Did anyone else feel as if this puzzle was a supersized Monday version?
Michael, I did, and I said so two hours ago.
@Michael Kind of, yes. Today I set a personal best for a Sunday puzzle, a couple of minutes quicker than my Thursday average.
@Michael The puzzle Gods giveth and taketh - one day chicken, next day feathers. I'm glad to be sittin' at the table, with enough grit to fill em' if I'm lucky! 😉 Happy solving, everyone.
@Michael Very disappointing. Monday/Tuesday difficulty. Overall time was Wednesday range. I didn’t even glance at the theme. Nothing clever or obscure. Really poor job by the editors here.
@Michael Yeah. Egregiously bad, even for the post-2020 NYT
I’m not the only one who for the first time got the puzzle title on the main screen before starting, right? It took, what, a decade or so to figure out putting it there instead of hidden in info? Anyway, happy about it!
Except for an errant vowel here or there, I breezed through this, so that's good. But I knew what the forum was going to be like describing the lack of difficulty, so that's bad. But I'm not, as usual, wondering if this puzzle proves my mental decline, so that's good. But my mental decline is something I should be attending to, so that's bad. But there's really nothing to do about it anyway, so that's awful.
@Francis There is though. Research shows physical activity, interacting with as many people as one can, as often as possible, and mental workouts all contribute to staving off age-related cognitive decline. My dad is slightly older than you. He does all those things and he's as sharp as ever. (Yes, for once my post is 100% legit, no joshing, no jabs)
@Francis I feel your pain, Francis. The body bounces back more slowly, and possibly not as high, every day. I'm watching a very old friend struggle with recent cognitive decline, and it's tough. I can see his frustration, and there's very little I can do to help. I'll be lucky if I get to be in his shoes, but I'm not looking forward to all of it. From what I can tell here, you are keeping it together, and I wish you the best. But even the phrase "keeping it together" implies that we need to somehow manage everything, and I'm not so sure that's the goal. Letting go of responsibility and performance expectations and allowing oneself to age seems to be the goal, but I'm not so sure how I'll feel when my time comes. :)
@Francis I hear ya! I was getting so upset about my difficulties (esp word-finding) that I got a referral to "The Mind Center" from my PCP. Had to wait 6 months for the 90-minute assessment date, then had a raft of tests and screenings. The conclusion: normal issues of ageing. In fact, I was scoring quite high on scales, but the geriatrician called me out for "holding [myself] to a high standard." (A nice way to say 'perfectionist.") So I am trying to relax a bit more, which actually helps. Continuing to walk; reading challenging books; playing card games, solving puzzles, writing. Still can't get Left/Right, still screwing up my quilt blocks, but Oh Well. What are the alternatives? To me, you seem pretty sharp.
@Francis As you know, at 91, I am old enough to be your mother, so take it from one who knows (or thinks she does). Beating up on your body from the outside is not as helpful as stoking good stuff into the inside. I take vitamins every day, an estrogen tab (yes, men shouldn't do that), a thyroid tab, and that's it. No statins, no BP meds. I eat very little meat, lots of cheese, cereals, vegetables, etc. Every time I am seen by a new bunch of medicos, I hear (as if they are telling me something new), "You look much younger than (whatever age I am at the time)." I don't know what to say, because it's really the luck of the draw, and "thank you" seems inappropriate. "Old" is not something that should be an insult. We'll all get there if we're lucky. To keep flexibility (no achy joints, except one shoulder), I take collagen with peptides in my morning cereal. Very important. Veg collagen doesn't work, and it's got to be down the hatch. As for my head, I try not to think about it (very funny, ha ha). Nobody else in my family lost it, so why should I? Some things have started getting a little dicey, a lot because of stress about the current "Administration" a.k.a. insanity. (As if I didn't have enough to deal with. No family around here, so it's up to me to get stuff done. Husband has been legally blind from a medical "mistake" 40 years ago.) Be well, Francis. Stop attacking your bod, and so far, your head is fine. Settle down.
@dutchiris thank you for this bit of inspirational information (informational inspiration?). I am a single childfree mid-40s lady and am starting to worry a bit about navigating the challenges of life on my own as I age. Filling out "seeking an emergency contact, someone who can drive me home from a colonoscopy" doesn't seem like good dating profile material (even if I could stomach dating on apps). Btw, I just went into escrow on a cute little bungalow in Oakland (first time home buyer!) so we are neighbors.
@Francis I was stuck for about 5 min on "finished but wrong" message. I went through it across and down. I checked all the O's to make sure I hadn't hit zero. Still wrong. Finally looked at the answer key.. KaBABS crossing TINMaN!! AARRGGG!!!
[Term coined in the 1990’s for when people develop emotional bonds with digital entities, such as virtual pets] TAMAGOT(C)(H)(I) (E)(F)FECT
As a longtime executive recruiter in Silicon Valley, now happily retired, I’d like to point out that the clue for CIO (104 Down) is not quite correct. A Chief Information Officer (CIO) can be, and almost always is, an exec in *any* large company, not just tech companies, because all large companies have internal information systems, and the person responsible for them is usually a C-level executive called a CIO. This person, for example, would be the person to lead an overhaul of the company’s internal hardware and software systems - including payroll and financial planning software, for example. On the other hand, a “CTO” could be a good answer to the clue “tech company exec” because it’s generally the case that *only* technology companies have Chief Technology Officers. That’s because a CTO’s do not concern themselves with the company’s internal systems, but rather lead the company’s research, development and possibly go-to-market strategy of their proprietary technology. The CTO of a semiconductor company, for example, would typically have a solid background in semiconductor engineering and manufacturing, since that is the “tech” the company is selling. Don’t ask them what payroll system the company uses! A better clue for CIO would be something like: “top exec in charge of internal systems” That’s a long-winded explanation, but hopefully now you all know the difference between a CIO and a CTO. I think the puzzle-makers were a bit confused about that.
@David G I suspect a few CIOs and CTOs are confused about that, as well.
@David G Fellow Bay Area resident who has helped find/place his fair share of execs. I filled in “CTO” but had a sneaking suspicion, based on previous Times Crossword clues, that they might have been opting for I instead. Fully agree with you that it’s an imprecise clue—just one they’ve repeated a few times if memory serves.
@David G CTO would never be an answer to [Tech company exec] because the T stands for tech(nical).
@David G IT girl here, I was right there with you.
@David G Rule of thumb: The longer your explanation and the more background information and details you have to provide, the less likely you are to change anyone's understanding, let alone their views! And yes, this applies to my posts too. But sometimes I forget.
That’s a tight theme. I can see why Chloe had her theme set on hold for months as she tried to come up with a sixth theme answer. There are many words for kinds of bosses, but only a very few can tie words together in cross-worthy phrases. Props to Chloe for her persistence. I liked the quartet of inner-rhyme words: DADA, HEHE, BERNINI, ÉTÉ, and wannabe ÉPÉES. I enjoyed uncovering two lovely g-words (GAUCHO, GAFFE). It was fun to see the schwa de vivre in the endings to TIANA, ENYA, DORA, TONYA, INSOMNIA, ANGORA, UTOPIA, OPERA, and ASIA. I liked that ON EDGE actually isn’t, in this grid. And SNOOPS brought my mind to the Olympics, as SNOOP DOGG is quite visible in NBC’s coverage. My favorite theme answer was SHOCKING PINK, where the hidden word and final word are both so colorful. Congratulations on your first NYT Sunday puzzle after four early-week puzzles, Chloe. You pushed many happy buttons as I coursed through your puzzle. Thank you!
@Lewis Your analysis of a puzzle... It's like I'm in 10th grade English again, when the smart people dissect an e.e. cummings poem before I can even stop wondering where all the capital letters are.
Lewis, We can count on you to make the lemonade.
Circles, groan. I've never seen the show but I hope the boss is better disguised. I appreciate the construction challenge of finding examples that span two words, which typically is a requirement for this type of theme. Not a challenging solve though. Typo of TINMaN instead of TINMEN took a minute to find. Favorite clue [Drink from a tub?] for MOONSHINE
@Anita, me too thinking KABAB as likely as KEBAB, but it turns out that gyro, a Greek derived dish, would indicate KEBAB, whereas KABAB is associated with Persian and South Asian (Pakistani and Indian) cuisine. So sayeth the internet anyway.
So many Grumpys here today (and last night). I think each of you should grab six of your closest friends, crack open a beer, and watch some grown men chase each other around a field. You’ll feel much better.
@Heidi For real joy & relaxation, PUPPY BOWL.
Yay! May be my first Sunday with no Wordplay help. Lots of fun. Loved the fill. The theme was interesting. Although with my oldish eyes those circles are hard to see. Thanks, Chloe. I loved this one. Happy Sunday, y’all!
I just don't like Sunday puzzles. If they're easy and boringly themed like today, what's the point of them, really? Then again, if they're hard and arcanely themed, they're a pain to deal with. I much prefer the regular-sized grids. Easy ones are done quickly, so they don't have an opportunity to bore me. Hard ones are usually pleasantly doable, because they may have some unknows, but not several dozens of them, like the huge, hard Sundays, say those by David Kwong, my nemesis. Also, catching an error is so much easier on any other day! Today's grid was very easy but I still got a blue star for my solve: I can't be arsed to flyspeck on Sundays. (Today my downfall was the American spelling of kebab/kabob/whatever; I had put in TINMaN for the unknown film, which gave me KaBABS, which I thought might be a valid variant in the US; over here we only ever spell the word "kebab" - ironically, that was today's American spelling, too, yet it defeated me 🤷🏽♂️).
@Andrzej I had the same end game for this puzzle: TINMEN and KEBABS was what finally got me over the finish line.
@Andrzej There seems to be no shortage of ways to spell what amounts to meat on a stick. I predict that if you were ever to come to our famous Minnesota State Fair, you would personally be appalled at the number and variety of foods that are served on a stick. <a href="https://kroc.com/food-on-a-stick-minnesota-state-fair" target="_blank">https://kroc.com/food-on-a-stick-minnesota-state-fair</a>/ I don't even think that's the latest list but I didn't really feel like scrolling much further. I'm not a state fair kind of person, but it is kind of a beloved part of the fair for many people here. But who knows, maybe all this food on a stick is part of what has fueled our current strength to re$i$t. Har!!
@Andrzej multple nemeses how do you find the time
Yesterday we got to sing the praises of Sappho of LESBOS and Pauline KAEL. Today let us take a few minutes to praise Gian Lorenzo BERNINI, the greatest sculptor of the Baroque era, worthy successor to the genius of Michelangelo. We can start with his St. Teresa, if only because her “ecstasy” is so SHOCKINGly physical as an angel repeatedly thrusts a burning arrow into her belly. <a href="https://www.learner.org/series/art-through-time-a-global-view/dreams-and-visions/the-ecstasy-of-st-teresa" target="_blank">https://www.learner.org/series/art-through-time-a-global-view/dreams-and-visions/the-ecstasy-of-st-teresa</a>/ The saint wrote about this episode in her journals. It's worth reading. Even greater is his "David". Unlike Michelangelo’s masterpiece, which shows the figure deep in thought, contemplating his coming action, BERNINI shows the young hero fully in action. <a href="https://smarthistory.org/bernini-david-2" target="_blank">https://smarthistory.org/bernini-david-2</a>/ And while you’re in the Borghese Museum in Rome, make sure you also visit the artist’s great “Pluto and Persephone”. <a href="https://smarthistory.org/bernini-pluto-and-proserpina" target="_blank">https://smarthistory.org/bernini-pluto-and-proserpina</a>/
@The X-Phile Thank you for this. Almost daily the crossword makes me rabbit hole something or someone.
@The X-Phile Thanks for these great links. We are going to Rome in March. Excited for 2 weeks in Rome and 10 days in Florence. Probably will slide up to Venice for a day-trip from there.
When it comes to Sunday puzzles, I like to go in with no particular preconception of difficulty. Some Sundays, like today, play like a Monday. Many play like a Thursday, and every once in a while, it plays like a Saturday. For those complaining of "too easy" for today, maybe expand your expectations.
@Tony - I think that's a great way to look at it. Sunday is a wild card.
@Tony Maybe you should open your mind to the fact that people may have specific expectations, and different ones than yours.
@Tony I try not to judge the relative difficulty of any particular puzzle, given the diversity of solvers, but this one was definitely a big Monday.
Here I am entering answers as quick as I can on my Danish laptop, and so of course without even thinking I enter the gimme at 80-across as SØREN... :-P I know it's common to turn Øs into Os in English spelling, but it truly is wrong. Ø isn't an O with an accented variant, like É in French; it's it's own letter entirely, the last of the Danish alphabet, after Å and Æ. Usually in Danish or German it's transliterated as OE in the absence of the Ø letter, so SOEREN would be more correct. Our foreign minister has been in the news lately, and seeing his name spelled as Lars Lokke Rasmussen instead of Lars Løkke is...strange. Especially since we're long past the excuse of 'not having those letters on our typewriters'.... As you were! (Just needed to get that off my chest...)
@Sangerinde: I thought of that when I entered it; “makes a change from complaints about año!”
Just realized my epic mistake… Ø is *not* the last letter of the Danish alphabet! Å is… (kind of fun, it goes A-Å). Wanted to correct myself before a native Dane slapped me down!
A puzzle created by Chloe Arrived while the weather was bloe I was in the grid’s spell When a giant tree fell With a thump and I jumped like a joe
Nice one, Lewis!! Here's my response: So if they ever find a cause For every trait that ever was, And analyze each gene within The genome underneath our skin, They'll find that just one gene explains The strangeness lurking in some brains, That those who have a rhyming bent Will strive for puzzles to invent. It's true of Sondheim; Maltby too: They'll pen a rhyme; they'll write a clue. It's true of Lewis and of me -- A single gene, yes, QED! If Ogden Nash and Larry Hart In puzzle-making played no part, We know that if they tried, they coulda -- So if they didn't, well, they shoulda!
@Dave Yep. Finished the puzzle last night, too tired to check everything over, looked again this morning and saw nothing wrong. Guessed maybe it was KEBAB since I didn't remember the movie title. Ta da, happy music.
@Dave I kept getting fiddlesticks until I finally figured that out!!!!!
I’ve solved harder puzzles on a Tuesday. We needed more of a challenge while we’re stuck inside because of the cold.
@Stephen Guthartz What are you doing in here? Didn't I tell you to go outside despite the cold yesterday? I'm afraid I'm going to have to make that a DIRECT ORDER.
@Stephen Guthartz That's what the archive is for. But this one was quite easy for a Sunday.
One of those puzzles that seemed more a challenge to construct than to solve. I prefer it the other way around.
It would have been nifty if the various synonyms for boss were "under cover" in the grid in some more clever way than just being contained within unrelated phrases. World peace would be nifty too. Never mind me.
Jonathan, The former, at least, should have been achieved today.
How many different ways are there to spell “kebab”? Chances are I’ll always guess wrong.
RayinVa, For transliterations from Arabic, wait for the crosses. While waiting, please pass the dish with the first word BABA for which in English there are many different ways to spell the second word.
@RayinVa That's where I got stuck with the "almost there" message. Because tin man/kabobs seemed as reasonable as TIN MEN/KEBABS
Well I for one was tickled by [More ideal?] - UTOPIA and was hoping it would make the Lewis List but ALAS I looked it up on xwordinfo and found it has been used before, back in '96. So it's less ideal than I hoped. It would have been nice -- fitting -- to include some words that come more readily to my mind these days: DESPOT, TYCOON, AUTOCRAT, USURPER, PRETENDER. First I put in SODA for [Pop to a tot]. Guess I've been consorting with a sophisticated set of tots! The kind who reference Tristan Tzara and Kurt Schwitters when discussing DADA. I wondered why the "s" of Humane society had not been capitalized. It turns out that in February 2025, the Humane Society of the United States changed its name to Humane World for Animals. To bring all this around to this particular puzzle, in recent years their CEO was forced to resign after credible accounts of s@xual harassment.
Hmm. I looked for something *above* the BOSSes, but No. I would consider these "Insiders" or some such, as they do not appear to be UNDER COVER to my eyes. This was nevertheless an interesting solve, so no harm done, just....a bit Meh. (I also hate HEHE... HEEHEE or TEEHEE.) And what happened to the AGLET? There were a lot of short phrases with UP, it seemed. MOONSHINE is not the same thiing as "bathtub gin," --and (having witnessed the display --post-seizure --of some barrels full of mash, along with the copper coils and 'thumpers' up in the Blue Ridge in Dahlonega, GA, I can say that proper MOONSHINE was never made in a bathtub. The makers had done everything right except the part where they got caught by The Revenuers.) I would be remiss not to mention that I bow to the ROWDY crowd insisting (and proving) that it can, indeed, be a noun...or at least that it once was more common. I stand corrected.
MOL, No bathtub here! <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Kettle#/media/File:Strearns-moonshine-still-ky1.jpg" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Kettle#/media/File:Strearns-moonshine-still-ky1.jpg</a>
@Mean Old Lady I'm a fan of the reality show, and while some of the MOONSHINE stills are quite creative constructions, bathtubs do not figure into the mix.
@Mean Old Lady -- I looked for something above the BOSSES too.
@Mean Old Lady, I had the same reaction to the comparison of moonshine and bathtub gin! My great grandfather was a bootlegger in WV, and the revenuers caught him; he did time. 🥃🥃🥃
@Mean Old Lady The sweetest swig I ever had was some WV moonshine. Crystal clear. I had been fasting for a couple of weeks at the time and that single swallow induced a transcendental experience. Ah, the fearlessness of youth. It's a wonder I survived.
Just wanted to say that since 2010 storks have not been included in the same order as herons. They are definitely not in the same family, in the sense that they are both birds, yes, they are related.
@Salty Why were the categories rearranged? Were other birds displaced?
Naturally, a lot of discussion about the puzzle being too easy. PB Sunday here, first time I’ve broken the 20 minute barrier. There aren’t many things I’m getting better at in my 60s, but crossword puzzles are one of them. Some people here have Sunday averages less than my PB, so in a sense I have a lot of room for improvement. As a thing I do for fun, it’s a good space to be in, knowing I will continue to get better at it. Like most people, there was a time when I could barely imagine finishing a Sunday puzzle, and in the app era, I recall the first time I finished one in under an hour. I think it’s good to have an easier puzzle every so often, that gives everyone a shot at a PB or a first solve with no look ups. Looking at my PB today, I know very well that it was more about the puzzle being easy than it was about my skill, but I still feel pretty good about it because I know my skill remains on an improvement trend.
@Dvdmgsr Two PBs in one week, including today! Can’t remember that happening since “week one”!
gosh, I thought I was done but I was done in because I didn't know how to spell kabob, kabab, kebab... I'm just relieved the reality TV show wasn't that other one (The App......)
@mirle234, I had the same reaction to the reality show! It occurred to me first, but I was relieved when it didn't fit!
@mirle234 Same, that was my initial fear. And I was prepared to stop doing the puzzle if it manifested. ☺️
Perhaps it was inevitable that after a reasonably challenging Saturday puzzle, today's offering would have a theme and clues that would not be hard for a Monday. Having six synonyms for a word -- in circles, no less -- embedded in phrases to which they have no connection? Today I ask the question in the puzzle title. To me, there is no puzzle here.
Finished this in less than half my average time. Almost every puzzle this week was easier than normal. I'm surprised there was only one football clue for Super Bowl Sunday. I like that the theme is now on the intro screen. It makes more sense to be there than hidden away.
@Dave K. Have you seen the mini?
@Me.: I didn't feel a shred of guilt going to Google and typing in "Tin Men cast" to see if that worked, or else "Tin Man cast." I mean, sometimes, you just gotta look for help.
@Me. I always imagine that the constructors throw hints our way for tricky crossings. As I wondered whether to write in an a or an E, I reread the clue. I thought the dual Dreyfuss/DeVito in the clue was a nudge that it should be MEN and not MaN.
I enjoyed this one a lot. A bit mysterious at first but lots of ways in. I saw one loud complaint that it was way too easy, a waste of time etc. Nonsense. We all experience this wonderful hobby in different ways, at different speeds and with different life experiences. It beats me why anyone would want to take away anyone else’s enjoyment of figuring out a theme and seeing what a co structure is doing with wordplay. Thank you Chloe Revery, and Will Shortz, and Caitlin for your column.
@Shari Coats I agree. It wasn't the hardest crossword, but that's nothing to do with good/bad. The theme was simple but useful during the solve. My pet peeve is a theme that you only notice after solving. Not interested in constructors' ego trips. Plenty of interesting fill and clues here, lots of ways in when stuck, overall a nice puzzle experience. Thanks Chloe!
@Shari Coats There is empirical data to see whether this was a very easy puzzle. And it is: 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Easy Median Solve Time 18:47 Median Solver 33% faster ⚡95% of users solved faster than their Sunday average. 77% solved much faster (>20%) than their Sunday average. 🐢5% of users solved slower than their Sunday average. 2% solved much slower (>20%) than their Sunday average. (From xwstats.com.) Now, some people like very easy puzzles. But most of us come here to be puzzled. As Mr. Spock famously said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." And the many want to see a normal Sunday puzzle. Getting a too easy puzzle to placate newcomers takes away enjoyment from the rest of us. Can you see that?
Finished this just a minute longer than my PB for a Sunday. I used to watch UNDERCOVER BOSS years ago. The show was sort of clever, but there were episodes where I wondered how in the world some of the employees didn’t know something was amiss with this strange “employee” that they had to “train”. After a while, I couldn’t really watch it anymore as it became so far fetched. Anyway, this was a quick solve while I sit here watching the Olympics. Thanks, Chloe.
Purrfect Sunday! SHOCKINGPINK flush from my TYPO in top L corner - Who uses a PLASTICHAIRTIE? Actually, my most favorite hair wranglers are the clear plastic Slinky variety. Them hair donuts never slip, break, or lose their shape like last years drawers. 😉
@Whoa Nellie lol my daughter loved those as a teen and I still find them in my house in the oddest places!
@Whoa Nellie - not plastic, but I have an entire drawer full of ELASTICHAIRTIEs. A fact which has, over the years, caused me to be reluctant to cut my hair.
Like many in this here comments section, I hit a new Sunday record today. (17 minutes, which I know makes me a median solver at best.) Unlike many in this comments section, though, I’m happy for the occasional easy Sunday!
@Stephen Your "median... at best" time is half mine.
Kind of a bummer as a new solver when I finally (almost!) manage to solve a Sunday alone and the comments are all complaining about it being too easy. But I guess I should've expected that. (I had to ask for help with BERNINI / ANI and ENYA / OPRY in the end)
@saarl That is par for this course. Try not to let it get you down. Because, keep at it, and at some point you'll sail through one that people are saying was hard. And then you can either post "Really, I thought it was easy", or not, and just smile to yourself.
@saarl For new solvers all puzzles at the NYT are hard, so you did great TBH.
@saarl They say that it takes 10,000 hours to excel in anything. So even allotting an entire hour for every day, it would take almost three years just to get 1,000 hours in. A full 10,000 would take about 27.4 years to reach. So the fact that you could nearly finish a puzzle that you previously couldn't can mean progress, or simply that you hit a very easy puzzle. Both can be true at the same time. Certainly, you're making progress, even if the puzzle was easy. And you should notice a lot of apparent progress as time progresses, since it seems to the longtime solvers that the difficulty level has been trending downward lately. But that doesn't mean you aren't getting better. (Note: ANI DiFranco and ENYA appear regularly here, so commit their names to memory. The Grand Ole OPRY also appears about twice a year.)
saarl, Even a "Very Easy" puzzle is not easy for everyone. Difficulty Very Easy Median Solve Time 19:01 Median Solver 33% faster ⚡94% of users solved faster than their Sunday average. 77% solved much faster (>20%) than their Sunday average. 🐢6% of users solved slower than their Sunday average. 2% solved much slower (>20%) than their Sunday average. <a href="https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-02-08" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-02-08</a>
@saarl you’re good. Ignore the comments of others. Just enjoy it. There is no right speed nor right way to go about solving this. With time you’ll find ones you do easily and ones that are impossible. They won’t be so for others.
Welp, I’ll never forget how to spell Kebabs…
Logan, Don't remember this spelling; it will differ next time.
I'd never watched the SNL Star Wars Undercover Boss before, and though I've never watched UB, the sketch was hilarious!! (In the constructor notes, if you missed it.) I finished this puzzle in near record time. Circles in a Sunday grid always slow me down. I just find them more difficult to read—even on my big screen. Is there a reason, or some sort of MORE, that leads a constructor to use circles instead of, say, shaded boxes? I'm probably not the only one who has to strain a bit more to see and read with the circles in it, so I am just wondering. Between the circles and having to flyspeck for my incorrect spelling of KEBAB at 73D, which led to TINMaN. TINMaN sounded very feasible for a movie I have no memory of existing. Anyhow, this turned out to be only my second fastest Sunday ever—by a minute and a half. Wasn't really expecting that. I don't care about speed but I do like a bit more struggle and brain engagement to decipher things, especially on the weekend when I have more time. But I did like the MOONSHINE clue a lot. There really are a SEA of spellings for meat on a stick, aren't there!? I prefer to think of them as shashlik, because they and pelmeni were staples during my short time in Siberia. The only other slight slow down was that I put teak in at 30A. Easily resolved. Guess I'm not familiar with PEAR wood. I'm more of a partridge in a PEAR tree gal, I guess, to go along with those dancing LADIES.
@HeathieJ A few years ago David C clued us in to the use of pear wood for musical instruments. I think oboes were mentioned. I happened to remember that since I have a couple of pear trees on my property. Small, hard green fruit but the deer and dogs seem to like them.
I concur with the general consensus this was early week difficulty, which might be ok for a more challenging theme, but since this solved like a themeless deserved better. SHOCKING PINK and LIFEBEFOREMAN were pretty cool themers though and it was a pretty tight theme. My favorite clue actually was “More ideal?”— brilliant but I suspect will be lost on anyone who’s not up on 16th century literature. But for the most part pretty straightforward fare.
@SP Oh, I get it! *More* ideal. As in Sir Thomas More, author of the book ""History of King Richard III"? He also wrote something else, but I can't remember the title.
@SP Is SHOCKING PINK a legit color name or some branded bee ess? It looks like the latter...
@SP Your opinions are always excellent. I either agree with them or they help me better understand what I wanted to say. A more challenging theme would have been great, but I would have settled for a more interesting one. How about putting synonyms for "COVER" over the themers? With the circles they were hardly "COVERt", and without the circles,....??? And it looks like you turned on some commenters to 16th Century political philosophy. Nice win.
Wow. I beat my PR by 43 minutes. Either this Sunday was particularly easy or I am infinitely smarter after a mimosa. Either answer works for me. Thank you, creator. Cheers.
@Joe Think what you could do on *two* mimosas!!!!
"Vexillologist" was interesting to me. The original vexille was the standard carried by a Roman legion, and could also refer to the soldier who carried it into battle. That was a very important job, as a unit that had their flag captured could be subject to decimation. Napoleon gave his regiments each a gold eagle as a standard, and when the monarchy was restored, the first order of business was to destroy all the eagles. Lastly, if you've seen "Triumph of the Will," you will note that the banners at Nuremberg are almost identical to the original Roman vexilles.
@Grant, thanks for the etymology/history lesson! That was a new word for me, and that is a rare occurrence. I hope I hold onto it!
@Grant Also got a whiff of memory from "The Big Bang Theory's" "Fun With Flags." Pretty sure vexillology was mentioned.
Fun one today, although I got tripped up by the MEN - I coincidentally managed to put both TINMAN and LIFEBEFOREMEN, with the incorrect crossing answers KABAB and OLE being close enough to real possibilities that they took me quite a while to track down.
@Dave I did the exact same thing. Your comment saved me, so thank you!
@Dave Yep. My Tinman typo added 10 minutes to my time 🙃
Was this puzzle hard? No. Was it a pleasant diversion for 15 minutes? Yes.
Easy PB on that one. I like that sometimes the puzzles are easier.
Good puzzle today, quick for a Sunday. My first guess for the theme was Real Housewives just because it fit but got UNDERCOVER BOSS as soon as I saw CEO as a circled theme. My only "Something's amiss" was having KARAT instead of CARAT, I did not know the difference before looking it up after and I know there was another puzzle this week where I first answered CARAT and had to correct it to KARAT.
@Chris You may have seen abbreviations like 14K and 24K for the level of purity in gold—those are KARATS. The weight of gemstones—those are CARATS. What Bugs Bunny eats—those are carrots. What Bad Bunny eats—¿Quién sabe? Happy Super Bowl Sunday, and may your team win!
I, for one, am grateful for a Sunday with zero look-ups - thanks Chloe!
Enjoyed reading the constructor notes more than the solve. I mean mad respect to anyone that can create a clean Sunday grid. I’m a pretty average solver. But solving on phone. I got tired just filling in without much thinking. I wish there was more bite. In this case. I guess it would have had to be tougher cluing. Working in dark mode, I didn’t even see the circles. I think the editing team should have put in some more ‘fun’ clues. My two cents. Or maybe a toonie.
Also a personal best for me but a disappointing Sunday. It would have been a fine mid-week theme. I solved the puzzle without identifying the theme and when I went back to look at the circled letters, I thought “that’s all it is? Where’s the twist?” I look forward to word play on Sundays - something to make me use my brain in a different way. When I started solving NYT Sundays, I considered it a win if I could figure out the twist, even if I couldn’t finish the puzzle.
Bleh, zoomed through this but had a single error I couldn't find. Not the first time I've gotten caught on one of the variations of KEBAB crossed with a proper noun. TINMAN seems like a perfectly good name for a movie that I've never heard of!
@LW Also unfamiliar with the film, I had to decide between TINMAN and TINMEN. I took the inclusion of *two* actors in the clue to be an intentional hint: 1987 Dreyfuss/DeVito comedy
After five years of puzzles, ENYA and OPRY and INSOMNIA, MENLO, EPEES et al. made me wonder if the theme exerted too many constraints on the fill for the payoff? I was hoping for a picture of “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” to head the column, but googled it myself; holy eroticism, indeed.
@Jennifer 😂 Yeah! And that's pretty much what she looked like, too! (I might as well say right now, that I don't think I'll be able to explain this if called upon to do so. I'm pretty sure it's blasphemy, but certain it's inappropriate.)
Thank you for this puzzle that I could actually do!