To My Favorite NYT Columnist D̲o eight lines of verse E̲ven the purse B̲etween Deb and I? A̲m I a fool to try? M̲an, it’s clearly not a fair trade, L̲ines of ragged doggerel, E̲ven if lovingly made, N̲o recompense for all she gave. Deb, you are a light in this world, which I know will continue to shine. May your next chapter bring plenty of joy! And, please, come back to visit (if not for us, then for the emus, who are reportedly inconsolable).
@Puzzlemucker Great to see a post from you! And in fine form for Deb’s farewell. When I started solving in 2020, Deb’s column drew me in, gave me encouragement, and helped me feel at home in this community. Your posts were a highlight of my formative years here, too. Many thanks and best wishes to you both!
@Puzzlemucker, thanks for starting what is going to be a long group of tributes! DEB AMLEN, years ago when I was new to this game you showed me how to be more ABLE: MEND my errors and move on, there's no-one to BLAME (DEN mother that you are, you made this MALE BEND his thoughts laterally, your kindness such a BALM). NEED I say more about reading you? If a MAN BLEED words when solving a grid then I have BLED AMEN when you opened your door to the puzzling world, and I came in.
@Puzzlemucker Bravo. These seem to fit the occasion: "So the shortest day came, and the year died, And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away." ------- Mary Oliver Come, bring with a noise, My merry, merry boys, The Christmas log to the firing; While my good dame, she Bids ye all be free, And drink to your heart's desiring. ------Robert Herrick
While we're sharing our love of @Deb, I posted the following late last night, and to share it better, I'll reprise it here: What I’m loving about the kind posts about @Deb today are that they are written with warm hearts. Oh, Deb’s job has been to explain the theme and tricky clues, and she has done that skillfully. That’s all she’s really had to do, but she’s gone – day after day – the extra mile. You know you’re going to feel good reading Deb. She touches such a lovely place in the heart, makes it go ahhh and smile. Part of it is how genuine she is – she’s never trying to impress. No, she’s wanting to help, wanting to share when a funny thought hits her. Rooting for the new solvers while at the same time making observations that experienced solvers can relate to. Lots of specifics for why Deb is special, but to me it’s mainly the je ne sais quoi, the magic. She has a talent for that, and I’m so grateful for it. What a gift you’ve been to the Times and to us all. It’s been a great run.
While I'm enjoying the many tributes to Deb Amlen - my favorite Wordplay columnist - my first reaction was a panicked "Wait, is this her last column? NO!" So I checked, and happily the answer really IS "No"; we have two more weeks to savor her wit, warmth, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Phew!
@Puzzlemucker And she is hilarious! I’m going to miss that most of all.
The hotel at the weavers' convention had a loom with a view. (They were weft to their own devices.)
@Mike Your sense of of humor has a warp to it. I'll shuttle off, now.
@Mike Wool I hope they also had a woof over their heads.
@Mike your puns are usually well-made material, but today’s post leads me to ask what’s atissue
@Mike You're about treadle on shaky ground, here.
Does the EPA still have geologists and biologists?
@Mick Good question. I know many have been laid off and just today came news of the disassembly of one of the weather agencies.
@Mick Yes. They’re very busy trying to find Noah’s ark.
@Mick Thankfully, yes. They may be picking on the lawyers now. In my state (CA), the state EPA employs almost all of the employees doing EPA work. They just get some (not all) money from fed EPA and send them back data..This is a good thing mostly, but states that do it this way are sort of subsidizing the rest of the states.
One more misdirect I had briefly—anyone else put ARI before RIO Grande? Guess I’ve been watching too much Wicked.
@SP I thought about it. I figured that it isn't seen together with the last name, so I held off.
@SP I, too, had Ari before RIO, but I was concerned that there was no indication that her name be shortened (as in "... to her fans").
@SP My first guess for the musical was HADESTOWN instead of ILLINOISE. Ironic, the two big musicals that were two of my favorite albums before they were musicals.
@Deb Amlen Thanks for all the pointers that helped me get started solving the NYT Crosswords, and for your entertaining columns and explanations. Your comments and encouragements to the newbies, which we all were at some point, has made many of us more comfortable at attempting to figure out the tricky ones and to conquer the weekend puzzles. Best wishes for your future endeavors, and hope you take the time to relax and enjoy the absence of deadlines (except for ones you set for yourself).
I did an inner backflip when I saw Hemant’s name atop the grid, as he’s one of my “can’t miss” constructors after just nine puzzles in the Times. His puzzles pulse with interest. He averages close to nine NYT debut answers per puzzle, which makes his puzzles anything but same-old-same-old. Today ten include the lovely FREE SOLOED, BLENDED FAMILIES, SWAG BAG, and can you believe CAT IN THE HAT has never appeared before? Embiggening (Hi, @Deb!) the interest are the longs – a soaring 15 answers of eight letters or more, including nine of the ten debuts. Wow! I also love the flowy grid design, never seen before in the Times. I especially love that rectangular-ish white island in the middle formed by black squares. Look at how its four entrances connect it to the entire grid. Mwah! Coincidence: EDGAR and INSPO were answers just on Jeopardy. Sweet serendipity: Two rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilaps – TESSA and SPEED. Once again, just a heap of loveliness, Hemant. Thank you for this gem!
@Lewis I am not a regular Jeopardy watcher except when with parents. Lucky break, this week I'm visiting them! EDGAR and INSPO would not have crossed my mind otherwise. Also the November 23 SuperMega has been spread out on the dining room table all week. I'm in fine form.
@Lewis INSPO was definitely a gift of "Jeopardy!" The EDGARs have been around a long time. Much to my astonishment, the last two Finals (which I knew, right off the bat) had no one giving a correct answer. I was surprised.
@Lewis I note the pairing of SNORKEL and FINS, just needed a MASK for the trifecta. Does ELSA Schiaparelli design swim suits?
Decades ago I subscribed to the International Herald Tribune and tried my hand at the crossword on long flights. I kept going with the international edition of the NYT until they spinelessly cancelled Chapate and editorial cartoons. I also cancelled them then. But I’ve stuck with the puzzle. The best day of puzzling was when some time ago @Deb thought something I’d written was witty. I doubt I’ll have another highlight like that. Thank you Deb for your kindness and guidance
A new personal best! I’ll go to bed now with a happy glow, and be sure not to come back for the comments about this puzzle belonged on Tuesday.
We have been mailing cookies this week to friends and relatives using Priority Mail. Their slogan is, “If it fits, it ships.” I’ll borrow that slogan for my solve. It was a delightful puzzle and, unusually, I can’t recall putting a wrong foot forward while solving. It all fit. Favorite entry was BLENDED FAMILIES. Mine was, ultimately ending up with six boys. For those birth order dinosaurs out there, I was Mom and Dad’s fourth child, Dad’s third child, Mom’s second child and their first child. Even today, when I’m asked my place on the roster, well, I do run on. And speaking of family… Our recently formed multigenerational family, including my wife of fifty five years, our youngest son, his new bride and our two grandsons wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons. It’s our second holiday go around and it’s so nice to have children in the house again.
@Kevin D Would you explain how that birth order works for you? I can't figure it out. If your Mom and Dad had 4 children together, how could you be your mom's second child and your Dad's third child? And how could you be their first child? Next, you will be singing "I'm My Own Grandpa."
This was a really fun Friday. It required a bit of thought, but wasn’t stressful. Both clues and answers had a light quality. The longish entries like LOOMEDLARGE and INADEEPHOLE just seemed to jump off the page. A Seuss reference is always welcome, and I was happy to see a reference to ILLINOISE, which highlights the quirky music of Sufjan Stevens. I wonder how many NEPOBABIES come from BLENDEDFAMILIES. Serendipitously, I got INSPO only because I learned it on Jeopardy just a few hours earlier.
@Marshall Walthew Jamie Leigh Curtis. Double Nepo!
So I am going to regretfully and judiciously complain about this puzzle. And I want to be clear I am not throwing shade on this constructor, because this was a fabulous grid with many fresh interesting entries. But I really feel he was let down by the editors. I was only a minute off my personal best here, despite a few interesting initial wrong entries—home DECOR for one which is pretty close to DEPOT; EGG which could be an opportunity—and ADE which is certainly sold in a yard. And that’s also despite not knowing most of the proper nouns. So what’s the problem? So many interesting entries clued in absolutely the most straightforward, uninteresting way. And I have no idea if these are the editors’ or the constructor’s clues. This is not about me being on the same wavelength as the constructor, there is no other wavelength. CAT IN THE HAT—is there anyone who has read or seen this that won’t remember Thing One and Thing Two? Was there no other interesting bit of trivia or misdirection? Results of some remarriages— BLENDED FAMILIES—a marquee entry clued in the most straightforward way possible. FREESOLOED—climbed without ropes. NEPOBABIES. DROPSDEAD. WAGEGAPS. I could go on. It spoils the few really clever clues (and there were some—BASSDRUM, OPERAGOER.) Excoriate me if you wish but it really disappoints me to get so little satisfaction out of such otherwise glittering fill. Maybe your experience was different, feel free to disagree.
@SP Hmmm...I see your point. Looking back it does look straightforward, but at the time of the light bulbs going off it didn't feel straightforward to me. But that may be due to my primary weakness, which is generally needing quite a few crosses in a long answer. I can say, though, that I'm sure I've read the Cat in the Hat numerous times to the kids, and didn't remember a thing about Thing One and Thing Two. So that one really did take me by surprise (and relief...it looked grim for a while).
@SP I last read Cat in the Hat about six decades ago, and never saw the movie. I didn't remember the "Thing" things at all.
@SP I breezed through most of the grid, but then got hung up in the NW corner 🤷🏼♀️ It didn’t help that I had Rav before REB, so that really threw off my downs. In the end, I solved it almost 10 minutes faster than my average, so I agree with you that the clueing was probably not at Friday level. But the fill was so nice
@SP - I agree. And I do remember Thing One and Thing Two. It's been decades since I read about them, but they occasionally show up at Halloween.
@SP Complete absence of knowledge here about FREESOLO although this very morning I listened to a radio feature about a woman who climbed El Capitan and was stuck there for days in a kind of rope cradle, waiting for an unpredicted storm to pass.
@SP i dunno. had UPENDEDFAMILIES for the longest time. seems valid. confidently entered FREESCALED - i know nothing about the activity. im with you on CATINTHEHAT, though i dimwittedly thought it ought to begin with THE at first and, so, failed to get it until sorta late. its a YMMV thing, i think.
@SP for argument’s sake, approach it from a non expert solver perspective. A cross between a play and the owner of a team. An award that is really only encountered here. A submarine part !!! A diet crossed with a colloquialism. A novelist’s first name. A basketball term. An Italian wine. An acronym for medication clued with an American acronym for recipes. The name of a statistician… I think it was a fair Friday. I agree CATINTHEHAT was obvious. 😀
@SP I disagree, thought it was great. Blendedfamilies and freesoloed weren't obvious for me. Though Catinthehat was, I enjoyed the clue.
@SP I mostly agree. I knew and loved Thing One and Thing Two but couldn't remember which book they were in until I had an embarrassingly long list of crossing letters. I think we read all the Dr. Seuss books and they all had such wonderfully wacky characters.
SP, I would have posted a much shorter version of your "regretful complaint" shortly after 10 pm ET, but I didn't want to spoil the mood right after Puzzlemucker's ode to Deb. I see we are not alone thinking this was an easy Friday, although we must note that not everyone who finds it easy is disappointed. Global Stats Difficulty Easy Median Solve Time 12:04 Median Solver 22% faster ⚡88% of users solved faster than their Friday average. 54% solved much faster (>20%) than their Friday average. 🐢12% of users solved slower than their Friday average. 3% solved much slower (>20%) than their Friday average.
@SP A good point well made. I had no issue with the cluing but I concur entirely. It could have been much more lively. And I also got stuck with “decor”!
@SP I agree with most of your comments. Although I didn't know FREE SOLOED (and think the clue should've said "climbed *alone* without ropes"), and I had not heard of ILLINOISE. But, in general, the puzzle could have been better clued. Alternative clue for NEPO BABIES: "Two-thirds of SNL's "Please Don't Destroy".
@SP "CAT IN THE HAT—is there anyone who has read or seen this that won’t remember Thing One and Thing Two?" Perhaps not. But for those of us (I'm assuming it's more than just me!) who had passed childhood when Cat in the Hat came out in 1957--and who didn't have kids of our own to read it to--Thing One and Thing Two was totally opaque, and the answer only emerged from the crosses.
@SP I didn’t remember the Seuss reference. But a certain contemporary mystery novelist refers to her first two husbands that way. I couldn’t figure out how to fit her name in there. Crosses saved me.
@SP I also had ADE right til the end... and though I knew that my resulting 14A had to be wrong, it was such a weird looking word I couldn't figure out HOW it was wrong!
A nice change that the Grande Opening was not Ari 🙂
I’m here to crab about a musical entry before @Andrzej does. Nah, I’m not (though I admit that with ILLIN_ISE in place, I still wondered for a beat. “ILLIN’ what?” I wavered. “WISE? RISE? Could it be… OISE? Are we rap-swearing at the French again? I’m… in?”) Actually, quick Friday that it was and long sleep-free night that it is, I took the time to read up a bit on ELSA Schiaparelli, whose crosswordese name I’d filled in easily as always but about whom I knew nothing. Did you know that, per Wikipedia, her “divided skirt—a forerunner of shorts—shocked the tennis world when worn by Lili de Alvarez at Wimbledon in 1931?” Or that she pioneered the wrap dress? Or the bra insert in our swimsuits? Her to-me-inexplicable fascination with Dali notwithstanding, she was— argh, it’s hard to come up with apt adjectives when sleep has eluded you for 7-plus hours. I do gently suggest you read up on your own. It’s a 15 minutes well spent. A good Friday to all.
@Sam Lyons One of my mother's proudest possessions was a Schiaparelli purse -- an immense extravagance for them at the time. My father knew how to buy her a gift!
My swimsuits have all lacked bra inserts.
Why is "swim with the fishes?" clued with a question mark? That's literally what you're doing. If the fill was "GETTINGYOURBODYTHROWNINTHEOCEANBYTHEMOB" you'd use a question mark
@a Yeah, that's another good example of the double double cross. It's relying us to not expect straightforwardness.
@a same, i kept thinking of words related to death and organized crime 😂
Hi Deb and everyone. For clue 30D - "Pitch catcher" - besides a business pitch, the EAR is the discerner of musical pitch.
@Jesse that was how I viewed it as well!
It's a shame that [Old money, for short?] wasn't PENNY. Et tu, emu.
@Lewis I appreciated the clue for IRA. I don't think it's new, but I don't recall seeing it before.
@Lewis For some international solvers, pennies are very much current money!
@Lewis I wanted it to be LSD (UK pounds shillings pence) - would have been a lovely alternate clue for that answer)
Such a good puzzle! Such great cluing, such great fill.
Deb, thank you so much for all that you do. Reading your column and comments has brought me great joy.
One of those that seemed impossible at first, like for sure I was going to have to look something up, but I kept plugging away and ended up solving it without any help from google. Pretty proud of myself.
Deb, You helped me hang in there when I started solving in 2020. Your columns were funny and encouraging and I looked forward to them each week. Thank you! All the best to you in your next adventures!
I ended up having to look for help for the top left corner, but im still new to solving friday/saturday puzzles without auto check! proud I got 90% of it on my own. I love puzzles like this. Minimal weird dated trivia, minimal "crosswardese", the clever long pun answers are crossed by clues that can be deduced logically and with wit. a perfect puzzle!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this solve! was on its wavelength from the start and was able to just woosh in those long answers. Great puzzle!
Nice chewy puzzle with some excellent, novel, clueing. Among the best Friday puzzles in the past year.
I had a wonderful half hour with this pretty puzzle. There was just one fun answer after another: STUBBED TOES, BLENDED FAMILIES, SWAG BAG. I thought FACETS for [Planes on a diamond] was a beautiful double misdirection--it had me thinking so hard about baseball diamonds I forgot about real diamonds, which, diabolically, was right. Let's see if I can lure Andrzej back in.... Everyone, and I mean every one, has to appreciate the great pun in ILLINOISE, which I haven't seen but am sure is another in the line of wonderful musicals, where everyday conversations break into wondrous lines of song. Who wouldn't like that? I mean, it would take someone wholly without a soul to not appreciate that terrific pun and to give a tip about a new musical.
@Francis Despite my complaints above, I do have a soul and I did enjoy the ILLINOISE entry (also was not familiar with the musical)
@Francis Illinoise was a great show but was actually a sung through dance piece with no spoken dialogue
@Francis a wily and excellent attempt to lure him back. and as is well known here he is pretty dense and is likely to walk right into the trap.
@Francis Thank you!!! I had completed the puzzle except for "planes on a diamond" -- couldn't get "carat" out of my brain
Can this be a trend? Finishing the puzzle with no look-ups? Nah. There were enough crosses to lead me through it, and ultimately it was the cleverness of the clues that resulted in some STUBBEDTOES ( I loved TOCK), and FREESOLO would be a lovely way to live if I didn't have the IDEALMATE. Amazing that the weekend is upon us and ball dop only a dozen days away. The year is slipping through my fingers and I didn't really have time to live it. Good cheer, my friends, and may the forth be with you.
@dutchiris the year is yours for the taking!
Too busy to puzzle last night, so before I did this one, I Q’d up yesterday’s. What a fun little appetizer that was! Then for the main course, I got to feast on this meaty gem. Delicious. And for dessert: not one, but TWO columns from Deb! Talk about a Gold Star meal. And now, I need a nap. My compliments to the chefs.
Themeless Wednesday, anyone? Today's puzzle actually took me about a minute less to finish compared to Wednesday's. I will miss you Deb, but I'm sure you'll DOOK in whatever comes next. Enjoy.
OOH. I will try to get back here and read the Comments at some point, and I'm eager to see how many suckers cleverly entered BLUEBERRIES at 2D. I certainly did. Yessiree...hook, line, and sinker. And TICK before TOCK. I held off at 42A, betting that many would enter FROG. However, we high-schoolers started with a (huge) WORM, and next came a starfish and a fish before the frog, who was, alas, a female and chock full o' eggs! Had to wait until college for the fetal pig. I had MLS before MGS; in fact, my pill dosages are in MCGS. (No caps.) DHubby believes I am the last living person in the USofA who IRONs. I am sure this is a gigantic misstatement, as every quilter has at least one IRON in frequent use. I used to iron our napkins, but now I just fold them fresh from the dryer and put an "antique" iron (a "sad iron") on the stack; voila! Perfectly pressed overnight.
@Mean Old Lady I iron all of my Aloha shirts (starch 'em too). Napkins, nope. I'm with you there too.
@Mean Old Lady I already had the T from DOTS so attempted sTrawberries, which obviously didn’t fit. At that point I figured it must be a trick! Or perhaps a new fruit…
@Mean Old Lady how would "blueberries" be 2D? I've never heard of that. or raspberries, either?
@Mean Old Lady My secret vice -- I like to iron. (No, don't send me your laundry.) I find it rhythmic and contemplative and, if you do it in time-limited intervals, not exhausting. And nothing beats a freshly ironed shirt on a cold morning.
@Mean Old Lady Do you mean Blueberries at 3D?
For 38A, I had "UP AND DIES" which caused a bit of a jam there until I figured out the proper colloquialism. I think I was being too Midwestern.
@Kal Ha! I want to see that in a future puzzle. UP AND is so much more colorful.
What a lovely puzzle from Hemant Mehta! I breezed through it in 11:07, just 1:05 shy of my Friday personal best. Came here to gloat, and to see whether ILLINOISE and NEPOBABIES were debuts. (I'm still not sure!) 🤪
@Matt Had to duck over to xwordinfo for the complete list of debut entries in this puzzle. Without spoilers, here they are: 14A 16A 38A 54A 2D 3D 5D 24D 25D 39D What a fun, refreshing themeless grid! Truly remarkable. Bravo, Mr. Mehta! 🥳🎉
@Matt NEPO BABIES is new, but NEPO BABy showed up in 2023.
FREE SOLO is certainly one of the best documentaries ever made. Even knowing ahead of time the climber lived while climbing El Capitan without ropes, it was nerve-wracking to watch.
@coloradoz It’s a white knuckle watch for sure. Right up there with the documentary about the guy that walked a tightrope between the twin towers.
Completed the left half (divided diagonally) in no time at all but at least most of the cluing was good if not challenging. @Deb, for EAR, I was thinking of a musical pitch, but your interpretation works too!
Saw Illinoise in Chicago before it moved on, and loved the album years before that. REALLY good music, highly recommend. Best to Deb!
These two answers in exact opposite corners were also responses on today’s episode of Jeopardy. What are EDGAR and INSPO?
And earlier today I actually uttered the word INSPO, in an otherwise normal conversation, for what I’m pretty sure was the first and only time in my life. I felt a twinge of shame.
@Adam G An Edgar is a prize named for Edgar Allan Poe.
@Adam G Gen-now talk for INSPIRATION?
@Adam G You remembered your phrasing.
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this particular puzzle. I noticed a lot of new entries and I thought it was very clever. About 15 seconds over my average time and this one was a real pleasure to solve. Thank you.
Thank you for such a wonderful puzzle! I'm a big fan of wordplay over obscure knowlege, and was able to finish this Friday quickly (but not too quickly). More of this, please!
All the best Deb! I always enjoyed your commentary, insights, and enthusiasm. Like today, your excitement over debut entries got me excited about that as well! If the NYT Puzzle Team had jerseys like a sports team, you'd have earned your retired jersey number.
Nice enough puzzle, but the clues seemed more like dictionary definitions than the misdirects I look forward to. Those nice long debut entries, as well as most of the others, were just crying out for a little obfuscation.
OOH, how I loved this puzz… NE was the only sticky wicket, not knowing DOLAN, and plopping in mgm for [Grande opening?] realizing the e on the end made that a no-go, and hastily plopping in ari instead, then thinking..gee..? So many Grandes! So many grand clues and long entries so fresh they nearly deserved a slap! Fantabulous Friday. Nay, Fri-yay.
@CCNY I had a similar solving experience, adding in not knowing ILLINOISE. I especially liked NEPO BABIES, even though it was eminently guessable.
Typical tough Friday for me, with a lot of things that weren't going to come to me just from the clues. But... a lot of working the crosses and things gradually fell together. Ended up being an enjoyable workout. Puzzle find today was inspired (in a roundabout way) by SWAGBAG. Anyway - a Thursday from March 18, 1999 by Rand H. Burns. Some answers in that one: SWAGMAN JUMBUCK TUCKERBAG BILLABONG and... WALTZINGMATILDA Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/18/1999&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/18/1999&g=17&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta One of many sad notes coming from the Bondi Beach murders: the youngest victin was a 10-year-old named Matilda.
Really enjoyed this Friday puzzle -- thank you, Hemant! Like others, I confess to going dark on "Swim with fishes?" I somehow wanted to squish in DAVYJONESLOCKERED or CEMENTSHOED, but, alas, the space and tense did not allow for me to go all Godfathery (new word not yet surfaced on Jeopardy). Deb, as others have shared more eloquently, thank you for your kindness, wit and wisdom that has guided us through our Fridays and Saturdays (and a few other weekdays as occasional treats). Your humor and humility have provided me with greater end-of-week crossword courage and to no longer endure a hives outbreak when I see the word REBUS. My best to you for a well-earned, happy and healthy retirement. 🫶🏼
@Kelly H Oops - I meant THURSDAYS & Fridays, Deb!
What a delightful puzzle! Fresh clues, fresh fill, and it must have been on my wavelength because all of my guesses turned out to be correct (with the exception of ARI before RIO), probably the first time this week that's happened. I didn't know most of the proper nouns, which kept things interesting. Thank you, Mr. Mehta, and thank you Deb for your constant wit and joy. You will be missed!
Read "Boomer playing in a band" and instantly entered BASSDRUM. Most of my solve went like that, so this one seemed very easy to me. Finished in 15 minutes, which is quite fast for me on a Friday. Had ZING rather than TANG briefly, until I saw FACET. Probably the most thinking I did for this one. The fill here is outstanding. Curious what others thought of the challenge this puzzle offered.
@Xword Junkie I was on your page, see my comments below
@Xword Junkie Just a hair under my average solve time. I had the whole right side done before anything in the left side.
@Xword Junkie Just slightly below average time for me. I liked the freshness of most of the longer answers, but BLENDED FAMILIES felt like a gimme.
@Xword Junkie I felt like it was easier than Wed and Thurs--certainly quicker!
@Xword Junkie I found it fairly smooth and easy for a Friday, with fresh fill. Was not fond of Dolan or Illinoise, not my wheelhouse, but got them from the crosses.
@Xword Junkie Not far from my Monday and Tuesday time this week.
@Xword Junkie Yep. I would say it's closer to Wednesday-level. But I'm very much on the same wavelength as Hemant since I regularly read his blog. That said, I still loved the puzzle, just thought it came on the wrong day.
@Xword Junkie I agree that the fill is great, but I still finished a few minutes under my average Friday time, so I considered this puzzle a bit easy for a Friday.
Had ideal date instead of ideal mate for the longest time. I know nothing about MERC so that got me. Lots of names today too which will never be my favorite. Otherwise, some great cluing! Happy Friday!
@cameron I only saw 4 names...I didn't know ELSA or TESSA or EDIE and definitely not Larry, who owned ...um, The Tribe, (NOT "The Guardians" as they are newly--belatedly-- renamed, just to be precise.) They broke our hearts regularly.
@cameron The Chicago MERCantile Exchange is where commodities are traded, like pork bellies.
@cameron EDGAR is the name of an award not a person, so I don't think that counts.
Now I can't get Tom Petty's Free Fallin' outta my head.
@ad absurdum I did consider posting it, but really only the chorus works.
Thank you, Deb. Your columns gave me the courage to move through the week and try the harder puzzles at the end of the week. I will miss you and hope to see you commenting in this thread. Best wishes for your future plans.
It's raining and super-windy here in New London CT, where submarine lingo is in our blood. We've had a few power blinks already. And now, puzzles are done, and I've no excuse but to get in the car and brave going to the office. Yes - just any minute I'll be standing up...I swear! Have a great day.
Missed it today but it was fair. 5 streaked last week and 4 streaked this week so still a best two week performance
One of my favs in a very long time. Sometimes I never get on the creator’s wavelength. Took a few stabs then, Zing oh I mean TANG.
You know how sometimes nothing clicks and the puzzle is still half full of blanks after an hour? Well hallelujah, this didn't happen to me today! I don't know what came over me but I just sailed through this one. Its going to be a fine day.