I suppose pencil sharpeners are still around—for old people like me. A funny pencil story: I was at a sushi restaurant recently where they hand out little ordering pads and pencils so you can write down what you want. In the next booth, a boy of about five had been put in charge of the order, and he was taking the responsibility very seriously. Someone decided they wanted one more piece of ahi tuna, but the boy had already written “1.” His eyes started to fill with tears. His dad said, “Don’t worry—just erase the 1 and write a 2.” The boy stared at him. “Huh? How do I do that?” “With the other end of the pencil,” his dad said. “Look.” The boy watched, completely mesmerized, as the mark disappeared. Then he brushed away the little rubber crumbs and whispered, “Whoa. Cool.” I only wish I could have seen his face the first time he met a pencil sharpener.
@The Whip That's such a great story! My own isn't as funny or touching; it's just something I'll never forget. I was 4 or 5 years old and was in a Walmart-type of store, picking out school supplies from bins. I picked up an eraser and, before I could hand it to my mom, a lady said to me "You know, if you think before you write, you'll never need to use an eraser." Her tone was kind and I never forgot her words. But I continued to use an eraser.
@The Whip Nice story! The whole time I drafted legislation for the Texas Legislature (1990–2018), our office had a system of different colored pencils for marking up drafts. It made it easier for, say, an editor to determine if a particular change had been made by the drafter or by a reviewer.) But trying to get the state purchasing agency to consistently stock erasable color pencils was a challenge.
@The Whip You know, there aren't a lot of really funny pencil stories around, so I especially appreciated reading yours.... And not just because you got to the point so succinctly. Seriously adorable! ☺️
@The Whip When my daughter was in middle school some 20 years ago I bought her a desk clamp pencil sharpener. She tried it and said with complete sincerity "You have just changed my life".
@The Whip -- That is a precious story. Thank you for relating it!
Years ago I was private tutoring a young (preteen) Japanese girl who had grown up in England. I was a bit flummoxed when she wanted to emend her writing and asked, "Have you a rubber?"
"Shall we go eat some salad?" "Lettuce." (Just tossing that out there.)
@Mike I'm beet. Let's romaine home instead. R U okra with that? I'll just have a shake!
Mike, On a serious note, I know what many people and the puzzle call it, but when I make a salad I only spin the lettuce. P.S. We've got the BEET. (Munster, not EDAM)
@Mike If you carrot all, you’ll stop these radicchios demands.
@Mike That’s a feta comma plea. Sorry. I thought it was gouda.
Mike, I’m ok with most salads, but have issues with two: House and Garden.
@Mike Oh, how I envy you! (Just another green goddess.)
My five favorite original clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Characterize? (5) 2. Suit in a certain suite (4) 3. Epic beginning (4)(3) 4. Style with spotty coverage? (11) 5. Part between the shoulders (4) SPELL EXEC PART ONE POINTILLISM LANE
My favorite encore clues from last week: [It might have many sides] (4) [Ghost story?] (5) MENU ATTIC
@Lewis My favorite of your picks was the one for POINTILLISM. The clue which had me give myself a headslap after finally figuring it out was No. 5. d'oh.
@Sam -- It is remarkably often that I either actually or in spirit pump my fist and say, "Good one!" at your pictures/captions. Today your caption took me by surprise, and there I went again. You consistently brighten up the whole Wordplay column and comments experience with your wit. Thank you!
@Lewis Make my day, why don’t you? 🥹
A coffee bean shaped like a spleen would be a very odd shaped coffee bean, or vice versa. Trust me, I am currently looking at a CT scan of a spleen.
@Wayne Harrison Ok, but what would AI say?
“Somebody’s spleeny today! What happened? Someone put your coffee beans through the pencil sharpener? Has your white cell count been cranked up to 21? Did the sliders not slide correctly? Has a dance crew moved in upstairs? Has your ASMR gotten mixed up with your karma?”
Fun Monday, good theme for a Monday with the PENCIL SHARPENER and other cranked devices. Slightly harder than usual for a Monday but within normal range. My only "Something's amiss" square was I had WHEW instead of PHEW and took a while to think of PRETEXT.
@Chris I started entering it and immediately changed to _HEW. ;)
@Chris I also had "Whew" for "Phew", but I discovered it checking the answer pdf. "Pretext" does make more sense than "Wretext"! As I never, ever need cheats on a "Monday" puzzle, I think this one is more of a "Tuesday". I also needed to read the Wordplay to get that the three long words had 'cranking' in common.
Today, the theme answers each triggered a strong response from my past. PENCIL SHARPENER reminded me of the potent smell of pencil shavings that would strike me when I used to empty one. As I’m thinking about it now, I can smell it as if it were right in front of me. JACK IN THE BOX. I was scared out of my wits the first time Mr. Jack popped up, and I never played with it again. Even now I remember it whenever I hear "Pop Goes The Weasel". SALAD SPINNER. When a visiting five-year-old saw ours and asked what it was, I showed him how it worked, and that did it. He kept coming back to it, taking it apart, spinning his action figures, putting his ear to it and listening to its noise, wearing the inner basket as a hat – it reminded me today how creative the young mind is, and that I need to spend more time with youngsters. So, your puzzle, Eric, not only gave me a terrific “Hah!” when I uncovered CRANKY, but also got me thinking outside the box. Thank you!
@Lewis It’s funny how the mind works. Due to various nasal problems, I can no longer smell, but just mention “pencil shavings” to me, and my brain immediately conjures up that odor. (“Bacon” works, too.) Thanks for your comments.
@Lewis you gave that five year-old a gift by allowing such exploration. Not all hosts would do that
Well, it took me 26 hours (2 hours in app), but I finally solved the Sunday. Definitely the closest I came to losing my streak. I went through every single clue at least four or five times, even brute forced a few squares. I was so excited when I found a mistake (CaLEF/aMAS instead of CCLEF/CMAS). But, alas, no Gold Star. My least confident crossings were EDEMA/DEE, TWERE/EWER, HORSIE/BRIO, and GENA/ANNE/AIKIDA [SIC]. I thought maybe three names could have been GEri/ArNE, since AIKIDA or IIKIDA was Greek to me. After dinner (Dubrovnik in New Rochelle, highly recommended), I asked my mom to run through the puzzle with me. I read her every answer I wasn't 100% certain on as we drove home. She was able to confirm a lot but didn't have any corrections. Her confirming EDEMA was a big help in narrowing things down. She didn't know who either GENA or ANNE were and never heard of AIKIDA either. But saying the word out loud made me realize that Asian martial arts usually end with -DO. I was just so certain that XENa: The Warrior Princess was the alien leader, I never gave that square a second look. Leader? As in a prefix. Silly me...
I will skirt the Tamale Trap to point out that while you might find GYRO in a cafe in the U.S., in a [Taverna] it would be GYROS.
@Barry Ancona Many years ago, I saw a poster on the wall in a Greek fast food joint that said, "It tastes better when you say it right: YEE-ros". (Plural is "gyroi".)
Nice puzzle! Aside from starting with LegS at 1D, It was good fun with a a clever theme! Nothing to make anyone cranky about, but that's just my idealism peeking out. There's always something to make someone cranky. And that's my realism making an entrance. I especially liked 27D's cute clue for site of some cookies solving to JAR. And HOME is where the heart is always makes me smile! It's so true, though I love to travel, it's by far my favorite place to be! Especially when my husband is also home! And when we have Hendricks gin on hand... And yes, definitely in that order.... I mean as long as he's home he could always go out and get me some if needed, so there's no reason to reverse the order. Har!!
A bit of a workout for me. Felt more like a Tuesday puzzle. *Lots* of entries starting with A today: ACAI, ATONE, AURAS, ADO, ALOHA, ASSN, AUTO, AKA, AHAB, ABLE, ADHD, ASMR, ABET, ANA, ALL. And eight entries ending in A. 15 + 8 - 3 = 20. (Just checking my counting.)
The columnist’s comment about pencil sharpeners made me feel ancient! Yes! Manually operated! It gave rise to such clear & happy memories of the metal crank-operated sharpener in the utility room in my parent’s house - permanently screwed into place on a wood shelf. As a geeky kid I found no greater joy than sharpening a whole box of No. 2s when school started. Loved the puzzle. Perfect Monday. Breezy, amusing and while I got the theme almost immediately there was enough unknown fill to keep my interest.
@Oasis - Same re feeling ancient; I'm Gen X and I used crank-operated pencil sharpeners in elementary school.
@Oasis I'm an old fart and still have a crank type pencil sharpener on the inside of the hall closet door. Some things just don't need improvement.
My average Monday time has been going up recently and I love it. The puzzles have been really good.
wHEW! Finished it, even under false wRETEXT.
@Linda Jo - Same mistake here; had to fix it to get my happy solve music.
I liked today's puzzle. It wasn't too easy, and the revealer was clever and amusing. And, as a nice bit of non-pharmaceutical side effects, I find myself being nostalgic for the smell of PENCIL shavings. And a side note about PENCIL SHARPENERS: they either work really, really well, producing an incredibly sharp point, or really, really badly, breaking off the lead before the pencil is sharp. Often the same sharpener can be both. How is that possible?
Hi, @The X-Phile! I thought on you yesterday, and your comment from last Friday on ANEMONE. I was hiking in the Pigeon River State Forest, in Northern Michigan, and came across many anemones, bobbing in the wind, especially in the wet areas along the river. All the North American species I know are white, but apparently some around the Mediterranean are brilliant red, hence the connection with Adonis' blood. It has always struck me how, in Greek mythology, young men (Adonis, Hyacinthos) are metamorphosed into ephemeral wildflowers, whereas young women (Daphne), become trees or shrubs. Sorta like that episode from *Lost in Space*, with the Carrot-man.
@Bill It's wonderful to hear that you remembered the myth while you were out hiking. It never ceases to amaze me how these old stories continue to enrich our lives. The idea of drops of blood undergoing "metamorphosis" reminds me of my favorite myth of all time, the birth of Aphrodite, as told by Hesiod in his "Theogony". Cronos seized power by castrating his father Ouranos. Cronos took the "severed member" of his father and threw it into the sea. Where they landed the sea began to foam, and from this foam emerged Aphrodite (whose name can be translated as "born of the foam") fully grown. Where each drop of blood from the genitals landed in the sea was born one of the Furies. [Those were potent genitals!]
I liked it. I rarely solve in the evening, but I'm starting to suffer from FOMO when it comes to the comments, so... here I am. I've recently started checking xwstats daily; right now it says this one was hard; I tend to keep the tab open and refresh occasionally to see how things change as more data comes in.
I accidentally did this one before I solved Sunday’s puzzle 🤦🏼♀️ Luckily, I was still able to solve Sunday and keep the streak alive. Coming up on 5 years in the next three weeks. There are still some hand cranked PENCIL SHARPENERs in classrooms, although my students rarely used them. JACK IN THE BOX made me think of the movie Elf 😆 Spending this week preparing for our 10 day roadtrip to visit my last 3 states in the US! Traveling through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and finally South Dakota. Really excited to finally get to experience Yellowstone.
@Jacqui J Your road trip sounds amazing! We visited Yellowstone on a similar kind of road trip almost two decades ago, though we didn’t go as far east as the Dakotas on that one and I still haven’t been to those states. Someday. The park itself is wonderful, as are all the various landscapes you can explore driving up to it. I hope you have a fantastic time!
@Jacqui J If you are entering Yellowstone from Montana, you really should try the north entrance. You will cross Beartooth pass, which is just spectacular. I mean, jaw dropping spectacular! Over 10,000 feet in elevation with incredible views.
@Jacqui J Wish I could join you. When I was a kid my dad took us on long driving trips every summer. So - by the time I got out of high school I'd been to all 48. Just really enjoyable times. Then later (on my way to Vietnam) I got to stop in Alaska. So... Hawaii is the only one I haven't been to. Enjoy your trip! ....
Not sure if this was harder than normal for a Monday or my brain isn't up to speed yet.
@Gareth Baird I found this slightly harder than a typical Monday, edging on Tuesday territory.
Such an appropriate puzzle for the weather here in Portland today! I've just CRANKed down the a/c temperature. Outside it's in the mid 90s and it looks like it will be even worse tomorrow. So, yeah, SOMEBODY'S CRANKY and that somebody's me. The clash between such heat against the backdrop of firs and pines defies the senses. The heavenly PNW summers of open windows are a thing of the past. And yes, these are absolutely complaints. Didn't I just tell you SOMEBODY'S CRANKY, lol? The good news is that it has nothing to do with the puzzle, which was a mild Monday, perfectly breezy, though I started out with rImS instead of LIDS. And Soul from Seoul stopped me in my tracks, thinking music before carmake. Thank you for the puzzle, Mr. Rollfing. It even made me laugh at my own foul mood!
@sotto voce One summer when I lived in Tennessee (90s), I spent a week or so in Seattle in July. It was absolutely beautiful. That time of year it was not very rainy, and the weather only got to 90 F once. But, boy, that once...people all over town were talking about how horrible it was, which was funny for someone from Tennessee, where 90 can be a cool spell. Flash forward...what I've heard about the heat waves in the PNW the past few years have been terrifying. 100+ temps? Inconceivable. The past ten years have been a catastrophe for my sense of well-being.
@sotto voce Sorry it’s so hot in your neck of the woods. I don’t think it went over 85° here Sunday. And the humidity is practically nonexistent. Do I miss Texas?
Okay then. Never heard of the acronym ASMR, though I've definitely experienced it IRL. Here is the beginning of what wiki has to say about ASMR. Sorry, but I'm not deleting the footnote numbers. autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)[2][3][4] is a tingling sensation and pleasant form of paresthesia,[5] that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. ASMR has been compared with synesthesia[6][7] and may overlap with frisson.[8] ASMR is a subjective experience of "low-grade euphoria" characterized by "a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin". It is most commonly triggered by specific auditory and visual stimuli, and less commonly by intentional attention control. [9] It's been used twice before in a puzzle, but were Saturdays several years ago. Not sure if third appearance should have been a Monday. Or maybe this is a thing everybody but me has been talking about all this time.
@Vaer Hand up. New to me too. Not something I learned in med school.
I learned about it in crossword school: Sat Jan 20, 2024 12D Initialism for a pleasant tingling on the scalp or back of the neck Caitlin Reid and Matthew Stock Sat Dec 3, 2022 25A Brain-tingly feeling that may come from hearing whispering or crinkling, in brief Kate Hawkins
@Vaer Well, I don't know about everybody, but I have a group of friends I meet with monthly just for the lone reason of talking about ASMR. It's a lot of fun! You really should find a club out there where you live. Book club is so yesterday, it's all about the ASMR club now!! Har!! 😏
P.S. Given the gentle crosses, I think it's fine to fill it in and learn it on a Monday.
@Barry Ancona Well I solved both of those puzzles, but had to have gotten ASMR on the crosses.
@Vaer I once read an article about ASMR and looked up videos on YouTube. It's a very personal experience. For example, some love the sound of paper being crumpled. Others find it grates on their nerves. Some ASMR is made of just sounds, while others include talking. It seems to be quite common in the U.K. for people to fall asleep listening to the shipping forecast on BBC radio as its delivery has a certain drone to it and hence an ASMR effect. Here is a video that adapts the shipping forecast for an intentional ASMR effect: <a href="https://youtu.be/aoi7H3xpv1k?is=bf5oHlfeXvYirlYv" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/aoi7H3xpv1k?is=bf5oHlfeXvYirlYv</a>
@Vaer when my brother and I were quite young maybe nine and five) we would play Dinosaur and take turns pretending to be Tyrannosaurus rex chewing on the neck of an unfortunate lesser dino. This resulted in strange tingling sensations which I now know what to call!!
@Vaer I have never heard of ASMR nor have I ever experienced it. I was convinced my answer was wrong. Oh well, more often I am sure I 'm right, only to find that I' m wrong .
@Vaer With the personal anecdote door now wide open, here's mine: 60 years ago, long before the ASMR acronym was coined, a nice 8-year-old girl who sat next to me in the third grade had more paste in her paste jar than I had in mine, and shared some. As she scraped the paste into my jar, I had the most wonderful, tingly feeling in the back of my neck and head. I was mesmerized, and later was able to re-create it with another friend out on the playground where we slowly rubbed sticks on the back of each other's hands. It was so memorable that, decades later, when a technology called web searching had been developed, I Googled it and found an article by or about the woman that first put the words autonomous sensory meridian response down on paper. That led to countless examples of stories from people who had experienced something very similar to my paste jar episode. Later would come the videos that are commonplace today. ASMR is a wonderful feeling when experienced, but very hard to conjure up on demand. It still amazes me that my initiation experience was so profound that I would remember it so many years later, when other details of the same period are blurry and forgotten.
I wasn’t impressed with the answer for “Tops of cups”. Call me a nit picker but the clue suggests that the answer is part of the cup. ‘Twould have been fairer, IMHO, to give the clue as “tops for cups”. As was Sam, I was new to the word PANCECREWS.
@Strudel Dad, Agree. ‘Twere it “Tops for cups”, ‘twould have been fairer. Alas and alack, misdirection finds its way to the Monday slot.
This was a nice palate cleanser after yesterday’s puzzle, which I only just finished. I learned from the comments that I wasn’t alone in my aggravation, but I wish I’d followed Andrzej’s path and just said no. There was no joy to be found there. This was a different story. Easy, sure. But enjoyable with a cute theme. Although I must note that there’s no crank on my salad spinner. I just put my hand on the big knob and slap it silly. (This can be very useful for venting your frustrations, like those that come from wasting precious minutes of your life on a puzzle that seems almost designed to annoy you.) Suddenly I’m feeling hungry for some salad.
@Heidi The tao of Andrzej? Speaking of - today's The Guardian has a feature on how influencers and FOMO have eradicated personal taste: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/14/have-i-been-influenced-personal-taste-out-of-fashion-algorithm?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/14/have-i-been-influenced-personal-taste-out-of-fashion-algorithm?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other</a> As an idiosyncratic eschewer of social media who knows himself very well and follows his own path in everything, I've been noticing and thinking about this very phenomenon a lot recently, and finding it depressing. Never before has it been as easy to embrace one's individuality, and yet people prefer to mindlessly follow self-styled influencers in stead... So if there is a tao of Andrzej, it is this: do whatever the phi you yourself enjoy, just make sure to do no harm along the way.
@Heidi I could not agree more on all levels! Including wanting a salad... I have really been craving a nice salad lately. But instead, we have a refrigerator full of Indian food, so, tragic though it is to eat a few days worth of oh so delicious Indian food, needs must! Apologies to the gods of crossword puzzles, we got naan and padimum, but alas, no roti.
Really enjoyed this puzzle, but after finishing I had to check my calendar to confirm that I hadn’t slept through to Tuesday.
Fun fact: EDAM is made backwards.
@Steve L Dame sideways
@Steve L Mead mixed.
@Steve L What happens if you make it forwards?
So I am always amazed at the commonplace things that are different in different people’s experiences. This is not meant to be a criticism, or condescension, just an observation. I go to Starbucks or any fast food restaurant, I get a cup of any drink, and there are a whole pile of lids waiting for me to put on top. It’s such a routine, ordinary part of my life that I don’t think twice about. And yet here I see a slew of commentators, from the US and elsewhere, for whom that term or usage is apparently completely alien. Just goes to show you how we need to be wary of interpreting other folks’ experiences in the context of our own. If there’s a swath of people who don’t connect with cups having lids, think about all the really important assumptions we make about others’ lives that are totally different than our own!
@SP I have had a cup of coffee in a heavy paper cup served to me exactly once (the Student Center at University of Arkansas in...2003?) and I didn't acquire (or require) a LID. All other cups of coffee (almost always at breakfast, or very occasionally after a fancy dinner at a restaurant --back when it did not keep me up all night--came in a china cup...without a LID (I wanted RIMS, of course, at 1A)
SP, Some LID resistance -- including that of our columnist -- seems to have been based on the clue reading [Tops of cups] rather than "tops ON cups."
@SP There are a billion Chinese who have a lid for their cup, to keep their tea hot. Funny how that never caught on everywhere else.
@SP Like @Sam, I put in LIPS before LIDS. I thought I was influenced by LAPS at 1-Down, but now I wonder if Barry's insight is right.
Ironic to see PETCAT on the day we are taking our dear Socks on his final trip to the vet.
@Bruce I’m sorry. That’s so hard. RIP Socks. :(
@Bruce Sorry for your loss. I'll bet Socks was a joy to you.
ASMR? Never heard that term and was convinced that must be where my solving erred. Apparently not. Is this an acronym some are familiar with? I consider myself pretty well read and fluent in English but this is a completely new one for me.
@Patrick - The term is familiar to anyone who spends too much time on YouTube (guilty). Probably TikTok also, but I avoid that platform.
@Patrick It is a video genre that got quite popular 10-15 years ago on YouTube, less so today as a lot of the good content is lost in the middle of mediocre or lewd videos. It is quite helpful to me when dealing with insomnia or racing thoughts.
@Patrick---- You can look this up on both Google and Wikipedia. There you will find everything you need to know.
@Patrick I never heard of that term either. The A was the last letter that finished the puzzle.
@Patrick I’ve heard of ASMR from videos on social media. I’m one of the small percentage that finds it incredibly stressful and irritating, not calming or warm and tingly at all. A lot of ads use it too, whispering, crinkling bags, just overbearing overwhelming sounds.
Sam, Tops of cups **are** lips. LIDS are tops **for** cups. Perhaps a little tricky for a Monday.
@Steve L Absolutely. I wrote LIPS and just left it. But since I don't care about streaks, it doesn't matter.
Well, I must be pretty good, because I just got the "You've solved 6,500,000 Mondays in a row!" pop-up. I don't know what my actual total is, because at one point I switched from a gift subscription to one in my own name. So the real total is somewhere above 6,500,000. If I live for 70 more years, I might set the record, although I won't be able to provide proof.
@Jeff Z 6,500,000 Mondays / (52 Mondays/yr) = 125,000 yr. Hope I'm still able to solve Monday puzzles at your age.
@Jeff Z My handly desktop adding machine tells me that you've been solving NYT crosswords for 125,000 years. Impressive.
Well that was a splendidly fun romp to start the week! And Eric, the thought of you wandering around cranking the air as you built the puzzle was a splendid lagniappe. 😊 Wishing all a fine week ahead!
This was probably the most enjoyable puzzle I have ever solved! Definitely number one in my books. As soon as I solved the revealer and looked at the themed clues, I had to laugh out loud. Funny, cute and overall enjoyable. A few times I had to guess on entries and ended up being wrong. Good thing when I do my puzzles in the paper that I use pencil! Great way to start my morning. I loved it loved it loved it!
This one was tough for a Monday, as I solved about 20% over my average time. Still, I admired the puzzle, especially some of the clever clues: 17A, “Device that helps you make a point in class” for PENCIL SHARPENER; 27A, “Toy likely to be found in a pop-up store?” for JACK-IN-THE-BOX; 8D, “ Soul from Seoul” for KIA. I did know what ASMR was only because last year the White House posted a video of handcuffed immigrants being loaded onto a plane in which the only sound was the clinking of chains and they labeled it as “ASMR.” Since I didn’t then know what that meant I looked it up.
@Joe To be clear, I found the WH video disgusting.
@Joe ASMR seems like an unnecessarily technical term for "that vibe." But hey, some academic decided we needed such a term...I will not be using it.
Either that was the hardest Monday I've ever solved, or my wits have dulled to the point where even a pencil sharpener would not avail me. Possibly both. P.S. I don't drink coffee. I think it's gross. Any clue requiring that I know the shape of a coffee bean discriminates against abstainers like me. I assure the puzzle composer, the editors, and the New York Times that my lawsuit is being filed even as we speak. The subpoenas may take a while to arrive, I'm having a very slow Monday...
@Asher B. Finally, a kindred spirit. I don't think coffee is gross. I love coffee. But I can't have it because the caffeine in it keeps me awake. I've also given up chocolate. And I am a total chocoholic. It breaks my heart. I'm sure that the many commenters here who say they can't get started on the puzzle in the morning without their cup of Joe realize that that is a sign of their addiction. Their brains are now programmed to get the extra stimulants the caffeine provides. If they skip the cup, they feel drowsy. They may even get a "withdrawal headache." A cup of the good stuff cures the headache--until tomorrow. The NYT article referred to today in the comments about people's relationships to the crossword "streaks" rings true with coffee. Coffee lovers can have the same liberating feeling if they give up their addiction as some puzzlers have when they forget about their streaks!! <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/crosswords/streaks-breaking-keeping.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/crosswords/streaks-breaking-keeping.html?searchResultPosition=1</a>
Really enjoyed solving this one. Low level of trivia which is always good.
Can a dog owner please enlighten me: when would you command your pooch to SHAKE? From my childhood memories of dog commands, it was much more likely to be “Don’t shake!!!🫣😜😭” as the sopping dog emerged from a river, canal, lake or — very occasionally — bath, and joyously unleashed its cargo of water 💦 …
@Petrol It's shake hands, of sorts. Where the dog puts their paw in the person's hand. Not shaking their wet body.
@Petrol I was wondering that, too! Thanks @HeathieJ - apparently your lingo is different than ours: the Polish command is "łapa!": "[give me your] paw!" In Polish we don't shake hands, we give one another our hands (podajemy sobie ręce).
@Petrol Indeed. The double coated resident Shiba erupts like the Trevi fountain post bath. As for asking him to SHAKE paws, the resulting scream would rattle windows; Shibas do NOT like their front paws touched at all.
@Petrol Shake is a "trick" of sorts that you teach your dog. Also Sit, Down, Stay, Come, Heal, Roll Over, etc.
Good fun. ASMR was today's post-solve look up. Our constructor's reference to "crank to start" Model T's brought back the memory of using agricultural equipment that was started with a crank. I was taught from the beginning not to wrap the thumb around the crank in case the engine kicked back, which would tend to remove the thumb from the hand.
@John Carson On my grandfather's diesel tractor, there was both a diesel engine and and a small gas engine. You started the gas engine first with a hand crank. After it ran a while, it warmed up the diesel engine enough that it would start from the batteries. You then shut down the gas engine.
I always thought the A of P.T.A. stood for ASMR - because the parents and teachers get that warm, tingly feeling helping the kids. But what do I know - I’ve always thought the SPLEEN is shaped like a BEET.
My mother - born in 1933 - was a spark, always dramatic. All her life, her “hand flourish” when telling a telephone-related story (to the tune of “So I got on the wires and called up Mary to share the news!”) involved holding her left hand to her ear, while rapidly cranking her right hand in a small circle. My siblings and I still use it in loving memory and for the laugh, and explain to *our* grandchildren about old magneto phones that we have only seen in pictures or museums.
@JohnWM Our children will be telling their children stories of their parents who put a thumb to their ear and their pinky to their mouth to indicate talking on a phone.
@The X-Phile Call Me, Maybe? <a href="https://youtu.be/YPIA7mpm1wU?si=cy-oEieJCPwNLHeN" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/YPIA7mpm1wU?si=cy-oEieJCPwNLHeN</a>
Well, SOMEBODYSCRANKY (that would be me).
5D is a bit of a stretch… that’s not a standard function of the spleen except during fetal development and in disease states, so doesn’t make sense for a Monday puzzle!
@Kristin Yeah I didn’t want to nit about it, because if you look it up that’s what it says; but as a doctor it is pretty misleading; and of course you can live without a SPLEEN and produce plenty of white blood cells just fine.
SP, As a doctor it might be misleading. As crossword constructor, you know that -- even on Mondays -- a clue need not identify a primary function of the answer. Wayne, They're both oval-shaped, right? This is the crossword, not CME!
Way too hard for Monday. Monday is supposed to be an easy puzzle. This was maybe Wednesday difficulty. Some very obscure clues. Enough already. This has happened before. You don't have to show off so-called cleverness on Monday puzzles.
@pkimmel I'll disagree. Seemed a Monday Monday to me; in fact my time was under my Monday average. Strokes/folks
Very enjoyable, and mostly straightforward but a few puzzlers - ASMR? and had no idea what hip hop performers were, not helped by rims instead of lids. I had halos instead of 'auras' and couldn't see how the car clue would fit in. (How can I keep forgetting it's AUTO not 'car'?) By the way, re another post - why would a small child not know what an eraser (yes, I know now it's not a rubber) was? I still tutor children after school and they definitely use pencils and ... erasers.
@Jane Wheelaghan, ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. (Wonder why they abbreviate it??). Some people find ASMR either relaxing or stimulating/tingling (like hairs on the back of the neck). And occurs (for some) to stimuli such as whispers, soft clicking (fingernails tapping on hard surface), and things like crinkling of paper or plastic. Interestingly, it ties to the earlier answer, ADHD, in that ASMR can provide focus to some people with ADHD. Google ASMR and you can find loads of audio examples, some of which boarder on unusual 😊
@Jane Wheelaghan, Also, notice the symmetrical positions of the two answers in the grid. Nicely done by the constructor.
@Jane Wheelaghan I think that the child in the other post was only five years old. My kids would have known the components of a pencil by that age, but maybe not everyone’s child does.
Enjoyable Monday; slow start for me, but everything fell together from working the crosses. And thought the reveal was cute and clever. And my puzzle find today - a Tuesday from June 29, 2021 by Alan Arbesfeld. Theme answers in that one (with 'literally' at the end of each clue): THEJACKBOX THENIPBUD THEBEWAY THEUPAIR THEPIESKY THEBACKDAY Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/29/2021&h=17a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/29/2021&h=17a</a> .....
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, and one more puzzle find. This one quite in the vicinity of dad jokes. A Sunday from September 17, 2000 by Nelson Hardy with the title: "Wash your step!" Some theme answers: SHEEPTRICK FISHANDSHIPS MUSICALSHARES SABRINATHETEENAGEWISH SHOPPINGBLOCK SHEIKTOSHEIK CASHPHRASE Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/17/2000&h=111a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/17/2000&h=111a</a> I'm done. ...
Really fun and easy game...until... 1A My too-fast answer was rImS... and it stayed there throughout the game until I didn't get the happy music. What? I read my filled in squares over from bottom to top, since I usually err towards the bottom in my rush to finish. That's when I realized the NW made no sense at all. LIDS, of course, solved that easily. So much for being a smarty pants. I'm sure you are all smarter than I am, so I will go hop in the shower and off to my shift at the ER, and I'll check in on comments during the slow times. If there are any. Solve on!
@Marlene Hope it's a slow day for ya🤕
Super fun puzzle! Theme was cute; clues were fresh; and, yes, I got hung up on LIPS and PANCECREW. A bit of a challenge for a Monday, which is fine by me. Somebody might be cranky, but it's not me. Thank you!
This was a little tricky and punny for a Monday, but quite enjoyable in the end.
I admit it's clever, but it IS a Monday puzzle and now I'm wondering if I’ll feel stupid all week.🤔
And we’re back to Monday. PHEW. Nobody should be cranky on a Monday. ASMR was new to me. Wish we had more straightforward entries today like we had yesterday. ; )