"But you love coins just as much as I do! I thought we were mint for each other!" "Yeah, but you've changed." (They almost stayed together for cent-imental reasons.)
@Mike Think they had to SOU for divorce?
@Mike Maybe she had to get all DOLLar-ed and TOGged up to make him change his mind and see her for what she's worth, a CENTsational cache.
@Mike I thought it was because they were fiscally attracted to each other.
@Mike A couple of animals escaped from the zoo and went to the art museum. The yak saw everything, but the gnu missed Matisse.
@Mike Roosevelt the cache of dimes they had together were pure gold. She always saw a silver lining.
Omg you guys I solved this one without reading the article first - which means I worked out it was a rebus all on my own!!! Lots I had to Google here, and a few things I trawled the comments for, to help fix a few little errors. But overall I feel I really deserve today’s gold star! 🤩
@Nancy Congrats on scoping out the rebus on your own for the first time! Most definitely deserving of a gold star! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@Nancy Isn’t it a little thrill when the PENNY drops?
Wondering if anyone else did a double take at the clueing of HAREM and questioned whether it was culturally tone-deaf. I’m trying to keep an open mind about it. Reading more about it, I understand it was a place where women could interact with each other in a safe, secluded place and that it was a respected family institution. But on the other hand, in the bigger picture, it seems like it was an institutionalized way to keep women from interacting with the outside world, and the fact that it was thought of as “protection” gives some indication of their status—who or what did they need “protecting” from? So, ultimately, it just seemed like a clue that seems to promote a positive connotation on a cultural practice which doesn’t seem at all positive from our modern perspective. To use an extreme example, if there were a clue for some protected space for slaves in America, I doubt that would be well-received. Maybe that’s a stretch and I hope not offensive to anyone. Just wondering if it gave anyone else pause.
@SP You make a strong case. I thought it was an odd clue for HAREM, but I didn't think it through as you did.
@SP I’ll counter with my usual rebuttal: “Mafia” is almost always clued in a way that makes it seem like a benign thing, when it reality it is a horrible, horrible thing. As a second generation Italian in this country with roots in Naples on both sides of my family, I cringe every time I see this clue/answer. Many things can offend many people. Life goes on. I take it in stride.
@SP I didn't pause at all. Just now thinking of a nanopause and the possibility for some HAREM-related punning. I do have strong feelings about "honor killings".
@SP It gave me a bad feeling too. I'd rather see HAREM clued to pants or seals.
@SP Born and raised in Istanbul, thank you for seeing it, like I did the moment I read the clue.
In yesterday’s comments @Lm asked me for a response that I didn’t see until late, and I think it’s such a legitimate question that it deserves an answer. They essentially asked for some specifics about what made yesterday’s puzzle easier for a Saturday, and how anyone could call this “a Tuesday puzzle”. The answer is, no thoughtful commentator would call it a Tuesday puzzle, but they might complain about too many Tuesday clues spoiling the solve. And it doesn’t necessarily take a lot. For yesterday, 1-d was “Into every life, some ___ must fall—Longfellow.” In my opinion, that’s a Tuesday clue. It’s an extremely common phrase and even if you’ve never heard it, it’s extremely guessable. But more importantly it’s 1-D. So you’ve basically spent so much time laboring over a beautiful set of four long stacked entries, and handed me, for free, the first letter of each of them. It’s a huge leg up and the equivalent, to use Anonymous’s analogy, of putting bumpers on an experienced bowler’s lane. And it seems so unnecessary—we’re not asking to change the grid, just give us a more puzzling clue. Anyway, that’s my take, and I hope no one considers it elitism or boasting, just an honest response to a fair question.
@SP That sounds to me like a very fair comment.
@SP thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for. The kind of comment that helps editors and constructors, leads to better discussion, and a more aware solver. Appreciate your time
@SP very fair response. I did not find RAIN to be a gimme, but I can see how it is gettable for some
@SP They have included easier Saturday puzzles for probably a couple of years. It's not a thing any more.
LINCOLN in the BODHI* After losing Willie he becomes RAWER At times EDGY, ACRID, quick to SNAP His sorrow ORGANIC, it WILL not PASS. OHH ABRAHAM LINCOLN OHH ABRAHAM LINCOLN Behold the snowy EGRET, the common EIDER, the DOVE, A ribbon of ROBBINS . . . Birds DIVERT course to escape the smoke of war. He thinks, “I WILL not be STUNTED by grief, I WILL not allow this country to REEL and then ROT, I WILL fight for a FAIRER UNION so that one day they might say He CAME, He saw, He mended.” *A NOD to George Saunders’ “Lincoln in the Bardo”
Mucky, this is just great. Read that novel, amazing work, from the opening with its diverse voices to the ending where tears streamed down my face...
This is stunning, @PM, exquisite.
@Puzzlemucker Looking forward to the sequel, Buddha in the Bardo.
This solved smoothly, and I’m glad. I feel like the subject – the penny – should get the main attention, rather than other aspects of the puzzle. This puzzle struck a chord in my heart – the penny, after all, has been a constant feature in our lives since we’ve been born, and suddenly (as of last November 12), it is no longer being made. Sigh. I will miss you, penny. All the times I made change with you. The various designs that have shown up on your back side, such as the stalks of wheat and the Lincoln Memorial. I remember putting you in rolls. Anyway, this puzzle allowed the penny to shine, and its design was clever, and it made the penny integral to the perfect and smile-producing revealer. Thank you for making this, Jill!
@Lewis I remember marveling as a child when it was pointed out to me that there is a very tiny Lincoln head between the columns of the monument on the back of the old penny. How cool is that?
In my long-lost notebook of quotes I kept when I was a teen and into my twenties, was this ad for United Technologies, penned by its then CEO and published in the WSJ during the late 1970s: This Will Make You Feel Better If you sometimes get discouraged, consider this fellow: He dropped out of grade school. Ran a country store. Went broke. Took 15 years to pay off his bills. Took a wife. Unhappy marriage. Ran for House. Lost twice. Ran for Senate. Lost twice. Delivered speech that became a classic. Audience indifferent. Attacked daily by the press and despised by half the country. Despite all this, imagine how many people all over the world have been inspired by this awkward, rumpled, brooding man who signed his name simply A. Lincoln.
How are people to buy my thoughts now?
@dutchiris Berkeley Bucks? <a href="https://www.visitberkeley.com/things-to-do/berkeley-bucks" target="_blank">https://www.visitberkeley.com/things-to-do/berkeley-bucks</a>/
@dutchiris Oh well, I always thought they were worth more than a penny anyway.
@Lewis haha don't laugh. That will be all too common from kids (and then adults) quite soon. And then we'll feel super old.
@Lewis not to worry, it's worth more than a farthing.
Pennies are an endangered specie
@Petrol, I think you just won the internet.
@Petrol Almost brought out the biological pedant in me there...fortunately the pun-lover in me won out. Kudos!
Well, this was a fun one. I confidently filled in ABRAHAMLINCOLN as soon as I saw the clue. Unfortunately, I initially put it in 112A instead of 32A. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find and correct that error. Back in the 60's my mother hit upon penny collecting as a good way to keep the horde of us entertained. We eventually filled in almost all the spots in those cardboard coin sets, all the way back to 1909. It would be pretty hard to complete that from your daily or weekly change collections now. One fun (to me) bit of coin trivia that I used to point out was that if you look very closely at the reverse you can see a tiny version of ABRAHAMLINCOLN in the Lincoln Memorial, making the cent from those years the only coin with the image of the same person on both sides. Thanks!
I was happy when the nickel dropped and I realized it was a rebus puzzle! I soon realized it was a fairly limited rebus, and normally that would have disappointed me, but I think given the sweet theme and timeliness of it, it was pretty perfect as is. One of my faster Sundays, which is probably good cuz I have some things I'm still supposed to do on this fine Saturday, but engaging throughout. I'm more of a tinga de pollo girl, but I did enjoy ASADA crossing ALPASTOR. Funny how different uses of words come up that one never remembers hearing or using, but is probably fairly common... In my case today it was oh, well, CASE.... Unintentional har! As in TOOLCASE. I mean, it makes total sense, but I've only ever known it as a toolbox or a tool chest if it's much bigger. Anyhow, nothing INANE in this puzzle, only OH FUN! ☺️ Well, you didn't ask, but those are my two nickels on the subject. Now I'll stop before you start to think of me as a bad nickel! 😏
@HeathieJ Funny comment! I briefly thought 73D might be Nickelodeon, with the small change rebus progressing from penny to quarter, but then I realized that it wasn't likely that "Hoarders" was ever shown on a children's channel...
Any puzzle that gives a shout out to Siouxsie and the Banshees is alright in my book! 🥀
@Tom Coincidentally I was just listening to some Siouxsie and the Banshees earlier today for the first time in months. Hong Kong Garden.
@Tom Yes, yes. We think of Cities in Dust as the #1 underrated song. The sarcasm dripping from "my friend" at the end of "Oh-oh, oh your city lies in du-ust, my friend" is riveting
Memory from early in the pandemic: Stuck at home; not enough to do; climbing the walls. So I decided to finally gather up all the pennies (and other loose change) in the house and take it to the bank. The bank lobby wasn't open, but the drive-thru lane was, although they weren't used to processing large amounts of coin there. It came to something over $300. I consider that my official farewell to the penny. Until today! Fun puzzle, and a fitting tribute to a great coin.
@DYT Please tell me you didn’t put the Pennie’s in the pneumatic tube! A customer actually did this while I was a drive-in bank teller: very expensive.
@DYT You have drive through banks??? Mind. Blown.
Youngsters won’t believe this, but penny candy really was a thing.
@Joe P Lick-M-Aid and wax lips. Ah, the good old days.
@Joe P Righto, we had, " Jippy Jakes", down the street. Jake would put your penny candy in a used plastic bag for you to carry it home in. Very overhead aware, that Jake was.
I'm so thrilled that I finished the puzzle without having to flyspeck! A rare gold-starred Sunday, yay. It was a delectable solve, very smooth all the way through, and with rebuses to boot. I adore a rebus puzzle and loved that the PENNY has been immortalized in, appropriately, little squares. Thank you, Ms. Singer, for a delightful puzzle and for indirectly shouting out the great Isaac Bashevis Singer (hmm, any relation?) Now, about EELS... I'd like to thank the NYT for my education. I'm now qualified for a PhD in EELology. Off to prepare my dissertation I go, but not before a little immersion into Siouxie and the Banshees territory... <a href="https://youtu.be/wsOHvP1XnRg?is=2pw85ZAaomzPfYKN" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wsOHvP1XnRg?is=2pw85ZAaomzPfYKN</a>
@sotto voce I have restrained myself but I feel I must speak out. The insinuation of a whole new generation of EEL-kins is beyond bearing. Ever since my traumatic encounter with EELIER/EELIEST (I'm sure you all remember), my desperate attempts at self-hypnosis ("I can learn to love them"), and my long silence despite their continuous haunting of dark over-consonantal corners of the grid, I have struggled. But 31A is too much. Stop the EELS!
Tom Robbin’s ref was refreshing. Such a great writer hardly mentioned anymore.
@Laura My favorite was Jitterbug Perfume.
@Laura Sissy Hankshaw gives you thumbs up for that comment.
@Laura, I agree! @SP Mine too! And in one of those crazy crossword councidences, last night probably right around the time you posted, I was out with friends and brought up a favorite section of the prose, where Robbins describes what makes a great bartender. I only got to the puzzle today, but that answer was a gimme. :)
@Laura When he was good he was great. When he was so-so...well...he was great elsewhere...
@Laura Also loved Jitterbug Perfume. Used to wish for her thumbs whtI would hitchhike. Stopped reading him after Frog in Green Pajamas because, although I enjoyed reading about Seattle, he sounded like a cranky old man.
Q: How does a penny look under a microscope? A: Magnifi-cent!
Siouxsie and the Banshees is as far from Goth as the Beatles are from Country* Just my two cents! * Some wiseacre will no doubt claim Rocky Raccoon and "Beatles for Sale" (1964) as Country-Western with lots of Nashville influences, but come on!
@john ezra I don't know how far Siouxie and the Banshees are from GOTH, but I had Punk first. I also vaguely recall, emphasis on vaguely, seeing them in the early 80s. At least one of the Beatles, Ringo, loved and still loves Country. Remember the cover of Act Naturally? He loves it so much he recorded three Country albums.
@john ezra Post Punk/ Pre Goth, they had a long tenure. Wikipedia has a good thumbnail of their sound. I would say their later music is goth (inasmuch as The Cure is). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siouxsie_and_the_Banshees" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siouxsie_and_the_Banshees</a>
@john ezra lots of eyeliner should count for something
@john ezra Saying Siouxsie and the Banshees aren't goth is like saying Braque and Picasso weren't real cubists, lol.
@john ezra Act Naturally. Octopus’s Gardern, even.
@john ezra I think I already had the G, thus reluctantly plunked in GOTH, mentally wincing. Siouxsie and the Banshees seem to get that label a lot these days, but I would call them (and The Cure) proto-goth, at best. The goth identifier came about much later, after these bands were well established! Perhaps ironically, the track that likewise seems to get a lot of play on the channels I listen to (on air on a local radio station or streaming on SiriusXM) is Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover of Dear Prudence-!!
I wracked my brain over the 3-letter HA-blank for two farthings, but I got the rebus quickly after that at A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED. HOT CROSS BUNS was absolutely new to me. I've never heard a street vendor shout that -- not even once. I thought it was going to be ONE A PENNY, TWO A PENNY, THREE A PENNY, FOUR (which continues FIVE A PENNY, SIX A PENNY, SEVEN A PENNY, MORE.) That's the only way I've ever heard it -- and not very often, if the truth be told. In which case PUT IN YOUR TWO CENTS would have been wrong: it would have been PUT IN YOUR FOUR CENTS. But it all sorted itself out before I had a chance to squawk. Lovely revealer -- along with nice density as ABRAHAM LINCOLN and THE UNION SHIELD are thrown in for good measure. Thought for the day: I wonder if any of those women who found themselves in one would have thought of a HAREM as a "protected space"? After all, who will protect you from the powerful men who keep you there? A good rebus to give to novices who are not familiar with rebuses. This one is easy and they should be able to figure it out on their own. As for veteran solver me -- I found it very enjoyable.
@Nancy ONE A PENNY TWO A PENNY HOT CROSS BUNS is from a nursery rhyme, and the lyric to a very simple tune.
"HOT CROSS BUNS was absolutely new to me. I've never heard a street vendor shout that -- not even once." Nancy, I've never heard a street vendor shout it either, but I did know the nursery rhyme from early childhood.
@Nancy I think you’re confusing pennies and potatoes.
Loved it and no need to put in my cents today except as needed. And och aye not only was there a LAD but also a LASSI too to dance us a REEL.
OH FUN!!! Like pennies from heaven! Answered the US Mint first, which helped me answer the other theme clues. Loved the rebus! Penny loafers my favorite. I tried to fit in "penny for your thoughts" at first instead of "put in your two cents". No go!. Seance was my last clue to fall, but I liked the misdirect. What I wouldn't give for a fresh hot cross bun with coffee right now!!!
What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole? Hot, cross bunnies! 😂😲🐇 Is it Easter already?
@Salty Dogs In Germany, you get Hasenpfeffer!
Thank you, Jill Singer. I missed seeing the wheat penny tucked into the puzzle somewhere, but overall, a fine Sunday puzzle indeed. In the 1960s, when I was a child, a corner store near my grandparents' house still had items marked at the half cent. And here are the childhood rhymes: "Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns! If you have no daughters, give them to your sons; one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!" and the other: "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please to put a penny in the old man's hat! If you haven't got a penny, then a ha'penny will do. If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!"
@ST Nope. The version I learned had "if you haven't got a ha'penny, a farthing will do; if you haven't got a farthing..." Somewhere I may even have a farthing.
@ST In the mid-eighties, there was a popular bar/restaurant in Washington DC - The Ha'Penny Lion.
The subject of this tribute puzzle should be within the life experience of every (U.S.) solver, so I hope that holds down the complaints about Sunday having a niche topic. And the non-theme fill shouldn't throw too many solvers.
@Barry Ancona Yes, although to be honest I’ve never noticed anything but the Lincoln memorial on the back of my pennies, that’s how long it’s been that I’ve paid attention to them. Not complaining, that was the most fun part of the solve, finding out about the Union Shield.
@Barry Ancona - I have five pennies in my wallet with the Lincoln Memorial and only one with the union shield. I didn't realize they had changed the back. A shame.
@Barry Ancona I remember when the Lincoln Memorial was put on the penny. Before that I believe it said One Cent with a wreath around it. Had a small penny collection that I gave to my niece. Perhaps it will become more valuable now.
Well, at least nobody said it was a niche topic or complained about the non-theme fill...
I enjoyed this puzzle and the reference to “weejun” loafers recalled memories of shopping for school As we in New England return to school this week. I wish all the students a happy return to school.
Just an FYI, this Thursday/Friday there'll be a 69D eclipse. Lunar eclipses aren't really all that exciting to me since I saw my first total solar eclipse a couple of years ago. I don't think anything will ever quite match that. But it's still worth looking at. At the last lunar eclipse I saw what I most noticed was how much the full moonlight pales out the rest of the sky--and when it's in eclipse, surrounding constellations really pop. That time it was near Orion, which was particularly easy to see. This eclipse is in Pisces, so my plan (if it's not cloudy) is to go out and try to find Pisces and the neighboring Pegasus (with the beautiful square of Pegasus) both during the eclipse and either before or after. Pegasus is just east of the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair, so that will also be in the vicinity.
@Francis My first total solar was the August 21, 2017 eclipse. Drove from NY to TN for that, good times.
@Francis Lunar eclipses are lovely. My first one blew me away. I stumbled out of the Pittsburgh VA hospital after a brutal 24-hour ICU shift as a resident. And the universe was a different hue. Everywhere I looked. And only afterwards did I learn why. Wasn't sure whether there was something awry with me or with the world. Turned out it was the world. Dr. Francis...don't diss the lovely just because it's not the wondrous.
Great puzzle! Would've been cute if the app turned each rebus square into a penny upon solving, but obviously I'm nitpicking here.
As soon as I figured out the rebus, I was expecting that each PENNY would be replaced by an image of a penny after solving. But I can understand why they weren't, as image-rich NYT puzzles have frequently triggered complaints from people who can't see them on whatever platform. Nice touch having a photo of penny-farthings leading this column!
117A [Tree where the Buddha found enlightenment] I read about the BODHI tree when I was 20 and read the great historical book "SIDDHARTHA" by Hermann Hesse about the life of Buddha. Well, Buddha was a real person, just like Jesus. He had a very rich life and at the end of it (spoiler alert, LOL) he found solace sitting under the BODHI tree and watching the river go by. The river is a metaphor for life as it is constantly changing and it is difficult to say what the river really is: it has many forms. This is reminiscent of the yin/yang of life where the light has some dark in it and the dark has some light in it (and it's all always changing) and it's all part of a unified whole. This story reminds me of Shel Silverstein's book "The Giving Tree" mentioned here yesterday where our hero finds the same comfort resting on an old stump at the end of his life. I do too. I had a beautiful old mulberry tree in my backyard. The cacophony of the birds when the tree was full of fruit...the fruit itself...and the fallen leaves enriched my garden soil. The tree got too big and had to be cut down. The tree men cut several large sections of the trunk for me and they stand like sentinels in my yard. I sit on them and watch the bees and the flowers and the butterflies and soak up the sun. Who could ask for anything more?
@lucky13 Counterpoint, if I may, as some of us mentioned in your comment yesterday about the giving tree, I have a very hard time seeing that the boy in that story as a hero. He took from someone who loved him unconditionally, until there was no more to take. He didn't care at all for the tree, only what he wanted. To me, that book is the height of selfishness. I wish he would have seen the error of his ways along the way, before the tree had had to give up everything. Your backyard sounds peaceful though, and I'm truly happy for you about that!
Very fun run. I loved it. And yes, just sharing my two cents.
To continue musing on a thread from yesterday: I finished the Saturday puzzle 26% faster than my recent average, but somehow it felt hard. I finished today's puzzle 24% faster than my recent average, but it felt easy. (Though delightful.) XWStats has both currently rated Average (yes, yesterday's rating is back up to Average again), with the median solver who reports there solving each of them 16% faster than their recent times. I'm endlessly fascinated by subjective experience. What makes a puzzle feel satisfying? I think perhaps, for me, the most important thing is to have at least one point in the solve where I don't think I'm going to be able to finish, a point where I have to sit back and rethink my strategies to complete it. Accomplishing that, for me, is much more satisfying than rapid rote recall. I don't want to learn just new facts, but new strategies. Wondering how much this differs depending on where in our learning curves we are. And in what era we began solving.
@Lynn In re your question about what makes a puzzle satisfying, we liked what one commenter had to say about the recent Sunday puzzle which had a theme about a classified ad for a junk car. The commenter said something along the lines of that the theme "told a story". That strikes us as something that is rarely done and maybe something best suited to Sunday's larger grids. But we thought it was an apt description and the commenter had really put their finger on something. It was a particularly well-received puzzle.
@Peaty & Oaty, yep, I do love a good theme. Themeless puzzles are a different animal, and I do enjoy them as well, but maybe it's a different kind of enjoyment.
@Anonymous, you mentioned the puzzle from Wednesday, August 3, 2016 as one similar in difficulty to yesterday's Saturday puzzle. I looked back and I did solve it back then in the same length of time I solved yesterday's, but I was only a couple of years into daily solving. Even then, it looks as though that day was substantially above my average Wednesday solve times. I am flabbergasted to see that by 2018, my average solve times for each day of the week were very close to what they are now, and have held pretty steady through the intervening years, with the exception of a 10 minute dip in Sunday solves in 2020-21. I know that I've learned new strategies and that I rarely have to go outside of a puzzle for research now, but am really dumfounded to see how little my perception of engagement and difficulty depends on solve time.
@Lynn For me, one of the most enjoyable things is working the crosses. You've got answers that you're not getting at all and then... maybe 2 (or 3) crosses are just enough for something to dawn on you. And you get to consider those crosses both ways. For me, that's just a lot more fun that something immediately dawning on you from the clue. ....
@Lynn I'm almost always satisfied with a puzzle, especially when I have to do some headscratching and get some good Aha moments. Ones that are unsatisfying are when they're frustratingly arcane or filled with obscure names, especially when they cross and running the alphabet doesn't help, making it just a guessing game.
@Lynn I’ll answer about what I didn’t find satisfying about this puzzle. I like a theme that I have to puzzle over. One that I can’t discern until at least half way through, and then ideally after that it provides continued challenge or amusement. This was obvious after Abraham Lincoln and one could fill in the fill related to it practically without a thought after that. (To be completely transparent, I didn’t know the full nursery rhyme or the Union Shield so that did give me a bit more engagement there, but still awfully straightforward). Then, if possible, I’d like accessory fill that’s entertaining, amusing or challenging in a way and I didn’t really get that. I did have a bit more pause in the lower right corner, but not enough to really raise the bar for me here. So, I’m not a hater—as I’ve said repeatedly it was well constructed and executed, and clearly many people loved it. But it was not a satisfying puzzle for me personally in theme, challenge, or entertainment for those reasons.
@SP What a clear and thoughtful answer. What got me complaining awhile back was when I found that my Sunday solves had gotten into a very predictable pattern: Acrosses, Downs, Acrosses, done. Well, maybe a couple of Downs to check back on, but that second trip through the Acrosses was basically mop-up. I know some folks like to up their difficulty by trying to solve with only the crosses or only the downs, but for me that takes away from the interplay between the two directions. Today's solve was just enough longer than the pattern above that it did not feel boringly predictable. Easy, but not boring.
I'm curious how our Canadian friends will respond to this puzzle. "Oh Baby, look at you-- Don't you look like Siouxsie Sioux! You wear black clothes to say you're poetic/ The sad truth is . . . " <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdy542o3qc0&list=RDPdy542o3qc0&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdy542o3qc0&list=RDPdy542o3qc0&start_radio=1</a> (The sad truth is, I WILL dance to anything.)
@Bill I suspect most of your Canadian friends are too polite to express an opinion. Then there's me. 😉 But if you want my thoughts on the puzzle, you'll have to pay a penny for them 🤑 (BTW - We lost our penny 14 years ago, in 2012. We have teenagers who've never seen one)!
@Bill I wish I COULD dance to anything. I swear I'm not be self-deprecating when I say that I make Elaine Benes look like Fred Astaire. There simply is no weirder, unimaginably uncoordinated, downright skin-crawling set of human contortions that are worse than what I can produce on a dance floor. I gave my son two pieces of advice, based on what I regret most in my life, and they were: 1. Learn how to be a good gift-giver. 2. Figure out how dancing works, and DO IT
If you haven't got a HA'PENNY, then ...God bless you! (Possibly the bowdlerized version...) Nursery rhymes and old-fashioned children's poems, plus any of _A Child's Garden of Verses_ that our mom had memorized.... they're all shelved in there, taking up brain-space I probably need for other things! So, not a challenge, except that I didn't have a copper-colored marker (or was unwilling to go hunt one up) for the four spots that needed a decorative element. Oh, well. Happy to report the completion of the quilt, right down to the label... The title is "Around the World in Eighty Days...+ " with a credit to the "21st Century Bull's Eye" inspiration in a 1999 book. It was way, way more work than I expected...or it may be that I am way, way less quick than I used to be. Onward.
@Mean Old Lady Yes I know that Christmas carol. But what would be the un-bowdlerised version? (Using the British English suffix, I hope some will appreciate).
@Mean Old Lady Picture of your quilt???? please!!
What a fun Sunday puzzle! An easy rebus for me. They’re not usually that way. Lots of great fill. Thanks so much! Y’all have a great rest of your weekend!
The puzzle title and the clue for 21 across gave away the theme right away, and from there it was too easy.
@Andrew I couldn't believe that this was even accepted for publication.
Small Change got rained on by his own 38 across <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EH2E-AUi7Eo&list=RDEH2E-AUi7Eo&start_radio=1&pp=oAcB" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EH2E-AUi7Eo&list=RDEH2E-AUi7Eo&start_radio=1&pp=oAcB</a>
I appreciated the reference to Libya, as I lived there for several years but in the notes on the puzzle, it is incorrect to say that robot jockeys are used in camel racing in Libya. In fact, that practice was initiated in the UAE after that country was slammed by human rights organizations for using trafficked young South Asian boys (as young as 5 or 6 years) for camel racing. Robot jockeys are also used in other Persian Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia. In Libya, camel racing is most popular in the southwest of the country amongst the Tuareg community in Ghat. In northern Libya, horse racing is much more common.
@Maisy I appreciated your comment when I first read it, and thought it deserves more than just a "like". It's lived experiences like yours shared here that provide such interesting insights. Thanks!
Yay, a bonus rebus! Excellent Sunday.
Very satisfying puzzle with a rebus that even haters should at least be able to appreciate. I liked this one a lot – thanks Jill!
A delightful elegant puzzle. Kudos to the constructor. On a tangential note, I have seen videos showing people installing floors made of pennies (many thousands of pennies). The design is achieved by the use of both darker (used) and light (relatively unused) pennies. Then when the pennies are all in place, acrylic is poured over them to seal the floor. The floors are beautiful!
@Alexandra Dixon Billionaires have floors like this done with $100 bills. Otherwise it just would have gone to "takers", i.e., the laborers who make billion dollar profits possible.
I found this a very fun and clever Sunday puzzle. I did have three cheats. I had to wiki the author, and I had "povlane" for HOVLANE. I hunted that and another word via the answer pdf. This is a fitting good bye to an American institution! Perhaps as the years go by, and pennies become a valued collectible, the expression "a penny for your thoughts" won't seem like cheap payment? More like this puzzle, please!
@Joan There are no HOV lanes in CIncinnati. But I was just in DC and they are everywhere there. Still I needed the crosses because I forgot what the acronym was.
Way, way, way too easy and the clues were, for the most part, not particularly challenging or interesting. I don't keep track but finished in less than half my normal Sunday time.
Speaking of upside down cakes that aren't pineapple, but maybe should be, I just saw a reel where a guy made pineapple upside down pancakes!! Yowza!! He had two pineapple rings and he put a cherry in the center of each one, spaced out in a cast iron skillet, and then poured pancake batter over each one. Yum, Mr. Stallone!! I'm going to have to tell my husband to up his pancake game when he gets home!! 🍍🥞
@HeathieJ That sounds glorious! I'm checking on airfares now. ;-)
@HeathieJ And here's a recipe from the Times cooking section for Banana Upside Down Cake. <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023377-banana-upside-down-cake?unlocked_article_code=1.7lA.TRHb.yXRDO4AtsN3d&smid=share-url" target="_blank">https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023377-banana-upside-down-cake?unlocked_article_code=1.7lA.TRHb.yXRDO4AtsN3d&smid=share-url</a>
@HeathieJ Wow, yum! Did you watch the reel I posted to @Bill in Detroit's comment yesterday? (I was rather late to the game, as I am again today.) I do love banana cake*, but that reel either swore me off the upside-down version, or convinced me to try better recipes-! Here's the link to Bill's post: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4ie6ku?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4ie6ku?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a> *My partner buys sooo many bananas that my banana bread is in constant rotation. Banana cake is more decadent, and more involved, so it's a rare treat. As for the fresh fruit, I am firmly in the slightly underripe camp! He prefers them riper, which makes for a fair partition, IMHO. Usually plain yogurt is my vehicle of choice — but @Vaer's version sounds delish! (Running out to get some Breyer's now.....)
That was fun. The long crosses gave it away, otherwise I might have struggled a bit. We still have the PENNY in the UK, though heaven knows why, since Covid cash in general is an endangered species and the smallest unit most of all.
@Helen Wright Ditto with the Euro centime (one cent and two cent coins!). They are a pain, especially since VAT results in no unpredictable sum when paying. I only get them at vegetable markets and horrid discount shops.
Loved the puzzle, the theme was not hard but the clues took me my normal time. Last to fall was rec room, cocooned, and that shield! I forgot they changed it from the memorial. I had to sleep on that before it came. I was born when they were still making wheat pennies (til 1959) and because we cleaned out my great uncle’s house, and he threw change in his boxes, I have loads of “Indian head pennies” (til 1909) the years they switched they made both, as a kid I loved collecting pennies. Now my husband doesn’t understand why I don’t get rid of the jar of pennies in my trunk! I’m giving them to my grandkids.
I believe I know the gentleman with the dog cart in the photo. My guess is that it was taken during a Wenonah, NJ July Fourth parade.
I am surprised and disappointed that SP's thread (with his puzzle) was taken down. Did the emus fear competition?
@Barry Ancona Off-topic is a category for flagging a comment.
Yes, I know that (and you know I know that). I thought crosswords would be on topic in the Wordplay comments.
@Barry Ancona I suspect it was the humus that did it ("human moderation units") which makes it even more disappointing.
@Barry Ancona Thanks for noticing. See my comment a couple posts up.