After solving over a thousand, this was the first non rebus puzzle I’ve enjoyed so little that I just hit the reveal button halfway through… blech, this was zero fun.
@Dan And if handy belly isn't the stupidest answer ever. Because some cats like to sleep on a person's belly?
@Dan Had the same response. Had to fight just giving up halfway through, which hasn't happened for a while.
I always sigh when I see John Kugelman's byline. I've never liked a single puzzle of his, and today is no exception. The theme, as usual, is groaner-adjacent, and the clues are not on my wavelength. I did several passes of the grid but it remains largely empty, and I don't feel like continuing the solve. I'll just leave the puzzle as it is. A game should be fun a this is not my idea of it.
The only positivity I can offer today is a pic of Lucyfer the puppy. Here he is, resting on a cold stone floor after his second ever walk in the forest. <a href="https://imgur.com/a/vuskGQA" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/vuskGQA</a> He is mind bogglingly well behaved on his walks. He doesn't pull on his lead, and when he's off-lead he never fails to come when called. This from a puppy? Wow! We're putting a lot of effort into training him and it's nice to see it pay off.
@Andrzej I kid you not, as soon as I got to the first theme clue, I thought to myself, "Self, Andrzej is going to hate this one!!" 😂 I thought it more and more as I reached each themed italicized clue. 😘 One of the cutest puppies ever!! ❤️
@Andrzej Funny how I never, and I mean never, even think to look at the name of the constructor. I guess that shows I'm not really convinced that it'll matter to me. I don't think to try to correlate my experience with the creator. Different strokes, I guess.
@Andrzej It's really ICKYPOO and I'm not being a CRANKCASE or a MOUTHYHARPY.
@Francis don't feel weird. I also couldn't care less who the constructor is and don't let it influence my enjoyment (or not) of a puzzle. I'm sure we're not the only ones!
@Andrzej @ Francis If you buy the argument that crosswords are an art form, it’s not at all surprising that one constructor might be Monet and another Jackson Pollock. Personally, I think crossword construction is more craft than art, as the conventions of the form limit the opportunity for personal expression. I don’t mean that as a put-down; I sincerely admire good craftwork.
@Andrzej I could see how this would be a hard pass for you. I enjoyed the theme and that was the major source of enjoyment for me; but a lot of the fill and clues were pretty tangential or obscure so that was a bit of a slog for me. If I didn’t like the theme and the puns it would not have been worth it.
@Andrzej zgadzam się … the actual phrases having no role in the puzzle really felt like… desperate? Very disappointing Sunday. But 15 Sundays in two years… the editors adore him… I wonder who he is related to at the NYT? Pozdrawiam!
[Puck, for one] CRAFTY FAIRY
@Lewis, I kneel before thee! Excellent one.
@Lewis It's good. And it was actually used in the January 22, 2023 puzzle by Garrett Chalpin. Great minds think alike. The clue was, "Tinkerbell or Puck?" And the answer was CRAFTY FAIRY. And this is such a weird coincidence because I just happened to be working on that puzzle today right before I did this one. The theme is almost the same but not exactly because the two parts of each answer aren't necessarily words modified simply by adding Ys. They can be homophones. So you also get answers like NOSY BESTIE and WHINY STORY.
Sorry, but Boo-o-o-o-o! Long list of clues/answers that were one or more of - US (or NY) only trivia, or - just plain bad (esp. AMUCK, ICKYPOO, OVERHOT). 21A, 57A, 77A, 84A, 96A, 4D, 6D, 8D, 10D, 28D, 34D, 46D, 52D, 63D, 71D, 77D, 81D, 82D, 88D, 94D, and 97D And I wasn't a fan of the theme either.
@Grumpy You certainly can't be accused of false advertising.
@Grumpy And in hopes of forestalling the inevitable, I'm not interested in hearing (again) about how the company that takes my Canadian $ is American, so what do I expect; or how I should be happy to learn new things; or for that matter, any other form of "educating" me about why my opinion is wrong.
@Grumpy 🤜🏽🤛🏽 I disliked the puzzle so much I didn't even finish it. I saw the baby talk clue but never got round to getting its answer. ICKYPOO... Jesus.
@Grumpy there is an international New York Times which offers these puzzles. NYT used to be part ownership of international herald tribune which it then fully owned & rebranded. Your gripe is perfectly valid.
@Grumpy "US (or NY) only trivia" I cannot understand this complaint. The paper is literally called The New York Times. It is based in New York City, which is located in the United States. The vast majority of constructors live in the United States, including John Kugelman. Of course the trivia is going to be things an American would know. Are puzzle constructors supposed to make clues that will be known to people of every nationality on the planet? Should the crossword include references to Indian soap operas, Australian snack foods, random cities in Ghana, Japanese politicians from decades ago, songs that no one outside Ecuador has ever heard? There are more than 190 countries in the world. There are more than eight billion people on the planet. There is simply no way to create a crossword puzzle that will contain trivia that every one of those 8,000,000,000+ people will get. If you are going to solve an American crossword puzzle, it is going to be filled with American trivia. Why not educate yourself about American culture instead of complaining that constructors won't cater to your personal knowledge pool?
@MB Amok, amuck, amok, amuck. <a href="https://youtu.be/9qwEipKrV-0?si=ZiEB3dt4FzJRJKyq" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/9qwEipKrV-0?si=ZiEB3dt4FzJRJKyq</a>
@MB That spelling was new for me too, so I used it for my Wordle start word (don't recommend). Wordle took it, so it must be legit. lol
Rang a bell because of one of the more surreal Looney Tunes shorts "Duck Amuck" (starring Daffy, of course)
Enjoyed the theme at first but soured by the end with some dicey cluing and phrases in the theme entries. GOODYCOPY was particularly unsatisfying.
@Joseph Ditto MOUTHYHARPY
Truly could have done without the mouthy harpy clue.
@Emily. If your problem is with HARPY, the classical definition is precisely “half bird, half woman”. Modern usages expand on their malevolent nature.
@Emily I came here to say this. Really?!? This clue and answer left a bad taste in my mouth. It's overtly sexist, full stop. I now await the (male) comments telling me I'm overreacting. 🙄
All these years I've been saying Hi-Ho Silver! Great puzzle. Adding "y" on both words is so clever, and I'm rackety-racking my brain to think of others and can't come up with a one! Love the steamy threesome in the lower right. That poor locksmith, I cocky-pity him, too! And Archimedes crossing with Tada -- glad he chose to say "Eureka!" instead. Tada would be a bit ickydoo.
@john ezra I had HIHO, too! I thought 112A was quite funny, and another indication that the Gray Lady is loosening up a bit. I am very impressed that you can't come up with a double Y expression, given that a few days ago you knocked out about five additional theme phrases in what couldn't have been more than a few minutes.
@john ezra 🙋🏼♀️ HIhO here too 🤷🏼♀️
@john ezra I too remembered the Lone Ranger’s cry as “Hi Ho,” but I had seen it rendered somewhere as “Hi Yo.” I almost left the third letter blank, but when I realized that 80A was a theme answer, I knew the Lone Ranger answer would be YO. Meep, meep.
So much of this solve sounds like what aliens think humans talk like. OVERHOT? You humans say that, right? BOSSFIGHT? Sorry no, it’s Boss Battle here on earth. CALMEX cuisine? Where are you from??
@matthew CALMEX sounds like a drug you take for nervousness.
@matthew I agree with two out of three of these…however, as a person who plays games I definitely would say BOSS FIGHT and not BOSS BATTLE (and have many times!). My only issue with this puzzle was “AMUCK”. My brain went AMOK when I saw that!
@matthew CAL-MEX is how they distinguish Mexican food in California from Mexican food in Texas, which is referred to as TEX-MEX 😉 Mexican food is definitely not the same in those two states having lived in both. Arizona Mexican food more closely resembles California, having also lived there 😆
ixnaY on this uzzlepaY Painful and slow.
AMUCK? GAMY? HIYO? ICKYPOO? Sorry, not a fan of today’s puzzle.
I don't know if it's just me, but I'll put it out there in case it's not. I can't stand the "totspeak", "child speak", etc clues. It seems like they're just used when we need to throw some letters together and call it a word.
@Tonya Same!! ICKYPOO has to be the most infuriating answer I've seen for some time.
Tonya, I might object to the clue. Let's not blame it on the tots. ICKY-POO is perfectly good adult slang. <a href="https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/icky-poo" target="_blank">https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/icky-poo</a>
@Tonya "Ickypoo" was a gimme for me with just the initial "I" and I'm not around tots at all. Not sure where I've heard it, but it immediately came to mind.
Was anyone else totally thrown by Hi Yo? In my brain, it’s always be Hi Ho Silver!!
@Yvette Yes, it's been discussed below: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4avd36?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4avd36?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a>
the MOUTHYHARPY ARCHIMEDES YAKETYSAX combo, crossing with the most obscure bonkers spelling of AMUCK made for a deeply unsatisfying solve.
@Peri C. Never heard of AMUCK in my life.
As usual for me on a Kugelman Sunday, there were areas I had to return to due to wrong answers I slapped down, clues I couldn’t think of an answer to, and things I didn’t know. Oh, there were other areas that filled in quickly to balance off the thorny areas, keeping things from getting too frustrating. By now, I know that a Kugelman Sunday will combine fight and delight, and offer a most satisfying outing. As did today’s puzzle. I did like SHANTY and BILLY (of BILLYGOAT) in the box, echoing the theme, as the Y at the end of those words changes the meaning of “shan’t” and “bill”. John, your output is amazing, with 13 Sundays (plus a Thursday) in just over two years. That mind of yours never stops tick-tick-ticking. And may it continue, because your puzzles bring me great pleasure. Thank you!
Somehow, in my 40-plus years on this earth—and I’ve read a book or two—it has never registered that a bell rung by hand is… a handbell. And so _ANDBELL became very plausibly a bell made of a novel silicate (or simply one that folks ring only when in the Sahara or the Gobi) or, alternatively, an exclamation by sea-weary sailors first heard when nearing the shore (“Ahoy, mateys! A landbell!”) or, just as likely, a magus’s bell attached to a handy socket to be fitted atop his tool of the trade, or, or, wait, I know—an instrument for The Police! Even after I ran the alphabet and happy music ensued, I still eyed the H with suspicion, nay, balefully.
@Sam Lyons visit a Christian church in the holiday season. You’ll find that handbell choirs are commonplace
@Sam Lyons what an unexpected delight to see a comment from you this morning! I hope your travels are going well and that your spirit is strong (and that your spirits are also strong).
@Sam Lyons Google "Forte Handbells" You won't be sorry!!
Oh - a Y's guy. Anyway - tough one for me, but finally catching on to the trick was the big turning point. Still had to cheat on a couple of things, but.. doesn't matter. Pretty impressive feat of construction and ended up being an enjoyable workout. Quite amazing puzzle find today. I'll put that in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened - a Sunday from December 3, 1972 by Elmer Toro with the title: "Wild life." A 23 wide puzzle with 7 theme answers. All of those debuts even though most were quite familiar phrases. A couple of theme clues and answers: "Blake's vision" TIGERTIGERBURNINGBRIGHT "Start of a certain recipe" EYEOFNEWTANDTOEOFFROG "Cry 'Havoc!' ___" ANDLETSLIPTHEDOGSOFWAR And some other theme answers: WHEREEAGLESDARENOTPERCH QUOTHTHERAVENNEVERMORE SAIDTHESPIDERTOTHEFLY ANDWHETHERPIGSHAVEWINGS Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/3/1972&g=94&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/3/1972&g=94&d=A</a> ....
@Rich in Atlanta I said “Y’s guy” in Moe’s voice, since we had Stooge CURLY in the puzzle.
@Rich in Atlanta Seems like using "Oh, a wise guy!" instead of "Soitenly" at 88-A was a missed opportunity.
I would like to posit that there is a big difference between snuggling and canoodling.
@MExpat I would like to hypothesize that most women think snuggling is an end in itself, Whereas most men think that snuggling is a means to canoodling.
Always love a John Kugelman puzzle. Though all the themers were smooth and fun, 104-across was my favorite: STEAMY IRONY
I wish that the themed clues had included some indication of the unaltered words. In my opinion, it would have been more clever. For example: “Sailor who only drinks the finest grog, with his fellow seamen?” “Suitable for the middle aged, in Cowboys territory?” “Suspicious absence from school, or the culprit of the suspicious absence of a school?” Im not saying my clues are clever or difficult enough by any means, but I would have appreciated some more direction because there was limited satisfaction when I was solving. It would have been amusing to see how hand pail and catnap, or steam iron and locksmith could have been connected. The unmodified words just felt arbitrary.
@Emma I love your clue examples! I agree that the theme cluing was somewhat wonky until I realized I had to shift my thinking by eliminating the Y's to understand the word pairing (if that makes sense). I definitely see a future for you in crossword constructing, Emma!
So glad we all seem to be on the same page. I found this puzzle to be unchallenging and “unfun”. Somehow each answer felt like putting an oval peg in a circular hole. ICKYPOO is by far the worst crossword answer I’ve ever had the displeasure of entering.
Not fun. This one reeked of trying too hard to be clever and was quite a slog.
I'm usually not one to complain about not being on the same wavelength as the constructor, but choosing to put two four-letter answers with self-referential non-clues in the tiny southwest corner plus a word order trick and a theme entry is certainly one of the design decisions of all time. Spent a lot of time in that corner. Made it through, but more of a slog than an enjoyable ride, I'm afraid.
@TholosTB I agree. I usually start in the SW corner but got nowhere and had to abandon it for last. The “acne”/“teen” cross had me stumped without a lot more of that section filled (maybe that’s on me - in hindsight those words are frequent flyers).
Is GAMY not spelled GAMEY typically? Lot of weak clues and odd solutions. Sorry, but this puzzle was a miss.
Okay, I'm familiar with Labradoodles, Maltipoos, Peekapoos, Yorkipoos and Schnoodles. But how did I not know that they created a mix of Canadians and Poodles?! And how on earth did they manage to breed Canoodles? Doggy style? Is this ethical(is that still a thing?)? On the other paw, knowing me, I would probably be happy to snuggle with one. "Beer me and boop me, eh." I bet they'd be good at hockey, though they'd frequently get called for ruffing. Thoughts?
@ad absurdum 😹 LOL CATS 😹 The picture you paint with words is marvelous. I can totally picture this new breed 😆
@ad absurdum, after reading your first line I was half expecting a reference to 81D. Mercifully, not!
@aa I'm married to one, and, yes, he's delightful to snuggle with.
@JJ Here's a Canadian/dog hybrid for you: <a href="https://tenor.com/search/john-candy-spaceballs-gifs" target="_blank">https://tenor.com/search/john-candy-spaceballs-gifs</a>
I used to be unbeatable in the final boss fight when we played Musical Chairs. They called me M.C. Plopper. My gloating tagline was "Yes, in fact, this seat IS taken!"
STEAMYIRONY alone was worth the price of admission.
Excited for Mike from Munster’s pun today, hopefully regarding the locksmith and STEAMY IRONY.
@Becky You've put him under too much pressure -- your post was unseemly stressy.
Clever and fun theme; I agree with Caitlin this was a very clean set. the top quarter was so easy I was prepared to be a little disappointed, and figured with the free Ys once you knew the theme this would be a breeze. I was wrong, it was actually pretty chewy for a Sunday! I had to jump around a lot and the clue answers didn’t come easily. The cross of FOREX and YAKETYSAX was a complete Natick for me, I had to run the alphabet. I am embarrassed to admit what FOREX sounds like to me, but it ain’t a currency market.
@SP I felt like Yakety needed that second T to be acceptable.
Loved, loved, loved ARCHIMEDES. I'm sure I wasn't the only one that assumed that the "'Eureka!' shouter" was going to solve to "inventor" or some particular inventor, or perhaps a gold miner? How wonderful that it solves to the legendary originator of the phrase. I hope everyone knows the story of ARCHIMEDES in his bathtub, discovering a way to distinguish pure gold from fake. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(word" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(word</a>) Fun additional fact: "Heureka" is the present perfect (first person, singular) of the Greek verb "heuriskein", which means "to find", so that the shout simply means, "I have found [it]."
Ugh what an awful puzzle. I've seen puzzles with a lot of stretches and downright dubious fill just to make a too-cutesy gimmick work, but this one takes the cake. Dreadful.
@LJADZ Right! I am suffering. Came to the comments just to see if this comment existed.
Lorel, I've only seen that spelling in the NYT Crossword (this is appearance 18; it was first seen in the Farrar era), never anywhere else in The Times or anywhere else except here -- "Duck ___" (classic Warner Bros. cartoon short -- but it has appeared in other print media as per usage here: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amuck" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amuck</a>
This puzzle was a lot of fun! However, I was bothered by John's use of "amuck" instead of "amok" I know it's technically correct, but it niggles at me.
I always thought it was "Heigh-ho," not HIYO. HIYO sounds like some variation on YOLO.
@Bruce Nope, I'm old enought to have watched it regularly on our B&W television.
@Bruce I'm old enough, also. Watched The Lone Ranger religiously. He definitely said "Hi Ho Silver".
@Bruce It's HIYO, without a doubt. Listen up: <a href="https://youtu.be/p9lf76xOA5k?si=-4hUx9Dph7OhG-1o" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/p9lf76xOA5k?si=-4hUx9Dph7OhG-1o</a>
I liked this puzzle, as I do most NYT puzzles. A favorite? No. But to me, an xword is a pastime, not a great teaching aid or quest for the perfect clue with the perfect answer. I often wonder why people bother to keep solving when they so clearly are so often not happy with the frequent wordplay, goofy fill, tortured definitions, Americanese etc and then come here to complain, somehow thinking that's going to change something to suit them better. Baffling...
@Ken I love it, looking for the complaints is one of my favorite things to see. Imagine looking at a puzzle and saying that your failure is because the puzzle is wrong! I laughed every time.
@Ken hear! hear! couldn’t agree more! Glad to see there’s fellow puzzlers who enjoy each and every solve as much as I do. Keep on puzzlin on ~
@Ken, complaining about it is part of the experience. Like sticky floors at a movie theater. All good.
“Run AMoK”, “bop on the nose”, and,the apparently incorrect, “HI hO Silver” left me puzzled. And the 71A/D crossing left me baffled, had never heard either term. But I did find myself laughing out loud at a couple of the execrable puns.
@Patrick J. I’ve never seen run AMUCK. Though I can see how that spelling would arise.
@Patrick J. I object. Boops are not bops. I agree on preferring amok to amuck, but the latter is a valid variant per dictionaries.
@Patrick J. BOOPS to the snoot; bops to the head. I think I've seen AMUCK at least as often as amok. Having been a youngster in the '50s, the Lone Ranger's "Hiyo, Silver, away!" was easily recalled.
@Isabeau Which dictionaries? If it's Merriam-Webster it's meaningless. You would do great with Scrabble using that dictionary because they include every misspelling as a variant.
@Patrick J. I too always thought it was HI hO Silver and had never seen AMUCK before. But I can confirm that a BOOP to the nose is not the same as a BOp. A bop would be harder and less cute. A BOOP is just one finger tap to the nose while saying, "Boop!" in a cute voice. It was a gimme.
@Patrick J. BOOP has been in at least one other puzzle, because that's how I learned it could be clued in that manner. (And I realize that doesn't mean you necessarily solved that puzzle or had to remember it.)
You had me at BILLY GOAT, Mr. Kugelman. I polished off that NW corner fairly easily, which fooled me into thinking the entire puzzle would be a breeze. Hah! A few hours and naps later I was finished. And grateful for no typos. I don't think i would have had the strength to flyspeck. Until the next time.
Maybe it's geeky, but there's something about opening the Sunday Crossword and seeing that 21 x 21 grid that sets my heart a little more at rest.
I was curious about the gamy vs gamey debate so I looked up both variants on the Google ngram viewer. Since 1800, in general "gamy" has been more commonly used, but very recently (after 2000) "gamey" has taken the lead. This corresponds well with my (age 58) impression of "gamy" being the "correct" spelling. Amok / amuck is similar, with "amuck" being more common from 1860 to the late 1940s, when "amok" gradually came into greater use. "Amok" took a commanding lead in the mid-1980s and now is by far the more common spelling.
Sorry to say but I did not find this enjoyable at all.
Didn’t love this one - not too tricky but found amuck/gamy a bit clunky
blahhh, I really don't like these type of puzzles or the cluing that does along with them the themers didn't quite flow
Maybe time to give this fella a break and some more constructors a chance? absolute dud of a theme for a precious Sunday. I don’t always love themes, but this is the first time I can ever recall audibly saying UGH when figuring one out.
@Marty "...this fella..." You could at least go to the effort of looking up the name of the constructor you are insulting.
My Diary of a Crossword Fiend review: <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/10/04/sunday-october-5-2025/#ny" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/10/04/sunday-october-5-2025/#ny</a>
@Eric Hougland Loved your comment on the Declaration of Independence. We can always hope, I guess. It's been forever since I read it--I think it depresses me these days. And, currently, it seems like the Declaration of Independence has as little legal effect as the US Constitution. Sorry, turning this into another rant. I, too, thought the clues were tougher than usual. I really had a hodgepodge of openings, and it took me a long time to complete a whole section with anything like confidence.
@Eric Hougland 🤘🏼hook ‘em. I only knew that one. Had no idea they used a Shaka overhead as well 🤷🏼♀️
@Eric Hougland I agree with Jamie in that I’m not a fan of MOUTHYHARPY yet I disagree that there is a lot of uninteresting fill. I’m a bit surprised you rated it so low.
@Eric Hougland 27A [End-of-level showdown] BOSS LEVEL Should be BOSS FIGHT. I know BOSS level has been in other puzzles, but "level" was part of the clue for this one. 53A [Prominent feature of dubstep music] BASS I guess you've never been to Burning Man. When I used to go, it was all dubstep 24 hrs a day. No idea if that's still the musical genre of choice, but I liked it! So BASS was a gimme. 112A [In which actors barely go through the motions?] SEX SCENES Cute clue. Body Heat and A History of Violence come to mind. Speaking of Body Heat, I had the misfortune of seeing that movie with my parents when it first came out. I was a teenager and completely embarrassed to be sitting between them. My dad claimed that he'd thought the title of the movie referred to something else. Um... sure Dad. What would that something the be? He never said!
@Eric Hougland My comment that I left you last night continues to not be posting. I just wanted to let you know that I read your review and gave you a hearty chuckle and amen to your 6D comment! Not sure what was found offensive about it. A few other comments I made last night haven't shown up still either, though.
@Eric Hougland As you are an openly gay man with a husband, you're not winning anyone over with hoping to “upset someone somewhere.” If you expect any empathy or tolerance in gaining support for the gay lifestyle, at least make it look cool. You certainly haven't won me over.
I somehow had SHAKA in there twice, so I felt like I was searching forever to find my errant letter. SHAKE crossing SHAKA almost did me in 😅 My kids went through a SPIKEBALL phase about three years ago, so I actually knew that one! Who doesn’t love a good CANOODLE? RBIS and BYES seem quite apropos given the MLB playoffs going on now. My husband is a diehard Red Sox fan…🥺😢 His uncle Dick is in the Red Sox Hall of Fame! They renamed the press box at Fenway the Bresh Box after him 🤙🏼 Thank you, John, for this wisely wonderful workout.
@Jacqui J I looked up your husband's uncle. He was quite a guy, even if he did work for the Red Sox. :)
@Jacqui J it just occurred to me that CURLY of the Three Stooges is a clever theme choice in here as well. Isn’t he the one who says “A wise guy, eh?”
@Jacqui J My dad tried out for the Red Sox, but they weren't interested in knuckleball pitchers. Of course, that was a few decades before Tim Wakefield.