IMO the revealer is confusing -- I was trying to make ends work, as in "cover ends" or "story ends". Then I tried "book cover / story ends". I get what it's trying to say (put BOOK at both ENDS of the highlighted lines, each half separate) but the phrasing doesn't work (I put this more in the editors than the constructor though.) Also the clue for 35D sounded like a "calm down!" rather than "bye", I think because of the exclamation point. It was hard to let go of that, lol.
@Isabeau I had the same feeling and thought it was just me, Glad to see my brain is not completely mush yet
@Isabeau Also agree on “Take it easy!” Maybe it is a farewell but not one that comes to my mind.
@Isabeau agree, very poorly worded
@Isabeau I'm with you on both things.
@Isabeau agree about the revealer..
So it turns out UM HI is not, in fact, UH HI, and we never got the first SHARTPHONE.
@Joel the s h a r t phone was a short-lived innovation since the intended niche buyer could seldom afford the extra expense of protective add-ons. (i apologize in advance for any appearance of emu-avoidant-reworkings of this response.)
Not a fan. The revealer was very unclear, I was mentally trying to get ENDS to work with the clues, rather than BOOK. I did better then my Tuesday average, but as others suggested, this seemed more complicated than a typical Tuesday. Maybe the clueing just wasn't clear enough today.
@Dave K. Right? I did the same. That had to be one of the most awkwardly worded revealers i have ever seen in a NYT crossword puzzle.
@Dave K. Completely different to me. I thought bookends being plural meant book at both ends. Did the double word clue areas first and then found the revealer to be helpful with each theme entry. Guess it comes down to literal or figurative interpretation of bookends and given it’s a puzzle the figurative one worked out immediately with the first theme answer so…
@Dave K. I don't understand why so many are complaining about this puzzle and its revealer. A little bit of a challenge on Tuesday and people are losing their stuff. It's a PUZZLE! I for one enjoyed it and felt a sense of accomplishment for figuring out the (probably deliberately) "awkwardly worded" revealer. Thanks for the Tuesday Test, Jason!
Hmmm… I’m of two minds about this puzzle. First of all, anyone who was complaining of yesterday being chewy for a Monday is really not going to be happy today. Frankly I was feeling like I was doing an end of week puzzle with the top middle and right—PROGROCK just isn’t in my vocabulary, or BRAH though I’ve seen it once or twice, I had SATINS instead of SHEENS; and for some reason PAVES and GEEKY just didn’t come to my mind initially. And appreciate the hint on NEYO but I was going for NEEO or NEOO and the theme entry wasn’t coming to me for a cross. (I’m not opposed to rappers but I’m never going to get them without crosses). A lot of other crunchy entrees elsewhere like ASCII and UMHI and RAISINET and AKIRA crossing… Then there’s the theme, which really has me on the fence. I love the idea and the theme entries were very clever. But somehow the revealer just wasn’t clear to me. Probably just me, but I kept thinking the ENDS were involved some other way. Or we were splitting the book, or maybe the B and K of the book were involved (especially with BAG CHECK). I haven’t felt so dense about a theme in a long time. Finally it all clicked. And it really was a very clever theme. And I do like a challenge, Tuesday or not. It just felt very forced, for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on . Curious to see if others felt this way, or this was just one of those days my brain was just on a completely different wavelength than the constructor. Maybe I just need an EGOMASSAGE.
@SP The revealer was a mess, one of the worst ones I've ever seen here. The clues were too opaque for Tuesday, and I found the fill weird. I didn't like this, at all.
@SP For me, the revealer took a few reads, but then it made perfect sense. I too wanted ENDS in there somehow, until the bulb lit and I realized BOOK went on both ENDS.
@SP I thought it was a relatively difficult Tuesday. While ASCII and the PROG ROCK BANDs Yes and Genesis are gimmes to GEEKY Boomer techies like me, they are likely not to many others. Take it easy! (or SEE YA! if you prefer).
Was that a Wednesdayish Tuesday, or am I just tired? Stumbled here and there but got it done, and then took a while to decode the revealer. Can't judge a BOOK by its COVER. And so my STORY ENDS. Thanks, Jason.
@Barry Ancona I agree, felt like a Wednesday puzzle. A bit too many chewy clues for me.
@Barry Ancona I didn’t have any trouble with landing the puzzle on the Tuesday runway (thought it was pretty fresh), but the revealer certainly stumped me.
@Barry Ancona It definitely was hard for a Tuesday. The convoluted, misleading revealer irked me, and there was something intangibly unpleasant about the clues and fill.
@Barry Ancona I'm so glad you said that! I found it tricky, but probably for different reasons from most here. For instance, RAISINET of course, the hockey, and I say BAG drop off. I'm not trying to work out the theme. All ok though, in the end,
@Barry Ancona I was maybe 10% faster than with the typical Tuesday (if you exclude the time I spent making sense of the convoluted revealer).
"Want to edit an early edition of my book?" "Oooh, that's right up my galley!" ("Wait, why is this draft so long?" "There's no page like tome!")
@Mike I'd be willing to cover your tracts. Just say the word.
@Mike Now I see why you're known as the Wizard of Aahs.
@Mike "page like tome"?
@Mike I edited a book about whisky, it was about 60 percent proof reading
I liked it. And getting BRAH, SEE YA, UM HI, and GOOGLEABLE made me feel kinda less old. Hubby is finally home. With a pound of pills to take twice daily for…ever..? But he’s home. And I think I am breathing for the first time in a week. Thank you all for your kindness, prayers, vibes and support. Truly.
@CCNY So glad to hear this positive news. Best wishes for him and strength for you to help him in his recovery. As for taking pills "for...ever...?", when you can breathe again, make sure you list all those medications and understand what they're for. These days, it's just good sense to follow up on prescriptions after a hospital discharge and make sure that what they gave your husband is what he thought they were giving him and what they meant to give him. Go to the pharmacy with the list, make an appointment if you have to, and sit down to have a cozy chat about drug interactions, side effects, and next follow-up. Good luck and good health!
@CCNY I'm so happy and relieved that you have your hubby back at home with you where he belongs. It's also wonderful to have you back here now that you can breathe easier. May things just get better and better for the two of you from this moment on.
@CCNY Very good news indeed! I don't take a lot of pills, but I find that a container with compartments for each day of the week helps me to remember and to know that I did take the meds. Here are some suggestions, and a pharmacist might give you some guidance. Some of these seem unnecessarily fancy. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-pill-boxes" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-pill-boxes</a>/
@CCNY Delighted to hear that!
Count me among those who had “satins” down first. I also didn’t care for the “um hi” “oh gee” “we care” word mash fill
@Mango I would have tried "satins" but that's a fabric, not a finish (which is admittedly glossy). Agreed on the aptly described word mash, and not only here. There's been an ever-increasing amount of that in recent years.
In my BOOK, the RAISINET clue was fun! The END. (I’m being terse bc the emus ate my witty composition of yesterday, entitled “Ode to a term limit”). (just as well probably.)
@Cat Lady Margaret Now I'm really disappointed! I'd love to see the Ode.
@Cat Lady Margaret I had to run the alphabet to get the first letter for RAISINET. I'm now on concussion protocol for the slap I applied to my forehead. I really enjoyed OHGEE directly under the O.G. smartphone.
@Cat Lady Margaret Darn. I would have enjoyed that ode ...
I found the wording of 71 across more confusing than clever as a clue to the theme. It wasn't necessary or helpful to get the theme to solve the puzzle.
@MEM The "revealer" was the most confusing thing in this overly hard Tuesday. Very poorly written, and actually misleading, for me.
I found this too difficult for Tuesday. I still don't get a few things, perhaps because I'm not a native speaker of English. Pray tell what a RAISINET is, and what its clue means (One in a box at the theater?). I'm completely in the dark here. Also, I know what FAIR PLAY means, but I can't for the life of me figure out why it's clued as it is ("Turnabout, they say"). That one especially interests me, as I did not get the clue, and having entered EXCOn for Mike from "Breaking Bad" I had issues in that area (I've never watched BB, and even though I've seen and liked "Better Call Saul," I don't remember the back stories of all the many characters). I kept staring at FAIRnLAY in confusion, but not understanding the clue and being happy with EXCOn I didn't know what was wrong. Having the mysterious RAISINET nearby primed me to accept weird words... The revealer was so awkwardly worded I had no idea what was going on without checking the column. Having read it I sort of get it but I still find it convoluted for Tuesday 🤷🏽
@Andrzej a Raisinet is a type of candy typically sold in theaters in the US. I had to look at the answer myself because I had no idea what it was.
@Andrzej There's an American saying "Turnabout is fair play." It's such a fundamental human concept, though, I would have to think there are similar sayings throughout the world.
@Andrzej from google AI: "Turnabout is fair play" first appeared in print around 1755, in The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Capt. Dudley Bradstreet, originating from British/Irish contexts, meaning it's fair for someone to do to you what you do to them, often in games or situations of tit-for-tat justice.
Thank you for the replies. @Kris H Right. No wonder I was confused! @Francis Not only don't we have such a saying - we say the exact opposite, inspired by Jesus and the New Testament: "Nie czyń drugiemu co tobie niemiłe," "Don't do unto others what you would not have them do unto you." Of course, Polish people are often mean, envious and jealous, so they gladly do nasty things to one another, usually unprovoked (and of course they generally think they are the world's best Christians). I didn't know what "turnabout" meant, even... @Matt Did you seriously just quote Google AI at me?
@Andrzej The turnabout phrase is definitely American (maybe not in origin, but in today's usage for sure), but I can't say I've ever heard the word "turnabout" itself in the UK, so I was equally confused. We use "turnaround" in a sporting sense, for a comeback (e.g. "that second half was quite the turnaround!"), but that doesn't seem to be the same meaning at all. Like the Poles, our phrases are all biblical - either "an eye for an eye" if you think retaliation is in order, or "turn the other cheek" if you think you think better of it.
@Andrzej It would be convoluted for any day of the week. It simply had too many words and didn't make sense.
Terrible revealer. As written, it means that ENDS is placed before and after the respective halves of the other entries. To make it work, that clue should be for 1A and should start "With 71-Across" etc. This fail is on the editors.
@Belial easy fix if it said “… or where 1-Across can be placed with these clues to make new phrases”
@Belial Before you put the label "fail" on the editors, you might want to reread the clue. It took me a couple of reads before it made sense, because it's long and needs parsing. First part of 71A: After 1A, shelf accessory -> BOOKENDS. Ok that makes sense. Second part of 71A: what can be placed around the halves of the theme answers? The word BOOK at the ENDS. So BOOK before the first word and BOOK after the second word, and voilà, you've got new words or phrases that make sense. Putting ENDS at the ends doesn't make any sense, what is the word BOOK there for?
@Belial I didn't get it either, so as it wasn't needed to solve the puzzle I just ploughed through it and then read the article for an explanation! Even then some of the phrases were unfamiliar (BAG, FAIR, SMART).
A tricky Tuesday for me, with an unusual amount of typing, erasing, and retyping in the upper right quadrant and center. But I take that as a sign of interesting fill. Also, much trial and error trying to understand and apply the revealer clue before finally deciphering the theme. But once I did, I was quite impressed with it. I rather enjoyed the extra time it took to solve. I also had fun acknowledging that which I only know because of doing the NYT xwords, things like EWER, SKIFF, c-suite types, and Breaking Bad EX-COP (though I first went with EXCOn.) Mr. Reich, we're lucky you persisted. The theme is admirable – and when a Tuesday puzzle takes longer to solve and causes some head-scratching, that's not a bad thing! Thank you!
@sotto voce Agreement all around. Reading your first paragraph, I had this hilarious mental image of you filling in a cross word on paper using a manual typewriter. ...Ah...you...you aren't doing that, are you?
I had to stop reading the comments about halfway through. I get it and everyone has a right to say what they want, no begruding, but I can't take anymore negativity in the world so I have to manage what I take in. There's just so much and it's overwhelming. But I still wanted to pitch in that I personally enjoyed the puzzle. Particularly enjoyed the clues for LIAR and RAISINET. Thought those were pretty funny. While I agree that the revealer was a little confusing, after I read through it a couple times, I understood it and then I thought it was really clever. Still, the main thing I wanted to say is that without phone books, how do we know if we're somebody now? How do we know if we've made it!? 🤣 <a href="https://youtu.be/-7aIf1YnbbU?si=nL2p-8b_IgrTnXPS" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/-7aIf1YnbbU?si=nL2p-8b_IgrTnXPS</a>
@HeathieJ As a west coaster, I face the same dilemma. I’m late to the game and reluctant to wade through 200-300 comments and then further reluctant to comment for fear of being repetitive. But, I think hard work deserves a little encouragement and try to post something personal about the puzzle by way of appreciation.
@HeathieJ I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too? Then there’s a pair of us! Well, Emily, we'll always(?) have EGO surfing. But, you're right, it's not the same thing.
@HeathieJ I’m with you (as usual). I seldom read more than the first few comments and may go a little further only if I’m looking for someone to mention some fill in stuck on. And when I happen to read a curmudgeonly comment I SO want to respond with “If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.” Thumper was right about that, but I think the curmudgeons would just be mean to me 🤣🤪😳
Very bookish, and not only is the puzzle book-ended, but the elegant symmetry and layout make it even more impressive. Brahs, huh. Bruh I've heard, Bro I've heard, Brahs is news to me, like what a bro would wear if he were in drag. "Bruh can you hook my brah in the back there? Dude just do it. I'm gonna be so fleek at the kegger." Yeah, prog rock. I spun "2112" (Rush) recently for the first time in 40 years and stunningly remembered every song, every lyric. But it didn't hold up for me. It sounded a little silly in an overserious kind of way. Nevertheless I belted out the songs and even stood up at one point and played some geeky air guitar. Did I also mime kneeling and bending my head so an imaginary maiden could pour a ewer of icy water over me while all the rats of m'lord's fief looked on in envy, until I sprung up and sang We are the priests, of the temples of Syrinx Our great computers fill the hallowed halls We are the priests, of the temples of Syrinx All the gifts of life are held within our walls --you bet I did!
@john ezra If this old fart knows BRAH, it must not be too obscure.
@john ezra One of the other times BRAH appeared in the puzzle, this is the 5th time, there was discussion that it was used in Hawai and on the West Coast. Now this was back in pandemic lock down times and one of the shows I was binge watching was the Hawaii 50 reboot*. Don't judge, it was winter, there was beautiful scenery, and I spent some of the time trying to figure why this was a bad show. Anyways, I digress. But sure enough a couple of days after BRAH is in the puzzle, someone on the show says it. I've also heard Jason Momoa use it. *See also the Magnum PI reboot.
@john ezra I never did get Rush back in the day. It seemed corny to me at the time, and as you said, over serious. I think it was a guy thing, but maybe that's just me.
@john ezra Re the nominees I've been watching what's been nominated and somehow it seems as if there have been so many already, there's nothing left to choose. :) Also, our NY Nancy, who said she was keeping a list hasn't been back to post since your announcements have been up. I hope she checks in again soon, so we can get hers.
@john ezra Hey! This was my first year regularly filling out the NYT crossword, and I would love to see a list of puzzles of the year. Where can I find these nominations?
@john ezra -- Re POY nominations: @Vaer says nominations are now open and that I should send mine to you. I've been keeping a running list of puzzles I loved. They're in the order in which they appeared and the order does not imply favorites. I'd be happy if any one of them won. Dan Caprera -- Thursday 5/8/25 -- BUTT OUT David J. Kahn -- Thursday 5/22/25 "Money Changes Everything" Joel Woodford -- Thursday 8/28/25 -- (Spoonerisms in the clues: "Recently dated" = "Decently rated") Freddie Cheng -- Thursday 10/9/25 -- ALL THUMBS Alexander Leibeskind -- Thursday 11/27/25 -- SQUARE THE CIRCLE rebus ############ You can see how much I love Thursday trickery!!!! They're all Thursday puzzles!!!! I have one Sunday on my list. I can't remember it, exactly, but I liked it enough to include it: Derrick Neiderman -- Sunday 2/2/25 Best wishes, Nancy
Never heard of Progrock, don’t like BRAH, felt like a Wednesday. Got a little too tricky
@Megan "Never heard of Progrock" — You didn't miss much.
@Eric Hougland Hey, Roundabout is a pretty good car radio song. But I never heard the term PROG ROCK until puzzles. And not sure I would put Genesis and Yes in the same category.
@Megan I started with Glamrock, but it didn't work.
@Jim Or to Procol Harum, Gentle Giant, ELP, and definitely early Genisis?
@Megan PROG ROCK = progressive rock, very much a thing. And @Vaer You need to listen to early Genesis, when Peter Gabriel was running the show. “A Trick of the Tail”, anyone?
Poor ESCHER, ironically lost in all the comments about confusing construction.
Okay, I'll come to the defense of both Jason and editors - contrary to all the most popular comments, I found this a perfectly placed Tuesday, and agree with XWStats's "Average" difficulty rating. Yes, some of the fill was a bit clunky (BRAH, UMHI) but most early week puzzles have such clunk. And yes, the revealer was awkwardly worded and confusing - but like most early week themes, it wasn't necessary to complete the puzzle/did not aid in solving. Overall, I found this a very Tuesday Tuesday.
@Bill in Yokohama Upon completion of the puzzle, I noted that my time was almost exactly my Tuesday average.
Count me among those who thought the theme was clever. The wording of the revealer was awkward, but that's because it was carrying a lot of information. The word "BOOK" BOOK-ENDS the four themers. Not so hard, right? But try explaining that without using either BOOK or ENDS! I might add that I didn't understand the theme until I was finished with the puzzle, and I usually don't enjoy that. But this one was sufficiently interesting as a puzzle after the puzzle. Fine Tuesday. Thanks for your perseverance, Jason Reich.
@The X-Phile It was too clever for me - I was wedded to ENDS being used with the themers, and gave up when none of them made sense. Agreed, the revealer was awkward. I still liked the puzzle, though.
I thought the revealer at 71A was confusing, until it wasn't. Once I read it carefully, it made perfect sense. Two parts to 71A. 1. After 1A, shelf accessories. Ok, that's BOOKENDS. Check. 2. What can be placed around the halves of... to make new phrases? BOOK at the ENDS. Not BOOK and ENDS. You bookend the answers with BOOK. So you've got four familiar phrases that can be split in two, and BOOK goes before the first word and after the second word. The result is eight new familiar phrases that have nothing to do with the original phrases. That's clever in my BOOK. And why this is considered a puzzle.
@Nora That actually makes sense 😮 Congrats for figuring it out 😃 So far you seem to be the only one who managed it, as per the current posts. Or am I mistaken? (I still think it was a bad revealer for Tuesday, of all days)
@Andrzej I didn't feel it necessary to post that I had no problem with understanding the revealer until now, since you asked. And I doubt I'm the only one.
@Vaer Yeah same here, I got it and I thought the revealer was great, just tricky enough that I had to think about it for a minute then 'aha'. Very nice
Felt unusually tough, with cluing and fill that leaned more like a late week puzzle. A Tuesday should feel welcoming and satisfying, this one felt more frustrating than fun. The revealer was messy, unclear in execution and not cleanly supported by the theme answers.
The theme of BOOK bookending the theme answers is not only clever, but very tight. Amazing that Jason found these theme answers, that they fit symmetry, and that he came up with this theme in the first place. Bravo, on all counts, sir! I thought I caught on to the theme when I noticed that FAIRPLAY and COVERSTORY became other legitimate phrases when you removed the first letter. Turns out that that is just a remarkable coincidence. I like that the puzzle ends with ENDS. I had a big fight not to look down at [What shares a key with “9” on a keyboard]. And I won! There were two had-to-think-about-it-before-getting-it-with-a-sweet-aha clues: [Person in hot pants?] for LIAR and [“Take it easy!”] for SEEYA. Plus, there was that lovely misdirecting clue for RASINET – [One in a box at the theater?] – which is also a debut. Two answers especially delighted me – GOOGLEABLE, which rolls so sweetly off the tongue, and SKIFF which just looks and sounds so cool. Much to like in the box today; a splendid outing. Thank you for creating this, Jason!
@Lewis Several commenters couldn’t unravel the revealer and thought it was poorly worded. What say you?
@Lewis Thanks for saying that :)
@Lewis The ( clue made me laugh. I am given to using parenthetical phrases...so it was a gimme. (I swear I try not to overdo it, but these things just happen!) I would be hard-pressed to name what goes with the other numerals!
I really enjoyed this puzzle for a few reasons. First, it was upbeat, flowed well, had some fun fill and was quicker than my average. Thank you, Jason! Second, as a Jane Austen fan, I loved the tie-in of the book theme to her 250th. Lastly, on a personal note, I finally hit my 1500th puzzle streak!
@Evangelineny congratulations on the streak! 🎉
@Evangelineny. Congrats on the impressive streak! My wife and I also enjoy the daily challenge of solving the puzzle and trying to keep a streak alive. It just works for us. I also love seeing commenters that are glad they stopped pursuing streaks and are enjoying the puzzles even more than they did before. It’s pretty cool that the puzzle can appeal to both types of solvers.
@Evangelineny 1500! Amazing!
Too tough for a Tuesday IMHO: PROGROCK, GOOGLEABLE (!), NEYO, UMHI crossing OHGEE 😖, ASCII, etc. Wording of the revealer is confusing. "After 1-Across, shelf accessories … or what can be placed around ..." implies that ENDS can be placed around ..., not BOOK. ⭐️⭐️
@Ron Bravenec that was my reading of the clue and explainer, too. Fun puzzle but the theme doesn't make sense to me.
Nice one, Jason. I don't know if it was your clue, but I really liked [Person in hot pants?] for LIAR. I thought this was perfectly placed for its day. Nothing obscure, and fair crosses. I had to read it twice, but the revealer explained exactly what needed to be done, so I'm surprised by so many complants. All of the resulting phrases were very much in the language.
This Wednesday-level puzzle really disappointed me, and I think I’m writing this out of that disappointment, so buckle up. This had a lot of problems, which others have already mentioned but I thought I’d throw in my two cents. The difficulty is too hard for a Tuesday, just barely squeezing into the upper limits of what should run on this day. Editorial caught napping again? The revealer was garbage, and I say this as someone whose bibliophilic heart so wanted a good bookish puzzle. The clue is clunky and overly-worded, trying to do far too much. Worse, it just doesn’t make sense. It was inconsistent (not all themed answers could be “halved” as the clue says), and, per the clue, ENDS should be the bookend, right? Why BOOK? Or could it be BOOK and then END after? Is putting a word in front of another word really putting it at the END? It’s a jumbled mess that unfortunately stains the majority of fun in this puzzle. What we’re left with is fill like BRAH OTOH UMHI ASOF AUS ASCII SEEYA AMYS, the list goes on and on… I really really wanted to like this puzzle but I just did not on the whole. But, since this page loves a little positivity, I adored GOOGLEABLE, that blew me away. Honestly, this felt like it needed a couple more minutes in the oven. I’ve expressed my disappointment with editorial in the past, and I fear this is another puzzle that was could have been great but was let down. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. Happy Tuesday!
@D came here for this response. Wording for the themed clue implied “ends” not “book”
@D Well said. I hope you won't mind if I, who have crossed swords with you before, mention that this was a terrific breakdown of the puzzle. I don't agree exactly, but I can definitely see your point.
Well, I was hoping we would have a book theme today and we got one. Not exactly what I had in mind. Happy 250th birthday, Jane Austen. A clever theme, but there appears to be consensus that the revealer is confusing. CASE CLOSED
@Anita -- "CASE CLOSED" -- Good one!
Just me who goes to the BAthroom before the security line at the airport, huh? Offered as a laugh at my expense: with crossers composed of chat (instead of APPS), Babe penciled in beneath, a LIch in flaming pants near BAN(D/j)uKES, the aforementioned BAthroom, and poor memory of AdIRA... I was ready to start googling about "hard hOod" music played by BANjo BANDs.
Very, very smooth -- with in-the-language phrases both before you add BOOK and after. And cleverly conceived. Of course I didn't need to know the revealer -- now or ever -- to enjoy the puzzle. Nor was I especially looking for one. I was perfectly happy with the colorful fill and much appreciated lack of names. But the theme added a dimension that I was able to admire after solving. A world-class clue for LIAR. Tricky and very funny. Hope you won't overlook it when best clue time comes around, Lewis. I'm pretty sure you won't. We have a new tongue-twister. Bet you can't say GOOGLEABLE quickly three times in a row. I can't even say it once. Fun puzzle.
@Nancy FYI, the puzzle of the year nominations have started.
@Nancy Try replying to this link of John Ezra's from the beginning of today's posts. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4cg7gl?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4cg7gl?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a> I think he'll check later.
@Eric Hougland If someone could repost one of the earlier posts with all the dates and rules, that might be helpful.
Just have to say that I loved the 24A "Person in hot pants"
Steven Wright deadpan: I really doubted there was such a word as GOOGLEABLE, but it was easy enough to find on the Internet.
@Clutch Cargo Or as I now think of it, the Pool of Joint Ignorance.
I liked this a lot! I finished the grid a bit faster than most Tuesdays, but then it took a bit longer to work out how to apply the theme. By the time I worked out that it's 'book' in front and 'book' at the end, not 'book' in front and 'ends' at the end, I was at my usual time. Very glad the constructor made the revealer not a complete gimme, still needed to keep some synapses firing even after the grid was complete. That's one reason I love the NYT Crossword, great job !
I confidently put in Scrub instead of ABORT. They are similar, but abort is usually used after the flight has started, scrub is more common for cancelling before it has started.
@Danny Sprung When I watched scheduled space launches on the telly, the term of art for a scrubbed mission was "abort."
I wonder if the clue would be better to be a countdown that was "aborted", not the launch....or possibly, a "missile launch" to evoke the Hollywood trope of the abort button? I could see the latter getting lost in editing.
Yeah... about this one. Swing and a miss, but I'm sure it was enjoyable for others. Slog.
I found this to be a nicely Toughened Up Tuesday puzzle. The Hot Pants/LIAR combo made me laugh. And I gave myself a big misdirect for a moment by reading Breaking Bad, but thinking Breaking Away and wondering how was i going to remember anything about those kids on bikes? (Not that I knew who Mike in Breaking Bad was either.)
@Vaer Another Breaking Away reference -- second in the last few weeks. Yay!
@Vaer Breaking Away is a great movie. I've seen it several times. The best time was the first time in the movie theatre when the whole audience would break out in laughter together. Think about it. We adolescents need to know when it's time to break away and make our own lives without our creepy teenage friends trying to make us stay kids. I studied Italian in college--so that was fun too. Papa!
@Vaer I watched "Breaking Bad" in binge fashion (one episode a day, on treadmill for 45 minutes/2 miles.) I do not recall any Mike/EXCOP, but that entry in my puzzle went P-O-C because I started the puzzle with FAIRPLAY... (It was somewhat harrowing, needless to say.) Since it came up, I loved "Breaking Away"....Refund? Refund?!!!
Felt like I was visiting a foreign country with an imperfect grasp of the language. Looking at the finished puzzle it looked okay, familiar words and phrases, but while I was working it, the ones that weren't kept me from seeing them.
A few stretches here I think. UMHI? Um. No. BRAH? More like Bruh. But even then. :/ Still enjoyed the puzzle but this seemed a little lazy for an NYT Crossword. 🤷🏻♀️
@Mady BRAH is common here in California 😉 The skaters and surfers use it for the most part.
I thought this puzzle was great fun, and the revealer made perfect sense to me! The negativity in these comments is so dramatic it's kind of funny... come on, people, if it was hard for you that doesn't mean it was a bad puzzle. Sore losers abound but the puzzle was a delight!
@CS I didn't like it and you did. That's called normal.
This was a bit tricky for a Tuesday. A lot of really clever clues, and not a lot of proper nouns, but a lot of weird acronyms, short multiword phrases and slangy stuff. AS OF, UM HI, IN RE, weird answers like that. Plus I was so sure the "Show extreme fandom for" was SHIP instead of STAN it took me a while to figure out that corner.
12 seconds over my Tuesday average, but uh yeah... what's a phone book?
@Kevin phone book was how we looked up peoples phone numbers before the internet and smartphones. Also doubled as a booster seat they were so thick. Old timey ads used to say “we’re in the yellow pages” or business phone numbers
@Kevin Not only were there phonebooks where you could look up addresses and phone numbers, at one time there was the Internet Directory. This was a massive paper book published 4x a year. We used them for monitor stands. Then came Yahoo.
@Kevin A phonebook is how you knew you were somebody. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxQUNLlpBA4iXB398cqijhejtarF5qHJ8b" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxQUNLlpBA4iXB398cqijhejtarF5qHJ8b</a>
Nobody mentioned (I think) that the entry pair BOOK…ENDS actually bookend the puzzle, with BOOK on the top left of an imaginary shelf and ENDS at the right. Clever. I was familiar with the term BRAH because I follow YouTube blogger Reviewbrah. He posts his reviews of new fast food items, calls his blog “Running On Empty” and is often entertainingly sarcastic. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheReportOfTheWeek" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheReportOfTheWeek</a> Movie theater operators keep little of the money charged for admission to their auditorium. They make money selling overpriced snacks such as RAISINETS. Finally, count me as another solver who completed the puzzle without difficulty, but could not make head nor tail of the revealer.
@Sherman I've heard of BRO and BRUH, but not BRAH.
Shouldn't come as a surprise, but I didn't like this puzzle. I thought the crossing of UM HI and OH GEE was just dumb, and ironic that SMARTPHONE was right in there with them. Raise your hand if you've never said UM HI to someone. Raise it again if no one has ever said it to you. The clunky revealer was a mess. After a while, I realized what I had to do to understand the theme for the first of the themes, but then forgot and tried putting END onto the others before coming to my senses. But a better-clued revealer would have made things easier. While it wasn't difficult to solve, it was somewhat annoying. Not the puzzle's fault, but I was never a fan of RAISINETS at the movies. I much preferred Goobers, the sister product. But neither of them held a candle to Bonomo's Turkish Taffy. According to their website, "... it was invented in Coney Island in 1912. Bonomo Turkish Taffy became the most sought after candy. As the first interactive candy Bonomo Turkish Taffy has thrilled generations as there was simply nothing like it. Bonomo Turkish Taffy is now back in its original formula and flavors." It's still available! (For the uninitiated, it's said to be interactive because you'd slap it or crack it into bite-size pieces on the seat in front of you, so you could let it melt in your mouth. Otherwise, you'd likely break a few teeth.)
@Times Rita I am thankful that I don't usually have to listen to recordings of the things that come out of my mouth. When I do I am shocked by how often I say "um" or "uh" or.... So, I'm pretty sure I've said "UM HI" as well as "...UM..." and just about any other word you can put before or after it. However, when I watch British shows -- always with subtitles on -- I see that the English apparently say "erm" when I say "UM". I don't think I've ever said "erm".
@Times Rita - I totally agree. Clunky puzzle revealer and counter intuitive clues/answers. Not a very fun Tuesday solve
A somewhat more diabolical clue for AMYS would have left out the “of Hollywood” and used Ryan and Schumer, leading many to think of congressional leaders and not actresses.
@Steve L AMY Ryan ...unknown to me, so that was enough difficulty, since I couldn't think of the "Julie and Julia" actress's first name...
@Steve L @MoL You may not recognize Amy Ryan by name, but if you read the list of roles she's played on TV and film, I think you'd recognize her. I tried to copy the list of her roles from Wikipedia, but the copy and paste function on my phone wouldn't cooperate.
Only appreciated the theme after completing the puzzle, but it seemed solid and right for a Tuesday. The fill in the SW was a bit weak, especially UMHI, but the constructor somewhat "cornered" himself there with SMARTPHONE/EGOMASSAGE. Nice Tuesday puzzle, all in all.
Oh, this theme was delightful and so clever! The revealer clue didn’t help me at all (lol) but I actually don’t mind when the revealer only makes sense after I’ve filled in the clues. I can tell I especially liked this one because I repeatedly revisited the theme entries to see the trick. “BOOK - FAIRPLAY - BOOK!” “BOOK - SMARTPHONE- BOOK!” and chuckled amusedly to myself. Happy Tuesday from this BUSYBEE! 🐝〰️
At least I'm not the only one who had some trouble understanding the revealer. At first I took it to mean that we were supposed to add BOOK to both ends to make a new phrase. So, BOOK COVER STORY BOOK. Okay, I guess that makes a new phrase. I finally figured it out. The following is true, and topical, but y'all would be forgiven for your skepticism: I lived in L.A. in the '80s. I was strolling around UCLA for some reason in a big grassy area when I saw a guy standing all by himself. And he had an eyepatch. He looked like-a lot like-Luke, of Luke and Laura fame. I got closer and it was definitely him. I approached him and said something witty like "Um, hi. You're, um, I mean, aren't you?" And he said he was and that they were about to shoot a scene. He nodded towards a camera crew a hundred yards away. I mumbled an apology and shuffled off. I sat on the sidelines and watched the scene. I was sitting near Scotty. The scene was just Luke running, away from someone, I think. I feel like my stories are better, certainly more zany, when I make them up.
@ad absurdum my husband works at UCLA 😊
@ad absurdum Anthony Geary’s and the Reiners’ deaths on Dec. 14 made yesterday very sad.
@ad absurdum I remember Luke circa his eyepatch-wearing era! I don't recall what the STORYline was, though. He was always on the lam or in altercations with lowlife types, so running across a grassy field is totally in character. The early-mid 80's were peak GH-watching time for me; my BFF and I would catch it almost every day in high school, hunkered down in front of a tiny tv in her bedroom. RIP Anthony Geary!
@ad absurdum the Luke and Laura storyline had many of us running home from school at lunch to watch. And I can totally see Luke running somewhere 🤣
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't like this one. It's fine to be difficult, but this just seemed odd.