This is the best puzzle of the year. The competition is over. Take a bow, Aidan.
@Jamie If you are, like me, of that age where you played Minesweeper incessantly at one point in life but haven't thought about it for at least 15 years, this puzzle was incredible. When I first saw the board with the 1's and 2's listed, I didn't make the connection to Minesweeper, but once I did and understood I had to enter MINE in the right places, all these memories that I didn't really know that I had of late nights playing this game came rushing into my head. The closest comparison I've had to a similar sensation came from a production of Thornton Wilder's play Our Town in a small theater, directed by the great David Cromer. At one point, one of the characters asks to go back to her childhood, and she gets transported back to the kitchen of her childhood home, where her mother is frying bacon. In this production, the actress playing her mother is frying actual bacon, and you hear the grease spitting and you can smell the aroma of bacon cooking as it fills up the room. As an adult, I never cook slabs of bacon, but my mom did for weekend breakfasts when I was little, and the smell and sound of bacon cooking opened up an association and a memory that I didn't know I had. So, for me, this is the puzzle of the year. Especially because Aidan is a college student, who presumably isn't of that age where Minesweeper has a hazy nostalgia. Aidan, I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
@Jamie Agreed. Was amazed when I got to the revealer that I hadn’t picked up on it earlier - and when it hit me I almost whooped with joy. So so clever.
This puzzle made me unexpectedly emotional. My dear mother, may she rest in peace, loved playing games—especially Minesweeper on her old Mac desktop and the New York Times crossword. Seeing them joined together in today’s theme brought back so many memories of her. It was a bittersweet reminder of her joy in these little daily challenges, ones we often solved. Thank you for creating something that touched me so personally and let me feel close to her again, even if only for a moment.
I get that some found the rebus to be simplistic, yet here I am commenting for the first time ever. That was such joyful brilliance for more than a few of us, I’m sure.
@M Welcome to the forum! Yeah, I just loved this one, too.
@M Welcome to Wordplay!
never saw the game. never played it. likely never will. tipped off by his eminence, solved the puzzle with no inkling of the theme. then wikipediaed minesweeper to learn about a thing i never knew and thought: cool game. and then i thought: very cool puzzle. especially retroactively sussing out its use of 1s and 2s. and then i thought: this is why the times crosswords are so cool.
@Matt Same here, but I actually played the game in the early PC days. The first digital distraction at work. Either that or solitaire. It was a guilty pleasure
Had heard of the game, but never played. Really enjoyed MINE ALL MINE, Bwahaha.
@Beejay Yes, that was brilliant!
@Beejay I think we should change the national motto from "E Pluribus Unum", to "Mine! All Mine!" And while we're at it, let's change the national anthem to "Choctaw Bingo" by James McMurtry. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEJPqJtZsk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEJPqJtZsk</a>
My old friend Minesweeper! I nearly jumped up out of my chair and clapped with glee when I finally saw the revealer! Those of us of a certain age played it for countless hours (at work when we were supposed to be working, or on boring conference calls) -- in addition to it's counterpart Freecell solitaire. Ah the sweet nostalgia for all that wasted time sitting alone at the computer 😂
@Lpr Fun fact: Jim Horne, who is quoted in the column, was the person who coded the FreeCell game for Microsoft and “snuck” it into the Windows operating system. <a href="https://www.hey.gg/podcast/freecell" target="_blank">https://www.hey.gg/podcast/freecell</a>
I already posted this as a reply to my post below, but since many of you are interested in Lucek the puppy, I'm reposting the update here, too. Here is Lucyfer's new post-grooming look: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/CMw8BQo" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/CMw8BQo</a> He enjoyed his first time at the groomer, apparently. It's a really friendly yet professional place, just a short walk away. It's run by three ladies. Their own dogs walk around the salon, sporting glamorous dos. Isn't Lucek handsome? He looks so different than the furball he was 😃
@Andrzej not to be dramatic, but I would die for Lucek.
@Andrzej He’s a handsome guy. I can’t really tell from this picture. Did you give him the traditional French poodle clip?
@Sonja That's one of my favorite posts on this board, ever :D @Eric The groomer just shortened his coat by about half, shaved his paws, underbelly and face - all for practical reasons. I don't think this clip has any particular name. The groomer advised against going for a traditional poodle puppy clip, because it's high maintenance, and makes no sense if the dog is not to compete in dog shows. We just want him to be comfortable, and we'd die before we styled him with pompoms or some such. I'll post a body shot tomorrow, maybe, so you can see more. @Tom Thanks :)
@Andrzej Thanks for the picture! Such a lovely pup! Poodles have sort of gone out of style here in Germany right now. It’s a pity because they’re so intelligent and fun. I’m not sure they make an impression as watchdogs though. Keep us up on him, please.
@Hobby Gardener Toy poodles and their crossbreeds, like maltapoos, have become very popular here. Standard poodles, like Lucek, are extremely rare. I know of just one other in our part of town, home to tens of thousands of people. Driving and walking around Warsaw, a city of roughly 2 million people, I practically never see standard poodles. I think most people are put off by the maintanance costs - the grooming is not cheap, and you also need to take care of the dog yourself, brushing daily or every other day, giving baths, drying after walks in the rain, etc. Luckily my wife and I have no financial problems, and I have loads of spare time. Lucek should be a perfect match for us.
@Andrzej I shared yesterday's imgur of Lucyfer with my Partner, with instructions to send it on to our friend Mary-Margaret; and I will with today's as well. Her standard poodle is named Tasso--short for Anastasio. (She's Greek.)
@Andrzej He’s a cutie!
@Andrzej Lucek is very handsome! I live in a small town that includes several standard poodles. He is better looking than all of them. As for high maintenance, my partner and I have a wire-haired fox terrier who will be 2 next February. He, too, is quite handsome, known by almost everyone in town, and requires everything you mention and then some. We refer to ourselves as his support staff.
@Andrzej, He’s a very handsome guy! And he sure knows how to pose for the camera!
@Andrzej That's one high class dog. Looks as if he maintains his own paper subscription to the NYT (for, reasons) and looks down on those who stoop to playing silly word games. ;)
@Andrzej He's a silver! My silver mini is approaching 2 and is so awesome. And I remember the complete transformation after her first groom. Poodles are so much fun (and scary smart at times but that usually enhances the fun).
@Andrzej I adored Lucek when "unshaven" but I do understand why the "haircut." He was just so adorable before the grooming. (Has he glimpsed himself in the mirror?) We lived next door to a family with a standard poodle for several years. "Bridget" was not like most of her breed, in that she was apparently a slow-learner; we came to refer to her as "Bridget the Idjet." She kept chasing cars on the narrow two-lane road...and getting injured (but not badly enough to learn to stop.) A wildlife officer had a trap out on our property (trying to catch some feral dogs) and he kept finding Bridget in his cage. We were overjoyed when they moved away....
@Andrzej Sadly your link ‘is not supported in your region’ 🤷♀️ I’m sure he looks adorable.
@All Thank you all for your replies! It's slightly freaky to know the cute pup has a following not only on our housing estate and in our Warsaw district (the proprietors of our fav local cafe/bakery heard of him before they even knew he was our dog! Another poodle owner showed them a picture) but also thousands of kilometers away. @MOL The haircut is practical. I too loved him in his more natural state but it was not sustainable. @B High class, eh? In Polish a standard poodle is actually called "pudel królewski" (royal poodle), probably because dogs of the breed were traditionally owned by kings - Zygmunt I Stary (Sigismund I The Old), our greatest ruler of the 16th century, had one. Still... Both my wife and I may be children of professors but we are generally quite demotic. Today as I walked that royal poodle I was dressed in tracksuit pants and a well loved leather jacket 🤣 @Helen Wright You need to get a VPN. Seriously. Geoblocking is the space AIDS (that's a nod to Rick & Morty) of the internet. @M. Bigger Well, as a bit of a layabout, I have what it takes to be on the support staff of a poodle 😃. Caring for him will be a nice change of pace from my usual idleness and shallow pursuits (as taking care of the elderly Jorge the Lab was). @Mitzi 🤜🏽🤛🏽 Poodle fist bump! Lucek is wicked smart, just like our Jorge the Lab was. It's so amazing to watch him learn, and figure out problems on his own 😃
@Andrzej Beautiful dog! And makes me think of my husky, Lucy, who I also nicknamed Lucyfer. She was very furry, but not at all devilish.
@Andrzej Very handsome. I've had four Standard Poodles in my life, all were beautiful, smart and sweet-tempered. It's easy to get very attached to this breed. I, for one, would love to see the occasional update on Lucek!
@Andrzej So handsome! I love the pics you share!
I smiled when I figured out the rebus and that the puzzle was a riff on MINESWEEPER. When i was working, MINESWEEPER was on the computer and I played many a game when I had downtime, or when I was on particularly boring conference calls. In this puzzle, spotting the rebus speeded the solve and success was MINEALLMINE. I liked the clue for ABACUS.
@Marshall Walthew I wasn't going to confess this, but at one (actually several) of my programming jobs, the process was thoroughly messed up and I had time on my hands. I played game after game of minesweeper, and whenever I completed one I cut-and-pasted the final pattern into a file. I had dozens of images in the file by the time I got something to do.
@Marshall Walthew I too liked the clue for ABACUS. My now mother-in-law was a fan of garage sales and thrift shops. I don’t know why she thought I might want an abacus, but she bought me one once. Since I was drafting school finance legislation at the time, I decided the abacus needed to decorate my office. It was almost as appropriate there as my blowup doll of Edward Munch’s “Scream,” my Playmobil circus figures and my miniature RMS Titanic diorama.
Loved this!! I loved minesweeper back in the day so I found this a lot of fun. The numbers definitely helped my solve. My favorite for the year also. Not too much US centric cluing for this Aussie.
Speaking of mines, I found myself right up against one last night. True story. It was dark, I had a flashlight, and I was returning from taking out the garbage, when from behind a large bush a huge bear appeared. We were suddenly face-to-face, two feet apart, both totally surprised. (Bears and humans co-exist in our neighborhood; we usually keep our distance from each other.) I’m still laughing over how I reacted – and it was pure reaction; I had no time to think – I stood tall, arms raised overhead, and I kept repeating frantically and earnestly to the bear, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Then it aped me! It stood tall and raised its arms overhead as well. After a moment, the air suddenly felt safe, and we each went our own way. Thank heavens this mine didn't explode. And out of such moments a life is made.
@Lewis WOW! They are out everywhere now! Be safe!
@Lewis What an experience! If the bear is into aping you, next time you empty the trash, bring your lawn mower with you.
@Lewis Wow, as if we needed further proof of your unwavering kindness. You even made a bear feel seen and respected. Very glad it worked out the way it did!
@Lewis, Whew! 😅 I speak for a lot of us when I say that I’m glad that had a happy ending! 🐻
@Lewis I had a similar experience this summer, while outside setting the table on the patio. Something made me turn my head, and there was a lovely mama bear, not 4 feet away, just standing there next to a tree, watching me, intently. I spotted three cubs gamboling down the driveway behind her, and once they were out of sight, she turned and followed. I was actually mesmerized by her gaze (I know that sounds funny, but it’s true) and I just stood there without moving. She had such a seemingly calm demeanor. It wasn’t until I told my guests about it later that I even thought I should probably have been afraid… I’ll never forget it.
@Lewis, I’m glad you didn’t have to taste this version of the BEARCLAW. Stay safe!
@Lewis What a great story! I had no idea Asheville had occasional bear visitors. We see them occasionally in Grand Marais. One year a relatively small one climbed into my apple tree and had a feast. Or at least I hope it was a feast. The theory was a drought earlier in the summer had limited their usual late summer binge, so they came into town, trying to get ready for winter.
@Lewis Thank you for the chuckle at "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" 😂 The bear must have sensed that you were a friend. Glad you were safe, and I love that you and your neighbors can co-exist with them!
Wooooowwwwwww, was this a great puzzle 💣💣💣
I'd say this was an ideal "tribute" puzzle. It provoked warm feelings from those who play(ed) the video game, but required absolutely no familiarity with the video game to solve. Win-win!
@Barry Ancona Disagree about the latter point. Seems many who didn’t play the game felt lost.
Had a blast!! Favorite puzzle this year.
I liked [Hardly anyone counts on this anymore] for ABACUS. I thought it might be separation of church and state or something like that.
This is the first time I ever won a Minesweeper game!
I would like to remind everyone that Aidan is 19, and also that he has a terrific sense of humor – you will agree with me if you look at his picture on XwordInfo, and it’s well worth a look. ( <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Author/Aidan_Deshong" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Author/Aidan_Deshong</a> ). My biggest TIL today? The game Minesweeper! Somehow, I missed that phenomenon, and I’m sorry I did after reading the comments from the grateful and nostalgic commenters today. Despite that, there was still, for me, a huge heap of puzzlejoy. I loved those numbers in the grid. Before filling in the first letter, they hooked me, and I couldn’t wait to see why they were there. Then, after filling in the last letter, still, what a riddle to crack for Minesweeper-ignorant me! I kept trying to figure out their significance, and let me tell you, that kind of riddle-attacking work is what my brain lives for. Oh, it never did figure it out, but man, the trying was divine. Two more things – Standing O for the clue [Pin number?], elegant and saturated with wordplay. Plus, what a superbly built grid! More, Aiden, more please! This was a jewel, and thank you!
Very good. Got it at MINE ALL MINE, had fun finding the rest. A nice chewy Thursday, not too difficult, but enough to make me think. Lovely. It’s inoculation and body check time for the Alpacas…who do NOT like being handled. Job done, but am now sporting a blooming bruise on a kicked shin and a very painful crush injury to one hand as it got trapped between an alpaca neck and the gate. Those necks are pure muscle. I love my life.
@Helen Wright I love your loving your life - and the alpaca stories :D
@Helen Wright I love your life, too! My shin bruises and hand smashings usually come from self-induced clumsiness while working on my motorcycle. I also learn new combinations of oft used expletives. I doubt my ego could withstand the abuse doled out by livestock. 😁
@Helen Wright I always love how those relatively small, cute, adorable animals can demonstrate awesome strength when they want to.
Came here to say two things: 1) Epic puzzle. All of those years playing minesweeper and crosswords paid off (FINALLY!). 2) I'm a high school teacher and there's a small contingency of students who are big into minesweeper at my school. The kids are alright.
@Benji Roger Daltry will be glad to hear that. 😉
I was DETER[1]D to beat my average, and I did. BOOM! Not the hardest Thursday puzzle, but clever and fun.
Dat was da bomb! Truly wonderful! I played Minesweeper way back when but I still had to stare at the finished grid for a bit to understand what the numbers meant. I can't recall if my memory's always been this bad. One added feature that would have pleased absolutely everybody: entering an incorrect letter in a rebus square blows up the whole puzzle and you have to start over.
@ad absurdum count me in as one of absolutely everybody... oooo, or if you put a letter (besides M) on a MINE square!
@ad absurdum sorry, re-read your post and you've already specified the mine square bit. Apologies, coffee just starting for the day.
I filled in ABACUS for [Hardly anyone counts on this anymore] immediately, no crosses needed. My mom, who was born and grew up in China between the two world wars, brought her abacus with her when she came to the US in the late 1940's. I have childhood memories of how fast her fingers and the beads moved, and the clacking sounds that were an accompaniment. She tried to teach me, probably when I was in fifth or sixth grade; I could do addition and subtraction but only slowly, and never got the hang of multiplication. And then of course hand held calculators came along in the 70's, so that was the end of using the abacus.
@CRTH I suppose SLIDERULE could also be similarly clued at this point. Although strangely slide rules could not do addition and subtraction. You were on your own for those two operations.
I spent many absorbed hours playing MineSweeper, and I just loved this puzzle. To me, and with my life experiences, this is a classic puzzle, one for the ages. However, not having seen MineSweep, I would think this would crank up the difficulty several levels. I don't think I've ever had a puzzle that fit me more perfectly.
@Francis fun trip down memory lane! My brother played the game and I watched over his shoulder on occasion, but I never played it myself.
Danish, bear claws, croissants, etc. are examples of what chefs call "laminate doughs"--flour, water, and fat (usually butter) are combined and kneaded, by repetitive folding, to create a dough that consists of innumerable, thin, alternating layers of flour and fat. Just those two, and you have puff pastry ("pâte feuilletée"); add yeast, and you have croissant dough; add eggs to that, and you have danish dough. Despite the name, they are Austrian(-ish) in origin: the French term for them, collectively, is "viennoiserie."
@Bill Danish pastries, in Denmark, are fabulous - light as air, melt-in-the-mouth.
@Bill, Meanwhile Panera retired the bearclaw. Dunno. <a href="https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/menu/products/bear-claw.html" target="_blank">https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/menu/products/bear-claw.html</a>
OMG! How much time did I spend playing Minesweeper on the clock in my many boring desk jobs? An embarrassing amount! From someone who has done several thousand crosswords, this is an all time favorite. Way to go, Aidan!
After last week’s furore, I came to the comment section expecting more outrage. I’m pleasantly surprised to see mainly positive reactions! Another Thursday cracker - fast becoming my favourite puzzle day!
@David I've noticed that it's not so much that some people don't like tricks, but that they don't like them too tricky. This was much easier to figure out than last week's, so there are fewer complaints. The number of negative comments often seems to increase along with my solve time.
I never comment on these, but today I had to. This was a brilliant puzzle. The theme was spot on, the rebus was delightful, and the clues were punny and delightful. It was perhaps a tad too easy, but I still enjoyed it so very much. This is my favorite puzzle of this year.
Oh, I really enjoyed this puzzle! Kudos to the author, and thanks for the trip down memory lane.
"Proustian" indeed. I was a French language editor at Microsoft in 1990 when Minesweeper was released, and I have fond memories of so much wasted time getting a thrill out of the 3D imaginary tactile nature of the game... neglecting my NYT newspaper edition crossword in the process... I'm amazed this theme has never happened and am so grateful to Aidan for somehow knowing how delightful it would be for so many of us. One of the best puzzles ever.
Loved this -- and once I figured out the theme (which was when I hit 62A, "why does MINESWEEPER not fit? Oh, duh") it did help me figure out the puzzle faster. 4D having four letters confused me initially ("ad hocs" seemed awkward) until I got a (MINE) in there. There could even have been an unchecked, unclued middle square ... *evil grin*
@Isabeau You've been doing these long enough to know why, in a Thursday puzzle, something doesn't fit...
@Isabeau For me it was MineCraft, knowing it couldn't be anything else
Is nostalgia the lowest form of happiness? Today’s minesweeper will be a generational divide for certain. Those of us who played it for hours, and those who did not. Very clever. Go feel some grass before the frosts begin.
@Red Carpet I'm feeling the grass every time I mow it. Our highs are in the eighties most of this week. In October. In Minnesota.
@Red Carpet I don’t know if the divide is generational or something else. There are definitely those who played Minesweeper and those who didn’t. I’m 66. I had an Apple computer at home when Minesweeper was popular. I also used a computer at work in the early 1990s, but it was an IBM mainframe terminal. I remember Solitaire being available, but I don’t remember Minesweeper.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s been a long time since I thought about or played MINESWEEPER but it brings back fond memories. I can see why if you don’t know the game it becomes a straightforward rebus puzzle and less interesting, although I thought it was fairly hard until I got to the revealer, and then I did use the numbers to place the mines. It was well executed with a lot of thoughtful, informative, and fun clues and not a lot of glue—I’m a big fan of POIROT and I thought the clue for UPDATE was inspired. Finally I really want to know what’s going on at Harvey Mudd college with all these constructors there? Maybe the admissions committee loves crosswords and gives extra points for students who show interest? Are they teaching a crossword course? I don’t know but there’s a lot of them and they have been terrific!
@SP I literally mentioned that same thing to my husband about all of the recent constructors from Harvey Mudd?!?! Some crazy talented students there 🤯
@SP It seems they publish a crossword in their magazine. There's also this link, which reeks of long-winded made-up AI slop nonsense, but who knows, some of it might be tru-ish. <a href="https://californiastate.blog/harvey-mudd-crossword" target="_blank">https://californiastate.blog/harvey-mudd-crossword</a>/
That was the best!! Love love love! Aiden Deshong, be MINE.
Dang that was a good puzzle!!! I got to brush off my old minesweeper skills. I once had to delete minesweeper off my PC because I was spending hours every day avoiding my college class work. Now I avoid my work work and my life’s work doing NYT crosswords.
Loved this puzzle. Fun to find the mines after a long time!
Phenomenal blend of cluing and theme, total delight.
Woo-wee! What a fun puzzle! As soon as I opened the puzzle and saw the numbers, I knew I was gonna be in for a good time. Math? Magic squares? Who knows,but let's find out. I immediately got the revealer of MINE SWEEPER (which brings back memories), but wait! It doesn't fit! Let's come back to it. Off to the down entries, and low and behold, the answer had to be MINECRAFT. Aha! A rebus! And then everything fell into place. I was totally on the same wavelength as the constructor, getting ABACUS, WATCH and ET AL on the first pass, and finishing in half my Thursday average. But every one of those minutes was a joy. Thank you.
@DocP And a bit of a brain fart when I mixed up Fargo and Argo, and couldn't figure out why North Dakota didn't fit...
This was a blast from the past! I've played on PCs and there are several versions on the Mac App Store. I was somewhere in the middle of the puzzle when I "got" the rebus, and confirmed that the numbers in the grid had the same meaning as in the game. Made it a fun solve. Thanks, Aidan!
I feel for those who did the puzzle today that had not played Minesweeper, because I think everyone who had played the game got extra joy and appreciation doing today's puzzle. P.S. To the naysayers who think such a puzzle should not have been published: not every puzzle's theme resonates with everyone every day; there should not be a need to rain on someone else's parade.
@Jim, I think you’re right. I’m certainly old enough to have been around for Windows 3.1, but I guess I never got past Solitaire. Something about all those cards cascading at the end was mesmerizing for me. I can see how this puzzle would be over-the-top satisfying for anyone who played a lot of Minesweeper. Remembering and reliving favorite memories from the past is such a joy. I’ve sure I would feel the same if there were ever a Pac -Man themed puzzle.
"To the naysayers who think such a puzzle should not have been published;..." Jim, Was that a rhetorical statement, or did I miss the posts saying the puzzle should not have been published?
@Jim, I used your link that you provided earlier and downloaded the Entertainment Pack, then played Minesweeper for the first time ever. Got blown up on the first game and survived the second. Very tricky, really a good exercise in logic! Then I played the Solitaire game for old times’ sake, since that one was more my scene. Spent the next *30 minutes* trying to win a game. When I finally did, I was so anticipating seeing the whole deck cascade all over the screen. But the speed of Windows 11 made it flash by in less than a second. 😲
One of MINE favorite puzzles ever! Well done!!
I've never seen, much less played MINESWEEPER. I've never seen, much less played MINECRAFT. The numbers meant nothing to me and I actually found them rather annoying. But I loved the MINE rebus and picked it up when I had to substitute HIS E[MINE]NCE for the just plain EMINENCE I'd had in there. It was then confirmed by HO[MINE]M. Suddenly I also had the vexing and mysterious PRO[MINE]NTLY. I found the rebuses at the bottom easier -- but by then I already had the trick. Throw away the baffling and confusing numbers and this would be a NO[MINE]E of mine for Puzzle of the Year. Outstandingly embedded rebus. Hard and rewarding.
@Nancy throw away the element that makes this puzzle a playable bonus game and serves as the essential substance of a huge part of this incredibly clever construction—and what also serves to make the theme instantly clear to the millions upon millions of people worldwide who have played this game over the past 35+ years? Ok Nancy
@Nancy Always nice to see you post here.
As soon as I figured out the trick, I placed mines around the puzzle. I absolutely adored this!
Old enough to always picture MINESWEEPER when someone mentions MINECRAFT; self-effacing enough to get a kick out of seeing both in this puzzle. Kudos, that was a lot of fun.
Yeah this is one of my favourite puzzles in a long, long time. It was such a fun solve in general, and the theme was marvellous! I also adore minesweeper, I used to play it all the time as a kid and actually still do every now and then, just on my iPad.
Fun one today, but I gotta take exception to the answer "wages" for 38-down, "job listing info." Companies NEVER give that info in the initial ad, and only reveal it upon pain of death or first paycheck - whichever comes first. 😏
@Sam I had the same thoughts. The only WAGES I see are from spam texts from "recruiters." Now that I'm retired, my "resume" has more hits than when I used LinkedIn. The WAGES I'm being offered range from $500 - $3000/day! So, why am I still retired?
@Sam It’s been decades since I have held an unskilled entry-level job, but I remember poring over want ads that listed the starting wage.
@Sam In New York salary ranges are a must.
@Sam wages are now required in the ads in many jurisdictions
I am typically anti-rebus, but getting to do a crossword and play Minesweeper at the same time was absolutely BRILLIANT. Well done!