[VISIO_] NO END IN SIGHT
@Lewis How about: MAR_ WORLDWITHOUTEND
For “Do business”, I had URINATE for a while, and thought it was a great clue.
"How are my hot dogs?" "Honestly? Let me be frank..." (Sounds like a wurst-case scenario.)
@Mike Wiener lose, you know a bun when you see one.
@Mike I need to come up with a pun soon. I don't want to be playing ketchup on this one.
@Mike hot dogs are the result of a brat summer!
@Mike So you mustard up some puns today. I relish reading them.
@Mike. Each of these puns is worse than the one before it. I love it! Still giggling.
Is there a place to comment on the midi? If so, can we get better editors? Maybe the editors for the full puzzle? I doubt the good editors would let the answer be in the clue like today “old”
@Matt Really shocking that they let that slip.
@Matt I guess most of the eds are out of the office on holiday, or wish they were.
@Matt So every editor is supposed to pitch a no hitter or perfect game every day? Sometimes our first mistake is getting out of bed. I’m amazed at the tongue lashing these editors get nearly every day. For goodness sake, let it slide once every now and again. Consider it a freebie for the day. Sheesh!
@Matt When I did the Midi (just after noon Pacific time on Sunday), the clue for OLD was [Stale], which made me think of bread. Am I missing something offensive, or did they replace the clue by the time I did the puzzle?
I love that we not only had to figure out the theme answers, but the clues as well! All the theme answers – every single one – were clever and marvelous. The clue for NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION – [_raves] – had me knitting my brow for quite a while, and brought a big aha when its solution finally hit me. There were also quite a few slippery clues for the non-theme answers – for example, [Untold] for A TON OF and [Closely following] for TRUE TO. So, plenty of puzzling and plenty of entertainment – a sterling Sunday. Bravo, Sam. This hit my happy button. Thank you!
@Lewis OK, Lewis, I'll bite. What the heck does "needs no introduction" MEAN? I could see the answer from a cross, but that doesn't mean my poor brain can make the connection.
@Lewis Is the Craves clue relate to rave parties? It seems that fits if you read the full clue, but the other theme answers seem to solve differently: 'headless' for chopping off the first letter, then 'horseman', which is one way to clue a knight.
@Lewis I'm glad you enjoyed it! The credit for the [Untold] clue goes to the editors. I also found it tricky when I reviewed the proofs. It's very disconcerting to get stuck on your own puzzle!
Ok, I’m trying the literature offshoot here: _ ITTICIS _ _ IRE BRINGE _ _ EA SHOOTE _ INFINITE JEST PROMETHEUS UNBOUND A FAREWELL TO ARMS
Add me to the list of people that thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. I'm not much of a rap fan, so I got a lot of satisfaction out of pulling LILKIM out of the recesses of my mind with minimal crossers. On the other side of the coin, it took an embarrassingly long time for IOTA to occur to me.
@Eric We use IOTA so much around these parts that for a moment I forgot it's a Greek letter. And, really, c'mon now, IOTA know that kind of stuff with no hesitation.
First -- a note to all of you who skip Sundays -- don't! Then a note to Sam Brady -- Yes, it IS more fun solving in this direction. A big thank you for keeping the happiness of your solvers in mind. This was such fun! Once I had DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, I tried to think up other "in-the-language" phrases that would fit the bill. I came up with exactly none -- though I didn't give much time to the thought. I did think of ENDLESS something-or-other, but Sam chose NEVER ENDING instead, and it's better. It was fun to also guess what the missing letter(s) would be. Sometimes there was only one possibility, like with the DOCTORS and the knight and the dialog -- but would it be SAGA or SAGE? FRANK or FRANC? CRAVES, GRAVES or BRAVES? My favorite was NOT COMPLETELY HONEST, which I got off NOT CO--------ELY. It was Sam's intention to make this fun for us and I feel he really succeeded. Thanks, Sam, for a delightful Sunday morning.
@Nancy Thanks for the lovely comment! There's nothing quite as uplifting as hearing that people enjoyed something you've made.
How do we give feedback on the Midi? The 8A clue today was "Stale and old". The answer was "old". I think the clue was meant to be "stale and dry".
@Michele thank you for saving my sanity. I have spent way too much time today obsessing over this! I’m glad I’m not the only one who saw it!
I enjoyed this puzzle. I found it both clever and fun.
Always great to fill in the last square of a Sunday puzzle and instantly get the congratulations screen. Enjoyable solve. Here’s my contribution: S_ore, m_rt, e_change DUTY-FREE SHOPS
Loved it! The first themer went in quickly, the other five not so much. Good Sunday fun. Thanks, Sam!
Okay, "infinite solving pleasure" may be a stretch, but sometimes I need a puzzle like this one--fun to solve; not a gimme, but engaging without being exasperating.
I was going to post a longer rant here, but I always end up regretting it. So suffice it to say that this was well-crafted, the clues and fill were all decent, a bit too straightforward for my taste, but it filled up 30 minutes of my time just fine, I suppose. I just have seen this theme or a version of it So. Darn. Often. and there was just nothing fresh or exciting about it, in my opinion. Personally, I would rather see a hundred Mario puzzles, goofy puns, or other big passionate swings that may be a miss for some but still make me sit up and take notice. Rant over, YMMV.
@SP Yep. The theme was wafer thin and the wafers were floppy and moldy. Really elementary. I kept looking / hoping for something clever to pull things together - maybe the missing letters also do something? - but apparently it really is just "chop letters from random word and comment on it". Ick. :(
@SP Mostly agree. All except the Mario puzzles 😜.
SP, "So. Darn. Often." Really? When was the last semi-cryptic Sunday? I can't recall.
@SP My M really did V. I liked it. Laughed a few times. A few "aha!" moments, too.
Whether you liked it or not, I don't recall being inundated with semi-cryptic Sundays this year. When was the last one?
@SP I hear you. Who doesn't love a really unique and clever puzzle idea? I definitely wouldn't consider this puzzle to be ground-breaking - people have done missing letter puzzles before - though I did try to give it a twist by swapping the roles of clues and answers. The thing is, outstanding puzzles are by definition rare. So between those sparklers, it's nice to have fun, solid puzzles with hopefully a few clever clues and the occasional "aha" moment. Also, I think I'd get really tired of pun themes every week :)
Has anyone yet mentioned this issue with OLD in the MIDI?? I'm surprised nobody has commented on that yet. ;^)
@Captain Quahog I And nobody mentioned that KRUSTY is in the clown car. :( Is the Midi title, Put a Tent on This Circus, a well-known Krusty saying? That's beyond my The Simpsons knowledge base.
@Captain Quahog My seemingly innocuous reply to you was quarantined I only wondered why no one mentioned _rusty in his _lown car. And if the title to the puzzle was a known saying in the world of the Simpsons?
It's very possible that I am now permanently grumpy and exhausted. I don't like this journey for me, and it seems to be affecting my puzzle experience. So many of you found this delightful, and I'm just like eh, whatevs. I think a less grumpy and less exhausted me, which I remember fondly, might have enjoyed it a lot more. And I absolutely see the cleverness of it, so whatever is my problem!? So, in short, I done did this puzz. Guess there's a little bit of Eddie in all of us. Har!
@HeathieJ Yep. I have found that what is going on with me dramatically affects my perception of puzzles. When I solve them late at night after a hard day, for instance, I almost always think they weren't humorous or clever. Just unnecessarily opaque. Unless it just so happens that the ones I've solved at night happened to be subpar? Maybe I have ESP that way.
@HeathieJ Sometimes Sundays are frustrating because they’re partly easy but partly hard. And they’re long.
@HeathieJ I know that feeling and am happy when it passes. That said, imho this specific puzzle was indeed meh 😅😂
Bragging that this is my 2nd Sunday Xword in a row where I needed no google assistance to complete/verify any square. Maybe I should start printing them out and filling them in ink. ;) Further, I love great wordplay in a Xword which is why I relish most Thursday puzzles. When I saw today's title, I was expecting the themed entries to have their first and last letters extend beyond the grid. Then I saw the clues with the blanks and I was warmed up to some cryptic-like work. Speak of which, I do wish the NYT would have cryptic style crosswords to complement their other word puzzles.
@Keith Adams They do have cryptics. Every 8 weeks. Tha last one was July 5. You can’t get them on the NYT site or app, but if you join xwordinfo.com, you can solve online. You can also solve in the paper if you want to buy them, but I think after 4 puzzles, it’s cheaper to pay for xwordinfo. Plus you can do the archive.
This was fun! Definite improvement over last week's themeless. Not sure why people aren't getting the theme ...? It was cute!
You say "Take the Edge Off," I say "Put The Edge On": * <a href="https://youtu.be/jejpb0M0w_I?is=vnmhC0ErhzqKD-yz" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/jejpb0M0w_I?is=vnmhC0ErhzqKD-yz</a> (*for those who don't know, The Edge is the guitarist/keyboardist/backing vocalist of the band U2.) And their song "Mysterious Ways" seems appropriate enough for this puzzle. At first I thought the beginnings or endings of theme words or phrases would be hiding beyond the grid frame. To my surprise and delight, the mystery turned out to be in the clues themselves. To be honest, though, the only clue that jumped at me was "_atso_ and _akyl_." All the others served only as a visual reference for what was missing as I filled in the theme entries (which I thoroughly enjoyed and thought quite clever.) As for the fill, it was odd but I staggered through a lot of it, not finding it as straight-forward as others seem to have found it. But that was part of the fun, having to wrestle with my brain today. Thank you much, Sam Brody!
No. Just no. Terrible cluing.
@Eva H. And here I was thinking that the cluing was pretty darn clever and I enjoyed figuring them all out. Yet another example of, as the French say, à chacun son goût.
@Eva H. You weren't very specific about why you thought the clues were terrible, but I'm seeing other complaints here that one [clue] or another isn't a synonym or the best definition for [answer]. Sunday clues are generally going to be a mix of easy-to-get and stretch-your-brain-to-find-the-connection. Every one of these clues, IMO, is fair. You have to think about some of them to get there. That's as it should be for a Sunday.
That was so much fun. At first I thought I was in for a battle, but 23A set me on the right path. Although that was the most straightforward of the theme clues, I had a lot of fun tying to work out the rest. HEADLESS HORSEMAN fell last as I had misspelled BhaT. I kept trying to jam armour onto the poor chap. Ah, NARNIA, my first fantasy realm, alongside LOTR, since replaced by Harry Potter in my children’s worlds. Re-reading Lewis’s world as an adult became more difficult, as I can’t subscribe to his Christian viewpoint, but as a child the world of snow and talking creatures was truly magical.
@Helen Wright My feelings exactly regarding Lewis. I didn’t read Narnia until I was an adult, but the underlying theme took something away from the joy because of his beliefs. The stories are wondrous, however, if we ignore the symbolism.
@Helen Wright @Ken S Same here. It was also interesting to encounter in college a Jewish woman who loved the books and had had no idea of the Christian connection.
I stared at _IALO_ way too long.
@Tony I didn’t understand that one either.
Caitlin explained two of the themers; Jim Horne explained them all. <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/16/2026" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/16/2026</a>
@Tony - I got DIALOG immediately. I do understand how it would puzzle Brits.
I've had a rough few days, but I managed to finish all todays' puzzles. I managed to do the crossword in 26:51 with no help which may not be impressive to some, but I'm smiling!
@Pamela M. Hope the next few days balance out. Congrats on the solve, hope it was some fun needed distraction for those 26 minutes!
Wonderful puzzle!!! Challenging and clever.
Regarding the Midi. Using the answer in the clue is, imho, shoddy. Regarding the Sunday, pretty sure the Lion Tamer is not the one jumping through hoops.
Midi: It's not shoddy; it's a mistake. Sunday: It isn't. Fun clue and answer, though.
@LeCheffre I got misdirected by the clue for LIONTAMER as well. But the job does involve jumping through hoops, even though it is done by the lions, not the tamer.
Continues a recent trend: just no fun. Completed it without any kind of satisfaction.
@N. Chamberlain agreed. I’m sure it was a feat of construction but that doesn’t make it enjoyable for the solver. Way too hard.
Oh for crying out loud. Obtuse, party of one, your table is ready.
"Craves" and "needs" are two different things in my mind. I often crave ice cream, but I definitely don't need it! I'm ducking now because I think someone is about to bonk me on the head with a dictionary.
@Elbridge Gerry There's been an earlier discussion about it, with many agreeing with you. The way I see any equivalency is if I am craving ice cream and say "I neeeed ice cream – right now!" whereby the craving feels like a need. (I know, I'm stretching it here, lol.)
@Elbridge Gerry I definitely need ice cream.
I enjoyed the puzzle and it's theme, but CRAVES isn't a synonym for NEEDS. Crave means "intense desire," which is wanting something, not needing it. I may be craving a piece of dark chocolate right now, but that doesn't mean I need it. And while I know a clue is not the same as a definition, this clue/answer pair was the weak point in this puzzle. The rest were clever and fun and apt.
@Pat Do clues really need to be dictionary synonyms? I think as long as they can be substituted for each other in everyday usage, that’s enough to be a clue. And in common usage, I believe, crave and need are not often distinguished from each other. “I’m in Brooklyn, and I’m craving/needing a slice right now.”
@Pat And there are so many other potential clues. _SSENTIALS. _USTS. (Musts, not lusts) _ECESSITIES.
For me, figuring out the theme clues, took more time than figuring out the theme answers. As mentioned elsewhere, the clueing was delightful, adding sparkle along the path to completion.
For those who need a visual aid, Jim Horne over at xwordinfo.com spells it out in a nicely organized table: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/16/2026" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/16/2026</a>
I loved this one! Very clever! I think my favorite was _NIGHT as HEADLESSHORSEMAN. But all the theme entries were quite clever. This is a contender for puzzle of the year.
@jennie I got mine in 7:07 in NJ, Jennie Cara Mia
This is clever and fun, and I almost, almost got all of it! [sob] The 6D/18A tangle has me stumped. Such a wonderful puzzle that I can't bring myself to put Sam Brody on the dartboard or upbraid him for cruelty to white-haired elders... Puzzle of the Year, possibly of the Decade. LION TAMER, tee hee. Not even a themer, but so entertaining and fun that it sparks joy. I'm off to see the solution to 6D.
@Mean Old Lady One further heartbreak: no photo! The last 6 or 7 constructors have quite charming pix on xwordinfo, and for me it's often the cherry on top of the treat... The wit and creativity shine through. "People we'd like to know!"
@Mean Old Lady Do you want a clue for your tangle?
@Mean Old Lady Your wish is my command. A link to Sam's website and a photo of him. <a href="https://sambrody.info" target="_blank">https://sambrody.info</a>
I have a Doctors Without Borders map on my bedroom door.Started doing the puzzle,totally stumped but my eyes kept going to the poster map and bingo! This puzzle took me two hours and 3 cups of tea.
Actually, my basic complaint with 38A is that CRAVES is not precisely synonymous with NEEDS, yet apparently it solves to _RAVES = "NEEDS no introduction." I may not have objected if _ECESSITIES was the clue rather than _RAVES. At the very least, I wouldn't have to contend with alternative words a I had to with BRAVES and GRAVES.
@Nicholas Mitchell I agree, people crave things all the time they don’t need, and it was too generic a choice. I also wasn’t happy with the grammar: the rest worked for the most part but NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION is too strained to work well for me,
People often use "need" in conversation for things that aren't necessities. For example, "I need a vacation." Do they need a vacation in the same way they need food and water and shelter?Hardly - it's just something they really really want.
I don't usually do cryptic puzzles, so I enjoy when one pops up in my crossword puzzles. A couple took awhile to sort out after completing like Knight (made me smile though) and Crave. Favorites were "Not completely honest" and "Never Ending Story". 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎵🎵🎵__ (Unfinished Symphony!)
For yesterday's clue of "You get the point," I initally filled in "yadayada," but the correct answer was ETCETERA. So today I get the clue "Yadda, yadda" and the answer is ETC. So today I got the point that the universe has a sense of humor, and also that I may not know how to spell "yadda," assuming it actually has a standard spelling at all.
Thank you everyone who provided tips yesterday on ways to check spelling without triggering a lot more information in the browser than I'm looking for. One that came in very late was a suggestion to get a dictionary app on my phone. I can't believe I never got one. That tells me I've gotten way too dependent on the browser search bar. Reminds me of a John Trudell lyric, "Wandering amongst the opulence/Wondering what not to touch."
Lynn, I always add the word "definition" after the word I want to look up. It takes me straight to dictionaries.
When I saw a clue about a job as a LION TAMER I immediately thought of this Monty Python sketch (one of my favorites!) <a href="https://youtu.be/LqQlCOmXuHM?is=QdBxKPbe-o_rjKql" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/LqQlCOmXuHM?is=QdBxKPbe-o_rjKql</a> 😂
AVARIC_ UNFETTEREDGREED Like that?
Loved it! The Midi puzzle and main puzzle each had one clue that incorporated the answer (stale and old, in the Midi), which I thought wasn't supposed to happen.
@Edward Rice which one are you thinking of, for the main?
@Edward Rice I don't think the main puzzle had an example of that.
_ _ITORIAL PA_ _ FREE-RANGING OPINIONS? (Here, the question mark means even the full answer takes the ED-GE off)
Well.. really clever puzzle. Tough one for me, but just made for an enjoyable workout. Nice 'aha' moments as I finally worked out each of the theme answers. And... somewhat appropriate puzzle find today. A Sunday from August 30, 2009 by Ashish Vengsarkar and Narayan Venkatasubramanyan. Some theme clues and answers: "-IRC-MS-ANCES" TAKEOUTOFCONTEXT "ANTI--VERNMENT UN--ST" BLOODLESSREVOLUTION "AR--CL-" THEMISSINGLINK "P---ARYCAREPHY-ICIANS" DOCTORSWITHOUTBORDERS "W--T A -ANDA DOES IN -EIS-RELY FA-HION' EATSSHOOTSANDLEAVES Don't think I would have had much of a chance. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/30/2009&h=70a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/30/2009&h=70a</a> ....
@Pudly Craves is a synonym for "needs." Take away the first or "introductory" letter, and there you have it; "needs, no introduction." I think the comma helps convey the intent.
I loved the cleverness of the theme clues and answers. The puzzle was just right for a Sunday outing.
"Untold" really stumped me. I had to reveal it, and then finally understood it. Goodness, I think the clue should have been "untold amount"
@David - this was one of the clues the editors changed from my original, and when I got the proofs to review, I also got stuck on it for a while!
@David "Untold" could apply to a story or an amount. I got this one quickly because I see "untold" as amount much more often.