Personally I found this an unenjoyable slog with no redeeming qualities. The accumulation of trivia in the NE corner made it impossible for me to solve without lookups. I needed to Google some stuff elsewhere, too. All I know about Bruno Mars is his name so asking me to fill in a title of his using actual numbers felt cruel, especially as the crosses weren't obvious, to me - I've never liked the Beatles so I don't know related lingo, and a short tennis match can be 2 or 3 sets. AGER is pure crosswordese, IMO. Why the super long clue for the simple answer I DID? I have a long list of least favorite constructors. I'll be adding another name to it.
@Andrzej So...I'm guessing we'll put you know for a .... no? I can't really argue with much you said. I also don't know Bruno Mars from Bruno Uranus, but my cultural awareness began with the Beatles, so Fab 4 was pretty obvious to me. It sounds like I enjoyed it more than you did. I'm also cognizant that my frame of mind is playing a role. I'm in kind of a funk because of....well, I'll let it go for now.
For some positivity involving no numbers at all - here is Lycyfer the puppy with a flower stuck to his head. He must have picked it up when sniffing stuff on the terrace. I admit to moving it a few centimeters for this super cute pic though - it was nearer his neck originally. <a href="https://imgur.com/a/YZzmMTn" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/YZzmMTn</a> And this is how he likes to sleep - half hidden under the curtain by our bed :D <a href="https://imgur.com/a/hECTJex" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/hECTJex</a>
@Andrzej How clever of you! You deflect negative responses to your negative review by including adorable puppy pics! [That is one adorable pup!]
@Andrzej I hear you Andrzej. I predicted this would be tough for most non-Americans and to be honest it was a bit of a slog for me too. I always preach that I will allow for clunkier fill in the service of a great theme, and will also allow some leeway when I am impressed by the creativity or artistry of the grid. Although I will give some props for the difficulty of this feat, in my opinion the torturous fill, the somewhat obscure revealer (I know I’m not a huge pop culture fan but I try to stay current, and one specific Bruno Mars album seems pretty obscure) and the need to throw in two gratuitous numerals just doesn’t seem to be justified by the cleverness of the theme. My 2 cents.
@Andrzej Does knowing the constructor has just become a freshman in college change the finality of your judgement any? I'd hate to see talent squashed before someone is even out of their teens. For the record, I broke my rule of not commenting during weekdays just because I was so delighted with the puzzle. I loved that I actually had to count the Ks to complete the last two squares.
@Andrzej Who has a list of least favorite constructors?
Filled everything in. No music. Flyspecked multiple times. No music. Changed numbers to letters and then back to numbers. No music! Finally I count all the K’s. Waitamminit … there’s way more than 14 … Music. :)
"Do you like my gold ring?" "Nope, I don't karat all about it." (That pun was kind of alloying.)
@Mike We could exchange rings every year. It would be an annular event,
Mike, Love how your puns consistently seem to pan out, one nugget after another. Thanks Mike, I’ll now carry on, mining my own business.
SANKA crossing KAOS was certainly a choice.
@Shrike If you're my age, both are gimmes. (I didn't even see KAOS.)
@Shrike I had to look up both...
@Steve L Lol. Other way around for me - I didn't see SANKA
@Shrike I had watched Kiss Me Kate the other day. I have had the line "I'll even give up coffee for Sanka, even Sanka Bianca for you" running around in my head for a few days now.
@Shrike I read the clue as [BAND whose name...] and wondered why a band would choose to reference caffeine. I only realized my mistake when viewing this thread! (face palm emoji) I did know KAOS though.
26 proper nouns. naticks everywhere. the NE corner was a joke. and adding numerals on top of trivia that were poorly clued. this is an all-time disaster of a puzzle. just an absolute slog.
Here's a baseball nit about a NO-HIT game being [Perfectly pitched]. While this may be close enough for government work (or crosswords), it's not really correct. There's a name for games that are perfectly pitched, and that is--wait for it--perfect games. Perfect games are much rarer than no-hitters; there have been 326 no-hitters in major league history, or an average of a bit more than two per season, there have only been 24 perfect games, an average of one every five years. Perfect games are games when no one on the opposing team reaches base in any way; 27 men up, 27 retired. In a no-hitter, the opposing team can get on base in several ways: walks, being hit by a pitch, fielding errors, and even catcher's interference. In fact, a team that pitches a no-hitter can even lose the game, because any of those runners can score in a number of ways: stolen bases, sacrifices, and other errors, to name the most common. This has happened twice in MLB history. (In addition, because the home team doesn't bat in the ninth inning if they're ahead, there were three instances that didn't officially count as no-hitters because the pitchers only pitched eight innings.)
@Steve L sounds like TCS to me. A game that is perfectly pitched would be, of course, a no hitter. All perfect games are no hitters, so the answer is a valid response to the clue
@Steven M. Wow, are you wrong. All perfect games are no-hitters. In a perfect game mo batter reaches base. Pitchers have lost no-hitters. Batters can reach base without recording a hit. Teams sometimes score all the runs in an inning without a hit.
@Steven M. Sorry, I misread your post. Apologies.
@Steve L Because perfect games are no hitters a perfectly pitched game is also a no hitter. They do not mean identical things, but the clue and answer are correct.
A truly perfect game would be twenty seven outs achieved by three swings-and-misses per out. Eighty one pitches, no balls, no fouls, no contact whatsoever. I dream of such a game.
@Steve L I agree with you, Steve, it’s not even an argument. A no hit game may be perfectly pitched, even if it’s not a perfect game—maybe an error by someone other than the pitcher—but I could put lots of runners on base with walks and not come close to a perfectly pitched game. I call foul too.
@Steve L I hate that "8 innings can't be a no-hitter" business. If you've pitched a complete game and no one got a hit, that's a no-hitter to me. That you were playing at home and your team was smart/skilled/lucky enough to get the lead by the 8th, doesn't diminish your skill or nerve. Next to the fake base runner in extra innings, this might be the change I hate the most. Go Jays!
@Steve L I thought the same thing. The clue is definitely a stretch for that answer. And just to continue the baseball geekery about no-hitters and perfect games, it turns out that with the recent rule adding a free runner on second in extra innings, it is now possible for a pitcher to pitch a perfect game and lose.
@Steve L Regarding your last sentence... Wouldn't every perfect game have the pitcher record 27 outs? If a home pitcher had a perfect game he would pitch the top of all nine innings. If a visiting pitcher has a perfect game the bottom of the ninth would be played since the home team could not possibly be ahead. I guess I'm missing something.
@Steve L Hoo boy. The next time I haggle over a grammar or usage point, don't any of you guys dare call me pedantic.
@Steve L No doubt about it: a perfect game is a rare thing of beauty, beloved by all true baseball fans. For the past week and a half, my YouTube feed has been sending me "videos" of Sandy Koufax's gem on its 60-year anniversary, with the inimitable Vin Scully calling the game. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINiz0Bfb-0" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINiz0Bfb-0</a> Koufax was not only a brilliant pitcher, but was also so obviously likable as a human being. (When I think about Roger Clemens or Nolan Ryan or Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale or Randy Johnson, I realize how rare a combination that is.)
"Here's a baseball nit..." Steve, Not sure why you called this a nit of any kind. "We all know" the puzzle clue and answer are fine, since they need not cover all cases (or bases) and a [Perfectly pitched] game results in no hits. "We also all know" that a Perfect Game and a NOHIT game are not the same thing. IMO this was a Fact Boy post, but a rather self-evident one, not a nit report.
@Steve L, I agree with your nit. Obviously a perfectly pitched game is a no-hit game, but a no-hit game is almost never perfectly pitched. The clue is true for the answer, but the answer is not true for the clue.
Kudos to Jackson for this crossword. I like it enough to bookmark it for later. There might be kickback from crossword cranks who think the theme is lacking but I found it corking and was quite taken with the idea. Solving wasn’t a cakewalk, I did have to backtrack in a few places and use my keen knowledge. To celebrate I’ll have a milkshake and a knickerbocker glory!!
@Jessica Bravo! (I had to count your Ks three times because I kept missing some!)
Too much potassium in this one 🤪 🤣 I noticed about halfway through that there were a lot of Ks in the grid and literally started singing 24K MAGIC in my head. Imagine my squeal of joy when I realized that was the revealer?!?! Thanks for making my night, Jackson! And thank you Beth for posting the link to the video ☺️
Crossword superstar Paolo Pasco Jeopardy watch, day five. Five days, five victories. Last night he led throughout, and his breadth of knowledge continues to impress, and he's quick with that buzzer. Winnings to date: $134,516. Go Paolo!
@Lewis Why the callout on this one Jeopardy winner?
@Lewis Did Paolo Pasco have to take time off from filming the Mandalorian movie to do Jeopardy?
@Lewis For those who may have missed some of Paolo’s episodes due to “breaking news” over the past week, they can be seen on Peacock. This season is the first time Jeopardy has recent episodes streaming. Each episode can be watched for a full week, so Paolo’s initial show is available until about midnight tonight. Enjoy!
@Lewis His acuity on anagrams is amazing.
Jackson Matz says we may have "24K Magic" stuck in our heads after listening to it after the solve. No need, Jackson. It's been stuck in my head since I giddily filled in the answer, and I'm not sad about it! Sam didn't provide the link, so I will. <a href="https://youtu.be/UqyT8IEBkvY?si=lvC2OQ_RgVE-8woU" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/UqyT8IEBkvY?si=lvC2OQ_RgVE-8woU</a> I've often said I wish my mom could have lived long enough to hear Bruno Mars. She would have loved him. And now I'm remembering her in her 80s, stricken with Alzheimer's, but she could still shake her bootie like nobody's business. Thank you, Jackson. This was fun!!!
I'm surprised about all the complaints thus far. I thought the clues were all really good. Despite not knowing 24K album I was able to figure out the answer via with the 2 set tennis match and the Fab Four Beatles clues. The clue for Arroz was very timely as I was in Rosarito Beach last night, and I specifically remember one of the items on the dinner menu listed as being served with arroz. Favorite clue was definitely 53D: ear covering....I confidently put muff in after already gotten the U In the across. When things didn't pan out it took me forever to figure out Husk, and then I silently praised the constructor's great misdirect.
@Daily-Solver The only reason I'm not surprised by all the complaints is that this is the norm here. Why people who clearly hate real crosswords keep doing them is beyond me. I thought this was a fantastic, clever puzzle.
A Wednesday Thursday! (Solid gold?)
@Barry Ancona Really was a gold bar of a puzzle.
I LOVED IT AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT! (yep, I loved it enough to obnoxiously use all caps too!)
What a clever puzzle with 24K at the center and discovering 24 K's sprinkled throughout the grid! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Good luck, Jackson, on the start of your undergrad experience at UNC - I hope you enjoy every moment and that you'll have time to offer us more fun grids!
If the goal was to fit as many natticks as possible to meat an unsatisfactory theme, it was met wonderfully
Knock knock. Who’s there? The Fab 5. Who??? Fab 5, I say! I counted 25 K’s. But who are the Fab 5??? (Yes I really did that. Counted wrong!) (Plus obviously don’t know the song.) (But it still follows my axiom that more fun is had by making an amusing error.)
@Cat Lady Margaret The "Fab 5" were freshman basketball players fot the University of Michigan in the 1990s.
@Cat Lady Margaret The Fab 5 were also the stars of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. (Will this show up?)(Only answer this question if it doesn't show up, please.)
Well that was fun. Thought you’d trip me up with numerals eh? I’m onto you, you sneaky thing. The Bruno Mars album was played on repeat when DD lived with us so that, along with the FAB 4 was a gimme once I realised rebus wouldn’t work. A few names and products I didn’t Know, but once I worKed out the inordinate number of Ks the unKnowns filled themselves in. TIL IDEM. I confidently entered ibid, then was totally confused when I couldn’t complete the grid. Needed Madam Google to teach me the difference. Huh. I managed to complete my degree without ever tripping over the term. 🤷♀️
@Helen Wright me too! Thanks for the tip, that was the last clue to fall.
@Helen Wright Same little snag for me, Helen - fortunately my alma maters agreed with my footnotes and bibliographies!
@Helen Wright danny devito likes bruno mars?
TIL that you can put numbers in crossword puzzles! Who knew? (Everyone but me, apparently.) I was inwardly complaining that the Beatles answer had to be FABs (“Who ever called them ‘fabs’? Nobody!”) and scoffed at the idea of short tennis match being ‘a SET’ (“Not a thing!”). “Ask Magic” also seemed like a terrible name for an album, but Bruno Mars has sold many more of them than I have, so what do I know. I don’t know what made me try putting in numbers to make all of it make sense, but I wish there had been some celebration animation. Because the fact that it worked was pretty exciting.
@Heidi I had no idea either and ended up checking it with “Ask Magic” and disappointment.
@Heidi Not only can numbers be put in the grid, but on rare and wonderful occasions, symbols like #, @, or & can appear. Rules? We don't need no stinkin' rules! (By the way, some people used the rebus-function to put in [TWO] and [FOUR] in those two squares. That was deemed acceptable, but hardly satisfying.)
@Heidi I did exactly the same things. And got very irritated.
My solving route went as follows. Early: Hmmm, quite a few K’s. Middle: Okay, the theme is about cramming as many K’s in as possible. But why? Two-thirds the way through – What can that reveal in the middle be? At the end – Ah, 24 K’s, perfecto! Also perfecto … 24K MAGIC was one of my last answers to fill in because I don’t know the song, and right at the end is the perfect time to uncover a reveal, which ties the whole thing together like a bow. My favorite answer/clue combo was SICK OUT (a NYT answer debut, and it just sounds so right for what it means), and “Alternative to a strike [cough cough]” which was delightfully vexing as well as funny. Got a KicK out of this, Jackson – thank you!
The record number of a certain letter is a feat done before – notably, Clive Probert did it with B in 2010 and with M in 2017. David Steinberg did it with 49 R's in 2015 with the terrific revealer FORTYNINERS. In 1994, Cathy Millhauser made a Sunday puzzle with E as the only vowel (and it holds the "most E's" record). Its title was ELAND. Mwah!
Jim Horne at xwordinfo.com states that this puzzle smashes the record for K's in a puzzle. (The previous record was 18.) However, this puzzle was 15x16, so Jackson had an extra column to work with! K's in baseball are strikeouts, and there have never been 24 of them thrown by any pitcher in a single game; the record is 21, in extra innings, and 20 in a regulation nine-inning game. Which brings me to a nit that I will pick in another post.
@Steve L While solving I knew that you'd explain that nit, and you did not disappoint. Yes, I could google it, but it's more fun to chat; was the 20k game Roger Clemens? (Pitching for the Yankees?) Regarding perfect games (not wanting to get lost in that long thread so posting here), not only are they exceedingly rare, nobody has ever pitched two consecutive, although Roki Sasaki (now of the Dodgers) was robbed of that chance 3 years ago when pitching for Japan's Chiba Marines. On April 10, 2022, Sasaki pitched the first perfect game in Japan in nearly 30 years (since 1994). On his next start a week later, he retired his first 24 batters. After 17 consecutive perfect innings, his manager inexplicably pulled him, explaining that his pitch count was 102 and he was concerned about Sasaki's long term health, thus robbing him of a good chance to make unbreakable history.
@Steve L I remembered Kerry Wood right away. I have a few friends among the 20% of people who say they were at that game who were actually at that game. 😉
Numbers in a crossword grid?! Someone give me some pearls to clutch! Sorry, feeling sassy this morning. Enjoyed the puzzle, though.
I thought it was a fun grid! Even though I'm not from the US, I got through it without having to look anything up – the very first time on a Wednesday! I'm not familiar with the works of Bruno Mars, but the Beatles' sobriquet and the short Tennis match made me think there might something fun going on here. Enjoyable with a twist, I'm looking forward to Jacksons next construction!
One of the worst puzzles of all time.
@LJADZ "I did not care for this puzzle" would be a much better way to put this. You not liking something is not the same as the thing being bad.
i really enjoyed this and didn’t find it to be a slog at all. i love an occasional number entry theme!
One ripening agent is ethylene. If you bring home unripe fruit, stick them next to some bananas and they will ripen beautifully. I do this with peaches all the time. Bananas produce ethylene. Needless to say, I was stomped for a moment how to put ethylene in four squares in the clue….
@SusanEM me too, but now that I know that numbers are allowed, I suppose one could enter C2H4. 🤓
@SusanEM The best way to buy avocados is to get them when they’re still hard. Put them in a bag with a banana and they’ll be ripe in two or three days.
As they say in classic films: "He got me...." [collapses, clutching chest dramatically.] I guessed the "country duo" person, but the anime style was too much. (I had to give up IBID, and I've never seen/used "ID EM" --not in any of the dissertations I edited/typed, not in any papers I wrote in college or grad school, so I'll have to look it up. I also don't feel like counting all the K's in the grid, although I expect I know how many there are.... Those who "know me" will suspect (correctly) that I have never heard a Bruno Mars album. Or song. Or Brooks & DUNN. Or any anime videos/movies/games/books/role-plays. Or "Nope" show/movie actress. However, I happened to be at Fernbank Science Center (it was new) at the right time, and I got to hold a MOON ROCK. I remembered KERRI Strug (inexplicably), and I have heard of RIHANNA, and both AARON and RAY KROC were gimmes. So I guess I'm lucky I only had one wrong letter!
@Mean Old Lady I am with you on “ibid”! Never heard of IDEM. I didn’t get the music, and haven’t figured out what I have wrong, but I only counted 22 K’s, so I guess I need to add them somewhere. 🤷♀️
@Mean Old Lady "Idem" or its abbreviation, "id." is used extensively in legal documents and opinions.
@Mean Old Lady I can’t believe you’ve lived in the places you’ve lived and not know whose name is missing in [Brooks and ___].
NE corner was really difficult, in my opinion. And while I defend anyone's right to put anyone in a puzzle, Ray Kroc has to be one of the most spectacular examples of how slimy business success can be. I mentioned Dire Straits the other day. "Boom, Like That" is a tremendous example of Mark Knopfler's ability to write amazing songs about sickening topics. His repetition of the line "Or my name's not Kroc, that's Kroc with a K. Like crocodile, but not spelt that way" is one of the most profoundly funny lines in all of rock. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sYK2RwH5E8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sYK2RwH5E8</a>
@Francis The NE was the last to fall for me, too. It helped knowing I was still missing a couple of Ks. It did not help that I had KAMIKAZiS for the longest while. Crappy spelling is generally what gets me! (Will the EMUs let that one through? They did once before.) AARON finally popped into my head, which meant 13D was KINKS, not leaKS, and everything else fell into place.
@Francis South Bend has one of the 26 Kroc Centers in the US, funded by a $1.5 billion donation from Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. The Kroc Centers, run by The Salvation Army, provide community resources for health and wellness, arts and education, youth groups, etc., and religious services.
I’m curious: is there anyone here who had never heard of that specific album from “Bruno Mars” but was still able to pick up on the gimmick? I am generally not a complainer, but this strikes me as the most ridiculous way I have lost a streak to date. I would have no problem here if the crosses (43D and 26D) were expressions that explicitly included numerals in their formulation (e.g. the name of a brand, band, song, movie, etc). But as this is the case for neither “the fab four” or “a two-set tennis match”, and given that it is *rare* for an answer to include non-alphabetic characters, IMO the gimmick here was basically a Bruno Mars trivia check. No thanks.
@Anonymous I can see that I’m going to get a steady stream of one-word responses in the affirmative. Always a pleasure 🤣
@Anonymous I had everything but the 2 and finally had to look up his discography because I’m not familiar with his albums or tennis. I suppose I could have counted the K’s, but at that point I felt a tad annoyed and just wanted to rip the bandage off quickly.
@Anonymous I never heard of the album, but I've done puzzles long enough to expect anything. I knew that FAB 4 was correct and that there would likely be a number in front of SET as well. I guess it could have been a rebus of some sort, but I just went with the numbers. Until I came to the revealer, I had 14 instead of 24, but then realized it must be 24. I also had KROk and was able to fix that too.
Anonymous, I filled _ _ KMAGIC from the crosses, knew FAB _ needed a 4, and, reading the second part of the revealer clue, counted the K's to start the SET with a 2.
@Anonymous I had never heard of that album, but when {ONE}SET didn’t work, I thought of the logical prefix to KARAT. Possibly the large number of K’s helped me get the album title, though I didn’t spend any time counting.
@Anonymous Unlike the others, I first had _ _ _ MAGIC as 43 across. First of the downs I got in that section was "_ SET" and figured it *had* to be a number. So I thought maybe the Mars song was 123 MAGIC, and I put in '1' before SET. Later for 31D, I had "LI_E," and I realized it had to be K not 3, then had FAB_ for the Beatles and saw that was definitely a 4. I then thought further about 43 down and realized 2SET made much more sense. 2,4, K magic didn't click - but I figured if it was wrong, I'd look at it again. But it took me until after I got the happy music to look again and realize it meant 24K, as in 24 karat.
@Anonymous Yes, and all the Ks showing up in the answers helped lead me to that.
This puzzle was o…….K by me. Not only were there a lot of Ks in the puzzle but so many answers contained multiple Ks that it almost made me dizzy. There were so many Ks it was like watching a Nolan Ryan NOHIT game. I’ve enjoyed the puzzles of the last two weeks, which I managed to complete while traveling in Scotland with my wife and step daughter. We spent time in Edinburgh, Skye and Glasgow (where we spent some time with my daughter and her family) and places in between. With our busy schedule, I didn’t have time to peruse the comments, and I missed this community. It’s good to be home.
Was I the only one who thought that baseball was the "obvious" topic for "perfectly pitched" and that therefore the question mark in [Perfectly pitched?] meant it was about something else, such as music? My first try was TUNED.
Well that was impossible, if you aren't a Bruno Mars fan, or tennis fan, without lookups. This puzzle was KRAP.
@MFSTEVE I didn't know the album either, but surely you're familiar with 24K as a concept (gold purity). Alternatively, you can just count the Ks once the rest of the grid is filled in.
@Bob sure I've heard of 24K gold but not MAGIC and wouldn't assume there would be numbers in the puzzle since I've never encountered numbers before. I even used the rebus to enter Roman numerals at one point, as they are more common and used elsewhere in the puzzle. But IIIVMAGIK didnt work or make sense (I had misspelled KROK, another proper noun btw).
@MFSTEVE - I am a neither a Mars nor tennis fan, and I completed it successfully without lookups.
There’s a special place in the afterlife for people who put numbers in crossword puzzles
M'eh. Slog. Can't stand Jason Mraz. Seems out of theme for the word edgy to be in the same puzzle where he's a revealer clue. Revealer was very well defended, but didn't help solve things. Anti-climactic reveal. Wow, a lot of ks. Boo-urns.
@M Huh? Pretty sure Jason Mraz was not in this puzzle, but Bruno Mars was. Which one can't you stand? Jason, Bruno, or both? (I like both.)
@M The 24K revealer helped me make my last change from OhOK to OKOK.
@M You can't stand Jason Mraz? That's very interesting and relevant, thanks. I can't stand opera. Or sea urchin sushi.
@M I think you’re confusing Jason Mraz, the Bruno Mars-ish artist with Jackson Matz, the constructor!🤣
Can I get a ruling on a nit? Can you clue LEOI with the word “first” since that’s actually how you say it? (Leo the first). Seems at best inelegant, I’m surprised,
@SP I don't know that I'm qualified to issue a ruling, but, for what it's worth, I agree with you: that is, indeed, a nit.
@SP I agree it doesn't sit right. I thought right away it was Leo but that didn't fit, and I knew it wasn't Paul, Pius or John.
@SP I was expecting this thread and just now had time to look for it. Eyebrow also raised.
This would have been a clever puzzle but it relies on trivia to get the Ks. Most of it I've never heard of 8ncludo Bruno mars never mind his hit.
@Lauren never heard of Bruno Mars? Is it nice living under your rock?
@Ryan I had heard the name, but I couldn't tell you anything about him or name a title, much less an album. Digital media made it possible to pick and choose, so I left off following mainstream pop music years ago. If that's living under a rock, then yeah, I kind of like it.
Lauren, It was not necessary to have heard of Bruno Mars to solve this puzzle. I had heard of him, but I did not know the album title, which I filled entirely from crosses. Good thing this puzzle is a crossword.
TIL - the origin of Sanka.
@Suzanne I didn't know the name origin, but the decaf pot at your local diner has an orange handle/spout because SANKA was the only decaf for a while, and their logo was orange. When General Foods bought the brand in the '30s, they began sending out free branded pots to all their customers as a promotion, and it stuck. #Things I learned in Marketing class.
I tend to glance at clues, so I misread fifteen across as "Some garbage jobs." I figured that one would be right up my alley. I remember, for instance, a time when I was required to be a human paperweight on top of a trailer full of trash bound for the dump. I was flying down a highway, splayed face down a few inches from a newspaper, when I realized that I was looking at the obituary of someone I knew and respected. Not the greatest way to find out. As usual my lack of knowledge about sports, pop culture and the names of actors who played in things I've never seen tripped me up. I had to consult Google several times. But tomorrow is Thursday, my favorite day for the crossword, and I'm looking forward to coming here tomorrow after I've finished and enjoying the usual weeping and outrage. I hope it's a rebus puzzle.
It didn't occur to me to count the Ks; I thought the gimmick was that so many of the answers had either 2 Ks or 4 Ks. Hence 24K. I found the puzzle very difficult and not enjoyable.
@Wes yeah. This one sucked. Many of the clues made little sense and were extreme stretches.
Also, I don't know anything about Bruno Mars or his work. The 2 and the 4 were the last two squares I filled in, finally just hazarding a guess because of the crossings (and the assumed 2K/4K gimmick). I still have no idea what "24K Magic" is supposed to mean, if anything.
Wes, Are you ready to read the Wordplay column now?
A follow-up to my post the other day about streaks. I was out of cell-phone range for 5 days and when I returned, I completed the missing puzzles in order. But alas, the streak was broken. I emailed the NYT Games support staff and they fixed it. The streak is back on! Now 328 and counting! For the record it looks like you can miss up to 3 days and your streak won't be broken as long as you complete the missing puzzles in order. Any more than that and you'll need to contact support. Either way I had an epic hike in the Grand Tetons, and if the price of the trip had been a broken streak, it would have been worth it!
@Dave Munger Excellent intel! My family goes on a camping trip in the Catskills for a few nights every summer. It’s not super remote, but our site is about a 20 minute drive from the nearest cell service. I, a fool, have been driving out to service at night on day 2 to download day 2 and 3. You’ve just saved me from ever wasting precious off-the-grid time ever again!
@Dave Munger It would be cool if you could pre-download puzzles, say, a week in advance but only have the app release them at the appropriate time for situations like that. Though I'm sure you were happy to unplug. The support is really good here though. I've emailed them when a bug has given me an impossibly short time a few times and had them manually set it to the correct time so my data doesn't look weird.
I wonder how many of the responses were due to this puzzle being on a Wednesday, when tricks are less expected. I think this constructor shows a lot of talent (they just started college!) and if this one had been published on a Thursday, I can imagine a slew of complaints that it was too easy. I loved it and solved it with no problem--after resetting my expectations about the difficulty level. Because I was not familiar with the album, I had to count Ks at the end to confirm that my error was not in the number but elsewhere, and only then noticed I had misspelled IDEM. Jackson, best wishes for your college career and look forward to some Thursdays and Sundays from you!
@Lynn Thanks, IDEM was my last missing piece!
I feel like we broke an important rule with this one.
@Brett Contrary to what some may think, there is no rule against playfulness and fun.
I love that this puzzle rewards you for paying attention. There were 2 places I could have messed up, but the theme saved the day. Since I'm unfamiliar with Bruno Mars, could he have an album called 14K MAGIK? Sure, but that wouldn't work today. Thanks Jackson, this was a fun one.
Probably a little easier than a typical Wednesday, necessary to make the theme work, but I love the theme - and having knick knack and knock knock in equivalent places in the grid made me smile.
I loved it too. I recently took a survey about the crossword (I think because I clicked FEEDBACK in a menu) and I said I love crosswords that break the rules — larger grids, weirdly shaped grids, numbers, rebuses, etc. The first thing I do with each day's puzzle is count the squares in the top row. When I look at the archive and see how many superb 15x15 puzzles have been published over the years — not to mention the ones submitted and rejected — I despair for the constructor looking for a set of fresh 15-letter entries — or a good set of shorter themes. Every time I've thought I've come up with a good theme idea and searched xwordinfo to see if it's been done, it's been done. That obviously speaks to my status as a construction fantasist/dilettante who only ocasionally dabbles in thinking about construction. Anyway. Loved it. I welcome more like this!
Really most unenjoyable puzzle I have ever done, regardless of the “clever” use of numbers and k’s.
Great puzzle. I thought the revealer was referring to the fact that there were 2 answers with 4 Ks in them. Didn't even consider counting the total number of Ks.
Overheard, drifting outa the just-cracked window of a passing limo . . . Ayy, ayy, ayy I solved a crossword in my appie Baby girl, that makes me happy! (What' gold star happy!) You and your mule invited So Jackson got to klue-in' (clue) Go klue it for a solver, klue- it for me Rep those Ks and stack it for a solver (stack it) Stackit-Stackit for me (Stackit!) I'll fill a grid with moonrocks (rock) Aint a daddy, no lame knockknock (knock) Hot Arroz for dinner (uh) Jackson, nohit Ks a winna (duh!) You solve 2K you want it, got 4K if you want it Said, you got it if you want it, 24K squares you got it, now Jump in the thinktank (Girl, let's put some numbers init) Anything you want (Just to put a star init) You deserve it, solver, you deserve it all And he's gonna give it to you Gold krona shining so bright Strawberry dasanis on ice Lucky for you, that's what Jackson's like, that's what he likes Lucky for me, a constructor I like, that's what I like Ks filled the grid at night Kamikazez and knickknacks, all right! Lucky for me, that's what I like, that's what I like Lucky for me, that's what I like, that's what I like!