Looks like I'm in the minority here but this was an absolute slog. The themed clues didn't seem particularly witty and many of them seemed like very obscure (to me) American celebrities from a certain generation. If I may nitpick - the correct term is MALAY peninsula and not MALAYA peninsula. If the reference was to the former name of Malaysia or the British colony, it should have been clued as such.
@Rahul Malaya is still used informally to refer to peninsular Malaysia by folks from Sabah and Sarawak.
@Rahul It's not a nitpick. The answer is just wrong.
@Rahul I was super confused about Malaya instead of Malay (or Malaysia)! And same here, just not a fan of proper names of celebrities
Such a fun theme, the kind I I GO GAGA over. Well done Derrick! I love all the musical clues and entries…. TONY ORLANDO, BILL WITHERS, IRVING BERLIN, TOM WAITS, Gloria Estefan (HAVANA), Peter, Paul & Mary (TRIO). BASSO, BASS HORN and OBOES. The concert promoters hyped the festival in the NY river valley as a night that would _______ ROCK HUDSON
Then there's the Indiana barrel maker, Gary Cooper, and the alt cru from the French gas station, Vin Diesel, and the record collection of English grasses, Heath Ledger and Santa's MMA workout locale, Nicholas' Cage and the coffee made when the only available water was from the goldfish bowl, Joe Pesci and the desperate Christmas decorator from the Sahara desert, Holly Hunter and, yes, I agree, that's about enough of that.
@dutchiris — some work, some don’t, but the trick is to create the clue with the blank in the middle.
@dutchiris I don’t care if it’s not the same format, as I enjoyed every one. Nice.
@dutchiris and the unsuccessful counterfeiter Bill Maher
That was cute! But I felt like it helped to be old, to know some of those names. Still, I'll take what I can get.
I loved this one! Very clever. And, the first NY Times Sunday crossword I have ever successfully completed without a single piece of assistance. I felt like I was on the same wavelength as the creator. A red letter day for me! Thanks for the fun and challenge!
Oh, by the way, Derrick has been making crosswords for the Times for 43 years and is the longest running contributor to the Sunday puzzle. I believe that's worth noting!
@Lewis And he's only 14 year old? Amazing!
While Steve Jobs was in the _____ has it, he invented the iPhone. Et tu, emu.
JOHN LEGEND This is actually an (untrue) story widely circulated in the late-2000s, early 2010s.
@Lewis It’s hard to believe 18 years later that the technology commentators in 2007 almost universally panned the iPhone and called it the stupidest idea Steve Jobs had come up with. L
Augie Doggy and Doggy Daddy! Woo hoo! I don’t understand people ragging on a puzzle because it’s not specifically geared to their wheelhouse. So you don’t know a lot of these proper names? Ok, move on. There’s another puzzle tomorrow. And the next day. And so forth. Isn’t the idea of a puzzle to challenge a person to think? Where is it written you have to “win” every puzzle every day? Do people get upset because it ruins their various streaks? I feel sorry for people who can’t just move on and have to bash a puzzle and its creator just because they couldn’t ace it. Ok. I’m done. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
As a French Horn player in the John Phillip SOUSA band of Colorado I appreciate the crossing of Valves and Basshorn in this puzzle.
@Megan As a fellow French Horn player, He-Who-Gives-Only-Offbeats (J.P.S.) is practically a curse word in my household. 😜 Admittedly, I was also pleased to see that crossing though!
I have a quibble with the clueing of 120A: “Eden on Earth” doesn’t make sense because, unlike Heaven, Eden WAS on Earth. Not especially important; just a garden variety complaint.
@Post Mortem Can you please provide the GPS coordinates?
@Post Mortem 100% It's not how the saying goes either.
Since criticism should be constructive, I offer this alternative, invoking the retired Senator: The Santa ______ _______ scored a TKO at La Playa Stadium. Or for something less pugilistic, The Santa _______ ________ managed a UPS Store near Stearns Wharf.
Perhaps the most Boomer forward fill I've encountered here.
@Justin I loved solving this puzzle! It's the first time in a long time I didn't have to Google pop culture references and Gen Z slang.
@Justin Is that a good thing or a bad thing? This Boomer finished around 13 minutes faster than my average, so I'd say it's good. About the only Boomer entry I saw was BILLWITHERS, and that could be a stretch.
@Justin agreed! I imagine this was hard for anyone under 40 (it certainly was for me at 30!)
@Justin must be why I enjoyed it so much! 😁
Following up on my Caitlin-directed "vintage" comment re: old comics, what about this for a clue? Perhaps the comic MUTT and _______________ the gap between vintage and contemporary??
@GD Awesome! Although I'll bet many of the younger generation have never heard of that comic.
I've only done half the puzzle--but already, it's one of the funnest Sundays I've playing in quite a while. I could race through and finish, but I'll wait till tomorrow afternoon, and save the pleasure until then! :-) :-) :-)
I’m still newish to crosswords, still need auto check but commenting because as a French Wines sales person located 40 miles from the village of Sauternes, the wine is SAUTERNES, not Sauterne.
@NYT Newbie Yes, that one got a raised eyebrow and a shrug out of me, too.
@NYT Newbie I had to look that one up, because I could swear that I've seen Sauterne without the S. Apparently, the original product is correctly spelled with the S, but American versions (probably in order not to run afoul of French regulations) are often spelled without it. Both versions are named after the French region, although the S-less ones never come from that region. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sauternes" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sauternes</a> <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sauterne" target="_blank">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sauterne</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauternes_(wine" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauternes_(wine</a>) (See the end of the first paragraph.)
@NYT Newbie Yes. It’s Sauternes. I enjoy sipping it, and serving with local freestone yellow peaches. FWIW, I’ve only seen Sauternes (with a “s”). A good Sauternes is heavenly.
I'm starting this puzzle at 4am as my baby is up for the 4th time tonight. I hope I'll enjoy it as much as the other posters did!
@Marie more importantly, I hope you'll get some sleep! 🫂😴
I’m not a big fan of proper names being used in crosswords, in general. But a theme of proper nouns. Plus fill that also required (in my opinion) hard to spell proper nouns. Not a recipe for fun (for me). If you gave me $100. I could not spell EBSEN, LAOTSE, SAUTERNE all correctly in one try. Unfortunately. I only knew three of the theme names. So that didn’t help. Not ‘mad’. Got through it. But just to get through it. So hopefully. I’m the only one that didn’t find this ‘fun’. But in two hours. NFLredzone. And I will be properly entertained!!!
@Weak I’m totally with you. My experience mirrors yours. Proper nouns should be sparingly used in a good crossword!
Any puzzle with TOM WAITS gets an A+ from me.
@CCNY Much as I love Tom Waits’ music, I didn’t particularly enjoy this puzzle. But I am glad you did. For anyone who is put off by Tom Waits’ voice, try the album “Come on Up to the House: Women Sing Waits.” It’s an excellent collection of his songs and almost everyone who listens to pop-rock music or a related genre will know one of the many fine singers on the album. Here’s Phoebe Bridger singing “Georgia Lee.” <a href="https://youtu.be/-9IEZ0QUHH8?si=YohhUWskOHhNxyL8" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/-9IEZ0QUHH8?si=YohhUWskOHhNxyL8</a> The song itself is wrenching (not surprisingly so, since it’s about the disappearance and probable murder of a young woman).
@CCNY et a Tom Waits is a boss! I love Downtown Train from Rain Dogs which also includes the song Singapore, which was part of MALAYA/MALAYSIA until 1965. 😄 Another fun fact about Rain Dogs is that the man pictured on the album cover isn’t Tom. Remarkable likeness though.
My only gripe about this one is 30 Across, "Orchestra section toward the middle of the pit." Oboes are part of an orchestra's wind section. Oboes aren't their own section
@Christine Agreed, and the orchestral ancestor of tuba is the ophicleide, not the basshorn.
Oh no! Proper nouns as the theme? The horror! The first I encountered -- TONY ORLANDO -- was my favorite.
@Barry Ancona Just curious: Was TONY ORLANDO your favorite of the persons named in the puzzle or your favorite answer?
I hope this will be a recurring theme, because I'd love to do many more of these puzzle. Such fun. Tony Orlando was the first theme answer that fell for me and it gave me such a laugh. I really feel someone needs to open a posh central Florida restaurant with this name.
I really wanted 7A to be bald, not UPDO! Har! I thought it was a perfectly perfect answer... at least until I got to 20A and had to kill my little crossword darling. Oh well! On the bright side, somewhere in the recesses of the bingo ball cage of my brain, I pulled OILER out for 37D. Amazing!! I know zero about the NHL other than what I've learned in the puzzles. In all honesty, and you should know that I'd never lie to you fine folks, and if you can't believe me about me, who can you believe!? I digress, anyhow, this wasn't a favorite puzzle but not everything can be a favorite. Sounds like a lot of you really enjoyed it, which is super awesome, but it got a tad old for me. Got it all, just didn't enjoy it. Still, I did get a chuckle out of "An increase in ham prices forced the deli to MARKCUBAN sandwiches higher" at 68A. That one amused me!! In other bright news, the chili I made today turned out to be probably my best yet. So happy with it!! I don't make it very often but today was a perfect day for it... chilly, rainy, and blustery—and my poor dear of a husband had to work outside all day. Brr!
@HeathieJ I love BALD as that answer!! 🤣👨🏼🦲
@HeathieJ Since relocating to the mountains, we have acquired both a chest freezer (used and slightly battered, but free) and an Instant Pot (dried beans take a long time to cook at 7,400 feet). Our dinners now are often some stew or soup pulled out of the freezer. It’s really nice to have something tasty that takes little effort to prepare in the evening. I hope you enjoyed your chili.
When the Duke's daughter caught sight of the famous rock star, it made the LADY GAGA. Kramer and George might not, but ELAINE MAY. Diana's assistant warned the stylist: "The diva likes longer hair so whatever you do, don't BOB ROSS!"
@Jon 😂 I heard the second one when I was just sprouting hormones in the form of "If Barbara won't, Elaine May". Quite a knee-slapper in my youth.
"Did you hear IRVING BERLIN NOTATEd a RAGtime ORATORio? The latEST performance is touring regional NSW this EASTER. It stars ARIANA Grande with BILL WITHERS, TOM WAITS, and TONY ORLANDO performing the BASSO TRIO. BARBARA EDEN even has a LINE! Honestly, you'll SOB when the BASS HORN, EOLIAN harp and OBOES play the LEITMOTIF in ACT V." ... "NOPE. I'm NOT STONED, you NINNY." Today's puzzle was a joy. Loved the TRUE BLUE, dinky di Australiana answers too!
I found these theme answers delightful. They were fun to guess at with as few crosses as possible and when the answer hit, it brought a happy ping. I loved the clues crafted out of thin air for DON LEMON and IRVING BERLIN. The buoyant mood was bolstered by fun answers to say – GOGAGA, BASSO, EOLIAN, NINNY, AUGIE, BANFF, and HOBNOB (which is crossed by NAVE-SHAVE). Not to mention a dook (ILED), UPDO appropriately in the top row, and an alternative answer to DOLLS for [Tiny house occupants] – the nearby ANTS. I’m glad I did this, Derrick, and grateful that you made it. Thank you!
I really found this puzzle enjoyable. The fills were often groaners, but made me smile. TONYORLANDO was the first one I got, slowly followed by the others. Amazing that Derrick has been constructing NYT puzzles for so long. There was also an almost total absence of current pop culture, one of my personal bugaboos, but I live with them. As I scrolled through the comments, I was once again struck by the often nit picking points that many solvers make. Case in point, SAUTERNE. I knew that the French region and eponymous wine names end in “s”. I am sure, however, that, as others have pointed out, that American wine makers take liberties with names and drop that letter. To all you oenophiles, this is a crossword puzzle, not a Wine Spectator article. Lighten up. Kudos Derrick for starting my Sunday morning off on the right foot and putting a smile on my face.
@Ken S, I had Sancerre for a while till the crosses led me to Sauterne (and yes, I also quibbled with the missing S. In fact, I had to erase the S just now from the auto-correct!)
Gerald Ford was first and foremost a MICHIGAN Man. Yes he went to Yale Law School, but you could have picked any number of Yalies. Ford had The Victors, not the Yale fight song, played instead of Hail to the Chief. He clearly bled Maiza and Blue!
Please remove the ad from the top of the puzzle play space. It forces me to reduce the font to see the entire grid+clue, making it harder to play.
@Elsie I agree this is unnecessary and very badly done. An ad blocker can solve the problem. There are free ones out there. Also, according to the instructions here, you can send a note about technical issues (for all the good it might do): To get help with a technical issue, please scroll down to the bottom of the puzzle page and tap “Contact us.” This will help you send a message to support, where issues can be diagnosed and solved.
@Elsie tip on blocking it through Chrome from yesterday's wordplay comments <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4a2vqh?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4a2vqh?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a> Not sure what works on Apple devices.
@Elsie On Android phone not using the app, the ad pops up but you can always just hit the X in the upper right and it disappears. often you don't even have to do that. do you love the app? I will never use it after all the complaints in this forum over the past couple of yours. But you do you.
Well, if I needed any further proof that I am indeed a millennial.... The excitement when I saw the ELLEFANNING clue. "Wait, I KNOW that one!" 😂 This was a fun theme, even if I wasn't familiar with some of the names. I think the DONLEMON clue was my favorite.
Quite an unpleasant solving experience. Finished it in about 35 minutes without assistance, but found the theme, theme answers, and the fill quite bad. Hope others felt otherwise. That said, EOLIAN is a lovely entry, and "Certain canines" for EYETEETH is quite nice.
@Xword Junkie how can solving a crossword faster than normal ever be "unpleasant?" Unpleasant is like yesterday when there are too many proper names, or when the fill is all OREO, EON, and EEL. Neither applies here....
I’m surprised that the columnist didn’t point out that Ulysses _ Grant was forced to lose his middle initial in order to fit here. No one ever refers to him without that S., so that felt very forced to me.
@Elyse Octavia E. Butler would certainly have concurred.
@Elyse. Apparently his name at birth was Hiram Ulysses Grant, so he went as Sam Grant at West Point, how I think he was referred to usually.
@Elyse I got the answer but it kept sounding so wrong to me without the “S.”
@Elyse minor correction: no period after that S (because it doesn’t stand for anything).
["Can you tell Timmy to give me the ______ so I can walk the dog?"] I loved this. I can understand if it was too vintage for some. And even those of us who grew up with many of the themers were mere tweens when Ulysses Shizzle Grant was prez. YO-YO MA And this one's even worse: [One ought not disturb a hive or a bee might ____ you]
@ad absurdum Archibald MacLeish?
@ad absurdum And here I am, trying to work Snidely Whiplash into the theme.
You never know what you're going to find/learn while rummaging through the comments, do you? I had no idea that SAUTERNE had an "s" at the end, and my pitiful excuse -- that I've had wine maybe three times in my life -- may not help my cause! I've certainly seen it without the closing "s" any number of times, but that excuse may be no better than my first one. Sigh. My bad. Was a little surprised to hear about the aversion to proper names. Sure, as a constructor, I have reworked many a corner to reduce its dependence on names, even well-known ones, but you've got me here: This was a theme built entirely on proper names, so I guess it was doomed at the outset for many of you. Did the names skew to the old side? Maybe, but the majority are at least still alive (hooray for Barbara Eden!), and it's always hard to generate a well-rounded set -- and even if you do, the person who knows Bill Withers and Tom Waits may not be familiar with Elle Fanning, etc. On that note, I'll close with one that I wasn't able to fit into the puzzle: "Divas ____ performances become more popular." No scrolling down to find the answer. I'm counting on the collective wisdom of this thread to prevail. DCN
@Derrick Yeah, there seem to be differences of opinions on proper names. I like having unfamiliar ones in a puzzle because that requires me to rely on crosses, and also use the clues to try to suss out the probably language of origin of the name. When two obscure proper names from different languages of origin cross, then things really get fun--but that may be more Saturday level.
@Derrick As a Gen-X at the old end of the range, I was familiar with all of the names but did think that younger folks might have trouble. I personally don't have an issue with names in puzzles, as long as I can suss them out from the crosses. I enjoyed this one!
@Derrick NYT commenters are an opinionated lot, to put it mildly. Basing a puzzle around proper names is bound to get some people riled up. I wouldn’t let that stop you from doing something similar again. I’m a Gen xer who knew most, but not all the names. I thought it was a fun and zippy puzzle. And I am curious about this game you have created!
@Derrick Bitchin' Camaro! Bitchin' Camaro! TONY ORLANDO and Dawn. This Gen Xer had no problems with the proper names, and especially my favorite president. The theme was convoluted, but in a good way.
@Derrick I'm an Early Boomer (b. 1947) and used crosses to get most of the names: although they sounded sorta familiar when I read them, I didn't always know why! My first Themer solve (I like to start at the bottom of the puzzle) was ELLE FANNING, and I thought it was a made-up name, though Dakota FANNING seemed to ring a bell. Now, IRVING BERLIN (not to mention Washington IRVING and BERLIN, Germany)--those were total gimmes, all three! I Googled a couple of the names and it doubled the fun for me. (I also checked you out on xwordinfo. Dog person, eh? Well, Math teachers get a pass...) I don't mind names if it's a fair fight, but (for example) yesterday we had a foreign NBA Rookie from 20 yrs ago, an unseen character in and old sitcom, and a minor actress from a Teen-fiction movie. It's rare for me to bail, but I couldn't finish that puzzle, alas. Eager to see your next puzzle.
@Derrick Your puzzle brought a lot of puzzle happiness to a lot of puzzle people!! The comments would probably be double in volume if more people out there didn't like it... Besides, it'd be a boring world, if we all saw and felt things exactly the same as each other. ☺️
@Derrick Nice to hear from a constructor in the comments section. All too rare for a response to the comments from the one generating them. I don’t object to names in a puzzle per se. Puzzles with many recent pop culture names confound me and hopefully the crosses allow me to get them. If not, that’s life. You can’t win them all. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, Sauterne without the “s” is surely a faux pas, but not the end of the world since American wine makers take liberties often, anyway. But isn’t that what editors are for? Fun puzzle - keep them coming.
@Derrick I think I got your bonus clue! My first themers were TOMWAITS and BILLWITHERS so I was looking for the rest to be musicians. After MARKCUBAN, I realized anyone was fair game and that helped me get the rest. This Gen-Xer was familiar with all of the names and enjoyed every bit of the puzzle. Perhaps you can work Mr. Worthy and Ms. ⚽🧤 into a puzzle for The Athletic. 😉
I loved this so much! Figured out the theme pretty early on, which was fun, but the whole rest of the puzzle was just the right level for a Sunday, for me. With nothing else planned for the day, it saw me through lunch and two laundries...oh... I mean, it saw my husband through two laundries. I guess it's my turn to get up and do something now. (He's really too good for me. I don't deserve him.)
@Marlene I very much resonate with your comments about your husband. Not only does mine also do the laundry, but I also very much do not deserve him or how very good he is to me!! So grateful!! ❤️
So, cruising more of the comments today, I am surprised by the townships issue that many expressed. I had the reverse problem in a way. I grew up in a small town in Southeastern Wisconsin and called another small town nearby home until I was almost 30, when I moved to Minnesota. I had no idea that not every place had towns or townships. Of course, I did get it, but the answer to that one didn't come to me immediately because I thought it had to be something more than the little old place I'm from. Funny that!
@HeathieJ, which town in SE Wisconsin? I lived in Wind Point (near Racine) on Lake Michigan in the southeast corner of Wisconsin as a child for a few years. Went to a small grade school there. It was idyllic for a child, though my parents were bored to tears. 🙂
Slurping spaghetti to the strains of Bella Notte left ______ over the Tramp.
@Beth in Greenbelt There have been like 5 Lady G pun attempts in this thread and that is without doubt the best.
I'm not the right something-- generation? culture? region? area of obsession? -- to know most of the names, so it felt less fun than I'd have liked. But also I have a headache, so that didn't help. I like the idea of the theme though.
@Isabeau Hope you feel better soon! I had a terrible one this morning, myself, so I feel for ya!
Might be time to return to my home planet. This was a truly amazing puzzle and I did kind of catch on to the trick, but I still just got stuck in multiple places. Didn't come close to completing it. Actually surprised that everyone else found this unusually easy. That's just me. See you tomorrow. ...
Rich, Stick around. Everyone else did *not* find this unusually easy. Global Stats Difficulty Average Median Solve Time 27:34 Median Solver 2% faster ⚡53% of users solved faster than their Sunday average. 18% solved much faster (>20%) than their Sunday average. 🐢47% of users solved slower than their Sunday average. 20% solved much slower (>20%) than their Sunday average.
@Rich in Atlanta Fret not, my Brother! I may have solved it, but I didn't really know all the names... got 'em thanks to the crosses. I also had quite a few wrong guesses...erased thanks to my FriXion pen!!
@Rich in Atlanta I have reached an age where things are getting harder but I love to try. I learn so much. Do all I can and turn on the button where I can guess. I love comments and read them all. Such a good group and so encouraging. Thanks.
@Rich in Atlanta I was able to solve it, but I guarantee you it took a little guessing and a lot of work. I most certainly did not find it easy. I rarely do on any puzzle other than Monday and Tuesday, and sometimes Wednesday.
Stupid number of proper nouns. Over and above the ones for the italic clues. Mixed in with obscure 122A, poor clues 21A and tedious repetitive non-words, 75A, 89A, v poor.
On man. I had a mistake in "Fine as is, actually" and ended up with a "d" in the last spot which lead to this doozy. "How some risks are taken" my answer came out to be "Inabed" which I accepted because well though risqué l, it is in fact true. Lololol
@Carla Your comment give me a good chuckle! Do you always add "in bed" at the end of every fortune cookie fortune? If not, you should begin to do so promptly! 😂
@Carla Hilarious! iNABEd, also occurred to me, but not in such spectacular fashion. That would have been a milestone for the Gray Lady. Thanks for the laugh!
Mickey went all out for their anniversary and got ___________ necklaces and diamond rings. For all the Hee Haw fans out there.
@Paul Good one. I'm envisioning the price tag hanging off her hat.
Philosophy question...and answer....Every few days someone finds a reason to be triggered by an answer or a question in the puzzle....Typically under the category of "the editors mentioned a 'bad' person...so they must be supporting their bad acts". One could look at this puzzle and research the past of all of the names referenced in both the cluse and answers....and find a bunch of imperfect people and bad acts. And therein lies the problem with trying to to turn the NYT editors into cancellation machines. Lots of people are imperfect...even bad....and sometimes they fit nicely in a crossword puzzle grid....and without the big newspaper headlines most people wouldnt think about their past's at all be it in the last decade...or half a century ago.
Fun to see Charles and Ray EAMES in the puzzle. And who can forget that beautiful Rolling Stones song, TOM WAITS for No One? <a href="https://youtu.be/WKpEIVgHOGc?si=tT4a77doaEQbRhvr" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/WKpEIVgHOGc?si=tT4a77doaEQbRhvr</a> PS, Sotto Voce, are you out there?
@Vaer I’ll let sotto voce know you asked about her.
What a fun puzzle. I liked the theme, and EYETEETH for canines was so clever. Misled myself with cry for SOB and pest where BANE was the answer, but figured those out and was glad to see PEST find its place. I don’t understand two answers, though, please help. 67A solves to TWPS. I don’t know what that is an abbreviation for. And 110A, STET, is totally unfamiliar to me.
@Spelling Marauder TWP is an abbreviation for Township. STET is used by editors if they cross out something but change their mind - stet means to leave as is.
Perhaps my favorite Sunday Puzzle ever. The cluing was magnificent and the theme entertaining. I look forward to Mr. Niederman’s next Sunday submission!
LEITMOTIF has not been in a crossword since 1954? Lovely bit of trivia. Thanks, Caitlin.
I thought it was really clever.
not a huge fan of proper name themes
@cameron Except that one did not need to know the names or why they're puzzle-worthy in order to solve... so what's not to like?