49-Down is wrong. DIM SUM is what you get when your calculator battery dies on you.
@Fact Boy I always said that DIM SUM was what my paycheck looked like after all the deductions.
@Fact Boy "Who ordered Chinese food?" "You did. I asked what you wanted for lunch." "No, no! It was a general comment about the weather. I said, 'dim sun.'"
Sam Corbin, how do you do it, day after day? Come through with a perfect photo pun of the headline, and gild it with another lovely pun in the caption? You are a treasure.
@Lewis Make my day, why don’t you!!
@Lewis Some people will do anything to ride in the bikepool lane.
Extra fun for us foreigners today, trying to guess what Americans eat. AFAIK the diet includes: Oreos Rolos Oreos General Tso’s chicken Eggo Rye Aioli Eel Ahi tuna Various -ades Oreos again What did I miss?
@Petrol We ordered Korean fried chicken yesterday. There was a choice of sauce. Behold! One of the options was General Tso! First time I've ever seen the name outside a NYT crossword puzzle 🤣 Also, you missed a few, like skor.
@Petrol That's a great list. I would only add "acai", which we probably eat after all those reps and sets. Less common and not as tasty: roe, ghee, oleo
@Petrol You missed “sloe” (berries or gin fizzes, my high school mixed drink of choice), and “soya” .
@Petrol Emu and goat
@Petrol Good list. Occasionally there's the odd caviar and crow.
@Petrol What a diet! 😆 Just don’t forget the ALE to wash it all down!
@Petrol Apparently everything includes a generous portion of LEEKS, EDAM and MAYO
@Petrol Pretty much everything worth having....
“I can’t believe I mis-spelled the tree whose name comes phonetically between “tee” and “vee”, he said, sheepishly.
@Strudel Dad The cruciverbalist’s lambent!
Strudel Dad, Bah! Or is that baa?
@Strudel Dad, Is that what’s called a Strudel Dad joke?
@Strudel Dad Please, stop pulling the wool over my eyes.🐑
When our boys were teens, I got tired of spending *so* much money and two days cooking Thanksgiving dinner to watch them eat rolls and macaroni and cheese. So we called a family meeting. We all love dim sum? Agreed. Dim sum it is! I was thrilled. Everyone was so happy! (The servers looked confused, assuming we just didn’t know what day it was.) It was delicious. Simple. Peaceful. On the drive home, our younger son said, “So, we’re just having our real Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow?” He actually cared. It meant something. We both said, “Yep!” And scrambled that Friday to find a half-turkey and all the fixins and we set the table and did the whole thing. They ate rolls. But with gravy. And stuffing! That was the day our tough teenaged boys outed themselves as sentimental, family-tradition-loving softies. But, tonight? Dim sum.
@CCNY There's a reason some food is called comfort food.
@CCNY My wife and I have been married for 46 years. We have hosted the family Thanksgiving dinner, every year, without exception. In 2020, everyone was required to get a test before coming. No one has ever requested DIM SUM instead. For decades, our secret has been a smoked turkey (and a special family recipe for stuffing). When deciding on where to move earlier this year, one major requirement was for there to be a way to use a smoker grill. In a few weeks, it will be number 47.
When life gives you a cheeky Monday you just gotta make LEMMA NAYS.
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Something you might have when trying to move quickly (4)(4) 2. Job done on one's hands and feet (4)(4) 3. Shorthand for a stance (3) 4. React to something moving, say (3) 5. When mating typically occurs (3)(4) FIRE SALE MANI PEDI IMO CRY END GAME
My favorite encore clues from last week: [Break the Hippocratic oath, say] (2)(4) [One might be ticked off] (4) DO HARM LIST
@Lewis Wonderful as always! But I really enjoyed the incorrect answer to #5 that a few people here posted: BED TIME.
Fantastic debut, Katherine. I loved seeing ESQUE in the puzzle. I’m partial to the letter Q (my maiden name also starts with a Q). I never learned the second verse of Yankee Doodle, so TIL HASTY PUDDING. Nice, tight theme. Looking forward to seeing more from you ☺️ Happy Monday!
@Jacqui J why would you use any other name than your “maiden “ name. are you owned by your marital partner?
@Jacqui J to answer pedant’s question, my maiden name is now my middle name. I chose to take my husband’s name because it’s shorter and easier to pronounce. And it flows better with my first name. I like the alliteration. And thank you to everyone that came to my defense…it was indeed a ridiculous question.
Just FYI, INSTANTRAMEN has the same number of letters as ramenNoodles.
@Joe P Yep, that was one of my first fills and it slowed me down for a bit!
@Joe P I went with RAMENNOODLES until crosses forced it out.
This lovely theme is not only tight, but adds two worthy answers to the NYT oeuvre, INSTANT RAMEN and QUICK OATS. It also echoes last Monday’s theme, in that both words of the theme answer are used in service to the theme, rather than just the first or last word. Last Monday’s theme was also food related. Sweet serendipities today. Five palindromes and a rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilap (NAÏVE). Also, YEW crossing YOU. Not to mention the DIM SUM connection, with DIM being a kinda ANTONYM of NEON, and SUM relating nicely to [Uno + dos + tres]. Finally, my day is made because I successfully guessed the revealer that I had left blank, a skill I’m weak at and work on all the time, rarely succeeding. So, for me, a goody-filled box today. Congratulations on your debut, Katherine, and thank you!
@Lewis It's inspiring to hear about people roughly my age talking about "a skill I'm weak at and work on all the time".
"OMG! I love your yoga mat! Did you make that?!" "I did, thanks. It's jute so it's got great traction, and I made it thick so it's mad comfy." "Bet! I'd love to experience a Hamsasana or Padmasana on it. Could you teach me to make one?" Gah! I am so sick of wove culture! (If you disagree, weave me out of it.)
Nice debut and puzzle! Thanks, Katherine!
Fun! HOTPOCKET fit in the microwave bfast and RAMENNOODLES in the dorm room, but fortunately my goofs didn't last too long. I have no idea why Hot Pockets came to mind-- I've never even eaten one. I usually eat beans and greens for breakfast, my own weird habit. Must have been Jim Gaffigan whispering in my ear! <a href="https://youtu.be/N-i9GXbptog?si=akvruc7lwf3NKmsG" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/N-i9GXbptog?si=akvruc7lwf3NKmsG</a>
Congratulations on your debut, Ms. Xiong! Very nicely done. I very much enjoyed the past few days of puzzles, and today's has kept up the momentum. The only thing is that just yesterday I streamed "The Taste of Things" (starring Juliette Binoche) and it centers on culinary arts that are a far cry from today's FAST FOODS; very much the opposite, in fact. HASTY PUDDING sounded familiar and I can't put my finger on it, whether it's because it's been mentioned in The Great British Baking Show or something else. All in all, and great romp. Thank you, Ms. Xiong!
@sotto voce Not sure if this is it, but there’s a theatrical club at Harvard called the Hasty Pudding club and they give an award every year to an actor, it’s pretty well known maybe that’s it?
I found myself actually having to do math pre-coffee this morning. And en Español, no less! I thought they promised no math... (Don't get me started on LEMMA: all the commenters remembering it from high school math must be of a different generation than me. And have excellent memory from many decades ago!) 😜 And now I'm fixated on getting some DIM SUM, stat. There are still a few places with the trolleys, and I'm making a point to get to one this weekend! Now what to do about today... With this wet and windy weather, it's a perfect day for RAMEN from the shop down the street. Thanks for the suggestions, Katherine! I'll even forgive the early morning math! Very much looking forward to more puzzles from you. Congratulations on the debut! 🎊
@G I took math up through calculus in college and have never heard of LEMMA. (I'm also older than dirt.)
Congrats Kathryn on your debut! This was a fine Monday puzzle and very smooth fill. Surprised the editors didn’t throw you a bone and keep MIT in your ELITE clue. But I gotta tell you lately the ELITE crossword college for constructors is Harvey Mudd. But keep it up, MIT may catch up. My only nit is FASTFOODS. Yes I know you needed it for symmetry and technically it’s probably acceptable, but does anyone really say this plural? “I’m going to go get some fast foods”? “Burgers and fries are fast foods”? Same with “fares” for that matter. This is your debut so I’m giving you a pass, but I might not be so kind on your second puzzle, which I hope will be soon. ; ) (This is all tongue in cheek, seriously, well done).
Many years ago, when the lottery was starting in Iowa, a Cedar Rapids disc jockey became well known throughout the state. For a few months, he had interviews daily with two people. He introduced them as a country singer named SLIM and a female nun. TODAY you will be hearing from two people who will discuss your chance of winning the lottery- SLIM and Nun
@coloradoz Slim Pickens and Sister Jeanne?
Easy, breezy Monday puzzle. Perfectly fine,if not terribly exciting, in line with the way Mondays usually are. A nice debut. Despite living in NY and environs for more than half my life, I had never had dim sum until a Chinese couple, whom we'd Airbnb -hosted at our home several times when their daughter was an exchange student at the school around the corner from us, came across from the mainland and took us to an very upscale Dim Sum restaurant when we were visiting Hong Kong. I was hooked from then on! On another note, a big thank you to those who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. Very much appreciated!
LEMMA crossing TAM on a Monday is… a choice
Simple and solid Monday puzzle. Liked the pairing of "ATTA girl!" and ITSABOY! Congratulations on the debut.
Here's Jill Clayburgh sketching the proof of the "Snake Lemma", a standard result in homological algebra. As scenes depicting modern mathematics go, this one is quite well done. From "It's My Turn" (1980). <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXBNPjrvx-I" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXBNPjrvx-I</a>
Such a fun Monday! Have never heard of LEMMA. Maybe if I had, I would have done better in math! Hope y’all have a great Monday. Thanks, Katherine!
@Terry Did you see the puzzlemaker's comment, "For the record, I originally clued 3-Down as “Like MIT and Harvard,” but alas, the editors had other plans."? She is an MIT upperclassman (or upper class woman--but that sounds like somebody at the dinner table in Downton Abbey). I remember exactly when, where, and from whom I learned the word "lemma" (fall of 10th grade, NW corner 2nd floor of my highschool, Rodney St Dizier, my geometry teacher. On the other hand, I never saw the or heard the word "DimSum" until I did this crossword puzzle.
"For the record, I originally clued 3-Down as “Like MIT and Harvard,” but alas, the editors had other plans." Oh those snooty editors. I bet they never could have gotten into MIT!
@John As a Stanford alum (graduate level) I take offense at that. I'm only kidding. I think.
@John. But Sheldon turned MIT down.
Lemma add myself to the LEMMA-ignorant. I was unaware of HASTY PUDDING outside the realm of Harvard. (I had “figgy pudding” here. Must be all the Christmas decorations I’m already seeing.) “Ramen noodles” also slowed me down. This was pretty chewy for a Monday, which is not a bad thing! Who else is hungry?
This one took me longer than usual for a Monday. Top center area felt a bit confusing just because I felt TODAY was a strange answer to "Now" because it represents a broader period of time than just the current moment, I am not familiar with QUICK OATS, DO A SET was a bit awkwardly phrased, and OHO feels like a reach to call it a word.
@Chris I feel the same about OHO. I was berated here last week for griping whether words that aren’t words, but this is a perfect example of my point and why it shouldn’t be in the puzzle.
Tough for a Monday, with some foreign language words and especially the combination of a TAM and LEMMA, neither of which I knew before today’s puzzle (despite having survived multiple levels of calculus in college… ok so I must have forgotten what those helpful theorems are called). But also when crossed up with Dim Sum (is it “sum” or “sun”, I couldn’t recall as I was struggling to finish a Monday puzzle?!) this was not as easy as many Mondays.
Part 1 of 2: I get a hint of today’s puzzle constructor being an expectant mom. Just a feeling. Quick ramen story, maybe one or two of the Veteran solvers here can relate: My first tour of duty in Korea was in 1979. We did our training in the mountains that dwarf Tongduchŏn (TDC, to those in the know), in preparation for our 30-day rotations in the DMZ. My weapon (not by choice) was the M-60, a most devastating weapon with awesome firepower. Our rucksacks were packed for the usual 5-7 day trek up to the ridge line, to various overwatch positions. The name of the mountain range escapes me, but what we named it will never make it past the emus. A mama-san or 3 would normally accompany our patrols, carrying large quantities of orangee soda bottles, wrapped in a tarp on their head. Their backpacks consisted of metal cooking bowls, chopsticks, etc, and… Ramen! Mama-sans’ ages? Probably in the 60s or 70s. It's hard to tell, as they were of farming origin, mostly from rice paddies and lots of vegetable farms. They were of very rugged countenance, to say the least. As steep as those mountains are, and as tired and sore we were, mama-san would walk seemingly upright, while smiling and nodding to us in encouragement. Her pace and her poise, while trudging past us, was humbling. It would quiet the complainers for a short while.
Part 2 of 2: Long story short, by the time we'd reach our destination for the one hour rest, the small cooking fires were ablaze, and the ramen was ready to serve. Then, they'd pack it all up and meet us at the next overwatch. That was my first introduction to ramen, and memories like those still remain. Even to this day, I prepare my home cooked ramen gourmet style. I still savor those $.012 packages of comfort, with my added gourmet enhancements.
My Diary of a Crossword Fiend review: <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/10/12/monday-october-13-2025/#ny" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/10/12/monday-october-13-2025/#ny</a>
@Eric Hougland My husband's employer once gave everyone in the office scratchers for Christmas. My husband, who isn't exactly known for tact, said, "Can you just give me the dollar?" It didn't win him any points at work! 😆
Great puzzle, Katherine! Trucked through this one with ease, and it was very fun to fill! Keep up the great work! :)
One for the pedants. The “correct” (Greek) plural for LEMMA is lemmata, ask the octopodes.
@Patrick J. like stigma and schema and others...
@Patrick J. And, @Sam, a dilemma is literally two lemmate.
@Patrick J. Cmon everyone knows the plural of LEMMA is LEMMINGS.
@Patrick J. Editors please edit out any MATH stuff. This puzzle is about WORDS.
On a stormy, flood prone Monday, this one SHONE. Great debut and thanks.
@John Carson How badly did the nor'easter hit your location? My brother, in Surf City, says it's pretty nasty.
Oooh! One more late puzzle find. This one was a simply incredible feat of construction. A Sunday from April 13, 2003 by Charles Deber with title: "What am I?" Five theme answers in that one - three of them 21 letters and the other two 20 letters. Here are the first four of those theme answers with their clues: "If I have ___ :" SEVENTYTWODARKSQUARES "... and I am ___ :" TWENTYONEBYTWENTYONE "... and I am ___ :" MODERATELYCHALLENGING "... and I have ___ :" ONEHUNDREDFORTYWORDS And you might be able to guess more or less what the last theme clue and answer must be like. Here's that Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/13/2003&g=102&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/13/2003&g=102&d=A</a> ....
@Rich in Atlanta That Dr. Charles M. Deber....my idol! Every puzzle was new and different and never-before-seen and amazing.... One of the Pantheon, I believe, along with Manny Nosowsky (am I spelliing his name correctly? It's been so long!)....
Good job Katherine, although it took me a surprisingly long time to complete (for a Monday)!
I know people get zesty when you talk about the relative difficulty of Monday puzzles, but I do think this was one of the trickier solves, with ULTA and LEMMA being a bit more obscure than one might normally expect on a Monday (I didn't know either). Still, a fun puzzle!
@Stephen W I thought it was tricky, too. And I think that though some think the late week puzzles are getting easier, I think the early week puzzles are getting harder. It too me more than a single run-through to find my mistake tonight--it was a horrible spelling of CAVIeR/PALeTE. Nevertheless, those words weren't so much in my normal discourse to immediately think those are right. Now, it's quite clear to me now that that is a mistake, but our first impression of a puzzle happens while we are doing it, not when we are analyzing it.
@Stephen W This is the sixth time ULTA has been in the puzzle this year, clued as a rival of Sephora four of those times. ULTA is all over the map here, as is Sephora, but even if you don't have them in Glasgow, it should still be a gimme by now.
Fun Monday puzzle. Fairly smooth solve but I was almost done when I finally caught on to the theme. That's always a nice touch. Looking forward to more from Ms. Xiong. Appropriate puzzle find today - a Monday from November 27, 1995 by Gregory E. Paul. Theme answers in that one - all straightforwardly clued: RAPIDTRANSIT QUICKDRAW FASTBREAK HASTYPUDDIING Here's that Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/27/1995&g=57&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/27/1995&g=57&d=A</a> .....
@Rich in Atlanta And... one more puzzle find. One of the strangest I have encountered. A Sunday from December 28, 2008 by Patrick Berry with the title: "Going around in circles." I had to review and ponder for a long time before I finally caught on to the trick. Have a go at it - Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/28/2008&g=5&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/28/2008&g=5&d=D</a> ....
Congratulations, Katherine! “All, for nothing, e.g” is an excellent clue. And you used EKED and NAYS like an old pro!
TIL: This old math major learned that there are lemmas in linguistics. Fortunately for me, the clue was written by a fellow STEM type.
Very fun puzzle! Congratulations on your debut, Katherine!
Everyone struggling with LEMMA, where as my sticking point was SIES. Spanish is one of the biggest gaps in my knowledge when it comes to NYT games. It just isn't taught here. Give me Japanese or Indonesian and I'll cruise through.
@Seb Well, that's only because you're in a weird part of the world. In fact, some of your news sources actually refer to Asia as "the weird part of the world". I sense we in the west are in for a pretty profound and unpleasant awakening.
@Seb Well.....since 6 is spelt SEIS in Spanish, I'd say the gap remains... The acquisition of Puerto Rico (turn of the century,) the influx of Cuban refugees (60's), the flow of immigrants (ongoing), not to mention the history of settlement in the Southwest (lands originally claimed and settled by Spainish forces invading ancestral "First People's" territories)... make Spanish a rather sensible study for US residents/students.
FAST FOODS again? We have to be in desperate circumstances (or on the road) to cave in... but even McD has salads these days. Two clues en Español! Ms. Xiong includes DIMSUM, Mao, LOTUS, even IVORY... all of Chinese origin... But CAVIAR at the same meal as RAMEN? There's not much to do on a Monday morning. Sunday afternoon ended in a welter of confusion and lengthy wait times in ER for DHubby (he's fine, he's fine! Dx...severe hematoma blamed on 3 x weekly baby aspirin....only 2 x weekly from now on. Swelling already down somewhat.)
@Mean Old Lady Sending 🫶🏼 & hopes of quick healing for DHubby!
@Mean Old Lady Pass on my good wishes to Dhubby as well
@Mean Old Lady McDonald's hasn't had salads for about five years now. (At least not in the US.) Why? No one went to McDonald's for salads.
@Mean Old Lady Caviar and Ramen... I'm picturing Ron "Tater Salad" White at his family BBQ. Best wishes for Mr. MOL.
Cograts Katherine on a challenging Monday pizzle! Hope you return.
Congratulations, Katherine! A clever and well constructed NYT debut!
My grandmother made something called Indian pudding, which is HASTY PUDDING, but made with cornmeal in place of the oats. Delicious! It takes a few hours to cook down to the right consistency, so not exactly FAST FOOD. I've never had the traditional English version, but I knew the song.
Congratulations on a well-constructed debut, Katherine-- looking forward to seeing more from you!
Was left with TA_ and LEM_A, so I just had to spam until it solved. Never heard of either word before today.
@Adrian L you never heard of talemas? Clearly you haven’t played Pinehurst course #2, or been to Mars brah.
i had this one so fast until i got stuck on 70A and 64D ("lemma" and "tam"), so i just googled it because i wasn't going to guess every letter with the popup telling me i'm close every time. by the way does anyone have a recommendation on crossword games i can play on my phone or computer that are good practice?
@Rachel Thankfully, the popup saying you are close doesn't happen *every* time you fill in the final square. Seemingly, if it was close enough to the last time you did that, it wouldn't show it. This makes running through the alphabet (which seems a little like cheating, (FWIW) efficient).
@Rachel I’d recommend diving into the archives. Maybe jump back to 2020, which is recent enough that the trivia doesn’t feel dated and gives you 5 years of puzzles to play with.
@Rachel I’ve been doing puzzles in the archive from early 2000’s this week, and tam has appeared in quite a few 🤣 I like to run thru old Mondays, they’re easy and fun but the older ones still have some things I have to think about, so not boring at all.
Such a nice crossword for Monday. I was stumped only by LEMMA, at first I didn't believe it was a word. I had lake instead of MALL, it seemed possible. A promising debut!
@Jane Wheelaghan I wish it had been lake. You may not be familiar with the "Mall of America" in the Twin Cities. It is enormous. It is impressive. It was something I just had to see when I first came here in 2003. And, in all honesty, it was a structure unlike anything I've ever seen--a multi-story shopping area with a fairly impressive set of roller coasters and other rides in the middle. A midway in the middle of a shopping mall. I haven't been there in years, though. When I first got here, it was possible to find a book store in the Mall of America. It was possible to buy a baseball or a catcher's mitt in the Mall of America. It was possible to buy a football at the Mall of America. Now you can't do any of that (at least as of 10 years ago). Now you can only *look* like a baseball player by buying an overpriced MLB hat. You can't actually buy anything that might get you to getting your own free hat by being hired by an MLB team. I'm actually surprised the Mall of America is still relevant. Malls have essentially disappeared in America, like local newspapers. The Mall of America is the New York Times of malls. The last of a dying breed.
@Jane Wheelaghan I learned LEMMA from these puzzles. I did not understand its clue today though, but once I had most of the crosses I filled in the rest. I have been so traumatized by math any mention of it stresses me out - I actually unwittingly made a face at the mathematical clue today 🤣 @Francis I can't stand shopping malls. A vision of the largest one in America is absolutely horrific to me 😂. My wife's and mine favorite clothing store is at a mall, sadly. We pick weird hours to go there so there are no crowds, and we beeline for it from the parking lot. Then the trip becomes bearable 🤪.
@Francis made more poingant by the fact that the mall stands on the site of Metropolitan Stadium, one time home of the Twins and Vikings (and Millers).
Oh... and what the heck - one more puzzle find. A Tuesday from September 16, 1997 by Christopher page. Seven answers in that one - all straightforwardly clued. And - there was no 'reveal' in the puzzle. DROMEDARY STATUARY MAORI HAILMARY TIPPERARY APOTHECARY HEREDITARY Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/16/1997&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/16/1997&g=17&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta And, I'll tack on one more. A Sunday from July 14, 1996 by J. Schmalzbach with the title: "Swat team." Some theme answers in that one: THEGREENHORNET THEWASPS LADYBUGLADYBUG MOSQUITOCOAST DAYOFTHELOCUST LORDOFTHEFLIES Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/14/1996&g=41&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/14/1996&g=41&d=A</a> ....
A lot of proper nouns, abbrvs, and naticks, especially for a Monday. Felt half-hearted.
It is a credit to the Melting Pot that we call America, that DIM SUM is Monday-worthy:) Here's a couple of graceful birds--one Italian, one Austrian/German--moving, molto legato, across the musical pond: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo9xLyzWA80&list=RDLo9xLyzWA80&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo9xLyzWA80&list=RDLo9xLyzWA80&start_radio=1</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4_D2msi0wg&list=RDc4_D2msi0wg&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4_D2msi0wg&list=RDc4_D2msi0wg&start_radio=1</a>
@Bill You know, I don't think I've ever had dim sum, probably because I just order the pork dumplings, every time. It seems like it's something you'd have for lunch on a shopping trip to NYC, maybe with that slightly eccentric aunt who plays mah-jongg.
@Bill -- Oh, those were lovely to hear. Thank you!