If you use your phone for birding, that's a feather in your app. (I once searched for pigeons on mine, but then I switched carriers.)
@Mike The in app purchases on Twitter, at least, were pretty cheep
<a href="https://www.poetry.com/poem/15929/from-four-saints-in-three-acts" target="_blank">https://www.poetry.com/poem/15929/from-four-saints-in-three-acts</a>
@Mike I once dove into birding but my contributions were nothing to crow about. I once displayed some lovely blue eggs, but of course I was accused of robin the nest. I dyed them myself! (It was, after all, Easter.)
@Mike You come out with these puns almost every day, and you’re so swift, you can’t be winging it, so i wonder if you’re robin them from somewhere. it’s kinda hard to swallow. Like i said the other day, it’s time we had a serious stork.
Mike, Move all my bird-watching info from desktop to a wireless device? Migrations! That would take a long time!
@Mike My weather app says it will be pretty chilly -- I guess I'll have to wear my cote this mourning. Just thought I'd pigeon with another contribution.
Thank you, Mr. Ewbank, for a smart Monday puzzle. Oh what minds constructors have! To see APP ENDS in the word APPENDS and create a puzzle around it is... divine. Something else that was and forever will be divine, and that shows up in this puzzle, is Freddie Mercury. YOURS truly would like to honor his memory here by posting the last video he ever recorded and that moves me to no end. <a href="https://youtu.be/oB4K0scMysc?si=X6idoSqmq6bQGmfd" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/oB4K0scMysc?si=X6idoSqmq6bQGmfd</a> His passing came as a shock to me, having had the pleasure of meeting him when I worked as one of the interpreters for the musicians who played throughout the 10 days of the first Rock in Rio Concert, in 1985. Freddie Mercury was kind and respectful – despite partying up a storm in the penthouse of the Copacabana Palace Hotel. He was simply having the time of his life, but without causing any trouble. In the two nights Queen played, they drew an audience of between 250,000 and 300,000 per night, which ended up being the largest crowd Queen ever played to. Unfortunately, I was working both nights with other artists and didn't get to attend. I'd like to wish he be resting in peace, but something tells me his penchant for throwing parties goes on and he's rocking it out in heaven. Gone too soon.
@sotto voce Nice tribute to an astonishing talent! Somehow I completely missed his golden days, but my wife and family are huge fans.
@sotto voce This is still my favorite, because it was so unexpected. It was for the Olympics, but he was gone before the opening ceremony. He had long admired her and wanted to meet her, so he waited in the lobby of a hotel where she staying, and played the piano until she came down and walked over to ask what he was playing. It was one of this. They became fast friends. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1fiOJDXA-E&list=RDY1fiOJDXA-E&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1fiOJDXA-E&list=RDY1fiOJDXA-E&start_radio=1</a>
Pretty normal Monday overall. The northwest area I found confusing. Since I'd never heard of GQ STYLE magazine, when I had __STYLE I was sure the country was IRAN rather than IRAQ cause something like IN STYLE seemed more likely. And I disagree with BONG for the sound of a gong noise. "Gong" would have made more sense.
@Chris came here to say exactly this!
@Chris Mesopotamia should not be confused with Persia. One is a location that hosted many empires and the other a nation in existence for at least 2500 years.
@Chris I also went for In Style but I know that as a women’s magazine so what else could it be? GQ has been around for decades as a men’s magazine but I’ve never heard of it as GQ STYLE. GQ was originally called “Gentlemen’s Quarterly” and has been the pre-eminent men’s style magazine.
GQ STYLE is a quarterly spin-off from GQ. Two separate pubs.
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Bone that squeaks, maybe (3)(3) 2. Some kicks on Route 66, maybe (7) 3. Corn whole? (3) 4. Crystal and Rock, notably (5)(5) 5. They need fans to stay cool (5) DOG TOY JOYRIDE EAR OSCAR HOSTS IDOLS
My favorite encore clues from last week: [They're often picked up at coffee shops] (6) [What isn't anyone's fault?] (3) AROMAS LET
@Lewis “Crystal and Rock, notably” was brilliant. I suspect i wasn’t the only one trying to work out if the answer could be something like “crack drugs” or “methadones”! I presume this was a deliberate misdirect down a dark (and seedy) alley?
So are we going to have rotating guest columnists M-T-W while Sam is on leave? Nobody at Games thought to say anything, just as they did not introduce the new columnist (from whom we have seen one column)? I know this isn't News or Editorial. but it's still The Times. Or is it?
@Barry Ancona Sam did introduce the new columnist, one day after he introduced himself. So that wasn’t exactly a scoop. As for the guest columnists, I guess that’s a mystery.
Heidi, The new columnist does not report to Sam, and I'm sure you agree introductions are made at or before a first appearance. (I love that his bio already said he writes Wordplay columns when only one had appeared.)
Ah, I've been emued. I might have been too enthusiastic in my glee over 46D—"'Tis but a scratch." Oh my gosh! So surprising and fun to encounter that great line! Diet Coke spittake, anyone!? "A scratch? Your arm’s off." I'm trying to be more restrained this time so that my glee at least goes through.
@HeathieJ et al For me, that always evokes Mercurio--who was so dear! I hated that he died!--"Romeo and Juliet" was my first Shakespearean play--8th grade... (that age being the height of girlish romanticism...)
@HeathieJ So many great scenes in that movie. One of the greats. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB5ig6vpQug" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB5ig6vpQug</a>
Every theme answer is colorful. There’s lovely wordplay in the revealer. A grid peppered with sweet answers – BONG, WISP, CUT ME SOME SLACK, POP CULTURE, I’LL LIVE. I like that the internet-based theme, far from the world of nature, is balanced by plenty of fauna – LEMUR, BAT, RAT, ANT, ROE, ELK. Adding to these plusses were enough answers I couldn’t immediately get from the clue to get my brain engaged. Adding more still were extra-curricular enrichments -- an online look at Maradona’s greatest goal, reviewing the story of the Apple of Discord, which, though fiction, strongly bears the stamp of truth, and, finally, warming my heart by looking at images of lemurs. Are they not a gift from God? I’d call all this one heck of a Monday puzzle. Thank you, John!
I'm not much of a text-ese person, but if I were, I'd be OMGing all up in your digital faces: 46D "'Tis but a scratch"—squeal!!! Love it!! "Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!" 🤣 In my glee, I've forgotten everything else about this puzzle! I best go look at it again.
What an odd Monday puzzle. Many of the clues would have worked for second graders, and then we had APPLEOFDISCORD, and MOI/FOP with clues "Après ___, le déluge"/Dandy. Also, EYETWITCH seemed awfully contrived to me. Easy enough to solve, but this one carried a weird vibe. The triple LLL in ILLLIVE was interesting, and so was the unusual letter pattern to start GQSTYLE. Also nice was the symmetric placement of LEGLOCKS and ARMRESTS. Given the many drug references (to LSD in particular) that appear regularly, "Sound at the beginning and end of a meditation, perhaps" seemed a bit strange for BONG. Yes, a weird vibe this one had, as MASTERYODA might say.
Well I'm glad XWStats has this as Very Hard. This was surprisingly chewy for a Monday. I liked it, even as I felt it's unfair to those depending on the promised progressions.
@B That's exactly how I felt - I personally enjoyed it but all throughout my solve I thought this was way too hard for an entry-level puzzle.
It's been upgraded (downgraded?) to Hard.
@B My time would indicate that I found it relatively hard, solving 83% slower than my average Monday, but in reality, it came on while I was watching the Mets stage a late-inning come-from-behind rally, so I was doing both at the same time. To add to the distratcion, my wife, who cannot remember that the puzzles come on early on the weekends, was also engaging me in conversation. In reality, I might have found it a little harder than average, but truth is, in a quiet room with no distractions, I can hardly tell the difference at this point between a supposedly easy Monday and a supposedly hard one, without stopping to examine each clue and answer individually, after the fact.
FOP makes me think of that Act I finale of Sweeney Todd: What is that? It's fop, finest in the shop And we have some shepherd's pie peppered With actual shepherd on top And I've just begun Here's the politician, so oily It's served with a doily, have one Put it on a bun Well, you never know if it's going to run Try the friar Fried, it's drier No, the clergy is really too coarse and too mealy Then actor, it's compacter Yes, and always arrives overdone
@Bob T. Any mention of Sweeney Todd obligates me to post this performance by Mrs Lovett and two Mr Todds from Stephen Sondheim's 80th Birthday Celebration Concert. Sorry about that. <a href="https://youtu.be/5aQ_uEEMPqE?si=2Ib-ZD9aQR4-RVBe" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/5aQ_uEEMPqE?si=2Ib-ZD9aQR4-RVBe</a> Try the priest.
@Bob T. I have seen it and was trying to figure how to see the whole thing.
@Bob T. Mu reply from last night mrver appeared. Too short probably. I did see it.
@MOL EYE allergies and Autocorrect that seems never to work when I need it. @Ad Absurdum Hi.
Better than usual Monday puzzle with a nice theme. Bonus points for the Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference in the clues.
I felt like there were quite a few cross-checks in this puzzle that were particularly difficult for a Monday. In the top left, both GONG/BONG and IRAN/IRAQ crossing "_ _ STYLE" were pretty tough. I also disliked ROE/DOE. The left middle fill was particularly bad with YES/YEP/YEA crossing POMP (already an awkward Monday word), surrounded by obscure references and French. I was surprised these cross-checks were supported by the cluing and not mitigated.
Nice tight puzzle, thanks. I had forgotten that the whole Judgement of Paris thing started with the Apple of Discord (Eris), thanks for reminding me of the story. It reminds me of another connection in my brain. I love Agatha Christie and the plot of “Thirteen at Dinner” hinged on the Judgment of Paris. The murderess hired an actress to pretend to be her and give her an alibi for her husband’s murder. At the dinner party “The Judgement of Paris” came up and the actress thought it had something to do with French style. Someone else at the party knew the woman enough to know that she was very cultured and should have known the reference. It’s how Poirot solves the crime. Anyway that just popped into my head. I love the myth and have always been fascinated by it, especially how the whole Trojan war starts because of it (and the reason Hera and Athena back the Greeks and Aphrodite backs the Trojans).
@SP Thanks a lot for the spoiler! Sheesh!! I mean, it's only been out for over 90 years... I just haven't gotten around to it yet! 😏 Har!! In reality, there are no novels written by Agatha Christie that I haven't read. I've not read all her short stories though (short stories in general annoy me a bit) and I've not read under her pseudonym (Mary something, I think).
@SP Yes, I thought of that too. It's called "Lord Edgware Dies" in the UK. Another Christie fan here.
I have a nit, a nit I’ll pick. I have used (heard of) one of the apps. Ergo, I feel old. But a nice, light solve. Just what the jet-lagged CC ordered. Finally home! Incredible trip. And we splurged, so no ARMREST issues! Have a lovely Monday all!
@CCNY Brava! For you... I've never heard of any of those APPs,and I suspect my leg is being pulled.
@CCNY It's not an age thing, I don't think. I'm not yet 40 and I've only used SLACK, mostly for looking at cat pictures when I should be working. TWITCH and DISCORD are social media, which I avoid like the plague. SIGNAL, though, has been heavily used by underground networks aiding immigrants here in Minnesota.
Can we talk about BONG? As a regular meditator, I confidently filled in Aums ( not OM as frequently spelled ). When the crosses fit not, I thought Gong. Bong, my friends, is something else entirely. That's all.
@Elke I thought the same. If, for example, I close my office door for 15 minutes of meditation, no one arrives with a mallet and large bronze (is it bronze? is it a mallet?) disk to whomp to announce the beginning of my meditation period. On the other hand, if I choose to use a bong to help me meditate, that's quite a different usage. Not that I use a bong, or even meditate, you understand. All for illustrative purposes. No metal disks were harmed in this explanation.
A fun little Monday puzzle. I got the themed answers before getting the theme, and even then I needed to check Wordplay for the explanations as I'm not really a social media person anymore. I imagine that experience will vary depending on your usage. Let's please leave the "too easy" off of the Monday comments. Mondays are meant to be easy, meant to be welcoming for newcomers. When people complain about difficulty on other days of the week, they are told to stick to early-week puzzles. Well, how about the people who want more difficult puzzles can stick to the back half of the week, or enjoy a puzzle in the archive?
Read the comments. This one was too hard! <a href="https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-04-06" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-04-06</a>
I completed the puzzle handily enough, but never could quite grasp the theme and after reading the column, I understand why -- I was not familiar with any of the apps that were in the theme answers.
@Jim Signal is a privacy-respecting communicator, run by a non-profit. I highly recommend it. It's the only instant messaging app I use.
@Jim Remember in March of 2025 when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen in a private SIGNAL group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer?
My favourite thing? With a clue that MIGHT be a Monty Python quote, the whole gang's in here quoting the black Knight 😊. Knew I could count on you all - this is a fine, fine community! Have a lovely day filled with kindness and sunshine, everyone.
Oh, the puzzle. I thought this was a very nice Monday puzzle. I enjoyed the theme, and I actually used it to speed up entering the third and fourth themers, MAYBE a few clues were too easy even for a Monday, but that's not worth a nit. Thank you, John.
@Barry Ancona too easy even for a Monday Wow.
Nifty Monday that has some chewy long answers and that is completely free of POP CULTURE and crosswordese. Am I a "highbrow critic"? Hope not -- but I did feel that the answer at 30D was aimed right between my eyebrows. And to get a Down answer that good when constructing a grid with the theme in the Acrosses is a nice bit of construction. Well done, John. The only things I know even less about than POP CULTURE are APPS. I finally broke down and bought an IPhone when I thought I'd need it in a pinch to call Uber. But I hate it -- am afraid of it, actually -- and it sits in my drawer turned off for months at a time. It's probably because of the APPS -- I don't want 'em. didn't ask for 'em -- but they seem to be there anyway. All sorts of things pop up on my screen when all I want to do is make a bleeping phone call on an empty screen. I want the IPhone to behave like a landline from 1950 -- but it is smarter and more willful than me and it does whatever the heck it wants to. Since I can't control it, I just refuse to use it. Which means I have absolutely no idea what SIGNAL, DISCORD, SLACK and TWITCH are. But that didn't affect my enjoyment of this puzzle -- which I thought was interesting and well-made.
A truly wonderful Monday. Not so easy that it felt like a kiddie puzzle, not so hard that it felt misplaced. Learned a few things, well, one or two, and still have time to get showered and off to my shift at the ER. Have a lovely Monday, and glance up at the moon now and then. Think about those four people we can't see, on the dark side. Amazing.
@Marlene The far side, not the dark side. All of the moon has day and night, just like we do. When half of the near side is in daylight (and the rest of the daylight is in the far side), we see a “half moon.”
Great puzzle! I think 47-Across should reference 37-Across, not 37-Down, though
@Peter I think that’s just a coding error. All the theme answers relate to the revealer at 47A, as its clue states.
I gather you two are talking about answers lighting up online, since the clues are correct in the puzzle and the column...
But when I look at it in the browser on the website, the revealer and the four themers light up properly....
@Peter I came here for that. "What does ARMRESTS have to do with 47A?" Oh yeah, just a coding error. Duh.
Yay me! I succeeded with my “only use the across clues, don’t look at the downs” challenge and finished it in 14m15s. Would have been sub 10 minutes but i spent about five minutes not noticing that “dong” should be BONG. The revelation resounded with a thunderous reverberation that shook me from my reverie! Now i get to read the down clues and find out what i missed!
@Petrol That's pretty impressive! I've never gotten to the third row using only across.
@Petrol It must be something in the air! Or maybe the croissant (don't have one, wish I did). You solved yours a lot faster than I did, I must say.
@Petrol Because I got briefly involved with Nichiren Shōshū when I was in my thirties, my confidently incorrect answer was gONG.
@Petrol Lulz, the mods deleted my awesome reply. I'll never understand 'murican morality.
A bit chewy for a Monday!! Really enjoyed this one.
I was reminded of the Monty Python quote a couple of days ago when I was in Edinburgh touring the castle. Some fierce Scottish warrior was last seen in battle on his horse, both arms severed, holding the reins with his teeth. Sounds apocryphal to me, but it sure made me think of the Black Knight skit. Fun puzzle for me. It's the first one I solved using only the across clues, no sneaking peeks at down clues. That took a lot of patience, but I enjoyed it. To each her own, right? I didn't get the theme until the bitter end, mostly because I kept misspelling APPENDS and then doubting the word. How do you get a photo to show next to your name in your posts? For this post, where the big N is.
@Nora You, too? I gotta go ahead and say the same thing all over again? Sigh...okay That's really impressive with only the acrosses! I've never even gotten to the third row.
@Nora To set an avatar (the photo thingie), when replying to a post, click the blue "Edit" link on the right. There you can change your nickname and location, but you can also upload a photo - just click the "Edit" link on the left this time.
@Nora Hoorary for Nora, well done! I always try "across only" because I love an extra bit of a challlenge, and to prolong the delicious tantalizing agony of trying to find the *mot juste...*
It seems this Monday was somewhat hard (for a Monday). <a href="https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-04-06" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-04-06</a> To make up for that, The New Yorker's Monday puzzle seemed somewhat easy (for their Monday).
@Barry Ancona I ATE that one two minutes faster than today's NYT. (Circumstances were different. I had no distractions this morning. I mentioned my Sunday night solve of the NYT in a different thread. TL;DR: Very distracted.) I did like that the New Yorker gave us a much more NYT-like puzzle than their usual one; a themed puzzle with a Thursday-ish trick. That's not their usual M.O.
Steve, We get enough easy Thursdays here. I wanted TNY Monday to be the tough Saturday we don't get enough of here. It was cute, but I was quite disappointed.
@Barry Ancona @Steve L I agree that it was not the typical NYer Monday puzzle, since I was able to finish without too much difficulty. It would have helped me had I noticed it had a title.
@John Ewbank “Come back here! I’ll bite your legs off!”
Me five minutes before opening the puzzle: "The thing in mythology that I associate with "golden apples" is the bit that kicked off the Trojan War." Me in the middle of my first pass through the puzzle, notably before seeing the revealer: "Oh right that's the official name of that apple. Also lol discord." Me towards the end of solving: APPLEOFDISCORD starts with APP, so that must be how to parse APP ENDS (as "APP at one end or other") ... but the other theme entries didn't include it? Huh? (I did figure it out after a moment)
@Isabeau "To the Fairest".... in more than one tale, the source of murderous maneuvers! (Snow White...)
So despite not knowing a single app featured in the grid, I was clearly on the constructor’s wavelength as I got v close to a PB today. I was surprised to see it’s been listed as hard, how nice when I don’t have to make my brain hurt to get through a puzzle. I love the elongated LLL on ILL LIVE, for some reason it made me smile. And yes, I now have large sections of the Holy Grail on a loop in my head, not to mention that dratted LEMUR’s song. I have a question; why would you wear a BIB to eat lobster? I don’t get it. I eat a fair amount of the delicious creatures in season, but can’t think why I would need to cover myself. Do American lobsters fight back?
<a href="https://www.foodie.com/1899244/lobster-bib-explained" target="_blank">https://www.foodie.com/1899244/lobster-bib-explained</a>/
@Helen Wright Thanks Barry. That does say everything i thought but was too polite to say! Also, interesting that lobster is seen as a luxury food. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly regarded as chicken nuggets here either. But, while a whole lobster would be one of the pricier choices, up there with fillet steak, half lobsters are more than affordable. Perhaps it’s because I live near the coast and lobster in London perhaps would be regarded as more expensive. Also; I could not imagine anyone as erudite as yourself wearing a bib.
@Helen Wright Maybe we eat with more reckless abandon! I'm sure I've worn a bib in my lifetime, but I agree, I would skip it now that I'm oh so more sophisticated. But they are messy, and when you've got on your fancy clothes... I like Barry's article, but I also have another theory: it's part of the pomp of ordering lobster. I recall bibs from back in the day, and I'm talking probably the 1970s. If the restaurant wants to make sure everyone knows which high-roller ordered the lobster, a bib would be a good indicator.
@Helen Wright I was watching a travel/foodie show a while back, and was surprised to learn that the Irish didn't even consider eating lobster until recently, and once ground it up for fertilizer.
A fine start to the week. I don’t use any of the Apps in the theme but I am familiar with the name of each one I’m always happy when I know a POP CULTURE reference, it makes me feel like less of an old fogey. I like the arm/leg symmetry of ARM RESTS and LEG LOCKS. Fun photo caption “It’s me, hi. I’m the puzzle, it’s me”, referencing the Taylor ERA. Nicely done, John.
Today's poem made from words found in today's puzzle<br><br> a/ the will-you words of innocence i say <br> give off a yellow smoke <br> the radiation of a sure thing <br> and the sound of office machines <br> where the tigris and the euphrates meet where i <br> d/ a-go a-paddling <br> through the internet <br> as the body of a tree <br> and as a tree and as a tree <br> i log, i log, i log <br> in to the a/ stream <br> <br>
That was a fun Monday puzzle, great theme!
My one quibble: DOC ≠ medic. Still loved the puzzle
@Steve OK, I was expecting this one. Per Merriam-Webster: "medic 2 of 2 noun (2) : one engaged in medical work or study" So...first person objects because of a precise interpretation of the word, second person (me, in this case) opines that a broader definition of the word exists that encompasses the constructor's interpretation. The call-and-response has been fufilled.
@Steve My brother was a medic in VietNam ...decorated with the Silver Star for his selfless (foolhardy?) efforts under fire as he raced to help wounded villagers and fellow soldiers. He was addressed as "DOC" by just about everybody. Eventually he went to medical school and then continued his service in the Army Medical Corps... Retired from the service now. I wonder if anyone calls him DOC...because he's still working.
MOL, If you mentioned your brother's service here before, I missed it. "Selfless" is the word. Salute (metaphoric, of course). When and where was he in-country?
@Steve My dad was a medic in Korea. I was always so impressed about that. No, not a doctor, but yes, handy with the tools. They were kept in the linen closet next to the bathroom. I have so many memories of him saying "get my kit" when a medical emergency arrived. One in particular happened to me. I was slicing a bagel, and the knife went through to my hand, quite deeply. My dad wrapped it and told me to run across the street to Dr. W, our family dr. Normally, that's not a problem. But the waiting room was full and the nurse wouldn't even look at my dripping hand. So I went back home and Dad, after muttering something unprintable under his breath, pulled out his kit. Very gently, he cleaned the cut, and, using a butterfly closure, he took care of my hand. There was a lot of backlash in the neighborhood over the treatment by the nurse, and Dr W, I am told, scolded her for letting such an emergency go home. But he came to the house (drs did that in the early 60s), examined Dad's work, and pronounced it perfect. It healed, with no scar. Good job, Dad!
Kind of a tough one for me, with more than a couple of answers that I was never going to figure out without a lot of crosses. No big deal. And.. puzzle finds today. First, a Thursday from November 12, 1998 by David J. Kahn. Theme answers in that one: VILLAGEVOICE VIETNAMVETERANS VESTALVIRGIN And then... a Sunday from February 27, 2011 by Peter A. Collins with the title: "V-2". Some answers in that one: VILLAGEVOICE VIETNAMVETERAN VESTALVIRGINS and... VARICOSEVEIN VINCEVAUGHN VICEVERSA Hmmm... I'm done. ....
It was Monday. The puzzle was easy. The theme was mildly amusing. The revealer was quite clever. It was Monday.
@The X-Phile Nicely summarized, but you should have begun and ended with BONG.
Zoboomafoo was beloved when my children were young! I still remember the show fondly. Thank you for the sweet memory & yes, Lemur was an easy fill for MOI.
I swiped right for this Monday puzzle.
Puzzle - fine. I've heard a couple of those apps. I don't use any of them. I'm on FB, mostly to keep up with town news, and some friends and family. I have the NYT Games app, but I much prefer using a browser. Peeve: When I pull up to a fast food drive-thru and they ask me if I ordered on the app. What?? I'm supposed to be organized enough to use an app to get a McChicken? Hey...I still miss the old AOL Trivia chatroom. Quite a lot TBH. Aside from the occasional troll, it was a group of smart and funny people talking, joking, and exchanging knowledge. Happy Monday.
Regarding the Midi, mongoose is not a Hindi origin word! It originally is a Marathi word which eventually came from Telugu. This makes it a Proto-Dravidian descendant. Hence it isn't even in the same language family as Hindi! I think a basic fact check needs to be put into place by NYT before crosswords are published.
I'm sure you are correct, but this may be a matter of semantics. For the puzzle, "origin" may mean from which language the word came to English. In which case... <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mongoose" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mongoose</a>
I usually solve a Monday puzzle with only 2 passes through the clues. Today took a bit longer and was surprisingly crunchy. Thanks to the constructor for the Zaboomafoo earworm. It was one of my son's favorite shows 25 years ago.
Zoboowhatever never made it across the atlantic, so the only Madagascan lemur I know is King Julien, an absolute legend in his own mind.
i consider myself an expert on BONGs, but I was STUMPED by 1A roflmao
After finishing (by running a bit of the alphabet at 1A/4D) I read the column but still don't fully understand APP ENDS. I don't think it's the sort of thing I want to fully understand.
@kilaueabart The last word of every themed entry is the name of a smartphone application, or app. SIGNAL is the only one I have personally used.
BONG is a sound? I've only ever heard of it as drug paraphernalia.
@Andrzej From Wiktionary: Etymology 1 Onomatopoeic. Noun bong (plural bongs) (slang) The clang of a large bell. The sound of a bong echoed across the courtyard, signaling the hour.
@Andrzej It's onomatopoeia for a sound like the tolling of a bell. Brits will often refer to Big Ben's bongs.
@Andrzej Somehow we have accepted ding and dong as doorbell sounds, but when the thing being struck is really big, the dong becomes bong. And when singing White Christmas, it becomes Bing.
Andrzej, And strangely, does a bongo go bong? No.
Funnily enough, I also got the answer to 9A from a kids’ show, but for me it was Penguins of Madagascar! I wonder if there’s a lot of LEMUR-based childhood characters or we just found the two needles in the haystack?
@Elena Well, that's original! LEMURs are "early mammals" and come in for mention in textbooks. Far less cuddly, I'm sure.
I will now start and end all my meditation sessions with a loud BONG
@Dennis Get yourself a Tibetan "singing bowl". They make the nicest BONGs. <a href="https://insighttimer.com/blog/singing-bowls-meditation-benefits" target="_blank">https://insighttimer.com/blog/singing-bowls-meditation-benefits</a>/
@Dennis I've always found hitting a bong helps put me in a meditative frame of mind
Somewhere, there must be a Google Search Trends Analysis gadget. Wherever it is, thanks to Madison Malone Kircher's column today, there must be a surge in searches for "Zoboomafoo" (which would be an excellent CW answer, by the way) today. Its jingle also also turns out to be a potent ear worm. You have been warned.