{Chorus, orange, finish} COLOR INSIDE THE LINES
@Lewis {Ross, fair, Chandler} Just among friends
@Richard @Lewis [Rachel, SNAP, Joey] FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
Super easy puzzle, cute theme, but I stopped by entirely to praise the brilliance of "What has flatter feet?" A terrific, innovative way to clue one of the crustiest and commonest of crosswordese. Loved it.
Very clever and fun! Thanks, Rich. Nice touch with UNO, DOS and TRES. [Bronze, Iron, Pulchritude] AGE BEFORE BEAUTY
"Can I have some of your fruit juice?" "You're always asking! This is the last straw!" (At least I think that was the punch line.)
@Mike How'd you like a nice Hawaiian punch? It might be an Oahu TKO.
@Mike What’s very sweet, ice cool, full of goodness, and provides a healthy way to start the day after a cross word in the morning? It’s you @Mike, you’re such a smoothie!
@Mike I’d tell you all about it, but I don’t want to blow V8.
The was the most fun you could hope for in a Sunday puzzle. I filled in entries quickly so that I could get to the next delightfully punny trio. Hard to pick a favorite, but 97A was a winner. A couple of clues I needed help with and had to come to the column to get (ESPORT crossing ESPNU stopped me in my tracks, and 75 both ways) but all the other squares were fair. I loved your construction, Mr. Katz, and was not even remotely bothered by the black spots in the corners—they sort of pinned it to the wall. Thank you, and let us have the next one soon.
If you are up for another crossword, and want to see what nonsense my brain can come up with, the LA Times is publishing my Sunday puzzle this weekend as a special birthday present for me. I think they post midnight EST. Unlike the NYT we don’t get to review the final version, so I can’t make any guarantees about the overall challenge or any individual clues. They did do a very patient, meticulous job working with me on the theme entries and grid, so I’m sure their editing will be wonderful. If you do try it and want to comment, just remember to include a spoiler alert before any specific comments or notes.
@SP Excellent timing, good to hear. I was a few days behind over there and just caught up. Looking forward to a treat. :)
@SP, nicely done! I have to say it took me an embarrassingly long time to understand the theme answers, way after I had actually finished the puzzle, but it was a nice, clever reveal when I did!
@SP - Looking forward to it. My Milwaukee paper buys the LA Times puzzle for Sundays.
@SP I wanted to try it but the puzzle won't open, neither for me nor my wife, on neither of our phones...
@SP Excellent puzzle! 66+71A… ha! You showed them! Happy birthday, and all that goes with it. 😊 🎂
@SP First of all, Happy Birthday! The themers were great and the answers were funny. Trying to guess them without crosses got me nowhere. After finishing the solve, it took a few beats to parse some of them. I like having an extra job with my puzzles, so I appreciated that. I usually only do the L.A. Times on Saturday, so thank you for mentioning this. It was a nice addition to my Sunday routine.
@SP I'll do it, but it'll be in bits and pieces, so will report back later in the week.
@SP Great job! I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to understand how 41A worked since it's a thing when you remove the last two letters.
SP, I haven't done it yet, but it's a terrible puzzle. Oops, I was supposed to save that comment for your next NYT appearance. Never mind! SPOILER ALERT: I did the puzzle and thought it was funny. (No spoiler.)
@SP It took me (seemingly) ages to get the theme! And I mean that as a compliment. And it was only after I read Cat Lady Margaret's comment here that I fully understood the beauty of your "rugged good looks." Thanks for sharing. And HB, SP!
@SP Happy Happy Birthday! Will try the puzzle next
@SP Happiest birthday, SP! 🍸 Cheers to you!! 🍸 I'll check out your puzzle. Congrats!
@SP - I finished your puzzle and enjoyed it. Some oldies but goodies mentioned. Happy Birthday !
@SP Wow, this one beat me up on several levels. First, it took me quite a long time to finish, far more than typical. (Good) Second, and much more disturbingly, I still can't really decipher a full 3 of the theme answers. I know they answer the clues but am still blanking on whatever common phrase they're supposed to be spoofing. This is humbling. 38, 41, and 98 across. OK now I think I have 2 of them. This is hard. :) Thanks!
[Romeo Rip Juliet] Torn between two lovers
@David Blatt One of my favorite songs, too.
@David Blatt [Pacific "Here's Johnny!" Atlantic] Sea to shining sea
@riled Yesterday I replied to a reply and my reply was sort of buried. I saw your question today about how long I have been working the Times crosswords, and this was my reply: Crosswords have been a daily habit for ±70 years, and I have myriad memories associated with working them—mornings on a San Francisco cable car on my way to work, at Paris sidewalk cafes, in the International Herald Tribune, on my iPad in a hospital, and more than I can remember. As with so many others, I trust that it will be accessible wherever I am, because it grounds me. By this time, it is part of who I am. My new passion in the Spelling Bee: 1,070 puzzles, 35,358 words,1,065 Geniuses, 1,368 pangrams, only 11 Queen Bees, but I'm still trying for more. I'm sure many others have far better totals than I do and love dredging up words you never knew you knew as much as I do. (Sorry, Crossword, I never meant to be unfaithful.)
@dutchiris I prefer cheating on Crossword with Wordle quickies.
@dutchiris Maybe you would consider it cheating, but Queen Bee is a lot easier with the spelling bee buddy. I have it bookmarked in my NYT app. It provides the first two letters and word distribution, plus some hints. You can get hints for each word, which for me is too much help.
@fionatimes The Pope is a Wordle fan too, and I think about him as I solve it, him in his cassock, sipping his morning coffee, me in my jeans and striped hoodie, sipping mine. His Holiness may have a bit of divine help, but I jmust go it alone. TWith the Wordle I'm not cheating on the crossword, it's just part of my morning routine.
This was fantastic! Each theme answer brought a laugh. Thank you for such a clever and rewarding puzzle.
Well that was fun! Very clever. I couldn't resist trying my hand at one. (Cues, Hues, Queues) colors inside the lines
NBA refs as enforcers of traveling restrictions? Sadly, not quite accurate these days!
@Ramon That was true 20-30 years ago, but not anymore. I watch the NBA regularly, and I see it called all the time.
Well, didn’t this just fit the bill perfectly. It’s a holiday, I don’t want to grind too hard. I didn’t. Yet my brain got its quota of exercise. It’s a holiday, I want to have fun, and I did as I guessed at the theme answers from their clues. I want to be kept in a good mood, and some of those answers made me smile, or even go “Hah!”. This was not heavy and cumbersome. It was a guy with a good sense of humor throwing it into the box and saying, “Have a good time!” And I did. Your puzzle, Rich, simply hit the spot. Oh, I would have loved it any Sunday, but I especially loved it today. Thank you!
[What has flatter feet?] is a terrific clue for ODE, and a memory trigger for me. At my exit (DEROS/ETS) physical at Fort Dix in 1971, the orthopod examined me and said "You have flat feet; what were you doing in the Army?" I asked him where he'd been at my pre-induction physical.
@Barry Ancona That's darkly hilarious. You should have had bone spurs.
I just read Rich Katz's comments. I love PLAYS WITH MATCHES. That would have been great. With respect to the question you asked about the elegance, or lack thereof, of the grid, it didn't affect me at all. Your puzzle was a complete delight. Take a bow!
To me, madly funny and madly easy. Great theme and great theme execution from Rich Katz. Editors, could you please toughen up the fill clues a couple of notches? I don't think most solvers will need crosses to get the themers. Thanks.
P.S. I loved all the themers. My fave: HONOR AMONG THIEVES.
@Barry Ancona I caught onto the theme quickly enough, but I needed crosses to complete most of the themers. When I got 113A on the clue alone, no crosses yet, I was pretty proud of myself :-)
Terrific! I had such a great time figuring out the theme entries, avoiding as much as possible the crosses. And the fill was gentle and mild, perfect for a holiday weekend. Thank you so much, Mr. Katz! As for the grid design you inquire about, please know that there was nothing *wrong* with it. Sometimes a beautiful design does jump out, but that doesn't mean that a non-beautiful one elicits any dislike. The puzzle itself was so engaging that had you not brought up the presence of a black square at the start, I wouldn't have noticed it. This was a fabulous ROMP!
@sotto voce Also I expect there are many, many people like me who don't care AT ALL what a grid looks like. It has zero to do with my game experience. I wish it never came up (especially "symmetry") and that constructors instead spent that time and effort on marvelous cluing....
@sotto voce When I go to the art gallery, I don't look at the frames.
Enjoyable puzzle. The themes made me smile.
Great! Loved the puzzle, fill was just right. One of the box sets happened to be my family members' names, a jarring surprise!
@Matthew Such a cool Maori place name! Now can you name the only pop song that has the name "Aotearoa" in the lyrics? Here's a clue inspired by today's puzzle: ANDREA JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE DORIA
Ask me if you need help on 107 across. 😃
@Becky upon seeing it I immediately thought you’d like it. Wouldn’t you agree the clue would be better with a ‘The ..’ 😀
@Becky Here is a link to the Premier League Fantasy website. <a href="https://fantasy.premierleague.com" target="_blank">https://fantasy.premierleague.com</a>/ August 21 will be here before we're ready for it. World Cup players will be worn out at the start.
@Becky If you put a gun to my head, I guess I’m a Tottenham fan. But I was definitely rooting for you guys to win the champions league I have a family friend and no joke, his two dogs are named Arsene and Wenger.
@Becky Twice I've been emu'd, I think by the name of a movie. So I'm going to have to fake it. I'm interested what soccer fans thought of the move "The D****** United".
@Becky I have tried every way I know to get this past the emus. I think it's because of the movie name. Any way, there is a move out a while back about the UNITED football team. The title was "The" followed by an expletive, followed by "United". The expletive is a synonym with a structure that holds back water. (God, what we have to go through for these emus...) Anyway, I was wonder if you've seen the movie and what you thought of it.
I just loved this theme. Each one was perfect, but if I had to pick one and only one, I'd go with HONOR AMONG THIEVES, or DOWN IN THE DUMPS, or BEATS AROUND THE BUSH, or... See? I can't even pick a favorite. I only wish the cluing was toughened up for the non-themers so I could have spent more time with it.
@Nancy J. I think there is actually a difference (technical) between THIEVES and robbers (and burglars, if we want to include more designations.) But close enough....
Wonderful Sunday puzzle. Excellent theme and enjoyed every themed answer. Each time I asked myself, "What do these three have to do with one another?" Only to go "D'oh!" and give myself a dope-slap a few minutes later when the answer became clear. (After I completed 66-Across, I wondered, "Who is this 'Oscar HONOR'? I don't think I've ever heard of him." And then the penny dropped. Another dope slap. That's the kind of self-abuse I enjoy these days. Favorite? I'd say it was a tie between BEATS AROUND THE BUSH and TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE. As someone who avoids Starbucks on principle, I had trouble with the 75-Across. I had _R_N__, and confidently put in gRaNde, and had to pull out the eraser when the "Tesla bumper sticker" clue appeared. Even after that the crossing of 75-A and 75-D was the last letter to be filled. _ATS had many possible answers to the intentionally enigmatic clue. GATS and GRENTA, perhaps? And TRENTA? If you're getting a 30-ounce coffee, you've got a serious caffeine issue. I suggest you get help. "Venti" should be more than enough! But the "Tall, Grande, Venti" issue reminded me of this funny scene with Paul Rudd. "Congratulations! You're stupid in three languages." <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbb7a404i78" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbb7a404i78</a>
@The X-Phile that scene with Paul Rudd is exactly what I thought of as well!
@The X-Phile You know what’s funny? I, too, often diss myself while I’m doing the crossword, only, when I figure out a fill that has flummoxed me, I say, “You’re an idiot.” My wife, if she’s in the room, says, “You’re not an idiot.” I always respond, “That’s true; after all I married you.” The other day when that happened, I realized I only call myself that name after I’ve figured it out…so, maybe it’s a stroke of genius, instead.
@The X-Phile I was relieved when Starbucks started graciously accepting orders for Small, Medium, and Large. Because I'm usually in an airport and stressed, with more stressed people behind me, and can't remember what to ask for. Just give me an extra shot or two to stiffen up the flavor.
I haven't commented in ages, and my thoughts on this one probably duplicate a lot of others, but I wanted to say that I really enjoyed it, especially trying to figure out what the three components of the boxed set were going to refer to before the crosses gave me assistance. Nice job!
@Liz B Just so happy to see you back, Liz. Stick around? ...
@Liz B What Rich said. And how about a report on the Durham brunch?
I was going to kvetch that if we’re scraping the bottom of the vocabulary barrel with the likes of IMAGO, BRAE, NOTONABET, and SAIDSHH, there’d better be a theme or stunt that justifies all that glue, but honestly the wordplay with DOWNINTHEDUMPS solely makes it up to me.
@Steve glad you ended up on team yay, but i didn't mind any of the four you objected to. I learned egg, larva, pupa, IMAGO in school, but I always have a hard time pulling it out when it's needed. BRAE is a gimme from singing Annie Laurie in high school: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hsBp0dvjg" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hsBp0dvjg</a> the other two are enough in the language that I got them after several crosses. And yeah, DOWNINTHEDUMPS made me LOL.
Fun puzzle, but I have to say I've never heard of the phrase NOT ON A BET. Might be a generational thing.
Zack, I think that exact phrase is somewhat dated, but don't bet on it.
@Zack the clue made me want this to be “not one bit” so badly
{Today’s crossword, bees, intercom} Buzzing after this!
A brilliant erudite masterwork! No tricks. No gimmicks. No circles. Just a fabulous use of the mother tongue! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
(Cirrus, Edith, cumulus) -- Head in the clouds (Padre, spit, double) -- Takes after his father
I can never remember if it goes {Buck, Bailey, Wilbur} or {Wilbur, Buck, Bailey}. Either way, not as funny as ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES!
Breezy Sunday. I LOVED the theme!!! Rating: 9/10
Thoroughly enjoyed this clever theme and appreciated the fun of trying to figure these out on my own. Was trying to fit in something related to ELECTRIC (WC) FIELDS. Reminded me of Sesame Street: “One of these things is not like the other…” Interesting that KABALA gets a spelling warning today and CABALA didn’t the other day. CBGB—remembered it from the other day—he CAN be taught! Love the clue for ODE! The top quarter started a little crunchy for me but then as it progressed was pretty straightforward. Still adored the theme and execution.
Glad I learned about CBGB eight days ago! It went from "never heard of it" to gimme. Another curious coincidence was that we had CABALA a couple days ago; some (not me!) were griping about the spelling. I entered it confidently today, but it turned out to be the wrong spelling this time. (Thankfully, the crosser, KEY, was straightforward.) I agree with the constructor that the grid design might not be the most elegant, but that's forgivable in my view. I suspect that most solvers don't really care all that much about that aspect of construction.
I loved this puzzle. The theme answers made me laugh.
Superb puns and wordplay! Great cluing choices! I had a wonderful time with the theme answers. As always, I tried to get them with as few crosses as possible. In almost every case I got them from just the first word. In TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE, however, I had the BIRDS but not the TWO, and got hung up on the expression "birds of a feather" -- so I didn't see it as early as I should have. All the puns are perfection -- my faves being DOWN IN THE DUMPS and HONOR AMONG THIEVES. As for the rest of the puzzle: it was the admission price for getting to guess at the themers. Being the hedonist that I am, I skipped filling in the surrounding fill just as soon as I had the info I needed. On a long Sunday puzzle, the clues of the surrounding fill need to inspire curiosity for me to want to bother with them, and these didn't especially for me. But the theme is absolutely delightful. What a really wonderful puzzle week this has been!!
This is one of the most creative and interesting themes I've encountered in the Sunday puzzle in years! I particularly enjoyed it because I studied set theory as a math major in college. I hope to see many more puzzles by Mr. Katz in the future, but he'll have to go a long way to top this one!
Has anyone enthusiastically pointed out that 77D wasn't greeted with derision as it usually does. Could it be us lefties gave it a pass because of the nature of the clue? This leftie did. Although I don't think I generally object to having the names of financially rich, morally impoverished people, in the puzzle, if they're going to be there, they should be clued this way.
@Francis We went out for lunch today and I actually saw that very bumper sticker on a Tesla in the parking lot. Still think the car is horribly ugly though.
Francis, Personally, I'd prefer the editors avoid him with any wording, and just clue the entry to the university or its city.
Today's earworm, courtesy of Cole Porter and 85-Across [and Ella Fitzgerald <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXYKGL6MgKM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXYKGL6MgKM</a>] And that's why birds do it, bees do it, Even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love In Spain, the best upper sets do it; Lithuanians and LETTs do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love The Dutch in old Amsterdam do it Not to mention the Finns Folks in Siam do it -- think of Siamese twins Some Argentines without means do it; People say in Boston even beans do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love Romantic sponges, they say, do it; Oysters down in Oyster Bay do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it Even lazy jellyfish, do it Let's do it, let's fall in love Electric eels I might add do it, 'Though it shocks 'em I know Why ask if shad do it? Waiter bring me shad roe In shallow shoals, English soles do it; Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love. The dragonflies in the reeds do it; Sentimental centipedes do it. Let's do it it, let's fall in love. Mosquitoes, heaven forbids, do it; So does every katydid do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love The most refined ladybugs do it, When a gentleman calls. Moths in your rugs do it. What's the use of moth balls? Locusts in trees do it; bees do it; even over-educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love!
@The X-Phile - "Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it" Say, wot?
Really enjoyed this one. Typical long workout for me, but just had a lot of fun getting enough crosses for each of the theme answers to dawn on me. Puzzle find today is a Sunday from July 26, 2020 by Trenton Charlson with the title "Made-To-Order". I'm sure many of us had done this one, but I had completely forgotten it. I'll just list some theme answers with the 'trick' section highlighted. "Facial feature of a Lego man? squareCHIN Some others: HOSTinthedark ACESdismissed ABETroundthebush BELOWmacaroni And there were others. Here's that link; <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/26/2020&h=67a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=7/26/2020&h=67a</a> ....
well today is obviously not the day I finally learn to spell 124A. Had to flyspeck hard. 171D was no help. otherwise cluing was ATAD too easy...and the spanners were cute but obvious.
@RozzieGrandma And of course it's no use to tell us it comes from Odysseus. Where's that commenter with the Greek name? Could they post how it's spelled in the Greek alphabet? I have a dim memory of 'y' being the usual transliteration of upsilon; am I right? But then what is 'eus' the transliteration of?
I think I'm getting some kind of crossword PTSD --- I kept looking for a gimmick. What I got was a very good Sunday puzzle. Thanks!
Not a fan of this puzzle at all. First, too easy for a Sunday, and finished in half my average time. But more importantly, the themers were inconsistent. Elijah and Natalie are WOODS, but BABE is a Ruth i.e. The inconsistency of putting two first names with a last name. Likewise the Dubya clue. Finally, kabala crossing obeah is a massive Natick because, as Caitlin points out, kabala can be spelled so many different ways. If we just spell things the way we want, why do crosswords at all?? And before Barry jumps in and says "you could get it from the crosses", I had Keats before YEATS, so spelling CABALA yielded CEK. That whole section was a Natick. Crosswords are dependent on correct spelling, so if a word can be spelled 10 different ways, either don't include it, or don't cross it with 2 other proper nouns. (and no, Kabala was not crossed with yeats, but in this section CABALA, Keats and obeah was a huge Natick.)
DocP, What Naticks? You ignored the crosses! 49D [Map legend] is unambiguously KEY, so you should know it's YEATS, not kEATS. And there isn't any six-letter spelling of 49A that won't have a B as the third letter, so you should know it's OBEAH.
DocP, Or was your entire post a satire? You can't be serious about "inconsistent" themers that are common expressions...
@DocP I had trouble there too. Had WARwORN initially, which led me to YEowS? YEawS? Not being too up on poets in the first place, plus having never heard of KABALA/OBEAH, it took me an extra couple minutes to de-tangle there.
I loved this and I'm glad everyone else did too! N.B.: I haven't read any of the comments yet.
Belatedly catching up and still haven't done Sunday's puzzle. But I do want to wish the nation to the south a happy 250th (+1 day). And for those of you who wish that this bloated rutabaga of a year wasn't your 250th: this is an artifact of your nation's adherence to the iron hand of decimalism. Be creative—go OCTAL! In an eight-based number system, you turned 250 decades—oops! I mean octades ago. Yes, in an octal numbering system, 250 years (base 8) = 2 x 64 + 5 x 8 = 168 (base 10) years. In octal, your 250th was 1776+168 years = 1944. (Sadly, I think going octal for the /numbering of years/ won't catch on, but just as you hang on to British imperial measures, you could surely impose octal calculations for historic spans.) 1944! Now that was a US worth fighting for and the proof is that you fought for it. Your 350th (base 8) arrived after 3 x 64 +5 x 8 = 232 (base 10) years, i.e., 2008. A stinker of a year economically but imagine how your nation's spirit could have been buoyed by the recollection (currently forbidden) of your glorious and exemplary struggles to become a better nation for all your inhabitants. Your 400th will occur 4 × 64 = 256 years after your founding, i.e. in 2032. (You'll notice that, in base 8, these landmarks just zoom right up.) Start planning your celebration today. Happy 400th (oct) birthday, USA! I'm looking forward to coming down and joining in.
@SBK in TO Octal! I love it. My personal favorite is base 12, but you might have converted me.
@SBK in TO "The Nightmare Before Christmas" could have been inspired by noticing that OCT 31 is equal to DEC 25.
@SBK in TO I sometimes express my age as 49. Unfortunately, in a couple of months I'm going to have to admit I'm 4A, as the 49 is hexadecimal.
Enjoyed the set theme, especially TWOBIRDSWITHONESTONE and HONORAMONGTHIEVES.
pretty fast and pretty fun. themers were a hoot, and rest of fill didn't do anything to annoy me--perhaps because i got a lot from crosses and therefore may have missed several clues. Got a kick out of ENDCAPS; ever since I learned they had a name I've found it useful. I noticed KABALA came with a slight caveat; I wonder if that was edited last minute in response to the recent brouhaha. And I wonder if CBGB will be remembered by those who encountered it so recently. This ain't no disco. I feel like I've encountered OBEAH before, but now as then i got it entirely from crosses. Stats says I solved it in 50% of my Sunday average, but the timer on the puzzle puts it at a few minutes longer than my average, and that feels about right. I do wish the IT team could hunt down that bug and fix it. carry on.
@Bob T. My encounter with OBEAH is in a song by Exuma "The Obeah Man". CBGB was before my time but it's referenced so often in pop culture I think a lot of people know what it is.
@Bob T. I'm thinking that today's most inside NYC fill was ODEON, but the crosses are pretty kind.
Early results show this puzzle to be Ridiculously...er, Very Easy: 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Easy Median Solve Time 20:11 Median Solver 29% faster ⚡92% of users solved faster than their Sunday average. 68% solved much faster (>20%) than their Sunday average. 🐢8% of users solved slower than their Sunday average. 2% solved much slower (>20%) than their Sunday average.
@Steve L. Who cares ? It was also quite fun. Doesn’t that count for anything ?
@Steve L More proof that bad data is worse than no data. What is your sample size? Is it only those solvers motivated to sync their scores with xword stats? Don't you think that would hugely skew the data toward more accomplished and/or faster solvers? I think posting this sends the wrong message to newer solvers or those who enjoy lingering over their puzzles rather than a mad dash to personal best time.
Chungclan, I think Jeff's response to Steve's post said it all. Most people commenting here found this an easier than usual Sunday ... and most people commenting also found it a great deal of fun. I don't think posting today's solve stats hurt anyone; I just didn't think the stats were relevant.
Lightning very nearly struck twice. Last night I foundered on the TARANA/SCHEMA cross. I *finally* saw that ODeSSEY/Ele was not right. But it took me forever to remember how to spell "odyssey". That really, really looks wrong to me, still. Moreover, I had a lot of other worrisome spots. I'd never heard of ESPORT, OBEAH, IMAGO, TRENTA, OLGA...I relied almost entirely on crosses for those. Thankfully we saw KABALA (in slightly different form) and CGBG a couple of nights ago. All in all, though, I thought this was a terrific puzzle. So I'm back to all chillaxed. Maybe I won't be so obnoxious in the forum tonight.
@Francis You probably haven't noticed this, but the only one that's so hard on you is you yourself and no one else. Please don't be calling yourself abnoxious, at least for the sake of those of us who like you because then you're just making us look bad! lol.
*obnoxious with an "o" I'm not fond of the word itself, so much so that I subconsciously refuse to spell it correctly.
@Francis Would it help you remember the spelling if you knew that the word ODYSSEY comes from the name of the Greek hero Odysseus?
The X-Phile, How is he going to remember how to spell Odysseus?
BEVY is such a lovely word. Rich, my favorite themer was the one you couldn't use, but of the ones that made it into the puzzle, I liked ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES the most, though all were good. Thanks.
This puzzle wasn’t easy, which is why it was such a lot of fun. I find with puzzles as clever as this, thinking actually interferes with knowing The themes were readily accessible because I just let them float into place from deep familiarity with our language’s idioms and stock phrases.