I expected to see some flying toys at the playground site, but it was all park and no kite. (Sorry to string you along with that one.)
@Mike i love your breezy humor!
@Mike What kind of yoyo are you anyway?
@Mike Maybe the flying toys were boxed. (That one's a diamond in the rough.)
How refreshing to have ETD instead of ETA for once!
In "Moonlight Sonata," the sequel to "Red Planet," Val Kilmer reprised his role as Robby Gallagher, astronaut-engineer. This time he's sent to an earthlike planet in the Kal Sigma system, where many of the human immigrants were winding up dead. When no one hears from him again, no call home, no SOS signal, he's listed as AWOL. Back on earth, they're glad, in a way, that Robby Gallagher's gone. He was always hitting on the women, calling himself Iceman and referring to his biceps as his "top guns" and asking the women to give them a squeeze. "Asking for a friend," he'd say. In the open office, the women gossip how if he returned they'd all have to get tasers. Tish brands him "The Lost Luster." The mystery of what happened to him went unsolved for years. Back in Kal Sigma, Robby is having the time of his life. The rich loess tastes like cakesicles, in fact, he eats so well he puts on many kgs. And the oak forests are practically a pet spa of peaceful animals, reminding him of pumas and chow-chows, but all bark and no bite. He finds the indigenous men folk to be all dolts and oafs. And the women? "Only fools mate," Robby tells them, after inviting them to squeeze his top guns. "And I'm a fool." The women humor Robby, calling him K-Pop, bringing him drinks with delicious spices after they had seen to his more carnal needs, doing what they had always done: kill with kindness, then get out the mummy linen.
I can't wrap my head around BRIE having anything to do with charcuterie - a charcutier is a cured/smoked/cooked meat vendor, and charcuterie is meat preparation in French cuisine. How does a cheese qualify as charcuterie? Also, Americans are the only ones to use brie as a spread - we already discussed this once on the board. Europeans eat brie cut into pieces, rind and all. Spreading it on a cracker (which I learned of in one of the previous puzzles) sounds blasphemous. The cross of CAKE_ICLES and SO_ I only resolved by looking at the answer key. I could not parse the cake thing, and I wanted a sign of desperation to be a SOb 🤷🏽. I'm looking at cakesicles online as I'm writing this - I've never seen or heard of them before. MONT-Saint-Michel is a spectacular sight (but sadly also one of the most overcrowded tourist attractions I've ever visited... And yes, my wife and I contributed the problem). You just have to take care not to let the sea claim your car: part of the tourist car park is located in a tidal area 🫣
@Andrzej I didn't know about cakesicles, either, and I find it almost impossible to type, so stupid is it. Cakesicles just sounds too much like something I'd expect at a bachelorette party. Mont-Saint-Michel looks incredible. If I could lucid dream, I'd visit there often.
@Andrzej in North America (well, maybe not Mexico or Central America), the word charcuterie is used for a meal (it can be served as an appetizer, comprise the entire meal, or served after or in between meals) that can consist of breads, crackers, meats, cheeses, spreads, fruit/veg, nuts, and sweets or any combination of those.
@Andrzej if you allow the Brie to ooze then scooping it up on a cracker can be yummy. 😀
@Andrzej To me Brie is a cheese, which when ripe becomes soft enough to be almost spreadable but it is it no way a 'spread'. Whatever beast it is I now want some!
@Andrzej When charcuterie (in your sense of the word) is served with cheese, farinaceous tidbits, and condiments, it's traditionally called a charcuterie board. Using the word to mean the board has come into usage over time. Try Mount Saint Michael in Cornwall for a less hyped experience. It's a virtual duplicate. And while you're there, check out the Tate Modern in St. Ives. Altogether, Cornwall is one of my favorite places on the planet.
My favorite moment was when, while staring at the completed grid, my eyes fell on the abutting MOONLIGHT SONATA and EARTHLIKE PLANET, and for a moment I was whisked into “2001: A Space Odyssey”, specifically a segment where we, the viewers, are gliding through outer space to “The Blue Danube” waltz, and where stunningly, the splendor and majesty of the universe are viscerally felt in the bones. Where it’s clear that Earth, our home, and the focus of all our concerns, is but a speck in a vast universe, amidst a glorious and beautiful celestial dance. Magic, truth, and beauty intertwined. Today, when I saw EARTHLIKE PLANET next to MOONLIGHT SONATA, there I was again, gliding through space, dollying toward and around the planet, amidst a starry background, accompanied this time by Beethoven’s haunting sonata, and it worked perfectly. A wow moment indeed. Gene, your puzzle was fun to uncover, but even more so, it markedly lifted the quality of my day. Thank you!
@Lewis Best I managed for yesterday's theme. The clue is ♠ 5
@Xword Junkie -- I think I got it; on the other hand I may be way off... will there be an answer showing up at some point?
@Lewis I am always eager to hear from anyone who likes "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is probably my favorite of all time.
Well, pretty easy for me but still oddly satisfying despite that and had a lot of interesting connections. It’s not often I get the top row of a themeless off the bat—and I didn’t today as I tried AFRO before MESO—but I did pick BRIE right away (spread gave it away) and thanks to my daughter’s favorite phrase—“Sun’s out, guns out” —BICEPS. I gotta say it—yesterday we had DIKDIKS and today Woodpeckers’ peckers—c’mon, talk about low hanging fruit! Francis, like you I had Abby before Tish—thought I was so smart, I just couldn’t get their beautiful love letters quoted in “1776” out of my head. Then I couldn’t remember Morticia’s name and tried CARA his pet name for her (CARA MIA) I always called “One Direction”, “One Dimension” (can’t stand boy bands) so now it’s confirmed. A philosopher famous for a razor right next to NAIR clued as manscaping? ROTFL Two Chinese dogs, pet spa and ALLBARKANDNOBITE? TASERS while streaking? That’s gotta hurt. And finally, what a lovely unusual grid, couldn’t miss the double grid spanner down the middle and MOON next to EARTH? The crossword gods don’t get more heavenly than that. So yeah, 15 minutes, which is a very quick Friday for me, but 15 minutes well spent with a smile on my face the whole time.
@SP I love some of the songs from "1776". Have you ever seen an actual production? I haven't.
So, if the cakesicle is eaten sticky-side-up, is it a stalacticake, and if sticky-side down, a stalagmacake? (Asking for the fun of it.)
@JohnWM I lost a few seconds here for assuming the spelling was CAKECICLES, y’know, as in icicles, rather than CAKESICLES as in POPSICLES. I guess that’s on me for snacking in fruit and nuts, huh?
Well worth the extra squares. Nice one, Gene. I hope nobody leaves this one UNSOLVED. How many ASKING FOR A FRIEND quips will we see today?
I didn't find this puzzle so easy. In fact, I had a hard time getting into it and found myself wandering in a desert of empty squares, until finally, one at a time, clues clicked and i had something to build on. No look-ups were necessary, but some early guesses were pretty dumb. Did anyone else have trouble solving it? (Asking for a friend.)
@dutchiris I had a similar experience. Some of the entries (loess, cakesicles) were unknown to me, some required multiple guesses (dog spa, no, cat spa, no, pet spa), and I lacked confidence throughout. I got there eventually, but it wasn’t by any kind of wavelength.
@dutchiris It's funny how these things work. I had no trouble at all – guess some days you're just on the same wavelength with the constructors and editor \_(ツ)_/
@dutchiris I got about 40% through and then hit a wall. The clues weren’t the best today imo.
@dutchiris I needed ten of the 'easy mode' clues. So you had less trouble than I did. Not sure I could have solved it without the help. (And I didn't want to sweat that hard, to see if I could. Places to go, other puzzles to solve...) At least I got the longest phrases on my own, and I found today's efforts mostly enjoyable.
@dutchiris I almost always have *some* trouble these days. Words that simply will not come to mind, words are no are not the answer but keep coming back to mind.
Not much is coming easy to me these days. No issues with the puzzle, only with my recall. It took me a while to work through the area around [Mrs. Addams, to Mr. Addams], until I remembered it was not John and Abigail Adams, but Gomez and Morticia. I sure could use an earth-like planet that isn't earth. But, hey, I got 18A with no crosses!
Yes Mr. De Vera, I did notice all the Ks in the puzzle – and it's perfectly KK by me (à la my Gen Z niece's texting vocabulary...) I also noticed how much joy I was having with the solve, albeit perplexed that I knew almost every answer. The few question marks were quickly resolved with some crossing letters (here's looking at you LOESS.) The exception was the Zillow clue for which I had RLS (Residential Listing Service) and the MATE part of the chess term just wasn't coming to me because I was parsing it as FOOL S_ATE. I believe my ease in solving was either because I was on the same wavelength, or because this was Friday Lite, or because of Mr. De Vera's construction chops. One thing I do know for sure is that this was a very satisfying romp. Thank you, Mr. De Vera!
Probably TCS, but some sloppy editing here. Charcuterie does not mean cheese, such as BRIE. It means sliced meat. FOOLSMATE is not a trap. It's more of an academic exercise of the shortest a game can end. It requires white to make two specific moves that would not be made under normal circumstances. Contrast this to the Scholar's Mate or 4 move checkmate that can be done against a careless player who is making ordinary development moves without paying attention to what the opponent is doing.
Steven, We're not in France. "In the USA, 'charcuterie' is a misnomer, featuring a selection of preserved foods, especially cured meats or pâtés, as well as cheeses and crackers or bread." (wiki) I'll leave your other point for the chess team.
@Steven M. I suspect you are right on concerning the two-move mate is not actually a "trap" in a chess sense.
@Steven M. "Charcuterie board" would have been a clearer clue but I got it right away. The CBs I've seen always have nonmeat items such as bread, cheese, and fruit.
Having lived in France for a year once, I recall that charcuterie does not comprise cheeses, so this clue is at least the second one yesterday that is in error (along with the Millennium Problems clue). Add to that the Fool's Mate error, and indeed there are three janky clues. (Add to that a recent clue asserting that feral cats are not housebroken ...)
@Steven M. Speaking of sloppy editing, I don't know what TCS means and the AI only offered these: 1. Tata Consultancy Services (Business & Tech) 2. Traction Control System (Automotive) 3. Tax Collected at Source (Finance & Tax)
@Steven M. Fools mate sure felt like a trap when it was used on me for the first time, and likewise when I later was able to use it on a few unsuspecting players. Yes we were young and not very experienced players, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a trap.
To quote Mr. Ryan George, "super easy, barely an inconvenience". I see we are back into the Great Easening after a promising challenge last week. /back into hiding
@B Although I disagree a bit with the conclusion, I do love Ryan George.
@B The Great Easening would be a fine product name for a laxative.
It took me a while, very little came to me in the first pass, but eventually I solved it, not needing any hints or googling, and I thought the long entries were fun. I enjoyed this puzzle. Then I thought I'd check in to read the inevitable humble brags of how easy this puzzle was. Could it be the puzzles are not easier, but you are just getting better at it?
@Philly Carey So, your suggestion comes up frequently and, to be honest, it’s insulting to our intelligence to assume we don’t take that into consideration (whether you agree or disagree). Of course we have. But first, there are people who have been solving for 30+ years or more, it seems unlikely that they suddenly have become more experienced in the last 5 years (no offense, but it’s more likely they would have gotten a bit more senile, I know I have). Second, I’ve only been solving the NYT about 6 years, so perhaps there could be a trend for me—but when I do archived puzzles from 10 years ago, I see a huge difference. And it’s not explained by cultural references, because I am generally more familiar with those of a decade ago than today’s.
@Philly Carey I have to say that SP, along with others here, convinced me. The more puzzles I sample from the archives, the more I can see that it's rare for me to get a Friday or Saturday (or even Sunday) from 20 years ago. But, and here's another problem, one that I've had. Nothing of any value will come from constantly scanning the posts and trying to establish your ranking. First, there is no ranking. And second, what difference could it possibly make if there were? This is not our living. Almost nobody's paying the mortgage with their crossword skills. You'll have more fun on the forum if you consider us companions rather than competitors.
@Philly Carey One more thing… I wish the conversation could get redirected from “are crosswords getting easier?” (which to me seems undeniable) to “is that possibly a good thing?” which is a much more interesting question, and one for which I can see support on both sides. In the one hand, perhaps we have just become a much more immediately self-gratifying society, and crosswords need to evolve to satisfy that, like many other media. Maybe as a whole many people can’t be expected to appreciate a puzzle anymore which has to simmer over an hour or overnight to be solved. And frankly if I have to choose between the current level of difficulty and none at all I’ll certainly take the former. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel that we could still be the last bastion for savoring a good challenge, and that if newer solvers stick with it they will see the value of it and gradually improve their skills and not jump to Google every 5 minutes. But in a society used to AI, streaming, Twitter (I know, X now, even that was too long), instathis snd instathat, and immediate internet access to anything and everything, that’s a lot to ask.
@Philly Carey, one thing you can say objectively is that, for subscribers to the xwstats website (arguably not a representative sample, but still a signal), this puzzle was easier than the typical Friday: Difficulty: Easy Median Solve Time: 11:09 Median Solver: 27% faster ⚡87% of users solved faster than their Friday average. 63% solved much faster (>20%) than their Friday average. 🐢13% of users solved slower than their Friday average. 2% solved much slower (>20%) than their Friday average. If I may offer my own data point, this was my fastest Friday ever, taking sligthly less than half my average time, and falling somewhere between my Tuesday and my Wednesday averages. Subjectively, it did feel like somewhere between Tuesday and Wednesday in terms of how many entries I was able to fill on my first pass. I'm not complaining. I thought it was a very nice grid, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the debut entries ASKING FOR A FRIEND and FOOLS MATE (even though I agree with others that it is more of a hypothetical than a real trap).
Breezy, fun puzzle, but I think it's worth stating that any officer who tases a streaker should lose their badge and perhaps face assault charges. Tasers can kill; they are for emergencies.
@SBS Yeah not sure exactly what they were going for on that one other than really stretching the clue to include the word play.
@SBS There's no denying the fact that some streakers have gotten tased, but I agree that it is excessive force, potentially deadly, and not something I would want to make fun of.
Speaking of emergencies, did any of you feel any unease about yesterday's "metaphorical" BATTLE SCARS?
Very fun! Especially liked 'asking for a friend' and 'earthlike planet'.
Very nice puzzle construction. Lots of satisfying solves. Quick note to point out that one of the Millenium problems has been solved.
Someone who knows that Sigma is the sign for summation should also know that one of the Millennium problems has been solved (the Poincaré conjecture).
@Lou Scheffer The whole puzzle had sloppy clueing. I identified two more
And six remain UNSOLVED. Are you suggesting the crossword clue needed to have mentioned that one was solved?
@Lou Scheffer Good point, @Lou Scheffer.
@Lou Scheffer I don't think so; summation is taught in high school, the millennium problems usually not.
The clue reads "Like the Millennium Problems of the Clay Mathematics Institute", for the answer UNSOLVED. In fact, one of the problems was solved over 20 years ago.* Therefore the clue is in error. * This was a very dramatic episode. Starting in 2003, Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman posted three papers proving the Poincaré conjecture from 1904 (which asserted that the only compact simply connected three-dimensional manifold is the three-sphere). When the mathematics community had deemed then to be valid proofs, Perelman was awarded the Fields medal, one of the highest honors in mathematics, which he declined to accept. Books have been written about these events.
Fun puzzle with a lot of really satisfying clues, but very easy for a Friday. I set a PB at 15:35.
Well....Clever puzzle BUT I still have half my cup of coffee left here! Now, doggone it, what am I supposed to do? I guess I can while away some time looking up "Guns, so to speak" and how it could possibly mean BICEPS, but my will to live has been sapped. Okay, I Googled it. Big whoop. We had torrential rains pounding much of the night. The mosquitos are gonna go nuts! And speaking of NUTS, do NOT drive into standing water. Please.
@Mean Old Lady Guns is a slang term for biceps that have been enlarged by exercise.
@Mean Old Lady You mean, driving into standing water like the Waymo robotaxis did Wednesday in Atlanta?
Weirdly, I was able to fill in the spans when I had completed very few of the other answers. The stars just lined up. I don't think I've ever done that before.
48D Mr. Ernst was long dead when Ernst & Whinney (formed when partners Ernst & Ernst merged with Whinney Smith) merged with the firm named for Mr. Arthur Young, who was also dead. Ernst and Young would have had to live well past 100 to see their names joined as partners.
@Michael ...sophomoric, but there was an old riddle: What large accounting firm sounds like both ends of a horse? See above for answer...
@Michael I had a feeling that something was fishy with 48D. I guess if you consider Ernst and Young as words not actual people the clue works but it's still pretty lame. It makes me wonder if this clue was researched at all.
Impressive spanners. Enjoyed discovering answers to all five as they revealed themselves. I will do my best to kill with kindness today..
Weird. PB for a Friday, but it didn’t seem unusually easy; I was lucky enough to get boosts from getting the spanners quickly with few crossers, and some clues people here have said were tough came to me right away. I thought that despite the eponymous razor, it was William of Ockham, but after looking it up, I learned that Occam is an acceptable spelling of the place, not just said razor. Makes sense since spelling rules were relatively loose then, compared to recent centuries.
Any chance the nyt website can provide a clickable link to all the previous puzzles of a crossword constructor? I'm working my way through the archives (still in 1992,) but when a current puzzle catches my fancy, I like to look at the previous efforts of the same person.
@Arun You can find a lot of that info on <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com</a>/
“K” polooza! I like it when “K” pops up in a word. It’ s my initial which, for some reason, makes me smile. Even better, it’s a less common letter and with a distinctive click to it, a great tickler for my internal dictionary of crossword answers. Once I noticed the abundance, the puzzle fell very quickly.
Mr. McGowan, as a very long-time solver (occasional poster), I want to let you know how much I appreciate your humor and insights. Keep up the good work, no pressure!
Although I dutifully filled in SKA for [Calypso cousin]--humming The English Beat while I did--I really wanted the answer to be PYRRHA*. If the BRIE on your charcuterie board is really a spread, it means it has been left at room temperature way too long, and I would advise against the soppressata. *I confess, I had to look this up in Grimal. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgsO1FxlWUU&list=RDjgsO1FxlWUU&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgsO1FxlWUU&list=RDjgsO1FxlWUU&start_radio=1</a>
That was like, so tough but also easy? I think I was unsure about almost every fill except KILMER but still beat my average time.
I solved the difficulty of 11-Across by adding a nice Pâté to my charcuterie. Personally I love a nice Pâté de campagne, and it's very spreadable. And it fit so nicely, not only with ET(a/D)S, but also with PEEL for "Zest" at 11-Down. BRIE is boring. If we're adding cheese, I'd prefer a Camembert. And BRIO? Didn't we just see you two days ago with your friend CON?
We appear to be back to CLOYingly easy Fridays. LOESS the only Friday-level fill and a TIL, easily gotten by Tuesday-level crosses.
@Matt It's appeared many times before, also quite recently, IIRC. I know of LOESS (or "less", as we spell it - it's one of the few Polish words with a double "s") because it famously provides fertility to agricultural land in the Lubelszczyzna region of Poland, and LOESS erosion LED to the creation of the picturesque ravines of the tourist hot spot of Kazimierz Dolny, one of Poland's prettiest towns: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Dolny" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Dolny</a>
Well, now… I woke up a bit “groggy” (hungover) from the feast hubby prepared last night- a charcuterie spread, on a giant wooden slab, complete with prosciutto, BRIE… A veritable plethora of cheeses and meats, jams, spreads, olives, fresh fruits… and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. We chuckled realizing we dove into it like our twenty year-old selves used to devour a cheap pizza after smoking cheap weed. The more things change, the more they- well, y’all know how it goes. (But what’s with food hangovers? Whyyy??)
@CCNY We used to be able to get away with a lot of unwise behavior. I could eat all I wanted of just about anything...and suffer no consequences! Not even weight gain! And then....the bill came. Yes, we can dare to eat a peach. Raw onion, not so much. So, so unfair!
Well, typical tough Friday for me, with a couple of completely unfamiliar answers (notably - 37a) and others that were never going to dawn on me just from the clues. No big deal - that's just me. And... of course a puzzle find. A Sunday from August 18, 2019 by David Steinberg with the title "Revolutionary." Hard to describe this one, but what could be considered the 'reveal' was one long down answer: GETSTHEBALLROLLING. I'm not even going to try to describe it - I'll just provide the link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/18/2019&g=49&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/18/2019&g=49&d=D</a> Hasta manana. ..
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, and what the heck - one more puzzle. A Sunday from October 25, 2015 by Bill Zais with the title "Halloween Costumes." Some theme answers: WEREWOLFBLITZER TOMBSTONEPHILLIPS EYEOFNEWTGINGRICH GRAVEDIGGERPHELPS GHOSTBUSTERKEATON BLACKCATSTEVENS Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/25/2015&g=104&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/25/2015&g=104&d=A</a> .....
A decent Friday puzzle, no marginalia.
This one went along smoothly. Helped that the spanners came to me easily. Really liked those and they seemed to fit together, made this kind of a 'themed themeless' puzzle for me. Very good, bravo.
At 11:27 it's my fastest Friday yet. And on my little phone. Like butter.
I think EARTHLIKEPlANET is the first time I’ve ever got a full spanner without needing any crosses. Good ol’ Kepler 22b.
i liked it a lot! just some easy thinking got me the solve, and a few smart clues made it fun happy friday, everyone!
Anyone else thinking the column's title is a comment on the puzzle?
@DIVAS IVLIVS Sure, it's not rare for that to happen. Ironically, well done!
Ms De Vera must be a spiritual twin: I got all the spanners with very few crossers. Excellent long entries without gibberish fill, this was an impressive and satisfying puzzle for me. Strangely, "Went (for)" was the clue that caused me most problems - took me a long while to finally make the 'auction' connection, and I've never seen the Addams Family in any incarnation... Thanks Gene!
@Alex You are from Peru so may not know, and I certainly don’t know Gene’s gender preference, but typically Gene is short for Eugene which is a male name. Jean or Jeanne is the preferred spelling for females (although certainly not in France for Jean, which just shows you how tricky it can be across cultures!)
@SP FWIW, xwordinfo.com refers to the constructor as Mr. De Vera.
¡Ay qué vergüenza! Many apologies to Mr De Vera, if that's the correct title. Perhaps I can pretend it was a typo and I meant to write "Mx". Whoever and wherever they are, we were on the same wavelength in this puzzle! Yikes. I probably won't be seen in this comment section for a while...
1 of the 7 Clay Millenium Problems has been SOLVED.
There were nine Ks in this one. So, fine pitching (or poor batting) today. The 16 x 15 grid with the adjacent vertical spanners was interesting, and all five spanners were solid. But the cluing here was disappointingly direct. As clued, this could almost have been a Tuesday puzzle. I was done in about fifteen minutes, and I'm hardly a fast solver. Once again I feel that a fine puzzle has been diminished by unfortunate editorial choices.
Xword Junkie, With all the [delightful] spanners, I'm not sure kicking up the fill clues a notch would have made much of a difference. I renew my call to make Wednesday a swing day: sometimes a harder themed puzzle, sometimes an easy themeless like this one, sometimes a "fun but light" trick puzzle like yesterday's.
A pleasant challenge. Nicely done and thanks.
Enjoyed the puzzle! But I do have a couple of nits to pick... 1-Across: The clue should be singular, since the answer - biceps - is actually singular; the plural is bicepses. (I kid you not!) 11-Across: Yes, cheese can be considered part of a charcuterie board in the U.S and U.K. But in France, charcuterie only refers to meats. Words and phrases in their original language often acquire different meanings and usages when adopted by a different language. I never understood how "entrée," meaning "first course" in French, came to mean "main course" in American English, when the word is so clearly evocative of a beginning. And plurals are often a problem in translation: for example, "panini" is already plural in Italian - the singular is "panino" - but is used as a singular in English. Oh, well...
Jonathan, 1A: I wondered if anyone would suggest that BICEPS *should* have a singular clue. It certainly *could* have a singular clue, but BICEPS is also fine as the plural. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biceps" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biceps</a> 11A: Amen.
@Jonathan Guss "biceps - is actually singular; the plural is bicepses. (I kid you not!)" In fact, the plural is "bicipites." Now, go tell that to the gorilla with the 18" guns, curling 45kgs on the preacher bench.
With clues like these on a Friday, why not just go half a step further and literally give you the answer? What's the point?
Here's another Friday for those of you who might want a bit more of a challenge: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2020/05/29" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2020/05/29</a>
@Barry Ancona This is a great one. Really miss when the puzzles were up to this standard
Impressive construction! Thank you. The cluing didn't measure up to a Friday, though.