Crossing KEPIS and JOSS is diabolical.
@pmom They may have been diabolical fill, but the down clue indicates a plural and they cross at an S.
@pmom I've encountered KEPIS (or some variation of it) before in puzzles, so I actually was pretty sure of it. I knew "joss sticks" to be a type of incense, so JOSS in this context was guessable. It seemed uncomfortably risky, though...the sort of leap of faith that often ends up being wrong.
@pmom wholeheartedly agree, especially considering you could clue JOSS as something trivia-based but more accessible (e.g. “TV’s ____ Whedon”). Having been in the military, KEPIS was not my first thought—my mind immediately went to bEret.
@pmom Bro. I’m not saying I knew what a kepi or a joss was. But my bro, that intersected at the S in kepis. The clue asked for a plural. I’ll take that kind of unknown intersection everyday
@pmom I wish I could recommend this comment 1000x times. That was a brutal cross- along with the Indian film trilogy .
Ah yes the very very famous Apu Trilogy. How many times have I heard of this little gem? Not arcane at all
@George If you've been doing these puzzles regularly, you should have heard of it. The clue [Satyajit Ray's "The ___ Trilogy"] has appeared verbatim 10 times, although APU is more commonly clued to the Simpsons character.
@George Dunno, we all know different things! For me, that was one of the few gimmes in the puzzle. The baseball team, on the other hand, I only got from crosses. Also reminds me that I've only watched the first film in the trilogy, Pather Panchali. I ought to get around to seeing the other two, which are supposedly just as good.
@George Yes, the Apu Trilogy is famous, for so many sad and beautiful and honest reasons. I hope it never gets diluted by crosswordese. For those who haven't seen it, and are in the mood for an epic story, hold on to your hankies, it's a journey. If you're lucky, it might be on the shelves or in digital format at your local library. <a href="https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/1145-the-apu-trilogy?srsltid=AfmBOopJmA1d94rGJf8oE4NAQc-vDhDBbtpUg3pwiqQGVqigEcZx5SYJ" target="_blank">https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/1145-the-apu-trilogy?srsltid=AfmBOopJmA1d94rGJf8oE4NAQc-vDhDBbtpUg3pwiqQGVqigEcZx5SYJ</a>
@George I get why it would be obscure if you don’t know it (everything is, of course). But among cinephiles it is pretty widely regarded as one of the greatest trilogies of all time. I’d say it’s about as obscure as (the oft repeated) ALOU is for a non sports fan.
@George it is kind of obscure in a way, but the Apu Trilogy is very famous for anyone with an interest in world cinema, and probably a good amount of people that took any sort of history of cinema class in collage. These days all three parts are ranked very highly on the Letterboxd top 500 narrative features list, meaning these films appear on the most popular list on the most popular film-related app. So I think if anything they will get a bump in popularity. Check them out if you haven’t yet, they’re good!
The book about the pretzel vendor had so many plot twists! (The author made a lot of dough.)
@Mike Not to mention some very salty dialog, I could hardly beer it when I couldn't find the end.
@Mike i prefer it when you do rye humor
@Mike I will knot lye, I love pretzels!
@Mike That author mustard been on the best seller list.
@Mike ....so, so....TWISTED!
I love this grid design – never in the Times before – that allows for a dozen 10-letter answers, and man, does Jim take advantage of them, bringing pop and interest into the box. Just look them over for a moment. Look at them! Do they not bring color and zing into the solve? This to me was more than putting letters in boxes – these were answers that triggered memories, images, and pinged so many areas in my brain. For instance, I heard Julia Child’s voice, saw Tina Fey’s face. I flashed on being lifted high in the air while sitting on a chair during "Hava Nagila". SKIPS CLASS and “nookie” brought me back into my high school head. Also, there were enough hitches in this puzzle from misdirects and no-knows to make the solve interesting, and thus, I was fully engaged on multiple fronts. Just a high-quality experience from your high-quality creation, Jim. It’s been eight years since your last Times puzzle and I hope your next one comes sooner. I want more of this – thank you!
@Lewis Being lifted high in the air in a chair.... so trusting! No no no no no!
Not a hard puzzle, but I found the NE harder than the rest of the grid. Seems like my experience was similar to most in that
Good puzzle. I'm patting myself on my 78-year-old back for immediately remembering Satyajit Ray's film series.
Spoiler alert! The rib joint is NOT connected to the HIP joint. So march on, sad acai and rice bowls, before you get a POKE in your EYES! Happy Weekend, y'all
Thankfully, I stumble into the only GIN joint in town, and croon: You must remember this: LOVERSLANE is not a myth On that EROS relies The LEGALLIMIT still applies as AMOR goes by And when a SEAMONSTER woos TUGS off her LILAC SHOE Then BEAU and BELA make EEL PIES No matter if their LAIR is clean as AMOR goes by URALS and ETSY always find a place Grids full of sweet NUNS or an OREO disgrace Nellie needs star, but the grid said, "WHATTHEHEY?' (That Quinlan did deny!) It AINT the same old story OHNO, it's no more glory, A case of CLICKS-done-died! IWISH the Times welcomed do-overs. As AMOR goes by
My favorite clue/answer pair was "What's Kraken". And crossing an unfamiliar actress with a dog club (who knew there was a Thanksgiving competition?) felt unfair. But I really came to ask if anybody can explain the Midi's 16A. WARRENG makes no sense to me whatsoever! I understand that one or more rabbits can live in a WARREN, but what's the G got to do with anything? And aside from Warren G. Harding (who, as far as I know, didn't have any connection with either Bugs or Lola - or any other rabbits for that matter), AFIK, WARRENG isn't a thing.
@Grumpy I had to go do the midi after I saw this. 'G' slang for a friend, Warren G is a rapper. A bit of a stretch for some solvers, I think.
@Grumpy I think it's Warren like rabbit warren, where they live, and "G" is friend. Like "what's up G?"
@Grumpy With 7 appearances since the beginning of 2025, if you found ANYA Taylor-Joy unfamiliar, that's on you. (Never mind her fame in the real world.) As for the AKC (American Kennel Club) dog show on Thanksgiving Day (US date), if you lived on this side of the lake, you'd probably know it. It has been standard fare in the kitchen while the big meal is being prepared in our household for years. (It doesn't actually take place on Thanksgiving Day; it is held and taped over two days a few weeks before, and condensed into a few hours.)
@Grumpy I’m shocked the editors allowed this entry. But to answer your question. A G is short for gangsta. So like “what up G” for “how’s it going” I actually called @Barry an O.G. In yesterdays comments. “Original gangster” or “godfather” And Warren G, in my eyes, is a one hit wonder, but what a hit. “Regulate”. It is an anthem. It samples a Micheal McDonald song. I don’t think you will like it though. But It features one of the smoothest voices in rap. Nate Dogg. Actually. I called Barry. B-Dogg yesterday, as well! Barry or John Ezra. Please confirm! So you don’t know Warren G. But you know hood step-brother. Crosswords favorite glue. Dr DRE.
@Grumpy after listening to “regulate “ on loop 10 times in a row just now. I employee you to give it a listen. It isn’t rap. It’s much more melodic. Kinda r&b/soul. Tho Warren g calls this style of music “g funk.” Find it. Play it. Listen. You are welcome. And if you want to hear more of Nate dogg. I’m sure you have heard the eponymous anthem “California love” with 2Pac, Dre, and Nate dogg. Released in the 90s. But to this day, you can’t be at any gathering of more than 50 people and not hear it on the playlist. At least in the golden state.
@Grumpy Well. I thank those who responded, and I guess I now understand what the answer was about. But I was born in the 50s, stopped listening to "hit music" sometime in the 80s, have never heard of WARREN G, and have never in my life referred to a friend as (or had a friend refer to me as) "G". (I don't think I'm going to start now, either). As for the ANYA/AKC crossing? Well names are a weakness of mine, and if somebody got famous in the last 15 years or so, I'm not likely to remember them. (I had eNYA for a time, wondering what an eKC might be). And while I'm familiar with the American Kennel Club initialism when it's clued as something to do with breeds, or dogs, or pets, or some related concept, I hadn't a clue that their big show was associated with the US Thanksgiving Day celebrations. After all, neither the Kennel Club nor the November holiday mean anything to me, so how would I (or any non-dog-owning non-American) make that association?
@Grumpy The dog show is what you watch while the turkey is in the oven!
Looks like everyone has this covered, but I can’t help but think I missed my moment lol
@Grumpy I will thank you for calling her "unfamiliar" rather than "unknown" or "minor". I was obsessed with QUEEN'S GAMBIT and also liked her in THE MENU. And yeah, it's a useful sequence of four letters and will be back. NE was the hardest for me, and AKC came entirely from crosses.
The number of incorrect entries that I boldly plugged in bordered on the comical. Mars and Ares instead of EROS and AMOR, toss in instead of SLAPON, eyes instead of STYE, Altman instead of WALTON. Luckily I knew about the SAVANNAHBANANAS which gave me what I needed to set myself straight. Fun, but quickly finished despite all the missteps. I was delighted to see pioneering jazz cornetist, KINGOLIVER, get a shout out. Although overshadowed by his remarkable protege, Louis Armstrong, Joe Oliver was instrumental in the early development of jazz. How thrilling it must have been to hear the King and Louis playing with and against each other during their brief collaboration.
@Marshall Walthew I had GIANTSQUID where SEAMONSTER belonged and thought I was pretty smart until the crosses all failed.
@Marshall Walthew I hung onto TAPAS like grim death, even while puzzling which forgotten Roman god ended with a P....
Though Mr Fleck might be less “classic” than Mr Lugosi, I enjoyed the bonus banjo joke in “first name in classic horror”. (Just a joke, of course, Bela F is amazing.)
@Cat Lady Margaret What's the difference between a banjo and an onion? Nobody cries when you cut up a banjo. Don't get me started.
The grid was saturated with trivia (mostly unknown to me, as always - feel free to rip into me for that), yet I finished it in Wednesday time without any outside help 🤷🏽. In fact, not being familiar with the names, titles, abbreviations, etc., was my only challenge today, as the puzzle featured very little misdirection, and what there was of it personally seemed pretty tame by late week standards at the NYT. It was an enjoyable solve, on some level - not letting myself be stumped by the multitude of unknowns always feels like a success, of sorts, and succeeding is always nice - but it was not the sort of thing I'm looking for on a Saturday. Give me more of the smart clues, and less proper names and the like, please! JOSS statue confused me the most of today's entries - before I had any crosses there, I wanted the answer to be the name of an Asian deity, but it soon became obvious none of the names I remembered would cross properly. It was crosses that finally gave me JOSS, but I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. I turned to Wikipedia for an explanation. Apparently the etymology of the word is not clear, and we don't have anything like it in Polish. Now to remember the term - I would have, 30 years ago... I'm not sure I understand LOVER'S LANE and its clue. Is a lover's lane that place (a nook?) beloved of horror movies where young people go to make out in their cars? If so, what's a nookie? (Google keeps autocorrecting that to "bookie"...)
@Andrzej Lovers' Lane is where people went (and still go, I imagine) to park their cars in 1950s-70s films, stereotypically, and canoodle. Stars like Warren Beatty and Steve Mcqueen have been spotted there on celluloid. Or, sometimes, folks even make nookie there, which is a similarly old-timey euphemism for the beast with two backs and other copulational permutations. Usually, but not always, Lovers' Lane is located on a scenic overlook of the town from which the lovers hail, the far-off night lights and the now-distant and sleeping sources of balefull authority enhancing the sense of furtive romance.
@Andrzej Agree with the others, plus here in the UK there are many small, country lanes that are named Lovers Lane. Unlike in the US, as we don’t have many panoramic city views, they tend to be narrow lanes that run through wooded areas, that can hide vehicles/couples who wish to indulge in a spot of canoodling. Or indeed, Nookie. Not that I speak from personal experience you understand.
@Andrzej The Lover's Lane in my home town was where I was sadly introduced to the term "platonic."
Another Friday? WHAT THE HEY? This was nice, Jim, but somebody put the clues below the LEGAL LIMIT for Saturday.
@Barry Ancona This has already been noted.... 11 hours later.
Just enough of a workout before bed. NE was the toughest only because I resisted putting in LEGALLIMIT right at the beginning. Then the little bit in the middle put up the last fight. By the way Utah has the legal limit of .05 of 1%. That is the exception.
Today's listen. It's too good to call an "ear worm": <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwpriGltf9g" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwpriGltf9g</a> Thanks, KING OLIVER, for your role in the development of jazz, America's greatest contribution to music and the arts!
A kinder, gentler crossword puzzle ERA brought to you by Mr. Shortz. Too bad: The entries were a very fresh mix. I’ll add that if you don’t appreciate WHAT THE HAY sitting kitty corner from the UTES, you and I hail from different states. Ah, memories of a Utah childhood…
@Sam Lyons It was WHATTHEHEY. Spellcheck gotcha. 😉
That felt tougher than it should have. Probably the after effects of hay making in ridiculous heat. All safely gathered in now though. The Alpacas have dry food for the next year, as do many of the horses in the village as we’ve had a bumper harvest; literally double the bales we got last year. Yay. Back to the puzzle. Naturally 18A was a total blank for me, I couldn’t interpret the clue at all. It also didn’t help I spelt KEPIS KoPIS, so that whole corner was empty for some time. I had …BANANAS but couldn’t imagine there would be a sports team with that name, so kept changing the crossings. My saving grace was knowing/accurately guessing a couple of the long crosses. It gave me something to hang on to. More important than all the above is tonight’s game, England v Norway. Kick off at 10pm here, we’ll be manning the Hall bar and cheering the lads on. We’ve ordered extra beer; as your host cities have discovered, the fans are a thirsty lot. Not quite as much as the Scots, bless ‘em, but they can hold their own. I’m just praying we don’t go into extra time, or the gods forbid, penalties. Those Norse deities play mean.
@Helen Wright you’re making me question the veracity of the old adage, “Make hay while the sun shines.” Or maybe it on,y refers to metaphorical hay…
Well, typical tough Saturday for me and had to look some things up. Still some nice moments when something finally dawned on me from the crosses. And.. rather remarkable puzzle find today. A Sunday from August 3, 2014 by Ian Livengood with the title: "Chee Whiz!". Some theme answers: WOUNDEDNIETZSCHE FILTHYRICHIE BLACKTAICHI THELONESTARCHYSTATE TABLEFORTUCCI ARCHIERATEDMOVIE Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/3/2014&h=80a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/3/2014&h=80a</a> ....
I felt sort of sideways most of this puzzle. I've heard of JOSS sticks (incense) but not a statue termed "a JOSS." I've heard of KEPIS, but epaulets go on shoulders of dress uniforms, while a KEPI is not necessarily formal. Pearl Harbor: HONOLULU, HI? Or OAHU, HAWAII? A *TACK* shop (not "saddle shop") ....well, maybe if you needed another hole in the girth, an AWL would be a help, but you won't know until you are saddling your horse, so... Speaking of 'TACK'--I say we "Tack that on as an afterthought," don't you? And OBEYER? Srsly? The whole puzzle felt like that...just a few bubbles off. Fortunately, I've read BOSSY PANTS... Love Tina Fey in all her forms! Restores my mood. (Wish I could see the SAVANNAH BANANAS... ) I'll see y'all in the funny papers....
@Mean Old Lady Agreed that OBEYER is pretty stinky.
@Mean Old Lady Or OAHUISLAND? That and MARS/ARES instead of EROS/AMOR slowed me down a little...
@Mean Old Lady I associate KEPIS (blanc) with the French Foreign Legion, as in their parade uniform. They wear berets in the field. Agreed, OBEYER was sloppy fill, as was GET 'EM. In which Rocky movie does Mickey say that?
@Mean Old Lady There seem to be many videos of the Savannah Bananas out there if you care to hunt one down. Apparently Banana Ball has a separate set of rules, too. I wasn't interested enough to check them out, but Wikipedia says one feature is audience participation, which sounds like a hoot. If husband and I ever do our South East road trip (visit friends, relations and civil rights* memorials in NC, SC, FL, GA,Alabama** & Mississippi**) maybe we'll try to fit in a game. *If Trump hasn't cancelled them all **Not sure of the abbreviations AL AB; MI MS?
Finally gave in and looked up APUTRILOGY. Another blue star Saturday. That NE corner was brutal. Time for mimosas. Cheers!
The last Tsar of Bulgaria, Simeon II, reigned until 1946, when the monarchy was abolished.
@Fact Boy That may be factual, but as long as the TSAR was abolished somewhere in 1917, the clue passes muster.
The book about the pretzel vendor had so many plot twists! (The author made a lot of dough.)
Some random facts about Earl Grey tea: The origin of the name is disputed. It’s possibly named after the British Prime Minister Charles Grey, although nobody can agree on why. Grey’s government abolished slavery (yay!) in the British empire (boo! hiss!) in 1833. He also had an adulterous affair (ooh!) with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the great-great-great-grandaunt of Princess Diana, and who was a similarly iconic aristo (swoon!/bow!/jeer!). Earl Grey tea is flavored with Bergamot, an essential oil that comes from a kind of citrus fruit called the bergamot orange, which originates from Bergamo in northern Italy. Bergamot is also used in perfumes and aromatherapy, but it is phototoxic (huh??) which means that if you put it on your skin and go into the sun you will get badly burned. (Yikes!) Bergamot oranges, like grapefruit (which never seems to be pluralized, incidentally) contain a substance that can interact with drugs and cause overdoses or other adverse effects, so probably best not to eat them if you’re on meds. But people generally don’t eat them anyway. So don’t worry, be happy, drink tea. I love drinking Earl Grey in the afternoon. (Yum!)
@Petrol Random fact about Diana. She's Diana, Princess of Wales or Lady Diana or technically Princess Charles. She was never Princess in her own name. She was a Mrs. Prince (example Princess Michael is Prince Michael's wife Maria Christine). You are princess in your own name if you are born one or monarch creates you to be one...which almost never happens. It's not Princess Catherine or Kate for same reason. As current holder of the title she is The Princess of Wales. Now there are some good seeds for Crossword Clues.
@Petrol I have always enjoyed the scent of Earl Grey tea, but given the strong headaches and mild disorientation I used to get every time I drank it, I can't help but wonder if bergamot oil is at least a little toxic. I haven't touched Earl Grey tea in years.
@Petrol Stash markets a 'double bergamot' version that has my wife pitifully addicted.
@Petrol I suppose tea has its place in the world. After all, billions of people drink it. To me it's just too weak, kinda like off-tasting water. Are there any that are good and strong like coffee?
What was your favorite part of this fun puzz, CC? Great question, I’d love to tell you. When I got to [ What’s Kraken] my first thought was “…hmm…familiar…Norse?…hmm…my son would know this…” So I asked him. In my head. As though he was sitting across from me. “You know this, Mom. A sea monster…” (He would have added seven minutes of cool stuff to add colorful context, but I couldn’t hear that.) I miss my boys being near. Sitting across the kitchen couch, chatting about silly things. But today I did. I got to have a quick chat with one of my boys who is now a lovely, lovely man. The beauty of the puzz has many wondrous colors, eh?
Back in April, the 11th, I commented on the coincidence of my attending a performance of a play adaptation of “Drive your plows over the bones of the dead “ on the same day as Olga Tokarczuk appeared in the crossword. And on the following Wednesday a performance of Cluedo, the day after CLUE (the American name) appeared here. Today I was at a performance of “Doubt”. (The first and third of these both starring a great Australian actor Pamela Rabe.) Who in the NYT xword department has been reading my calendar?
@Patrick J. They have spies everywhere!
Fun fact: Whenever you've seen a scene of a scenic lookout in American movies or television that's supposed to be some sort of Lovers Lane where people are canoodling or Macon Bacon(An actual Georgian baseball team not in the same league as the Savannah Bananas), there's a sixty-nine percent chance that it was filmed on Mulholland Drive. (I gave up trying to find out how accurate my made-up but truthy fun fact is.) I first learned JOSS decades ago in James Clavell's Asian Saga(Shogun, Tai-Pan, etc.). It meant luck/fate/karma. The white characters often spoke of good or bad joss, if I remember correctly. Wonderful entries in this puzz. Now I'm off to watch SpongeTina BossyPants.
@ad absurdu Sixty nine percent chance? We all see what you did there…
@ad absurdum For your amusement, a list of Double A baseball team names. I'm a particular fan of Binghamton Rumble Ponies. <a href="https://storylinesport.com/double-a/current-teams" target="_blank">https://storylinesport.com/double-a/current-teams</a>
@ad absurdum I had the same recollection of JOSS meaning fortune...and I read those books. I've also spent a lot of time in East Asian temples, looking at statues, and never heard that word used in that context. I'm guessing it's from British tourists who don't know any better. See also; "foo dogs." (They're lions.)
@ad absurdum I'd only heard of JOSS sticks, was pretty sure they didn't refer to any specific deity so hesitated to enter it for quite awhile.
Hmmm Now I'm trying to think of a clever Thursdayish way to mash up Joe KINGOLIVER with Barbara KINGSOLVER... btw, boo hiss for OBEYER.
Mildly aggravated that WORLDOFAPU has the same letter count as APUTRILOGY. Must read more carefully.
I have always loved the work KEPI, and it was my first entry in the puzzle; but then I thought no, not likely, and took it out. A cross made it seem possible, so I put it back, but then I thought no, not likely, and took it out. I repeated this process more times than seemed possible for such a short word. What a relief when I was winding up the solve to put it in and it stayed there. KEPI. So happy to have had you all these years and you finally came through for me. Nice puzzle, Jim Quinlan. Full of quirks. I especially liked the Hydrox clue, and of course, the cap. Thank you.
@dutchiris Word, not work . . . word KEPI. Note to self: there is no shame in double proofing a comment.
@dutchiris Fun coincidence: a new mystery by Martin Walker was published in June, and his protagonist, Chief of Police Bruno Courreges, Vezere Valley, France, wears a KEPI.
@dutchiris I can find neither Hydrox nor Oreo in today's puzzle. Am I missing it or is this a callback to a previous puzzle this week, where Hydrox was discussed?
The Harlem Globetrotters rarely lost. The teams that play Banana Ball claim that while the various entertainment routines are rehearsed, the actual games are not, with both teams competing to win. As of last week, the Bananas are 21-16 and in second place in the six-team Banana Ball League.
@Michael Weiland I have no idea whether you're making this up or not. Banana Ball League? Is that a thing?!
I got through the NW and SE in record time. NE gave trouble. But The south intersection of -a French word, -“what the h___”. I initially had “what the eff” until that h showed up. -voltaire something something -subservient sort Gave me fits. I think this was a Friday? A normal 2026 Friday. I still don’t get what a GIN joint is though. “Metaphorical beginning and ending” was a fun clue. Not the topic, per se. But the clue. “Isn’t wrong” was cute as well. So was “Eschews English” Thank you constructor Jim.
@Weak gin joint is an old fashioned word for bar. A famous line from Casablanca is "of all the gin joints in all the world, she had to walk into mine"
@Weak "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."
@Weak Never saw Casa Blanca? <a href="https://youtu.be/JsTkC8OxpOs?si=HYgQ-t4SNWjlCbbs" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/JsTkC8OxpOs?si=HYgQ-t4SNWjlCbbs</a> GIN joint is a bar or establishment that serves alcohol.
@all Thank you. I guess it’s a very well known term. And Movie line. Nope. Never saw Casablanca. I still haven’t seen “it’s a wonderful life” yet either. Or “gone with the wind”. Someday. I’ll do some edibles (legal on the left coast!) and have an old school movie marathon.
Westminster Dog Show is organized by AKC. National Dog Show is organized by the Kennel Club of Phila (but really is a marketing creation by Purina). A sloppy error by both creator and editor.
@S Gold, Huh? The clue is “Org. with an annual Thanksgiving competition”. Was it changed from something else?
@S Gold - I see no error. The Westminster dog show is held by the Westminster Kennel Club. The National Dog Show is held by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia. Both shows are licensed/sanctioned by the AKC.
Solved without assistance, but took almost 30 minutes, a third of which was spent contemplating the top center of the grid. First puzzle in a while that I felt a bit "lucky" to have solved. Never heard of the SAVANNAHBANANAS. Not familiar with JOSS, and I wasn't confident about KEPIS. Never heard of the APUTRILOGY. Finishing that top center more or less involved mentally considering various options for the iffy boxes, looking for the combination that seemed "most stable", i.e., the combination that seemed to minimized some sort of measure of "alphabetical energy". Hard to articulate. So maybe there was skill involved and not just luck; in any case, I got the right letters in the right boxes. A nice puzzle, which again seemed too easy for a Saturday---until it didn't.
@Xword Junkie “Finishing that top center more or less involved mentally considering various options for the iffy boxes, looking for the combination that seemed ‘most stable’, i.e., the combination that seemed to minimized some sort of measure of ‘alphabetical energy’. Hard to articulate.” I love this observation. I agree that it is hard to articulate, yet I think we all sense it and rely on it. There is some kind of crossword entropy. We know it when we see it. All puzzles contain a few unlikely letter combinations. They arise from acronyms, junctures between words, foreign borrowing, etc. But if a tentative entry produces too many of these high-energy bonds, you know the system is unstable and will want to collapse to a lower energy state. It’s simple chemistry. Better try something different. A good illustration was 18A, at least for me. I filled in Raj TRILOGY as a kind of placeholder, knowing it to be wrong. (Obviously I’m not a pen and ink guy.) The first three letters repelled everything I tried to build around them, but the rest of the entry did not. With confidence in that, APU finally bubbled up from ancient memory.
I see native speakers complaining how easy this crossword might be, and at the same time I built up the courage to try a Saturday puzzle (omg!!1one), and was pleasantly surprised.
an angel loses its wings every time ‘sibs’ is an answer in a crossword
As a devotee of Julia Child, I was rather disappointed that "Save the liver" did not fit in 29D. I also wanted "Speaks jive" for one eschewing English, because Airplane!
@Grant Julia Child also always advised: "You can't have too much butter."
@Grant The old SNL skit was overriding all logic so I couldn’t get it until I had enough crosses! Silly as it is it still cracks me up. Hers the skit link <a href="https://youtu.be/eSxv6IGBgFQ?is=nTxyMGEANtuCIuO0" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/eSxv6IGBgFQ?is=nTxyMGEANtuCIuO0</a>
@Grant Yessirree, we might say Julia was the QUEEN O' LIVER. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrZlWw8Di10" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrZlWw8Di10</a>
A fine puzzle, but there is no reason to make Saturday puzzles this easy. Here's hoping that the next editor is installed soon to reverse this trend.
Dan, I believe the current editor would prefer to reverse the trend.
@Dan. OMG! I’m so tired of people like you and Barry Ancona complaining that every puzzle is too easy…
This was a hard one for me. I had no idea what 0.8 referred to - I have no idea what the LIMIT is in the UK because I would never drink and drive so it's never been relevant. On looking it up, England is 0.8 and Scotland in 0.5. "G-rated" is unknown to me, and the related phrase, and I know very little about Julia Childs, Tina Fey, the BANANAS, UTES, WALTON, KING OLIVER, HSN, BOLT (?), AKC, you get the picture. But I got most of the rest, and I know of Ray Satyajit's films. Tea bags on STYES? My mother absolutely believed in rubbing a stye with her gold wedding ring. I've never had a stye so can't confirm.
@Jane Wheelaghan Here's the background on why Get out of Dodge came to mean BOLT, or move quickly. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/why-do-we-say-get-out-of-dodge" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/why-do-we-say-get-out-of-dodge</a>
Fun puzzle! Did you know that SEA MONSTER has the exact same amount of letters as giant squid? Got hung up for a minute there. I also had Bram instead of BELA at 52A, but I was in the right ballpark. Though BELA Lugosi was best known for playing Dracula, he was in a bunch of other horror movies, including a couple Frankensteins. He was also beloved by the auteur Ed Wood, and appeared in such timeless classics as Bride of the Monster and Plan Nine from Outer Space.
@Katie Raised hand for falling into the giant squid trap.
Could someone please explain WARRENG from the Midi?
@Vicky Would that I could. I came here to ask exactly the same question!
@Vicky a Warren is where rabbits live and a G is slang for homey/friend
@Vicky et al Please do a search on these comments for Grumpy from Toronto. for more color. It is one of the top reader picks
@Vicky He's a music artist. His first hit was in 1994.
I finished with no help in only a little over my usual time, but I did not find this one easy. Especially the upper right. I loved that I had to work at it. Apparently many did find this easy--but maybe that will change as the day goes on? I can only hope. Started off with very few crosses and downs, but on my second time through the clues things started to fill in nicely. And then. The dreaded Einstellung effect. (Look up "The Water Jar Experiment." Or "rigid fixation.") I could not, for the life of me, get away from the "Well" at the beginning of the clue for 7D. I could _only_ think of "Well, THAT'S THAT!" which obviously couldn't be the answer. So that was a major dope slap, eventually. A beautiful day here. Have a great Saturday, everyone!
@Lynn I was stuck on wanting "well" there, too!
Thank you, Andrzej. Now I feel a little better. Well, I felt great before looking at XWStats, so maybe there is a lesson for me in that. On the positive side, my order of Thich Nhat Hanh books just arrived.
A perfect Saturday puzzle, since I am having a lovely lazy day. Some fun clues: Some ports, for short [USB], Cheap tissue descriptor [ONEPLY] (someone please explain that to my son-in-law), and I just have to say, I loved What's Kraken! [SEAMONSTER] Have a fun solving weekend!
Lots of lovely cluing today that I really enjoyed - a more subtle one but want to give a shout out to the clue for Neon which I thought was really neatly done
Wonderful construction and solving experience
I was sure for a moment that the name of the baseball team in SAVANNAH was the BANANA Slugs. (And I wondered how that was going to fit in the grid.) Where did I get that silly notion? Well, sports fans, it's because the mascot of the UC Santa Cruz sports teams is Sammy the BANANA Slug. <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/campus/mascot" target="_blank">https://www.ucsc.edu/campus/mascot</a>/ Ah, the wondrous nature of human memory!
Very hard for me with much I didn't know. Had to cheat on APU TRILOGY to complete all but the upper West. ROSE Bowl was causing me all kinds of distress -- and when I went to cheat on KING OLIVER, I inadvertently saw POKE -- and the puzzle was solved, if not really by me. I couldn't for the life of me think of Sam WALTON -- whom I guess everyone else in America did think of. I have no idea who the SAVANNAH BANANAS are. The fact that I had HIT EM/HIP joint before I had GET EM/GIN joint means it took me forever to get NEON. Is the clue (36D) a reference to one or more of those alphabets I don't know like the NATO alphabet? I didn't really understand the clue. Also: How can there be a band leader from the Louis Armstrong era that I've never once heard of? The Dorseys and Glen Miller, etc -- I thought I at least knew the names of them all. I guess not. As I say, very tough for me and not especially pleasurable. But that's not something the constructor would know one way or the other. You can't know what the solving experience is like because you can't solve your own puzzle. Jim probably thought it would be a blast -- and I'm sure it was for some intrepid souls.
@Nancy "How can there be a band leader from the Louis Armstrong era that I've never once heard of? " I was curious about that and looked it up. The two are ten years apart, maybe that's the reason?
@Nancy there’s a good explanation of 36D in the column, but in short, NE can stand for both Nebraska and neon, and AR for Arkansas and argon.
@Nancy Louis Armstrong's artistic and innovative peak preceded the Swing Era bands you mentioned. Joe "King" Oliver recruited Armstring in 1922. Glenn Miller's first hit record was 1939 or so.
@Nancy I was this many days old the first time I was referred to as an “intrepid soul” :)
Hi everyone, long time without posting for me, but still going strong on every puzzle since 2020 (though the app no longer tracks that). This was a very fast* Saturday for me even with the tricky upper right corner, but I really enjoyed it. I think I was vibing with the long fill so that really helped. Doesn’t hurt that I’m pretty sure I’m raising a future Savannah Banana…. *Finish time was 57.9% of my updated average finish time for a Saturday.
@Classic Hip-Hop Fan You should have come back last night! The comments section is all abuzz about Warren G. Your alias could have brought authority to the madness!
Like others in the comments I struggled with the northeast corner. 18A/6D was a Natick for me and the last square to fill in. Still finished in under my average Saturday time, but it was a good workout.
In her *Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. II)*, Julia Child has a recipe for a dessert she calls a Saint-Cyr. Although I've never made it, per se, I understand the concepts. A flower-pot shaped mold is lined with "lady-fingers" of piped, baked meringues--some straight, some piped in curlicues. It is then filled with a chocolate mousse, which has been lightened with Italian meringue (the same recipe of meringue is used for both fingers and mousse.) The mousse is then frozen, but the high sugar content of the meringues ensures that it won't freeze completely solid (similar to what the Italians call "semifreddo.") The dessert is then unmolded, the result resembling a KEPI, complete with decorative braids! Bon appetit! Here's a setting by Benjamin Britten of a watery poem of Tennyson, from Britten's *Nocturne*: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19WwXXOm7IM&list=RD19WwXXOm7IM&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19WwXXOm7IM&list=RD19WwXXOm7IM&start_radio=1</a> Ain't that a cute little squiddy?
@Bill The poem: Below the thunders of the upper deep; Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee About his shadowy sides: above him swell Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light, From many a wondrous grot and secret cell Unnumber’d and enormous polypi Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green. There hath he lain for ages and will lie Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep, Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.
@Bill, thanks for sending along the Tennyson, the Britten setting, and this recording - enjoyed all very much
I didn't think it was easy at all. I spent at least 15 or twenty minutes trying to remember if Mars was the Greek name, or the Roman name. Turns out it didn't matter because those weren't the right answers anyway. But I didn't come here to say that. I came here to say this. A poster I admire pointed out I had accused someone of humble bragging. The thread has been removed so I don't know who to apologize to. So I'll offer a blanket apology to anyone I offended over the Thursday puzzle. But blanket apologies aren't worth much. So if anyone can think of a form of penance, I'm listening.
@Francis god bless your eternal good faith and earnestness…but I sincerely doubt that anyone was bothered by whatever you said in that deleted thread.
@Francis I’ve been waiting for you! I wrote in yesterday? Thursday? Comments that I thought it was weird that you had the top reader pick. Then later in the day, it was deleted. The entire thread. I guess the sub threads went off the rails? And the mods deleted? I don’t recall you accusing anyone of humblebrag. But even if you did. So what? Everyday is a reset.
@Francis Five Hail Marys, five Pater Nosters, and a week on salted herring, only.
@Francis So glad to see you. I've been a day late and a dollar short all week. (Brain frazzlement; it's hard breathing soup.) So I missed the original to-do. But I did post Friday with my extreme doubt that you could possibly have been offensive enough to be emu'd. I see from this line that I was largely right.