Santa Claus and a penguin are also polar opposites. ("Oh, yeah, icy that.")
Mike, I can't cap that one.
@Mike That's why Santa never says to a penguin, "You, sleigh me!" He knows it's a wrong latitude.
@Mike That’s why you’ll never catch Santa signing his Christmas cards with an autopenguin
Mike, Please, when using “polar” in your puns, try to use the definite arcticles.
Speaking of frozen things. We are renting a smart home—which wasn’t my first choice but here we are—and so we’re plagued by (to me) random advice and admonishments from a disembodied voice which doesn’t always respond to my, “Not now, Google; shut up!” This morning, as I was brewing the coffee, Google announced that the freezing fog we were experiencing would be, “deposited, leading to rime on roads. Use caution.” Huh, I thought and said, “Hey Google, did you just wax poetic and say, ‘rime?’” Google waited a beat, then said brightly, “The laundry is finished. Please unload the laundry.” That was the end of our witty banter, but all day I kept bugging my husband to go for a drive on the “roads covered in rime. Rime!” My husband has a wordless look for times like these. “But honey,” I said, “It’s rime! We now live in a place where rime has left the literary realm and become a reality I can drive over!” (I have used a lot of exclamation points today.) My husband gave me another look and said that Google had announced rime many times over the past year but I never paid any attention. Also, that there was rime covering spider webs on the lawn furniture and the one hanging right outside the kitchen window in front of which I’d ground the beans just minutes earlier. Well, he can’t spoil my joy. 40-odd years in this planet’s high desert regions had never brought rime to my daily vocabulary. Today I get to report from beneath otherwise miserable frozen fog that I’ve got RIME!
@Sam Lyons I think there’s a poem in there somewhere—Rime of the AI Moderator?
@Sam Lyons: (done laughing out loud now.) Would you be more concerned if google said there was hoar deposited on the roads?
@Sam Lyons No rime or reason to Google.
@Sam Lyons I can't think of a greater domestic horror than living in a Big Capitalist Brother house that keeps listening in on everything that's going on, even poetry would be involved. Jesus...
@Sam Lyons I love your joy for rime! We had a stunning hoar frost last week, and I was ranting (and sure, spelling) for days...
Came here to whine over “peruse” meaning “read thoroughly” — I’ve spent my whole life perusing things at a brisk skim. Turns out I’ve been using it wrong for decades. The word literally means careful, detailed reading. Guess I’ve been “browsing” this whole time. Suppose that’s why it’s called a “web browser” instead of a “web peruser.” You win this round NYT.
@John Peil <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peruse" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peruse</a> First definition is to examine thoroughly. Second definition is to read cursorily or skim. So it's one of those words that is its own POLAR OPPOSITE.
@John Peil While we’re on the subject, look up “bemuse.” Everyone seems to get that one wrong, too.
@John Peil Once a word becomes a contronym, should we all agree that it's effectively defunct, and strike it from the dictionary? Time for some new words.
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Amazon wrapper (3) 2. Prepared statement? (2)(5) 3. Drive around the office (4)(5) 4. Volume of tourists (6)(5) 5. Musical production that might include grunts, groans, thwops, snorts and barks (9) BOA I'M READY WORK ETHIC TRAVEL GUIDE WHALESONG
My favorite encore clues from last week: [Plant eater] (5)(7) [Take it back!] (4)(7) VENUS FLYTRAP TIME MACHINE
@Lewis After being critical of your list last week, I think it's only fair to give you two thumbs up on this week's. 👍🏽👍🏽
Hi, @Lewis! I have been very slowly working backwards through the archives. On my lunch break at work today, as it happened, began the Thurs. Apr. 19th puzzle, and *just* finished it over dinner. Looked up, and noticed it was by you! Very fun, tricksy Thurs.--the revealer was BACK TO SQUARE ONE. (How well do you remember your own puzzles, I wonder?) Anyway, I enjoyed it very much: Thank You! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours-- BiD
I liked seeing PERUSE, a word with two contrary meanings – a contronym – sharing the box with POLAR OPPOSITE. PERUSE is not alone in our magnificent quirky language. Other words of the same ilk are “garnish” (add or withhold), “sanction” (approval or penalty), and “seed” (remove or add seeds). There was more to like in the box as well. A watery subtheme, with PIER, OAR, DEWY, a backward TIDE, and wannabe SERF. CAT crossing ACT. Long-O enders to counter the icy starters – ECHO, MEMO, ALSO, ECO, ZERO. And PADS, combined with (COOL) CAT, reminded me of TOE BEANS, a lovely answer from Hanna’s last puzzle. FUNGI. My latest food-love discovery – mushroom jerky. It’s a thing. I found it at our farmer’s market, and it’s yummy and satisfying to the core, at least to me. Do you like savory, spicy, and GNAW-able? Mushroom jerky. Thank you, Hannah, for all these day-lifting pings!
Oh, I also enjoyed [Preceder of skip and jump], which mightily misdirected me, where I was looking for a word that preceded "skip" and also preceded "jump". Mwah!
@Lewis Thanks for the mushroom jerky recommendation. Sounds good, but it should be noted that most wild (foraged) mushrooms should not be eaten raw. Maybe there’s heat involved in jerky production tho — I don’t know. The typical “button” mushrooms in the supermarket are edible raw (as are porcini). My favorite contronym is „cleave“.
@Lewis And ZERO crossed FROZEN. I was glad it was not an Elsa/Anna/Olaf theme. Keep the brass monkeys inside tonight!
@Lewis Another good one is CLEAVE. Biblically to join husband & wife. But the butcher will use his Cleaver to cut things apart.
First ever crossword completed without hints or checks!
@Tom R. Yes, an important milestone, well done!
@Tom R Always a great feeling when that first happens. Great work, and keep it up!
Important reminder, please peruse quickly and painstakingly: On Sam Corbin Day Eve I'll be hosting my annual Sam Corbin Tree Trimming Jamboree. As usual it's a potluck. Sam of course will be bringing her famous sticky puns. Let me know what you'll be bringing. We need cheese(Gouda not bada) and bonbon mots and potato quips and anything else you feel like making! (No Oreos, please.)
@ad absurdum Sounds fun. Count me in for kitsch lorraine.
@ad absurdum: I’ll bring some π - it’s what I always bring to a circle of friends.
ad absurdum, The emus ate my offering. I'll try again later.
Trying again with a "phonetic" spelling of the word I think is getting caught in the emu filter: Lay'm Duck
@ad absurdum Can I bring the stuffed FUNGI? (No eggplant in the stuffing, please.)
@ad absurdum A holiday about me?! A me jamboree??
@ad absurdum can I offer to bring some shark uteri, from a French deli specializing in extreme cuisine called “Monde de Green Eggs and Ham”?
@ad absurdum I'll bring the Paul paws....like bear claws...but more um...intimate....Yeah....you were thinking paw paws....I bring those on a Sunday in mid June.
@emus: 🍆? (That's an eggplant emoji). The emus and their cousins the rheas think I'm making them moussaka for dinner. Won't they be surprised! Lively puzzle, the NE corner pleasingly Tuesday-Wednesday in pushback, slowed me down to a time equal to that which "DC" yesterday claimed to have solved Sunday's. Haha, DC, Dutch-Iris got you good! [See yesterday's comments, top recommended] The sub theme, which naturally takes place on ice, is the Edmonton Oiler who went down on his KNEE PADS after taking an opponent's OAR right in his LAP and lay PRONE, staring up to PERUSE the DIM faces of PACKS of his teammates, who shouted words of encouragement at him: "Way to go, ACE!" "I'm gonna RIP his ITSY aubergine off and GNAW on it!" Then he SLEPT, waking from a dream while he was being life flighted to OHARE, a dream in which CAGES of ASLAN-like lions were opened as if in the middle of a MAGIC ACT and the lions all came out in a HOP and a LEAP, and then George Takei was there, standing there with TRACES in his hands, as if he was the master and each of the lions his SERF, and Takei would call out to one, "COOL, CAT!" and to another "Take a CHILL PILL!" until he had them all organized -- and then all the lions and Takei started to dance a wild POLKA...and then the dream faded from his memory, leaving only its DIM ECHO.
@john ezra I’m sorta new to the forum, but not the puzzles. Can you explain the reference to emus in the comments? I don’t get it but I’ve seen it even in archived game posts.
@john ezra And did you do the Strands puzzle today? More ice references! Was this planned by the editors? Or a realization that today is Dec 1 and we are in the process of getting colder -- even here in sunny California.
someone recently suggested here that i make early-week puzzles more challenging for myself by solving them using only across or down clues. which i did today. but an unanticipated problem with this is that i only understand half the comments.
@Matt Perhaps if you read them ?thgir ot tfel
@Matt There's no rule that says you can't read what the down clues and answers are when you're done.
Matt, I only read the odd-numbered lines of your post. I agree with the last bit, but who is your co-constructor making the early-week across clues? ;)
Apt puzzle, as when I got up early to move my car this morning, it was only 8 degrees out. It was so cold my peach emoji almost froze off.
@Katie - As 21A would say... "Oh, MY!"
This was quite enjoyable. However, I found the SE sector quite hard to complete - GRACE NOTES and MASA were unknown to me, and I've never seen that particular usage of DEWY. I had to rely on crosses for TRACES, too. It's interesting how my native tongue influences my understanding of English. The FUNGI thing was a really good - as in, bad - pun. I got it late though, because I have a tendency to pronounce Latin words as I was taught in Polish. For us the word sounds differently: foon-ghee. Of course I know how Americans say it, but it's not the first thing that comes to mind. Our headstones don't say RIP. The most common abbreviation for Polish Catholics is ŚP, short for "świętej pamięci", literally "one who is remembered as holy/blessed". The thing is, as a graphical flourish, a cross is usually inserted between the two letters, and in effect the whole thing looks like "śtp", or at least I thought so as a kid, and for years I wondered what ś t p could be short for 🤣. Why I never asked my parents about it, I'll never know. I must have been in my teens by the time I realized my mistake 🤪
@Andrzej now see i coulda helped you with that... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uglA5-S9XXo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uglA5-S9XXo</a>
@Andrzej American mycologists almost uniformly say fun-gi with a long i. I usually assume that someone who says fun-guy is not an expert, unless they are making a very old joke.
@Andrzej In NoAm, as in most of the English-speaking world, we follow the British version of Latin phonics when using Latin loanwords like fungi. But if you study Latin formally, you get what is the new classic pronunciation. Different values for vowels and consonantal J and V. English vee-va voh-chei becomes wee-wa wo-kei. I remember a charming legal parody in which a lawyer speaking the revised version walked into court seeking an order of mahn-dah-moos (mandamus) and could not make himself understood. Pax wo-bis-koom.
EGGPLANT? Really ?? Oh, my! No wonder I get the side-eye in the produce department. 😳
@Molly in Wake Forest I didn't know the prurient impact of the eggplant emoji until today, and (once again) Wikipedia informed me of more than I wanted to know: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggplant_emoji" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggplant_emoji</a>
You know you have some unresolved previous work trauma when 1A "Office announcement" makes you think: layoffs, job has been eliminated, we just reduced 10% of our human assets, etc. Would have had to be some pretty big rebus squares, but it really was what first came to mind. Alas, 'tis life. I am the far, far better for it, as it turned out, but it sure has left some ugly scars. Fun puzzle! Only small setbacks were dock before PIER and corn before MASA... and I've not heard GRACENOTE before. Being a big fan of grace, in general, I'm now a fan of the phrase—even though I'm not musically inclined. I'm thankful for the numerous non-musical grace notes that have appeared throughout my life! Cheers to the week ahead!
@HeathieJ I *think* these are grace notes, in A Taste of Honey. After the introduction the Herb Albert makes all these little extra sounds, especially in the second verse. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGmQXuySF28" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGmQXuySF28</a> I've always thought of these as grace notes, but I'm willing to accept I'm wrong, if a real musician weighs in.
@HeathieJ Ugh, same. And at 1A, no less. What a way to start the puzzle... and the work week... Good thing we approach the puzzle (and the week!) with some grace, you and I. 😊 TIL that a GRACE NOTE is an actual thing. I'd always heard it used as a metaphor! What a lovely thing: a graceful trill. Wishing you a week filled with joy, my friend! (P.S. It just took me three hours to complete this small comment. Hello Monday! Ha!)
If there could be a better example of an unobjectionable, by the numbers Monday puzzle this would be it. Not much to comment on. I will say I just discovered that I have been using PERUSE wrong all my life—I always assumed it meant to read something leisurely and sporadically—but as I looked it up I discovered I was wrong. My only other comment is I think SEXTing involves more than “just” sending an eggplant emoji, although I get it
@SP Oh one more comment—not a nit, per se, just an observation—most hospitals do not use LATEX gloves routinely anymore because of the high prevalence of LATEX allergies—just so you know.
@SP Same on PERUSE! I only learned it correctly from an earlier puzzle I came across. So weird how that happens! And don't get me started on my feelings about what bi-weekly and bi-monthly mean. How can something that should be precise, such as when something is is going to regularly occur, mean either twice a week/month---or---every other week or month!? 🤷♀️🤯🤷♀️ (Sorry, no eggplant emoji for you!! 😆)
All these wonderful icy puns were reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s incredibly poorly RATED turn as Mr Freeze in Batman Forever, which is one of my favourite bad movies of all time. Perhaps I’ll PERUSE my movie collection and make time to rewatch it for some nostalgia, though Tim Burton’s Bat makes for a much more festive bit of popcorn… my taste in movies has MATURED but I do still love to DIGIN to my old favourites (But now I’m dreaming of a world with Shatner as Batman and George TAKEI as Robin… oh my!). Fun puzzle today, shaved a little off my PB but I did have to look up MASA, which was totally new to me, and GRACENOTE was only solved by the crosses. Tripped myself up by seeing LL Cool J and defaulting to RNB before RAP, and the Eggplant had me thinking someone was being HORNY in their SEXTS, but otherwise this was a lovely solve to start the week… Now if anyone wants to fly me out to PARIS to see the COLDFRONT come in and cover the city in a lovey layer of DEWY snow, I’m ready to HOP onto the next flight!
This puzzle was an absolute delight! Fun clues, great theme to match the weather, and I learned a few things like the small country and a music flair. It can't be easy to create a Monday-worthy puzzle that is still so much fun to solve. Warm winter hat off to you!
Oh My, that George TAKEI is one COOL CAT. And these guys here are COOL for CATs. <a href="https://youtu.be/iTVHOarV338?si=zUCB58gRWlsGkt5o" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/iTVHOarV338?si=zUCB58gRWlsGkt5o</a>
@Vaer you posted Squeeze before I could 🤣 My playlist is Squeeze on iHeart radio I saw them in Tempe back in the early 90’s. They had been on my bucket list since the early 80’s. Still love all of their music!!
@Jacqui J Never had a chance to see them, but love them. Usually music videos from the past are so bad they're good, but this one is just bad.
One of those rare days that I got all the themed clues right without any help. Nice puzzle to start off the week.
Fungi foraging puns? I prefer something a little cheesier. (Maybe some nippy cheddar, today?) But what a bright, crisp Monday puzzle!
I have little to say other than "Over too soon! Please, Miss, may I have some more?" I forgot about the bonus puzzle, so off I go to print it for dessert.
This was a good one! Took a bit longer than my usual. Some I didn't know that were obvious, some difficult ones that I surprisingly knew (anyone who has watched Madame Secretary a few times knows what the small country is)! The one that puzzled me was the hospital gloves. LATEX is very rarely used due to prevalence of allergies. Still a fun one! And learned the largest joint in the body is indeed NOT the hip as I thought it was! Stay cool y'all
@Sophia - Latex was the material previously used for hospital gloves. Until all the allergies showed up.
@jennie Though fine as a clue in and of itself, "formerly" thrown in would def help ease the frets of those who have to suffer it. It's always a sad story when something like an allergy becomes a phobia of healthcare such that their health is harmed again as a secondary effect.
Nice Monday puzzle and a cute theme. A lot of things not coming to me just from the clues, but everything fell together with working the crosses. And... was almost done when I finally caught on to the theme. That's always a nice touch. Puzzle find today - A Thursday from March 18, 1999 by Rand H. Burns. Some theme answers. SWAGMAN TUCKERBAG BILLABONG JUMBUCK All of those clued in part as a reference to "today's theme," which was... WALTZINGMATILDA (an old favorite). Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/18/1999&g=37&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/18/1999&g=37&d=A</a> ...
If my streak ends at 135, so be it. We leave at dawn for Fredberg mountain. Allegedly we'll have wifi back at the base camp Tuesday night, but it's unreliable. So we'll see...
@Steven M. Bon Voyage and safe travels.
@Steven M. Do the puzzles in order. Don’t start Wednesday until Tuesday is done. Beware what pops up on your screen. Check the archive to work on Tuesday first.
@Steven M. My enjoyment of doing these puzzles greatly increased when I stopped caring about my streak. Who knows, maybe this will be a formative experience for you, too 😃 Also, starting this year, I stopped doing these puzzles on vacations. They feel much more restful without daily routines, even pleasant ones! I had a three week break this summer in the UK, and in a few days I'll have a 10 day one, when we fly to Madeira.
How ever would I learn if I didn’t do the puzzle? I didn’t expect to learn a new countryon a Monday, let alone feel saved from a future mis-usage. As SP already noted below, using PERUSE to mean a casual reading is so widely accepted that it’s a “thing,” apparently. Today’s clue is accurate. When I’m perusing a painting at the museum, it’s a lingering look. But with documents, I’ve connected the word more with a once-over; something closer to “scan.” Though, come to think of it, a computer scan is a perfect copy, no? ALSO, I learn all sorts of things while trying to make my incorrect guesses fit (FROZENAssets, I’m talkin’ to you). When I see a banality such as ECHO right off the bat, I can get a little humfy. Ms. Binney rewarded my continuing with abundant GRACENOTEs and RIFFs of fun. any trip that includes PARIS is not wasted. Nice Monday.
@Jennifer check out an app called “world map quiz”. It’s fantastic for learning countries, capitals, and maps.
@Jennifer I liked "ECHO right off the bat". 🦇
Fun puzzle, and I liked the theme, bit I have 2 nits: MACH 1 is incorrect usage. Ernst Mach determined the speed of sound in air. In his honor it was called the MACH NUMBER. Initially I was thought to be an absolute limit, like Einstein’s speed of light. When this was demonstrated to be wrong a number was added as a means of measuring. But the speed of sound in air is still referred to as the Mach Number. The other is that oil tankers do not carry drums, they carry their cargo in enormous tanks. L
@LarryF Did the clue mention oil tankers? OIL DRUMs are by definition containers that carry oil. They may be on a cargo ship from the Middle East, a train from Tulsa or a truck from Texas. As long as it's possible, the clue is fine. As for MACH 1, NASA uses the term, and that's good enough for me. Or a crossword editor: <a href="https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/mach.html" target="_blank">https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/mach.html</a>
@LarryF To add to Steve's comment, there are oils that are used for other purposes, and on an ocean-going ship, it's likely that lubricating oil might be found in drums on board due to quantities needed. There are other types of oil that could end up being shipped in drums for later processing or bottling.
@LarryF I'll agree on OILDRUM. Yeah, you could have an oil drum on a ship from the Middle East, like an egg carton or any other container, but that's not how you move oil. If you had an oil drum on this ship, it would have something in it for running the ship, it wouldn't be for the cargo. It's just off base for a Monday-level clue. The thought of transporting oil from the Middle East in drums did make me laugh out loud, though, so that's a plus. And it would make spills a whole lot easier to clean up.
Because my furnace has not been working properly since Thanksgiving even though repairment have been here twice, and it it now 60 in my house, this was the perfect Monday puzzle!!!
Anybody else call their anti-anxiety medication a chill pill?
@ad absurdum Yes. And these days I'm buying it in 50 gallon drums.
Thanks, Hannah Binney, for this delightful Monday puzzle. TIL there is a country called NAURU. The theme was clever and, whereas some Monday puzzles are over too soon, this one had me going back to correct a few things here and there. I will have to find out at some point what these Bonus puzzles are that some of you referred to. Stay warm everyone 🎄❄️🎿
Timely theme! Here’s my “favorite” (/s) cold front coinage: WINTRY MIX. Any day now - I may have to remind myself to be a COOL CAT and take a CHILL PILL.
@Cat Lady Margaret My preferred WINTRY MIX is a tray of edibles served with hot cocoa or toddy while watching cross-country skiers on TV.
And... my late puzzle find. A Thursday from August 11, 2011 by Parker Lewis. I've never seen another one like this. Theme clues and answers: "3, 6, 11, 18, 27 ..." XSQUAREDPLUSTWO "4, 2, 4/3, 1, 4/5 ..." TWENTYOVERFIVEX "8, 1, -18, -55, -116 ..." NINEMINUSXCUBED And the 'reveals': "Any of the clues for 17-, 34- or 57-Across" SEQUENCE "In the answers to 17-, 34- and 57-Across, it was replaced in turn by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ..." VARIABLE One time math major here, but I can't imagine having any chance at figuring that one out. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/11/2011&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/11/2011&g=17&d=A</a> ...
TIL that the largest joint in the body is not the hip. (Or I missed a pun of some sort)
@Justin Huh, I never quite consciously realized that "hips" being plural-ish is not so much for the one hip bone, but the two hip joints. TIL!
This puzzle was so easy, I hit a new Monday PB. I didn't even notice the theme until after I was done. COOLBEANS.
Yay we got RIFF instead of VAMP today. And some delightful trivia.
Fun puzzle which I solved in my average Monday time. Not sure if a reminder of wintry weather ahead in NYC as December approaches is welcome. Can’t wait for spring to begin here in earnest in May. I do have a nit to pick. To my understanding, a precursor is replaced by the new iteration. If so, then the mainframe is not a precursor to the supercomputer. In fact, Control Data Corporation and Cray Research made mainframe computers which were called supercomputers. From wiki: “Mainframes and supercomputers cannot always be clearly distinguished; up until the early 1990s, many supercomputers were based on a mainframe architecture with supercomputing extensions.”
Well, shiver me timbers, this theme is timely. It'd be warmer in Nauru, but the wiki article on Nauru doesn't make it seem inviting in any other way. YMMV.
Best wishes for a good Birthday. I, too, am a December baby.
Boats can be tied up at a PIER, moor, dock, or, more broadly, a port. All unhelpfully 4-lettered locations. Must remember to fill those in last in future.
@Tim Right? I did go for PIER first, but expecting I might have to change the entry later.
@Tim PIER was the one I neglected, while confusing myself further with “quay” (pronounced “key”, but not the same as key nor cay)
@Tim you'd think the place where the most cross cultural exchanges were happening to be the place with a uniform name
@Tim I doubt you'd ever see MOOR clued as a place; in crossworld, it's a verb, albeit one often clued by [Dock], which can be a noun or a verb. PORT has been clued as the harbor in general, or the left side of the ship, or a wine, but never specifically as a synonym to "dock" or "pier." So you can safely limit your kealoa to just PIER and DOCK.
@Tim I had the same thought, though I did choose pier even while thinking dock…
Tim, KEALOA. Wait for the crosses.
@Tim Had it been seven letters, the answer might have been OTHELLO, the Moor of Venice.
Not too shabby today. One look-up, which was frustrating. I could only think of Steve for Curry, which didn't fit, and STEPH just didn't occur to me. Slightly harder I thought, for Monday.
@Jane Wheelaghan STEPH Curry is a star basketball player for the Golden State Warriors, who play in the Bay Area of California (just ask dutchiris!). His full first name is Stephen, but he pronounces it STEFF-en. My first name is not Stephen; it's Steven. When I was young, I didn't even realize there was another way to spell it. My spelling was the more common one at the time. Only later did I realize that Stephen was the more traditional spelling. But when people asked, I would always say, it's not step-hen. Of course, STEPH is usually a girls' nickname, for Stephanie.
@Jane Wheelaghan The Fs in my STEff (I mainly hear it, on TV, and rarely see the name spelt) slowed me down somewhat.
A welcome challenge for a Monday. I love it! More like this to start the week.
Under two blankets in front of my freshly cut and trimmed tree, I appreciated this theme! Although I made myself blush assuming 69A might be FLIRT— before realizing you’ve likely advanced past the flirting stage if eggplant emojis are involved. Out of practice!
What a delightful Monday puzzle -- thank you for such clever clues, Hannah! With the northeast preparing for its first big(ish) snowstorm of the season, the timing of today's puzzle was perfect. As I write this, my little city is under a winter storm "watch" but we know that it won't be that big of a deal unless it's upgraded to a winter storm "warning." Of course, the biggest question always comes from our excited children here in Maine who, on cue, are already anxiously asking, "Are we gonna have a snow day tomorrow?" Time will tell . . .❄️ Happy December, everyone -- stay warm!
@Kelly H - looks like they'll get their wish -- and you're getting more down there in Portland than we are up north! Yours will probably be wet and heavy, too. Fun!
Note to Sam (<a href="mailto:sam.corbin@nytimes.com">sam.corbin@nytimes.com</a>): I believe the term hop skip and jump was the common name for the Olympic event we now call the Triple Jump. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_jump" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_jump</a> You Learn Something Every Day Department: I now know that a rhea is a kangaroo-like animal. I previously only knew of Rhea Perlman, who is probably grateful that her parents named her as they did (although Kangaroo Perlman would be a great show business name). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Perlman" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Perlman</a> Kismet Department: first thing this morning I put a huge, meaty ham bone into a slow cooker with pre-soaked split peas, then found pea soup to be a clue/answer in both Connections and the Crossword. I must be doing something right. <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019881-split-pea-soup?unlocked_article_code=1.5U8.vXh7.6hcs_gypWYRu&smid=share-url" target="_blank">https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019881-split-pea-soup?unlocked_article_code=1.5U8.vXh7.6hcs_gypWYRu&smid=share-url</a>
@Don H A RHEA is a large bird, not a marsupial.
Perfectly Monday ☺️ and I solved it faster than my usual, but no thanks to the NE corner. I didn’t know 10D, 11D, or 12D, and sat puzzling over 19A for minutes. G _ _ _ E… could be ?? GloveE, as in the box? No, that can’t be it. GratE? No. GearE? That’s not even a word. Could this person’s name be EVA or EVe? EVy? So I went for EVA, guessed it must be a vowel in that third position in NAURU, filled in GAUGE and finally understood “DIG IN” as the sought-for synonym to “Dinner is served!” And TIL that a rhea is a flightless South American bird, but also Rhea is the name of a goddess in Greek mythology (apparently a “Titanis” or mother of the gods).
@KRB Yeah, sometimes you just have to put a guess in, and see if it pays off with a cross.
Just wanted to point out that the attack from the right about the examples chosen for the answer FLOTUS (in yesterday's puzzle) is still there, except that most of the replies have been removed. So the NYT removed many highly recommended replies, but did not remove his initial attack that the NYT only allows "liberal" things. There is some fine irony here.
@Francis Here's the wreckage: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4c52a9?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4c52a9?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a>
@Francis There were two flotus posts. The first one, which had the most replies, has been completely taken down as best I can tell. You are now commenting on and have reposted the second post. The first one and all its replies was still there at around 3 today.
@Francis If I got to pick between you and Zach from Seattle to hang with, you'd win hands down. You are extremely nice and interesting and he seems...unpleasant. That being said, I didn't think it was out of line to note that the choice of first ladies in the clue might indicate a bias. I also didn't have a problem with the clue but I know I am biased.
@Francis Weird! Even the second post I made citing the many instances where the puzzles have featured clues about Rep figures seems to be gone. Would that there were at least some rhyme or reason to these things... or consistency.
@Francis Wild. When I did the puzzle, I suspected that the FLOTUS clue might be a flashpoint, but I didn't hang around in the comments long enough to see it happen. It may be that the liberal replies were flagged by MAGA folks more than any MAGA replies were flagged by liberals. So the emus just counted flags. Maybe. Algorithms are purposely opaque whether emu-operated or not. When did the POTUS, FLOTUS, SCOTUS acronyms all start, anyway? I don't remember that usage before Obama.
@Francis That was yesterday. Today is a new day. Move on.
On a Monday, my crosswords' hope is that I be mildly amused by the theme, and this one more than satisfied my expectations. The cherry on top for me is that the revealer is also an example of the theme. And I hope that I'm not the only one who thought "Preceder of skip and jump" was going to be "____ skip and _____ jump". A little Monday misdirect. Well done!
Cool theme, is spite of frozen polar chill of December.
Happy Birthday! Sagittarius or Capricorn?
@Laura The fiery one (no surprise)!
It's Monday! We have a Midi! It's a new month! We have a Bonus Puzzle! I'm using too many!!!! I'm out of breath! I loved this puzzle...cute clues, fun fill, and fast, as in: Monday. Still, I had to break it up to do some Monday routine things (backup my laptop, water my orchid, stuff like that). I think I'll leave the bonus puzzle for when I'm at my volunteer desk. It remains to be seen whether or not that will hex the ER into having a crazy day, or if it will be one of those when I get to sit and do not much of anything for a while. Here's hoping people did their driving safely, and yesterday, and have finished their leftovers, or stored them properly, so we don't have a lot of stomach issues today. Happy solving, peeps!