Said the slalom racers to their favorite hillside, "Ski you later!" (And that's snow joke!)
@Mike For a nice warm treat, try a bowl of the chalet beans and rice. Very high in the poles.
@Mike But after that, it was all downhill.
@Mike I do love skiing. I can’t alp it. 🏔️
@Mike ICY what you did there. ;)
Pardon my all too often back-to-back posts, but I wanted to say after having read the comments my appreciation for the ski slopes in this puzzle is sky high. I loved the Green bunny slope progressing the final double black diamond, straight down. Just terrific imagery. Stand up and take a bow, Mr. Proulx and Mr. Martinovic. I am heartily applauding.
@Francis Yes I really liked that imagery too. I saw that there were ILL’s but it didn’t hit me that they were HILLS so still have to remember to think of what the theme really is because that’s great!
Where's the TBAR? How are we supposed to get up this hill? CLAMBER?
@Zézito. Skimo, it’s the latest winter Olympic sport.
@Zézito Like solving this puzzle, you start at the top. Then it’s all downhill 🙂
Good puzzle today, on the easy side for a Sunday, more like a big Wednesday. Fun theme but a little obvious. Every time the answer is SNARF I seem to guess SCARF first. One day I'll remember, and that'll be the day the answer is actually SCARF. Good cluing overall.
@Chris This got me too. So did LOO vs LAV. It seems that for both sets of clues, they went with the less common answer.
@Chris When I was in high school, snarf meant to laugh so hard while drinking a beverage that liquid came out of your nose. Is there any other term for this? As teenage boys, we used to actively try to make each other snarf by saying something funny when someone took a drink. Ah, how we passed the time before smart phones.
@Chris Here’s a good rule to follow (at least in the northern hemisphere): If you have to choose between SCARF and SNARF, and the puzzle is published between December 21st and March 20th, it’s SCARF … except when it’s SNARF.
@Chris It's my understanding that Sundays are supposed to be Wednesday difficulty, only bigger, with maybe a Thursday trick thrown in for fun.
As someone who doesn't ski, I was wracking my brain trying to figure out the meaning of those symbols. Lovely!
@Adam Donahue Also a non-skier, but I did have some idea what the symbols referred to. Yet still, I wasn’t thrilled with the theme because I’m not into winter sports. Now that it’s March (at least in Crossworld), I’m eager for spring to finally start!
Mineral King was the planned Disney ski area. Disney was warned that avalanches were severe in the valley, but they forged ahead. First winter of construction saw an avalanche roll down one side of the valley and halfway up the other side, destroying all. That was the end of that idea. All that said, the Mineral King area is beautiful and you should go... in the summer. Finally, a ski themed puzzle that did not include TBAR. Thank you lads
Well, this had to be a bear to construct, and props to the constructors for what they accomplished. When theme answers shoot off diagonally, even a little, as three-quarters of today’s do, it incredibly constricts the number of word possibilities that can go into the grid. That may explain the three words I’ve ever come across before – SWAGE, POULT, and AGONISTIC. I found these to be marvelous – SWAGE and POULT both look and sound cool to me. AGONISTIC makes me smile because my brain refuses to see it as anything but "agnostic". It may also explain CLAMBER and PURGE, words I know and love. I got a kick out of being misdirected by [Pool implements] for CUE STICKS, which had me cataloging the various tools I used when I lived in a house with a swimming pool. I also loved OAST, an anagram of “oats”, touching corners with OATES. A lovely theme concept buttressed by a staccato of sweet pings – a formula that had me smiling from alpha to omega. Thank you, Matt and Jeffrey!
@Lewis In 7th grade I joined the ski club for the obvious reason- to get the patch for my winter coat that all the cool kids had. First ( and only) trip, I got to the bunny hill, and quickly realized "stopping" was not in my repertoire. The ski-lift line was at the bottom of the hill. Off to the side, which is where my skis decided to take me. Directly into the line. In slow motion. About 20 people, attached to skis, and therefore unable to jump out of the way, all went down, one by one, like irritated, confused dominoes.
Lewis, I'm surprised you'd never come across POULT before, either in the wild or in the crossword (8 results for POULT from Modern Era puzzles).
Every single time I think a British bathroom is finally going to be a loo and every time it’s something I’ve literally never called it once in my 47 years. Or heard someone else call it other than maybe on something on tv. Maybe I’m just not posh enough and the clues need to reference the British upper class..
@Kath The British uppers would call it a pissa, no?
@Kath I find it odd that they clue lav as specifically British. Every school I’ve been in/worked in the US refer to the bathrooms there as lavs.
Just a lovely walk in the park Sunday. Thank you for a wonderfully diverting crossword when I need it most during these horrendous times.
I only snow skied one time. I was 20. I was waiting for a lesson and had on beginner skies – metal, thick, huge. I was several yards away from the lip of a bunny hill, and the ground I was waiting on ever so slightly tilted toward that hill, and I started slowly gliding toward its lip. Not knowing how to stop, I just kept going, and the next thing I knew, I plunged down, keeping my balance. The bottom was curved like the bottom of the letter U, and when I reached it, I kept going because, again, I didn’t know how to stop. I went up, then down (backwards!), and up and down, like the bottom of a pendulum, in ever decreasing arcs, like something out of a cartoon, until I finally stopped. This was some time ago, and I don’t remember why I wasn’t immediately hooked on the sport, as the whoosh down that hill was quite thrilling. But my life moved elsewhere, and skiing never became part of it. The memory of this experience, however, remains vivid as ever.
@Lewis Oi! I meant to reply to this comment, but put it under your more recent comment. But our experiences were similar, though mine was seasoned with epic public humiliation.
@CCNY Mine involved epic public humiliation as well, but cannot compete with your story.
@Lewis I was 17, and the posterior of my sweater was completely iced over by the end, from having fallen so many times.
Delightful, clever, and fun to solve. I had to read the column to catch the symbolism, never having been in a ski slope, but caught on early to the HILLs. Love the way each hill ends on the level. You can just picture those Olympic skiers swooshing to a stop 🛑 at the bottom.
Why are so many people commenting they didn’t get the theme because they don’t ski?! I don’t ski either but since when do people only know about things they actively participate in?! Such a weird complaint.
@Calig I agree. It would never occur to me that I couldn't do a puzzle! I will say, at times we quail before realizing something is not as daunting as we fear. I thought of that when "GRE" was in the puzzle recently. When I took it, there was a section on "Sentence Completion." The first item was on a physics topic--and my heart sank; but then I realized all I really had to do was understand the grammar and syntax of the complex sentences--not the content. Bingo.
@Calig I figured out what the symbols meant by looking at my finished grid, so I have no complaint. I learned something new and enjoyed it. But I'm curious how you knew the symbols if you've never been downhill skiing? From friends, maybe? I have watched Olympic skiing competitions on TV but don't remember ever seeing those signs. Kind of makes sense competition slopes wouldn't have them, at least not the colors.
For someone who knows nothing about skiing, I still finished the puzzle without figuring out the theme and I found it to be quite enjoyable. I had to check with the notes to find out what I exactly I had solved. At times I felt like a total dope Not knowing how to cope Like being up the creek without a paddle Or riding bareback without a saddle Never realised I was skiing on a slippery slope
With all the snow we’ve had this winter, today’s theme is perfect. It's very cool how each HILL gets progressively steeper as you go down the grid. I’m not a skier but I know what a black diamond means, so that helped me understand the visual effect. Seems like a missed opportunity to have a “Swoosh” clue for NIKE. I like SMURF next to SNARF. A quick, but entertaining solve.
@Anita And clue for 56A might have been “Competitor to 75A” (Nike). Loved this puzzle too.
Surprised to discover that today matched my PB for a Sunday puzzle. That really gave me a lift.
Haha, I invented one and a half fallacies at the revealer. At first glance, I thought DUNNING KRUGER might be a good answer- it’s what explains why some people think they’re skilled enough to do the BONE CHILLING double diamond. (But not exactly a fallacy.) Then later on I had somehow filled in “SKI EVERY SLOPE”. Hmm, a new one, I thought. The fallacy of going overboard with the carpe diem? Coming to grief on the double diamond again? I do love a good fallacy!
@Cat Lady Margaret 🎵 Climb every mountain, Ski every slope... 🎵
@Cat Lady Margaret "Coming to grief on the double diamond again?" you can't spell fallacy without fall
I had so much fun with this, despite never having skied in my life. The idea of strapping SLIPPERY things to your feet and then hurling yourself down a mountain has never appealed somehow! Therefore the signs were meaningless to me. The gimmick was clear at CHINCILLAS, though it took reading Wordplay to get that HILL marked each downturn. I had to go back to admire that aspect. It solved a tad easier than the average Sunday for me, but the solve was a real pleasure, trying to find those downward slopes. And now; nit #100. I know, I know, in the US it’s a bathroom. But. If you’re clueing it as a British term, we never, ever, call any room a bathroom that doesn’t actually contain, like, an actual bath. You can use; loo, LAV, toilet, cloakroom, Ladies, Gents, bog, water closet or lavatory (if you’re very posh) to name but a few. If you ask for the bathroom in any public establishment you’ll get a quizzical look. Just saying. Right, with that off my chest I’m off to poo pick the Alpaca’s latrines. Not a bath in sight.
@Helen Wright Thought of you at 110 D.
@Helen Wright. Similarly, in the U.S., we would not use "cloakroom" for a place that one doesn't actually store, like, cloaks. (Or coats, more often.) I appreciate the nice euphemism, though! In any case, though, I understand the clue to be written from a US perspective, as in, "what we call a bathroom, Brits call a ___," which seems accurate.
@Helen Wright Never heard water closet pronounced - only WC.
@Helen Wright I think that the key to the LAV clue is to read it as: “what the British call what we call a bathroom.”
@Helen Wright @SBS @Steve L Point taken. Call me pedantic/grumpy/a nit picker.
Nice one. Especially like the combo at the end: Double Black Diamond warning that the hill would be a steep drop, and for the answer bonechilling. Beautiful
The Walt Disney factoid was completely new to me. Loved it!
Did anyone else find that the colors on the midi made it difficult to read/fill?
@Rory Not sure if it blocked my read. But I can say it became an obvious cluing. I appreciated the way that hill was spelled out, and agreed with the signage. I think my knowledge of skiing made the fill easier to do.
@Rory I solved the midi in my browser, the gumball colors were all pastels so not hard to see through. Were the colors darker or more solid in the app?
@Rory Absolutely! I thought the idea was worth the busyness, but I wouldn't want to see it become too common.
@Rory Yes, super difficult to read! It was so distracting!! I almost decided to stop, but I hate giving up. The puzzle wasn't hard just hard to fill out and read.
I always rush here after a late week puzzle hoping to find that the premier solvers here found the puzzle to be adequately difficult. I especially look for Barry's post, which hasn't happened yet today. So I'm still on tenterhooks, and boy that that hurt. Even though I don't know what a tenterhook is, it really sounds like it would hurt. It took me about the normal amount of time, and I was seriously uncertain about the intersection of SWAGE and AGONISTIC. So I had to run the alphabet on that square, and of course it didn't work so I had to find a couple of other errors. I had Loo instead of LAV, and the corresponding crosses made much more sense afterwards. Finally, as I wasn't listening to music during their heyday, I thought it was the JONeS brothers. Anyway, I hope it was entertaining for everyone. It certainly was for me.
@Francis Tenterhooks is just awful as an expression! Hooks used to stretch cloth as it dries, so like a medieval rack but with hooks! I do realize I'm not supposed to take that so literally, that a person isn't physically hooked by the tenterhooks, but I do. I get such a visual... Yeeeessshhhh.
@Francis I learned great uses for tenterhooks from 50 Shades of Grey.
@Francis Yes, the SWAGE and AGONISTIC crossing was my last square to fill. To me, that's a sign of a good puzzle when it can hang you up on one final square!
As a lifelong skier, I enjoyed this very much. I also appreciated how the HILLs varied from the gently sloping bunny slope to the super steep double black.
@Grant omg I didn’t even pick that up, that’s great ! One of the better Sunday puzzles imo
I don't ski, so didn't get the signs 'til coming to the comments! But the puzzle was still fun, and a very nice diversion ... :)
In case my first really stupid comment shows up, I'm here to apologize for my BONECHILLING lack of imagination. I completely missed the most spectacular piece of construction I've ever seen. I got so hung up on what a stupid word BONEC was that I didn't see the HILL for the snow (awful idiom attempt). Great job guys – breathtakingly creative!
Down_Home, All is forgiven. BONEC did come up in Eric's review of the puzzle on crosswordfiend.com, the link to which he posted here early yesterday. He observed: I’m usually turned off by grids in which answers appear to nonsense like BONEC, but I’ll let that slide if it’s easy to see how to make sense of those answers and if the theme otherwise entertains me.
@Down_Home I’m always so impressed when people are able to make a graceful apology and even include a compliment. Too rare these days. Well done!
@Down_Home After two years I'm just now getting able to discern a theme, but usually only a part of it. The column and the cogent commenters here fill me in on the rest.
Skiing is one of the few activities I love more than solving crosswords, so this was a fun one for me—even if it was a green circle of a puzzle. It so happens that I just returned from a week of skiing. The resort I visited, Big Sky, is renowned for its steep terrain. To dissuade unjustifiably confident tourists from maiming themselves, the resort has labeled several runs as triple black diamonds. One of the informal criteria for the designation is that if you fall you can die. Despite my love of skiing, I’m thankful that such severe outcomes are unlikely for even the most difficult crossword puzzles.
@Aaron Teasdale IMHO, it's a slippery slope that skiing is fun--along with bungee jumping, auto racing, climbing Mt. Everest, etc., boxing, ziplining, white water rafting, ice skating on a frozen lake, motorcycling. But that's just me. Give me a nice swimming pool or a lake, a garden and some pruners, a long walk, or a good snooze after finishing a good puzzle! Where's my knitting or my paint-by-number!? I was skiing a few times in adolescence--and yeah, it's nice (and pretty)--until something goes wrong!
@Aaron Teasdale I’m intrigued by the you can die designation. Meaning if you fall off the slope/trail? (Off the side of the mountain) You could arguably die on any trail. Especially if going through chutes or trees. Just curious. The mountain I’ve ski at (palisades) has expert only signs. But not, you might die designations, at least for a trail /bowl.
This was one of the most thankless Sunday puzzles ever. Let’s start with the fill, which is mostly short and choppy. There is some longer fill, which is not much better, including Iloilo, which I remember from 30 years ago in these puzzles. The gimmick itself becomes tedious even though there aren’t that many of them, exacerbated by the poor fill. I know it’s sacrilegious to say anything at all negative in the comments section, it seems like you are only supposed to gush about the puzzle. I do appreciate the effort put in by the constructors, but it simply wasn’t worth the effort I put into solving it.
@JM You lost me with the first phrase of your second paragraph. It is *most definitely* NOT sacrilege to say "anything at all negative" in the comments. Either are never in the comments to see them, (so how would you know?), or you *are* in the comments and know this was to be a lie. In fact, this forum is abuzz with criticisms, and counter-criticisms, and counter-counter-criticisms. You know, the kind of talk grownups are supposed to make, and tolerate without getting childish. Maybe you posted negatively in the past and gotten slammed for it. In that case, I hope you enjoyed your free speech, while expecting all the rest of us to simply keep our mouths shut, smile and nod along, regardless of how we feel.
@JM Agree completely with you.
@JM Well said. Way too many gimmicks in the puzzles this week especially this one.
@JM The real problem - well, one of the real problems - is that the gimmicks here were totally, utterly irrelevant to the puzzle. It solved just fine without them and their colored distractions. They added nothing for me. Oh yeah, there's hill again. Great. Someone linked to the Saturday stumper in yesterday's forum. I wanted to thank them but I think the post was disappeared. I would surmise that I have somehow gotten a lot better at this but the XWStats numbers and my experience doing other puzzles points s finger back at lessened standards here. :(
@JM I agree that the puzzle lacked teeth and thus it took little effort. Never mind. The only sacrilegious act herein is to challenge the Nth definition of a word in Merriam-Webster 😀
20 seconds off my best. But then, I am in Killington.
Non-skier, so the signs were kind of a mystery. The puzzle was still perfectly solvable, but I needed the column to understand the theme.
Woohoo! I identify as a logical fallacy! This is our time, fellow fallacies. Aren't we lucky to be living in the Age of Unreason? Who run the world(Logical fallacies) Who run the world(Logical fallacies) Who run the world(Logical fallacies) Long live Socrates the cat! (Do I even have to tell you who our fallac symbol is?)
I tried snow skiing once, at Cloudcroft, NM in 1972, and it was a nice intro, using skis checked out from the Army recreation department, but it was too far from El Paso to do a regular commute to really learn how. I've also tried water skiing a few times, which was fun, but also too infrequent to develop any proficiency. On the other hand, I handled all the downhills in the puzzle fairly easily, and didn't have to make many corrections along the way. Nice debut, Matt, and nice collaboration, Jeffrey. We'll look forward to more from both of you.
My first golden Sunday solve with a PR! This was such a fun puzzle. Bonechilling and Captain Phillips helped me understand the theme, and learned a few new words today (snarf, hep, a few others). What a great week of crosswords, let's do it again tomorrow!
@Peter “hep” was new for me too! I had “hip” and was trying to convince myself that “steil tip” boots was a fancy spelling lol I think “Snarf” was in a past puzzle or I wouldn’t have know it either!
@Claire I was trying to make SCARF work for a while, as others had already commented, that's the word I grew up with. The G in SWAGE was my last box, only thanks to the cross there!
Going down fast seems like an appropriate theme for these trying times . Excellent puzzle too, I am amazed at the creativity and skill of such puzzle creators
Hey, we don't want an "Art Heist" every Sunday, so let's have some wintertime fun. I only did a bit of Nordic about 50 years ago, but I know what the Alpine markers mean, and they and GOING DOWN FAST gave me the theme in an instant. No spills in the fill, either. but SWAGE cane from crosses; I've not worked with metal. One ENDNOTE: couldn't we have kicked the solve up a notch by leaving the circles out ... and letting us find each HILL on our own?
@Barry Ancona Did you have your overlays off? 😀
I've never gone ski-ing, though I've been in the Bavarian Alps in Winter (and the Sud Tyrol in Summer)...but apparently I didn't need to know anything about the symbols (Black Diamond does tickle a synapse) or see the colors --(it printed out in black and could not be enlarged.) The CHINCHILLAS gave it away. Too bad we couldn't have a Telemark landing, eh? My new word: SWAGE. I guess this explains the brand name of SWAGELOCK. I know this is ridiculous, but-- such an unattractive word! It was rather interesting to Google. Does Lindsey Vonn do crosswords? Hoping she is progressing in her healing journey...
The only imperfection in this puzzle it’s that it didn’t run during the Winter Olympics. 64-Down to the publisher.
Brilliant construction! I really enjoyed this.
The HILLs are alive . . . 🎶 Very clever construction, bravo! I know SWAGE as "swedge", from vintage costume jewelry. Rhinestone brooches in the 50s and 60s were often made with swedge construction, each rhinestone set in a ring riveted to the end of a thin metal strip arm. Look at the back of this example <a href="https://thejewelrystylist.com/product/large-vintage-1960-green-molded-and-faceted-rhinestone-brooch-swedge-construction" target="_blank">https://thejewelrystylist.com/product/large-vintage-1960-green-molded-and-faceted-rhinestone-brooch-swedge-construction</a>/
Linda Jo, I was familiar with swage, from working with Swagelok fittings over the years. I had never heard of ‘swedge’. TIL!
@Linda Jo Gorgeous piece!! That G was the last to fall for me: I suspected it for 121A, but had to run the alphabet to confirm. I also suspected the answer for 102D would emerge from the depths of my brain, related to the silver jewelry making I did all through college. But while I could picture more than one [Metal-shaping tool], the name completely eluded me. It's been too many decades!
@Linda Jo For a semi-deep dive into SWAGE, here's a FULLBEARD video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFoMa4ha-rs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFoMa4ha-rs</a>
Really loved the trick in this puzzle. Fun solve!
Growing up in the Chicago area, 39 A would be SCARF. Don't know if that's regional or maybe generational thing.
@William Kash I'm originally from the U.P. Same thing up there. ....
@William Kash Grew up in a big Ohio city, it's scarf there too.
@William Kash It’s scarf in NYC, too.
@William Kash Here in PA we scarf.
@William Kash North of the border, in Ontario at least, it is scarf as well.
@William Kash Californian here, it's also ScARF. (Tbh, I don't think I've ever seen or heard SNARF outside of the NYT XW.)
@William Kash the folks around me all scarf for sure - making then all some Welsh cakes for the purpose right now - happy St David's Day, all!
I knew CAPTAINP would solve to CAPTAIN PHILLIPS but waited to see how to enter it. The light went on when I got to the crosses. The rest of the solve was smooth and fun, although I had no idea what the symbols meant. When I reached my last square, I thought--why am I rushing? I always say I don't care about my time, but somehow when I get to the last square, that goes out the window. Today, I resisted. I took more time than usual reviewing the grid to see if I had any typos (I didn't), and then saw that I had completely missed that all of the circles spelled HILL. Only then did I notice the gradually increasing slopes. And realize these had to be markings for ski runs. I've only been downhill skiing once and it was a fairly traumatic experience, but I got a vicarious thrill out of those slopes today. It was satisfying putting in the last letter knowing I would get the happy music. The extra fun figuring out all the layers in the grid was well worth the extra time. I think my competitive urge must be satisfied by maintaining a streak.
@Lynn I loved the puzzle but was lamenting that the difffculty signs didn't get used but, you cleared it up! Thanks!
A typo in San Neill's name briefly had the double diamond as "hell", and that felt about right. 😂 I loved this theme. Well done! I smiled as soon as I saw those symbols and their respective "hills". It's funny, I grew up skiing in Washington State, and now I live minutes from arguably some of the best skiing in the country, and I've only been a handful of times in the last 10 years or so. Maybe this puzzle inspired me to get over my grumpiness and get back out there (though I'll steer clear of the double diamonds 😉)!
I did not know the skiing symbols, and I did not catch onto the trick at CHINCHILLA because the less I think about the fur trade, the happier I am. I cringed and moved on but I knew that 44 across had to be CAPTAINPHILLIPS. So I found the revealer and and easily popped it in. Remembered that super fun puzzle from a year or two ago that was all about logical fallacies. Loved that one!! Then I filled in all the HILLS, cringing again at the fur clue. I noticed the different angles of the hills and know that bunny hills exist, so I thought it had to do with hill difficulty but I didn't know that the signs were indicating difficulty. I cross-country skied a bit when I was younger but I've never attempted downhill skiing, and I'm much more of a summer Olympics gal! Things I didn't know were gently crossed except SWAGE and AGONISTIC. The former lived somewhere in my brain but not the latter, so not very confidently adding the G was my last square and happy music. The SMURFs were both ahead of and behind my cartoon watching days, so I put in Mario for a while. I guess they wouldn't describe him as a cartoon being but I think he had something to do with mushrooms, didn't he? Magic mushrooms, perhaps!? Evil mushrooms? Anyhow, I enjoyed doing it and thought the theme was very clever. Still, I would have liked some laughs and more tussle. Now I'm wondering about a theme where the HILLs are alive with the sound of music. Or a magic mushroom theme! 🪄🍄
@HeathieJ You might enjoy taking a look at this puzzle: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/1/2015&g=49&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/1/2015&g=49&d=A</a> THEHILLSAREALIVE is one of the theme clues. ....
I’m an avid skier and I have some logic skills, so this puzzle’s theme was very fun for me! Loved it
Congrats on a fine debut! I’ve resigned myself to the new normal of difficulty, so no comment on that. I got the HILL theme immediately and, not being a skier, didn’t understand the point of the signs except to signal the start of the slope, so was initially disappointed, but the column jogged my memory and I can certainly acknowledge the cleverness and amusement of this and the excellent construction of the theme. Nothing stood out too much to me on the clueing or entries to comment on. It’s too bad CAPTAINPHILLIPS was just in another puzzle because it was probably a gimme for daily solvers if it wasn’t already. As usual I have to pause on LOO/LAV, ALOT/ATON, SCARF/SNARF TIL SWAGE and POULT. Happy Sunday everyone!
@SP I'm not yet at your stage of acceptance. The new normal s_inks. I don't want every puzzle to be a typing contest. (Thursday and Friday were cool and unfortunately exceptions.)
Congrats, Matt, on your debut, and many thanks to you and Jeffrey for a tight puzzle that I found super entertaining. The conceit and construction were superb! I've never gone skiing and have no intention of ever going, so despite having loved the puzzle, I think I'll stick to Blueberry HILL along with Fats Domino... <a href="https://youtu.be/8mix3gmzPa0?si=NcTsw83HkcOTVxEE" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/8mix3gmzPa0?si=NcTsw83HkcOTVxEE</a> I've never
@sotto voce I've never and never have I ever been allowed to edit a comment in this forum. I've never. Not ever.
Wretchedly easy. Again. XWStats concurs, rating both Saturday and Sunday as "Easy" puzzles. The construction was fine. The clues were trivial and it was a blank-filling exercise except for the lower left which was ever so lightly crunchy for me. Yes I know many are tired of us whining. But the numbers speak for themselves. The general trend is that the NYT no longer features challenging puzzles, including the "hard" Saturday jewel position. And it is a shame.
@B Now that they have added the "midi" (which I object to on the basis of hating all change) , maybe the difficulty of the regular puzzle will increase again. I have not been solving that long - maybe five years total and regularly for about three - but even I think the Fridays and Saturdays have gotten easier since I started. Makes my experience more fun, but then I'd be glad to have to earn it, so the long-time solvers can have their fun.
@B -- Last Saturday's puzzle had much of the old bite, and the optimist in me would like t think that the NYT team has taken all the criticism to heart and is moving back to making Saturdays hard. Such a change could take months, however, as they may have already accepted many of the easier ones. Fingers crossed.
Typical long Sunday workout but an enjoyable solve, and a nice 'aha' moment when I caught on to the trick. And... reminded me of some favorite times from years ago. Grew up in Iron Mountain, Michigan. Just outside of town is the Pine Mountain ski-jump, which holds the records for the longest jumps in the U.S. (472 feet). Always enjoyed watching that competition every year. And next to that is the Pine Mountain ski resort. Spent many days out there in the winter. We would often ski down hill, and then curve over and grab the rope-tow to bring us back up and then head downhill again. So... lots of skiing with no pauses at all. Fond memories. ....
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, and way off topic, but at least wordplay related. Current events led me to think of an old parody song base on the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann." Just wonder who'll catch on to that. ...
I was able to see how the words were completed, and that they were going down at different angles. I missed that they spelled out “hills” (doh!) and was unclear what the signs were for. I blame this on my traumatic memories of downhill skiing. As a risk averse and physically inept child I was forced to take downhill skiing lessons. Every weekend I would trudge to the hill, often in -20- -30 C weather (4- -22 F), to hurtle down the hill, feeling no sense of control. Never a broken bone, but I hated it. I think my brain simply refused to connect the dots when I looked through the puzzle. Despite the PTSD, now understanding the puzzle, I admire it. Well done.
@Karen I also have a traumatic memory of downhill skiing. I was with a significant other who had a flawed theory of how to teach skiing. Let's leave it at that. It did convince me that my ankles are way too flexible to keep a ski straight. Going cross-country in other people's grooves is more my style.
Really fun Sunday puzzle! Clever theme, well executed? Was SWAGE new to anyone else? I didn’t exactly excel @ Industrial Arts in high school 🙂