Speaking as a dermatologist, ECZEMA and atopic dermatitis are not synonymous! Atopic dermatitis is a type of eczema, but it's not the only type. This is like cluing REPTILES as "animals formally known as snakes." I'm also not crazy about cluing ETHER as a "number." I guess it depends on what your definition of a numbing agent, but most people would use that term to mean a local anesthetic like lidocaine, which makes your surgical site numb but you're still awake. ETHER knocks you out and makes you unconscious. I guess an unconscious person is numb, but that's an atypical way of thinking about that term IMO.
@Brian You are a hundred percent right about ECZEMA. I’m a pediatrician, and in practice we do use the terms pretty interchangeably, but they are NOT the same. Coincidentally two days ago I submitted a puzzle with the same entry and almost the same clue but I worded it “Diagnosis akin to atopic dermatitis” because I knew otherwise I’d get called out on it. It’s not terrible for a crossword clue but if you can be more precise or less misleading why not be, and if you just look it up almost any source will tell you that. I can’t speak as authoritatively about ETHER, except NUMBER is a common misdirect I’ve seen frequently.
@Brian Speaking as a patient, ECZEMA was ruled out as the cause of my severe, episodic rashes, as was atopic dermatitis and everything else, and they were not seen as synonyms. After 360 patch tests, which turned up one allergen (gold), hit or miss has been the only guide. No treatment works best, and no steroids, which make everything better, then much, much worse. Wait. Don't scratch.
Speaking as a layperson, when medical websites conflate the two terms, it seems fine to me for the NYT crossword to do so. Maybe not the JAMA crossword. <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atopic-dermatitis-eczema/symptoms-causes/syc-20353273" target="_blank">https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atopic-dermatitis-eczema/symptoms-causes/syc-20353273</a>
Deb, 9D? How soon you forget! [Plan B, for seniors] is where you go when you don't get into your first choice college.
@Barry Ancona luckily for Deb when she makes a booboo in the column, 100 of her xword buddies kindly point it out for her 😊 but you were the first so you get a pass Lol
@Barry Ancona [Plan B, for seniors]? SAFETY SCHOOL is more like Plan C, D, … or even a Plan Z.
@Barry Ancona Perhaps Deb suffered the same fate as I. Growing up in Brooklyn in a modest income family, it was going to be Brooklyn College or bust. No safety school for me, unless it had to be the community college. That term existed for the majority of my classmates, who had the luxury of going away for college. BC was a fine school in that era, maybe still is.And it was free back then.
@Barry Ancona D’oh! My bad. Shows you how long it’s been since I thought about college.
@Barry Ancona One of my daughters, who attended a math & science high school, didn't go with the "stretch school" and "safety school" concept. Instead she applied to 8 schools where she figured she had a 75% change of acceptance, calculating that the odds of not getting into any were infinitesimal. (She ended up with 5 Yeses, 2 Nos and 1 Waitlist... just like she expected.)
@Barry Ancona I thought the answer was MEDICAREPLUS which is like a Medicare Advantage plan which shows how long it is since I've thought about college.
Exceptional puzzle with lots of humor. Congratulations on your debut! Please make more!
I’ve made it to the big leagues! Shout out to my upcoming best man for this top notch debut. For what it’s worth, the groan-worthy word play is pretty much daily with this chump.
@Wesley T, I'll back up your word play comment.
@Wesley T Wow congratulations. Nice to have a chance to talk up your soon to be better half. Sorry you will have to deal with this the rest of your life, ask my wife and kids what it’s like
@Wesley T People work for years and years, struggling with their heads and software and the dictionary and fickle editors and endless resubmissions and fate and fortune. You get into the NYT just by hassling your roommate. Nice! And begrudging congrats on your nuptials, I guess.
@B In my view, you're not really in the NYT if you are just mentioned in a blog column that does not appear in the published paper.
Loved this Friday puzzle. First of all it was no pushover for me. But especially, there were So. Many. tricky clues with cleverly deceptive wordplay that made me chuckle aquiet. Looking forward to more puzzles from Kevin Zhou!
@Dan I searched on "aquiet" (a word I'd never heard of) and did not get any hits. Unlike cromulent one can guess what it means.
I apologize to Kelvin Zhou for misspelling his name.
"Did you talk to your tailor about your missing garment?" "Yeah, but he skirted the issue." ("He'll have to re-dress the situation.")
@Mike Sorry that he hemmed and hawed about that. Maybe he was pressed for time.
@Mike Do you needle this humor? I’m in stitches!! Although… actually… hang on…. Sew, what was I saying? Darn, I lost my thread there for a moment
Mike, This note arrived from your tailor: “I altered and returned your first four garments. As for the remaining one, I pleat the fifth.”
@Mike You must've been really needled by that. Did you see eye to eye in the end?
@Mike Hope it didn't start a war d'robe. /Sari not sari.
@Mike I think we're through here. I have a vested interest in sewing this up.
@Mike Thanks for always keeping us in stitches.
It took me a while to get onto Kelvin's wavelength. That's a good thing. I like a puzzling puzzle. Happy Friday [puzzle]! Nice one, Kelvin.
@Barry Ancona I agree. Well above average but persistence paid off. I had ropeClimb for the aerial act opening which was a significant delaying factor. When a few of the long entries finally registered, things moved along steadily if slowly.
Surely a SAFETY SCHOOL is a high school senior's second-choice college which is easier to be accepted into, a "plan B" if they don't get accepted into their first choice school.
I’m usually hopeless when it comes to classical music key signatures, but today I confidently entered _MAJ for 24A, as Vivaldi’s Spring would sound quite different in a minor key…
@Steve that's a great point. I entered _M__ out of habit without even thinking about it and patiently waited for crosses even though I am pretty familiar with 4 Seasons.
@Steve I was 99% certain that Spring starts in a major key (though I’m generally lousy on that stuff) (apologies to David Connell and Bill from Detroit ). The 1% uncertainty was enough to keep me from putting in anything except the M until I had a cross.
@Steve Found this gem for when spring gets called off for a few weeks: <a href="https://youtu.be/CQbb_3pVBZ4" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/CQbb_3pVBZ4</a>
Thank you for a wonderful puzzle! I found it tough (almost 20 minutes over my average) but that was due to all the wonderfully clever misdirects. I don’t think any of them were too obscure or otherwise unfair. I was almost ready to start using Google when I had less than a quarter of the grid filled but I chipped away and chipped away until it all came together. This is my favourite type of puzzle.
@Wayne Harrison You aptly described my experience!
I think there is a better interpretation of 9D then Deb’s - ‘SAFETYSCHOOL’ refers to high school senior’s second choice in colleges
@Gee You're right, more or less, but I'd say it's more like the senior's fifth or sixth choice...lower down even, in some cases.
@Gee and @ Steve L DHubs and I may be living at a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Center) but thus far we have not been told to go to SAFETY SCHOOL, and anyway it would never be called that by anyone with a shred of sense or sensitivity. That said, the AARP website has a good video on some SAFETY practices that I did find helpful back when we started letting the tea kettle boil dry.... (It never occurred to us to have our two offspring apply to a SAFETY SCHOOL. Applying isn't free!)
Oh yes. “Mwah!” squared. Pinnacle puzzle. What I hope for. Where when I look at the finished grid, there is hardly an unknown word, but to get from the blank grid to that finished grid, you have to get through a barricade of riddles. Where the brain has to go sideways, has to imagine, has to explore for treasure. Where pings of pleasure await, one after another. Where the puzzle is not a test of knowledge, but a workout (sweat) and a work-out (unravel mysteries). Where wordplay reigns. I marked 15 clues as special – the highest, I believe, I’ve ever marked for a puzzle this size. There is talent behind the making of this, and when the constructor indicates in his notes that he is working on more – well, that is most exciting to me. More, please, Kelvin, and more like this dazzling debut, please. I loved this. Thank you, sir!
Addenda: • I can’t believe this is the first time STICKER SHOCK has appeared in the 80+ years of the NYT crossword. • Lovely to see a rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilap (PORTS).
@Lewis Hear hear. This puzzle absolutely calls for the Lewis touch. It's really good!
@Lewis thank you for your kind words!! I’m very heartened.
@Lewis 100% agreed! I had more fun doing this puzzle than any in recent memory. Such fresh fill. I felt like the personality of the constructor (who I imagine from the fill to be well read, whimsical, and a silly goose) shone through this puzzle -- and that's my favorite kind of puzzle. Hats off, Kelvin! Looking forward to more!
The STICKER SHOCK is so real these days.
@Becky Yes! And also we need a new term ("Shrinker Shock"?) for when you buy a half gallon carton of milk and get home to realize that it's now 1/2 inch skinnier and contains 52 ounces 😡 (Yes this happened to me today)
@Becky What, you mean to tell me that grocery prices didn't come down on day one? I'm shocked!
@Grumpy I have the old package which used to say HALF GALLON (1.89 L). The new package says 52 FL OZ (1.54 L). And for those in the world not saddled with our ridiculous measuring system, a half gallon is 64 oz.
What a gem of a puzzle. A high percentage of the clues involved at least some misdirection or trickery, but all were fair play. As someone often accused of being sarcastic, I got IDONTKNOWCANYOU right off the bat without any crosses and that big foothold in the middle really opened up the puzzle for me. LOTR and Wire clues were welcome gimmes. For the tricky clues, my faves were PARACHUTE for opener for an aerial act and ARTFORGER for synthetic oil producer. I needed lots of crosses to get TCHOTCHKE. That opening TCH created all kinds of uncertainty about whether the seemingly easy downs were correct. Just a really nice Friday puzzle. -
@Marshall Walthew I don't know what letters I already had when I saw the clue for TCHOTCHKE, but I dropped it in place immediately. It's one of my favorite words — it's almost like visual onomatopoeia.
@Marshall Walthew I couldn't believe how long it took me to get TCHOTCHKE! Very satisfying when I finally saw it, though.
Deb, a "safety school" is that college you're pretty sure you'll get into. Normally something like the local state university with high admission rates, or the place where your parents went, or the one that offered an early scholarship based on SAT scores, etc. As compared to a "reach school" -- the Harvards of the world.
Good puzzle, not baht at all. The derivative of sin could be the last judgement, and while a natterer may nay say, surely those who can cancan can.
@david dell Tip of the hat to Irving Berlin.
Hardest Friday in recent memory, and I mean that as a complement!
@Stephen Xwstats.com says: 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Hard Median Solve Time 23:23 Median Solver 66% slower ⚡4% of users solved faster than their Friday average. 1% solved much faster (>20%) than their Friday average. 🐢96% of users solved slower than their Friday average. 85% solved much slower (>20%) than their Friday average.
@Stephen Huh interesting. I found it fun and challenging but not nearly the streak breaking dread producer that several others were over the past few months.
@Stephen Me too! I was over my average time and only half done and stuck. Even after Googling what I coud Google. Time to read the column.... That let me finish. Whew!
🤣😂 This puzzle destroyed me. I did so badly it was actually quite funny 😃 On my own - and with much effort and guesswork - I was able to deal with a wedge running West and North West from the center of the grid. Elsewhere I was able to solve only a handful of clues, which did not give me enough crosses to do much more. After nearly 30 minutes of trying to make unaided progress, I looked up most of the trivia (I mean, I don't even know what Vox is, other than a European music TV channel, which clearly was not meant here today; also... YER?! Ye gods! And there was more of such arcana for me). That helped. I completed 3/4 of the grid then. Still, I needed reveals to handle the NE corner. (SAFETY) SCHOOL was completely alien to me, and I truly hated the clue for ART FORGER - there is nothing synthetic about works of art forgers, is there? They may be fake, but they are not synthetic. I get misdirection, but the price for it can't be resorting to falsehoods and abandoning sense. This was the only element of the puzzle I not only failed on but really disliked. I just was not on the constructor's wavelength, at all. The puzzle was probably fine, but I was not 🤣 And now for something completely different - Lucek in the forest: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/rTdFn9R" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/rTdFn9R</a>
Also, I was thwarted by Sancho being spelled PANsA in Polish. That square, as it turned out in the end, was what required me to check the puzzle.
@Andrzej Re. the clue for ART FORGERS: Yes, everything about forgery is, in fact, synthetic. One sense of synthetic is something that is ersatz, imitative, not genuine, just plain fake. The clue wasn’t using the word to mean it as something produced artificially or chemically.
@Andrzej Picture a used car salesman with a "synthetic smile" approaching you.
@Andrzej Thanks for griping about the art forger clue! It bothered me too. Otherwise, I enjoyed the puzzle. And thanks for Lucek in the forest. Lovely! Is there any place around there where you can let him off the leash?
@Andrzej Beautiful, striking dog, and some interesting discussion here. On synthetic, I think a big part of its current US meaning may he attributable to "synthetic fabrics" that have been used to substitute for natural ones. Oh nice belt, is it leather? Nah, it's a cheap synthetic; it's fake. Same thing with what we call "fake fur" coats made out of synthetic fibers. Things that are arguably made to fool people. Not true items. I'm surprised the same short leap doesn't happen in Polish. It seems so... natural. :) /I won't wear leather or fur. Rubber belts are great.
@Andrzej We’ve beat this horse to death on synthetic but here’s my bottom line—it’s close enough in meaning and connotation to work with a question mark clue. I thought it was a great clue and didn’t take me aback at all. I took it to mean “artificially made” and since forgeries wasn’t original that makes sense to me.
@Andrzej I rode on the wavelength of the creator for a lot of it, but I bowed to looking up a few, especially when I hit the clueing for bobbleheads. TCHOTCHKE? REALLY
I was shocked to find that this was his first puzzle. That was an incredibly artful grid with clues that have the right mix of deception and meaning. Wow.
Well, just this afternoon, I explained in the Thursday comments that a word in one clue and the same word in a different clue's answer is fine; just the same word in one clue and answer pair isn't. And then we get 37A. I was going to put I DON'T KNOW BUT YOU MAY, but it didn't fit. Overall, this was a very tough one. I had missing letters all over, and I got that once-in-a-while feeling that maybe, just maybe, I'd be stuck for a while. Well, everything cleared up eventually, and I got my gold star. Some observations: An [Apple product] on Fri. or Sat. is probably related to fruit, not technology. A [Small songbird] is a WREN when it's four letters, and 54A when it's three. Always. EDUCE and "evoke" both work at 14A; SKIRTS could also be "evades" or "avoids" if you don't have any crosses yet. Abbreviated musical keys in four letters are something MAJ or something MIN; the something can be A-G. ADIEU and "adios" were another kealoa. A five-letter [Silly one] is always a GOOSE. A three-letter [Silly one] is a donkey-like beast. ERIKA, ROYCE, KLEIN, and ROEG were all unknowns to me, and they were all in the SW quadrant. In 9D, "seniors" aren't old folks, and Plan B isn't Medicare. In 3D, "characters" aren't persons in the story. In 10D, "server loads" has nothing to do with big computers. These are some of the things to look out for on a tough Friday, which probably should have been a Saturday. (Xwordstats.com calls it "Very Hard.")
@Steve L Today’s “silly ones” are plural, so geese. Outside of that this is a good primer for newcomers to the NYT crossword puzzles.
@Steve L You pretty much summed up everything I wanted to say. Though Ezra KLEIN was a gimme for me. I had the same thought about 37A, but I guessed it instantly and went with it despite the rule breaking
@Steve L I was onto the double bluffs and started with CIDER at 1 until crossings dislodged it.
@Steve L Given that you're a NYT subscriber (all access, I presume) who recommends reading the whole paper as a way to improve one's crossword solving, and your political leanings, I'm surprised you didn't know KLEIN. I highly recommend his NYT podcast; it's always interesting and he's an excellent interviewer. I never miss an episode.
@Steve L, I agree with Elizabeth, your observations serve as a great primer for beginning solvers. A lot of knowledge accumulated over years of experience right there. I also kept thinking that this was a Saturday level puzzle. I was surprised by how difficult it was.
I frequently mention that I work on the crossword with my extended family. I rarely mention my wife because she is simultaneously solving the Spelling Bee and does not like to be interrupted. Me. “Sweetie, I need a four letter word for a cookie. First three letters are ORE…” Her. “Dunno.” But, tonight I am doing the puzzle and she is half asleep. Seventeen years of nursing experience kicked in and she mumbled “STETHO” just as she fell asleep.
@Kevin D I'll bet you've heard of a STETHOscope.
@Kevin D I love this. Comments that share family puzzle stories always make me smile; the NYT should do a collection of them!
Congratulations on the debut, Kelvin, it was a tough puzzle! Years of snarky replies got me the grid spanner at 37A with very few crossings, which helped me maneuver around into some largely empty quadrants. Well above average solve time for Friday for me, but a satisfying victory at the end. Thanks!
Hey, Deb. I think safety school actually is referring to a college that is a backup if you don’t get into one of your first choices. i.e. “plan B”
“Safety school” almost certainly refers to a high school senior’s second or third choice of college that they apply to as a fallback in case they don’t get into their first choice.
I don’t think SAFETY SCHOOL refers to driving class. It’s a reference to the senior’s backup college if they don’t get into the preferred one.
Loved this puzzle, a lot of the clues made sense to me straight off the bat. Although, a safety school is not driving school, it’s the backup plan for when you don’t get your top choice of college!
I’ve done this crossword for years, and I think this is my first comment here. Just needed to say this was brilliant. I wish I knew exactly why, but probably the unusual longer entries and clues just puzzling enough to give me several aha moments. I see this is the constructor’s first puzzle, so I’ll be looking forward to more.
@Michael can't put it any better than you did, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and this took me about a minute longer than average (apparently) ... an average which was being slashed by smooth-sailing Fridays for as long as I can remember (though most quite enjoyable!) Looking forward to more, and enjoyed the constructor's notes quite a bit as well!
To the constructor: So, if you had NOT gotten into college and you had NOT gone to law school and had NOT gotten in to your SAFETY SCHOOL … Would we be calling you Zero Degrees Kelvin? (Have pity on me. I had to go a long ways for that joke)
@NYC Traveler That's cold, man. Check the temperature of the room - we're big Kelvin fans. His brain cells see us through to a fair and heightened puzzle.
Wow, absolutely fantastic debut. So many wonderful misdirects and clever clues, I can’t even list them all, but this was a straight up challenge and I had to jump all over the place. My favorite was ARTFORGER with RUNES close behind. Was looking for either baseball, kids games or digital pictures for the tag reference but it was none of those. Couldn’t fit EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE in the Plan B space. I agree with Steve L the repeat of CAN in the center clue was jarring but somehow it works and I really the only way to clue this fresh entry. One plea—I know you can’t always read every comment, and we can certainly expect duplicate opinions, complaints, observations etc.—but if you see an obvious error by the columnist (like Plan B today), maybe just skim to see if it was brought up before? First to call it out gets a gold star but after awhile it just gets annoying.
@SP At least a quick scan of the early comments would be easy to do before commenting about a columnist’s error. I did and saw Barry’s note right away.
I think "safety school" as a "plan B for seniors" means a back-up college in case a graduate's primary pick falls through.
Every time one of my students asks if they can go to the bathroom I give them 37 across.
@Michael As a student, I always had the urge (but not to courage) to sass back “I guess I can” and then leave the room. I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I did…
@Michael . . . while they look at you in befuddlement and p their pants?
@Michael "I don’t know. Let’s find out!" [Stands up in the middle of the classroom and unzips]
@Michael Mr. Hand? <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n7zfnbdyAW8" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n7zfnbdyAW8</a>
Oh man that was great. Number was a good one!! I like puzzles like this that are made up of a collection of little riddles that each take a few minutes to suss out. However if they each take me more than 10 or 15 minutes then I get cranky (like last Saturday Lol). I guess we all have our point when we go from "yay this is fun" to cranky. Luckily for me this one was in my sweet spot 😊
This was some superior cluing! Super impressed!! I loved it!
I often do a quick pass through the clues on Friday and Saturday puzzles to enter in any gimmes. The most satisfying puzzles, in my opinion, are the ones that are mostly blank after the first pass before they slowly and steadily fall into place, like this puzzle. Enjoyable! Thanks!
This type of overly "clever" puzzle just makes me tired. I guess I'm getting old.
That was absolutely miserable. It's fine to have some clues that do the "not what word you thought the clue meant" thing but this was everywhere and it made it impossible to even cut into them from the other direction. Number, senior, aerial act, server, synthetic oil, NUMBER (saying it twice), plus archaic words like the zen riddle or group of assistants? Come on.
Zach, You're not the only one who found this one Very Hard. 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Hard Median Solve Time 25:32 Median Solver 67% slower ⚡4% of users solved faster than their Friday average. 2% solved much faster (>20%) than their Friday average. 🐢96% of users solved slower than their Friday average. 87% solved much slower (>20%) than their Friday average. <a href="https://xwstats.com" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com</a>/
If someone asked me why I like doing crossword puzzles, I would say it’s because of ones exactly like this. It made me work, and felt like a real accomplishment when finished.
isn't a safety school the opposite of a reach school (ie applying to harvard vs. applying to the local A&M or whatever)
@John absolutely correct re: SAFETY SCHOOL. No Driver's Ed reference, there!
Oh, Kevi Zhou, I bow before your constructing prowess. So, so many erasures! cidER for PARER, StATE PARKS for SKATE PARKS, STErnO for STETHO, RiG for RUG... This was tough for all the right reasons. The cluing was fantastic, and the stickiest ones, like [Synthetic oil producer?] for ART FORGER, yielded the good kind of groan. Hopefully, your life will give you much opportunity to continue to make puzzles for us. I'm anxiously awaiting your return.
@Nancy J, Sorry, Kelvin! Boy, did I mess up that name. I wasn't trying to be overly familiar, just typing too fast.
I enjoy a difficult puzzle… when it’s made difficult in a clever way. Too often the inclusion of too much trivia, niche answers and clues, and my personal bugaboo: misdirection that IMO “doesn’t quite work” results in a difficult puzzle that I find annoying rather than enjoyable. But today’s puzzle!! Chef’s kiss. A++. I’ve only been doing the puzzle for a few years now, but I have never come across one so chock full of fantastic misdirection. And by that I mean clues that look straightforward and aren’t obviously misleading, but when you figure out the answer and actual meaning of the clue, it works perfectly. Too often I come across clues where the constructor had a really clever idea for misdirection, but the result left me thinking “yeah, it kinda works, but ain’t great” Today it was almost all pure gold. Hats off to Kelvin Zhou. Sure, I have a minor quibble or two. But man was this good! The number (in the math sense 🤓) of times I got that feeling of exhilaration from figuring out the answer and appreciating the cleverness of the clue was off the charts. And sure there were some proper names and trivia in there. There always is in a late week puzzle. But no more than usual (and probably less). More like this please!
@Jeb Jones thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed!!
I don't know if it's been mentioned, but Plan B for someone not getting into linebacker school would be safety school.
To me, this is the ideal Friday, with plenty of chewy clues that when properly chewed educe a smile from the wordplay. Thanks Kelvin! For 37A, I was under the impression that the answer shouldn’t contain any of the words from the clue. Am I mistaken in that?
Steve, I'd say that in support of a great clue and answer, the editors gave a one-letter word a pass.
@Steve Based upon the same understanding of the “rules”, I had MAY penciled in for quite a while.
I have a quibble with today’s explainer article. I believe the “seniors” referenced in the clue for 9 Down refers to high school seniors, and the “plan B” school they’re sure to get into if they don’t get accepted to their first choice school. Also, apparently the author of that article has blocked me in Bluesky and I’m not sure why. To my knowledge we’ve never interacted.
I'm usually the first of the few, if any, curmudgeons here who dislikes the barrage of debut constructors that have made the NYT famous for forcing their tried-and-true lineup of seasoned constructors to other sites. But I have to say that this is the first time in a long time that I smiled through most of this puzzle, thanks to the plethora of delightfully devious clues. "Number" (ETHER) is an old one, but I found ART FORGER, PARACHUTE, I DON'T KNOW CAN YOU, SPINNING RING, STICKER SHOCK, and the prefix for Chest, which wasn't Sterno, but STETHO, so much fun. And there were a few more that were worthy of recognition. Even more amusing was Kelvin's notes, which also gave me a few giggles. Our commenters here usually love to buoy up new constructors, saying they hope to see more of their puzzles soon. This is the very first time I'm throwing my own hat into that ring. Thanks, Kelvin!
I think SAFETY SCHOOL actually refers to a college that an applicant is likely to get into!
(I have to talk to Deb about a prize for the 50th caller...)
Man, that really got me. Hats off to Mr Zhou. I know the term "safety school" as the college you apply to that isn't your top choice but that you feel confident you'll get into. So if all else fails you'll still have one school you can attend
Exactly. Not sure what was meant about a driving course for this clue.
A Friday that felt like a Saturday. Challenging, fair, and fun. I’m amazed that it was a debut. Bravo!
Regarding 37A, I’m sure longtime solvers are very familiar with Margaret Farrar. Newer solvers may not be but her story is pretty fascinating and Wikipedia has an excellent article about her. It seems that early crosswords were kind of a mess. She was committed to improving the quality of crossword puzzles and compiled many of the guidelines about construction and format. And this was years before she became the first editor of the NYTXW. I don’t know if Mrs. Farrar came up with the rule prohibiting the use of the same word both in a clue and in its answer but I think she would approve of the breach here since this is a very fine puzzle.
Deb, I think you got the meaning of SAFETYSCHOOL wrong. Per my AI bot: A "safety school" is a college or university where an applicant has a high probability of being accepted because their academic profile, such as GPA and test scores, is stronger than the average admitted student. These are considered more achievable options that provide a fallback in case an applicant is not accepted into their "reach" or "target" schools.
@Grizzly Yeah, Deb, I'm amazed you swung and missed at that one. Seniors are the ones who apply to colleges. Most teenagers get their drivers' license before senior year. That's okay -- you get a lot more of these than I do!
@Grizzly the clue makes sense. As your AI said a safety school is a fallback. Just in case you aren’t admitted into your top choice school, you have an easier-to-get-in school to fall back on.
@Grizzly Nevermind my first comment !! Just realized you’re talking about the column and not the clue itself haha.
@Grizzly You are quite right. My mind went to a rather dark place on this one, given the cuts to everything and loss of the social safety net: Hemlock.
@Grizzly I read her error as evidence that perhaps she was such a stellar student she didn’t even need to consider applying to a SAFETY SCHOOL.