Shape for SOLID was my only mis-fill... except for the typo on 27D where I accidentally hit Y instead of U. If team building exercises result in a TRyST, you're probably doing it wrong ...
@Isabeau Or it's been wildly successful. Depends on what kind of team you're building, I guess.
What do you have when a great white gets the measles? A DOT IN THE SHARK.
Ah, so I see in the grid, sometimes the ACORN does fall far from the TREE.
Are there really folks out there whose partners give them a TREAT when they agree to roll over to hog less of the bed? Just to think that I’ve cooperated all these years for nary a Smartie. Well, there’s one born every minute, right? Ah, TRUST-building exercises. The ones I’ve lived through haven’t been too bad. The worst that’s done to a bunch of pasty academics is usually a pub quiz. A little blood gets drawn, sure—that’ll happen with a bunch of Type A’s vying for a prize—but (almost) everyone survives. My husband’s company, on the other hands, once whisked him off half way across the country to some muddy place in Oklahoma with an actual drill sergeant. The mud was real. They crawled through it. He came home in one piece courtesy of lots of ibuprofen and a genetic makeup not given to PTSD. Many fared worse. For some reason I keep DOOKing 41A as a nonsensical Spanish phrase (or possibly a plug for a mattress company): LA SERTA GARENA. That’s my cue to say thank you to Spencer Leach for a great start to my day and pour another cuppa. Have a good day, everyone.
@Sam Lyons Glad to hear that you’ve mastered roll over. How are you at “sit up and beg”?
@Sam Lyons I value the "life" part of the work-life balance incomparably more highly than the "work" bit, and I am a firm believer in keeping work and the rest of life separate. I find the idea of doing anything else than work with random coworkers offensive, especially as team-building exercises usually take place in unpaid time off work - on the weekend, say, which I'd rather spend with my wife or family on things I actually enjoy. I do think of some of the people at work as friends (friends in the English sense, anyway; in Polish they are koledzy and koleżanki, which means a less close person than "przyjaciel", "friend", but a closer one than the English colleague), but I refuse to let my employer set the terms of how and when we will interact 🤷🏽 If my employer expected me to submit to a drill sergeant, I'd take him to court 🤣
@Sam Lyons I think about my work all the time, in a way. In order to be able to teach about law and public administration, I have to know about both, not only on a theoretical level but also on a practical one. Thus, for example, when out on a walk with my dog, I analyze my surroundings to determine to what extent law is being implemented, and if the ideals of modern public management have any bearing on how the public administration attempts to satisfy people's collective needs. I find those things quite interesting, too. Yet I actually abandoned a scholarly career in favor of a laid-back teaching track because I had no passion for hardcore research and its formal and financial requirements. The work/life balance for a scholar skews too much towards work, IMO. My ruminations on walks notwithstanding, I try to limit to an absolute minimum the hours I spend on work-related activities in the narrow sense. I do my job well - I am among the best liked teachers at the faculty. I keep improving my teaching materials, I listen to feedback, I take courses to improve my teaching methods and my communication with my students. But I also never check my work email outside typical working hours, I don't spend a minute longer at the faculty building than I need to, I don't seek to personally get to know my students or co-workers, I don't volunteer for anything, I ignore almost all activities that do not fall under the terms of my employment (e.g., team-building events), etc.
@Sam Lyons Re 41A -- That's not a DOOK. It's the lost version of La Isla Bonita. I can hear it in my head perfectly clearly: "Last night I dreamt of San Pedro..."
@Sam Lyons Also, I never read about law or administration for fun or edification - I much prefer history and archeology. If anything, they rather than my learned profession are my passion.
I'm back. Anyway, a typical slow Tuesday for me, but an enjoyable solve. And... my puzzle find today (Hi Lewis): A Sunday from April 6, 1969 by Nancy Schuster with the title: "The gang's all here." Some answers in that one: BOSTONTEAPARTY GRANDOLDPARTY PARTYPOLITICS TWOPARTYSYSTEM BEAPARTYTO SEARCHPARTY PARTYPOOPER PARTYLINES Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/6/1969&g=23&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/6/1969&g=23&d=A</a> ....
Rich, It's good to see you.
Rich, What Barry said. I wouldn’t want to have to call you a PARTYPOOPER.
@Rich in Atlanta It's so good to hear from you! I hope your move into the VA went very smoothly and I wish you and yours all the best in this new phase. I hope you acclimate and make great new friends quickly. Keep on posting—you are a cherished part of this community! ☺️
@Rich in Atlanta It's good to see you here.
@Rich in Atlanta Lately I haven't been able to make it to Wordplay as frequently, but I'm so glad I was here today to be able to wish you much health and happiness in your new environment. It's also very nice to know you'll be staying put at your post in this forum – it could never be the same without your input. All the best to you and yours!
@Rich in Atlanta Yay! Rich is here.
@Rich in Atlanta Best wishes on your new digs.
@Rich in Atlanta I'm really very glad to see you back here, and I'm glad your new place is nice so far. Please take good care of yourself, and know you've got a whole lot of folks rooting for you as you navigate this shift.
The SE (or lower right, @B) corner was impossibly hard for me. I've never heard of HANES. I pride myself of knowing nothing about the family whose name I will not mention. I eat sushi but I don't understand what most of its names mean. I'm not familiar with American-Mexican cuisine beyond a few basics. I have no idea why "Cone or sphere" solves to SOLID (is it a geometry thing? If so, our terminology is different. Not that I remembered it after 30 years, but I looked up what I think was meant there, and it's called "figura przestrzenna", literally "[three]dimensional shape") I had to resort to lookups in that area. So much factual knowledge crammed into a small space hardly felt fair 🥲 In the SW or lower left corner I was faced with STEALSHO_E. You'd think that one missing letter would be a gimme, wouldn't you? I went for P 🤣. The cross was little help, as it was 50% empty - its first letter was part of the name of an American hummus brand... Also, before I got more crosses I only entered N__B for the beginner gamer. You can never know if it's going to be spelled NOOB or NewB. This was not my day 🤷🏽 Every day is Lucek's day though. Here he is looking out on the terrace yesterday: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/KOUxaMg" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/KOUxaMg</a>
@Andrzej Gotten by another baseball clue/answer. Great looking dog! Does he have purple highlights?
@Andrzej What a gorgeous dog. He holds himself with such dignity!
@Francis When we first saw him at the beginning of September, he was mostly black. As a silver poodle, by the time he is 2 or 3 years old, he will be white-ish or at least light-gray. For now he keeps getting lighter by the week, especially on his paws. And indeed, he has highlights of different colors, which in certain conditions do seem to include purple, which surely must be an illusion.
@Andrzej For your edification, although a brand, SABRA is also the Hebrew term for a certain Israeli cactus and is also used to describe a native born Israeli.
@Andrzej In my day (cough cough) high school students took Plane Geometry; the final chapter of our text mentioned Solid Geometry, as a sop. By the time my kids took Geometry, they barely touched on Proofs, which were the entire focus of the subject when I took that course. (And their Algebra instruction was much different, emphasizing understanding how to construct a problem to be solved..."How much of each type of candy is needed to create a mix costing xxx?")
@Andrzej Your dog is gorgeous, but that video in your list "the cat knew what he was getting into" almost topped him. It was hysterically funny (for dog owners at least). Thanks!
@Andrzej hear, hear! May that family and the word A-S never again darken our crossword. @Ezersky are you listening?
@Andrzej What a regal cutie your Lucek is!! :-)
Random thoughts: • Original theme, never done before. Although I like the clue once given to SHOT IN THE DARK: ["____? It’d be better to administer a vaccine with the lights on”]. • NDA made me think of its anagram AND, which made me think of yesterday’s AD-FREE puzzle. • Fun semordnilap fact: NORI is rich in iron. • All four theme entries are NYT answer debuts, giving this theme pop. • Fun to see AGE / ATE / ADE / ALE in the box. • Do crossing answers ACES and MESAS rhyme? Discuss. • A low word count for Tuesday at 72, more typical for Friday. It allows for more longs than usual on this day, lovely downs like NICELY DONE, STEALS HOME, and BARBACOA. Pop, originality, loveliness and more radiating from your puzzle, Spencer, making for a splendid outing. Thank you!
I'm sure @Rich in Atlanta would have also mentioned that the theme entries were all debuts, plus presented a past Times puzzle with a terrific wordplay theme, and maybe thrown in a "Hah!"-worthy pun somewhere in his post. I miss you already, sir!
@Lewis On days like this, when my personal failure to deal with all of the puzzle unaided threatens to spoil the fun of the solving experience, your intelligently positive posts are especially welcome. Thank you for improving my mood :) The question whether ACES and MESAS rhyme is surprisingly difficult to answer :D Thank you for the interesting conundrum. They *sort of* do, don't they? In Polish we would call that "rym niedokładny", literally "an imprecise rhyme". I have no idea what exact language one uses to describe the issue in English.
@Lewis Rich checked in and posted about 30 minutes ago! His post mentions, “Hi Lewis” ☺️
@Lewis would you consider this theme similar to the one on May 16, 2021 by Joe Pietro? @Cat Lady Margaret brought it up last night.
@Jacqui J -- To me, the puzzles are similar in name only, the Sunday title being the same as today's revealer. Today's is about wordplaying different meanings for "shot", while that one is wordplaying two different things (I don't want to present spoilers here).
@SBK Omg, that’s great. I love seeing new teams into to mix.
@SBK Thanks, all, for letting me share my joy. It was, as usual with the Cardiac Jays, a come-from-behind victory. The moment came in the 7th inning when George Springer -- you remember him, he took a fastball off the kneecap in the previous game and had to be helped off the field because he couldn't walk -- he stepped up to bat and astoundingly hit a three-run home run. In his mid-30s, ancient in baseball years, after a miserable 2024 season, hearing talk that his remaining contract was now a write-off, George woke up in 2025, seemed to shake off Father Time's grimy paws, and had the best season of his career. Well, enough. I could write 20 such stories but this isn't the sport pages. My compliments to the Mariners, my sympathies to their fans. We're off to the World Series. I am crazy happy.
@SBK Congratulations! George Springer channeling Kirk Gibson, a Dodger! Responding to your comment yesterday, I loved watching Vladimir Sr. smash bad pitches. Junior's a pretty good hitter too.
Nice puzzle except for the BARBACOA/HANES cross which (as a Brit) I regard as an unfair confluence of Naticks, although I’m sure y’all gonna tell me these are well known States-side…
@Petrol It was a ridicuIous cross for me, too, and that whole corner had me stumped. I needed several lookups there.
@Petrol Nope. I know Hanes as an old underwear brand but never heard of that other word.
@Petrol I was stumped by that cross,and by that corner in general. So much trivia is such a small space!
@Petrol OK I'll do the honors: as an American these were both gimmes for me. I know this is international hour in Wordplay, and I greatly enjoy that. But any Mexican food enthusiast knows barbacoa, and Hanes is sold everywhere in the US, even grocery stores. I can see how it would be a Natick, however a quick vowel run.
@Petrol Interesting. HANES is sold (albeit probably less commonly than in the US) in the tea-drinking, battered fish-eating, formerly empire-having, constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government that’s just off the shore of *eastern* extreme of the Eurasian continent. (I’ve never seen BARBACOA here, though I’d heard of it before.) Maybe it’s because it’s called “gasorin,” not “petorōru,” over here.
@Petrol The word BARBECUE (so popular in the USA) is derived from the Spanish word which is the correct entry. (I put in the -UE first, myself, as there was no real clue to use the 'original' term.) I am surprised it stumped so many, but then that manner of cookery likely has a different name in other cultures. (Might check my Julia Child chapter on Pork or Beef or Chicken, but I'm doubtful...) HANES is very USA-centric. Other well-known brands would be FRUIT of the LOOM, JOCKEY, and CALVIN KLEIN...
Fun puzzle! Anyone else absolutely terrible at laser tag? Last time I did it was on a date in college and I got absolutely destroyed by a seven year old birthday party.
@Mike never played laser tag. But 7 year olds are small. And quick. So I understand how that could happen.
@Mike Next time tell the seven year olds to pick on someone their own size.
Because of the internet issues associated with AWS yesterday I sent this to the email provided, "All of my streaks were set back to zero after yesterday's internet difficulties. Strands, spelling bee, wordle and connections were all affected. I was at 86 perfect Strands completion and today back to zero. While in the grand scheme of things these "streaks" mean pretty much nothing, but I would say they offer different levels of motivation to many people based on their circumstances." I received an unhelpful automated reply. To quote Pink Floyd, "Welcome to Machine"
@SMM I submitted a bug report too, only because I have a personal record crossword streak going. The reply puzzled me too. It said they can restore only wordle and crossword streaks - marginally understandable. But more curiously it asked that with your message you include your email/account info. Isn't that contained in a bug report message by default? By asking that you email again in order to include these it seemed to be inviting double the amount of emails, thus further overwhelming their help team. That AWS failure really messed up the world for a minute. Reminds us how tenuous this whole newfangled www thing really is. Not "afraid" of AI per se, but can only imagine that when bugs occur in the future they will ripple much more noticeably, not to mention the drain on natural resources (water) all that computing will create. (End of doomspeech)
My hometown, a lovely puzzle, and a Tuesday PB all in one day? What a treat!
Loved this one. Wish I could remember that it’s NOOB, not, newb. I get it wrong. Every. Time. 🤦🏻♀️ I’m old. And never played video games. This was a lot of fun. Happy Tuesday, y’all! Thanks, Spencer!
@Terry I've seen both newb and noob. (One of these days someone should do a puzzle where it's n00b, with zeros.)
Terry, "Newb" has appeared six times in the grid with basically the clues as NOOB. Wait for the crosses! KEALOA
I was idly wondering what the theme was, how all these weird long themers connected, so had a laugh at the revealer. And noticed the mini-themes of Japanese food, and Mexican food, and Questlove soul food. And soup and hummus and pasta and other TREATs. Was Spencer Leach hungry or planning a party?
@Linda Jo I noticed all those food references, too. Perhaps Mr. Leach made this puzzle after indulging in some form of cannabis and had a bad case of the munchies. (It’s been 40+ years since I’ve done that, but I can easily remember the sensation of snarfing down something like Doritos while high.)
I thought for a while I’d have a personal best but hit a couple snags in the south and fell short. Still, the easy solve helped salve a bit the technical frustration of yesterday. I’d never heard of BARBACOA, was certain 59A was “shape” instead of SOLID, and the names of the K-family that consumes so much social oxygen don’t come automatically to me. I am not complaining about their inclusion in a XW since my knowledge and preferences shouldn’t describe the universe of NYT crosswords…just summing up the snag I hit. In all, I found it a pleasant experience, sitting on my deck on this chilly morning, looking out over the woods behind my house, having coffee, listening to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and tackling the crossword as I attempt to stifle my urge to look at the news and, instead, try to focus on pockets of the sane and the good.
@Joe I'd never heard of Barbacoa either but I bet it's wonderful. And focusing on a crossword is a wise idea, too. Anyway, nice post.
@Joe "I attempt to stifle my urge to look at the news..." I know exactly where you are. Life is a daily battle with dread and, quite frankly, fear.
Wow! Infrared cameras, basement dance parties, and laser tag arenas: I want to hang out with Spencer Leach! A note on GAMUT: a while back, I posted a comment on the medieval origins of the names for the notes of the scale--how, before it was Do-Re-Mi, it was Ut-Re-Mi. Actually, medieval music theorists had a system of interlocking, six-note scales (hexachords)--so any given pitch was fully designated by both its letter name (A-G) and its position on the scale: so, B-Mi, or E-La. Also, since the only music worth considering was the liturgical chant being sung by monks, the full compass of notes was that which a (male) human voice can produce (falsetti and boys included): in other words, from the bottom of the (modern) bass clef to the E an octave and a third above middle C. Oh, and there weren't any sharps or flats, except for B-flat. Go figure. Anyway, you would think that the first, lowest note in this system would be (low) "A," but no--the bottom note ("Ut"), on the bottom hexachord, was designated by the Greek letter Gamma--thus "Gamma-ut"--hence "Gamut," hence the term for the system as a whole. Here's a couple of underground dance parties: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oou2ywIbRxc&list=RDoou2ywIbRxc&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oou2ywIbRxc&list=RDoou2ywIbRxc&start_radio=1</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grtFa34EdgI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grtFa34EdgI</a> (I know which one I'd rather crash.)
@Bill Me, too. Or you could go Way Down Hadestown. <a href="https://youtu.be/bUFG_x9dUF8?si=gS5uBaZ58FBH4EVo" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/bUFG_x9dUF8?si=gS5uBaZ58FBH4EVo</a>
I’m torn. It's between the Nora/X-Phile dissertation on the physics of conical and spheroidal masses, or this one. Which one should I commit to memory for the next American Legion Riders blessing of the bikes… The locus of points, or liturgical chants… tough one. Either way, clearing YouTube history, so I’m not inundated with underground dance party videos, may sway me towards a spirited two-napped double cone discussion. I joke and love all three of you!
There are three kinds of solvers. Those who, after reading today’s revealer, recall the puzzle of 5/16/21 with dazzled admiration, those who recall it with horror, and those who haven’t done that one yet. Anyone in the last category, I recommend a visit to the archive. Once you’re finished with your BASEMENT PARTY, of course.
@Cat Lady Margaret I can't believe it was that long ago.
@Cat Lady Margaret I was going to say there's a fourth group of solvers — those who solved it and don't remember it — but on further reflection, I realized you meant the Joe DiPietro Sunday puzzle that got well over 1,000 Wordplay comments. I too encourage anyone who hasn't done it to go find it in the archive.
@Cat Lady Margaret Definitely in group 4, but on reviewing it, it was a beast of a puzzle, and there were a lot of folks who, by their comments, detested it. I actually did fairly well on it, coming in with a time about two-thirds my average at the time.
@Cat Lady Margaret group 4 for me. It was in my early solving days, so I didn’t quite remember. Looking back at it, I’m not sure how I finished it? It took me over an hour and a half 😆 It was a good one!!
@Cat Lady Margaret Group 4 for me! 50% slower than average and even after a quick glance I didn't connect the themers right away. 😁
@Cat Lady Margaret Just did it after reading your comment - what a great puzzle!
NICELY DONE, Mr. Leach! A real TREAT of a puzzle that read a bit like a menu of dinner options (and that's not a complaint.) With all due respect to the talented Questlove who shows up twice in this puzzle, seeing EXTREME took me to this instead: <a href="https://youtu.be/UrIiLvg58SY?si=_2BamHpVkdsie-oo" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/UrIiLvg58SY?si=_2BamHpVkdsie-oo</a> [Still wondering if I should have something SOLID or just a BOWL of SOUP...maybe some SUSHI? SABRA hummus? Or a taco with BARBACOA and SALSA? Well...maybe some SOUL food. Okay, then, PASTA it is!]
@sotto voce Thanks for the link. I wasn't familiar with that band.
@sotto voce we saw The Roots at Summerfest when we lived in Wisconsin. They put on a fantastic show. Very entertaining and engaging with the audience.
@sotto voce In regards to your link, Paul Geary, the former drummer of EXTREME was just on the HGTV show Sin City Rehab. His home in Vegas was the featured renovation last week. He specifically referenced No More Words in the episode ☺️ Thank you for the link!
I thought that the Monday and Tuesday puzzles could have been switched, and many of the comments indicated similar thoughts. Not a complaint however, as I enjoyed the solve.
I'm back and what a purely blissful cruise vacation it was!!! Ahhhh!!! Or is it Aaaaah? Never do know that one in the crosswords. I was quite unplugged—I even turned off all my work notifications, etc. which I'm not always good at. It's so good to now work where they expect me to really vacate on my vacation. I didn't have that for a long time and appreciate it so much now, even after five years here. It's hard to erase the previous two decades but I'm immensely grateful for now. As usual, I digress. I did the puzzles every day, usually while sweet husband dozed in the sun and I lounged beside him. I don't care about streaks, so I didn't feel a pressure, it was just fun. I enjoyed today's offering! It was surprisingly a personal best. Wonder how good it could have been if I hadn't stopped to sip my Diet Coke or scratch my nose... Today, I didn't follow my usual across then down pattern, I was on a roll and just did sections at a time, with only a slowdown or two, like NOOB-v-NewB, thinking of carnitas before BARBACOA (easily resolved, though I have a slight taste preference for the former) and PASTASHEet before SHELL. I thought PASTASHEet was not a good answer but one does sometimes roll them with goodness inside, so maybe? I was glad I had to change it though. Wow, pasta, tacos, and sushi these are a few of my favorite TREATS... Mmm! Must be lunchtime... Where's the buffet in this lousy place!? Sheesh! Zero stars!!! Har!
I found 28D to be quite PAST AS HELL. It's really throwing me back.
It's been decades since I've been to a BASEMENT PARTY, but at the ones I attended the lights were on (if not bright). I get dancing in the dark; just not in the basement. I've also used infrared film in a conventional camera, but that's *not* a knock on the 19A answer. Nice SHOT, Spencer. N.B. I hope the wordplay in the cutline (caption) on today's lead photo doesn't get called an error as was yesterday's.
@Barry Ancona We never actually called them BASEMENT PARTIES when I was a teen, we knew which houses were the 'cool' ones. Not mine, for sure. A few friends’ basements had pool tables, foosball tables, well-stocked wet bars (for the upper crust), and a kick[bum] stereo system. The ventilation was usually kind of ‘iffy’ causing the aromatic herbal products to linger. If you didn’t have your own, just Breathe (Pink Floyd). The albums like Mott The Hoople, Argent, Robin Trower and Pink Floyd were definitely not dance music, unless a Dead tune would come on, then maybe a hippie shake. The dark was always enhanced by those black light posters, so not totally dark. That’s as much as I can remember. It was the 70s.
Very fun puzzle! My lack of cultural (pop or otherwise...) knowledge only brought me trouble in the bottom-right corner; rest was smooth, and I enjoyed the theme. Love the Questlove feature; I've been getting into the Roots a lot lately, so it's cool to see them make an appearance in the crossword.
Feels like the difficulty levels have been all over the map lately. This felt like an easy Monday.
@Derek Jones Yes, I'm a relative NOOB but I breezed through this one. I just had to "reveal" one fill: LASERTAGARENA at the very end. (i had LASERTAYARENA.) I don't know BARBACOA but I'll look it up.
IS IT just me, or are constructors (overly) celebrating their ability to include [ahem] “rear end” [ahem]? It uses common letters and can be clued in so many amusing ways! Nice puzzle. Easier than yesterday’s IMHO. YMMV.
@The X-Phile, It’s not just you. I’m seeing it often enough here that I’m becoming turned off by it.
My second personal best in a bow! As a South African, I struggled a bit in the SE corner because of BARBACOA and HANES; plus I would never have gotten SOLID without the crossings. Now that I know what BARBACOA is, I enjoyed its crossing with SALSA:) I don’t know if ACES is a hand? I started with PAIR as it strikes me as the only hand that fits (in the glove, haha). I didn’t know ACORN was a hue given how much the colour can vary with species and ripeness. Seems like a not great basis for a hue… GAMUT was my favourite entry because this beautiful word is underused in everyday language. PS this puzzle made hungry! (SOUP, SUSHI, SALSA, ALE, BOWL, TREAT).
@James P Leaning BARBACOA, are you? Good for hue!
@James P Each player in Texas Hold 'em is dealt two cards, so a pair of ACES would be a good hand. Then community cards are dealt on the table, and you try to combine your hand with those. I've never played the game, actually. And you might be amused to hear that biltong is starting to be a thing here in the States.
Was happy to see BARBACOA and SALSA on Taco Tuesday!
A lackadaisical kind of puzzle, with a lot of self-fillers spiced up with some HARDASSED clues, just to keep us AMUSEd. Fun to work, and, as I'm sure many others have said, NICELYDONE! Thank you, Spencer.
I’m so old, I remember when you could leave your Lego unlocked.
Such a fun puzzle! Thanks Spencer Leach 👏🏻 Loved the theme 🤗
@Shari Coats I forgot to add that BARBACOA was a completely new term for me. I doubt if I’ll remember it but you never know.
Pretty fun easy puzzle today. Enjoyed the SHOT IN THE DARK theme. The one clue that tripped me up was BARBACOA. I have no idea what that is. When I saw BARB I was thinking BARBECUE and then SHOT IN THE DARK made it BARBA--- which made it even more confusing. When I got all the crossing clues making it BARBACOA I was sure I was going to have "Something amiss" but it was right.
@Chris BARBACOA is pretty much what the clue says. It could be beef, sheep or goat. We don't often see it on menus, but when we do, my husband is likely to order it.
@Chris Barbacoa is delicious! Highly recommend you go find some great beef barbacoa tacos ASAP.
@Chris I have seen it referenced as the source for "barbecue".
My Diary of a Crossword Fiend review: <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/10/20/tuesday-october-21-2025/#ny" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/10/20/tuesday-october-21-2025/#ny</a> David Connell, if you're out there, thank you for teaching me the etymology of GAMUT.
@Eric Hougland Good catch that SHOT = vaccination was the only one missing. I hadn't thought of it, not even having gotten my Covid shot today! Nice choice of music. Very bluesy tune from Bruce. I like it!
@Eric Hougland Nicely done! You piqued my curiosity. Four other four-letter actors Wilson with notable success: Ruth, Mara, Peta and Flip. All of whom would infuriate some solvers.
@Eric Hougland He's the only one I could name, but I found the others on google and recognized their credits.
Sorry to cross-pollinate, but has anyone been able to access the Spelling Bee comments today? I can open the forum homepage but can't see the little speech bubble icon for the comments. Also some of the comments sections for the other games seem to be closed. Is it just me? This is the first place I've been able to post!
@RamblingRose I tried two ways to access the Spelling Bee comments, both to no avail. The hive will surely be in a frenzy!
@RamblingRose I've been trying for hours, to no avail.
I like how SALSA mirrors the theme, since it is as hot in the dark as it is in the full glare of star light, according to astronomers’ best guesses, anyway.
Nice solid puzzle, which, for me, was easier than yesterday's. Might have chosen to run this one on a Monday. In any case, I enjoyed the puzzle. My only goof was NEWB instead of NOOB, which the crosses quickly fixed.
Five minutes! That's a record Tuesday for me!
Gee, I haven't watched A SHOT IN THE DARK in a very long time. I wonder how it holds up? And just imagine what Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers could have done with this jewel heist at the Louvre. Seriously, the thieves dropped Empress Eugenie's crown on the way out, and escaped on scooters. The script practically writes itself.
@Grant Les Flic are in a rit of fealous jage over the heist!
@Grant Thanks for reminding me! Loved that movie and all the Pink Panthers.
Am I the only one to think that the shot taken in the dark basement might be romantic rather than alcoholic?
@PaganPicnic Could be both... they sometimes tend to go together. 😉
I've never been on Tinder, but can't you indirectly edit your age by editing your birthdate? I'm assuming it can't be edited because it's a calculated field.
I had Shape before SOLID and Stab before SHOT IN THE DARK. Other than that, a quick solve. No ear worms from me today. NICELY DONE, Spencer.
@Jacqui J this finally showed up 11 hours after I posted it 🙄
Liked this puzzle! Got my fastest Tuesday time ever!
Yesterday I discovered the monthly bonus puzzle. How did I not know about this and why can we not comment on those puzzles and the wonderful themes they provide? OMG. Am I the only one to have recently found this!!?!
@Dominic It took me quite some time to discover the bonus puzzles. I’ve only solved very few in one sitting; they're very difficult for me. Why would comments not be allowed? Have you read through some of them? Just jump in there, what’s the worst that can happen?
@Dominic woah what !!! Where ???? I solve on my phone, is it a desktop only thing ??
@Dominic Because people do them at different times during the month, it's better not to spoil the monthly puzzle here.
Two things: 1) Mr Leach seems to like his SUSHI. I count 3 sushi related clues. Perhaps today's image should've been of SUSHI? 2) I can't believe I didn't get BARBACOA on the first try. And the best BARBACOA? South Philly Barbacoa of course! You can check out the chef Cristina Martinez's story on Chef's Table, or better yet, get down there to try it if you haven't already.
@Loopy Wow, thanks for mentioning BARBACOA. I didn’t even notice what it ended up as, since I’d never heard of it and was trying different strange words there all starting with BARB at least. That was my final corner to finish, since I’m pretty clueless on the subject of that family full of K names. 🤦🏼♀️
@Loopy a friend of mine from high school used to chef there. Excellent food!
I got hung up on ASTRONOMER because I’ve never heard that world until today. I had ASTROLOGER because that is the only science that accurately describes the heavens. Interestingly, the first time Galileo observed Sagittarius he is reported to have yelled in a high squeaky voice, “Oooh! Ooooooh! Yummykins!!”
@Ace Don’t forget the UFOLOGISTS; they are important too.
@Ace From the brilliant Elle Cordova: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9lcBkGbxvtY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9lcBkGbxvtY</a>
I must confess I have never heard the term BASEMENT PARTY until today. Is it just a party in someone's basement, or is there more to it than that?
@Mike I absolutely detested that clue and answer. I went to a lot of basement parties in my day. But I would never have associated them with a shot of alcohol, even if some of the ones I went to when I was out of high school did have beer.
@Mike We called them warehouse parties. No basements in the southern hemisphere usually, unless it's a posh wine cellar. Then I'd be all over it like a fat kid on a Smartie!! :)
I was close to finishing at around 12 minutes, took a break to make some coffee and when I came back my time was back at 00:00. It was a quick solve, but not under three minutes!
@Kevin the apps were really glitchy yesterday as well.
What’s wrong with me? I’ve been eating tacos and Mexican food all my life -it’s my favorite- how is the word Barbacoa absolutely unknown to me? Had to google it! I don’t recall seeing it on any menu, nuthin’!
Loved this Tuesday. And TIL “Barbacoa” Have a good day y’all! Mike
This was WAY too easy, felt like a beginner Monday!