Tonight I reached a streak of 3653 gold stars. No arbitrary number at all, just an annual milestone...I'm sure by now, you've figured it out that Dec. 17, 2015--the Obama era--was the last time I had a blue star. And looking at my solve in the Archive, I don't even know why. I apparently "Revealed square" where ANDY, clued as the tennis player Roddick, and OYS, clued as exclamations of exasperation, crossed. I'm sure ANDY was a gimme, and OYS seems obvious...who knows what made me do that? All I know is that if I hadn't done that, I would have reached this milestone months earlier. But only months, not years, because sometime not long before that, I had just switched to solving in the NYT interface. I had previously been solving on a platform called Puzzazz, and on Across Lite before that. For a time, I switched from one platform to another often. So my streak couldn't have even been a year longer. But at the time, the idea of a streak was something new, and I guess it didn't matter that much to me back then. After all, why would I have revealed a square that was easily gettable? I hope that ten years hence, I'll still have a streak. Heck, I hope I'll still be doing crosswords...or anything! Who knows what can happen in ten years, but I hope to report on 12/17/35 that my streak is 7305!
@Steve L Amazing streak! Really inspiring. 👏👏👏
@Steve L that’s pretty darn amazing 🤩 Congratulations.
A very impressive streak!!! I'm curious whether some tough puzzle has ever forced you to look up an answer that you couldn't solve.
@Steve L Incredible streak! Congratulations!
@Steve L Do you really not find maintaining a streak a strain on your life? I can't imagine living the quite laid back life I'm enjoying while striving to keep a crossword streak going. Of course, you're one of the best solvers here, so getting a gold star is much easier and faster for you than it is for me, which must be a factor.
@Steve L That’s a mind-blowing stat I know I can never achieve. I don’t know much about foreign languages, Harry Potter, Star Wars or Trek, LOTR, musical terms, tarot cards, rap stars and a bunch of other various subjects. Here’s to hoping you continue until wherever you want to give up.
Thanks to everyone for the congratulations!
@Steve L what an amazing streak! My record is just one full month!
@Steve L My nerdy science mind saw 3563 days and thought "Ah, that's 10 years", because I know there are 365.24 days in one year. Anyway, congratulations on your streak. That can never happen to me because I always venture into the wilderness for a couple of weeks every year - no internet!
Tell Mr Holmes to use his indoors voice? Top of the line product at the plumbing supply store? NO SHOUT, SHERLOCK TRUE GROUT And if you’d like a laugh about the USES of a cell phone, check this from 2005: <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/05/getting-started" target="_blank">https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/05/getting-started</a>
@Cat Lady Margaret Wow great minds think alike. I just posted ants and time you did Very even tiling job? TRUE GROUT And Frankenstein’s call to Igor? SHOUTFORBRAINS It got emu’d but maybe this one will go through
My 11-year-old son was looking over my shoulder and told me the answer to 3-down was IOUS (duh, mom [*eye-roll*]). I argued with him that a Wednesday puzzle wouldn’t have something that obvious & erased it once he left the room. Oops. re-entered it with the crosses 10 minutes later.
@Kristin 😂 Your secret is safe with us.
@Kristin Not going to look it up. But definitely a sneaky way to get IOU into the puzzle. Usually clued as some kind of payback. Deferred payment clue. It was so obv____. That it wasn’t.
Whaddya know? OBOE 3 days in a row
No, not that Gary Larson.
@Barry Ancona I literally came here looking for this exact confirmation lol
And this revealer was straightforward. And the theme was funny. And I didn't see too much PPP. Thanks, Gary and Doug.
@Barry Ancona I like a person who doesn't leave things until the last minute.
@Barry Ancona And in other news, Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
@Barry Ancona Is it that Doug Peterson though?
For anyone who wants an accurate distinction between “champing at the bit” and “chomping at the bit”: <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BMPfKq2_XgQ" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BMPfKq2_XgQ</a> No mare splitting of hairs. Hope I didn’t rein on your parade. Certainly not my intention to stirrup trouble.
@Strudel Dad 😂 It's like an explosion at the pun factory!
@Strudel Dad its like hors doeuvres made from mike from munsters recipe scraps!
Strudel Dad: I've always thought the distinction was that "champing at the bit" is right and "chomping at the bit" is wrong. No?
@SD Good video--I especially like the visual demonstrations of "champing" (2:07) vs. "chomping" (2:50).
@Strudel Dad I sped the video up to 1.75 speed, and finally the chap was talking at a normal speed.
@Strudel Dad Acorn, meet tree. Take that, Sam!
A lot to love in this puzzle. I personally love these puzzles with a clever revealer that switch around common phrases, and SPELLITOUT was a great one. I liked the crossing of CHAMPSATTHEBOUT (the best theme entry) and TYSON. I like misdirects on the first clue, and the one for COIFS was great; I also loved the muffler clue. A new clue for OBOE (that I didn’t know but could guess). A nice level of the difficulty for a Wednesday and just a great well-rounded puzzle.
@SP agreed. Given the inevitability of some crossword glue like OBOE, ENO, AVA, ANI, ORA, SSN, ETE, ETC., it’s nice when the constructor goes out of their way to teach us a new fact about the old answer while keeping it tractable. Anyone who needs to use those answers but doesn’t give us “Wind instrument in orchestra” “Electronic music pioneer Brian” “Singer DiFranco” “Director Duvernay” “Rita from entertainment” “Gov’t ID” “One of the four seasons, in French” “List ender” Is at least making an effort to leave their personal imprint on the entire grid and not just the long/theme answers.
[Promote one's body art salon?] TOUT FOR TAT
This was a top notch Wednesday, with a theme that wasn’t obvious to me until I got the revealer. I loved POUTYPARTY. There were some nice non theme clues too, such as [works on a muffler] for KNITS and [just about anything in a string] for CATTOY (funny and true). When I saw the Ali Frazier clue, without any crosses I was champing at the bit, and I proudly plunked in thrillainmanila only to be chagrined to find out that wasn’t it at all and I was out of luck.
@Marshall Walthew I tried "thrillainmanila" and tried to finish it with "...thrilla" or "...thriller" and on and on. I was stuck forever on that path. (Yes, Barry, I realize that was hyperbole--I admit you are right.)
@Marshall Walthew I started entering that as well, but the "eg" stopped me (since as far as I know, it was the only thrilla in Manila, not an example of one) so I deleted them
You know what makes a great CAT TOY? A wine cork. Seriously, throw one down the hall, and see what happens. It mostly rolls, but then it flips end over end, and cats love the randomness of that, like it's living prey. Also, and excuse to buy wine.
thought the theme was kinda meh, myself.
Ughhhh I think that was the first time ever that OBOE was one of the last entries I filled in!! 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ I even thought, well Yamaha makes a lot of different products... vehicles, instruments... and why didn't I think to try OBOE? 🤦♀️ They actually make pretty decent oboes. One of my students has a Yamaha oboe.
@OboeSteph You led to do some research. OBOE has been an answer in 831 puzzles. Interesting clue find. Twice in the Shortz era it was clued as "Hautboy." And... ... that was the clue 94 times in the pre-Shortz puzzles. I'd never ever heard of that. Oh, and.. HAUTBOY was an answer in exactly... two puzzles. The last one in 1973. ....
@Rich We're only about six months away from Hautboy Summer!
It was fun guessing at the theme answers and revealer, but what I’m remembering even more are two strange thoughts that hit me as I looked over the completed grid: • The cross of CAT TOY and a backward ASP had me imagining how it would go if these two creatures actually crossed paths. • OZ is right in the middle of OOZE, making it an “oohs and ahs” word. Answers I loved: FATHOM and HAM UP. Clue I adored, perfect in every way: [Group of grumps sitting around kvetching]. Plus, a little nerd-love for the two rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilaps REPEL and KNITS. And so a good time was had by me. Thanks, Doug and Gary!
@Lewis The F in FATHOM was the last letter to fill, and face palmed when I got it. And COIFS is such a quaint little word.
My first thought was "can't be IOUS, can it?", but I believe 3D has a pun in it, as in why would a stud buckle down and study? Because he owes money, say student loans. Everybody else got that, right? In my book, that puts it in the "very funny" category, not lame at all.
@Nora That is a genius level of clue analysis!
@Nora I found a second meaning as well. The puzzle theme is to replace IT with OUT. Since the T is the same, you're really replacing I with OU. So I read that answer as a reference to the theme involving I and OU... In other words, the puzzle is about IOUS. I skimmed through the comments, not sure if anyone saw that too!
That was fun. Thanks Gary and Doug I nominate for Wednesday PoY.
[Just about anything on a string] For CAT TOY Is TRUE TO LIFE.
POUTYPARTY blew the lid off, and after that it was just OU kidding. Not hard, but engaging, and I finished it smiling, which is always preferable to pouting. Thanks Doug and Gary, hope to see you arOUnd again soon.
The history of Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd.--aka the Yamaha Corporation--is a fascination example of organic corporate growth and diversification. Founded in 1887 by Torakusu Yamaha as a manufacturer of reed organs (for which there was little demand in fin-de-siècle Japan), the company soon transitioned to building pianos. From there, the development went: organs-->pianos-->guitars-->other musical instruments, beginning with trumpets-->today's OBOE \-->phonographs-->other audio equipment-->semiconductors-->synthesizers, esp. the DX-7 \-->(WW II wartime) wooden airplane propellers (the same fine woodworking skills used to make piano soundboards)-->complete airplanes-->(post-WW II) motorcycles*-->other sporting vehicles, including golf carts and personal watercraft \-->archery equipment-->other sporting goods, esp. golf clubs. This is, of course, over-simplification, and I'm sure I missed a few; but throughout, the corporate logo has been three interlocked musical tuning forks, styled as a Japanese heraldic *mon*. A long and winding path to the C1 which happily sits by my living room window! *in 1955, the motor division was spun off as a separate corporation, but it still used the same logo.
@Bill I bet your C1 sounds wonderful. I love my Yamaha YC73 (stage piano with vintage sounds such as Hammond B3, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer).
Not a fan. Been playing the NYT crossword for 5 years and still hate the use of spoonerisms and ESPECIALLY when there is no reasonable way one would detect that they are being used. Add to this some crosses that were questionable and the solve becomes miserable. CRABS? I don’t think people eat CRABS. They eat crab. No “s” There were others as well but I am done with this puzzle.
@Darren agreed! This puzzle was an awful slog!
@Darren <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013663-crunchy-soft-shell-crabs" target="_blank">https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013663-crunchy-soft-shell-crabs</a> So tasty, you can't eat just one! (Or so I believe--I only have a Puzzles subscription, and although late in the week, those can be quite crunchy, they generally taste soggy when fried.)
"...no reasonable way one would detect that they are being used." Darren, I gather you didn't make it to the revealer (60A) before you were "done with this puzzle."
@Darren These are not Spoonerisms. It's a vowel substitution puzzle. The revealer at 60A tells you explicitly what to do: SPELL IT OUT, for which the clue is [Painstakingly explain something ... or a hint to 17-, 26- and 45-Across]. So IT is spelled (or becomes) OUT, or more basically, I becomes OU. Then "pity party" becomes POUTY PARTY; "champs at the bit" becomes CHAMPS AT THE BOUT, etc. Be on the lookout for this kind of revealer, and you'll know what to do next time.
@Darren I thought the same about crab with an s... it conjured something else, far from appetizing!
@Darren, Yeah, it didn’t make sense as the revealer. Twice in a row in one week is rough.
@Darren Many years ago when visiting friends in Maryland, the hosts served up a crab feast. They covered the table with newspapers, then dumped a pile of crabs in the middle, all red from a coating of cayenne pepper. We all proceeded to dig in, and extract the edible meat from many crabs. While wearing bibs, and lips burning from the pepper. . The Shaking Crabs restaurant near me serves up a similar experience, featuring crabs and hot spices shaken up in a paper sack. And served with bibs.
@Darren I grew up on Maryland, where you can buy a bushel of live CRABS right off the dock, take them home, cook them, and eat them. Or you can go to a restaurant and order crab legs, or crab cakes. Both are correct.
I think I spent more time trying to understand the revealer, than the solve. Simple enough to figure out eventually. But “Yamaha product” and “a smartphone has lots of these” and “muffler worker” were nice misdirects for a Wednesday.
@Weak Muffler worker was a gimme for me. On Monday I just mailed off this year's batch of Red Scarves. Group called Foster 2 Success in Ohio collects hand-knitted red scarves each year and gives them to foster youth who are aging out of state support on Valentine's Day. So, I had 'mufflers' on the brain.
one of the best I've played in a long time! fun, clever, and just the right amount of difficulty for a Wednesday
More evidence of the crossword conspiracy: 14A in the main puzzle, and 5A in the mini, are the SAME WORD! (UBoat) Coincidence.. I don't know. Oh - I enjoyed the puzzle and the theme.
@Mark Abe I think it’s intentional. It happens a lot.
Yamaha product seemed like an odd clue for OBOE. I know Yamaha makes a lot of different products, but I did not know it made oboes.
@Jim Nor did I but I /did/ know they made pianos. From one musical instrument to another seemed like a doable stretch.
@Jim In my younger band days I saw many a Yamaha saxophone or clarinet. So not too much of a stretch to an oboe. Not much space for a logo on an oboe though - maybe that's why I never noticed a Yamaha one...
@Jim I played a Yamaha oboe in high school! It was a quality instrument! My band director always told the joke: a guy goes in to the dealership to buy a sports bike, and when he's done he hops on and tells the sales guy "I'm off to buy an oboe!" and the sales guy says "you're never going to believe this..."
@Jim I did know that Yamaha makes oboes, and I still didn't get this. 😬😳
Two literal LOLs for me today: 1. The theme reveal after having worked through the three anchors, and 2. "Basically anything on a string" answer Bravo, gents!
@Chris H me too. I also chuckled at ious when I finally got it even tho I had long noticed the connection.
I feel like ive seen OBOE so much recently lol
I thought 45-Across was “SHOUT IN THE OCEAN” at first, and was very shocked that NYT would allow such language, upon doing the “IT”/“OUT” replacement…..
Really clever puzzle. Typical Wednesday workout for me but tumbling to the trick was a big turning point. That's always a nice touch. Two thumbs up. Puzzle find today - a clever one with an unusual kind of theme. A Sunday from October 16, 1994 by Raymond Hamel with the title "Out of their element." Theme answers - all straightforwardly clued: FLYINTHEOINTMENT CASTLEINTHEAIR CATCHERINTHERYE PIEINTHESKY BATSINTHEBELFRY DOGINTHEMANGER BULLINACHINASHOP Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/16/1994&g=97&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/16/1994&g=97&d=A</a> ....
Lots of fun. Took me some time to see the trick but I got there. Once again, the complaints from some solvers leave me wondering why they do puzzles at all. It’s entertainment, not a required task. I do them for fun, to learn new things, and to reassure myself that my brain is still firing on all—or most—cylinders. Thanks Gary and Doug for an entertaining puzzle. 😁
42 across with "See 50 down" as some obscure reference to the Mafia while crossing NIK (as in neatnik???) and KAOS (More obscure trivia) was definitely not my favorite to fill out the center, basically had to just guess at the end there
@Kyle Well I won’t argue with KAOS for those who aren’t familiar with the old show—but COSA NOSTRA is a pretty standard phrase in these puzzles and elsewhere (usually not both in the same one!) and at least one of neatNIK or beatNIK should be familiar. True, a little crunchy for a Wednesday.
@Kyle You have to be of a certain age to appreciate “Get Smart.” To this day, a certain tune gets stuck in my head if I find myself going through a series of doors/openings. IYKYK
@Kyle - These clues are gimmies for us boomers. May be unknowns for younger people.
@Kyle I was stuck on car "mufflers" for the KOAS/KNIT cross and had to end up running letters to solve for that final K. So frustrating.
Wonderful revealer. Ultra fun theme. (I would expect no less from the duo who invented Charlie Brown.) Sam outdid herself on today's photo. O Corbin! My Captain! A little disappointing to see the editors swallow the official line on who the bad guys are in Get Smart.
What an ingenious revealer!! I was looking for a change in sound explanation of the theme answers -- and couldn't come up with one. But it's a change in spelling explanation -- and I couldn't guess it. In three words, it explains everything! Was 27D meant to be a trap? I confidently wrote in EMOTE, which is always the answer to "overplay for the audience" and it was beautifully confirmed by the "genre" for Glorilla. EMO, right? Wrong! Whoever she is, she's RAP, not EMO -- and the answer to 27D is HAM UP. What a write-over mess that section of my grid is! A word about 8D. I've lived in NYC my entire life and I've never seen ANTS "marching" in the sidewalk cracks. Not even one ant. ANTS in NYC prefer Central Park, just as I do. If you want ANTS, that's where you go to find them. A playful and nicely executed theme, I thought.
@Nancy You expect anything to move in an orderly fashion on a New York City sidewalk, and you a New Yorker? Gedoudahere!
I support all the positive comments… fun, effervescent puzzle. I don’t speak much German, but friends told me the phrase JFK used meant he claimed to be a jelly donut, because of the “ein”, which should have been omitted.
@sonnel The joke I always remember is the suggestion as to what JFK would have said if he gave his speech in Hamburg.
@sonnel That's a great example of an unforced error. But, I think forgotten in all this, is that the Germans were more than willing to accept that verbal faux pas in exchange for his visit to, and commitment for the welfare of West Germany. The context of the times at least partially overarches the blooper, I think.
@sonnel To me as a German, "Ich bin ein Berliner" sounds ok. Not correct if I were grading a student's essay, but perfectly acceptable in spoken German. In Berlin, that kind of donut isn't called Berliner but Pfannkuchen ("pancake"). I bet that if the rest of Germany had called them that too, nobody would have remarked on the grammar error at all but lauded JFK for trying to speak German and even getting the pronunciation kinda right. My guess is, a certain other holder of the same high office might have pronounced the first word "itch".
Here’s one that almost works except you have to change another letter: Recruiter for late night comedy? SNL SCOUT
@SP And two more: Very even tiling job? TRUE GROUT And my favorite: Frankenstein’s call to Igor? SHOUT FOR BRAINS
At what point does a “misdirect” become simply a “bad clue”?
@Petrol I think the current boundary is the "Puzzle Misdirect Coefficient (PMC)" of 0.75 Shortz. In the past some think the definition was a bit looser, with PMC set at 0.9 Shortz, but it's been tough to find verifiable information. But this does support the theory that the crosswords are getting easier.
@Petrol If both I and Barry Ancona would agree a clue was bad, it surely would mean it really was the case.
@Petrol A daily habit/hobby for a few (five?) years now, I'd argue that there are very few bad clues. As one who much prefers wordplay and puns (over clues like, "1974 Best Picture winner"), I'd argue that the more artful the misdirect, the better the clue. (One I recently loved was, "Made a little lower? *6 letters) In today's puzzle, I wouldn't say it's a bad clue, but I wasn't a fan of 3D. (My first thought was the correct answer, but I was hoping I was wrong.) *CALVED
I feel obligated to present the opposite stance here. To me, there is enough challenge in nature and coincidence, in games or out, to find any joy in encountering artificial antagonism, victory or not. I might as well go back to dealing with some real nemeses, trying to cure cancer or solve politics or something.
@Petrol When you don’t get it
@Petrol At what point does a “misdirect” become simply a “bad clue”? When more than half the solvers have to have the clue explained to them. Of course, we will never know that statistic.
Is this the same Doug Peterson who's a football coach?
For all of you who thought of SHOUT phrases, I want you to know that I will be childishly giggling for the rest of the day.
@Steve Me, too, I shout you not.
@Steve What do zombies do? SHOUT FOR BRAINS
@Steve Dr. Watson telling Holmes to pipe down: NOSHOUTSHERLOCK
What a fun Wednesday! I agree with those who think this was one of the best of the year. I love to start my day with giggles. (Shouts and giggles?) And I can see myself using that "ou" combo all day...we'll see how many people do the puzzle by who gets what I'm doing! Happy 4th candle tonight!
That was loads of fun! I love themes like this that play around with expressions. And I thought this was a really good one! Kind of wish there would have been one more theme answer. Many good Mr X, some I fell for, some I didn't. All were fun! I can't really pick a favorite today. POUTYPARTY really made me laugh though, so I guess if I had to pick a favorite... I generally like all of the puzzles to varying degrees, but this one definitely feels a cut above.
@HeathieJ LOL I assume you're using voice-to-text. Hence, your "Mr. X" was "misdirects". Bonus puzzle!
Loved the punniness of this one. I giggled my way through the themers. The comments didn’t disappoint either. So many clever punsters among the ranks here. Just waiting to see what Mike the Punster from Munster will create for us 🤓
Thrilled to see [CHAMPSATTHEBIT] in the puzzle . My father grilled it into me at a young age long before the internet. He liked to point out incorrect grammar. "Me" vs "I" was another of his bugaboos. That made listening to songs on the single in-dash speaker AM/FM radio on car rides an adventure. That and no air conditioning. He did point out that one should keep such knowledge to oneself lest one be thought a pompous jerk. The incorrect use of travesty is probably my own bugaboo. I don't recall seeing it in a puzzle of late.
@Kevin I wear my "pompous jerk" badge proudly. LESS and FEWER in commercials prompts me to holler a correction...and they never listen. (The worse instance is the diaper ad, where the 'mother' says the baby can go 11 hours without a change--so "less diapers"--- but, methinks, more diaper rash. Who does that???)
@Kevin omg someone’s I wonder if any pop songs use me or I correctly!! But I try to understand, could be tough to come up with a rhyme for me.
Oh, and another puzzle find, inspired by a number of comments about ICH. ICHBINEINBERLINER was an answer once - in a Sunday puzzle from August 12, 2001 by Nancy Nicholson Joline with the title: "In crowd." In that puzzle that answer included three rebus squares, specifically: ICHB(IN)E(IN)BERL(IN)ER And... that puzzle had 22 'IN' rebus squares. Some other answer examples: STR(IN)GBIK(IN)IS F(IN)GERPR(IN)TS SP(IN)ET(IN)GL(IN)G THERA(IN)(IN)SPA(IN) AFTERD(IN)NERM(IN)TS And there were lots more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/12/2001&g=23&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/12/2001&g=23&d=A</a> ...
OBOE seems to be encroaching on OREO’s territory lately. CASA NOSTRA will be…displeased…
My brother has been subjecting the whole family to this joke for like a week, so now I'm inflicting it on everyone here. What did Howard Cosell say when he chopped down his Christmas tree? Down goes Frazier!
@Katie Embarrassed to say I had to ask my husband to explain it. Well, we are not "Christmas tree people." (That's what I called non-Jews when I was a kid, and didn't know the world had a zillion more of them than us, and many more categories.) It took him a second, too, to realize a Frazier is a kind of fir. So I will now be knowledgeable when I inflict this joke on others later today! Thanks!
@Katie et al LOL that's fun! But ....expect Canadians to protest. It's Fraser (as in actor Brendan, the firs, etc)....perennially mispronounced...
@Mean Old Lady not this Canadian - too busy chortling 😄
Weak theme with some sketchy cluing. QUEST was probably my least favorite, centerpiece was an odd descriptor. Onwards
Try this sentence "I'll have the crabs" now again "I'll have the crab". See where I'm going with this.
@Dave Ever been to a crab shack? You go to eat crabs.
@Dave Also “the” is the operative word here. 🤔
@Dave I’m with you. To me CRABS is something that requires ointment 🤷🏻♀️