unfunny and revelatory of a certain mindset, IMHO. More relevantly, I’ve never been more excited to see a Wednesday puzzle. A husband and wife sharing a challenging hobby and having the thrill of reaching its apex (arguably) by getting published in the NYT? That’s just A-mazing 🤩! It’s funny how Mr. Curry said he wasn’t going to spill the beans but then he proceeded to empty the entire can 🤣🤣🤣🤣 by telling us about his wife’s upcoming puzzle. PROUD husband! I also peeped his protective plea for kind comments tomorrow. Noted, sir!
Very impressive construction and great constuctor note. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's puzzle.