HIP, HIP, HURRUMBA!! 😏 The highlighting on the app is on 49 down, instead of 49 across, so now I have a new cheer to cheer! Whoohoo, indeed! Fun puzzle! I liked it! Felt a little more engaging to me than a lot of Mondays. Because the first theme clue was musical, I decided to put the revealer in right away and shows I'm so excited... Alas, 'twas not to be.
@HeathieJ I just replied to @Beth in Greenbelt above before reading your post. We can cheer together - HIP HIP HURRUMBA!😂
@HeathieJ I think you’ve coined the official unofficial title of this puzzle 🤓. Hip, hip, hurumba!
@HeathieJ And I think I like HIP HIP HURRUMBA better than HIP HIP HURRAY, so I will count this as a happy accident. Olè, olè! HURRUMBA!!
The incorrect clue is highlighted in the app. It should be 49 across instead of 49 down. Hip hip hurray instead of hip hip hurrum.
@Morgan this confused me for longer than I’d like to admit
When I spotted my error in the form of RAMCHARLES I must admit I felt a bit sheepish. But MALTA seemed a plausible place for the Allies to meet
@Dave Someone wasn’t paying attention in history class!
@Dave Ewe weren't the only Dave to mess that up. Good thing I spotted it quickly, only wasted a few seconds.
@Dave haha, due to a fat-finger I had Rat Charles. Luckily I quickly found the error when I saw tALTA 🤓
@Dave I had Sam Charles for a second
@Dave You’re not the only one who wondered about the existence of Ram _ _arles for a hot second… or two. Hurrumba!
@Dave middle son and I used to regularly play an online game called "when taken" where you try to identify where and when photos were taken. I confidently placed a photo of those three leaders in Malta....and lost a lot of points due to the distance from YALTA. I will not forget it again!
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Famous figure known for off-the-cuff performances? (7) 2. Oil bigwig (3)(7) 3. Figures in a speed trap? (5) 4. Dark green (4) 5. Line of latitude? (3)(5)(2) HOUDINI ART CURATOR NARCS KALE I'LL ALLOW IT
My favorite encore clues from last week: [It's a steal!] (5) [Washington or Berlin] (6) THEFT IRVING
@Lewis Could you explain the answer to #5 please? good list!
@MM -- @charles gave a good answer, and I'm glad you liked the list!
There's a mistake in the app. RAYCHARLES should be highlighted. Not RUMBA.
@Beth in Greenbelt That also happened just a few days ago.
@Beth in Greenbelt HIP HIP HURRUMBA! 😉
@Beth in Greenbelt good catch, and as @Steve L said, a repeat.
There is no mistake on the stone tablet. (For some reason, it never has highlights.)
Fun, good to see that dog again. Asta pops up a few times a year, reminding me each time that I've tried to enjoy those Nick and Nora movies of the 30s and 40s starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (and their cute dog), but can never get into their wisecracking and the contrived plots. So each time Asta appears, I go to Netflix or wherever and give one of them a go -- and it's always no go. But I have no egrets. I wonder -- Lewis might know -- if this grid is aerated with an unusually high number of entries beginning "A" -- Asta, Aesop, apple tart, amen, a tad, Abdul, as we speak, akita, Ana, alley, and Amos ate in -- a basket from KFC and a beer with his wife, Tess (both of them, as a result of this diet, were pleasingly plump) after which they watched on their old RCA three Cheers episodes on the same channel where they sometimes reran old football games from the 70s, with Howard Cosell announcing. Amos is now offering Tess a choice between a German torte or an apple tart with vanilla ice cream. He sure is an asset, that Amos!
@john ezra -- Can't help you on your question re the number of words starting with A. All I can tell you as that the letter A is typically 12% of the lettered squares in a puzzle, and that's right where it is today. But that doesn't answer your question. But may I add ... that your second paragraph, where you made a story out of the day's answers -- you are the master at this. No one in the world is as good as you at this. Always funny and witty and bringing peak entertainment. I love when you do this, and you were right at the top of your game today. Bravo, sir!
@john ezra Lewis is correct, you are the master at creating clever stories out of puzzle answers! I’m a big fan of your posts in general for your humor, intelligence, compassion, and wit. Alas, I had to clutch pearls today when I read your comments regarding the classic Thin Man movies. I never miss an opportunity to see them. (I also have a wire haired fox terrier, Asta’s breed, but his delightful presence is unrelated to the movies.)
Lewis & M. Biggen -- thanks for your replies. Lewis, it always gives me joy when you express pleasure in one of my efforts. And thanks for your thoughts on the prevalence of A's in this grid. Seems like this had more of 'em than usual but guess not. And M. Biggen, ok ok I'll try the Thin Man flicks with a more open mindset! They might be just the thing to elevate my spirit these days.
@MC must be a new NYT phrase. I just kept scratching my head. Hurrum?
@MC I think there's been an error here. It must be intended to be referring to 49A instead 49D. That would make it HIP HIP HUR RAY, which I think would be the intended theme.
@MC I think who ever did the highlighting made an error because the clue said across. I also didn’t read it and spent several minutes wondering if maybe I had 49 down wrong but why did everything else fit? (It was another clue I had wrong, so I guess we’re all having a Monday monday)
Congratulations to Erik Agard, winner of the 2026 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament! If you've never seen an ACPT finals, where the three solvers with the highest scores, each in front of a huge blank puzzle, compete in front of the audience to see who correctly fills in the puzzle the fastest -- it's worth a look! And here you can see it, from yesterday: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHEXRaaNTqM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHEXRaaNTqM</a> .
@Lewis Thank you so much for the link. So nice to see Will Shortz, and congratulations to Erik Agard who also excels as a constructor!
@Lewis. Thanks for the link! Love watching them in action. Who constructed the final puzzle and is it available anywhere online?
@Lewis Were there any calls of "Too easy!!!" at the event? 😋
@chungclan -- I believe the puzzle was made by Christina Iverson.
Felt it was a bit hard for a Monday
FYI, the text of the clue for 62A has the correct cross-references, but for me it highlights 49D instead of 49A.
I think HIP HIP HURRUMBA might just catch on. Will surely need to try it at our next celebration.
This made for an excellent puzzle for new solvers. There were plenty of gimmes for footholds, balanced by possible no-knows (THEA, ASTA, PASHTO, YALTA, i.e.) where the solver can learn that even unknown answers can be gotten. It also has an easy-to-understand theme, and many new solvers come into Crosslandia not knowing that puzzles can have themes. My brain liked playing Guess The Revealer, even though unsuccessful. I liked the zingy theme answers, as well as the local beauty: AS WE SPEAK, APPLE TART, PLUMP, AKITA. And wordnerd me loved seeing five palindromes in the grid. Just a lovely Monday that you made, Brad. It always feels good to travel through a patch of quality – thank you!
The adorable owlet in today's column was famous for his incredible escapes from cages, straight-jackets and towels. Harry Hoodini.
On my app, 49 down is highlighted as opposed to 49 across. No big deal but it makes it look like RUM is the connection, not RAY.
@Ash same! I’m sitting here whispering to myself, “hip, hip, hurrum?”
Has anyone ever said "I must gird my loins!" without giggling? Any why doesn't anyone ever UNgird their loins? I've never heard anyone say "Boy, my loins sure feel a lot better now that I've ungirded all that girding. They have a chance to breathe now. Both of them." (Question for later, does anyone have a loin surgically removed so they can only gird a loin?) I don't think I've ever girded my loins, unless "gird" means something I'm unaware of. In that case I might have. Maybe that's the key to those of you not being challenged by the puzzle. Instead of girding your loins for the challenge, just give them a light truss. Obviously if you've girded your loins all good and proper, but the the puzzle is a pushover, then you're just standing there looking (and probably feeling) silly with those well-girded loins. That's all I have to say about girding loins.
@Francis As a crossword fan I try to grid my LOINs, personally. Although I do recall that famous knight of the round table, Sir Loin, who was always girding his loins in the search for the Holy Grill.
@Francis Thanks for the belly laugh, Francis! I really needed a laugh today. Feeling totally ungirded now.
@Francis Count this as one of the many expressions I never gave a second thought to… until now. Your ramblings about loins and girding made me wonder what it actually means to gird a loin. Is it painful? Is it reversible? Does it require special tools? Professor Google tells me that girding one’s loins meant strapping a belt around the waist and then tucking the long ends of the wearer’s tunic into the belt, leaving the legs free to run, unencumbered, into battle. I guess this means that once the battle is over, it’s safe to ungird, and the damage would likely be minimal. But what if you couldn’t find a belt in the first place? Would you trip over your loins? Would you experience gird envy? Would you (gasp) be hoisted by your own petard? Fortunately, we have better things to do with our modern day loins. Like teaching them how to hip hip HURRUMBA! (I am not going to let this go. 😁)
@Francis I take it you've never worn a girdle. Once you've swiveled your way into one, you certainly feel girded!
@Francis I'm never sure exactly where the loins are. I've looked it up several times and never remember.
@Francis et al Well, back in the days of tunics and togas, it wasn't "boxers or briefs?" There was a lot more...um, freedom. But if you're gonna be in a battle, (hopefully, not retreating hastily), it might be best...not to leave anything hanging. Or dangling.
My puzzle highlighted 49 DOWN, not 49 ACROSS. Hip Hip Hurr Rumba
@Colin Elliott Same here. I came to Wordplay just to see if anyone else had the same issue.
"The Thin Man terrier" should be a World Heritage crossword clue by now. I remember my grandma (who loved complaining about the crossword) pointing out what an old standby it was many decades ago.
@Katie Oreo cookies, debuted in 1912, so Oreo could have predated Asta, who was born in 1931, a different Era.
Got sucked into crossword world about 2 months ago when my husband got me the NYT games subscription as a very early birthday present. This Monday solve was a personal best for me, and just so happened to fall on my actual birthday. Then I read the constructor notes - it must be fate! Well I have been very much enjoying my time solving lately and that dash of coincidence pushed me to comment for the first time. Though as a woman, I can't say anything useful ever fits in my hip pocket!
@TheRoOne Welcome to the dark side!
@Peter Blair I can't understand why anyone would complain about a Wordplay columnist referencing their own experience. What else is a columnist going to do??? And I vibed with your experience. I only occasionally solve in ink these days, doing the majority of my "work" on-line. But I did, and still do, enjoy solving with a pen. And it's a joy when the finished puzzle has no smears or errors. However, like you, that's a rarity. None of us is perfect. But sometimes we can make it *look* like we didn't make any errors. HIP HIP HURRAY for the letter "I"! But why is the ink-solve so thrilling to us? Who are we trying to impress? That person next to us on the subway??? If the cosmos is just, somewhere there is a record being kept of our special feat!
@The X-Phile For me it's the thrill of using a pen and writing is an art. I had a side gig as a calligrapher. The feeling of pen on paper is awesome. I'm only impressing myself.
@The X-Phile et alia Should one use pencil, the side of the writing hand will get smudged with graphite...and pencil erasers dry out, becoming useless. These are not issues if one uses a pen...esp a FriXion pen with its eraser, though I prefer just to over-write (as when I entered PASHTU and had to change the U to an O.)
@MOL The first time that Larry David was on David Letterman's show he said that Paul Shaffer was "not part of the bald community" because he shaved his head, disguising the true extent of his baldness. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa1c7ZUNrVU&t=4s" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa1c7ZUNrVU&t=4s</a> (Larry David has this strange ability to say cruel things, and yet remain somehow likeable. How does he do that?) I say this because I want to claim, in the spirit of friendship and honesty, that if you are using an erasable pen, you are not a member of the pen-solving community. [I hope that I don't have to add that this is an attempt, however meager, to be amusing. For one thing, there is no pen-solving community.]
If you haven't done a Liz Gorski puzzle in a while and miss her touch, the New Yorker has one with a bit of a bite (as Monday is their tough day): <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/puzzles-and-games-dept/crossword/2026/04/13" target="_blank">https://www.newyorker.com/puzzles-and-games-dept/crossword/2026/04/13</a> Tough, but not that tough, at least from my perspective. Maybe the New Yorker is easing up on their puzzles, too. Or maybe I **am** getting better, all of a sudden!
@Steve L I enjoyed this puzzle and thought that it was more difficult than most of the Saturday puzzles we've been getting here recently. It shows that the good puzzles are out there. It also shows how one can clue more common fill in a more clever MANNER.
@Steve L I'm still working on it, NE corner is last area unfilled. But I wanna say that "Peppers with zingers" is a great clue! Head slap when I finally saw that.
I got slowed down because I kept trying to parse 24A as HIPPO ____S and because I thought the YALTA Conference was actually the mALTA Conference...
Nice puzzle to start the week. The yellow highlight at square 49 going down instead of across caused ATAD of confusion, easily overcome. On a side note, as the proud parent of a University of Miami graduate, I must state that every season is HURRICANESEASON.
Hip, Hip, Hurray! A quick Monday solve. Thanks, Brad!
Brad, this was a jolly good Monday. Peter, that is one of the cutest pictures I’ve seen leading the column! Glad I didn’t solve in pen today, I had GETIT before GETME, SAMBA and MAMBO before RUMBA, MALTA before YALTA (ok I didn’t read the clue first) and TAB before TAP (although I’ve never seen a keg with a pull tab). Agree it’s always a pleasure to see a callout for the Genius of Soul.
Given 24-across and today’s picture at the top of the column, I propose a caption: “What’s in your owlet?”
If a Monday puzzle could have a jaunty, self-referential avatar this one might have William Powell from The Thin Man films. This grid had its fedora perfectly angled for a Monday. On a more confused note, can someone explain why Barry thinks HIPPOCKETS is inappropriate? I'm afraid his own explanation only confused me further.
@Matt Well to be fair, he mentioned the clue, not the answer. And based on the wording of his complaint I assume there's something NYC-specific about saying where to stick things (possibly wallets, specically?) that means something offensive to him. Or New Yorkers generally. But having said all that, the mystery remains.
@Matt IMO, Barry thinks people with not such good intentions can grab his cash from his back pocket (also, I believe, called a hip pocket). Barry refers to this untoward action as especially more likely to happen in a crowded bustling city like New York, although he also says that this is a universal concern. For a really, really great movie about pickpockets, see Margot Robbie and Will Smith in "Focus." <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381941" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381941</a>/ I mean it's great if you want to learn how pickpockets operate. By the way, another interesting movie apropos of today's puzzle is "Ray," the biopic for Ray Charles starring Jamie Foxx. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0350258" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0350258</a>/
He should leave the jokes to Mike from Munster.
Fun Monday puzzle and a clever theme. Was almost done before I caught on and that's always a nice touch. And... an unusual puzzle find today. A Sunday from March 11, 2018 by Matthew Sewell with the title: "If found, call....". Some theme clues and answers: 86a - "Last seen chasing down clues. If found call____(see 24-across)" NICKANDNORA And, 24a - eASTAsia 28a - "Last seen riding in a basket. If found, call___(see 106-across" DOROTHYGALE 106a - goTOTOwn 64a - "Last seen with a red-haired girl. If found call (see 119-across" 119a - xSANDYs Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/11/2018&g=86&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/11/2018&g=86&d=A</a> ...
Fun easy breezy monday :-) when i started solving crosswords the beginning of the week would get a little sticky for me, now that’s no longer the case and there’s something so delightful about whizzing quickly through a puzzle as a newer solver. my brain seems to give myself a pat on my own back for a job well done.
Perfect Monday for me. Nice theme and the cluing felt right. Streak now at 2 after that brutal SW on Saturday.
Ah, Peter, a man after my own heart. I also do the puzzle in ink, and agree that there is no better letter than "I," especially if you solve puzzles using lower case. Lots of letters can become others with a fillip here or there.
That owl’s name is “Little Hoot.” I knew him briefly back in ‘86 while working a summer gig at the Maricopa County Fair in Arizona. He was operating the ferris wheel and I was working a booth on the midway. Every day we’d see each other at lunchtime in the staff area. Little Hoot would always order the same thing: three corn dogs with cheese sauce on the side for dipping, and a bag of bbq potato chips. One day I showed up late and he was already sat at the picnic table, working on those dogs. By the time I sat down next to him with my own lunch, he was nearly finished. I said, “Hey Little Hoot, you chow down those corndogs any faster, I’ll have to call you ‘Corn Hoot!’” Well, Little Hoot didn’t like that one bit. He looked up at me with those piercing eyes and just stared, shaking and frothing at the break. But like, REALLY intensely with the frothing. I didn’t know what to do so I just sat there looking back at him. We sat like that for three hours, he and I. Just me looking at him, and him shaking and frothing and staring back at me. Later that night I learned that little Hoot got sloshed and died in a bar brawl out in Cave Creek. We never really got to know one another that well, but he was an interesting bird, I’ll say that.
Ha, since I had all of the shaded filled and none of 62A, and racing for a Monday PB, I decided HIPHIPHURRU must be a thing.
I've been advised while in NYC to put my wallet somewhere other than in my hip pocket because pickpockets are, presumably, a problem. As for the clue, it doesn't suggests that hip pockets are the only places to put a wallet, just one of the places. Some guys I know put their wallets in their man purses.
@redweather I lived in and around NYC for many years before I switched my wallet to my front pocket and never got pickpocketed. But it's good policy to put the wallet in the front pocket anyway; you can injure your back by sitting on your wallet all the time.
@redweather I consider the hip pocket the one in front. Always called the other one the back pocket or the rear pocket. Ha!
@redweather LOL, man purses. I keep my wallet in a cargo pocket, as I hate sitting on it, especially while driving.
@redweather Hip pocket is also a poor choice for a wallet for spinal health. Sitting all day on that hump distorts the hips.
Make an 'S' out of an 'I'? Child's play : $
Today's poem made from words found in today's puzzle <br> <br> a/ something there is that ye shall find <br> in tihs the slightest pile of time <br> d/ the line that pairs the chain that rhymes <br> and the hurricane <br> a/ in the typos<br>
Very fun Monday puzzle! I didn't get the revealer right away...I had HURRICANESEASON filled in first and couldn't figure out what one might say with "hurricane" to express joy. So I got to have the fun of watching the theme come together, which I sometimes fill the Monday in too fast to really notice. That's worth a cheer to me!
The emus must not be familiar with Ray Charles; they are blocking my comment using the song title in the clue.
@Barry Ancona We need more music-savvy poultry.
@Barry Ancona Tell me, What'd you say???
Neat coincidence with today's photo - just before doing the puzzle this morning, I started reading Inside Animal Hearts and Minds, by Belinda Recio. In the intro, she recommends other recent animal books, all of which (except those I've already read) I added to my queue, one of which is, The Hidden Lives of Owls, by Leigh Calvez.
@Bill in Yokohama So I guess it's wrapped in a t-owl-et.
Very nice Monday, and quickly taken care of. Thanks, Brad!
Yesterday, immediately after completing a puzzle from the archives with [Like some owls] solving to horned, Cornell Lab sent this to my email: <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/wildflower-great-horned-owls" target="_blank">https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/wildflower-great-horned-owls</a>/ The first video is live, and if you scroll down a little there are some highlights. When I saw today's column photo, I was hoping for a horned owl, but an image search revealed that it's an unknown-to-me mountain scops owl. In case anyone was wondering.
@Nancy J. OMG those owl pictures are such a delight! Thanks so much for sharing them. Such amazing creatures. They warmed the cockles of my heart and girded my loins, I think, as far as I can tell. I wish I was an owl.
28A. ...maybe not, but there is a ME. Just sayin' Ooh, did I get stymied in the NW corner, or what? Enjoyed the puzzle!
Call Me Al, I appreciated how the puzzle (like a team) had NOI, but as usual it was right there if you look for THEA hole. (Anyone not familiar with the meme, it is easily found online.)
I wonder if any others of our puzzle crowd know how to TAT? (I don't use shuttles, instead "needle TATting" with a blunt 5-inch needle. It's a portable "hand-work" project I carry to meetings of Stitchers here; I no longer do hand quilting. Arthritis.) Recent debate: would TSA confiscate my needle if I had it in my purse? (We have 2 flights and a layover on the 19th.) ' Oh, the puzzle! (It had TAT in it, so it's Brad's fault I got redirected.) Nice little puzzle! I rather enjoyed seeing "partials" like LUMP and HIPPO and ARLES. ADHERE before COHERE...can someone explain the difference between those terms? I'll check back later for answers to my two queries!
@Mean Old Lady I'm not in the US but when I was bringing embroidery/sashiko projects with me during international flights, I remember only scissors bigger than a certain size are a problem. Needles, hooks and small scissors can be carried normally.
@Mean Old Lady yes! I learned to tat with shuttles…but as a knitter I have learned to put my dpns in my pen case when traveling…have safe travels!
@Mean Old Lady Here’s my take. ADHERE refers to things physically sticking together (as with glue). COHERE refers to things figuratively sticking together (like people working as a team). Think also of the word “coherent”.
@Mean Old Lady Quite literally, COHERE means “stick with.” Adhere means “stick to.”
@Mean Old Lady - In the world of science, ADHERE means to stick two different things together, whereas COHERE means like things sticking together. For example, water molecules are famously coherent, meaning they stick to each other, one result of which is surface tension. But they also adhere to polar things, one result of which is capillary action (which can also involve some adhesion.)
For the clue "Tehre are two in tihs clue", the answer TYPOS is a mistake. For, "Tehre" and "tihs" were deliberately placed in the clue so cannot be considered errors. (As a result, the clue has only one typo, not two.)
As a member of the family, “Take the ‘A’ Train” was written by Billy Strayhorn and became the hit opener for Duke Ellington. He was composer for the band.
Composer, co-composer, arranger, right-hand man, and alter-ego for Ellington.
@Suman Chakrabarti One of my favorite anecdotes about this number is when the late great Ed Sullivan introduced the song as "Take A Train."
I might have filled in the answer a hundred times, but I've never actually had a Mai Tai. Are they good?
@Grant. I liked them, in the before-times prior to Covid. Someday in the future I hope to watch the sunset from a Tiki bar open to the beach facing a gorgeous color-matched Polynesian sunset. Might be a virgin, the mai-tai that is, because my liver isn’t what it was in the before-times.