Fabulous puzzle today. I’m a sucker for twin clues and they don’t get any better than ASTRONOMER and MIXOLOGIST. Not to mention CZAR and CEO. Lots of other witty clues, included MEWS and FRATS which shows that just because an entry is short (or even “Monday” level) doesn’t mean it can’t have a clever clue. ELECTRODYNAMICS was also a winner. The NE also gave me a turn. CIA, FBI, TSA, FAA? BEEP before BZZT? RATE or RAZE? TSAR or CZAR? EXTRA LARGE PASTAS are also topped, although I did question they weren’t a usual restaurant order. What fun sorting it out and certainly no ZZZ. Kudos for circumventing the nitpickers who don’t believe in LEGOS. PANOPTICON is a great example of a fresh entry that even if you don’t know (I didn’t) you could suss it out. Finally, gotta say I’ve heard of being born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but a ROYALFORK would be even better. And another silenced constructor, seriously has something changed about that? Maybe Sean can comment, usually the columnist requests constructor comments a few weeks before they are published, usually more than enough time.
@SP Could not agree more! Did you, like moi, toss in a little cussing with your sussing? 😉 p.s. Your posts are AOK here OUT WEST!
@SP, to your last point, not every constructor chooses to publish notes or thoughts, I imagine it's a matter of choice. I looked at Spencer Leach's past puzzles on xwordinfo, curious as to whether they had chosen to comment on previous puzzles and found they did in four of eight. That's at xwi, not sure about the Wordplay columns. But what I gleaned from Spencer's comments and Joel Fagliano's comments, is that Spencer was an engineering student at Virginia Tech, that Fagliano refers consistently to Spencer as "they," that Spencer likes pickleball more than tennis (Spencer, if you come to Pittsburgh, I'll do everything in my power to convince you to change your mind about that), that they participate in the crossword discord community, collaborate with others, and seems like an all round class act. Spencer, I hope you got a job after you graduated!
@SP Agreed. 10-letter words, side by side, with the same clue? Kinda brilliant!
@SP Others have already answered, but I'll confirm that constructor notes are optional! Glad you enjoyed the puzzle, and great point about MEWS and FRATS.
First comment ever to say I loved this one! 17 min for me - I am not the best so I’m proud. Felt especially nice that my chess knowledge was useful somewhere. I do poorly with sports and actors. Thought the restaurant topping clue was very clever.
@James E Glad you made your first comment. Seventeen minutes is considerably faster than me. I thought I was going to ace the chess clue. I knew it was a fork, but I don't think I'd ever heard of a "royal" fork.
@James E You beat me today too. Don’t be shy, come back to the party again!
@James E Welcome to the party! Glad you liked the puzzle
The similarity of an extra large pizza to a panopticon got me thinking back to Foucault's "Discipline and Punish" and to Bentham, who thought up the idea of the panopticon in the late 18th century and became so embittered at the English government's rejection of this idea that he began to think in terms of "sinister interest" -- the vested interests of the powerful ruling class that are opposed to the general interests of the state which they rule (Bentham would have had something to say about the current admin). Foucault, way before the internet, foresaw the panopticon surveillance state world we now live in, and how we internalize such surveillance: "He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection." The power works not because someone is always watching, but because the inmate cannot know whether he is being watched at any given moment, and so we assume we are, and our actions and behaviors change, since we no longer have any privacy... Foucault is explicit that the panopticon is not just a prison design — it is a diagram of power, applicable to schools, hospitals, factories, asylums states. He calls it a "political technology" that can be used in prisons, across continents. Beyond that, loved the puzzle!!
@john ezra You reminded me of the wonderful book Foucault’s Pendulum, worth a read (I might reread it, I forgot everything about it except I liked it).
@john ezra Man. When I read comments like this. I realize how little I have in common with the typical NYT reader except crosswords. Don’t get it twisted. That was a really cool read. But yikes. That was heavy. Conceptually heavy. But I appreciate reading it. That’s for writing it. I never read animal farm? Or was it 1982/4? But wasn’t big brother basically this concept? I could look up the answer. But I’m sure the reply here will be much more interesting.
@john ezra Prison + pizza = Deep pan opticon?
@John ezra Thank you. Very interesting.
@john ezra It's for comments like this, that I read the comments. I like learning new things from people who are so much smarter and better educated than I am. John Ezra, SP, and so many others constantly expand my horizons in ways I wouold never have expected. Thanks to all who contribute thoughtful, well reasoned comments.
@john ezra - Absolutely great comment! I happened to sit in on a class a few years ago where the instructor talked about the concept of a panopticon at length. Hey - maybe you were that instructor!
@john ezra Mad respect for your analysis of Foucault, but you'll have to explain to me how you see "the similarity of an extra large pizza to a panopticon."
@john ezra that was fascinating but what does it have to do with XL pizza?
Appreciate everyone’s response to my informal poll yesterday (yeah I could do Survey Monkey, but was just looking for a general idea). It was helpful. I’ve had a bit of an epiphany. You know, believe it or not, I don’t comment just to get upvotes or show some self-importance; I really am trying to helpful to the community and there are lots of ways to do that: 1. Give praise or constructive criticism to the constructor in the hopes that it will inspire or improve future puzzles—they do read them, I’m sure 2. Ask questions—which is helpful because you are probably not the only one with the same question 3. Answer questions about specific clues or entries, or provide further information about them 4. Connect aspects of the puzzle with your own life or experience; this helps unite us as human beings and a community, and might inspire someone to try to learn or experience something they haven’t 5. Tell a joke and make someone smile (or perhaps groan in my case) 6. Perhaps, advocate to the editors (if they read them or pay attention, which is by no means a given) for the community on behalf of a certain challenge level I’m beginning to realize the last is probably the least helpful and representative of the community as a whole and the most subjective, variable, and prone to misunderstanding or offense, so I’m really going to try to avoid that in the future. I appreciate everyone’s feedback!
Noneofbizniz, (1) SP didn't construct or edit the puzzle. (2) JFK is as airport code; per NYT style, which clues but not answers follow, the former president would be J.F.K.
@SP You forgot one. 7. Bring politics up as often as possible. People love that. (Oh, dang, that hurts. I just bit both my tongue AND my cheek.)
@SP - thanks for your comment about advocating to the editors. I agree that it is the least helpful. If someone wants to reach the editor, they can write directly to the editor. "Too easy" and "too hard" aren't useful.
BZZT? Felt a bit bogus, that one.
@Lori Not at all; it is imitating the sound of a buzzer used in game shows or other places to indicate a wrong answer, and when spoken is a snarky way to tell someone they're wrong.
@Lori As a connoisseur of graphic novels (a.k.a. Comic Book Guy), I can assure you BZZT is indeed a word. It's onomatopoeia for a buzzing sound, often seen when a character gets an electric shock. On a related note, I always try to enter every onomatopoeia I've ever seen into the Spelling Bee. It frustratingly refuses to accept perfectly cromulent words like "plip" or "glorp."
EXTRA LARGE PIZZA went out of the house when my wife was diagnosed with Celiac, but I enjoyed it in the grid. There was no AGONY, and I found nothing TRIVIAL. The 2D/3D clue pair was fun but (or is that "and") easy; some of the other clues are NOT YET RATED, but to my taste they skewed Easy Mode. Thanks for the answers, Spencer; MAY I have tougher clues next time?
@Barry Ancona One restaurant here has excellent gluten free cauliflower crust pizzas, but of course, they don't come in the "Extra Large" size! And most of the clues were just the right speed for me. I only needed four cheats (but I managed without "Easy Mode" clues, got too impatient to wait until the morning.)
@Barry Ancona There are some excellent gluten free pizza options. My favorites tend to be cauliflower crust. Although if you’ve learned to do without, you’re probably better off.
@Barry Ancona Be grateful for the ubiquity of quality slice shops in New York. It's hard to get pizza by the slice in the rest of the country.
Joan and Heidi, My wife wasn't impressed with GF pizza (home or out). I do cook at home with GF pastas. The X-Phile, I have a decent slice shop one block away, and if my wife is not home for dinner, I sometimes have a small Bayou Beast delivered from Two Boots.
Sometimes what makes an answer special is that it simply looks gorgeous in the grid. For me, there were four today: • ELECTRODYNAMICS sweeping across the box. Mwah! It was also given the terrific clue [Current affairs?] which not only plays on a common phrase, but its question mark made me wonder if “current” or “affairs” was being played on, making it a brain-pleaser. • PANOPTICON – Never heard of it, but that doesn’t diminish its beauty, and it’s fun to say. • EXTRA LARGE PIZZA extra largely spanning the grid. • ROYAL FORK – Never heard of this either, but I don’t care. It looks terrific. It also had me picturing grand-looking eating utensils that royals might use. Cleverness elevates a grid, indeed, and your puzzle had much of it, Spencer, but beauty can make it sing, and sing your puzzle did today. Thank you for this!
@Lewis if you ever visit Philadelphia be sure to make time for Eastern State Penitentiary. It’s a weird and scary testament to good intentions gone awry. And you’ll have a good visual for PANOPTICON.
@Lewis Ain't it the truth! The fantastic skullduggery, slights and spells were amazing, and caused mucho cussin' and head-scratching - but it solved just as nice and neat as your great post encapsulating the edification! (Ut ex more, omnia recte)
@Joe Oh yes, I toured Eastern State Pen several years ago, on a sate actually. (We also took in the Mutter Museum.) Definitely a weird and creepy place, but an interesting design concept. They also made a big deal of the fact that Al Capone had been an inmate.
I never knew those things were called brads, I just know them as "brass fasteners". I just know a brad as a little nail without much of a head, but the Internet says the word can refer to either.
@J-J Cote They're right up there in the museum of dusty office supplies . . . brads, typewriter ribbon, carbon paper, NCR forms, pink "while you were out" pads, DYMO embossing label makers . . .
HOUSEOFPAIN now etched in my puzzle solving saddlebags, hovering over a pile of steaming hot OREO cakesters and discarded EMO cds. Spencer Leach provides a grid that, in the modern age of NYT crossword puzzles, proves "It's not what you know, it's how long you're willing to work and discover what you don't know!" 😉 Took all my gumption to git er done, with just some alphabetical guesswork, and letter bingo in that lower right corner. Heck yeah, took it on the CHIN. Owie and many UEYS. Glad to ride off into the sunset (using my own transport), spurs a'jangling, happy to say, "PHEW!" done! No ELECTROLUX, JUKEBOX, FRETWORK, FRATBOYS, R-RATED CUSS WORDS (OKSO mebbe a few) or TRAM rides required. Hey, did somebody say weekend? Have fun, amigos!
@Whoa Nellie One flew east. One flew west. Who flew over the cuckoo's nest?
I had trouble finding a way in. But once I did, it was really enjoyable peeling back the long entries. Each one was a treat. Nice Friday!
Anyone else start with JFK’s hectic time as “Cuba”?
This solve felt just like this soccer match. It started off looking like it was going to be a rout, but the SE fought back like Turkiye.
@Striker That ending. Oof. They just wanted it more. Of no consequence. I know. But still…
I loved how Mr. Leach, or an editor, trolled us all with 55A. Don't tell me he wasn't paying attention to all those LEGOS complaints.
Great puzzle today. I particularly liked "Expert on Cosmos" (MIXOLOGIST) and "Expert on the Cosmos" (ASTRONOMER) right next to each other. A lot of great Aha clues in general. For some reason I thought Jump Around was Cypress Hill so that confused me for a while until I got more of the crossing clues. TRIVIAL for Mickey Mouse, ELECTRODYNAMICS for "Current affairs" when I started out with ELECT and thought it was going to be ELECTION. The last part I got was actually TOTED. I was thinking MOVED then couldn't figure out what HOVEL and MAILORTO meant, I've never heard of that definition of TOTED. Also I had PANOPTICAL for a while instead of PANOPTICON while made that corner tough.
@Chris fwiw Cypress Hill sometimes does a cover of Jump Around when they play live
@Chris You're from Boston and you thought Jump Around was Cypress Hill? Incredible. Watch the video.
@Christo To schlep means to carry something (heavy) around. Tote means to carry, too, though not with the implication of something heavy (I actually tend to think of in relation to lightweight things, but not sure if that’s just me) — close enough for me
I liked this puzzle a lot, and thought some clues (like "Copy cat" for MEW) were outstanding. It took me a ridiculously long time to see that the obviously wrong BZZz (since who razes a film trailer?) should be BZZT. But all's well that ends well.
Speedy Friday for me, I’ve been doing the archives from 2021 and every single themeless puzzle stumps me. Feels good to get an ego boost once in a while.
@Wade H Same here! I’ve been going back in time, day by day and have made it back to 2015 so far. The themeless are always such a challenge.
@Wade H I'm back as far as 2014. On the other hand, I just hit 2000!! I wonder if I can make 2500???
Did you know that EXTRALARGE and everything have the same number of letters? Obvious in retrospect, but fortunately it didn't slow me down too much. I remember the summer day--it was a Saturday or Sunday--when I had a good streak going, and there were so many impossible clues (for me) that I had to accept defeat. I've been trying to get back there in the four or so years since then, and today I finally tied my longest streak. Fun puzzle.
oh that was crunchy! i had to pause while my brain figured out some answers, and then return to fill in the missing bits ~ the southeast corner troubled me, but i persevered as my beloved father always said, "struggle in adversity, finish in style" happy friday, everyone ~ make good choices!
If you ever find yourself in a ROYALFORK playing chess, you're probably royally forked... As others mentioned, my first thought for 1A was an abbreviation of Bay of Pigs. My second thought was XMAS. My third thought was that XMAS day is actually one of quietest airport travel days, the day or two before our after being far busier. My fourth thought was that the clue said hectic time, not hectic day. Very smooth sailing until I got stuck in the NE. Almost blanked there until I decided to stick in BRB and see what happened. Worked pretty well from there
Having been to many a Waffle House in my time, when I saw [Biggest restaurant size that nevertheless is often topped?] I confidently entered TRIPLE HASHBROWN. Still a bit disappointed that wasn't the answer, but a fun puzzle nonetheless.
@Nathan Smothered, covered, chunked, diced, extra crispy,... but rarely "topped" for me. Your culinary experience may vary.
Well, typical tough Friday for me with more than a couple of answers that were never, ever going to dawn on me just from the clues. Actually cheated a bit to get through it. Probably shouldn't count it. And, puzzle finds today. A couple that were unusually similar. First - a Tuesday from April 18, 2000 by Myles Callum. Some theme answers: IMOUTTAHERE SEEYALATER ADIOSAMIGO BYEBYEBABY And... a Monday from December 16, 2013 by Greg Johnson. Theme answers in that one: SEEYALATER ARRIVEDERCI HASTALUEGO GOODBYE I'm outta here. See you later alligator. ....
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, and one more puzzle find. This one quite unusual. A Thursday from April 16, 2015 by Joe Krozel and Peter A. Collins. One pair of answers that were placed symmetrically opposite each other top to bottom. BACKWARD DRAWKCAB And another pair of symmetrically placed answers top to bottom. YOUGOYOURWAY ENIMOGLLIDNA And some other answers on the bottom half: IKAHK (khaki) ENAL (lane) AJED (deja) LERUAL (laurel) RUOCS (scour) And there were more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/16/2015&h=11d" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/16/2015&h=11d</a> .....
My first thought on "expert on cosmos" was something to do with gardening...
Loved this puzzle, challenging but very doable once I found a few entrances. So funny to see a famous Australian TV ad for taco kits get a mention in the column from Sean too, as that is exactly how I knew LOS DOS also - the ad is very famous here in Australia (at least with people of my generation, who quote it often, as we grew up with it as kids), but I didn’t know it was famous in the US too. I also learned EDGECASES, I loved BZZT, and XMAS at JFK made me think of Home Alone, which is always a good thing. Thanks Spencer, fantastic puzzle! ADIOS AMIGOS!
These clever clues should satisfy some of the Commentariat who felt like things were getting too soft! I started with TRIVIAL (ha ha' Mickey Mouse' has been one of my fave terms of disparagement) and was thereafter alert for misdirection and trickery--so much so that at one point I took SONARS out until the 2D and 3D Pros changed my tune. RAN ...low? out? Vacillated?...WAFFLEratsD Enjoyed this solve so much!
@Mean Old Lady WAFFLEratsD is a mood. I've been there XD
While there were a lot of clues I got without any problem, I thought there were some difficult areas in this fine puzzle. My last correction was PeNOPTICON. Fortunately my habit of trying focussing on vowel similarities kicked in at just the right moment. PAN made so much more sense, but only after I saw it. (I also toyed with monstrosities like "penoctagon".) Before that I ran the alphabet with the first letter of SANSEI, to no avail (because of PeNOPTICON). So here's at least one solver who *usually* gets weekend puzzles, who was nearly tripped up, and so would be remiss to put it in a "too easy" category. Then again, I think I need more time to become a seasoned solver. Maybe the next time Hale-Bopp comes around.
@Francis When I saw the clue, I could picture the prison with the tower in the middle, but couldn’t recall the name until I had several letters. A good knowledge of Latin roots helped.
@Francis Hey, does that mean your official NYT response to missing a little salt and spice in your solving is . . . "No comet" 😉 (Hale, maybe somebody bopped me on the head when I was just a small critter!)
Turtle Power! BZZT, wrong mutants. MAY I have a Cosmo with that EXTRA LARGE PIZZA? There was no dwelling in the weekend HOUSE OF PAIN with this one. How did i know DAT? Plus, I knew another golfer. So as I ride off into the sunrise, I leave you with a ROYAL Scam. ADIOS AMIGOs. <a href="https://youtu.be/4IU1ZdDfXTY?si=74nqSNSVFMKGg-pJ" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/4IU1ZdDfXTY?si=74nqSNSVFMKGg-pJ</a>
This puzzle gave me a nice workout. The NE corner gave me fits until I stumbled upon EXTRALARGEPIZZA. The Zs gave away the game. In the end I had to run the alphabet to get the SANSEI LOSDOS cross. I am an amateur MIXOLOGIST and enjoy making cocktails for guests, and have a wide repertoire of classic libations. But, alas, all anyone ever asks for is a cosmo. Anita ODAY crops up from time to time in puzzles (almost as often as Olay), and I sometimes think that’s the only way her memory stays alive. Overshadowed by other crossword staple, Ella Fitzgerald, she’s the forgotten voice of jazz singing and well worth a listen.
@Marshall Walthew O'Day was one of the hippest of the swing-band 'girl singers'--Gene Krupa's and Stan Kenton's bands--and among the first jazz singers to embrace the modernist bebop style.
Oh, and one more puzzle find. Quite unusual - a Sunday from January 14, 2001 by the great Nancy Salomon with the title: "Post Holiday Blues." Theme answers - in order: TWASTHREEWEEKS AFTERCHRISTMASANDALL THROUGHTHEHOUSE NOTASINGLETHINGFITME NOTEVENABLOUSE Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/14/2001&h=26a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/14/2001&h=26a</a> ...
This was PDQ, but in many, many years of solving, I’m not sure I ever had this much fun. Doggo was also pleased, as he got an extra-long celebratory walk today. Town’s a-hoppin’ with World Cup Fever!
@kkseattle we were in Seattle Sunday to Monday this past weekend. I hadn’t been there since 1998, so it was great to get back for a visit. Our daughter hadn’t been to Washington yet, so she got to check it off of her 50 states list. We got to watch the tail end of the New Zealand v Egypt game at the Seattle Center on Sunday. She got to go to one of the last of the OG Starbucks at Pike Place Market which was a highlight for her.
I know this was statistically "easy" for a Friday, and indeed has been my fastest Friday so far, but I loved it, not because of my time, but because it had my kind of topics: physics, chess, mixology, legos, prison architecture... :-) all those were gimmes. The one exception among the longer entries was the one about rap, which will always be one of my weak spots.
Speaking of twin clues, I once made a puzzle with MANOWAR right next to OLDNAVY which I both clued as “Flagship brand?” Never got published but that was a fun coincidence.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was taking a big roadtrip to complete my 50 states visits. Today the Mini grid included IDAHO [State that’s home to Shoshone Falls]. I didn’t get to visit Shoshone Falls, but I did spend two glorious days in Coeur d’Alane. We left Idaho yesterday and made our way to Cody, Wyoming Next in the Midi grid OLD “Faithful” was included. I happened to drive the South loop of Yellowstone yesterday and saw Old Faithful in all of her glory. It was truly awesome to experience it in person. The 50th state will happen on Monday… As for the Main grid today, I loved it. The spinners and long entries like the side by side cosmo clues were chef’s kiss. I plugged in BZZT and BRAD without a second thought. I remembered using brads in elementary school to hold reports together and I could just picture saying bzzt out loud to someone who gave a wrong answer 😆. I just might have to add HOUSE OF PAIN’s Jump Around to our roadtrip playlist! My only correction I had to make at the end was changing HARDmAx to HARDCAP. Great grid, Spencer!
@Jacqui J Have a fun and safe trip! And thanks for a few of the puzzle answers that were very helpful.
@Jacqui Jo Congrats on achieving your goal! [Might check the spelling on 'Coeur d'Alane' (sic) ] My family was living on Oahu when Statehood was declared for Hawaii (delayed officially so that Alaska was 49th, and Hawaii was 50th.) My dad, an Artillery officer, was in charge of the 50-gun salute on the grounds of Iolani Palace. I was in 6th and 7th grades during our time there...
Hey anyone heard from Andrjez? Just want to make sure he’s ok.
@SP I've been wondering, too. He disappeared after someone was rude to him a bit ago.
@SP Before he stopped posting he said he'd be traveling on vacation for some weeks and I believe he also said he goes offline during vacations.
This puzzle was hopeless for me. What on earth is BZZT; I had BUZZ. CZAR, not an acting or performing word, is an odd answer to "Top banana" -- usually associated with performance listings. I had stAR. Did any of you? I wouldn't know a PANOPTICON if one fell on top of me. Because I had ELECTRIC something-or-other and not ELECTRO, I couldn't get ROYAL FORK which I never heard of. I guessed HOUSE OF PAIN, for all the good it did me. I didn't know WAYMO. I wondered whether asexual offspring would be CLONES or CLONED -- I never thought of CLONAL. And so it went. I didn't dislike the puzzle, but I had to stop because I wasn't getting anywhere. Very tough Friday, I thought.
@Nancy Most of us have puzzles like that, where one just can't get any traction. I certainly do. It's frustrating, but tomorrow there's another puzzle. To answer your BZZT question: think of the game show buzzer sound in response to a wrong answer. It's a colloquially used word with a trailing exclamation point and fair game as clued. When I read the clue for PANOPTICON, I was picturing the prison arrangement and knew there was a word for that but had no idea what it was. I needed the crosses to get that one.
@Nancy Czar is used in the US government to denote a top advisor to the president in a field, like immigration czar or economics czar.
@Nancy if you're British, it's the equivalent of the word Klaxon, which, I think? most Americans aren't familiar with
CYPRESSHILL has the same letter count as HOUSEOFPAIN. Ask me how I know. But ch isn't much of a synonym for jump.
Nice Friday, not Mickey Mouse at all.
I didn’t see any constructor notes. But there is no way 2 and 3 down weren’t the seed entries. Fun. I am ‘mad’ at myself for how long this took me. I couldn’t fit the life in me figure out what was EXTRALARGE. I spent too much time in that tiny NE corner. Even though I had BRB and BRAD! I had fries. But are fries usually topped? Are chili cheese fries that popular? Then I had sodA. because drinks come with lids, right? But extra large [d] [r] ? That cartoon dad worked for the NSA? TSA? Finally. Finally. I figured it out. I will forever confused “jump around” with “insane in the membrane”. But cypress hill (cy) doesn’t mean jump. Same number of letters! A fair Friday (for 2026) I think.
@Weak I am saddened, but not surprised, to see that most found this puzzle to be a grid with MICKEYMOUSE cluing. I’m not in a “house of pain” or AGONY. But I wouldn’t mind a visit from a MIXOLOGIST right about now.
Nice puzzle, a bit too light for the day. Took 1/3 the time of an average Friday solve.
@Dan Same here. Not quite a PB but only thirty seconds off of it.
Great, now I have Jump Around stuck in my head. All kidding aside, things went pretty smoothly. I had fun!
Mixed feelings about this one. Some very interesting long entries. And "Copy cats?" for MEW made me smile. Solved without assistance in just shy of 23 minutes. Too many Monday-level clues here to make this appropriately challenging (for me) as a Friday puzzle. When your four-worder needs to end with ZT---well I guess you're stuck with BZZT. Oh well. Been playing chess for more than half a century. Don't think I've heard or read ROYALFORK. Filled it in instantly, but it seems alien to me. I'm sure it's used ... just not terminology I can recall meeting. New to me were HOUSEOFPAIN and SANSEI, and any connection between "two-pronged" and BRAD. But these were all easily figured out from the crosses, and I learned some new things as well. All in all, a fine themeless puzzle that, unfortunately, felt like it had been MICKEY MOUSEd by the editorial team.
@Xword Junkie At least we agree about BZZT.
Nice Friday puzzle. I struggled to get a foothold in the North, and ended up solving from the bottom up. On the value of an education in philosophy: my knowledge of 19th-century Utilitarian Jeremy Bentham allowed me to plop in PANOPTICON without any crosses. (Foucault's critique of this invention in "Discipline and Punish" is also worth reading.) I especially liked the FRET/FRATS crossing. Not only amusing closeness of the words, but both were extremely well-clued. I got EXTRA LARGE... but had difficultly figuring what was "topped". Remembering our recent kerfuffle about LIDS on coffee cups, I thought the topper might be on some drink, but was happy to grab a slice at the end (even though BZZT?). A nice Friday puzzler. Thanks, Spencer Leach!
@The X-Phile In addition to having similar reactions to BZZT, I also thought of "topped" as lidded. EXTRALARGEPEPSI??? Just out of curiosity---and not a complaint about the clue---doesn't "schlepping" typically connote more effort than mere "toting"? I mean, no one would say "gun-schlepping assailant", for example. ;-)
@The X-Phile BZZT was one of my faves. I tried BUZZ first but BZZT just feels better for the clue. Anecdotally it sees enough usage that it came to mind for me without too much effort.
Since when is a BRAD a two- pronged fastener?!
@Catherine Besides being a mail, it’s a paper clip. I looked it up when I saw nothing else fit.
@Catherine <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fastener-AJulyBee-Fasteners-Decorative-Scrapbooking/dp/B08MPRHKP6?th=1" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/Fastener-AJulyBee-Fasteners-Decorative-Scrapbooking/dp/B08MPRHKP6?th=1</a>
@The X-Phile Machete does not scrapbook. He does, however, have two BRAD nailers and an air compressor.
@Catherine - The BRADs I use are not, and I have to assume the BRADs you use are not, but that doesn't mean there are not BRADs out there with two prongs.
@Catherine oh I’m so glad someone said this. That was almost the last thing I put in, because I used to help my dad nail brads in and they were not two-pronged. Maybe there are two kinds of brads but Merriam-Webster backs me up.
I didn't know the rap trio HOUSE OF PAIN, but it reminded me of the Police song "King of Pain": <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFN5DveQH0o" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFN5DveQH0o</a> And Weird Al's parody of it, "King of Suede": <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fipP_KumxGA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fipP_KumxGA</a> (which in my delusional memory was entitled "House of Suede".
Conversation with my sister, last summer: "What are you drinking?" "A Cape Codder." "What's in it?" "Vodka and cranberry juice, with a dash of lime juice." "Oh, you mean a Cosmo?" "I am *not* drinking a Cosmo!" Nice (almost) double clues there, BTW. I enjoy those.
@Grant, in your defense, cosmos typically also have Cointreau or triple sec.
Hey! I managed to wiggle my way in the puzzle (kind of). Like everyone here I really loved the duplicate clues involving "cosmos". And here *I* am an amateur astronomer (and I have the relatively expensive telescopes to prove it, even if I don't get out as much as I used to) AND an amateur mixologist. I plunked my money down and took a course from the Minnesota School of Bartending. Mostly it was just for fun, and it was a great break from the woes of software development. I've forgotten the many, many drinks I memorized.
@Francis Do they only teach you how to mix / pour the drinks? Because if there is an elective course on tossing bottles behind your back and spinning them around as you pour. You should take that class. Maybe there is a section on using smoke to enhance? The use of egg whites. And other crazy ‘next level’ libations.
A NOR gate is on when either input is off. Therefore this clue should not have the word ‘only’ or should read ‘…that is off only when both inputs are on’. This coming from my software engineer husband who always helps me with the techy vocab. He got quite heated:)
@Ashley Seems like they are semantically the same. If it’s on if and only if both inputs are off, the “only on” seems appropriate—that’s the only time it is on.
@Ashley NOR <--> NOT OR OR 0 0 --> 0 0 1 --> 1 1 0 --> 1 1 1 --> 1 NOR <--> NOT OR 0 0 --> 1 0 1 --> 0 1 0 --> 0 1 1 --> 0 So a NOR gate is *only* on when both inputs are off, i.e. when neither input is on. The clue seems fine to me.
@Ashley When either is off, it could be the other one = or. If both are off, it’s neither the one or the other one =nor.
Ashley, Your first sentence is incorrect, and it contradicts how you quote your husband in the second sentence. A NOR gate is on only when both inputs are off, which (as SP points out) is the same thing as saying when neither input is on.
@Ashley 'that is off only when both inputs are on’. That would be a NAND gate. Your husband was probably mixing it up with XOR (eXclusive OR), which means exactly one has to be on.