What a gorgeous grid, stagger stacks in the middle, abutting spanners above and below. The typical Sunday grid has 74 blocks and 139 words, and this one has 58 blocks and 128 words. You’d expect a presence of ugly fill in such a low-count grid – but not if it were made by Erik. His grids are unfailingly clean. And even with the difficulty of filling a low count grid, Erik put in a dozen NYT answer debuts for spark, my favorite two being ALPHABET SONG (with its world-class clue) and COME ON IN THE WATER’S FINE. Everything flows in this grid – no scary islands to fill in. Even that huge tablet-shaped area in the middle is entered by four long answers. Plenty of answers and clues to love; I never felt bored. A shining, sterling, fun-to-solve beauty, which is the rule of your puzzles, Erik. Nothing but quality in them. Thank you, and please, keep creating!
@Lewis I hesitated about "Number of letters" as a clue in 21D but then I grasped that 'number' here meant musical number – aha!
I have to endure the complaints every time there's a rebus from people who have no idea that rebuses have been a thing since 1954. Themeless Sundays have only been a thing for a few years, and they only appear a couple of times in a year. Someone apparently though back then that they would be a good idea. But I'm quite disappointed when I realize that it is one. (And that's fairly early on, based on the grid shape--no obvious theme answers--and the title, which always conveys in apparently endless ways, that there's no "there" there.) I do them, because I do all of them, but I don't have to like them. Why don't I like them? Because at the size of a Sunday puzzle, the lack of a theme makes the puzzle boring, it drags on, and it lacks humor. This particular puzzle was no different. At least it'll be six months before the next one.
@Steve L I’m in this camp as well. A bit of a slog with a good bit of flyspecking to find that one letter I filled in wrong. Not nearly as interesting as a good Friday or Saturday.
@Steve L I agree. It’s not fun without a theme.
@Steve L agreed. So disappointing to realize there will be no fun “aha” moment. It’s the aim reason to look forward to the Sunday puzzle. Bummer.
@Steve L Sorry you didn’t enjoy the puzzle. I found it delightful.
@Steve L I don't think we worked the same puzzle.
I made my way through this puzzle in a workmanlike way, and expected to finish in an average-ish time, only to be surprised to find I’d been a good bit slower than usual. The clues must have been more thought provoking than they seemed at first. Kudos to Erik Agard for a job well done. I struggled a bit in the middle by trying hash things out instead of HAVETHINGSOUT. I let my six year old grandson, who has been visiting from Scotland, help with the puzzle by supplying the answer WARIO, a no brainer for him as he is obsessed with all things relating to the Mario universe. He was immensely proud of being able to answer an NYT Sunday crossword answer all by himself. I, on the other hand, was proud of myself for finding a way to get him interested in crosswords.
@Marshall Walthew Have your grandson help you with the July 26 puzzle. I solved it the night before, but I put an X in the first square so I didn't accidentally get the happy music. Then I went back and deleted all the squares that had Mario answers. (There were a lot of them.) On Sunday, when my 7-year-old grandson came to visit, I told him I needed a lot of help, which he was happy to provide. (I could have also hit Reset to delete all the answers, but for a Sunday, that's a lot to redo.)
@Marshall Walthew Why not clear the Mario Bros puzzle and redo the theme answers with him?
I know Sunday themeless puzzles are controversial and I’m sure this will be no different. I don’t mind them on occasion but if so they need to be really amazing. And this one was really amazing. What else would you expect from Erik Agard? That center was absolutely brilliant, I can’t even imagine how hard it was to fill that. And some great clues—Sam’s “Honey Boo Boo” is an instant classic, and the clue for MOLASSES and ALPHABET SONG aren’t far behind. The NEUROLOGY clue was pretty brainy too. I also loved the look of the grid, that center looked a bit like a swimming pool (or maybe a skating rink). Minor nit—maybe it’s not completely against the rules but I didn’t like SWAM crossing an entry with the word “swimmer” in the clue. (I like the entries, especially in a puzzle called “Freestyle”, I just wish 19 across was clued a bit differently. Mario haters did last week at least prime you for WARIO today? Listen, no shade if you didn’t like this or thought it was a slog, I get it. Just count me as a fan, personally.
@SP I had the opposite reaction to “Honey boo-boo”. I get it, but honey isn’t a good metonymy. Lots of meh for me. I got several of the long answers right off the bat.
@SP Yes, after my Mario rant, for which I was thrown under the bus by many here (you were an exception, for which I thank you again), I was glad I remembered WARIO from that puzzle!
Some complain about Sunday puzzles with no theme. I say a Sunday doesn't need a theme when it's as well crafted as this one. I got my initial toehold in the middle right section and largely proceeded clockwise from there.
Terrific Sunday from Eric Agard! Love the inclusion of Afroman's hit from 2000. More recently, he became famous again after police mistakenly searched his home. He turned the incident into a hilarious and scathing music video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xxK5yyecRo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xxK5yyecRo</a>
@Chungclan Lemon pound cake is the best!!! Did you see any of the trial against him? Oh my gosh, real life comedy gold!!
@Chungclan Under the boardwalk. Boardwalk!
@Chungclan I bought lemon pound cake this morning specifically because of the song
This puzzle is magnificent. Kudos to Erik for a fantastic themeless Sunday puzzle!
What a lovely puzzle! Really enjoyed it, and learned a few things, too. :)
@Carolyn I came here to say just that: what a lovely, enjoyable puzzle! I also learned about TONI STONE and a few other things..
85D One of the Five Pillars of Islam, referring to prayer My daughter and son-in-law are fluent in Arabic. She told me it was salah, which is singular. However, the answer is salat, which is plural. Then she said it was plural because Muslims pray five times per day.
Harder than your average Sunday (laudatory)! I feared immediately after just jumping in that I wasn't going to be able to solve it without substantial cheating. That turned out not to be the case, but I had to use my noggin a bit more than I normally do. Solid puzzle!
Fun puzzle! I found it just right for a Sunday.
Just asking - is the Ute tribe compensated in any way for their appearances in NYT crosswords?
@Brendan, They probably get the same payment as Brian ENO, Yoko ONO, and Nabisco for OREOs.
@Brendan maybe they could get a cut of Oreo revenue, and share it with the Otoe and funds to protect eels and emus.
Wait! This was themeless? When I read the title "Freestyle Exercise," I straightaway thought of swimming--specifically doing the (Australian) crawl. This was reaffirmed with the grid art, the center of which looks to me like it could be a swimming pool, perhaps one designed for water polo, with two goal nets at either end. Of course, this was clearly the case--with watery entries like SWAM, OCEANUS, SWAMP, and of course COMEONINTHEWATERSFINE. And there it ended. But it gave me a good excuse to look up YouTubes of Michael Nyman's *Water Dances*: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zp44v3rRvU&list=RD5Zp44v3rRvU&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zp44v3rRvU&list=RD5Zp44v3rRvU&start_radio=1</a> (What's Michael doing at 0:17--trying to shake some pool water out of his ear?) 80's pop minimalism not to your taste? Here's the Roches' tribute to 38D, 43D, 47D, 62A, and 66A: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QMApfa5AUo&list=RD3QMApfa5AUo&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QMApfa5AUo&list=RD3QMApfa5AUo&start_radio=1</a>
Anyone else spend way too much time trying to make HashThingsOut work? Excellent puzzle! A fun, meaty Sunday.
It seems crazy to congratulate a crossword legend but wow this puzzle was so so fun, clever, culturally inclusive and accessible. Also, Caitlin’s essay and the creator comments as good as the puzzle. Thank you both!
@WhitneyC Four inclusions of the Islamic world PALESTINE DOMED (buildings) SALAT 2 RITUALS (Though I think that clue is a bit off--for sure both activities are bigger commitments of time and/or treasure than prayers--well maybe 5 times/day is a lot. Of treasure for sure. As others said, PILLARS is the expected term.)
I got a little disappointed the last couple times I encountered a themeless Sunday. I generally enjoy most of the themes in the crosswords, so 'twas disappointing to not get one. Today was an exception for me. I really enjoyed it this one, even though there was no theme. I enjoyed a number of fresh seeming entries, especially the crossing swimming entries, the bee sting clue, learning about Toni Stone, and the thought of peace at 1A. The freestyle title and the early on swimming clues, plus the grid shape, at first made me think it was going to be some kind of swimming theme, but I was quickly disabused of that notion when I couldn't see any seeming connection between long answers, plus no revealer (not that all things have revealers). Anyhow, I thought it was a lot of fun and before I knew it, I was done, a fair bit faster than I expected to be. But, and here is where I'm going to dismay two different fandoms... At 34 down, discovered only upon flyspecking after I didn't get the happy music, I had entered LETITgo.... 😂😂😂 Actually, probably have enraged three fandoms, now that I think of it. Sorry all you Beatles, Frozen, and James Bond fans!! I have let you all down!! I hope you will choose to either let it go, let it be, or shake me up a martini so that we may move forward in peace. ☮️🍸❤️ Oh shoot, I offended all the unions too... My apologies!! How can two little letters cause so much trouble!? Har!
@HeathieJ, I thought just like you did that title plus first long entry plus pool shape plus butterfly clue -- kind of a disappointing misdirect, with expectations of other long entries about Michael Phelps, stay in your lane, Aqualung, having a stroke, etc. But no, it was a straight up themeless but pretty enjoyable for all that we first were led to believe about it.
@HeathieJ For your crime, I sentence you to watching this. <a href="https://youtu.be/CGj85pVzRJs?si=EGplPl6_4kCGGkjm" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/CGj85pVzRJs?si=EGplPl6_4kCGGkjm</a>
Ouagadougou, Tegucigalpa, Chişinău - so much potential for other jars to have namesakes.
@Cat Lady Margaret Ouagadougou, my favorite capital!
What a great Saturday-night workout. Perfect, challenging, fun! I struggled with the NW corner but eventually found my way in. Whew! Best Sunday in a long time. Thank you, Erik!
There are some puzzle creators you are just simpatico with. I always enjoy an Eric Asgard construction.
Anyone else have escArgot before MOLASSES?
@David G No! But even though it's not the answer, you have to be a pretty good solver to come up with that.
@David G it was an answer to a similar clue on June 6th: Ce n'est pas du fast food
Happiness is no flyspecking a Sunday puzzle. Was on Erik's wavelength for most of the time, though had to work for a lot of it. The lack of a theme didn't bother me. Working out the double spanners was absorbing enough. Had to wait and see if it was ISOLDE or ISeult. Meanwhile, I totally missed the Diamond/SILENT A combo. As I said elsewhere, the A, while not prominent, isn't exactly silent to me. Here's Seals and Crofts. Do they pronounce the A? <a href="https://youtu.be/0c1-pXbZaKg?si=VRHTi2av2LdCnUMl" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/0c1-pXbZaKg?si=VRHTi2av2LdCnUMl</a>
@Vaer They don’t. And I think it’s a hypercorrection to pronounce the A. I know, some dictionaries do list a secondary pronunciation with an extra schwa, but it sounds weird to me. I think you’ve stated before you’re not a Brooklyn native, but I am, and I don’t recall anyone there ever pronouncing it that way. It sounds like a newscaster’s pronunciation. How many syllables is “comfortable” for you? It’s three for me. My sister-in-law insists it’s four.
@Vaer I am a native upstate New yorker and the a is not quite silent when I say diamond..I had a very hard time with that answer as a result.
If I had had 100 guesses to guess who the constructor was, I wouldn't have picked Erik Agard. No awful pop culture trivia to wade through. Cluing that I mostly found easy. And no theme. But that center oval looks like a swimming pool and the title is FREESTYLE EXERCISE, freestyle being a swimming stroke, and the first long answer is COME ON IN THE WATER'S FINE (which I loved) and there's MOVES AS ONE (water ballet?) and there's a POOL near the bottom -- so my question is did this start out to be a swimming pool puzzle and then was the theme eventually abandoned? Whatever. It's by far the most enjoyable Agard puzzle I've ever done, with colorful fill like TONGUE LASHING and LOT IN LIFE and HONEST ANSWER and the fabulous clue for MOLASSES (54D). There was no suffering at all: it was easy without being obvious or boring. Loved it!
@Nancy Erik answers your question in the Constructor's Note at the bottom of the column.
@Nancy, I noticed the big center oval too. My first thought was of a chariot race track, like Circus Maximus.
Nice long acrosses and center stack. Pitched just right for Sunday
Tough Sunday because it was themeless. Some incentive, incredible cluing. Thank you for the brain workout!
I am grateful this wasn't an entry level Sunday puzzle - you had to stretch your thinking to get on Erik's wavelength - pretty ingenious how all these long answers could fit in a grid this size. Bravo!
I love me a Sunday with a theme and some quirky animation with the music. I love me a crunchy, themeless Saturday. My only do-it-cuz-I-do-it are the early week. Sometimes, one will surprise us, but they often feel like a fill-in-the-blank solve. So, a themeless Sunday? And an Agard to boot? Not at *all* what I was expecting, but it was clear from the get-go I was getting a 21x21, Friday-ish, two cuppa, Sunday morning solve. What’s not to love?
Erik Agard always does great work, though this is one of his harder ones. Still good.
Although the solve was quite a slog, I am impressed at how one can even construct this puzzle with (I would say) mostly acceptable fill.
I like it when A.I. agrees with me: No, the letter "a" is not silent in "diamond." Most speakers pronounce it as a soft "uh" sound ("dy-uh-mund"). In fast speech, the sound is sometimes skipped ("dy-mund"). Pronunciation of Diamond Normal Speech: Pronounced with a short, weak vowel sound in the middle. Fast Speech: The middle sound disappears completely in casual talk.
@Xword Junkie I think it's also notable that if spelled without the 'a', the pronunciation would be completely different: dimond So, I agree that the a is not entirely silent. ...
@Xword Junkie I've never heard anyone say "di-a-mond", but then again, since I say "dy-mond" whether I'm speaking quickly or not, I'm probably biased. Is it an American thing?
Xword Junkie — I had the same thought.
@Xword Junkie I have asked Siri for lookups in the past but not yet AI except to deliberate whether I spend too much time reading the comments!
@Xword Junkie I’ve been in France for 35 years, though I’m pretty sure we Brits use a diphtongue when pronouncing di-a-mond, but I agree the a is an err-sounding schwa, but does that make it silent, I wonder?
@Xword Junkie I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of people who claim they pronounce the A in "diamond" don't actually. A linguistics teacher once taught us that when asked to report how they speak, people often default to how they think it's supposed to be pronounced or said. But they don't actually speak that way. Newscasters may sometimes use hypercorrection to pronounce words a certain way because "they're supposed to be pronounced that way." But aside from them, and certain other public speakers who feel the need to enunciate with impeccable diction, words are said the way they're said.
@Xword Junkie One thing I learned in my training: there is something called an "idiolect." Different from a dialect, it is the language of one individual speaker which differs from other speakers. I would guess that there are many different ways to pronounce the word in question. You (or AI) say, [Most speakers pronounce it as a soft "uh" sound ("dy-uh-mund").] How do you (or AI) know that? What is your evidence of that? I haven't looked it up, but I assume that dictionaries give various ways to pronounce this word. It was the same with LON/lawn the other day. Who is to say which one is right? Or even prevalent. There are so many variations in the way people speak.
@Xword Junkie - I find it amusing that the A.I. answer is self-contradictory. In other words, A.I. is an oxy moron.
Today's puzzle was kind of proper noun hell today. My favorite clue that made me laugh out loud was "Something not well received when asked how you look" was HONEST ANSWER. Great clue there. LEIDEN spelled in the far less common spelling threw me off a lot and made CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT hard to get. Then all the proper noun/trivia answers like TONI STONE, ISOLDE, SILENTA, SALAT, MAVEN, COVEY, MOORE, NLRB. Just so many "Know it or you don't" answers that all converged in the same region. Very frustrating puzzle.
@Chris I believe you are quite mistaken about which spelling of the Dutch city is the more common one: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/5hyryhku" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/5hyryhku</a>
@Chris I would not consider SILENTA, MAVEN, and COVEY to be proper noun/trivia answers. NLRB is borderline. I was also led astray initially by LEYDEN but then assumed it was an alternate spelling.
@Chris not clear how SILENT A qualifies as a proper noun, or even really trivia
I enjoyed the puzzle, although I got tripped up in the SE corner. One nitpick with the NYT column: As a rollercoaster enthusiast (“thoosie”), the photo of Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City does not depict an “inverted coaster” although that coaster does have inversions. An “inverted coaster” hangs below the track, like the Batman rides at many Six Flags parks.
I really enjoyed the pacing of this. Audibly nose-gasped when I saw the grid. It sent this solver on a nice journey around the outer edges, working his way to the center for the final entries. Good way to start a Sunday, thank you. Only needed help with TONI STONE. Now, baseball… that’s the one where you try to throw a ball through a netted hoop, right?
Fantastic puzzle! So many long stacked clues with so few black squares = superhuman feat of crossword construction.
Well... really impressive feat of construction. The four grid-spanners were all debuts; don't recall encountering that before. And... got stuck in more than a couple of places and couldn't work it all out. No big deal - that's just me (as usual). Puzzle find today: A Tuesday from January 12, 2021 by Ross Trudeau. I'd probably done this one, but of course didn't remember it. Anyway - four theme answers, straightforwardly clued and symmetrically placed: KIDNEYSTONE BIPARTISANBILL PROQUARTERBACK BRIEFMOMENT And then, the 'reveal': "Adage on the impermanence of suffering... or a hint to 18-, 19-, 46- and 61-across" THISTOOSHALLPASS Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/12/2021&h=22a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/12/2021&h=22a</a> I'm done. ...
"Have things out" is not a recognizable English idiom. "Hash things out" is.
@Peter I gave Google's Gemini A.I. agent your first sentence, verbatim. It responded with: "Have things out" actually is a recognized English idiom, though it is a variation of the much more common phrase "have it out." According to major authorities like the Collins Dictionary, if you "have things out" or "have it out" with someone, you discuss a problem or disagreement openly and directly, even if it leads to an argument, in order to find a solution. The Phrase Family Breakdown "Have it out" (Most Common): Used for a single, specific issue or a major confrontation (e.g., "I need to have it out with my boss about my pay."). "Have things out" (Acceptable Variant): Used when there are multiple ongoing complaints, grievances, or complex underlying issues between two people. "Have things out in the open" (Extended Variant): Shifting the hidden issues into clear, public view for resolution.
Peter: I've heard HAVE THINGS OUT used as clued.
@Peter I hung on to hash things out for a long time
I always give an HONEST ANSWER. It’s just that my honesty is situational. Married for 35 years and counting.
@Andy K People talk about conditional morality as if that’s a bad thing.
26A [Jamaican folk song about dock work] DAYO Well, I guess we've got some more stevedores STEEVING. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dpBWlRANE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dpBWlRANE</a> From Wikipedia: ["The Banana Boat Song" likely originated around the beginning of the 20th century when the banana trade in Jamaica was growing. It was sung by Jamaican dockworkers, who typically worked at night to avoid the heat of the daytime sun. When daylight arrived, they expected their boss would arrive to tally the bananas so they could go home.[6]] Belafonte was born in New York City but spent eight formative years with his grandmother in Jamaica. I can't sit still when I watch this Belafonte PBS Special. <a href="https://vkvideo.ru/video318421948_456239355" target="_blank">https://vkvideo.ru/video318421948_456239355</a>
I have never heard the expression "have things out". I've heard "have it out", but that is an idiom, and an idiom is a lexical unit - you can't just change words and have the same meaning. You wouldn't say, "he kicked a bucket", or "beat around the shrub".
@NanuNanu Naturally, your narrow experience does not speak for all Anglophones. "have [noun] out" is a phrasal verb, and verbs can generally take whatever they want. I can't take your side here, since that was one of the first clues I solved.
What a fun puzzle! I loved moving through the shape of the grid!
I used to not care about themes. Couldn't even really understand what all the fuss was about. Apparently, I have joined Team Theme, because as I realized this didn't have one, I felt a little let down. I've come to look forward to figuring them out, and often, the humor they supply. In a big Sunday grid, they provide momentum and keep things from getting tedious. But... This is Eric Agard! He can do no wrong in my book. This was so filled with fresh entries, and I liked all of the long spanners. Well, most of them anyway. COME IN THE WATERS FINE crossing SWAM felt like a poke in the eye here at day 9 of a cyanobacteria outbreak in my neighborhood pond. And yes, that sad POOL at 86 A is where you'll find me until things clear up.
Erik says "I thought it would be nice to have some 21-letter answers" so casually, likes it's such an easy thing to do. This guy is good!
As a Saturday fan, I loved this wide open themeless puzzle— thanks for making a Sunday treat! So many great entries, and so few dud fillers, which was really impressive. And what a center! I didn't mind the string of Gs — the variety in the stack of TONGUELASHING BEESTING SANG SHENG was gorgeous!
If there was a theme here, it never registered with me. Clearly there was a visual element, with a large oval occupying the grid's center. This evoked a hockey rink each time I looked at it. This was probably not the intended image. ;-) Solved the puzzle without assistance in about 45 minutes. Was considerably slowed by holding onto SIDES rather than SODAS and HASHTHINGSOUT rather than HAVETHINGSOUT. The paired spanners were impressive, as was the central oval. And there were a lot of very nice long entries too. And then we had ODS not clued as a verb, a non-ornithological clue for NENE, "eddies" as a verb (or WHIRLS as a noun?), FTD (maybe this is not as obscure as I think?), FICS, a SILENTA in "diamond" (which for me has a very short but clearly vocalized A), INC and ING, and ISOLDE crossing SALAT! Add in CIS (which for some reason seems to trigger some commenters) and WARIO (Is this too soon?) and ... well the comments should be a lot of fun today. Very fine Sunday challenge. Enjoyed this a lot more than a typical themed Sunday puzzle.
Ods bodkins! A Sunday themeless puzzle? That's a choice, I guess. I prefer having a theme to chivvy me along and keep me interested for an hour, but that's just, like, my opinion, man. "Honey boo-boo" as a clue made me laugh, but if a honeybee stings you, their stinger falls off, and they die, so that's best avoided. Our neighbor in Maryland kept bees, so our flowers were always nicely pollinated, and the occasional jar of fresh honey was wonderful. Never once got stung, BTW.