Kudos to Kate! There is nothing better, in my book, than a puzzle that makes me chuckle every time I fill in a theme entry. Better than SEA AIR for whatever ails you. Hope to see more from you, Kate ☺️
[Hans Geiger?] COUNTER REVOLUTIONARY
@Lewis Pete Hegseth? PIRATE OF THE CARIBBEAN
@Lewis Maybe a cruise missile is on its way here, already?
@Lewis. [ Alexander Graham Bell] Phony?
Very clever puzzle. Star witness. Hah! I kind of wish Henry Ford had not been included in this pantheon. I've just been reading about his very vocal anti-semitism; he started a newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, in which he not only published "The International Jew" and promoted the spurious Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but also penned really vicious diatribes against Jews. I had thought his promotion of square dancing to be a charming side of his complex character, but it turns out that he hated jazz music and publicly reviled it as leading to moral decay and as a secret plot of Jewish music impresarios and producers to corrupt American morals, actively promoting square dancing as a wholesome alternative. When I asked my 93 year old father why he bought Fords over the years when he knew all this about Henry (he was a historian and knew stuff), he replied "The schmuck was long dead by the time I bought my first car, what do I care what he was? A car's a car." In 1927 Henry Ford shut down the Dearborn Independent and issued a public apology, recanting his views about Jews, under financial pressure because of slow sales resulting from the shaky rollout of the Model A and societal pressure from the effects of boycotts and international criticism. But his apology was considered insincere by the press and Jewish organizations, and boycotts continued, especially when his German sympathies resurfaced in the 1930s.
@john ezra Great summary of Henry Ford, a thoroughly despicable person. And yes, an apology is often insincere when it's offered for lifelong hatreds, but only because it's costing them money, or their legacy is at stake. Neither do I believe George Wallace's or Lee Atwater's deathbed conversions.
@john ezra Emu Evasion Manuever: Didn't show up. Maybe it was because I said that as a general rule I don't accept apologies when they are offered to make money, or to try to rescue a legacy. Maybe the emus didn't like that I named a third party Presidential candidate in 1968, and an advisor in the 1988 election, who died of a brain tumor shortly thereafter, as prime examples. Your move, emus.
@john ezra I see your point on the anti-semitism; sometimes, people make their mark on history in ways other than what they’re cancelled for. For better or for worse.
@john ezra I’m Jewish and unfortunately when I saw Henry Ford that’s the first thing that came to mind too. And glad you brought it up. But would I have excluded him from the puzzle? No. Or maybe I personally would have picked a different car manufacturer, but I don’t fault anyone who wouldn’t.
@john ezra Along similar lines, Audubon could be considered a questionable inclusion, and BIRD BRAIN could be interpreted as an apt description in the common sense of the word considering his views.
Hey, when I’m doing a crossword, I’m not demanding to be deeply moved or hyper impressed. Those things happen sometimes, but only sometimes, and that’s what makes them special. No, just give me a box that motivates me through wit, or humor, or challenge -- one that makes me feel afterward that it was worth doing, and I’m grateful. A pleasing diversion on life’s path is a gift. That’s what Kate brought me today. It was fun to guess at the theme answers with as few crosses as possible. There was that lovely riddle clue – [It’s often rapped but never spoken]. There were spots of rub that took sweet brainwork to overcome. Afterward, some observations popped out for a gratifying denouement. The answers CHEW TOY and CHOMP echoing each other. Flashing on that very fast runner upon seeing UBOLT. Learning that four of the theme answers are not only NYT answer debuts, but worthy ones: CABLE GUY, DRIVING FORCE, MOTION DETECTOR, and SEEDY CHARACTER. What a splendid outing! What a sweet detour in my day. Thank you, Kate! And congratulations on your first NYT puzzle!
@Lewis My catch of the day was U BOLT and O RING with the same clue. Just needed T NUT for the trifecta.
Was there ever a time in this forum when most posts were discussing the joy of solving or sorrow of not solving a crossword puzzle, and not examining each and every clue and entry under an electron microscope to find any inconsistency or departure from "what people actually say"? Of course some clues are more dead on than others. But they are clues, not instructions, not definitions, not hermetically sealed unchallengeable, unambiguous combinations of the clue and the answer. They are clues. Of course, some might say that's the fun of the forum--the food fights over finicky fussiness. And to an extent, I suppose that's true.
@Francis I get annoyed sometimes but honestly it is the fun of the forum. I think hearing people worry about the timing of when the Red Sea PARTED, whether or not a CRAG can be a handhold, and whether or not LOWS is crosswordese will be the highlight of my week (I don’t get out much). Actually the highlight of my week will be having just heard Andrea BOCELLI live in concert; but this will be second.
@Francis Nitpicking is enrooted here, as it should be. Don't be such an oboe about it. Have an Oreo. Or BLINI (that's the correct *Russian* plural)
@Francis I like this place when it’s about linguistic pedantry. It’s almost always kind, friendly, and respectful. The best kind of ‘fight’ is about stuff that really doesn’t matter.
Francis, Read the comments from ten years ago.
@Francis I think it’s kind of a package deal. The enjoyment of the solve is based on our own personal reactions to the words used, both in the clues and the answers. I don’t do other puzzles because I don’t trust them enough. You gotta trust a puzzle isn’t gonna be wasting your time with inaccuracies. So it’s tough to chat about the experience without specifics, and *everyone* here knows *too* much about *something.* But we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t word nerds. So the food fights over pedantic nits are part of the package, methinks.
I love this theme! But... where are the women who deserve more credit? It's so interesting that this puzzle was inspired by Emmy Noether but that no groundbreaking women made it into the final cut. Here's a few I came up with (which are not nearly as good): [Rosalind Franklin?] MOLECULAR MODEL [Ada Lovelace?] PROGRAM DIRECTOR [Grace Hopper?] COMPUTER MONITOR [Hedy Lamarr?] RADIO HEAD Anyone got more ideas?
@Ruby Hatshepsut? BEARDED LADY
@Ruby Helen Blanchard? SEWINGBEE Josephine Cochrane? DISHWASHER That's all I could come up with. ....
@Ruby Lovely ideas! Someone in another comment thread came up with the Curies as NUCLEAR FAMILY, which I really like.
@Ruby [Caroline Herschel?] COMET CHASER [Emmy Noether?] RING BEARER [Maria Goeppert Mayer?] SHELL COLLECTOR [Margaret Rossiter?] WALTZING MATILDA [Lise Meitner?] GONE FISHING [Inge Lehmann?] CORE PRINCIPAL [Olga Ladyzhenskaya?] FLUID MECHANIC [Vera Rubin?] GALAXY BRAIN [Barbara McClintock?] CORN MAIDEN
Congrats, Kate, on a marvelous NYT debut! Very clever and satisfying. You and your puzzle-loving family should be proud today. (And, yipes stripes, don't listen to the whiners!)
Puns! [smiles happily] [brings glazed donuts for Andrzej]
A dazzler of a puzzle, sparkling with puns, and fun to work, with traps and teasers throughout. Some of the fills are a bit off, but I was having such a good time waiting to see what the puns would be that all was forgiven. I can't imagine how much time and effort this construction must must represent, but it was worth it, Kate. Next please.
“The nicest thing is to open the newspapers and not to find yourself in them.” George Harrison 💞
I really enjoyed solving this one. Reading the nit-picky comments afterwards, not so much. Unfortunately after thinking about the puzzle for a while after solving, I realized none of the Original Thinkers were women. That really harshed my buzz. Maybe in the sequel?
@VaerAs an old guy of 75, I don't have much patience anymore for people who find fault. It's too easy a thing to do. Crosswords should be fun and challenging and bring pleasure.
@Vaer Like Marie Curie. One thing you can’t say about her is that she was NO BEL OF THE BALL. (I love puns. I’m terrible at making them.)
@Vaer the lack of women was the first thing I noticed, and the reason I came to the comments - glad to see I’m not the only one it bothered! But - still - congrats to her on the first puzzle.
@Vaer I agree with both of your points. Seems a weird oversight--and one the NYT editors should not have allowed--to have literally all of these original thinkers be men.
When I saw “BLINIS”, I thought “uh oh”, but hey, why not have fun with it? I was just going to get some BLINI, but you SWEETENED the deal by offering BLINIS. The old guard EDITED it to BLINI, but then the new guy came along and changed it back to BLINIS. It RUNS DEEP, this urge to pluralize words like BLINI. The caterer needed STERNO to keep the BLINI warm, but had to acquire STERNI when the menu got changed to BLINIS.
@Cat Lady Margaret a little bit like the urge to "singularize" the word BICEPS
@Cat Lady Margaret That unnecessary S tripped me up and I held off entering BLINI because the answer had to be 6 letters. It’s especially nutty because the singular is blin. BLINIS is a plural of a plural. Like saying “I have two sets of glasseses.”
@Cat Lady Margaret I like blinis and I like pierogis, too. In general I’m a fan of pancakeses and dumplingses.
En route to completing this quite fun puzzle, I had to enconfidence myself before I dared to enletter the last couple of squares. Enisle just leave it at that.
A punny theme will always be my biggest cruciverbalist turn off, so I was going to dislike the puzzle no matter what. Then there was the fill, full of unknowns for me, with clues very much not on my wavelength. When I'm doing reasonably well in a solve and only a few proper names stand between me and a gold star, I will look them up. However, when a puzzle remains largely empty after an across and down pass, and much of what I'm not getting is not only trivia, I just use reveals and puzzle check. That's what I had to resort to today. I don't regret it though as I don't care about "clean" solves of puzzles I don't enjoy doing. Also... ENROOTS? ENROOTS!? There is crosswordese, and then there's CROSSWORDESE! C'mon. I don't care if the word is in any dictionary. Surely nobody ever actually *said* that "word"? Don't quote 19th century newspapers at me. Demonstrate a live person uttered this to another or I'll remain shaken forever. *Russian* crepes are BLINI, not BLINIS. BLINIS are *American* Russian-*style* crepes. In Russian, Polish and Ukrainian (and probably other Slavic languages) BLIN is singular and BLINI (or BLINY) is the plural of the dish. Am I nitpicking? Sure. But I didn't like the puzzle so I'm not prepared to cut it any slack 🤣. You can "This 'murica and a 'murican puzzle! Go back to BLINYland before you take err jerbs" me all you want. This is my Thermopylae and I'm prepared to go all Leonidas over it 🤣 [Dies heroically]
Also, I really don't like it when constructors (or editors, because we can never know, can we) seem to be ashamed of *normally* clueing a crossword staple like OBOE, so they attempt to be "original". "Peter and the Wolf"? A duck? What the foshizzle?!
@Andrzej 'Peter and the Wolf' by Prokofiev tells a story musically, in which different animals are represented by different instruments. The duck is represented by the oboe. The work seems to have some fans in Poland, since the 2006 Oscar award for short films went to a Polish co-production of Peter and the Wolf. (BreakThru Films / Se-ma-for). In any event, I highly recommend it. I used to listen to it with my dad often when I was a kid. There's also a cool jazz version by Jimmy Smith and Oliver Nelson
@Andrzej I daresay millions of people young and old have been entertained and charmed by the orchestrated tale of Peter and the Wolf for almost 90 years and know who represents the duck. It's not an original clue.
@Andrzej I'm not sure Snoop Dogg would use foshizzle exactly like that!
@Andrzej Something you will never hear in America: "I'm not very hungry; I'll only have one BLIN." I'd be curious to hear if this is the case in other English-speaking countries. On the other hand, I do think BLINIS is a disgrace. I may have to eat some blintzes to get over it. Then a few crepes. Then a couple of naleśniki. Then a nap.
@Andrzej Came here for your grumpy rant and wasn't disappointed 😀 You and the followup commenters never fail to make me chuckle and sometimes lol (as the kids say). Don't change, Andrzej – your a Polska treasure.
This was fun....but I must admit I found the slightly snarky CHARACTERizations quite a bit more fun (and easier to solve) than the straightforward ones. (Tesla and Edison were bitter rivals who hated one another...they are writhing in their respective graves at being paired up. Yes, I checked.) And you're never, ever going to FORCE me to read/watch "Game of Thrones." Super congrats to our new constructor. Welcome! Please send another puzzle soon! We even forgive the S on BLINI.
@Mean Old Lady I will gladly share your popcorn (no, really, we will have separate bowls) and ignore GOT with you. How about Call the Midwife?
@Mean Old Lady. The putative rivalry between Edison and Tesla was largely a PR stunt aired after they both were working for General Electric. Tesla's brilliance, too, is exaggerated, another GE con. He did not, in fact, invent 3-phase power: that was Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky. Too bad if it is harder to say. I give my admiration to George Westinghouse and Charles Steinmetz.
@Mean Old Lady great username for a young Cersei! Very mean. Repent…
@Mean Old Lady Where is all the antipathy for Game of Thrones coming from? I don't care, I'm just curious.
"Oh, you're going to be MOUNTAIN GOAT, aren't you?" I said with delight to the Sir Edmond Hillary clue. (At the time, I only had MOU.) And it was, and I was charmed. I absolutely love the GOAT wordplay. This clue/answer is worth the price of admission. But ALL the themers are clever and all of the wordplay answers are deeply embedded in the language. I have a definite soft spot for BIRDBRAIN too. And AIRHEADS. What;s not to love? I found this whooshy everywhere but the middle of the bottom, where I didn't know the GOT Queen and I always forget to think of OREO as a "flavor". Also don't know my Spanish drab colors and don't remember enough of my Latin. This went by in a breeze and I had great fun coming up with the theme answers -- helped by the fact that all were so in the language and so completely fair. A very enjoyable and well-executed Sunday.
@Nancy I knew the queen's name, but I listened to the audio books, so I didn't know how to spell it!
The Cow, by Robert Louis Stevenson at a 'low' point: The friendly cow all red and white, I love with all my heart: She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple-tart. She wanders lowing here and there, And yet she cannot stray, All in the pleasant open air, The pleasant light of day; And blown by all the winds that pass And wet with all the showers, She walks among the meadow grass And eats the meadow flowers.
@Captain Kidnap Thanks for this. For some reason, I stubbornly thought that cattle "loe." And I grew up in the Texas Panhandle surrounded by cattle ! In my defence, we never ever said that cattle low except when we sang Away In the Manger.
@Captain Kidnap, Thanks! I love RLS poems.
Nice, breezy Sunday puzzle. The themers were fun to work and not too taxing. TIL that Lake Huron has the world’s largest fresh water island.
@Marshall Walthew That would be Manitoulin Island.
Fun one, Sunday appropriate. I think the first time I’ve seen a rock climbing clue, CRAG for a “rock climber’s handhold.” I was excited, as I’ve been a climber for over 30 years. Apologies in advance for the sport-specific pedantry, but this is just wrong. In the climber’s lexicon *and in the dictionary* (Merriam was the one the internet gave me), the crag is the entire cliff face. I found no dictionary entry supporting the meaning given in the clue. There is a detailed lexicon in climber speak that differentiates the many kinds of handholds and how to use them (crimp, sloper, jug, pinch, etc., too many to list). This is probably too inside baseball for a good Sunday fill, but the clue with this fill could have been made accurate by changing one word in the clue to “rock climber’s playground” or something without going too deep in the weeds for a sport that pretty much everyone from Hollywood to the news to now the NYT crossword gets wrong.
@J Mo Yeah. That was such a glaring error, well beyond what's appropriate for crossword misdirection. Today I did my first climbing in a month, having taken a break for various health reasons. It was in a gym, but it still gave me a rush. Climbing is so awesome 😃
CRAG has been clued as a climber's handhold eight times in the Times Crossword, first in 2001. It seems Will Shortz is not going to let go.
@J Mo I came to the comments to say the exact same thing. You don't even have to be a climber to know the difference. A simple google search would have declared CRAG to not be a rock climbing hold. But alas, NYT has clued CRAG like this before, so was I surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes.
Two clues about scientists that I have posters of on my walls! Hurrah!
24D is wrong. A CRAG is the rock formation that climbers visit to do their climbing. It can have one or multiple routes, but it certainly is not an individual hand hold.
@DaveMTheDude Arguably yes, 24D is wrong. But… you could counter on technicality that a “handhold” is just what your hand is holding onto, which could be a part of the crag. Is it the best clue? No. Could it pass the editors? Evidently, and somewhat reasonably, yes.
@DaveMTheDude I came here to say the same. There are many, many climbing related terms I could understand someone misapplying, but this isn't one.
@DaveMTheDude Right?? @Peter Oh c'mon. With that "logic", the Earth is a climber's handhold.
@Andrzej Well, 'earth' might be a climber's handhold, but only in a pinch.
@Rich in Atlanta Thanks again for your tip about mini donuts as a good treat for Somali people. We brought a cartoon of them and some little gourmet popcorn cup varieties over to our neighbors yesterday. It was fun! Thanks for all you do to make our world and this crossword community a better place!! ☺️
@HeathieJ Glad to hear that and so pleased with your compliment. Thanks so much. ....
Boffo puzzle! I had to struggle to overcome my attachment to a BRIT ANNie, kind of a combination of Uncle Sam and baseball Annie. My last error. But it did seem to be a little disrespectful for John James Audubon, the Wright Brothers, Gregor Mendel. But I loved DREAM TEAM, and STAR WITNESS. DRIVING FORCE was a little too easy on Ford (see John Ezra's great take down on Ford below), and I thought Newton was a little undersold as a MOTION DETECTOR. And yet, these were very entertaining entries, and I was really looking forward to solving them, a sure sign of an engaging puzzle. Nicely done, and I hope I wasn't too enthusiastic for those who hate when commenters are too gushy about puzzles and constructors.
@Francis I loved all the theme answers. Witty, but all totally relevant to the genius behind them. Who was James Audubon, if not the BIRD BRAIN of his generation. Puzzle was great - challenging but never boring. Finished right on my average - right where I like to be.
I’d imagine you can read plenty of bodice-rippers (er, waistcoat-rippers?) depicting Tesla and Edison as a literal 23A on AO3 Dot Org, if one is so inclined. I think [Pittsburgh-to-Buffalo dir.] is the first time I’ve ever confidently filled in an answer of that ilk in full without any crosses; I’ve never been to either city, and I don’t particularly have a habit of calculating random azimuths, but I suppose the relative compactness of Northeast US geography makes it easy to guess which of the eight possibilities that would fit it must be. Due to the age I was when I first started thinking about the UN with any specificity, and with apologies to Messrs. Pérez de Cuéllar, Boutros-Ghali, Ban, and Guterres, Kofi ANNAN will always be the one whom I picture whenever I hear about the UN Secretary General. (Just like John Paul II will always be the Pope, and Elizabeth II will always be the British monarch—I recall explaining something about the political system in the UK to my mother a few months ago and saying something like “In practice, the Queen is not able to just dissolve Parliament on her own without a request from the PM—er, particularly because she’s deceased—but also because…”) If BLINIS is an acceptable plural, then is 76A the proper plural of 60D?
@Nick Just knowing that western NY is north of western PA means that the directional answer has to be either NNE or NNW. Then, it was just a question of deciding whether Buffalo was west or east of Pittsburgh. Since I already had the N of BIRD BRAIN/OH NEAT, it seemed that E was the better guess.
@Nick I think Dag Hammarskjold, but that just gives away my age. L
@Nick I will never forget Kofi ANNAN. Also because an infamous Polish right wing politician, who " specialized" in foreign policy, blundered on national tv mispronouncing him as Kofana Anana 😐
@Nick I think of U Thant.... and I remember the shock of Dag Hammarskjold's death (and the question of sabotage)...
Original thinker indeed! A most impressive debut. SEEDY CHARACTER and DREAM TEAM are especially clever, and using GOAT for Greatest of All Time is brilliant. Congratulations, Kate, and thanks for the fun. Here’s one for the ladies (hi @Vaer). Ada Lovelace? FIGUREHEAD
@Anita youre getting warm. doesnt quite satisfy the metaphoric requirement, though, does it? of what group or organization is she the powerless leader? hillary climbed like (metaphor) a MOUNTAIN GOAT and is the (literal) MOUNTAIN GOAT. freud and jung were a sort of metaphoric DREAM TEAM of early psychoanalysis (until they split, of course) but were also the DREAM TEAM in the sense of their literal clinical approach. see what i mean? its hard, dagnabit!
I loved trying to guess these terrific themers. (I didn't fail. I just found 10,000 phrases that didn't fit.) The column pic and caption are potentially spoilers. Didn't bother me, but maybe Caitlin should've included a Tigger Warning.
A lovely Sunday puzzle, just right for recovering from the village Christmas dinner last night. Love the theme; simple but effective. There was enough crunch to make my brain wake up a little, but very little glue.
I think there are a couple of factual errors in this puzzle. Isn't BLINI already plural? Maybe the logic on BLINIS is that it's an Anglicized plural of a foreign word? But AUTOTUNER is flat out wrong. The product made by Antares Audio and used by Cher and T-Pain is called Auto-Tune, and even the generic name for the tool is pitch correction, not anything close to AUTOTUNER.
@el I thought BLINIS might be wrong too, but a little research suggests that it is acceptable.
@el Both entries gave me pause when I encountered them.
@el Yeah, I didn't like that either. The plural of блин (blin) is блины (blini). The plural of blini is... I dunno, more blini?
@el TIL that an AutoTuner is a tool used by car mechanics. As for its use in music production, some people call it that, so it’s a close enough entry for crosswords.
@el I loved the puns in the puzzle, but I’m here to agree — AUTOTUNER is an absolute cheat. I know no musician or engineer who would make this error (and more often than not in the Autotune-as-effect heyday, the software being used was actually Melodyne).
@el Isn't BLINI the plural of blinus?
@el I wasn't too crazy about OGLALAS,either. I don't think that should be used in the plural. A few month ago a Kiwi commenter got pretty violent about using MAORIS, calling it offensive. I wouldn't go that far, but making OGLALA plural just seems wrong.
@el “But AUTOTUNER is flat out wrong. The product made by Antares Audio and used by Cher and T-Pain is called Auto-Tune, and even the generic name for the tool is pitch correction, not anything close to AUTOTUNER.” If the actual thing is called “Auto-Tune”, how is AUTOTUNER “flat out wrong” as a crossword answer? Slapping an “er” onto the end of a common word has been standard crossword fare for decades. For instance, an answer I’ve recently come across a couple times in the archives is TRIERS, clued as something to the effect of “judges”. Providing additional context and pointing out nuance (or even highlighting a given entry’s stretchiness) is always fair game and often quite interesting…but please stop calling perfectly serviceable entries “flat out wrong” just because they take a bit of liberty with a particular term or definition!
[Giuseppe Garibaldi?] ITALIAN HERO
@The X-Phile "Guglielmo Marconi?" RADIOHEAD
One of the most fun puzzles I can remember...and I've been doing these XWDs since the 60s. Chortling at the theme answers was one thing; coming up with a new clue for OREO was another! Bravo for that! For today's ear worm, I will have Alexa play Peter and the Wolf; it's been years since I've listened to it! I totally forgot the assignment of instruments to the characters! I was held up in that corner till the very end, until OBOE hit, and then the rest fell into place quite dramatically. (Kind of appropriate, wouldn't you say?) It's almost time for lunch. Today's puzzles took me from breakfast to lunch. That's what I call a good Sunday!
A fun puzzle, even though it took me a loooong time to figure it out. I had to look up a few of the answers but I’m counting it as a win toward my streak of gold stars! (I have four in a row now haha) Started playing the crossword a couple months ago and have been really surprised at how enjoyable it is! It’s been a great confidence booster as I’ve picked up on the usual repeats (oreo, Rita Ora, ore, etc) and learning to pay attention to how a clue is written to get the right word. One day i wont have to resort to the attached article and the comment thread here for some assists, but thank you to everyone who makes this game a little community of its own!
@adamobviously Sounds like you're coming along really well for only a couple of months.
I forgot to mention yesterday that the misdirecting clue [It might go for a buck] did elicit a "D'oh! A deer!" moment. Et tu, emu.
@Lewis You led me to a puzzle find. A Tuesday from May 22, 2007 by Roger Woolff. Three fifteen letter answers in that one, and... you can probably guess the clues: DEERAFEMALEDEER DROPOFGOLDENSUN NAMEICALLMYSELF Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A</a> ...
This was a very fun puzzle, but as a rock climber, CRAG is absolutely not a “Rock Climber’s handhold,” it is a rocky outcropping on a cliff where roped climbing is often done. PLEASE consult an actual rock climber on climbing terms!!!
We in the comments also advise readers not to perform surgery based on crossword clues and answers.
Minor inaccuracy: the clue “like the Red Sea after a visit from Moses” shouldn’t be “P•••••”, because after Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, Moses raised his staff and all the enemy soldiers drowned. Hence, Moses did not leave until the sea was normal again.(See Exodus 14:26-28)
Peter, (1) You're allowed to spell out answers in the comments. (2) I think the editors are familiar with the cite. (3) [...after a visit...] does not necessarily mean "when one has left the area." After making this comment, you will know I disagree with your position. I'm still here.
@Peter It's just a hint. Not a biblical exegesis. But yeah, I noticed it felt a little off.
Lillian Gilbreth - TASKMASTER. In addition to industrial psychology and her work precursing ergonomics, she brought us such hits as the work triangle, step trash cans, and affixing light switches to the wall.
@Rory I had read Cheaper by the Dozen when I was in JHS and loved it. But just a week or so ago I read about Lillian and the many inventions she brought us after Frank's untimely death.
I held on to CODENAME for [Samuel Morse?] for far too long. Still managed to come in 7 minutes under average, as the other theme entries cracked open beautifully. What a great debut!
@Pezhead FWIW, yours is the better answer.
beginning to feel sufficiently experienced here to write: nice debut. and im also getting good with every weekend puzzle not needing to come at me knives out or beckoning me to tralfamadore. nice sunday coffee and croissant, this.
Fun Sunday! Because this is sort of my wheelhouse I am going to have to be *that guy*, however, and point out that Auto-Tune is the name of the music software in question, which would be described as a pitch correction tool - an “auto tuner” is, unfortunately, not really a thing, at least in this context. Consider my occasional nit picked!
One of those puzzles you'd wish you forget so you could do it all over again. Brava!
All summer long I have had Kenny Loggins “Return to Pooh Corner” pop in and out of my head. ‘Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do. Got a Honey Jar stuck on his nose. He came to me asking help and advice. From here, no one knows where he goes’ An album and song I haven’t listened to in ages. I can recall telling my mom as I looked at the title “We have to bring it back”. She was confused, “What? Bring what back?”. “It says ‘Return to Pooh Corner.’” I still have her Tigger pin on my hand bag.
@Alejandro Loggins and Messina! I loved their albums and that song too 😊
Fun theme - great debut, Kate Jensen! Emmy Noether is also a personal favourite. I had not thought of her as a RING MASTER - though the theorem she is best known for, the idea that a continuous symmetry has a associated conserved quantity, has a ring-like quality.
@ST My impression is that physicists and mathematicians remember her for very different aspects of her work. I didn't know if a mathematician would hear "Noether's Theorem" and think of the same theorem that a theoretical physicist would.
Lovely Sunday word romp...especially for those new to crosswords, which is so important. Great debut, Kate...keep 'em coming!
What a wonderful puzzle. This made my dark winter morning much brighter! Kudos!
Kudos on a fine debut from a fellow Badger. Well done!
SP, I have no idea where the constructor is originally from, but she hasn't been teaching at UW for long. The link in xwordinfo.com is to her former position at Minnesota!
This was a fun, breezy puzzle. So much so that I was expecting a raft of comments complaining that it was too easy. Much closer to my record than average today, but for some reason I had an unusually high number of typos. Is this the day I finally do open-keyboard surgery to remedy those sticky keys? Probably not, but it wouldn't hurt. Galosh before GAITER, moos before LOWS, seat before SLAT, but a good time overall. Thanks!
@Jack McCullough Before reading your comment, I don't think I had ever seen "galoshes" in the singular.
@Jack McCullough Moos before LOWS, yes me too. But I put in rubber before GAITER – and even thought it quite clever! Didn't hold onto it long enough to affect my time, which turned out to be a PB. Fun and breezy, indeed!
@Jack McCullough There IS a solution to sticky keys and typos..... Pen and Paper, my friend! Additonal plus: One can view the entire grid at one glance, rove hither and thither, and do it without squinting if printing on two pages on Sundays. (There have been a few "write-o's" in the form of sloppy writing, but that's on me.)
@Jack McCullough I associate GAITERs with ski boots, not shoes, but I didn't let it slow me down. Spats? Puttees?
Well... typical long Sunday workout for me, but ended up being an enjoyable solve. Just lots of nice moments as something finally dawned on me from the crosses. Seven debut answers, but only CERSEI was an unfamiliar term. That's pretty impressive. One puzzle find today was inspired by today's date. A Sunday from December 1, 1991 by Ralph G. Beaman with the title: "Historic Day." Some theme answers in that one: PEARLHARBORHI OAHUISLAND BATTLESHIPS AIRCRAFTCARRIER USSARIZONA THISISNODRILL Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/1/1991&g=3&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=12/1/1991&g=3&d=D</a> And, will mention that my father-in-law was on a battleship in Pearl Harbor on that day. I'll put my other puzzle find in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened: A Tuesday from May 22, 2007 by Roger Wolff. Three 15 letter theme answers in that one. Clue and answer for the first one: "Doe, in song" DEERAFEMALEDEER And I'll let you guess the clues for the other two theme answers; DROPOFGOLDENSUN NAMEICALLMYSELF Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A</a> ....
A crag is not a rock climbing hold, it's a rock climbing area.