I found this one to be a solid puzzle, with plenty of fresh answers, little glue and few proper names. As a former lawyer (although not a TAXLAWYER), I did bristle a bit at the clue: one skilled at withholding details. Then it dawned on me: withholding as in tax withholding, not as in hiding or refusing to produce. With such well established constructors, I should have known better. Bravo.
@Marshall Walthew as a doc, I withhold details from anyone not authorized by HIPAA-- I was thinking it was attorney-client privilege until I realized the double meaning. We both maintain confidentiality as a big part of the job.
"I just listened to a show where a bunch of peas were sharing their thoughts." "Sounds like a great pod-cast." (It was titled "Legume with a View.")
@Mike Was that the movie with Helena Beanham Carter?
@Mike I like to find some peas by listening to something soothing but when I tried pods I found they were all alike! I guess I just need to give peas a chance…
@Mike When I finished my hummus, I called "Chickpeas!" and the server's attitude was so fine I would have falafel if I hadn't lentil little extra to the tip.
@Mike "All we are saying, is give peas a chance."
Nice, clean fill and some great cluing. Had a very Robyn Weintraub feel to it - and there can be no better compliment than that.
A perfect Friday puzzle, for me. I had very little on my first pass, but I persisted and filled the grid without outside help in typical Friday time. I found the Eastern half of the puzzle slightly easier than the Western one. The many unknowns were largely revealed by crosses, and with some surprisingly intelligent guesses from me. For some reason I really enjoyed the clue for KNEES. Maybe because I never before thought of a lap having ends? 🤣 I can't stand PODCASTS. When I was a teenager, my mother realized her dream of moving to a detached house. However, it was at the other end of the city than the apartment we had lived at before. The commute to school from the new place was pretty bad, so mom made it up to me by taking a huge detour on her way to work and driving me there. The thing was, she listened to talk radio. For 3 years every morning for 45 minutes I would listen to those disembodied voices droning on, torturously discussing topics I cared nothing about. I haven't been able to stand listening to talk radio or anything like it since then. When I commute these days, I stream music and do NYT puzzles or read an ebook. I find it borderline offensive when Spotify tries to push podcasts on me 🤣 Poodle time! Here's Lucek the freshly trimmed puppy playing with some of his friends at our housing estate - there's Tina the golden retriever and Pedro the mixed breed: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/pBcNOEA" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/pBcNOEA</a>
@Andrzej Wow an 8/10 from George and a “perfect puzzle” from Andrzej—these constructors can certainly retire happy! I enjoyed it as well. ; )
@Andrzej Right now, the world needs more happy dog photos. Thanks for that!
Also, my maternal grandmother, born in 1925, came from impoverished gentry. Why impoverished? She said - but I have not been able to verify it - her grandfather was a gambler who had lost all his money at MONTE CARLO at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. Back in Poland (or rather, the part of Prussia that had been Poland before), he froze to death on a nighttime sled ride as he was being taken back home drunk from some party in the middle of winter.
@Andrzej I solved the entire west side first and plugged away on the east. Thanks for the daily dog pics. Love following along ☺️
@Andrzej When I was working (and commuting to/from) the night shift, I listened to a PODCAST of a talk show that aired during the hours I was asleep. It kept me sane, and also informed.
@Andrzej I thought, after yesterday's post-grooming pic, that I had seen enough of Lucek for a while. I was wrong.
@Andrzej Your response to your mother‘s commuting choice makes me chuckle. I found a wonderful news radio station as a young adult and felt so much more informed for the interviews they aired. I always wished my mom had exposed me to things like that, so I have chosen to share with my kids. (Along with audiobooks and sing-alongs.) Will be interesting to see their preferences as they become adults
Great puzzle with brilliant cluing. - Miss Piggy & Captain Kirk by birth - professional juggling act - forget to proorfeed Well done!
@CB As a Iowan by birth, I loved 16 across, and the puzzle. Thanks for a wonderful Friday puzzle. May we all get to enjoy it fully.
It just clicked for me today - easy, breezy, beautiful! Well thought out puns too!
First Friday puzzle I've finished without having to go back and find my mistakes or use any hints. Experienced a new type of joy when the jingle happened instead of the puzzle telling me something was wrong.
@Chloe, Great feeling, isn’t it? Congratulations! 🎉
@Chloe Nice! The first time is the best, the rest are pretty good, too.
Definitely felt like I was on Rebecca and Rafa’s wavelength. What a pleasure this was to solve. The entire west side filled in with two errors - DEAD LINeS before DEAD LINKS and ibeAm before REBAR. TIL why my son wore green and black regalia when he graduated from medical school. I had no idea 🤷🏼♀️ I thought maybe it was his school colors?! Looking forward to seeing what you have NEXT UP in the queue for us!!
@Jacqui J well I have that degree and our gowns weren't green and black-- had no idea it was a thing!
@Leontion - My SIL had a black robe with green trim for her medical school degree.
@Jacqui J Like @Leontion, I have that degree as well and had no idea shout the significance of green with the graduation gown. TIL, there are a bunch of other “traditional” gown colors, e.g. white/arts and letters, brown/fine arts, purple/law, pink/music, blue/philosophy, scarlet/theology….who knew? <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yyu9yfhj" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/yyu9yfhj</a>
“Forgets to proorfeed, say”… 🤣. The funniest thing about this was how long it took for me to see the ERRor. I would be a terrible proorfeeder! “One end of a lap”: I entered KNEES as a joke. It’s always nice to have the same weird sense of humor as the constructor.
Any crossword that incorporates TS ELIOT, King LEAR and Miss Piggy gets my vote. A cracking Friday puzzle; fast but fun. Love the HALFASS/ARSE combo. Can’t understand the grumbling re Ms Swift. I’m no fan, I couldn’t name a single song, but the woman has carved out an astounding career and is clearly adored by millions, so she’s doing something right. Is it a generational thing? I refuse to believe it’s anything nefarious from the upstanding NYT crowd. I now have ‘the man who broke the bank at MONTE CARLO’ stuck in my head.
@Helen Wright I'm no fan of Tay Tay, either. She is such a global sensation, I found it best to just ride it out and joke about the phenom. Nothing she does seems to stir up anger or hate, and the Swifties seem genuinely happy. Therefore, I'm happy 😍
@Helen Wright According the The Onion, an FBI raid of Taylor Swift's tour bus revealed a massive weapons cache: <a href="https://theonion.com/taylor-swift-arrested-on-weapons-charges-after-federal-agents-raid-tour-bus" target="_blank">https://theonion.com/taylor-swift-arrested-on-weapons-charges-after-federal-agents-raid-tour-bus</a>/ For those who aren't familiar, The Onion is a hilarious satire magazine.
You know how in some puzzles you can't seem to find a starting point, and you struggle and you get one here and one there and then a big one and suddenly everything falls into place? This was exactly the opposite. I struggled, then I'd finally find something that gave me five or six new, firm letters, but I couldn't do anything with any of them. Then again. And again. Never really getting the dominoes to fall, quite. It finally resolved down to the PUMA/FAM cross. So even the very last square was a struggle. So it was a grind puzzle, but that's just fine. I like that kind of experience, too. Like getting a ham and cheese when you've gotten several turkey subs in a row.
@Francis I had exactly that experience as well, but knowing all the way that I was struggling with a well-constructed puzzle. Was proud to squeak in under my average with no look ups.
@Francis Anyone else start the lap from the other end and confidently enter WAIST? I too was murdered by FAM/PUMA.
@Francis Completely agree. It's always a bit demoralizing after struggling through to see the "It only took me 4 1/2 minutes" and "Should have been a Wednesday" crowd in the comments, but it is what it is, I guess. Sometimes I'm just not on the constructor's wavelength - I feel like I fought for every square in this puzzle. In hindsight, MONTECARLO should have been a gimme but I got MONACO stuck in my brain and couldn't shake it loose until some of the crosses finally fell.
@Francis I'm glad others liked this puzzle. But I'm grateful for 'easy mode' clues. I needed nineteen of them! (But I solved the hard Pips, which is rare, so all in all a good puzzle day.)
Random thoughts: • One way to make the solver grateful for a dull answer is with a clue that zings, and that’s just what Rebecca/Rafael made with [One skilled at withholding details] for TAX LAWYER. • AROSE sweetly evoked Gertrude Stein. • It is so hard to construct triple-stacks without creating clunky crosses – even harder when there are two crossing spanners, and today those four stacks are silky smooth. Mwah! • LILY evoked an old song “Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo”, a calming influence through my childhood. • PLEASE BE PATIENT – such good advice. Several times today I abandoned a thorny spot only to return in a bit to find it obvious. • Verve in the cluing – humor and wordplay – in a luscious compendium of original and encore clues. • Beauty along the way – ASK ANYONE, WORK-LIFE BALANCE, PLEASE BE PATIENT, EATS IT UP, CRYBABIES. • When I saw ANTS touching PEDANT, my brain shouted “Red ant!”. Lively, lovely, and satisfying. You hit the trifecta today, Rebecca and Rafael. Thank you for this!
Discovered that "keep your shirt on" has the same number of letters as PLEASE BE PATIENT. I tend to react better to the second one.
[Slapdash marketing slogan for a new doctor's office] PLEASE BE PATIENT
@ad absurdum Or a rude food delivery service?
I never comment but this puzzle was so perfect I had to say something. More like this please! And great work!
Excellent Friday puzzle. Very good clueing overall, and the clues for WORKLIFEBALANCE and ELDERCARE were great, especially the latter. Slightly too easy for what a Friday puzzle should be, but very solid. 8/10
@George highest rating I’ve seen thus far, although Francis says you rated one a 10/10 recently. I missed that comment of yours apparently.
George, I don't think we're going to see many puzzles as difficult as I think you think a Friday should be, but this fine one does seem to have been a bit easier than what most serious recent solvers have experienced. Global Stats Difficulty Average Median Solve Time 14:40 Median Solver 5% faster ⚡61% of users solved faster than their Friday average. 28% solved much faster (>20%) than their Friday average. 🐢39% of users solved slower than their Friday average. 18% solved much slower (>20%) than their Friday average.
@George Does George ever follow up on any thread he starts? I don't think so. 0/10
GET ANGRY has same letter count as GO POSTAL
@Bill in Yokohama 😃 Yeah, I thought I was so clever to have gotten GO POSTAL. Sigh.
@Bill in Yokohama I doubt you’ll ever see that expression in a nyt crossword. It has the same lead balloon quality as the Aurora related answer to a “bad day at school”. It goes well beyond simply failing the breakfast test
@Bill in Yokohama TERRACE and veRanda, also. How about NEWS ALERT and NEW SALE Ads? BEER TENT and BEER piNT?
PLEASE BE PATIENT? No! I want more collaborations between Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa, and I want them now!
Wow, that was hard! I had to really work to get the upper left area, and I'm still figuring out why a few other things were what they were.
I loved this puzzle. Every clue was straightforward, but only after the fact, a masterful touch. I jumped all over the grid, looking for help with the crosses, which was the only way I could safely get it going. And it didn't help when I misread a clue. Anyone else notice that "open house" fit "realty show" just fine? Thank you, Rebecca and Rafael, you construct fine puzzles. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Great Friday puzzle!! What a treat to be so spoiled with such a thoughtful puzzle that worked the brain folds hard! Thanks Goldstein and Musa!
@Red Carpet And you were a featured entry!!!
Loved it! Especially as there was no mad trivia that is impossible to guess. An incredibly well-thought out puzzle. Thanks!
WORKLIFEBALANCE was, for me, the answer of the year. From watching my parents, then working alongside my wife while raising three children, to now living with a son who is working two jobs to raise his children, it captures the challenges that affect almost every decision of our day to day lives.
Who else confidently slapped in MUTE for [Not listen to, as on Spotify]?
@Lewis I'm not clear on what exactly Spotify is or does, (though it occurs to me just now that "spotify" is what I do to my apron if I've been smart enough to put it on; otherwise it's my blouse that gets it--yet another laundry day challenge....) Prolly music, but not MY sort, Hm?
@Lewis Yep. I stepped right into that one.
Wow, I did my first Friday puzzle! I’m working my way through the week. I’m eventually coming for you Sunday!
@Louis Nice going Louis. Friday, they say, is about the second hardest, the hardest is actually Saturday. Sunday is longer but - according to NYT - is about the same difficulty as Wednesday.
I like a puzzle that's (a little) harder than expected, so, for me, this was an excellent puzzle. Great clues. Favorites: "Professional juggling act?" "One skilled at withholding details" "Service to foster parents?" "Something raised during Oktoberfest" Great answers. Favorites: CRYBABIES ASK ANYONE PLEASE BE PATIENT And almost no common fill: No Oreos or Onos, and ERAS and EELED were well-clued, so they get a pass. And a nice bit of TIL with the "oldest discovered library." All in all, an excellent puzzle. Not surprising from the team of Goldstein and Musa. Thanks!
Sigh I’m tired of long posts that get eaten by emus, I need to start copying my posts just in case. Second try: Got the upper left very quickly and thought I would breeze through, but the rest proved to be an enjoyable mix of clever clues, misdirects, interesting trivia (SYRIA) and a few gimmes to give me footholds—overall about average difficulty for me. Favorite clue TAXLAWYER with ELDERCARE a close second. Had WOOD before tree and ODDS before SETS (should have known 6-0 can’t be ODDS) and ODDly enough it showed up elsewhere. Also FROST before ELIOT (head slap, should have remembered that). I thank Star Trek not only for Kirk’s birthplace but also the Shakespeare quote (The Animated Series, season two I was 12 in 1974 but still remember it!) Finally I thought CROSSWORDCOMMENTATORS was a gimme in the CRYBABIES but it didn’t quite fit (just kidding folks, all in good fun).
@SP Yes, I recommend entering posts in Notepad (or the like) first, and keeping it around until comment is published. I began doing that after being burned a few times. More than a few times answers in the puzzle are on the list of words that get caught in the emu filter. May be the case today.
Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa are two of my favorite constructors. I smiled as soon as I saw their names. They went a little easy on us today but still employed their usual clever cluing. I found this to be a little more challenging than recent Friday puzzles, but not as tough as I expect from the two of them. Favorites were [Service to foster parents?] for ELDER CARE and [Ones skilled at withholding details] for TAX LAWYER.
Good one! I liked “What comes before we go?”, and found that “upnext” could also be NEXTUP.
@Joe P I’m so used to this kind of misdirection at this point, that I didn’t even notice the misdirection.
This one was really rewarding. I tend to get impatient after the 20 minute mark and start making excuses and cheat, but today I stuck it out and am glad that I did. Thanks!
@Dave Don't like to admit it, but I'm just warming up at the 20-minute mark. I've given up on time for these end-of-week puzzles. For me, success is no lookups. Today I was successful.
Quite enjoyable Friday puzzle. Was it quick for me? Nope - not even 'half fast' (cough), but just had good time working through it. And nice to see a self-reference at 18a (I still get a chunk of change every month for that). And... ended up with one wrong square. Didn't catch it after a quick review, so just went ahead and did a check. End of streak, no big deal. Couple of fun puzzle finds today. I'll put those in replies. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: First a Sunday from August 8, 1993 by Tom Underhill with the title: "Literal translations." One sample theme answer (and I'll put the explanation in parentheses): THETHEFARMERDELL (THE FARMER IN THE DELL) And some other theme answers: OTHERGODSME (other gods before me) NEAFRIENDED (a friend in need) THECARTTHEHORSE (the cart before the horse) WEWTODIEHOSALUTE (we who are about to die salute) And there were others. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=8/8/1993&g=42&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=8/8/1993&g=42&d=A</a> ....
@Rich in Atlanta "half fast" 👏
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. For once, (on a Friday) I was on the same wavelength as the creators. No baseball references, no nostalgic brand names, no crosswordese. Nicely done. Thank you.
@Dr Janelle: UPNEXT is a common baseball term, but not an obscure one. :-)
“ANOTHER ONE.” Made me imagine situations when that comment might be made. Rebus puzzle on a Thursday. Woodchuck in the veg garden. Delayed train. Power outage. Uhoh, then I got dark thinking about current events at home [This] [That] Palate cleanser needed! Fruit scone. Lap snuggles with cat. Punster Mike’s daily.
Nothing 21 Acrossed about this beauty by Rebecca and Rafael. Thanks, guys. Liked the new take on a clue for EWES.
@Vaer I loved that clue! I usually just move on from clues I don't know immediately but stopped to think it through before continuing. That was MY running the alphabet today. Totally worth the extra solve time!
Really loved today’s—fun solve and my fastest Friday ever!
One of my favorite nightmare poems... The Hollow Men I We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats’ feet over broken glass In our dry cellar Shape without form, shade without colour. Paralysed force, gesture without motion; Those who have crossed With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom Remember us—if at all—not as lost Violent souls, but only As the hollow men II Eyes I dare not meet in dreams In death’s dream kingdom These do not appear: There, the eyes are Sunlight on a broken column There, is a tree swinging And voices are In the wind’s singing More distant and more solemn Than a fading star. Let me be no nearer In death’s dream kingdom Let me also wear Such deliberate disguises Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves In a field Behaving as the wind behaves No nearer— Not that final meeting In the twilight kingdom III This is the dead land This is cactus land Here the stone images Are raised, here they receive The supplication of a dead man’s hand Under the twinkle of a fading star. Is it like this In death’s other kingdom Waking alone At the hour when we are Trembling with tenderness Lips that would kiss Form prayers to broken stone.
IV The eyes are not here There are no eyes here In this valley of dying stars In this hollow valley This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms In this last of meeting places We grope together And avoid speech Gathered on this beach of the tumid river Sightless, unless The eyes reappear As the perpetual star Multifoliate rose Of death’s twilight kingdom The hope only Of empty men. V Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o’clock in the morning. Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow Life is very long Between the desire And the spasm Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom For Thine is Life is For Thine is the This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.
@Beth in Greenbelt I rarely get much out of poetry, at least not without several readings, and some commentary if it's available. But this one...wow...I'm sure I didn't get as much out of it as a competent poetry reader, but this one was chilling even to a poetry dummy like me.
Distraction and misdirection on this gem was epic. Thanks! Great job, kept me on my toes!
Late to the game. Wanna post. Before I read. i have a bad memory. But late week puzzles of the year (fri/sat) for me. The only two? Proper nouns? The long entry phrases? Amazing. Almost too many good ones for one puzzle. WORKLIFE.BALANCE crossing PLEASE.BE.PATIENT plus ASK.ANYONE RED.CARPET CRYBABIES ANOTHER.ONE (shoutout BEER.TENT) DOCUSERIES MONTE.CARLO NEWS.ALERT this is the greatest long entry gold I can ever remember. This is my new standard.
Such a good puzzle today. Great cluing, great entries, and though I'm usually not a fan of the "?" clues, these felt just right.
Tough. But fun. Needed a little help. A little slower than usual. Still enjoyed a ton! Happy Friday, y’all! Thanks, Rebecca & Rafael!
Very, very nice. I agree with all the good things others have said. Lots of good guesses, but the tricky ones for me - 'on deck' - assumed a ship connection; and I spell it 'vices', not 'vises'. Smashing.
@Jane Wheelaghan A vise is a tool. A vice is a behaviour exhibited by a tool.
@Jane Wheelaghan I never knew that the British used "vice" for the clamp as well as the bad habit. Live and learn. "On deck" is originally from--what else?--baseball. The player who is NEXT UP to bat is said to be "on deck." And there's actually an "on-deck circle" between the dugout (bench) and the home plate area, where such players have the space to take some practice swings and generally get loose.
@Jane Wheelaghan in case you didn’t see my reply under Francis’s thread, cleaned house is another way of saying he fired a lot of people and their teams.
the crossword truly teaches PATIENCE. as a new solver, getting a friday with no tips is reason to celebrate. made the connection between monte carlo simulations and the actual city today, thanks NYT!
@Avi You should celebrate! This wasn’t the hardest Friday ever but it certainly wasn’t the easiest!
@Avi Monte Carlo simulations! It's been a while since I heard that term used. Congratulations on your patience paying off.
Great puzzle, i was a little sad that i had to rework “TAXEVADER” bc i thought that was a pretty clever response.
@Curtis I tried that first as well 🤣
@Curtis might’ve been me if I wasn’t so confident in TERRACE. Rest of the SE corner was tough!
Is there a term of art for when you think a puzzle is harder than usual for the day of the week, but you somehow finish under your average time? Whatever that's called, that's me today.
The very upper left was smooth sailing for me and I thought I would breeze through this, but instead I found the rest a nice mix of some misdirects, interesting trivia (SYRIA) and clever clues along with some gimmes that helped me get footholds—I’d say average Friday difficulty for me overall. Favorite clue TAXLAWYER with ELDERCARE a close second. Had WOOD before TREE and ODDS before SETS (stupid 6-0 can’t be ODDS and ODDly enough it ended up being another entry) and FROST before ELIOT (head slap). Thank you Star Trek not only for Kirk’s birthplace but also the Shakespeare quote (The animated series Season Two, I was 12 in 1974 but still remember it!!!) Finally couldn’t quite fit CROSSWORDCOMMENTATORS in the CRYBABIES spot I thought for sure that was a gimme! ( Just kidding folks all in good fun).
@SP and your original post finally arrives…
@SP I couldn't fit DEBBIEDOWNERS in (what I thought was) the NEWBABIES spot.
SP, I believe the filter grabbed your post for the word you used before 6-O. The emu, stirring from its nest, realized you had no evil intent and released the comment.
One of my bugaboos is misreading the clue. Today's: reading "under a mare's care" (easy enough answer) as "under a man's care." A WARD, right? Those are the hardest for me to catch, because once you misread the clue, your brain keeps seeing it that way.