And so we arrive at the Monday puzzle, where CHIC is really CHIC and not OHIO. Albeit a respite from Sunday's amazing layered complexity, this is in no way a lesser puzzle. It is, in fact, a beautiful Monday one. Just look at those two spanners. And the whole alphabet in one grid! (A pangram puzzle, as pointed out by the astute @SP.) Adding to the party, a creative playfulness with OH, DEAR and its homophone. I thought this was a top-notch puzzle and enjoyed the solve. Thank you, Mr. Woodford!
@sotto voce The Sunday puzzle was the only time ever that OHIO and CHIC were synonymous.
@sotto voce Ha! Nice one!! You cracked me up with Ohio and chic!! And I also agree with your assessment of the puzzle! 😘
The doe called off her engagement because she had a change of hart. (Things were kind of stag-nant.)
@Mike There he is!
@Mike What a deer little pun. It's hard not to faun all over it.
@Mike when the deerhunter made a list of engagement locales it only had Venice on
@Mike If you caribout her, it would be-hoove you to listen.
@Mike These puns just sleigh me, but maybe we should rein it in, deer.
@Mike You're never one to pass the buck.
I WANT OUT UNZIPPED AIMED DROP IN THE BUCKET Every puzzle tells a story.
@Andrew, Comment Of The Week! Bravo! And welcome back!!
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Alice, in Wonderland (7) 2. Weighty subject of some children's books (5) 3. One making calls on the fly? (4) 4. Statement that may be followed by a dash (3)(4)(3) 5. Won land (5) VISITOR BABAR BIRD I'LL RACE YOU KOREA
My favorite encore clues from last week: [Zero is one] (4) [Setup for an extra point]] (4) OVAL ALSO
Lewis, It's good to see you posting!
@Barry -- Thank you. I'm doing okay, but still about a week away from regular posting.
@Barry -- ... But what a glorious weekend of puzzles we just had!
@Lewis Glad you were at least up to solving.
Lewis, It was a glorious weekend, and as long as you're okay, you can take two weeks off from commenting!
I find it quite interesting how some sounds and words common in one language may be completely absent in another. Case in point: RAH (having seen it several times in these puzzles, I finally looked up its etymology, learning its short for "hurrah"). Apparently it's been a staple of American sport cheering for over a century, but it looks and sounds utterly alien to my Polish sensory organs (much like its anagram of "rah"). This reminds me of Mary Beard's academic analysis of whether the Romans laughed like we did, and if they even made the "haha" or "heh" sounds (probably not, was the conclusion in Beard's "Laughter in ancient Rome"). On another note: I spent the weekend visiting castles in Northern Poland, also enjoying great food at local restaurants. I went on a similar trip with my parents over 30 years ago. It's amazing how Poland has changed. The monuments have been lovingly restored, and immeasurably increased living standards show at every step. I would never have believed any of this was possible in the chaotic, lawless 1990s. Teaser gallery: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/obZA4fI" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/obZA4fI</a>
@Andrzej *Anagram of "har"* D'oh
@Andrzej I don't think any Americans actually vocalize RAH or HURRAH when cheering at a sports event. Like "vroom" is the sound of a revving engine, RAH is the sound of a cheering crowd.
@Andrzej I enrolled in cheerleader school and showed up for my first class, Rah 101, but the prof started talking about Sis-boom-bah. I asked if this wasn't Rah 101 and was informed that no, that's a course of a different holler. I guess that's a pretty American joke.
It's Monday. I come with low expectations. There's a Q, an X, a Z, and a J. There's a couple of clever clues. "Take fowl foully" is especially impressive. And UMPTEEN reminds me of a joke by British comedian James Acaster, "It sounds like a lot, but it's in the teens." There's a pleasant theme involving two spanners, with a sweet and charming revealer. That's a nice Monday. Expectations more than satisfied.
I have a sporadic category called “An answer that has never appeared in the puzzle and never will, but somehow my brain shouted it out anyway”. Tonight’s contribution, after having some of the letters for 17A: CARDBOARD SHORTS Other people’s brains do this too. Right?
@Cat Lady Margaret Sure. CARDBOARD SHORTS: Attire for SpongeBob SquarePants? Outtakes from “Pulp Fiction”? Electrical mishaps due to paper products in the fuse box?
@Cat Lady Margaret When you need an outfit that transitions seamlessly between poker and surfing. As we all too, eventually!
@Cat Lady Margaret My brain surprises me with weird made-up words when I’m doing the Spelling Bee. The other day I felt compelled to check whether “meathat” (like, a hat made of meat, I guess?) was a word.
@Cat Lady Margaret Regular, and now available in corrugated for extra comfort!
Seeing lamb and pork chops referenced so casually in puzzles or everyday conversation reminds me how disconnected we often are from the individuals behind those words. Lambs are playful, gentle babies, and pigs are incredibly intelligent, emotional animals capable of forming bonds and feeling fear and joy. Most people aren’t cruel, they simply participate in traditions they grew up with, as I did for years. But once I started learning more about animals and allowing myself to empathize with them as living beings rather than products, it became harder to ignore the suffering involved in turning them into food. Small moments like are meaningful opportunities to reflect on our choices and the kind of compassion we want to practice in everyday life.
@Johnathan Have you considered how condescending you come across? Believe it or not, as a meat eater I know what I'm doing. I am not a clueless child who never stops to think where my food comes from. Do I get pangs of guilt, occasionally? Sure. Those and environmental reasons have had an impact on my diet - I eat much less meat than I used to, and much of my cooking is vegab. Still, I love my meat treats too much to pass on them completely, especially at good restaurants. Pigs may be smart and playful, but they are also delicious.
@Johnathan Also...dude...CHOPS are a thing. They might appear "casually" or "formally" on a dinner plate. But in a crossword puzzle, they are simply referenced. Their lexical content is all that matters. If every setter and every solver brought his or her special set of ethical precepts to the grid, there wouldn't even be minis.
@Johnathan Lions are meant to eat wildebeests and zebras. We are meant to eat pigs, cattle and lambs. Both lions and humans have incisors. Vegetarian animals do not. You’re welcome to make your own choices, but it will be a sad day when society forces such choices on everyone.
@Johnathan They are a resource to be managed responsibly.
@Johnathan What about plant sentience? There's an increasing amount of evidence that plants are thinking creatures. Venus fly traps have been known to count. Trees communicate with pheromones. It's very likely that plants think and feel, just in different ways from humans. I don't believe in privileging animal life above that of plants or fungi. All life is precious and should be treated with respect. That said, I'm still going to kill and eat these living things, because otherwise I'd starve.
@Johnathan I'm not a vegetarian and occasionally eat pork chops, yet I agree, something seemed a bit insensitive about this clue. I would have gone with something alluding to "karate chops", perhaps.
@Johnathan Time for a lesson in Ethics? This doesn't seem to be the right place for it. But, OK. First, the analogy between human suffering and animal suffering is questionable. Animals have consciousness, but they have limited self-consciousness. Humans can think about their future. Can animals? Second, if animals have rights because they suffer, they also have a responsibility not to cause suffering to others. What should be done to animals who cause other animals pain? If we didn't eat animals, they would never be born in the first place. This might be better for the planet, but would it be better for the animal? We can make the analogy to your child. If your child were never born, it would be better for the planet. Is it unethical, therefore, to have children? It might be better for the planet if there were no humans, but if there were no humans, there would be no concept of "better". The planet doesn't care. And finally, if you knew your child was going to die a violent, but painless death, would you choose for that child never to be born? Isn't some life better than no life?
Johnathan, I can find a reason to object to every clue ever used here for CHOP, so I guess the word should not appear in the grid? <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Finder?w=CHOP" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Finder?w=CHOP</a>
@Johnathan et.al: For those new to NYT Crosswords, here's how the week plays out: Monday, minor animal consumption as a food source. Tuesday, use of animals in clothing and accessories. Wednesday, killing of animals for sport. Thursday, a mix, with some animals contained in Really Evil Barns of Unlimited Suffering (REBUS). Friday...well, you get the idea.
I hope being able to complete this puzzle without look-ups will be a good omen for this week. After 3.5 years of trying to solve crosswords, I still have the odd crossings even on Mondays that I can't figure out on my own. But not today, today is gold star day! Our furniture would be delivered tomorrow and the day after, and I will be starting my new job in a week. I wish I could say I'm only starting to freak out, but I've been panicking for months now. The past few days have been nice though, people have been much more welcoming than you'd imagine considering their reputation.
@Marie - Sounds like a good 33D for you. I inherited my love of word puzzles from my mother, and the NYT puzzle pages help ground me in situations like yours. They're a comforting way to help my brain ease into the day ahead. Sounds like all will be well for you. You'll do fine! I believe in you.
I was doing my usual thing of not looking at what I was putting in the randomly placed tiny little circles because I didn't need them and I didn't therefore care. But then I thought: Maybe there will be a revealer that will be fun to figure out and will give me something more to do. So I looked. It's OH DEAR, I thought immediately. And it was. Kinda cute. With well-chosen themers in which to embed the DEER. Also a lovely grid for a Monday puzzle -- with grownup fill and no junk. Liked it.
OH DEAR: I hope the front door link to Wordplay from the website gets fixed so newer solvers can find there way here. (Nice Monday puzzle.)
Great puzzle! Crunchier than most Mondays have been of late, but all the better for it. I know the answer to 31A immediately, but did not even try to spell it. Got that one entirely by the crosses.
@Katie - I don't even have to look to know what you are talking about. I did the same.
What a silly theme, I love it! How would you notice that?! Starting my Monday with a smile, wishing the same for everyone else. Thanks Joel!
A very very good cervine puzzle. Coming up with entries with an "o" followed by a cervine word can't have been easy. Good fill and clever cluing. I tried my hand at the few remaining unused deer words ... [Canopy] TYPE (OF AWN)ING (not worthy because no separation between O and FAWN) [Poet who won the 1965 National Book Award for the posthumously published "The Far Field."] THE(O)DORE (ROE)THKE (better, but not a Monday level clue) Sometime in the future we'll answer [Tennis star Arthur] with FILS rather than the much employed ASHE -- Arthur Fils is a 21 year old tennis sensation from France. He's a joy to watch -- beaucoup joie de vie -- and I hope he will someday sub for the great Ashe once in a while. I started musing about the old Sears ROEBUCK my mother would grudgingly shop at once in a while. Roe buck is the male of the roe deer species; the females are simply called roe deer (not roe does). Roebuck as a surname dates back at least to the early 13th century and its origins point to West Yorkshire. There are variants including, Roboc, Rabuc, and perhaps even Rebeck and Reebok for all I know. What I do know is that Sears Roebuck jeans were immediately identifiable to the class bullies and taste arbiters (in fifth or sixth grade) as Toughskins, and we who wore them were forever branded as of a lower caste. On the other hand, their sneaker, The Winner, co-manufactured by Converse, were deemed minimally acceptable. Losers wore The Winner; winners wore Nikes.
@john ezra Parting one’s hair on either side? C (O)M(B AMBI)DEXTERITY
@john ezra, O, the complex social STRATI of ELKementary school!
Saw "43D Fashionable" and immediately entered OHIO. Fortunately, I've been around the block a few times (recently), and was able to catch that mistake in time. So I still HARKED the happy music at the end. OH DEAR.
I especially appreciated the cross between DROP IN THE BUCKET and Contents of l'océan! 💦
I never could remember if it was hors d’OEuvres or hors d’OUevres. Now I know I’ll never forget!
@Leon S. The "œ" is a single character in French. Here is a copy and paste of the name and background: "The symbol œ is called a ligature (specifically the "oe ligature" or "o-e entrelacé"). It is a single character composed of the letters o and e joined together, commonly used in French words such as cœur (heart) and sœur (sister), and in some English words of Latin or Greek origin. Pronunciation: In French, it usually represents an open-mid front rounded vowel, similar to the "eu" sound in fleur."
@Leon S. It may help you (if you don't know) to remember that the phrase means hors (outside of/apart from) d' (short for de [from]) oeuvre--the main work.
Great Monday puzzle… and uses all 26 letters!
Yay me! I finished in 18:22 without using any of the Down clues. I only looked at the Acrosses. I got a bit stuck on AIMED because i misdirected myself to words like sharp and spiky, not realizing that “pointed” can be a verb as well as an adjective, D’oh!
@Petrol Congratulations! I am always astonished that someone can do this, without a peek at a down clue. Here's something a little more subtle--do you look at the down answers? I often use stuff like that to determine if I can use just vowels or just consonants.
@Petrol And I did it with only the Down clues, as I always do Monday. I concede that's probably easier, because it's easier to recognize what's missing in an Across entry than in a Down. Do you usually do a dash through the clue set you DIDN'T use, to look for any especially clever ones?
@Francis Right? I could not have spelled HORS D'OEUVRE correctly without the help of crosses.
Have to fawn over this breezy , fun puzzle.
Le Freak c'est CHIC. Freak out. Brought to you by one of America's 30 Greatest Living Songwriters, Nile Rodgers. <a href="https://youtu.be/WqRORmtkTew?si=AV_GIizmOryGy2Lo" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/WqRORmtkTew?si=AV_GIizmOryGy2Lo</a>
A great Monday puzzle! A joy after my sobering awakening from yesterday.
Munchier-than-usual Monday.
What a charming puzzle. Thank you, Mr. Woodford.
Tomorrow's Wordplay column is already posted, which caused this bleary-eyed reader some confusion, as she was wondering why there were no comments, since she could have sworn she had read some and posted herself last night.
@Vaer I saw that. Talk about a spoiler!
@Vaer I lied. It is still there. It all depends on how you open the Wordplay stream.
I loved seeing UMPTEEN, as it's frequently in my mother's lexicon, but it's hardly a million gazillion. Maybe a whole bunch, but surely less than twenty?
@Grant You may want to consult a dictionary.
@Grant Or maybe that's a joke that initially sailed over my head!
@Caro I I have UMPTEEN tasks on my "honey do" list, I might be able to complete them all in a single weekend.
One more puzzle find. A Tuesday from August 29, 2017 by Adam G. Perl. Theme clues and answers: "Classic game needing no equipment" THIRTYQUESTIONS "You might not want to touch something with this." FIFTEENFOOTPOLE "1965 Beatles hit." TWELVEDAYSAWEEK And then... "Overly inventive... or a hint to the answers to 17-, 26- and 42-across." TOOCLEVERBYHALF Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/29/2017&g=42&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/29/2017&g=42&d=A</a> ....
OH DEAR, here we go again! Was fun theme, all things considered.
Nice Monday puzzle. The last time anyone actually used the word "HARKED" in any way, spoken or written, was in 1837. I looked it up.
@Chili Is that because the Angels aren't singing any more?
@Chili I thought it was supposed to be "harkened" but it didn't fit.
@Chili “Hark! Who goes there?” Not Chili, it seems.
@Chili sorry, but I had to fact check this. Straight away Mirriam Webster gave me two quoted examples from Footwear News (a fine publication I'm sure) and the L.A. Times, from 2025 and 2026 respectively. What's old shall be new again, I guess.
@Chili I'm all in favor of looking things up--i am after all the egregious spawn of librarians. but according to ngram it was used as recently as they pay attention, which i think it 2023. and it has actually seen a pretty big upswing since 1980. What were your sources?
Puzzle find today - a Tuesday from May 22, 2007 by Roger Wolff. Three 15 letter theme answers in that one, all straightforwardly clued. DEERAFEMALEDEER DROPOFGOLDENSUN NAMEICALLMYSELF Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/22/2007&g=17&d=A</a> See you tomorrow. ....
Swear, huh? Alright then. O BUCK! ...excuse me.
Perfect Monday puzzle. The theme didn't do anything to distract from the fill. Fun theme. Fun clues. Easy.
And a rather odd coincidence (?) of puzzles. A Tuesday from July 26, 1988 by Jean J. Davison. And... a Monday from March 10, 1997 by Gregory E. Paul. The two puzzles had exactly the same theme answers in exactly the same location. Those answers: DADDYWARBUCKS FATHERCHRISTMAS PAPAHEMINGWAY I suppose it's possible that that could just be a coincidence, but I've never come across like that before. Oh, and here are those links: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=7/26/1988&g=20&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=7/26/1988&g=20&d=A</a> <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/10/1997&g=20&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/10/1997&g=20&d=A</a> ....
really good puzzle for a novice. i struggled to spell "hors d'oeuvres" but the theme saved me
Great fun and completed without any help. I knew 'hart' from singing "As the hart panteth for water...." Although 'deer' is also used.
@Jane Wheelaghan Such a beautiful Psalm. We sang the Howells this year.
@Jane Wheelaghan Well done! Love it, too, when I get a no-lookup puzzle. And TIL HART, and in the process, also hind. Though my dictionary says “Chiefly British” for both, I’d never come across those two terms for deer.
All those male DEER! And only one DOE... No wonder there isn't a single FAWN; the males are all busy fighting over breeding rights... Off the --PS, I confidently entered AM for AMPS. Quite the mess. Further down, I prefer HARKEN TO, but No. It was cute of Joel to have the EAR so close, and the D saved me from choosing WRY. There is not much else to say, except EEK--the photo looks like someone broke an athlete/ballerina and threw her away. Appalling.
@Mean Old Lady That does look painful.
When with others I always try to HARKEn to what they say but had already plugged in wRY which caused a bit of confusion at the end. Nice one.
@John Carson Same here. I can remember harkening but never harked. Of course it’s the only letter wrong and you have to check every entry and find out it’s in the last possible clue grrrrr.
TWO missed opportunities for parallel cluing, with LLAMA/ANDES and MER/EAU. Are even Mondays getting easier?
@Bill, please tell me what parallel clueing means; I thought I knew but clearly I don't! Llama and Andes cross; eau and mer do not. So enlighten me! 😃
One more puzzle. A Monday from February 20, 2010 by Steve Dobis. Four answers in order, straightforwardly clued: 18a - OLDHICKORY 20a - NEWCALEDONIA 53a - BORROWEDTIME 58a - BLUERIBBON And then... the clue and answer across the very middle of the puzzle: "Word that can precede the starts of 18-, 20-, 53- and 58- across" SOMETHING Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/22/2010&g=58&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/22/2010&g=58&d=A</a> ...
The puzzle was enjoyable. The revealed was a groaned. This feels like every other puzzle of late. There's too much going on with the theme, especially for a Monday. What ever happened to subtlety?
@Sean, I think this was a perfect Monday theme, clever without being too twisty. I loved it.
I have to say, doing the New York Times used to be a staple part of my day, but now it seems to be a competition of game makers on who can be the most complicated. This is supposed to be a fun lighthearted mind jogging activity, some clues are hard and others are straight on but now I feel like you’d need to know the writers own personal lingo and the background knowledge of a jeopardy contestant. I’m not saying this is supposed to be “easy”, however there used to be a satisfying feeling about finishing the crossword and now it seems to be impossible without using the internet and what not.
@Lily They seem to be more like fill in the blank tests rather than wordplay.
@Lily I’m curious, are you talking about today’s puzzle, because it seems like a straight up Monday to me. What’s tripping you up?
Second try: The plural of hind (to a doe) is "run... fast!" (Sorry, that's all I have)
This comes under the heading of "Who gives a toss, it's over:" If all animals were left to roam in the wild, completely apart from any human intrusion, they would all eventually die a horrible death. They are born with the survival instinct to not be eaten alive while being ripped into shreds. Predators and scavengers in the animal kingdom have no mercy... at all... none... zero.
Hmm a pick hard for a Monday!
Usuallly NYT crosswords are notoriously fussy about tagging an answer that's a shortening, slang, or an abbreviation. But the ridiculously overlong clue 29A "Up to, as a certain time" for 'TIL seems entirely unaware that this word requires an apostrophe.
@Dan But apostrophes are frequently ignored/omitted/assumed in Times puzzle fill. I've seen "Tag!" for example clued for YOUREIT at least a time or two. And that's one example among scores.
@Dan Never mind what Matt said, which is true, but irrelevant to your bit. The real answer is that TIL is a word into itself, not a shortening of “until.” TIL preceded “until” by a century. From Marian-Webster: Usage of Till and 'Til Many assume that till is an abbreviated form of until. In fact, it is a distinct word that existed in English at least a century before until, both as a preposition meaning "to" and as a conjunction meaning "until." It has seen continuous use in English since the 12th century and is a legitimate synonym of until. 'Til and 'till are much newer words, having appeared as variants of until and till in the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively. 'Till is often rejected, apparently because it seems to have added a superfluous L to the end of until. 'Til, for its part, is typically viewed as inappropriate in formal writing. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/%27til" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/%27til</a>
To the devs, After completing the puzzle, I'm being thanked for having completed the midi, along with stats on how many midi puzzles have been solved.
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