Congratulations on your first puzzle! It was a fun one!
Fitting seeing brain ROT and AI SLOP in the same crossword
@Josh All we needed was RFK Jr and we'd have the complete set!
This was a very nice puzzle, Mason. That you are making your debut at 16 with only a year of crossword experience isn't too shabby either. I do wish the editors had either slotted it on a Tuesday or toughened up the non-theme clues (or both).
@Barry Ancona I agree on all counts. This would have been a nice Tuesday puzzle, but it is a very impressive debut for any day of the week!
Here’s something you know but you probably don’t know you know. I was reminded of this by the mention of irreversible binomials in the Wordplay column. The thing is, adjectives come in a particular order. Don’t believe me? Just ask a little old lady or a sober Californian linguist. If you still don’t believe me, how would it feel to ask an old little lady or a Californian sober linguist? Just feels wrong, right? We don’t realise it, but we naturally put adjectives in the “right” order. With thanks to Wikipedia for the handy list, that order is: opinion, size, age or shape, colour, origin, material, purpose. So Eeyore might be clutching a sad little wrinkled blue plastic birthday balloon. It would be all wrong if he had a plastic blue wrinkled birthday little sad balloon, wouldn’t it? My god, I salute English learners! You are amazing. (For more on this see the section on “Order” on the Wikipedia adjectives page: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective</a>)
@Petrol I sure hope that little old lady is from Pasadena.
@Petrol Thanks for this delightful information. Sgd., a lady who is neither old nor little
@Petrol I knew this, and I knew that I knew this. What I don't know is whether it's true in other languages. Anyone who knows want to clarify?
@Petrol Blind Three Mice. Bad big wolf.
@Petrol For a deeper dive: <a href="https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/order-of-adjectives.html" target="_blank">https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/order-of-adjectives.html</a>
@Petrol, Old Mean Lady. Nope. Doesn’t work.
@Petrol Thank you for this post. Stuff you never think about as a native speaker. One of the hardest parts of learning a new language is asking a native speaker how to say something and why it follows a particular grammar rule and their answer is “it just sounds right“ or “the other way sounds wrong” or “that is grammatically correct, but people just don’t talk like that” Mad ups to anyone that can speak multiple languages, that aren’t spoken in their home growing up. Maybe I should say. Learn a new language after say the old ripe, er ripe old, age of 18.
Attaboy! Clever little Wednesday theme. Even though was easy for a Wednesday, the theme made it worthwhile. I liked the "mother of a stable family" clue.😊
@Jeff B MD For a split second, I had MARY. You’ve heard the story…
Whoa, and wow! Talk about wordplay! Finding rhyming pairs for the clues that are synonyms to the “X or Y” pairs in the answers! Not only that, but wicked originality. The mind that came up with this elegant concept – and so excellently executed it – well, I’m very happy that it crossed paths with crosswords. All this, mind you, from a 16-year-old who discovered our sweet pastime a year ago -- a year ago! And no, this theme has never been done before in any of the major crossword outlets. My big hope is that you have caught the constructing bug, Mason, so that we can see what that fertile mind of yours percolates up the road. Thank you for a splendid debut!
Hyunjin, Fellow (left/best) coaster here. Great concept and nice execution of clues for the themers. I’m sure you read these comments enough to know that criticism of ‘easy clues’ doesn’t mean the grid was bad. Comments are solve experiences, which include concept, fill, and clue difficulty. I’m not sure why I’m writing this so pedantically. You are the published constructor. Not me. But you are kid. Like 1/4 my age. So I want to say. That was a D1 grid. You get an A for me. Low key. Aura. Glazing… Uncle weak sauce.
@Weak Uncle weak sauce, nicely said 🫶🏼🤘🏼👍🏼
@SP I can't find "noday" in the dictionary.
Fun puzzle today, though Monday easy. It might be my PR if my Wednesday PR weren't set to a fake time. (Crossword IT how do I fix that?!) Love seeing the AI SLOP answer. The theme answers were also cool. My last square was not remembering it was Chris ISAAK as opposed to ISAAC. A lot of good cluing today. Just really, really easy.
@Chris I wasted about 2 minutes trying to find ISAAK / SKOR. Definitely a Monday-level puzzle. AI slop has arrived in the NYT crossword puzzle! It had to happen at some point.
Congrats on your debut, Mason! 7 puzzles before you are published and 16 years of age? Mason, you are way ahead of the curve on both, well deserved kudos. This was actually a really brilliant tight theme. I’m sorry I don’t think the editors did you any favors with the level of cluing they allowed today, it really didn’t give me time to savor your theme or this nice grid, but regardless I enjoyed sussing out the theme. I did have RASH before ITCH which held me up for just a minute otherwise this might have been my fastest Wednesday. Note to self—Mickey ROoney did not get an Oscar nom for “The Wrestler”. Best clue today: “First in a race”—ADAM Terrific debut, again, kiddo and I expect many more.
@SP I had "Rooney" for a brief while, too. I found this puzzle great fun and was amazed to learn its creator is only sixteen years old. I hope for many more puzzles from Mason over the years!
A sixteen-year-old who only discovered crosswords a year ago already has one accepted by the NYT?? Bright future ahead for this kid.
What a really, really nifty theme! And can you believe that this is a debut puzzle and that it's from a 16-year-old? Amazing!!! Normally I'm unaware of stuff like that. But today's theme sent me scampering over to the Constructor's Notes on the Wordplay Blog. Because I wanted to know HOW. How does one come up with a theme like this? Is it possible to think of an in-the-language "either/or" phrase and then come up with two words to clue each half -- words that differ from each other by just the first letter? That would be awesome. Or do you come up with two words that differ from each other by just the first letter -- and then find an in-the-language "either/or" phrase that fits the clues. That would be awesome too. Alas, Mason doesn't tell us. As a constructor, I cannot imagine that I would be able to think even one of these theme answers up. I'm pretty darned awed, Mason. I'm glad to have stumbled upon your age; I think you have a remarkable crossword-constructing career ahead of you. As for solving this puzzle -- I pretty much needed the first two letters of each answer before I could fill it in, although I did first try to solve each one with no crosses. Not an especially hard puzzle, but a very, very good one!
Congratulations and ATTABOY Mason Hyunjin Lee. Your debut puzzle completed my 5 year solving streak! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ That was a clever and tight theme. I had rasH before ITCH and I misspelled ROaRKE before ROURKE (I always get that wrong for some reason). I imagine we will be seeing more of your work! Signed, a fellow Angeleno
@Jacqui J, congratulations on your impressive streak! 🎉🎉🥂🥂
@Jacqui J Hand up for RASH!
I am mainly here to vigorously decry the clue for 11A--"Helpful skill for guessers." ESP is not a skill. Skills can be learned, developed, honed. ESP is an ability that people/scientists/etc. still struggle to understand. It is usually described as a "purported ability" or a "pseudo-science" --and debunked. I do not fully understand it myself, but I have experienced precognition (the earliest event when I was 6 years old), and with certain individuals I have experienced telepathy--despite not knowing the person, or not knowing them at all well. Both can be upsetting. ESP is certainly not an "on-demand" experience in the way a skill is available to one who has studied or developed it. (Attempts to "test" for ESP ignore the fact that it's not volitional.) Good "guessers" are usually divergent thinkers with "quick wits"--able to process and assess rapidly. It's definitely an asset for a solver.
The theme is so clever it's a shame the cluing and fill for the rest was so very pedestrian and Mondayish (exception for AI SLOP), but it's publish or perish, right? Day or night, love it or leave it, friend or foe, sooner or later, win or lose, I'll be delightedly solving each NYT as it comes, with neither fear nor favor. Well, OK, I'll favor some over others. But no fear. Except for Sam Ezersky. I'd gladly fear a Saturday Ezersky. Also liked the RETRO sensibility of Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba and Chris Isaak, although I think the Deerhunter clue is (don't mess with me Steve L.!) misguided: the movie is overwhelmingly set in the US, principally in SW Pennsylvania and nearby parts of WV and OH; of the three hours or so, only about 30-40 minutes are set in "Nam." But that's enough, I guess. The clue/answer is hit or miss; I could take it or leave it, but for me it's not a do or die moment.
@john ezra Yeah, that was a pretty hunky Vietnamese wedding, eh?
Had I read the column first before commenting I would not have been so utterly boorish in my comments about it. Reviewing the puzzle, I'm willing to revise my initial thoughts and do think the cluing and some of the fill is really quite good, and I'm not pulling an Infantino here, but any penalties given to this puzzle are hereby suspended for at least a year and its eligibility has been restored.
@john ezra I remember thinking 'those guys would be drinking Iron City, not Rolling Rock.'
I like the puzzle a lot but will add a criticism to preserve my fragile insecurities at somebody doing a clever thing half my age. "Too easy. It didnt take me five hours and now I have to do my real job instead of staring at my phone wondering what the clues mean" That was fake criticism it was a solid fun puzzle.
I enjoyed how this theme turns the Schrödinger idea backwards. You know, where the clue would be Right or Left and the answer would be [D/L]ibs (yes, it took me this long to come up with another example) Mason’s way means no one has to struggle with how to enter [D/L] in the grid, and no angry comments! Genius!
My first note has got to be "a 16-year-old is constructing a puzzle that appears in the NYTimes? Wow! I stand in awe." But, having said that, I have to also be honest and say, "Good puzzle? For me, not so much." The fill was relatively simple, so it wasn't a problem that I didn't understand the theme or the gimmick. I wasn't concerned; I knew it would come in time. The themed answers became relatively easy to infer once you had about half the letters. I still didn't understand the theme. Would it come to me eventually? I finished the puzzle in below average Wednesday time, and I still didn't understand the theme. I took a few minutes to re-examine the themed clues. Oh, now I see? Do I say, "That was really clever!"? No, I said, "Yeah, I see it. OK, let's move on." Underwhelmed by the puzzle. Amazed by the constructor. I hope that makes sense. Congratulations, Mason Hyunjin Lee. I'm sure you'll continue to improve.
However, I did get a nice TIL out of this puzzle, and that's a plus. Tarsiers. I know I've seen them before -- those little, bug-eyed cousins of lemurs -- but I don't think I knew their name before today. (I hope I remember it.)
@The X-Phile was this worth posting? Perhaps you don’t have children. Or perhaps you raised yours to such high standards that they will be spending many years in therapy…
Paul, I trust our young constructor is sharp enough to realize that any shortcomings in the solve reported by the OP are on the OP and not on the constructor.
Fantastic construction, mighty impressive for a high-schooler
I loved this puzzle. Every one of the theme answers made me smile. So clever! The only place I was almost stuck was ISAAK/SKOR. I don’t know the person, and only know the candy from past crosswords 😅
@Ryan The candy bar is sponge toffee coated in chocolate and, if consumed in sufficient quantities, will keep your kids' dentist in sport coupes right through his midlife crisis!
@Ryan , same here; I only know the candy from crosswords but didn't remember the spelling, and didn't know the guy either, so I had it as ISAAC/SCOR for a while. (FWIW, the spelling "Isaac" is about 40 times more common than "Isaak" in the Google Books ngram viewer.)
Great debut, Mason! Glad you didn’t give up. If you can construct a puzzle like this as a sophomore, the SAT will be EASYPEASY! More puzzles, please.
AT IT carries no sense of "obediently", so I am puzzled why it would be clued as "Working obediently". It also carries no sense of "working", just of *doing* something. I bet someone confused this phrase with "on it".
@Dan Yes I think “diligently” would have been the better adverb.
@SamCorbin One of my favourite irreversible binomials is in the British English expression “as different as chalk and cheese.” This is pretty much unknown in the U.S. so it was unfamiliar to me when I first heard it in Australia. I thought it was rather cool so I used it myself, but got it backward and said “different as cheese and chalk” which brought howls and ridicule from my Aussie colleagues. Irreversible ind
@Mark … irreversible indeed!!
@Mark The interesting thing about chalk and cheese is that besides starting with ch, they are superficially similar, at least in color and sometimes in shape, but fundamentally very different.
Congratulations, Mason, and thank you for getting AISLOP into the NYTXW! It’s such a terse and perfect term.
great puzzle! my first solve under 30 minutes: it felt so fluid. i do these to practice my english so i'm really proud! cheers :)
congratulations! Your first of many I'm sure.
Great job, Mason! Really fun Wednesday puzzle. Looking forward to your future submissions.
Too easy. I solved in minus 24 hours 20 minutes.
An impressive debut from a new constructor. Amazed that he is still in high school! Looking forward to more from Mr. Lee in years to come.
Congratulations, Mason! What a fun solve. This experience would make a killer college essay.
Yay Mason! Great puzzle and fun theme! Looking forward to more of your work.
Fun puzzle, love rhe theme and the clue wordplay! Congrats, Mason!
Who needs a mnemonic to remember the cardinal points of a compass? And I like my waffles to be soggy with maple syrup.
@Grant Someone whose native language is not English? Someone with a learning disability?
Way to go, Mason! This was so much fun. AI Slop had me crying laughing at my desk.
I had entered CAKE OR DEATH as the last theme entry, and it still made sense to me 😅 Long live Eddie Izzard!
@Andrea Can you please explain the CAKE bit? I tried my best to get the joke/word play/association, but failed. Thanks in advance.
I think that this puzzle could’ve been for a Tuesday but overall this was fun once I figured out the theme. About half of the answers I erased and rewrote and some I took a complete guess. This is the first Wednesday I have solved without cheating. Very enjoyable.
Congratulations, Mason, on a very fine debut!!🙌🏼🥳 I'm in awe that you are only 16 years old and already have accomplished what has eluded so many promising constructors who have long been veterans of solving these puzzles!! I loved your theme -- SO clever and I would not have been able to tease it out easily if I had not first read Sam's Wordplay column. Again, well done -- I look forward to seeing more from you!😊 P.S. I have a feeling those SATs will be or were no sweat for you.😉
Mason, when I was 16 years old 66 years ago I was just beginning to struggle with crosswords often while waiting for a loop at the Seawane Golf Cub in Hewlett Harbor, NY. The Daily News, the Mirror and the Long Island Press but never the NYT. I started the NYT puzzles in 1966 in college after I got back from Vietnam. Thousands of puzzles later, yours is certainly one I will never forget. Thank you!
A very small nit. I think “Working obediently” solves to “on it”, not AT IT. If my boss says “Petrol, i need that report on my desk by morning”, i can reply “On it!” By which i mean i am working obediently. I couldn’t say “at it” (although i could say “hard at it!”) “At it” is commonly clued as “fighting” or something similar. I concede that “at it” can also mean “engaged in an activity” or “focused on something”, but it doesn’t have the connotation of “obediently”, and it’s not necessarily “working”, unless you expand it to “hard at it”, as above. Am i just a pedant?
@Petrol There's also the phrase "He's at it" meaning trying to cheat or deceive. Don't know if this is used in US, it's common in Scotland.
@Petrol A better clue might have been "Songbird with a tufted head."
@Petrol I think this might be a slang shift with the younger generation. My teenage daughter (who is the same age as the constructor) uses it the way it was used in the puzzle. And I'm around her so much that it didn't even strike me as odd.
@Petrol You’re not a pedant, just wrong. “At it” is used frequently in this context.
I'm glad they didn't clue 30D as that elevator guy. Instead, Singer OTIS Redding who had many many hits. He wrote "(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay" and "Respect." Wikipedia says his signature song is "Try a Little Tenderness." "Young girls, they do get wearied Wearing the same shaggy dress..." <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnPMoAb4y8U" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnPMoAb4y8U</a> BTW, for me three days in a row with no lookups. Yea!!!
@lucky13 In the Sinatra version, it's a "shabby" dress. This makes more sense to me and I'd trust the man's respect for a lyric, whatever his private character. But all the lyric websites show "shaggy". Is there a definitive version?
@lucky13 Speakung of OTIS, here's one of my favorite scenes from Bull Durham. <a href="https://youtu.be/EroyjPcw3sg?si=WXrouCgKyotCSqlE" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/EroyjPcw3sg?si=WXrouCgKyotCSqlE</a>
ITCH/INCH was interesting, and AISLOP seemed quite fresh. Nice enough puzzle, but didn't feel like a Wednesday, either thematically or as clued. Finished very quickly (for me). Congrats on the debut.
Congrats on the debut! Nice lil puzzle you got there. More please!
Very fun puzzle! Finding "x or y" phrases that could also be clued in this specific way could not have been easy