Tonight, tonight, It’s Sam Ezersky, right? It might befog, but it won’t be cliche. Tonight, tonight, We’ll all feel heard tonight, Eres mía, on the rez, anyway! Today, all day my knee caps had a feeling, Some errata could happen, But I know “mice” is right! Big cheese with bread, And through the grid we sped, Tonight!
@Cat Lady Margaret 😂😂😂 Brilliant! Better than Bernstein! That's right, Leonard, you know I love you, but the Cat Lade is on fie-are TONIGHT.
For a while I was wondering if Drunk Twerking was a fad I missed
@CB I didn’t realize one could twerk when sober
@CB To twerk, or not to twerk.................
Using an “S” instead of a “Z” in STYLIZE/REZ caused me way too much trouble. Took me a long time to find my mistake! I’ve really enjoyed this entire week’s puzzles. The challenge really amped up relative to recent weeks.
@Dean Yes! I happened to look down and notice that landmine. My gut said Z. By the time I got to the end, I would have never remembered to go back and check that one.
@Dean - That was my last correction to get the gold star.
Very nice Saturday puzzle. Thought I had absolutely no hope for the first 20 minutes or so, then the long entries started falling into place and it gradually rolled over and let me tickle its tummy. Finished almost exactly on my Saturday average time in the end. As others have commented, this has been a really good week of crosswords from the NYT. Thanks Sam, and I'm looking forward to a beauty of a Sunday!
Interesting grid, very interesting fill, generally gentle clues, not too much misdirection. Thanks for the fun, Sam. (I liked both themelesses this week; I found this one easier.)
@Barry Ancona Progress! We have Barry using the comparative form of "easy" now!
@Barry Ancona 🤣🤣 you’re 💪ing … it was not gentle … it was a very decent Saturday.
Ιασων, On xwstats.com, the Saturday median solve time is more than two minutes faster than Friday's median solve time. I wrote "I found this one easier," not that it was an easy puzzle.
What you can count on in an Ezerski: • Junk-be-gone grid. Cleanroom quality in the box. • Something novel. Today it’s the up-down mirror symmetry, the least used symmetry -- only six times -- in the history of the Times crossword. • Whole lotta debut answers. Ten today, including many worthy additions to the Times oeuvre: ADD TIP, I FEEL HEARD, IN-FLIGHT WIFI, PENALTY KICK, SEEING EYE DOG, and my favorite – VERYY WELL THEN. • Something spectacular. Today it’s those crossing middle-grid three-stacks, all six answers not only colorful, but NYT answer debuts! “Wow!” isn’t strong enough… All of this, of course, flies out the window, if the solve isn’t pleasurable when all is said and done. For me, it certainly was. I kept having “Oh, that’s good!” moments. such as the inner somersault I did when I understood [Get one over on] for BOGEY. Pure quality from start to finish, as usual, Sam. You exemplify the art and science of making crosswords. Thank you!
Plus a pair of lovely serendipities -- the symmetrical IO MOTH and FLOATS, and FEEL HEARD coming two days after FEEL SEEN.
[ Ruh-roh. An Ezersky grid with top/bottom symmetry… and a big black square on one side..? On a Saturday. Is it supposed to be an emoticon? Have I had enough caffeine for this puppy? Welp, here goes nothin…] I loved it. Crunchy, but oh-so doable. Clever, crafty, cute and conquerable. And, because exactly *zero* folks care or even remember, it has been 1,000 days since the tip/tap tim/tam tic/tac natick that ended my streak. In my opinion, the only *true* natick I’ve ever seen. ( I can’t believe anybody has read this far. ) Have a lovely weekend all!
@CCNY Can you believe I nevder noticed the giant box o' black until I read your Comment!??! Is this legal? Get your pitchforks and torches, Solvers! To the barricades!
When I see Sam Ezersky’s name on a puzzle, I hesitate a moment while in my mind I hear the first few notes of the theme music from the movie “Jaws”. (This also happens whenever someone references the Art Heist puzzle in these comments.) Once I get past that initial fear I always enjoy the solve, and today was no exception. Thanks, Sam!
This has been a fantastic stretch of puzzles. Sunday kicked off one of the best weeks I can remember. I thought I was gonna get Ezerskied tonight but, miraculously, it all filled in. And I loved it.
I often have mixed feelings about Sam Ezersky's constructions but today was absolutely brilliant with some superb misdirects. Starting last Sunday, this has been one of the more challenging (and fun) weeks in recent memory and though it's unlikely, I'd like to think it's based on all the 'too easy for an end of week puzzle, where are the difficult puzzles like the old days' feedback we've been giving on this forum over the past several months.
@Rahul From Sunday, this week per xwstats: Very Hard Average Hard Hard Average Very Hard Hard I agree, it's been a good week, and hopefully because our voices are being heard!
Great ending to a great week; seeing Sam’s byline on a puzzle is sure to inspire equal parts terror and anticipation in followers of his work. This was certainly not his most torturous, but not his easiest either; his last outing, if I recall, was downright gentle in comparison. A cursory look at the top half of the grid begged me to head to the bottom, which was good advice; Spider-Man trivia gave me DOCOCK, the D got me FONDA and I finally had a foothold. Despite that the top half still came only with difficulty, and I was starting to despair of the NE until I had the PR brainwave, and gave up ESS for BOW once I got BOGIE and took a stab at the B for BAG. I don’t envy Lewis picking top 5 clues for this week. There were several candidates yesterday, and surely SEEINGEYEDOG and INFLIGHTWIFI need to added, and possibly PRAGENCY, KNEECAPS, and GOLFTEES. I didn’t even notice the weird grid design until I read the column—what a unique way to STYLIZE this puzzle. VERYWELLTHEN, I had a blast with this puzzle and the entire week, I hope this bodes well for more fresh puzzles ahead. I finally FEELHEARD by editors about returning to a greater challenge.
@SP Just had another look at DOCOCK. If there was ever an entry to laugh at as a DOOK, this is it!
@SP Even after getting it PRAGENCY is almost impossible for me to parse. I keep seeing "pregnancy".
Fun one. Had me scared for a bit when not much was filling in.
@David Johnson Same. Only had a couple filled in after my first pass and thought “uh oh”.
"Not only do I get water from this deep excavation in the ground - I get fruit too!" "Berry well then." (I can dig that.)
@Mike This pails compared to some of your better puns, but maybe you were waiting to use it and it was on your bucket list.
@Mike If you got pieces of bread from it, you could mine your mannas.
@Mike You and your Helpers (Enablers, I should call them) just keep shoveling the......pun-ishment.
This was so convoluted and tricky that when one of my early fills like ANKLES stood their ground I had to breathe into a paper bag (not a MANBAG) to keep from fainting. I mean, the thrills just kept on coming, but unfortunately, so did the clumsy flubs, like sap and specify, and totally missing the golf shot. What a trip this was, and how I loved it. It's what a pro has to offer and what we have the extraordinary luck to enjoy. Thank you, Sam.
I, for one, am not too proud to say that that puzzle was yet another Chomolungman challenge for me. I liked it a lot, but I did spend a lot of time simply staring and thinking. There was a strong odor of bacon in the air. I am also not too modest to say that I got it. Finally. It feels these days that if I am trying to recall something, a name, a place, if for even a millisecond I have a moment of doubt that I'll remember it, I'll certainly fail to remember it. I had trouble thinking of "Facebook" earlier when I was trying to unravel 14D. Facebook. The engram that is cemented in every human mind. Yet, all in all, I'm getting along pretty good with my brain in my old age. It's fraying at the edges, and it knows it, but I try not to make it ponder it too long. Another good thing about an aging brain--it's gullible enough to accept that I really do think I'm getting better looking with age. Gray is a very underrated color.
@Francis Look at you! Just a few weeks ago you were in the depths of despair about the inevitable cognitive decline which afflicts even the sharpest oldsters and considering hanging up the old spikes here. Huzzah!
@Francis It’s hard to imagine you getting better looking with age when you’re already devastatingly handsome.
@Francis And I couldn't figure out why the clue said "once," until I read Rex Parker's blog (before Wordplay). To me and most everyone else, it's still tweeting, even if I would never touch that app again.
@Francis I hope there was more thah just the ODOR of that bacon
Good lord, an Ezersky grid that didn’t completely melt my brain! Are you mellowing with age sir? Having girded my loins (not easy with a bad back) I found I was a fair way into this before my first hold up. My answers were pretty scattergun to start; I put in I CARE, then removed it at least twice as I couldn’t imagine an insect with an IO start. I got FEEDBACK but couldn’t work out the beginning of that answer for ages. Like a lot of the fill, once I did get it, it seemed obvious, but not when staring at blank space. I see @Jane Wheelaghan pointed out the Guide Dog/SEEING EYE DOG UK/US differential. I had DOG for so long, but couldn’t figure out the rest. And so it went on, the grid filling in slowly but surely. I’m cross with myself I mixed hate with Iago’s RAGE. I’m meant to be a Shakespearean BA for goodness sake! Fave clue of the day, Book Boo Boos.
Per constructor notes. “I recognize this effort might ultimately land in polarizing fashion, but if nothing else, I hope it makes for a refreshing change of pace!” Yes Sam. You changed my solving pace to almost 1 hour. Instead of 30 minutes. Refreshing! I’m glad I don’t see constructor names until after I solve. Sam usually destroys me. Today was no different. But at least a gold. I’m glad it’s Friday night, so I had more time to savor the challenge. The grid was definitely unique. I wonder if a random constructor submitted this grid, would it get insistent dismissed? Hey. Sometimes it held to have ‘connections’, err I mean “spelling bee”
@Weak The early returns look to be favorable. This afternoon, you’ll see “Lousy puzzle. Too many obscure answers and vague clues. 1/10.”
I didn’t realize until after the fact that this was an Ezersky puzzle. Now it all makes sense. This one had more mines than the strait of Hormuz, but I struggled most in the NE corner. CRIMEA eluded me for a long time because I thought land had to mean country. Get one over on seemed unfathomable, and I shot myself in the foot by plopping ess in for curved shape instead of BOW. It came together at long last when I finally came up with DEARANN. I loved the clue “Helpful pointer, say?” for SEEINGEYEDOG and I loved the unbalanced grid with its long downs of varying lengths. I found this a most worthy Saturday morning challenge.
Sam, you really got one over on me with that clue for BOGEY...and I play golf. And not very well, so I get plenty of those. And since Becky hasn't stopped by yet, come on you Gunners!
The grid is really cool. Turned 90 degrees it looks like the first answer, iomoth.
@Some guy in interesting. I wonder if that was intentional.
Another wonderful, chewy puzzle. After having sent a few peppery emails to the editors seeking crunchier puzzles - and as I said to my bosses after giving them my MIDYEARFEEDBACK - I feel tasted.
@JohnWM I was just wondering which constructor would be the first to have us feel smelled.
Easiest Ezersky puzzle ever ... for me. Still took 22 minutes. You know it's your day when you can immediately enter IOMOTH as 1A. Flew through this one---only unknown today was DOCOCK. I think RES/STYLISE should also be considered correct---at least for any solver where British English is standard. "Down-low joints" for ANKLES was one of several very clever clues today.
@Xword Junkie You beat me by a good margin. IOMOTH was new to me, I think; I'll try to remember it in the future.
@Xword Junkie s to Z for the win! Haven’t been an Ezersky fan, but I liked this one, maybe because it’s his “easiest”. ERES mia the other unknown to me. Nice 12 letter stack and adjacent 15 letter downs!
Well, now I can't get that song from "Bye, Bye Birdie" out of my head. "Kids, I don't know what's wrong with these kids today. Kids, who can unterstand anything they say." etc
@Marcia Fidler I'm only in a slightly better position, because "Tonight" from West Side Story is in mine.
@Marcia Fidler The immortal Paul Lynde, the center Hollywood Square for so long. Now it’s stuck in my head!
@Marcia Fidler @Tony All the little birdies go TWEET, TWEET, TWEET. Rockin Robin is in my head.
@Marcia Fidler "Why can't they be like we were Perfect in every way? Oh, what's the matter With kids today?"
It took me almost an hour over half the day but I managed to complete this without outside help. I found the puzzle extremely hard but ultimately solvable. I'm not sure if I liked it - the effort was a bit much for me, and I generally prefer easy wins to hard-won ones 🤣 DO COCK looks intriguing.
@Andrzej Et tu, emus? DO COCK is just slipping right through in its full ASCII glory?
@Andrzej My first response was emu’d but I wanted to tell you how impressed I continue to be. If you solved this with no help when it’s not your native language, you are a stud. I also wanted to thank you for your Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon video game recommendation. I’m enjoying it; a steep difficulty slope starting out but clear sailing now. A little quirky but fun, and it’s holding my interest longer than many games of this genre.
Below you will find the 2nd version of my comment which I posted when this one here had been withheld by the bots.
@Andrzej Oh I see, I thought I had been emu’d but had just responded to your earlier comment
I had never heard of an iomoth, so I needed a reveal on the top left. I should have been able to get it with crosses, but just couldn't for the life of me figure out what a tired expression was, even when I had -LICHE. I kept trying to think of a facial expression. Even *after* the reveal, I was like, "what's a CLICHE?!" (pronounced like YEESH). My brain was definitely BEFOGGED for a moment there. 😂😂😂
@Michael B. There are SO many insects with distracting/off-putting "false eye-spots" that I was flummoxed for a little while. Then I got 6D (we buy HEPA filters by the dozen in the Land of Pollen) and was sure it was a MOTH....and how many MOTHs have a two-letter name? My whole solve was kind of like that...I had to creep up on the elusive answer little by little.....
I got a good amount of the puzzle done on my work lunch break today, but was stuck on a few of the long entries. In particular, 32A: [Helpful pointer, say?]--I was pretty sure about the wordplay, and that "pointer" meant DOG, but I wracked my brain thinking, "What's the current, politically correct term for a seeing-eye dog? "support animal"? "assistance dog"? It was only on my bike-commute home I realized that the appropriate term for "seeing-eye dog" was "SEEING-EYE DOG"!
Holy shnikies!! This one solved as very hard for me. But I got it! Hip hip-hurum!! Each time I was successful at twisting my brain a little bit more to try to get into Sam's head space, I got a little burst of glee! Or maybe it was my synapses bursting into the flames of hell, where they will spend a torturously unbearable eternity cursing my crossword hobby and refusal to look things up... Har!! This was for sure, for me, very slow and wobbly, but fun!! I don't know what GAT or OTB are yet, so I have to look those up. I was so relieved to finish that I came straight here, after looking quickly to see what x word stats labeled this puzzle as. Phew! I can't believe I finished it! I need to catch up on some work, but now I think I need a nap!
@HeathieJ I learned OTB from these puzzles. They weren't a thing where I was from, in the Bible belt, although that may have changed. (@Jerry would know.)
@HeathieJ keep GAT and OTB in your vest pocket; they'll be back.
Ironic answer for The New York Times Crossword. While they used to be all over the place, there are no longer any OTB locations in New York City. <a href="https://www.offtrackbettingnewyork.com" target="_blank">https://www.offtrackbettingnewyork.com</a>/
When I saw the byline, I tensed, knowing it would be a toughie. But I said out loud, “This is going to be a good one!” I was not disappointed. Quadruple-play for Sam today: great crossword, clever mini, Spelling Bee of course, and let´s not forget Letter Boxed!
So.....Might this be entitled "Sam's Revenge"?? All those complaints about the Word List of Spelling Bee (which still rejects NINON, I cannot help noting.).... Is this a form of PENALTY KICK delivered to the OLDER GENERATION as we FADE away? I had to DEFOG, then REFOG, and I was still BEFOG-GED. Hey, Sam! Can you imagine someone so OLD that her first hosiery was a pair of nylons with seams up the backs of the LEGs? Not to mention that they were held up with a garter belt! And those early panty-hose....raise your hand, fellow-sufferers, if you had to make a "hiker" out of some elastic from the sewing kit. I don't quite understand the "past tense" clue for 14D; does Sam think people have reformed? Or is a TWEET no long a 'thing'? Please answer quickly, as I may soon be so old I no longer remember how to read!
@Mean Old Lady Twitter no longer exists, it's now X. I have no idea what X messages are called. Are they still called tweets? Again, no clue. I'm not on social media.
Do I dare To say, "I care!" about what? This! A grid to fill True love A kiss
I take back anything bad I may have said about Sam Ezersky. That was fun and original. Would love to know how many times Will Shortz had to reject the clue for 52 A.
@Some guy in I finished the puzzle and got DOCOCK from the crossings. I know nothing about Spider Man and the answer looked totally bizarre. I knew it was right, because everything else fit. But it just seems weird. Don't even know how to pronounce it — DO? DOC?
This may be my favorite puzzle from my favorite constructor. The grid was intriguing, the fill was fresh, the clues were just puzzling enough, and the frustration level was just enough to make me feel satisfied upon solving. Fantastic!!
Yesss, a real Saturday! Lots of fun stuff in here: DRUNK TWEETING, MAN BAG, DOC OCK and his LEGGS. I was impressed with myself for remembering the Treaty of GHENT.
@Katie GHENT was similarly clued in the Sunday, April 12 puzzle. Not to be confused with the Council ot TrENT. :)
Good chewy Saturday puzzle! Thanks, Sam. Caitlin, love your photo pick to illustrate DRUNK TWEETING.
I am almost never in tune with Sam's puzzles, but today was an easy Saturday for me. My last letter filled in was PRAGENCY/RAGE, and I first asked myself "what the heck is pragency?" until I realized PR Agency, doh!
@John Same here! I almost googled "pragency" then literally 🤦🏻♀️
Thank you. This is the most fun I've had in many a Saturday morning. Excellent puzzle to be sure.
I found the Saturday fairly clued, but still particularly challenging. This was the first time in a long time I felt I might not solve it. I had so many fills left. I think I was not quite on the right wavelength today. But I stuck with it, getting OLDERGENERATION, SEEINGEYEDOG, and PENALTYKICK started the dominoes falling and finished slightly slower than my Saturday average. I quite enjoyed the challenge. Long story short, this made a 1000-day solve streak for me. Now onto the next 1000.
@Scott Congratulations! Now comes the hard part--not letting streak maintenance overwhelm the joy of the solve. For me, I allow an asterisk now and again. 😁
It took me almost an hour over half the day but I managed to complete this without outside help. I found the puzzle extremely hard but ultimately solvable. I'm not sure if I liked it - the effort was a bit much for me, and I generally prefer easy wins to hard-won ones 🤣
@Andrzej Wow if you completed this without lookups when English isn’t your first language I bow to you, you are a stud. By the way wanted to thank you for your “Tainted Grail” video game recommendation. I’m enjoying it. A bit quirky and had a steep difficulty slope to start, but it’s smooth sailing now and it’s holding my interest longer than many of the same genre.
Thank you, Sam, Fiendish themeless puzzle. Took 50% longer than my average Saturday time but fell into place with perseverance. ‘Twas a worthy challenge!
Crunchy and satisfying, just the way I like my Saturday crosswords. Please keep 'em coming.
"BEFOG" caused an audible groan from me.
@Derek I even had BEdOG, as if the cloudiness were a metaphor, and thinking this was a phrase akin to "a dog's life".
@Derek I’ve used BEFOG so frequently in Wordle - it is particularly handy when the second letter is an L - that I’ve *almost* begun to think of it as normal. Almost. I’ve never used it nor have I heard it in speech. I wouldn’t have thought of it for Wordle, either, but I noticed the Wordle bot using it.
Great Friday night treat, Sam! Loved the mini, too.
@Valerie TIL something new/fun from the mini, glad I did it.
Ooooooh too hard! So many words I hadn't heard of today. At least I knew PENALTY KICK. Usually US English is shorter and snappier than UK, but we have 'guide dog' for SEEING EYE DOG. I assume ANN was an agony aunt? Is MID CITY really used? And is 'downtown' actually in the middle of cities? I'm glad many people enjoyed it though.
The middle of many U.S. cities is called "downtown," but in the City of New York downtown is a direction or a state of mind. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_m4Qb0iW-o" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_m4Qb0iW-o</a>
Conversely... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E</a>
@Jane Wheelaghan Oh I don’t know about US English being shorter and snappier. The clarity and brevity of Anglo-Saxon flat and lift sure beat our polysyllabic, Latinate apartment and elevator.
@Jane Wheelaghan Way back in the day, here in the US there was (and maybe still is) a Seeing Eye Foundation. The German Shepard pups were raised by members of the 4H clubs of America. Once the pups reached adulthood, they underwent months of training by professionals, and the graduates were called Seeing Eye Dogs. Today, they are mostly referred to as guide dogs, but there are also service dogs and comfort dogs, who serve other functions outside of guiding the blind.
@Jane Wheelaghan ANN Landers was the agony aunt (love that Britishism) in the newspaper I read growing up. If I remember correctly, she was Dear Abby's twin sister. Both were syndicated but Abby had a wider circulation.
@Jane Wheelaghan I think “downtown” usually comes from going towards where the street numbers are lower—usually the first streets are in the older part of town and they go up from there. But often the city is built around it so it starts to sprawl in all directions, so downtown can be more in the center. The numbers mainly go up one way only, but then they name the streets the other direction something else. Unless there’s a natural barrier like a river or ocean. MIDCITY would be more specifically geographical. Not sure how many cities really have an area called “midcity” but it is often a commercial name attached to companies, “Midcity Car Wash”, something like that.
@Jane Wheelaghan ANN Landers was a famous advice columnist syndicated in gazillions of newspapers for years. I believe she was the sister of Dear Abby, an even famouser advice columnist.
Well, typical tough Saturday for me. Ten debut answers, and at least three of them (MIDYEARFEEDBACK, INFLIGHTWIFI, DRUNKTWEETING) completely unfamiliar terms. Must confess that I cheated a bit to get through this one. No big deal. And... puzzle find today - a Saturday from July 21, 2018 by Jason Flinn. Two quadruple stacks of 15 letter answers at the top and bottom of the puzzle (and another 15 across the middle). Don't recall ever seeing that before. And 5 of those answers appearing for the first and only time, though none of them were terribly unfamiliar. Some examples: STRINGORCHESTRA ORDEREDALACARTE GOESOVERITAGAIN SUITEDONESNEEDS REASONTOBELIEVE Pretty amazing. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/21/2018&g=58&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/21/2018&g=58&d=A</a> ....
Another tough (and wonderful) solving experience for this guy. The weekend has proved to be a good, ol' fashioned ONE-TWO punch so far. Slow and steady progress was my experience, slowed down to a crawl in both the NE and SE by mistakes that had me repeatedly dope-slapping myself. Like Caitlin, it took me forever to see the wordplay in "Got one over on", and I thought I was clever when I put in YEET for "Give a hoot?" Had CEO for the longest time until I paid attention to the "bread" in the clue. [As a small aside, I so wanted 28-Across to be THAT'S THAT, THEN. It would have gone so WELL with THIS at 5-Down.] As a sign of my age, I thought NEOPETs were pre-internet creatures. Does anyone else remember those digital pets kids had on their keychains that needed to be tended to every so often? I looked them up later, and found that I was thinking of "Tamagotchis". Anyone care to check if that animal has ever found its way into a crossword? Loved the grid, but spent too much time sweating the answers to fully appreciate it during the solve. Thanks for the hard work, Sam Ezersky!
@The X-Phile TAMAGOTCHI - once TAMAGOTCHIS - once .....
A puzzle very worthy of a Saturday in my opinion. Took 15 minutes longer than my average. I was stuck with “RES” and “SYLISE” for a long time and had to reveal the one wrong letter. Oof.
Wow, that was crunchy for sure! Somehow got it done in an hour with no hints or lookups, but boy was it tough sledding!
I know I’m one of those people to grouse when I feel a Sam Ezersky crossword is not entirely baked, so I figure it’s only fair to give credit where credit is due: This was a delight Sam. The misdirects were clever and the fill quite satisfying. My first pass was quite sparse, until I took a chance on 32A, which was a helpful pointer indeed, and the rest soon fell into place. Nicely done!
This one was full of clues that looked impossible, but that made total sense once solved. Bravo!
@Mehitabel Adore yr name/location. Even though I am not Archie.