This was under my Saturday average. Anytime I can get wed-sat with no look ups is a good week for me. If you are new at this, stick with it. The more you do the smarter you feel. I’m still in awe of frequent commentators here who pull off these puzzles in a quarter the time it takes me, but then I remember I get more fun time than they do. Fun puzzle.
Before I get to the most important part – how was the solve? – I have to comment on how artistically and technically-impressive this puzzle is. At a very-low 66 words, look at how junk-free the grid is! But Hannah didn’t stop there; she zingafied the answer set. There are four stacks -- 12 long answers -- and, to my eyes, 11 of them have pop (all but ABBRREVIATE). I not only LIKE LIKED that but was wow-wowed as well. I also liked the paucity of three-letter answers (2), as well as the freshness, with 16 answers used only four times or less in the Times puzzle before, Remarkable. Then came the cluing, where it seemed to me that every clue was made with care, using wordplay, wit, vagueness, and misdirection. So, the box had great bones, but how was the solve? For me, most satisfying, with enough Saturday bite and interest in answer to make for a rich experience. “Oh, that was lovely,” is how I felt after filling in the last square. Well-made and lovely, Hannah, the perfect Crosslandia recipe. Thank you!
Lewis, Fine puzzle indeed, but too smooth for my taste (and I see I'm not alone*). I prefer a crunchier Saturday. *Global Stats Difficulty Easy Median Solve Time 16:16 Median Solver 20% faster ⚡75% of users solved faster than their Saturday average. 50% solved much faster (>20%) than their Saturday average. 🐢25% of users solved slower than their Saturday average. 11% solved much slower (>20%) than their Saturday average.
My quickest solve yet (44 minutes...so you can see I am not speedy) and I did not hit the "check word" or check puzzle" button once (a first)! So I am happy with my first Saturday puzzle of 2026 !!
Most of it was really (too?) easy for a NYT Saturday, but the bottom right gave me some pause. Decent, well made puzzle, and a truly refreshing lack of junk filler or frequent flyers such as oreos. This leaves a smooth taste. :) Thanks.
The strange clue about "frog sticks" took me back to the time when politicians wanted us to call French fries "Freedom fries". Way back to 2003. All because France had the wisdom not to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
@The X-Phile I'm sure a lot of us had that very thought.... and I doubt the DINER-talk version; they'd just say FRIES and leave it at that.
@The X-Phile And of course the joke was on them because it's not "French fries", it's "french fries", referring to the way the potatoes are cut into strips: frenching, lower-case F.
Very fun puzzle. 1A, BADAPPLES clued by spoilers that ruin a lot, kicked off a fun romp. PLANKTON for drifters at sea caught my fancy too, after I realized ghost ship was a no go. I struggled for a time in the SW because I plunked down INALIE for how someone might be caught and it took a little time to untangle the confusion that misstep caused. My only quibble was seeing SEEDMONEY clued the way it was just a couple of puzzles ago. I got a kick out of PEEP, because it reminded me of PEEP jousting. Take two Peeps, stick a toothpick in each one projecting forward like spears or lances, place them face to face in a microwave, zap them and watch them lunge at each other.
@Marshall Walthew Peep jousting! Sounds hilarious. Must try.
@Marshall Walthew Do the Peeps still have to be soft to joust? I ask because my husband only likes them crunchy and slits the plastic as soon as we get them home. (That slowed me up a bit in the puzzle since I don't think of them as soft.) And what are the risks to the microwave either way? A beloved brother-in-law used to organize peep-themed contests whenever they hosted family get-togethers, but we never tried this one. Gonna ping him about it now.
MOCAP? That’s quite a stretch. “Frog sticks” for French Fries in a diner? I’ve seen frog legs. Never heard of frog sticks. Those two are disappointing.
@Shane I don't mind MOCAP But I've eaten in plenty of diners, coast to coast across the USA, and never once seen Frog Sticks on a menu or heard of them at all.
@Shane MOCAP is short for motion capture. It's used in lots of different ways, but the one most people are familiar with is movies and video games. A guy (probably Andy Serkis) puts on a stretchy suit covered in what looks like golf balls--those are sensors that capture and record his movements in the form of a 3D model. Then they put CGI over the model and he becomes Gollum.
@Shane I use and hear the word mocap all the time. It’s not a “stretch” at all. You just may not be into video games or animation, and that’s fine, but it’s certainly fair game for the crossword. <a href="https://noisypixel.net/clair-obscur-expedition-33-behind-the-scenes" target="_blank">https://noisypixel.net/clair-obscur-expedition-33-behind-the-scenes</a>/
So two things I want to add. First my apologies to anyone from the south but my initial surprised thought at the DINER clue was DIXIE, and very glad it wasn’t, because that would be very pejorative to Southerners. But that brings me to my second point—anyone feel that “frog sticks” is pejorative to French people and shouldn’t have been clued that way? I remind you, I very strongly feel that words that might be tangentially used in another context should be allowed—I would never suggest that FROG should never be in a crossword clued as the amphibian because a French person might be offended. And I get that French people eat frog legs and that’s where it comes from. But I do think it can be used as an ethnic slur and the way it is used in this clue can be construed that way. I’m sure no harm was meant—but I remember an infamous puzzle where a word for a certain baseball pitch was innocently included that was read as a slur for Hispanic people and many took offense. This seems like it could be even more overtly inappropriate. I welcome honest and polite discussion especially from our friends in France and of French heritage, and again I sincerely believe that the author or editors, whoever wrote the clue, did not mean to offend anyone, but sometimes lessons can be learned.
@SP I agree with this: hopefully do away with it all together, but at least leave it in the DINER
@SP I, too, was very surprised by that clue. I’m not a pearl clutcher by nature, but I thought that crossed a line. Surely someone could have come up with a less offensive way to clue French fries?
@SP As a Brit, living just over La Manche from France, we have always had a friendly/warring rivalry with our neighbours. They call us "les rosbifs". We call them "the frogs". I've never met any English or French person who is particularly offended by either term. French people, please do admonish me if I'm wrong. It's also highly unlikely that the term comes from their delicious dish of frogs legs as it's been around since the middle ages and may have been coined as a general term for the French by Parisians themselves (see <a href="https://poitoucharentesinphotos.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/why-do-the-english-refer-to-the-french-as-frogs" target="_blank">https://poitoucharentesinphotos.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/why-do-the-english-refer-to-the-french-as-frogs</a>/)
@SP French here, we don’t care. Never heard the term “frog sticks” but also never met another French person who’s offended by being called “froggies”. French people are neither an ethnic group, nor an oppressed minority. They also use a lot (too much?) colorful language to be clutching pearls. :)
@SP I read the posts from newest to oldest, so I responded to it quite a while after you posted yours. I, too, thought it was a derogatory terms, but mostly for French Canandians.
@SP I tend to take Ricky Gervais' view on this issue.
@SP "Frog sticks" was a weird choice, given there are probably a hundred other choices the editorial team could have made.
Once again, I read the comments and mine is the opposite of the prevailing solving experience today. I filled in the SE corner first, NE second, then puzzled over the rest for quite some time, finishing some five minutes slower than my official average, and in reality having taken twice as long as a typical Saturday has taken me for the last few of years. Granted, since we’ve moved to Europe and I started solving the puzzles as soon as I wake up in the morning—always before coffee and often, I suspect, before full consciousness—I don’t zoom through the puzzles like I used to. This isn’t a bad thing, of course. In the early morning, Saturday puzzles push back more, and that makes it more fun. Thanks for a nicely clued, impressively junk-free puzzle, Hannah.
@Sam Lyons. Same! I started out with the left half done, and the right half (pretty much) blank for quite a while… 7 minutes over my Saturday average when the dust finally settled.
Yeah, I had MOPTOP and MOHAWK before arriving at MULLET. Shows I've been hanging around a mixed crowd I guess, but I mainly associate mullets with certain Czech hockey players who spent their best years in Pittsburgh. In fact, if you want to go to EBAY and make offers, as the puzzle suggests, you might want to buy this objet d'art for your girlfriend, or at least show it to her to suggest that should she go for a mullet, that this would be one to use as a model. It's a kind of Platonic ideal of the mullet: <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/116339756705" target="_blank">https://www.ebay.com/itm/116339756705</a> (If you don't want to CLICK HERE, you're missing out an an opportunity to own a photo of Jaromir Jagr in his mullet prime). He enjoyed a lengthy career, and it wasn't that long ago that I saw his last dance at the ice palace. In fact, he's still playing, at 53, for his old hometown team in Kladno. Frog sticks! is Diner the name of a country, or a region where they only speak parentese? Have any of you been to Diner and heard french fries referred to as such? Seems a little pejorative if you ask me. In Diner, do they call English muffins limey buns? Do they make fun of other nationalities? Good puzzle, and enjoyed some of the longs, abbreviate next to delete this, which also echoes (caught) on tape (this grid has a guilty conscience: what is it hiding?). Mnemonics. I never remember how to spell that word (!).
@john ezra I didn’t read your full post before making my own comment on the DINER, so please read my subsequent comment above. I had the same thought.
@john ezra As to your last problem, keep this simple trick in mind: “Minnesota, Manganese, Mongolia and Master of Nursing are all MN, and gosh darn, so is mnemonic!” That recently replaced the pithier but possibly confusing: “Mnemonic’s knee is spelled MNE” Of course, there’s always the old standby: “When you’re thinking mnemonically, it’s M for Memory before N for Nunnery.”
@john ezra Limey buns!! I'll have to ask for those soon.
@john ezra and @Puzzlemucker I don't have trouble with MN...it's wanting it to be MNEUMONIC that trips me up every time. I guess I'm pronouncing it wrong too. Spill-over from those PNEU words?
FYI - Mullets have been out of style in lesbian world for quite some time. Just letting you know.
@Michelle Yet they still can be associated with lesbian culture, as the clue says.
started off strong, but the SE corner was ... uh... rather brutal. AUNATUREL [?] x MNEMONICS x PARENTESE [?] with 3 trivia clues thrown in led to a section that did not want to be solved. MULLETS are not a part of lesbian culture. RICECOOKER does not use a thermostat. the idea was there, the execution was not...
I’ve been a lesbian for 40 years, and there are a number of correct answers to that Lesbian hair clue, but MULLET is not one of them.
@Ann As a longtime lesbian, you’d know better than I which hairstyles are currently in style, but if the MULLET was ever a “style associated with lesbian culture,” the clue is fine from a crossword perspective, just like [Ford model] could solve to MODEL T.
@Ann Hi, Ann. 50 years here. I have known a few fellow lesbians with mullets, but I agree, it is not "part of the culture." Chris Williamson is, but not mullets. In the 70's, flannel shirts and Frye boots, no mullets.
@Ann Briefly in the ‘80s, a mullet-adjacent haircut, the rattail, was popular amongst young lesbians. I had one, and others had similar mullet-ish cuts. But, yeah, I would never go so far as to associate lesbians with mullets, or vice-versa, especially in the last 35 years.
@HeathieJ Also known as the SH(ort in front)LONG(in the back).
It took my 76 year old brain 1 hour 7 minutes, but I got it with no lookups.
@Laura Stratton I’m not currently but my 35 yr old brain would have taken longer!
A rice cooker specifically does not use a thermostat to tell when it is done cooking rice. As it heats up the water evaporates and stops absorbing heat energy, this then heats the magnet which holds a circuit closed. A heated magnet loses magnetism and then opens the circuit turning the device off. An over however does use a thermostat because the temperature it needs to achieve varies while a rice cooker only cooks rice and the magnet can be designed for one temperature only.
@Jordan Interesting, I never even considered that. I thought it was magic. No really, I first encountered the RICE COOKER when I was teaching in China, and was amazed by how well it worked. I also wondered we we didn't have them in the US. They caught on eventually, and I love my little Cuisinart. (My fancy vegetable steamer is jealous.)
@Jordan Isn't that still a type of thermostat? 🤔
There was a moment, after being stuck for quite a while, when I said to myself: "Wait a minute...is it possible that "pomelo" has only one "l?" It was kind of like that moment in "2001: A Space Odyssey" when the ape starts looking intensely at the bone in his hand.
Having read through the comments regarding the use of "frog" in a clue to refer to French, here is an interesting story regarding that. Here in Maine we have a lot of francophones. In many cases you would never know their first language was French -- they speak perfect English -- well, as perfect as possible in New England. I remember when a good friend married a woman from Ft. Kent, when I went up for the wedding meeting her family. I had no idea, in spite of her French surname, that they spoke French at home. It was an eye-opener, the way they would segue between French and English in mid-sentence. Anyway, at the University of Maine, there was a student organization for francophone students. Their mascot was a frog, and their the acronym for their name was FAROG (Franco-American Resource Opportunity Group). They published a newsletter in French and English called Le F.A.R.O.G. Forum, with their frog mascot featured on the banner of every issue. They were a very inclusive group. The UMaine administration decided some time in the 1980s that the title and mascot were offensive and required the students in the group (all Franco-Americans, mind you) to change the name and remove the frog from their logo. The students of FAROG did not like this very much, but the administration stood firm. It was a bit of over-reach by the administration, I think. Nobody thought of it as offensive back then, but administrator must do what administrators do.
@Captain Quahog Do they still tell Newfie jokes up there? My dad had lots of those. (He was a graduate of the U of M.) Back to the point, from reading the Sharpe series, by Bernard Cornwell, I learned that the British referred to Napoleon's troops as "crapauds" and I assume the author did his homework on that.
"And one time, at BIBLE CAMP..." begins no interesting story, ever, unlike band camp.
@Grant I disagree, but this is not the venue in which to disclose the tale. :^)
@Grant Choir Camp was pretty interesting.
@Grant As a regular Bible Camp goer back in the day, later a Bible Camp summer worker, and later a full time Bible Camp worker for about 5 years, I would have to strongly disagree! Oh, the fun and silly hilarity! ☺️
It's where I learned to be hmophobic and biased against the French. Loved the candy filled eggs too.
There's an Ice Hotel in Quebec City that has to be seen to be believed. Absolutely fantastic!
Nice Saturday. Typical long workout for me and had to look up a couple of things, but mostly just working the crosses and pondering. Just the way it should be. Interesting puzzle find today. A Sunday from February 27, 1972 by Ward. W. Smith with the title: "Gamesmanship." There was no hint as to the trick in the theme answers other than that title. Otherwise they were straightforwardly clued. A couple of examples: "Wife of Henry VII." ANNEBOWLING "Atlantic Bay." CHESSAPEAKE And some other theme answers: DAVYCRICKET POKERHONTAS GOLFOFMEXICO CHECKERSLOVAKIA And there were more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=2/27/1972&g=38&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=2/27/1972&g=38&d=D</a> ....
I was surprised to see XWStats rated this as “easy” since this was the most challenging puzzle of the week for me, by far; finished about 30% over my average. Had a hard time getting on the constructor’s wavelength. Still, I appreciated the challenge; if all crosswords were easy I’d likely have stopped long ago, as it would have bored me.
Joe, xwstats stats compare today's times to times on other Saturdays. Most solvers in tab found it easier compared to recent Saturdays, not to other puzzles this week. Saturdays are supposed to be the hardest puzzles of the week, so you're on track!
@Joe It wasn't as beastly as the usual Saturday. I required eleven cheats, which was less than I needed for the LA/WaPo Saturday, fourteen cheats. Saturday puzzles are always hard! No doubt harder for me than many here, at least those who comment. The challenge continues
On the subject of padlocks on bridges…Most places now take them down or ban them. They add a significant amount of weight to the bridge and/or the safety railing…So they are taken down.
@Paul nice exercise for lock picking aficionados!
@Paul Yes and so glad about it. They're like graffiti on steampunk steroids, completely ugly, dangerous, and a reminder that someone, somewhere, is always ready to make things just a little bit worse. Nearly literal marking of territory that's very much not theirs.
@Paul It probably wouldn't be a problem if more people remembered to remove the locks after a break-up.
I don't mind bragging rights, but maybe people could add something they like about the crossword to make their post worth reading.
@Becky M. I loved, loved, loved a lot of the cluing… London by the lake, lake must be Eton (Wrongovian guess!)… thought for sure saving space was something above the atmosphere, thought pet rocks had somehow been glued to bridges…. And I can do it (not help) …wonderful puzzling misdirections. Thanks Hannah Slovut-Einertson! My daughter follows a lot of cooking TikToks, and says there is a huge amount of unwarranted negativity and vacuous commentary. Ah me, contemporary internet culture, pandemonium walked up on us. Accentuate the positive, don’t mess with Mr. Inbetween!
@Becky M Um, maybe this was performance art of some kind, but your post does not cite something you like about the crossword?
Fun PEEP facts: 1. According to Wikipedia, Dolly Parton credits her youthful appearance to eating one Peep per day. 2. Peeps are made by the Just Born company in Bethlehem PA. On New Year’s Eve in Bethlehem, they sponsor an annual giant ‘Peep drop’ to welcome the new year. Times Square has its crystal ball, Bethlehem has its giant Peep. Happy New Year!
@Brendan. The Washington Post used to host a Peep Diorama contest every spring. The creativity, the puns, the modeling skills were outstanding! Going back through the history is a walk through so many cultural events… <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/03/28/peeps-diorama-contest-winners-2024" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/03/28/peeps-diorama-contest-winners-2024</a>/ <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2016/03/16/classic-peeps-a-decade-of-sugary-social-commentary" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2016/03/16/classic-peeps-a-decade-of-sugary-social-commentary</a>/
I liked the misdirect on Body of water near London. Being in the UK, you sorta Occam’s Razor it in the wrong way and make the assumption that it is the London you know best, which of course it isn’t. (Someone will now point out I have Occam’s Razor all wrong or that it doesn’t apply here, but so be it). By the way, Ockham is about 5 miles from here, and doesn’t have much more notable about it than being the birthplace of that problem solving principle.
@Jason Got me too. I kept thinking ‘but Virginia Water doesn’t fit!’
@Jason - I've been to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, near London, ON, many times so ERIE was a gimme for me.
@Jason Do people tend to be more clean-shaven there?
Ooh. I LIKELIKEd this one. And we had a mink in our backyard slither by during the solve! What does it meeeeean…?
@CCNY I CAN HELP! Was the MINK AU NATUREL?
@CCNY It probably meeeeeans you have small rodents near/in/under your house: voles, shrews, mice, moles, and hibernating snakes, lizards, and such. Heh.
Enjoyed the puzzle but I am still wondering about FROG STICKS. There are certainly enough references online to justify its inclusion in the NYXW, so that’s not my issue. But having briefly ventured down that rabbit hole and read through several of those online references, my takeaway is that “diner lingo” has the distinct feel of being an urban legend. I see lots of filler pieces (in “CT Insider” or the _Sarasota Herald_) and reddit posts that repeat the same phrases verbatim (and even seem to date from around the same time), which makes me suspicious. And while I realize that the point of the supposed lingo is that it is used by the staff, not printed on menus, I have eaten at a LOT of diners in my life, all over the country, and never heard this kind of banter. Any former short-order cooks or waiters/waitresses out there who can verify that “diner lingo” is a real thing and not just something that editors of regional publications reach for when they need to fill an issue?
@Nat K I can't answer your question, but have a similar one: Should having worked in a diner be required to complete the NYT crossword? Not a big deal because it was easy to guess from the crosses.
Nat, Oh, it's definitely real... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJePACBoIo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJePACBoIo</a>
Sorry but this one was way too esoteric. Every other answer was the absolute last thing you would think of. Like liked? More over? No one talks like that and bible camp? That’s the last cult recruiting event I thought of.
Not a fun solve. Everything felt forced. Too many clunkers. The fit but again felt forced. 67 years and never run into frog leg fries. Borderline offensive on the mullet clue.
@Dan Collins real and actual lesbian here to tell you that it was an incredibly accurate and not at all offensive clue! got it incredibly fast and had a giggle
@Dan Collins Why offensive about the mullets? I'm a gal and married to a guy. I wear mullets because they look good on me and make my hair fall into the best places. I had no idea that a mullet was a lesbian signifier but count me in as an ally. Maybe that's why a lesbian told me that I have the most beautiful eyes. LOL. Definitely NOT offended at all.
@Dan Collins "Frog sticks" would never appear on a menu. It's slang/code used between an order-taker in a diner and the diner's cook, usually yelled through the passing window because they aren't using tickets. Most common from the 1920s-70s, it might be used in a modern day diner with a retro theme. Orders like "Burn the British" (toasted English muffin), "guess water" (soup), "moo juice" (milk), etc. Other people have given some examples earlier.
I’m not going to wade through any more complaints, as there are an awful lot today. For me this puzzle was tough in spots and easier in spots, but I always enjoy the challenge and I enjoyed this one. Thanks to the constructor and the whole team. We’re having very stormy weather here in Nevada County, just a bit scary, rain, wind, and thunder. Hope everyone stays warm and safe wherever you are.
@Shari Coats I know it can be scary weather there. Stay safe!
I didn’t find this so easy—a little less than average time for me, which is probably a little harder than average for my current skill level. And I certainly didn’t find it boring as a few areas stretched me. I definitely LIKED LIKED it. (I tried to find a movie clip to validate this phrase to others, but couldn’t, but I know I’ve heard it dozens of times). I’ve always heard of MOTHERESE but I appreciate the gender neutral version. Very good consistent level of clueing, I thought. For some reason I was especially amused by MINSK. Also liked “Save me!” and the clue for ICEPALACE. Regarding the last, I’m going to bring this up one last time, again just to warn and remind people out there—Caitlin feels very strongly, apparently, that it’s OK to head the column with pictures and captions that explicitly reference a clue. So just be careful if you are opening the column to get some other info or some specific hint that you might inadvertently get a hint you weren’t looking for. I won’t mention it again because it doesn’t bother me and apparently it’s just her style, which is OK as long as people are aware.
@SP I solved on my phone, but as soon as I clicked into the article, I rolled my eyes at seeing the huge spoiler. Ugh! It annoys me to no end, and causes me to not even read her article. That's why when I know she's the writer, I would rather solve on my phone but it's much harder for me to do on Sundays because of size. For those of you who haven't caught what I've had to say about this before and think you can only see it by clicking in, that's not always the case. When I saw on my laptop monitor, the huge picture and caption show up right below the puzzle and above the fold, as they say. I do not have to click into anything to see it.
@SP The writer chooses the photo and writes the caption? Is that something new in newspapers?
@SP I never really pay much attention to the photos because, like you, I don't read the column until after I've finished the puzzle. But looking at it now, I see exactly what you mean. It just hits you in the face with that one big long answer. I don't think a major spoiler should be right there at the top of the column, especially for a late-week puzzle.
@SP - I don't open the column until I am ready for hints. I don't know why you think the order if the hints should line up exactly with your needs. The photo is always a hint.
@SP Deb used to have spoilery photos, too. Both Deb and Caitlin go back aways, maybe the column photos were not so visible years ago. It was really Sam who has led the way in choosing non-spoiler photos, because of her predilection for puns and alternative meanings.
I mean... I get that 'unwanted mail' in 4 letters is supposed to trick you into guessing spam, but I haven't once in my adult life felt that a bill was 'unwanted', compared to the rare times when I didn't get my bill and was dinged with late fees...
@Henrik this cost me 10-15 min in the northwest corner. A bill isn’t unwanted, rather it is expected. Maybe “Costly mail?” Is better
Puzzle was okay, but two things stuck in my craw: 1. Corner piece as "staple" - I suppose I get it, it just felt off. 2. "Frog sticks" as french fries - seems offensive on its face, even if one isn't the language police. And is this really on menus? Maybe it exists, but with so many other ways to clue, why choose one that's going to potentially offend? Still did the crossword and still enjoyed it, but with a slight sense of "meh"
@Shauron 1. Papers are often stapled in the corner. 2. Several French people have already mentioned that they did not take offense at the term. It’s not on menus. It’s diner workers’ insider lingo.
@Shauron I agree, and same with the lesbian-mullet clue-solution set. Both seem ... in questionable taste, and the mullet one isn't even really accurate.
Guess I’m an outlier on this one because I found it really difficult. Took me way over my average Saturday time, and needed lots of help from the column.
@Rick C Nit on your own, I found this quite embarrassingly impossible. Needed the good folk here to enlighten me as to PEEP too. It sounds disgusting.
I'm gonna go against the grain and say I, a lesbian, didn't mind MULLET. I've never had one, but many of my friends (also lesbians) have had one at some point in their lives. I wouldn't necessarily associate it with just lesbians--I think I've known just as many bi and queer women with one--but it was easy enough to guess.
Rory, Thank you for standing up for MULLET. I don't think the constructor minds MULLET either. And of course nothing in the clue suggests it's only for lesbians.
I'm guessing the constructor didn't mind it either...
@Rory I had no IDEA. Love mullets because they flatter my face. Bi woman, married to a man. I didn't choose a mullet because of being bi. But I don't mind being seen as an ally.
I found this one smooth too, Caitlin. And I think most people will find it smoother than Hannah's Thursday effort!
Glad it was smooth for many… I wandered quite a while in Wrongovia, but I stuck with it, and mainly appropriate corrections eventually popped out. 70 minutes but all of you have helped me enjoy the empuzzlement, well, must be a word if ALOP was.
Fantastic puzzle and I'm sorry to the constructor that so many commenters seem to project their own inadequacies or personal frustrations in the comment section.
@Roldick The complex individuals we are show themselves in our personal comments? The outrage! It's a relief to have somebody put us in our place. Thanks!
Brilliant puzzle, thank you, Hannah. Good and chewy, not ungettable, but lots of secondary and tertiary meanings. Very little in the way of trivia and proper nouns, and not much crosswordese. I think our international solvers may have trouble, the puzzle is heavy with idiomatic language and echoes of pop culture, US-centric. DELETE THIS and CLICK HERE together in the puzzle tickled my funny bone.
What a delightful struggle. I found it harder than usual, but wonderfully it was not because of a bunch of proper nouns. Brilliant!
Didn't like this one. I've never actually been in a diner that advertises "Frog Sticks" and even if there are some, what's the point---and I find this insulting as I did assigning mullets as the go to hairstyle for my lesbian friends (sigh). Again, what's the point? Deb was staunch in her desire to keep from labeling people or insulting anyone. Let's honor that by trying to do better to start the new year.
@lawrenceb56 The "frog sticks" clue is in reference to diner lingo used by the waiters and cooks. It's fun and often colorful (possibly to make orders easier to remember?). As for the mullets, I maybe would have clued it as an 80's hairstyle, but maybe that was considered too obvious for a Saturday puzzle. The clue really doesn't label or insult anyone, just makes note of a hairstyle preference. I'll wait to be offended until lesbians are never mentioned at all for not fitting in with the heteronormative agenda.
I liked how few proper names there were in this grid - it must have been one of the reasons I was able to complete the puzzle without lookups, which is not a given for me on Saturdays. My solve time was around my average for this time in the week 30-ish minutes). I'm not sure how I liked the clueing though. It was... Fine? Nothing more than that. No clues struck me as particularly interesting, anyway. I learned of American EGG HUNTS quite late in life, in my late 20s, from a seasonal event in the MMORPG "World of Warcraft", I think. It's not a thing in Poland, or at least it wasn't when I was a kid. All we traditionally did with eggs for Easter was to paint them. We call decorated eggs "pisanki". Sometimes whole eggs are used, and sometimes just the shells. You'd make two holes, at the top and bottom, blow into one to get rid of the white and yolk, and proceed to decorate the shell. Barring accidents, such a shell can keep indefinitely, and be used to decorate the Easter table for decades. I last bothered to do any of that as a child. Wooden (or plastic 😢) egg-shaped pisanki also exist. Do an image search for "polskie pisanki" to see some of the designs. Also, I don't get some stuff. What is the connection between ACAI and a swamp? Is the latter the name of a dish? (If so, why would anybody give an item of food such an unappetizing name?) Or do the berries grow in swamps? What's up with DINER and "frog sticks"?
@Andrzej ACAI berries grow on palms in swampy areas in Brazil. Workers in DINERs traditionally used various slang for the foods they offered. This site has probably way more info than you want, although it doesn’t include the frog sticks example: <a href="https://grokipedia.com/page/Diner_lingo" target="_blank">https://grokipedia.com/page/Diner_lingo</a>
@Andrzej Short order cooks in DINERS love to give food slangy names. I guess it SPICEs UP an otherwise demanding and mostly underappreciated skill. Filling orders for a counter-full of customers isn't easy. The best ones are artists, and sitting on a stool at two a.m., waiting for your order to be delivered in "short order" time, can be a fun, and even amazing, performance to watch. I have never heard of "frog sticks" but there are a lot of others, like "Adam and Eve on a raft" for poached eggs on toast, and "wreck 'em" for scramble the eggs..
@Andrzej In fairness, and much like frog sticks, I think precious few people have referred to an "egg hunt". It is always, always "Easter egg hunt". Because they're looking for "Easter eggs", which are not mere eggs.
I really loved this puzzle other than the SE corner. Had a really hard time with it.
Very enjoyable Saturday romp. Thank you. Also, have just December ‘13 to complete the archive.
"Unwanted mail" had to be spam, so that hampered the whole NW corner for me. Also, "Really went for" could be loveloved, but not likeliked, IMHO. "Corner piece" staples? Not so much. Still, a challenging yet doable puzzle. Thanks.
I recently finished watching "Pluribus" (Vince Gilligan's new series on Apple TV). Seeing 15A (ICE PALACE) reminded me of a flashback sequence in the third episode which takes place in an ice hotel (which actually do exist in Scandinavian countries along with a few others). Apparently, the show's production designers considered shooting in an actual ice hotel in Norway, but the confined spaces made it logistically impossible to accommodate the large crew and the equipment needed to shoot the scene. So one was constructed on a set, using sculpted styrofoam and fake snow. It is incredibly realistic down to the smallest detail. One challenge to the pair of actors in the scene is that it was quite warm on the set, so both were sweating profusely underneath their parkas, scarfs, and wool caps. Here's a clip from that scene: - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0RiSwLEY5w" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0RiSwLEY5w</a>
Made it! One look-up, which seemed almost NATURaL, but it wasn't easy. So many that could have gone anywhere, and first choices were often wrong. What a thrill when they weren't. I LIKED the puzzle, but I wouldn't say I LIKELIKED it. Some clever cluing but I could have used some MNEMONICS (except they wouldn't have made SENSE, since I didn't have the answers yet). You write a tough puzzle, Hannah, but I find them much more satisfying than hard "cute" puzzles, so I'm looking forward to the next ones. Thank you!
I love when I’m on the constructor’s wavelength. But tonight… If anything, I felt the opposite of wavelength. My intuition was a flat line. And it went nowhere. Not for me, this one.
@Heidi I know that feeling. I thought when I started this one, it was going in that direction, but then something clicked. But I’ve definitely had some woofs over the years…