For approximately 3 nanoseconds I wanted ORIGAMI to be “from the Greek”, ha.
@Cat Lady Margaret so did I and I have absolutely no excuse 😀
@Cat Lady Margaret Just like KIMONO
@Cat Lady Margaret I knew it was wrong and STILL entered it, mostly out of desperation because it was about the only fill I had in my first (and second) passes But what sweet relief it was when the crosses finally revealed a word I recognized!
I found this puzzle SAPID because I learned a new word!!
I have a moral dilemma best put to the sage, measured, and never-snarky NYT Crossword Commentariat. My situation: On Tuesday, I went to bed after completing the Wednesday puzzle. I possessed my usual self-satisfaction, smugly content my 500+ puzzle streak was intact. To my alarm, on Wednesday, I realized I had forgotten to do the Tuesday puzzle, and after I did it, I observed an ugly blue square in my archive of golden boxes. After moping around for two days and being rightfully made fun of by my wife, I ask you: Is my streak over? If it is, should I pretend it is not? On the one hand, if it’s over, my family/friends will be better off. No longer will they have to feign being impressed or even interested when I work my streak into a conversation about their cat. Likewise, I’ll feel better not having to deal with eye rolls and sarcasm every time I tell them how hard the Saturday puzzle was. I’ll also get sweet release—no longer will I carry that streak ball-and-chain; instead, I can focus on politics, current events, and other non-distressful things. On the other hand, Tuesdays are gimmes, and I did one puzzle each day. Why should I lose my streak if they were switched? Also, facts don’t matter—having been alive the last 10 years, I now know they don't exist, and I can live in my own reality. Lots of people do! But the best argument is—no one cares! Really, no one cares about my dumb streak. Even my mom is over it. What say you, Commentariat?
@Jon Unfortunately I think it's over. I went on a hike a week ago and was fully prepared to accept my streak being over if I wasn't back in time. Oddly, we had a cell signal at the top of the mountain (and Wi-Fi at base camp), so I was fine. But your wording is a little clear. When you complete today's puzzle, what does the app say? 3 days or 500+ days? I think you need to go with whatever the app says
@Jon Let it go! Keep doing puzzles because they’re enjoyable. You know you’re good at them. You don’t need the streak to tell you.
@Jon I say "Hilarious post". My personal opinion is that streaks are dead albatrosses. Nobody is really all that impressed by them, and they begin to stink after a while. (Don't ask me how a streak stinks...I could only carry the metaphor so far.)
@Jon a streak is a personal thing. I don’t think it’s an accident that our names on the chat board don’t have our steaks. Let me add some thoughts to the mix… What if you were out of radio range for a few days? What if you solve with paper and pen? And your streak is never officially recorded? What if you think the puzzle is correct and never compare to the answer key? What if you think the NYT software is wrong and not permitting a solve? What if someone looks over your shoulder and gives an answer? Or what if you do the whole thing with someone? What if there are multiple answers which work perfectly well and yet the software accepts one? What if the people on the board think the NYT official answer is wrong? I think this is all about fun…it’s not a contest for others. It’s not to get a raise at work. It’s just your personal account of how you do every day. You get to decide the level of precision you want to keep in your head and whether or not it’s a streak.
@Jon <a href="mailto:nytgames@nytimes.com">nytgames@nytimes.com</a> will change your blue square to gold if you ask.
@Jon. No one cares, it’s true. I’m at 362, 3 more for a year. Do I quit today, in 3 days, in 3000 days? But I get it, or I wouldn’t admit I know my own streak. So if it means anything, I’ll say I care. Keep your own count, we’ll ignore the miss. It was an easy Tuesday for gosh sakes. In solidarity, I’ll skip tomorrow. Okay, maybe not.
@Jon If you're asking for an answer in ethics, it's simple. Don't lie. In ethics, the generally held position oscillates between /never/ lying and only lying in extreme circs -- e.g., to hide an innocent from a would-be murderer presently able to carry out that intention if the innocent's location is disclosed. (Remember, some say you can't lie even then. Regrettably, Victim is going to be offed but your moral stance remains intact!) Calling it "pretending" doesn't make it not-lying, unless you're five. You admit your position would be false, you know it to be false, but you say no one will care. You care enough to lie. To pawn your honour for a trifling benefit falsely obtained. Even if no one else ever knows, /you know/. Now, if your query isn't about ethics, do whatever you want until you get tired or slip up, or your family stops listening. Just don't imagine you're doing something right or even tolerable. You're treating your family as less worthy than you. They don't need or deserve the truth, but you need and deserve the illusion of the lie. Is that really who you are? who you want to be?
@Jon I had a five year streak of Sundays broken by a bug in the NYT puzzle app- I moped as you for a while, but ultimately it was a liberating experience! No more nerve wracking compulsion to complete every puzzle on time!
@Jon The NYT’s official stance is surprisingly clear: a streak ends the moment an innocent cat anecdote gets contaminated by a streak-brag. By their rules, you didn’t lose your streak this week—you lost it the first time you prioritized crosswords over kittens. The blue square is just the paperwork catching up.
@Jon Your streak is over. Consider yourself free from the shackles it held you under. You were never going to catch up to the people in the thousands and this way you can begin today to try breaking your former record.
@Jon Letting go of the streak was the best thing I have ever done regarding these puzzles. It is worthless, and striving to keep it going introduces an element of obligation and stress to what should be a fun activity. Not having to flyspeck Sundays, not bothering about doing puzzles when on holiday - it's wonderfully liberating. 🔩 the streak!
@Jon This is not a moral dilemma, it’s a semantic one. To the New York Times a streak depends on whether you have a blue or gold box; but they don’t know whether you looked something up in Google or worked with your neighbor. To some their streak ends if they have to guess a letter even if they get a gold box. If you want to consider you still have a streak if you finish the puzzle at 12:01 the following night instead of 11:59, that’s your business. For myself I don’t give a rat’s patootie. My streak ends when I stop running and put my clothes on.
@Jon I saw the streak as a boulder, and I as Sisyphus, until I had a streak of more than 804 puzzles and the rock rolled back down once again. I finally decided to let it go, and I left it there. I'm with Google's A.I. on this. "Sisyphus, in Greek myth, is known for his eternal punishment in Hades: endlessly rolling a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down, symbolizing futile, repetitive, and meaningless labor (Sisyphean tasks). However, philosopher Albert Camus reinterpreted him as an absurd hero, finding meaning and even happiness in the struggle itself, by embracing the challenge rather than despairing over the lack of ultimate reward, a metaphor for finding purpose in life's inherent absurdity. "
@Jon “never snarky”? I fear you’ve dipped your toe into the wrong waters… A streak is as important as you deem it to be. I don’t care about streaks. Sometimes I get stuck and look things up, and I get a gold star. Sometimes I get stuck and let the app tell me where I went wrong, and I get a blue star. I don’t think that assisted gold star is any more valid than the assisted blue. I solve for fun, and fun alone. I would hate to have to protect a long streak. That’s the kind of pressure I’m looking to escape when I come here.
@Jon I once had more than 70 Mondays solved with no help for a nice streak and then it got busted. I survived to tell the tale.
@Jon The very fact that the streak is noted by the electronic version of the puzzle section becomes a source of stress. If you are offline for a day due to, say, travel, it's over. Why was it there to begin with? And why, if they keep track of it, does it disappear? Shouldn't we have a list of all lengths of "streaks"? (e.g. one from July 6 2014-Sept 8 2018, next Sept 9 2018-Jan 4 2020 or whatever.) Then you could compare your own, oh I was longest from 2021-2023 or something. Personally, the fact that it only lists the current one is annoying to me so I tend to ignore it.
@Jonlosing my 596 was the best thing that happened to my puzzling addiction. I still do it everyday but it’s with a renewed spirit. Let it go 🎶
@Jon Your streak is alive, it’s just not recorded by the NYT. You know it and you can tell whoever you like about it. The notion of a website monitored streak is just a bit of psychological manipulation designed to encourage you to keep coming back. Harmless manipulation perhaps, but manipulation all the same.
@Jon I could never have a long streak, even if I chose to want one. I don’t do Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. They are too easy. I don’t do Sunday because they are pretty much just time-consuming. As far as their difficulty, they aren’t as challenging as Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Perhaps it’s my ego: I choose to believe that a lot of people, meaning a significant number of people, who report lengthy streaks are not being 100% in integrity as to how they complete the puzzle. For me, it’s pretty meaningless. In a bizarre way, I enjoy it when every few weeks, that I am not able to finish a puzzle unassisted.
@Jon I was going to tell the story about when I (last) lost my streak, but there are enough stories here already, much more amusing than mine. (The short answer is, "Let it go!") Instead I'll say that this is the most amusing thread I have ever read in the Wordplay Comments section!
@Jon And another thought: The very idea of "streaks" is just a gimmick created by the evil minds of the NYTimes puzzle editorial staff to keep us addicted to these silly things. (Evidence: I feel a distinct "need" to do Wordle every day, but if I miss a day of Ken-Ken? No big deal.)
@Jon I lost mine traveling from Los Angeles to Cape Town, SA by way of Dubai due to the time shifts and I’ve never looked back. It was so freeing! Especially freeing up sloggy Sundays! And my streak was 111 which was pleasing to me.
@Jon I'd never heard of 'streaks' before trying the NYT crosswords, and I've been doing The Guardian's since about 1975. Do other US papers have streaks?
@Jon this exact thing happened to me with Wordle last week. I was close-ish to the 365-day badge. I was devastated for a moment. But now I’m relieved. I think we’ll be ok. The best part is what a funny post you wrote and your ability to be self-deprecating!
Thank you, Commentariat, for your thoughtful insights and sound advice. After careful consideration, I have arrived at the following solution to my crisis of conscience: (1) Pretend that Tuesday, December 9, never happened; (2) To that end, cover December 9 on my desk calendar in black permanent marker, so I won’t have to see that awful day laughing at me; (3) Credit 20 bonus days to my streak for “pain and suffering”; (4) If someone questions me about the validity of my streak (in light of my prior post), tell them I have no idea what they’re talking about. If they persist, tell them my account was hacked; and (5) In a strongly-worded letter, advise my mom my streak isn’t dumb. In deference to Not a Cat’s comment above, I discussed this approach with my household, and three of my four kittens and both of my dogs are on board. Unfortunately, my wife told me I have to sleep on the couch tonight.
@Jon Now that I am no longer working, streaks are simply informal mile markers of travel along the retirement highway. As well, I always do the Sunday by hand for the tactile pleasure of holding a physical puzzle and using a pencil. On a couple of occasions, I have copied my solve from paper to on-line to keep a streak going, but decided that was silly. Also, traveling/vacation has interrupted a streak from time to time. So the relevance of streaks for me is minimal.
My first gold star on a Friday!
@Wendy Woohoo! Congratulations! 🏅
CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE is just plain fun. AND THERES MORE…so *much* more to love in this puppy. And if you don’t love FONDANT, I’m not sure we can be friends. Hubby was doing okay per his last text at 11 last night. Don’t love waking up without him here, but he is in very good hands and covered with wires to keep his heart monitored. Thank you all for the kindness, prayers, and support yesterday. Just writing that makes my eyes leak a little bit. I appreciate you all. Hug ‘em if you got ‘em.
@CCNY Sending positive vibes your way.
@CCNY Keeping you and yours in my prayers.
@CCNY We'll keep y'all on our minds! Just added our neighbors--hubby suddenly behaving oddly (wife fearing Alzheimer's)...brain scan showed a mass...and --crazily enough--it's a relief! We're all pulling for one another!
@CCNY I didn't get through all the comments yesterday so I missed your post, but sending you and your hubby good vibes and best wishes!! Also, it's really good to be friends with people who don't like the same foods you do... Because then they can give you theirs. The best people are people who hate dill pickles, because they give them to me!! 😏 Maybe it's a little harder with fondant, but I'm sure you can find a way!
@CCNY We're all in your corner and looking forward to reports of progress Your being brave and positive is an important contribution and helping you both. Keep up the good work.
I’m quite sure I don’t deserve you all… Thank you. Big time.
"You want some apples?" "Nah, I don't core for them." ("What about applesauce?" "Now Mott's more like it!")
@Mike hmmm... you feeling ok today, buddy?
@Mike for a New York Times reporter the best apple sauce is someone with “in cider” information
@Mike I don’t see the a-peel of that pun.
@Mike I was going to write a pome, but I'm bad at rhyming.
@Mike Some Muesselman's daring you to come down from the TreeTop, Mike. Don't listen.
FONDANT brings back memories of a cake I use to buy in the 70's. Macy's had a bakery back then and they had a rum cake wrapped in hot pink FONDANT with the word "rum" written in script on the top. When they stopped making it, I found the bakery that made it for them. When the bakery went out of business, I looked for recipes, with no success. Once the internet came along, I resumed my search. It seems that it was based on an Austrian cake called punschtorte. I tried every recipe I could find, but none matched the perfection of the original. This cake was so good, that once, after serving it to company, there was a small piece left on the plate of one guest. When they went home, I ate it. I don't usually do things like that. The cake was that special.
@Nancy J. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I had forgotten about the bakery at Macy's, but your post evoked an instant memory of me once standing in front of the display counter!
A: Living near Fallingwater is so great! B: I kno', Wright? ___ Rilke first started the Duino Elegies, a cycle of 10 longish poems, while staying as a guest of Princes Thurn und Taxis at Duino Castle, on the Adriatic Sea in 1912. He did not complete the cycle until 1922 -- the war intervened, and Rilke, intense and sensitive to begin with, was deeply affected by the suffering and death he witnessed, and it shaped his notions of his own existence and its meaning, themes he had already begun to explore back in 1912 -- thus the poems reflected this journey through time and his evolving conceptions of humanity and of the divine; the poems were published in 1923, dedicated to the Princess. ELEGY # 10 (1st stanza) Some day, in the emergence from this fierce insight, let me sing jubilation and praise to assenting Angels. Let not a single one of the cleanly-struck hammers of my heart deny me, through a slack, or a doubtful, or a broken string. Let my streaming face make me more radiant: let my secret weeping bear flower. O, how dear you will be to me, then, Nights of anguish. Inconsolable sisters, why did I not kneel more to greet you, lose myself more in your loosened hair? We, squanderers of pain. How we gaze beyond them into duration’s sadness, to see if they have an end. Though they are nothing but our winter-suffering foliage, our dark evergreen, one of the seasons of our inner year – not only season - but place, settlement, camp, soil, dwelling.
@john ezra Thanks for taking the time to share this snippet of the Elegies. It’s about time I reread them to see how they resonate in old age.
@Deb Amlen I learned the Latin word "sapere" from the phrase "Sapere aude!" -- "Dare to know!" -- which the philosopher Immanuel Kant said was the motto of the Enlightenment. Could the same word mean both "to know" and "to taste"??? Indeed it can! I'd love to hear an intelligent philologist expound on the connection between these two meanings!
@The X-Phile Today I learned about Kant’s “Dare to know” philosophy. Love it!
@The X-Phile "Could the same word mean both "to know" and "to taste"??? Indeed it can!" Indeed it can! Think of it this way: to taste-->to sense (in general)-->to be sensible-->to be smart(er than a H. neanderthalis)-->to know. Although, when I offer you my special "Blue crabs enrobed in fondant," sapere aude has a whole 'nother meaning.
This was a brilliant crossword. And I’m grateful to the setters for turning my attention to RILKE. What a beautiful mind he seems to be. Some quotes from the poet: “Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading” “It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart” “Love consists of this: two solitudes that meet, protect and greet each other.” Rilke (1875-1925) has touched my heart.
@Petrol "It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart" Mindlessly reciting them because it was told to do so?
@Petrol I'm with you and am appalled by those who think of memorizing poems as an affliction. How is this possible?! I am of the generation that was expected/forced to memorize and recite from memory whole chunks of Shakespeare, Donne, and that crowd. (And special at my school, Hebrew poets too!) I recognize that for shy kids, this was terrible. But the reward was that you had poems alive in your head, waiting there for you to call them into being. Still a pleasure for me today.
Broken link again, again. This was my favorite kind of Friday puzzle — tough, fair, clever, fun, and mysterious. Lots of tricky clues that had me guessing until they managed to solve themselves (I take no credit). Looking forward to more from this duo!
Well this made up for my disappointment with yesterday’s puzzle. Oddly enough I completed in about the same time as yesterday’s. But it felt consistently fresh and surprising, with lots of fun entries like TINFOILHAT, ASSEENONTV, CULTSTATUS and LABPARTNER It was just one of those times when I was on the same wavelength as the constructor. I was helped immeasurably by the fact I knew CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE, by having to remind my grandson on numerous occasions to sit that way and not in his preferred posture with his legs splayed to the sides. I was also helped tremendously by the reference to RILKE, who is definitely in the upper echelon of my personal pantheon of poets. His poem Autumn Day has haunted me decades: Lord: it is time. The summer was immense. Lay your shadow on the sundials And let loose the wind in the fields. Bid the last fruits to be full; Give them yet two southerly days, Press them to fullness, and force The last sweetness into the heavy wine. Whoever has no house now will not build one Whoever is alone now will long remain so, Will stay up, read, write long letters, And wander the avenues, up and down, Restlessly, while the leaves are blowing
@Marshall Walthew But it doesn't rhyme! Joking, but I have to admit, maybe it's by cyber-osmosis from you guys, but I think I'm getting better at reading poetry. That one was about football, right?
@Marshall Walthew That’s pretty depressing.
The Griddies*, 2025 Each year volunteers work to bestow awards on the year's best puzzles. Please read this message for information on how to nominate puzzles and how to vote for them. Eric Hougland and I will coordinate the voting, hoping for a third volunteer, though! There will be two rounds of voting. In the first round, you’ll be able to vote for more than one puzzle in a category. The puzzles with the highest number of first-round votes will then move to a second round, where you'll vote for your favorite in each category. December 11 - January 8: Nominations 1/11 - 1/16: Voting on First Round 1/18 - 1/25: Voting for Second (Final) Round 2/1: Announcement of winners & runners-up CATEGORIES: Early week (M-W) Thursday Themeless F-S) Sunday NOMINATIONS You can REPLY to any message of this kind with your nominations (as many as you like in each category) and we'll gather them from there. A future announcement will also include a dedicated email for nominations, too, if you wish. Nominations should include the puzzle date and constructor. Optional: a brief statement as to why it's POY material: standout themes, clues, etc. VOTING We'll use a custom-made ballot on an outside website. The ballot is easy to use and will allow for voting on each of the four categories. We’ll provide a link when voting begins. Nominating & Voting is open to all. More details to follow. But start nominating, everyone! -- Eric Hougland -- john ezra *Name thanks to Vaer!
@john ezra That is too cool for school!
@john ezra @Eric Regardless of who wins with which puzzle in which category, thanks to the troika who will be doing the scutwork. How kind you are to give up your time for our beguilement!
@john ezra Thanks for doing this! But can we change the name? Griddies sounds too much like a a brand of frozen sliders (Get Griddies now at your local grocery! It’s sure to liven up any family barbecue!) Surely there’s a now passed away constructor we can honor with an eponym?
@john ezra In anticipation of 2025 Griddies, I kept a list of my favorites this year. I just whittled it down by a few, but it's still long. Here are the puzzles that I particularly enjoyed: SUNDAY Jan. 5 March 16 March 23 March 30 May 4 May 25 July 6 MONDAY November 17 TUESDAY Jan. 7 Sept. 9 Nov. 11 WEDNESDAY Jan. 29 Feb. 26 March 26 April 9 Aug. 27 Nov. 12 THURSDAY Jan. 2 Jan. 30 March 20 April 3 May 22 July 17 Aug. 28 Oct. 2 Oct. 16 Nov. 13 FRIDAY Jan. 10 Jan. 17 Jan. 31 Oct. 24 SATURDAY Jan. 11 Jan. 18 Feb. 1 March 22 April 12 May 10 July 19 Aug. 2 Sept. 20 Oct. 11
@john ezra: Here are some of my faves, in addition to some already in Bill’s list. Was going to write synopses but…didn’t. M-W: 7/2 Th: 6/19, 7/3 F-S: 1/25, 3/8, 6/20 Sun: 3/2, 4/6, 10/12
@john ezra Sunday, February 2: Two-For-One-Special by Derrick Niederman. Thirteen different two-letter rebus entries, in which either letter solved the clue in one direction but both letters were needed to solve the clue in the opposite direction. Example: S(LW)IM/RACHE(LW)EISZ. Brilliant construction and a fun challenge. Furthermore, the 26 rebus letters constituted a pangram. Some clever clues too, like “Your business start-up?” for NONE OF.
@john ezra Here one more of my favorites that has not yet been nominated. Sunday, October 19: Same Difference by Daniel Grinberg; Six symmetrically places circles that can be dropped in each direction and still resolve the clue. For example, [Business traveler’s convenience] solves as COMPANY CARD/COMPANY CAR and [Go downhill fast] solves as SKID/SKI by dropping the 'D'. And the six circled letters spell DROP IT. Brilliant!
@john ezra Thank you both for being so generous with your time to do this again! ☺️
"And, most important, we will inhale as much chocolate as needed in order to keep our energy up throughout the solving process." Deb, you are the best.
@Moira I finished the puzzle and read Deb’s column while eating a handful of chocolate-covered pecans. I consider this supporting evidence, and who am I to say that the chocolate *didn’t* help me finish and enjoy this crossword? 😉
Lovely moments. • That Shaw quote, which I haven’t thought about in ages. • Filling in GOAT, which tripped off yesterday’s [Pan in the butt?]. • Inner smiles at uncovering: I KNOW, RIGHT? / AS SEEN ON TV / CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE / CULT STATUS / SAPID. Such moments add beauty and joy not only to the box, but to the entire day. This was more than just a fill-in. I also loved being misdirected by [Doesn’t just talk], where I was thinking, “Yaks?” … “Gabs?” Not to mention the serendipity of a backward WAHS in the grid with SOB, clued [Waaaaah!]. Felt like a pre-holiday gift, for which I’m eminently grateful. I’m strongly hoping for more from the J&J team!
I found this a proper Friday challenge. I managed to fill the grid without lookups, even though it was full of unknowns. CRISSCROSS was easily gettable but APPLESAUCE confused me. I entered it, very hesitantly, once crosses indicated what it would be, but I don't get it. Is the only reason for the latter phrase being there that it rhymes with the former? Anyway, in Polish sitting with ones legs folded is "siedzieć po turecku," literally "sitting Turkish" (unlike English speakers, we don't use capital letters in adjectives derived from proper names). I had to guess FEDEX based just on the final X, and it was similar with SHAW and RILKE: I knew the names but not the quote or title, so I had to rely on crosses and trust myself to enter the missing letters. For a minute I wondered if there might be a Friday rebus, because the only rapper Banks I am familiar with is Azealia. I did an alphabet run for the crossing of SAPI(D) and (D)ART. "Asfalt" is the only Polish word to describe an oil-based road surface, and since I am not familiar with American ice cream types, the entry of ASPHALT was very easy for me. I don't think I've ever seen it here before though, and I've done well over 1000 NYT crossword puzzles.
@Andrzej I never heard of CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE either, maybe it’s a bit regional too. Apparently it’s from a full rhyme: Criss-cross applesauce, spiders crawling up your back, cool breeze, tight squeeze, now you've got the shivers (None of which makes any sense to me but neither do most nursery rhymes. “Ring around the rosy” apparently had to do with the Black Plague). One source said maybe APPLESAUCE because it’s like you are sitting in a bowl; but who knows?
@SP As you can probably imagine, I know no American nursery rhymes. In fact, I was never familiar with many Polish ones, either. My mom couldn't stand baby talk, shows aimed at little kids, etc. She avoided all that like the plague, so it never had a chance to rub off on me 🤣
@Andrzej Ahh the old alphabet run. ;-)
I was going back over the archives, and I ran across a Sunday puzzle about a year ago, 12/18/24. For some reason I had a couple weeks of missing ones in that time span. It was the most extraordinary puzzle. It was called "Art Heist" by David Kwong, and it was brilliant. There were 1500 comments, all saying it was the best puzzle they'd ever seen, or ever expected to see. Of course I jest. I've seen it mentioned here, usually with the adjective of "infamous", if not worse. It was a puzzle I was never going to get a gold star on (given I missed it at the time), so I was unpressured and actually *really* enjoyed it. I got out a pen and paper and had to logically go through the puzzle, and after a false start or two (or a hundred) I eventually figured it out, although it took me roughly 2400 hours. (I didn't know the clock could go so high.) Anyway, blast from the past.
@Francis Amazing puzzle. One to be savored, not clocked. Congratulations, you did it in the best possible way.
@Francis Why do you have to do this to me? But you know what, I won't be taunted for once. I'll not comment on the Art Heist puzzle. You can just read my post from that day.
@Francis you were unconsciously influenced my post here a week or two ago wherein i wrote about whether especially savory puzzles ought to be done again (and again?) like rereading great books or relistening to great music pieces. i did this to you. me.
@Francis has to hold the record for my longest Sunday time. I don’t even remember the experience so I’m certain I was traumatized.
@Francis Hated "Art Heist". Hated hated hated it. Broke my streak and took 3 weeks to complete.
Some random musings: 10D could have been my first choice, POTHOLE, which I think makes for more of a rocky road than ASPHALT. I'm sure you can stretch the meaning of asphalt to make it rocky, but it's a petroleum product, which is rolled smooth, not rocky at all. Not saying it's an invalid clue, just that my original answer seems more apt. But wait, THERE'S MORE...(AS SEEN ON TV) CRISS CROSS APPLESAUCE is what they used to call "Indian style." I'm not sure which type of Indian--Native American or Asian--was offended, but apparently someone was, and the phrase disappeared. The "applesauce" part of the name is just silly rhyme, but the "criss cross" is a minced version of "Christ's cross," so I wouldn't be surprised if Christians are now offended. Now VALENCIA is (correctly) the orange city; about two weeks ago, SEVILLE had the honor. Apparently, there are a lot of oranges in Spain. I KNOW, RIGHT? 8D: I remember Bobby Kennedy (the original one) having been quoted as saying that. I guess he just ripped it off old Bernard. Have a fun weekend, everyone.
@Steve L I always thought it was simply sitting cross-legged.
@Steve L Yes, RFK, Sr (the smart one) was where I first heard it. I don't know if he attributed it to Shaw, but I never heard him doing so. BTW, I was curious, and I just found out that Sirhan Sirhan is still alive.
@Steve L My first choice for Rocky Road component was ALMONDS. I stuck with that until I was forced to concede.
@Steve L almost every night, I bike home along a very rocky patch of road, a very beat up two blocks by my apartment. The primary ingredient on that road is, indeed, asphalt. I wish they'd lay new asphalt that's rolled smooth, but that particular asphalt is not smooth by any stretch
@Steve L When laid correctly, asphalt provides a smooth ride. But when laid by contractors in big cities who don’t give a damn, it can be a mess. Recently, my street was repaved in the rain (a big no-no) and potholes are already starting to appear. So I guess you were right after all. I also learned to sit “Indian style” with no antipathy toward Native Americans or people from India, so I don’t know what happened. “Criss cross” is fine. “Applesauce” is weird. My legs don’t turn into a puréed side dish just because I fold them inward. I think the Pork Chop lobby may be to blame.
@Steve L SEVILLE oranges are special. They are also called bitter oranges and are especially used to make marmalade. I remember that one of my college French textbooks asked: "Where are the oranges that are used to make marmalade from?" I answered "SEVILLE" and the professor said: "How do you know that?" I should have asked him how he knows it. Because he read the book?
@Steve L I grew up with “Indian-style” and I don’t feel any loyalty to it whatsoever. IMH criss-cross applesauce is perfect for littles because it’s fun to say.
@Steve L As you know, asphalt in the road-paving sense is the petroleum-derived liquid asphalt, almost always mixed with aggregate (basically, small rocks) and then steam-rolled to hopefully create a durable, smooth surface; so just to clarify (for others, I know you know this), the clue is correct and a good Friday misdirect (stretch, you might say...) @ John Ezra Surprised you didn't notice the lack of capitalization in the second word of the clue, which sent me looking for something other than the ice cream
I never heard of CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE, but I did know SAPID. I used to speak Italian really well, and I think "sapere" means "to taste" in that language as well as Latin. I never realized that it was the opposite of "insipid," so thanks, Deb. But I was thrown a bit by the clue for 54A, because my recollection is of seeing it on the front of boxes and packages, not on the side. After getting AS* and wondering what was going on, it was a slam dunk once I got ETRE and VET. Please excuse any typos. I always try to proofread, but I'm having some severe vision problems that I can only hope will get better. I can barely see what I've typed, and doing the puzzle is getting nearly impossible. Oh, the joys of aging.
@Times RitaI know what you're going through. It's tough.
@Times Rita It was "Indian style" sitting in my age. It got renamed to this cute phrase rather than "Native American style" I guess.
Didn't I happily fill in "tasty" on first pass? You bet! TIL SAPID. It was nowhere in my tangled mental mess of vocab and trivia.
Hi all! Jess Rucks here. Adrian and want to let you know what the lie is. As some of you guessed, it's #2 -- the ice cream option. I'm the monster who doesn't love ice cream. I mean, ice cream is... fine? But I'd rather have pretty much any other type of dessert if given the option. So there you have it. Cheers and TGIF!
@Jess R I've enjoyed Adrian's puzzles in the past, and I loved this Adrian-Jess collab here. Great job, with some very fresh cluing and answers! I hope you submit some more puzzles.
This was pretty straightforward for me. Any issues were confidently crossed. RILKE was novel, but finished the crosses with MONEYTREE which was also a new one but it couldn’t have been anything else at that point. I’m not sure if I would have known FONDANT in my younger days but I have a friend who went to culinary school in NYC and specializes in cakes. My favorite of her designs is her recreation of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in fondant. Also, I’ve only seen pictures of it, but she made a replica of St. Patrick’s Cathedral out of gingerbread as her school final project. Stained glass windows, spires, the works. Absolutely brilliant. Alas, she doesn’t do it anymore. It was hard to make a go of it when one sells a cake for $500, the ingredients are $600 with 50 hours oh time invested. It was truly art what she did.
Rainer Maria RILKE ranks among the greatest poets of the 20th century. His late poems ("The Sonnets to Orpheus" and "Duino Elegies" are notoriously difficult. His earlier poems, however, are very approachable and gorgeous. Here's the opening stanza of Alone in the World" (translated by A.S. Kidder): I am much too alone in this world, yet not alone enough to truly consecrate the hour. I am much too small in this world, yet not small enough to be to you just object and thing, dark and smart. I want my free will and want it accompanying the path which leads to action; and want during times that beg questions, where something is up, to be among those in the know, or else be alone.
@The X-Phile I can clearly see how his work inspired the lyrics of Doja Cat's "Need to know": <a href="https://genius.com/Doja-cat-need-to-know-lyrics" target="_blank">https://genius.com/Doja-cat-need-to-know-lyrics</a>
@The X-Phile indeed, a good "gateway drug" to Rilke would be Letters to a Young Poet.
[Era before shoes were invented] TIL why they changed their name from FedOx. Fun puzzle. RAW FOOT AGE
@ad absurdum The Heyday of The Three Stooges? The Hot FOOT AGE
After what was widely acknowledged as a misplaced Tuesday puzzle yesterday, many were hoping (fearing?) we might get our comeuppance today... Alas, this "Friday" puzzle was merely 2 minutes more difficult than yesterday's. Re 26D, unfortunately, visitors to the USA may soon need to give up all their privacy for a tourist VISA: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/travel/social-media-tourists-visa-border-patrol.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8E8.BOIi.lHnTllSD0x6T&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/travel/social-media-tourists-visa-border-patrol.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8E8.BOIi.lHnTllSD0x6T&smid=url-share</a>
@Bill in Yokohama Not that I was coming down to Buffalo to shop any time soon, but you may now expect me shortly after the sun cools and all life on earth ceases. Don't wait up!
@Bill in Yokohama 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 Thanks for posting this. Careful you don't become labelled as a firebrand.
@Bill in Yokohama I use social media very little, and most of it consists of birthday messages to family, old friends and colleagues, and responding to their fund-raising for charities - but I won't be applying for an ESTA right now.
@Bill in Yokohama I abandoned any plans to travel to the US as soon as the orange ogre won the election. I don't know if I'll ever be able to reconsider. It's sad on so many levels and for so many reasons... Also, as somebody who does not use any social media - would your visa people even believe that?
You had me with "Conspiracy theorist's accessory." loved it...and the remaining clues. Many thanks Adrian and Jess for a great Friday puzzle!
One more puzzle find. A Monday from February 4, 2019 by Ali Gascoigne. Thought this was clever. Four theme answers, straightforwardly clued: TINFOILHAT OUTINFORCE YOUREINFORITNOW BRAINFOODS And then the 'reveal': "Dirt ... or what 17-, 25-, 36- and 48-Across all have?" INSIDEINFO Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/4/2019&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/4/2019&g=17&d=A</a> ....
Thank you, Jess and Adrian for a fresh and inventive grid! Chewy enough to be satisfying, but not too much of a [Rocky Road]. As for the two truths and a lie challenge, my guess is that one of you does not find ice cream to be entirely SAPID.
I loved this puzzle for its variety, from the TINFOIL HAT to Rainer Maria and (p)SHAW, and all the TV ACTS and vaudeville SKITS—what a trip! It was never boring and just enough challenge to make a Friday puzzle fun. Thank you, Adrian and Jess. I suspect you had as much fun constructing it as I did solving it. Nice collaboration.
@dutchiris It was LIVE SET not LIVE ACT although the latter was my first guess. But you could have a TV ACT and certainly a TV SET. And I was hoping for a. Vaudeville PRAT
This puzzle made me smile, so thanks for that gift, Jess and Adrian ! And speaking of gifts, you gave me the perfect gift-giving idea for the conspiracy theorists in my family. Happy Holidays ! I'm a retired elementary school teacher, so CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE brought back great memories. I miss those kids ! Finally, today I learned a new-to-me word, SAPID. So pleased was this lifelong learner with the word, he used it for his Wordle start word. (don't recommend)
@Jim Au contraire! I often use words like SAPID as my Wordle opener. Four commoners -- ADIS -- and a rarer wild card like P or M.
I found this a delightful puzzle. Others have already pointed out some of the enjoyable clues. Thanks, Adrian and Jess. I also found this an easy Friday. I see I am not alone: Global Stats Difficulty Easy Median Solve Time 12:46 Median Solver 24% faster ⚡80% of users solved faster than their Friday average. 55% solved much faster (>20%) than their Friday average. 🐢20% of users solved slower than their Friday average. 8% solved much slower (>20%) than their Friday average.
@Barry Ancona I loved this puzzle! I got my personal best for a Friday... 16:28.
@Barry Ancona I wonder how they weigh these stats! I sometimes leave the puzzle open and do other things while solving. I don’t have my timer on but I know the clock still runs in the background.
@Barry Ancona I know that some here find repetitions irksome, but I would enjoy hearing the reasons you found this puzzle delightful.
I suppose when I think of a perfect puzzle, this would be a good example, in my opinion! Excellent cluing, fairly straightforward, very few proper names, and most of all fun! Happy Friday everyone!!!!!
So.....all you guys who have been complaining about the "too-easy" puzzles in recent days: I hope you're happy. I'd certainly like to meet the pair who put this doozy together; we could talk about how MANGO TREES was a nice fit for 29D...maybe have a little snicker about all the people who wanted SEVILLE oranges, or how ORIGAMI actually fit at 40D even if it isn't Greek... While you two stay seated (CRISS-CROSS APPLE SAUCE!!) I could describe how I seriously resisted putting in SAPID even though I know it's a word. DART doesn't sound very "footbally."
@Mean Old Lady origami got me as well, despite a conversation in my head about “Why would a Japanese word have a Greek origin?”
@Mean Old Lady Cat Lady Margaret also wanted Origami briefly. And I actually heard a sportdcaster use DARTs to describe well-aimed passes last night. He was talking about Phillip Rivers who is coming out of retirement to play this weekend.
@Mean Old Lady Weird - I thought this one was really easy aside from the southwest - perhaps having a kid helps with Disney and sitting styles.
This was one of those times when I learned a whole new word when I filled in the very last square, which was an educated guess. The guess was the [P] added to the INS in 53A. [P]INS means “saves, as a digital location”? OK, I guess I can see it in retrospect—you “pin” a particular post at the top of your feed in Threads or Bluesky, so it’s the first thing other people see when they go to your page. It make more sense than [B]INS, [F]INS, [G]INS, [S]INS . . . So that finished my 44D entry, S A [-] I D. SA[P]ID for “Pleasing to the palate”? Never heard of it. But what’s the worst thing that could happen if I just put in the “P”? The admonition to “keep trying”? I have seen that plenty of times and survived/ Unexpectedly, entering the “P” immediately set off the bells & whistles. Learning a new vocabulary word at my age gives me some degree of satisfaction.
@RDJ 53A - I think digital location is meant literally, i.e. dropping a pin on a location in Google Maps. Clever clue, had me scratching my head!
@RDJ It's dropping a pin on a map. Nothing to do with saving posts, it's simply a location you save or share on a digital map.
@Deb Amlen Scintillating wit and wisdom in your intro today! Thanks, as always, for your cheerful encouragement. THANKS for years of wordplay. You leave large columns to fill.
This one didn't seem *too* tough. Well below my Friday average but not a PB. Never heard CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE in my life that I can recall. But CRISSCROSS seemed obvious enough and with crosses (pun intended) the rhyme mostly filled itself in. I can never remember whether the 2010 Jobs announcement is IPAD OR IPOD lol. And TIL a new (to me) word SAPID. Enjoyed it!
@Kenny It could've been IMAC, too, but I don't know when that was introduced.
Last night was easy bad. Tonight was easy good! No idea exactly how that works, but I guarantee I’m not the only one who feels it.
@Striker I get it. Some puzzles are easy and boring and some are easy and still delightful and surprising. This one was at worst the latter; although I don’t think this was anywhere near as mismatched for a Friday as yesterday’s was for a Thursday.
@Striker I found yesterday's puzzle's difficulty a joke - it was a Tuesday, to me. This, however, seemed like the perfect Friday, and I solved it a bit slower than my Friday average, actually. I see how that could have been because of my being Polish though. The APPLESAUCE thing confused me for the longest time 🤣, and things like DART were completely alien.
I’ve watched a lot of cooking videos from Italia Squisita, so ‘sapidita’ was somewhat familiar to me. It was still the last clue I filled in though. Very fun puzzle and a decent challenge for a Friday.
@David Ramos my last, too. and as i filled it i thought: everyones gonna whine about sapid...no one talks like that...no one uses that word...ever!...waa waa waa... and then everyone else is gonna respond: its a word! here it is in the dictionary! http: etc etc ... so the fill is glorious! and all that made me smile.
When I saw the clue "One way to sit", I thought the answer might be "pat" or "tight". When I saw how many letters it had, my first thought was CRISCROSS APPLESAUCE. And when I saw that it fit and the crossing S was in the right place, I confidently put it in. My first answer in today's puzzle! When I was a kid, we didn't sit like that; we sat "Indian style". A brief moment of silence for that phrase, please.
@The X-Phile I wonder if this is hypercorrection at work. Did "Indian" here originate as a reference to America's aboriginals or to the natives of the Indian subcontinent?
@The X-Phile PS And even if it did begin as a reference to Amerindians, it is in no way denigrating as far as I can see Why delist it?
CRISS-CROSS APPLESAUCE is not new around here. Kate Hawkins August 16, 2024 puzzle clued SIT with [Something to do "criss-cross applesauce"] That's where I learned it. We used to sit cross-legged.
Robert Frost: "Poetry is what gets lost in translation." I agree with Frost, but with reservations: so much depends on the translator, but if the only way I can have a poem is in translation, then I'll take it.
A good Friday puzzle maybe on the gentle side but that is ok. Plenty of tricky clues in the puzzle to qualify for a Friday. Like a few others mentioned I have never heard the word SAPID. I looked it up and it makes sense. Now to remember to use it in a sentence… 😂
Great puzzle, perfect for a Friday with sparkling wit and crunchy but gettable clues if one follows Deb's sage advice (we'll miss it when she's gone!). And could two constructors be any nicer? Collaborative, elementary educators, Minnesota...I'm guessing the ice cream affinity is the "lie." Maybe lactose intolerance or vegan? Thanks Jess and Adrian!
Thanks to having watched the hilarious baking show Nailed It, I got FONDANT right away.
Just popping back in to say I really enjoyed this puzzle, so thank you Jess and Adrian for bringing it to us. So many things I enjoyed, terrific clues and clever misdirects . . . Especially loved CRISS CROSS APPLESAUCE. I don’t think it was around when I was little but I remember my daughters learning it for kindergarten Circle Time. My last spot to fill was at SEN, which I got from the crosses but didn’t understand until Deb explained it 🤦🏼♀️ Thanks to the whole team for a puzzle that made me think and made me smile. 😊
A new Friday best! And 2m faster than my Thursday best. But, judging from other comments, I am not the only solver who sprinted through this puzzle. So maybe I'll save that bottle of champagne for a more hard-won victory! DIPLOMA is one of my favorite word origins to share with people. One can almost imagine an ambassador presenting their (folded) credentials at the palace gate, and being called a "diplomat" in jest.
@David. Also a Friday PB for me (one day after a Thursday PB).
This puzzle was a mixed bag for me. Lots of gimmes (TINFOIL HAT, VALENCIA, FONDANT), lots of whu-huhs (T STOP, RILKE, SAPID). In other words, a perfectly fair Friday.
@Heidi And I learned about the FedEx arrow. Bonus!
@Heidi im glad TINFOILHAT was a gimme for you. for me it fell fairly late and only after i put mine on to quiet the throng of voices in my head from the mother ship.
After my first pass, I was at the bottom of the puzzle before finding something to fill. Somehow it came together though in under average time. Never say never...
Very easy for a Friday. On the other hand I have a love-hate relationship with Connections. 🤪
@Josephine Connections is one of the very few thing that causes me to yell at my phone and the next day I kiss it. Weird.
I feel like there was a missed opportunity to connect the two long answers in the SE. AS SEEN ON TV, as a bit of ad-speak, and that line from classic Ronco (or was it K-Tel) commercials: "But wait......THERE'S MORE!!!" "Act now and get the 'Cap Snaffler! Snaffles caps, just like that!"
@The X-Phile I remember it in ads for GINSU KNIVES. Or was it the immortal POPIEL POCKET FISHERMAN?