AMER seemed fitting…we’re missing some important parts right now.
Fabulous debut. Perfect fun theme, excellent grid, and despite the early comments I think more of a Wednesday challenge than Tuesday. Loved the Houdini clue. Going on my list of early week POY nominations. I expect more great puzzles from you!
Doing this one from the hospital chair while my toddler is in for some respiratory monitoring. A fun distraction for a night that I’m sure will not be filled with sleep.
I think SKATER is a logical fallacy, or at least a fortuitous result of setters and solvers all making the same assumption. The thing is, *nobody* should go out on thin ice - not skaters, not police officers, not accountants. One might actually argue that skaters are better prepared because at least they are probably alert and aware of the risk. (I’m afraid my first thought was “heavy people”.) There is a kind of logical fallacy - i can’t remember what it’s called - where you mistakenly ascribe a greater likelihood of something happening to a subgroup than to the group as a whole, based on some particular and distracting detail. It’s a bit like asking “which animal is most deadly for scuba divers?” and your mind is immediately drawn to sharks when in fact the answer is almost certainly mosquitoes, because they kill far more people than any other animal, and scuba divers are people too. I don’t know if i have explained this in a way that anyone will understand! Can anyone set me right? Am i skating on thin ice?
@Petrol I thought the same, pretty much. We vibin'
@Petrol --- I think you're referring to the conjunction fallacy (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_fallacy" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_fallacy</a>), and I bet a lot of people here would enjoy (or have enjoyed!) "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, where that and other such things are entertainingly explained. That said, I think the clue is fine. It only asks for "one" kind of person that should avoid thin ice --- but I do get your point that, logically speaking, SKATERs are not special in that regard!
@Petrol Um, it's entirely because "skating on thin ice" is a common expression / idiom. That's what makes the clue perfectly fine.
@Petrol My thought about “which animal is most deadly for scuba divers?” is that there is an unspoken part of the question, "when they are scuba diving." I think most people would make that assumption. I also would make the assumption that thin ice is more of a danger for a skater than a scuba diver, who presumably is prepared to go underwater anyway. Assumptions are made all the time in the English language. When people start to pick apart common sayings and constructions with logic, it feels like an attempt to literalize a language that is heavily non-literal.
@Petrol That was an excellent explanation, well-illustrated! I fall for those every time.
@Petrol The wider your area of contact with the surface, the less likely you are to break through ice. That’s why they say to crawl if you find yourself on thin ice or are trying to rescue someone. So a skater is actually in more danger on thin ice than a police officer in boots or an accountant in loafers.
@Petrol You certainly bring up an interesting point, but in the end I think the clue is fine. Most people--including police officers and accountants--don't go out on ice very often. SKATERs, at least non roller SKATERs, go out on ice all the time as part of their job or enthusiasm. Yes it's often in a rink, but I still buy it as acceptable misdirection. I wonder if more SCUBA divers are killed by humans than by mosquitos. Talk about a deadly animal... :\
I came in to say the theme was really, really impressive. To find 4 common two-word phrases that so elegantly fit an equally common theme answer seems like quite the feat! The overall cluing was quite easy, certainly after an unusually hard Monday, but it was appropriate for its day slot I guess. A really nice job that must have taken tons of time and thought.
@B I agree, that was amazingly clever. I really don’t understand how constructors come up with these ideas and actually manage to execute them. It’s very impressive.
So, yesterday we had a theme based on the last words of two-word phrases, and today we have one based on both words. A lovely progression. My brain likes to work, and it had two opportunities today – first, trying to figure out the revealer after leaving it blank and not reading its clue. And second, trying to come up with new theme answers. I worked really hard on both, and spectacularly failed on each. But my brain felt divine. This is a tight theme, and what makes it so is that there are relatively few two-word phrases that start with BALL or end with CHAIN. High props to Adryel for finding these, not to mention coming up with this theme in the first place. My favorite answer was the gorgeous UMBRAGE, and I loved the fabulous [Famous figure known for off-the-cuff performances?] for HOUDINI. Congratulations on your NYT debut, Adryel – I hope to see more, as your puzzle today shows great promise. Thank you!
Does the title of the column today mean that Madison thinks the puzzle was OFFAL?
@Steve L You pulled out all the stops to come up with that one.
@Steve L Someone in Munster is smiling.
How cool is this?! Using both halves of a completely in-the-language answer to go with each half of a completely in-the-language revealer! So clever! One of those themes that I wish I'd thought of. So would you say that this is twice as good as a puzzle theme that only uses one word of a two-word phrase to tie things together? You would be so wrong to say that. By my lights, this puzzle is 64 times as good. I love these kinds of themes-- but they are so hard to come up with. I doubt I ever will. I also appreciate the clean, junk-free grid, Adryel. A really nice job!
Great theme! "Off the cuff" to clue HOUDINI is a very fun bit of wordplay; probably my favorite clue today
Ummm…PICKLE SUPPLY? SNOW BLOCK? PAINT DOOR? Yes, pretty tight theme!
@Cat Lady Margaret Tight theme and an interesting grid. Unusual to see a 16 x 15, but that allowed for some interesting differences in theme answer lengths: a 12, two 8s, and a 10, plus a 12 revealer. AIRSUPPLY would also work, but needs 9. As a wannabe constructor, I have great admiration for anyone who can get it right, without too much bad fill. Adryel gets an A+ on this debut puzzle.
Guess I’m in the minority because I really disliked this one. Lots of word mash fill, weird clues, and right off the bat, “amer” is a horrible and sets the tone—and not in a good way.
@Mango Have to admit I wasn’t a fan of AMER either but that was the only false step I thought
@Mango And in fact a insult to the many Americans who do not live in the United States under the red, white and blue.
Passover is close to being over, so don’t miss a visit to your nearby MATZOH RESTAURANT!
@Lewis Your suggestion is perfect. And it reminds of an episode that I am sorry I didn’t get to see myself. My husband’s grandfather Carl was a bit hard of hearing and had an ideolect unlike any other. (The fruity red wine served in Mexican restaurants was “Sandria;” the top of the Capitol dome was a “kewpuhlow.”) Carl was also possibly the most gregarious person I have ever met and had a surprisingly loud voice given his short stature. A dozen or so members y husband’s family were at a restaurant. Someone mentioned matzoh balls and Carl misheard. “Monkey balls? MONKEY BALLS?!!”
@Lewis Except, what is a MATZOH RESTAURANT? And, my best attempt by way of reply: here, we're getting a last visit from winter. We're on SNOW WATCH.
@SBK -- Oh, just being silly. Actually, I should have said "pop-up" MATZOH RESTAURANT.
@Lewis Maybe you could have a franchise of MATZOH RESTAURANTS. Here’s a name I might suggest: 7-No-Leaven.
Fun puzzle but, grammatically, POLITER was just plain rude.
@JGDC I agree that it was certainly IM.
Came here to note that POLITER tempted me to say something impolite. :-)
I'm not a fan of the clue for MORSE. The answer would be morse code, not just morse. Other than that, it's a good puzzle.
@Elbridge Gerry You're just showing re-Morse.
I gather you have never sent or received MORSE (either American [Railroad] or International).
It is in the dictionary as clued. <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/morse" target="_blank">https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/morse</a>
@Barry Ancona 1. Bad assumption. I have sent and received a lot of morse code because I have an amateur radio license. 2. It depends which dictionary you look at. Websters, which you cite all the time, doesn't say "morse" means morse code. I'll stick with that. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morse" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morse</a>
OMG IM JUST NOW SEEING THAT OUR CONSTRUCTOR IS BORICUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAHHH IM SO EXCITED MUCHAS GRACIAS POR LA CRUCIGRAMA <3 shedding tears rn (I never actually learned the word for crossword in Spanish #nosabogirlie but I'm going to keep this constructor in mind as I continue with my language studies <3)
Regarding someone’s suggestion of a MATZOH RESTAURANT, how about a franchise of them? Here’s a name I might suggest: 7-No-Leaven.
"Waiter, there's a trademark suit in my soup."
Congratulations, Adryel, on a stellar debut. Very impressive how the themer halves match perfectly with BALLANDCHAIN. Well done! In a nod to ITALIAN, I leave you all with Andrea Bocelli's version of Peppino Di Capri's song, "Champagne" – <a href="https://youtu.be/jI7zeFpI2dY?si=x1mrDpR2bQjzGcgf" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/jI7zeFpI2dY?si=x1mrDpR2bQjzGcgf</a>
This is a red letter day--great puzzle, AND I actually got the Midi when I clicked on the Midi link. The NYT *found it*!!!
Ms. Kircher, "El Dorado" is a mythical golden city in Voltaire's "Candide".
@jennie I knew it from a Donald Duck comic book.
@jennie And given that she performed in the musical, which has a haunting song by that name, I was surprised she said she got 5A a different way.
Fine debut, Adryel….that seemed to land square in a Monday-Tuesday sweet spot.
Is your ball and chain “The One That YouLove”? If so, today’s puzzle was “Making Love Out of Nothing at All”. AIR SUPPLY
Congrats on the debut! Nice theme and revealer. Enjoyed this one, though it took me a bit less time to complete than yesterday's puzzle. Some interesting entries here---UMBRAGE, KEVLAR---as well as the seemingly obligatory drug and Simpsons references---THC, NED. Perhaps the three baseball references---SAC, ACE and DEREK---compensated for the absence of even one rap-related entry or clue. ;-)
Nice debut! UMBRAGE is an excellent word, by far my favorite entry. I wanted 34A to be "guy in a pickup," but it sadly wouldn't fit.
Katie, How about some love for the “person on a snowmobile”, eh?
@JohnWM Indeed, 'tis the season for "just one more ride." There are a few sleds at the bottom of our lake in upstate NY.
@Katie I hate JK Rowling, but isn't the name Dolores Umbridge perfect?
I'm a bit amused that El DORADO makes Ms. Kircher, our guest columnist, think of the Disney bomb from 2000 "The Road to El DORADO". Getting in the "Way Back Machine", she notes that others may know the John Wayne movie "El DORADO" from 1966. She seems (blissfully?) unaware of Voltaire's "Candide" from 1759, which gave life to a pre-existing myth of the city of gold, somewhere hidden in South America. This, despite the fact that she regales us with her participation in the Bernstein operetta from 1956, which also references the legendary city. The myth was already old when Voltaire popularized it. Columbus, on his first trip to the, yet unnamed, AMERicas, saw the native population wearing gold jewelry, and assumed that there was gold everywhere in this new land. Soon there was speculation of a native king who covered himself in gold, El DORADO, "The Golden One". The subsequent ravaging of the continent by (mostly Spanish) "adventurers" should be well-known. If you are also unaware, here is a brief primer:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado</a> Ah, the lust for gold!
@The X-Phile But the question is: Rio Bravo or El Dorado?
@The X-Phile Also <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48634/eldorado-56d22a0920778" target="_blank">https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48634/eldorado-56d22a0920778</a>
@The X-Phile And let us not forget the poem Eldorado by Edgar Allen Poe, referenced in the John Wayne movie, and covered in song by Donovan.
@The X-Phile El DORADO was also an album by ELO...and I can't get it out of my head.
@The X-Phile I learned El Dorado in 4th grade California History! That's what brought all those Spaniards to SW USA in the 16th century.
@The X-Phile Every time I see the name Candide, I keep thinking of Candida spp., a sexually transmitted disease. It's my medical mind.
I’ve been slowly working my way through the crossword archives in the app as time allows. Just today I finished the puzzle from 4/13/1995. Now tonight imagine my surprise at completing the puzzle for 4/7/2026. To avoid spoilers, I’ll let you look it up yourself if you’re so inclined. Perhaps you’ll say, “What are the ODDS?” Indeed, if we were in The Matrix, I’d be worried about what could happen to me next after such an oddly timed coincidence.
@JMF If anyone wants to try: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/1995/04/13" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/1995/04/13</a> I too am slowly moving through the archives, about a month ahead of you, presently in May '95
Stellar debut, Adryel -- I look forward to seeing more from you!😊
Nice puzzle with a sophisticated theme! Thanks, Adryel and to Madison for a cool column.
What a delightful puzzle debut! I look forward to seeing many more from you Adryel. And I also enjoyed your column Madison. I too struggle with sports clues and also had “pop” for a time instead of SAC, but soon saw my error . . . (another sports term 😉🤣) It’s a beautiful spring day here and I’m looking forward to a nice long walk among the evergreens and blooming dogwoods. We do have another big rain storm coming through soon and I have to remind myself that we really need the water in our reservoirs. Be well everyone.
That was a Monday, yesterday was a Tuesday (or Wednesday). Enjoyed it!
@Jake Yesterday took me 8:12 and today 9:23, so I only see it as a slightly harder than usual Monday and a slightly easier than usual Tuesday.
Fun puzzle; thanks Adryel W. Robles Ojeda! Muy divertido!
From downtrodden to uplifted, here are the Righteous Brothers on the Andy Williams show singing UnCHAINed Melody <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0lPnYzvaXE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0lPnYzvaXE</a>
Today's theme doesn't enhance the solver's experience until the very end, when we realize how tough it must have been to think of it in the first place, much less construct clues around it.
That makes it quite a fine Tuesday puzzle, don't you think? It's not hard to solve, you can't make out a theme while solving, but then, when you reach the revealer, BAM!
When I saw --ACH HOTEL, I wanted RO in there so very badly!... but No. One can't have everything. What would be an example of a DISS track? Is that actually a thing? And do folks really say TAKE AN L? Srsly? Aaaand...John Deere gets all the advertising, but MY TRACTOR was a Kubota. Sad fact I just learned: BUSCH Gardens --not actually gardens?! Srsly disappointed. When I was a student at Florida Southern (in land-locked Lakeland) I didn't have a car, so there was no going anyplace unless the city bus line went there or it was within walking distance (which was 2 or 3 miles.) No trips to Tampa! Decades later, I found out the Detroit Tigers were there in Lakeland annually for Spring Training...but that was before I knew much about baseball....
@Mean Old Lady I think they were ROACHMOTELS (unless there was was a more expensive version, lol, with a pool and spa) and I still remember the tagline—“Roaches check in, they don’t check out!”
@Mean Old Lady Get ready for this: Madison Square Garden isn’t a garden, either. And it’s round! And it isn’t even on Madison Square! And our columnist has nothing to do with it!
@Mean Old Lady DISS TRACKS are indeed a real thing. Consult a recent example, the pathetic feud between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar. For a list of the diss tracks these two overgrown toddlers have exchanged, head here: <a href="https://bleumag.com/music/drake-and-kendrick-beef-songs-in-order" target="_blank">https://bleumag.com/music/drake-and-kendrick-beef-songs-in-order</a>/
@Mean Old Lady Wouldn't that be a ROACH MOTEL?
@Mean Old Lady Diss tracks are really common in hip hop, but wikipedia lists a few from before hip-hop, including Paul McCartney's "Too Many People" against John Lennon, and John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep" against McCartney. Wikipedia also considers Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" to be a diss track. Diss tracks really took off in popularity within hip hop, though, so more typical examples would be Eminem's Slim Shady ("Will the real Slim Shady please stand up," etc, if you remember that one) and more recently Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" which was performed at the 2025 superbowl half time show. (Wikipedia also lists Yankee Doodle as a diss track against Americans, but since it's before music recording I don't think it should be called a track, if you'll permit me to be very pedantic.)
Loved TAKEANL because I knew how much people were gonna hate it LOL! I only ever see BUSCH Gardens Tampa mentioned!! I live about 20 minutes away from the other BUSCH location in Williamsburg, VA. Maybe I'll see that clue one day! Happy Tuesday :)
@Rosa Wow, I haven't been there since I was a kid, growing up in Maryland. The Loch Ness Monster was *the* cutting edge coaster at the time. We also toured Colonial Williamsburg that weekend. Well worth the trip.
This comments app ... sigh I came back this morning, as I sometimes do, to find out what some of my favorite commenters had to say. Rather than read-slash-skim all the comments to find them, I tried the search function. First up, Andrzej... But the search only finds comments that contain replies to his comments (because they contain the string "@Andrzej"), not the comments *from* Andrzej that were being replied to. So it seems that if someone comments, but doesn't get any replies, searching won't find their thoughts - not ideal! And then, when I tried to reply to someone, I was prompted to sign in again. OK, sometimes you need to reverify, that's fine. So I entered my credentials and got a pop-up saying "Signed in as ...". Click on the reply button again, and get the same prompt to sign in - again. Re-signed in again, and tried to enter a new comment (this one) - and got the sign-in prompt *again* ! ( Samsung phone, Android app). So how did I finally manage to post this? By clicking the three dots at the top of my screen and choosing "Open in Samsung Internet". Works fine in the browser, but was borked in the app. So once again, *Sigh*
@Grumpy Try searching their location, instead of their name. That should bring up everything for the person you're searching for.
@Grumpy You don't seriously expect anything the IT team at the NYT does to actually work properly, do you?
Why on earth nyt games do you think forcing people to connect info from puzzle in app to column in app is a good idea|a? Now to flip between column in app I have multiple clicks back and forth. Further it doesn't respect dark mode. Get rid of this "feature" or at least let me turn it off.
I thought this was such a great puzzle! Hard to believe it's a debut.
I very confidently had JAMBAND for [Casual music project]. Otherwise, quick fill and fun revealer!
My Diary of a Crossword Fiend review: <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2026/04/06/tuesday-april-7-2026/#ny" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2026/04/06/tuesday-april-7-2026/#ny</a>
@Eric Hougland Your song choice was perfect. In 2006, I had some upcoming surgeries and needed a lift. I went to my favorite bookstore clerk and asked for something that would make me laugh, but wasn't straight up comedy. She recommended The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Great book, great author.
@Eric Hougland Your reviews are always fun to read. Today, I especially loved your rule for Spelling Bee and laughed out loud. Brilliant!
@Eric Hougland regarding MIXTAPE: I don't know if it's a case of everything old is new again, but according to ngram the term has been trending steadily upward since the mid-90s. I *think* in the off-Bway revival of Avenue Q they still called it a mixtape, but Princeton handed Kate Monster a CD.
Best part of doing NYT crossword is learning something new like composer Stephen Sondheim created cryptic puzzles or that there are such things as cryptic puzzles.
@Laura I am one among many here who proselytizes for cryptic AKA British crosswords. The 'aha!' quotient is much higher as pretty well every clue involves wordplay in addition to a plain definition. Look for them in Harper's, the Atlantic, Games World of Puzzles, or the Times (by which I do NOT mean the ersatz colonial latecomer we are both reading). Games WP includes a brief list of the most usual manipulative formats in every issue. Sample clue from WSJ 2021Nov06 (Cox/Rathvon team of setters): No satisfactory spot to eat breakfast (4) Solution in reply.
@Laura Solution to cryptic clue above: NOOK Explanation: (wordplay section) NO + OK (=satisfactory); this type of breakdown into component parts is a 'charade' NOOK=spot to eat breakfast; this is the straight definition of the solution
@Laura - I've yet to attempt a cryptic crossword, but I'm really enjoying the new-ish game Parseword, co-created by the creator of Wordle, which was inspired by cryptics. <a href="https://www.parseword.com" target="_blank">https://www.parseword.com</a>/
Not a fan here. It’s impressive for a debut, but the growing pains show. Wasn’t a fan of some clunky entries and their clues — TAKEANL, RUBOFF, OFUSE, RANATAB (even my spellcheck detests that one) — but then, I’m not a fan of multi-word answers in general, bar the ugly three-letter fill that clutters the puzzle. The theme was fine but didn’t really do much to help solve the puzzle, so it was a bit moot. Not the best, not the worst. Happy Tuesday.
This would have been a perfectly good Tuesday even without the cute reveal. Excellent debut.
Today's poem made from words found in today's puzzle <br> <br> a/ the red apple can charm <br> the gold apple can trick you <br> the sword doesn’t charm <br> the sword doesn’t trick <br> the sword halves the apple <br> d/ try to make sense of the pear <br> try…. a/ and take umbrage <br> <br>
Re the column, "Candide" is a great work, both the operetta and the book by Voltaire that it's based on. Another great musical theater work by Bernstein is "Mass". As for Sondheim, "Sweeney Todd" is my favorite musical of all time. I also spent many hours in college rehearsing for musicals, as a pianist in my case. I normally only accompanied rehearsals, but two great shows I got to play on were "Caberet" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". (This was at Northwestern University, 1988-92.)
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen I thought I was bad because I liked Evita!
Congratulations on your NYT debut. Clever theme, I enjoyed it.