May I address the question Sam brought up in wordplay? "As one who seems always to bungle the distinctions between first, second and third cousins, and who has no idea when to use the phrase “once removed,...”" I actually learned some of this, mostly by accident. Cousins are two people who share a set of grandparents. Second cousins share a set of great-grandparents. (My cousin's cousin is my second cousin, if not a first cousin.) Third cousins share a set of great-great-grandparents, or cousins of my second cousins. The removed part is interesting. My first cousins children are my first cousins, once removed. The "removed" part indicates the number of generations separating the generations. So my first cousins grandchildren are my first cousins, twice removed. At least I think I know this. I blew it describing a "base hit" was yesterday, so I'm doubling down and presenting this without googling. I'm living on the edge, bruh, living on the edge.
@Francis I think you got the cousins business right, but I'd like to follow up on the "base hit" business. I was watching the Mets game tonight (Pete Alonso's return to New York) when a ball was hit far into the left field corner, clearly an easy double. My man Gary Cohen announced it as "That ball is down for a base hit." The batter made it into second base easily. Interesting how life and crosswords intersect so often.
@Francis You got it! So many people have trouble with this, I always have to explain too.
@Francis The Polish terminology is different but equally unintuitive. I had to learn all of it in the family and inheritance law course at university, but I've forgotten it since then (my work involved neither family nor inheritance law).
@Francis I finally understood the cousins relationship a number of years ago, when I first got into genealogy. It was helpful when a new second cousin appeared in my family tree who, by virtue of her name and upbringing, didn't belong there at all. I played detective and discovered that she was the deep, dark secret nobody knew about. It was fun!
I'm not starting to wonder about this. This all seems like a Ponzi scheme. Eventually a few people will share *two* pairs of great^n-grandparents. Then eventually three, then four... Are these double (nth-level) cousins? Maybe it's not so much a genealogical tree as a genealogical web.
What made me smile the most is a memorable serendipity – the quartet of food-based almost-famous names: AREPA Franklin, SPUDS Terkel, TAFFY Duck, and PEAR Bryant.
@Lewis Mike, have you stolen Lewis's account?
When HRPUFNSTUF emerged from crosses, I thought I was having a stroke. I've seen many Ioco words, names and abbreviations in these puzzles over the years, but this one takes the biscuit. Why would you name a character *that*??? When satellite TV arrived in Poland in the early 1990s with democracy and market economy, my mom watched American soap operas for a few years because she was hungry for all that camp and larger-than-life capitalist drama after decades of austere Eastern Bloc dreariness - which explains how I knew JR EWING today 😃 I improved my Tuesday best time last week, and I beat it again today. Could we please have Tuesday puzzles that are actually harder than Mondays, please?
@Andrzej It was a Saturday morning show in the 70's (maybe 60's and 80's too?) with costumed characters who also introduced short cartoons. I always thought they were double f's: H.R. Puff N Stuff but I guess my childhood memory is wrong 😂!
Fun, another easy early week puzzle (again, across only challenge successful) but any puzzle that reminds me of JR EWING and HRPUFNSTUF is Ok with me. I can still remember the song. Too bad it was RHODE instead of RHODES because RHODES/SCHOLAR would have been a great double clue right next to each other. Last, I was trying to think of a fun revealer for this puzzle if there was room for one—mine would be “Star Wars droid, affectionately, or a phonetic hint to this puzzle’s theme?” ARTOO
@SP The "Dallas" stuff about "who shot JR", occurred during my phase of not only not watching television, but condescending to anyone who did. I could tell some of them because there was a "Who Shot JR?" bumper sticker. If I had owned a car during that time, I would have bought a "Who the Hεll Cares Who Shot JR?" bumper sticker, if I had been able to find one.
I seldom notice a theme until a puzzle is over, but in this one, those uncomfortable triple letters that didn't budge, no matter how I tried to "fix" them, made it clear that s o m e t h i n g was going on. Pretty clever, I'd say, and everything cleared up when I just went with them. {HRPUFNSTUF was news to me, but it worked, so who am I to complain.) In some ways it was an easy puzzle and in some ways it was tricky, but either way, it was fun. Thank you Nate. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon.
@dutchiris Once again, you and I agree to a tee.
Too easy, even for a Tuesday. Hey, I'm not grumping, just calling like I see it. Your kilometrage may differ.
I thought the theme was “Three letters unlikely to be together.”
@PB I still don't really understand the theme. Can someone explain to my dumb brain what it means 😬😬
I read an article in my local news today titled, "The plague of celebrating mediocrity". Didn't realise how quickly it would resonate when I sat down to this 'puzzle'. I understand it's a Tuesday, but I don't think one synapse had to fire in solving this disaster. I hesitate to even use the word 'solve', because, as I've stated before, this felt more like data-capturing than having to apply any form of thinking. I give good puzzles their due, but I can't help but notice the insideous decline of quality in NYT crosswords. It brings to mind the decline of other things...
@Hitch Acre and slang both appearing two days in a row is just sloppy.
@Hitch Today was definitely on the easier side, but very recently you were complaining every day that the puzzles were too difficult because they had too many American terms.
@Hitch C’mon it’s a Tuesday. I complain about easy puzzles on the weekend but so what if a Tuesday takes me 6 minutes and a minute less than any given Monday. I’m not expecting a challenge on either day, hopefully just a fun theme or a couple interesting entries. If you want more of a challenge try it with just acrosses or downs.
This is right in Nate Cardin’s bailiwick, as eight of his nine Times puzzles are Mondays or Tuesdays, and five of those eight employ English-language-quirk themes. Nate’s got good EYES for these. It’s a tight theme – no alternative answers yet in the comments – and props to Nate for finding six answers with the right letter counts to fit grid symmetry. It’s also a clean grid, and we get an extra row for no extra cost. In addition, the theme answers are colorful, and there are lovely non-theme answers as well – OK THEN, JOTTED, TOP OFF, TRIPS UP – to brighten the grid. Clever and fun. A sprightly way to kick off the day. Thank you for making this, Nate!
A very Tuesday-appropriate puzzle, with interesting fill and gentle crosses for the unknowns (e.g., HRPUFNSTUF), and an impressive amount of themers. Very enjoyable! Thank you so much, Nate. For my comment coda, here is Joe Cocker's cover of "UR So Beautiful." —Not! (but I tried...) :-D Here is "You Are So Beautiful" – <a href="https://youtu.be/I_PR68IAsGs?is=sDYKXFFJ1ZG29W4d" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/I_PR68IAsGs?is=sDYKXFFJ1ZG29W4d</a>
Absolutely no resistance on literally any of the clues. Why do the editors insist on doing this? I know it's a Tuesday, but what's the point of even bothering to do a completely frictionless crossword? Why so adamant about sucking any degree of challenge out of it? You're worried about dropping maybe two subscribers who are mad about taking a few extra minutes?
I recall that one of our sons ran for president of his junior class (a large, raucous, city highschool) against a pseudonymous no-show who signed up to run as H.R. Pufnstuf -- and of course my son lost by a few votes (he was delighted and thought it a big lark), and the junior class never did find out who their class president was. Turns out H.R. is a dragon, although there has been debate about that in the subreddits...some say they're a body-dysmorphic Muppet, others aver H.R. to be a portly, yellow, upright frog with frightful red hair. The "H.R." stands for Highness Royal, and this comes from the creator's lips. I've never watched an episode or seen H.R. in action, but images of the creature fill me with a bittersweet sadness, H.R.'s overgrown freakish weirdness and crazy look, and a certain desperate loneliness and shocked realization of their own otherness. I feel for you, H.R. Pufnstuf! By the way, this puzzle's great, crunchy, started off on the too easy side but kept growing more and more interesting and time consuming. A definite HR!
@john ezra Not for nothing, but why wasn't HR disqualified for not existing? (Also, if he was an HR, was he also a base hit?)
@john ezra Until today, it had never crossed my mind that that weird-looking thing was a dragon.
The hullaballoo over the "Dallas" cliffhanger was spoofed by The Simpsons' two-part "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". MRBURNS would almost work as a themer here.
HR PUFNSTUF was a dragon? Looking at pictures now, I can see it. But I never realized back then. To my 6-year-old eyes, he was just Puf. Full of stuf. That was my absolute favorite show as a child, and I watched it over and over. Jimmy was also my official first crush. (That talking flute creeped me out a little, though.) Thanks for the memory and the smile. As for JR Ewing… I also remember that plotline seizing the national interest in a way that seems totally insane in retrospect. With the way television has changed, I don’t see that kind of communal TV experience happening ever again, which depending on your perspective may be a good thing, or if you’re like me, it feels a little sad. We need moments to unite us, even if it is over the fate of a cartoonishly wicked Texas oil man.
@Heidi You just reminded me of Jimmy! I had a crush on him too!
@Heidi He first caught my (pre-teen) eye as the Artful Dodger in "Oliver!"
@Heidi I don't recall HR Pufnstuf but I totally agree with you on the Dallas thing.... I remember distinctly discussing who shot JR Ewing in my fourth grade classroom. One of my friends had a who shot JR Ewing written across her book spine, well the book cover made of brown paper bag. It's so funny to think about it now, as you say, and it makes me a little sad too... Although my husband and I are definitely part of the problem!! We love a good binge together!!
Once upon a summertime Just a dream from yesterday A boy and his magic golden flute Heard a boat from off the bay "Come and play with me, Jimmy Come and play with me And I will take you on a trip Far across the sea"
@Bill Nothing creepy bout that.
"It just means the puzzle’s wordplay is self-evident." I dunno about that. I fully solved the puzzle without noticing that there was a theme. It might be more accurate to say it means the theme is optional.
@Rob There was a theme? I will have to go back and look. What I DID notice was today's Wordle.
Hah... I wrote the clue to 26A in the baby book (which turned out to be Laura's) back in 1980 when I was on restricted activity--resulting in a lot of TV I had never been exposed to before. Some new things for me: VR HEADSET, 'TUDE, Mario's anything, and HRPUFNSTUF. For at least the PUF, I wanted 2 F's.... and I was slow to enter QR CODE.... (Oh, *that* sort of menu!) I think we've seen Nate Cardin's work before...a younger constructor, judging by the fill. Nothing really WRONG with that, she said, with a certain 'tude.
@Mean Old Lady He had two other puzzles earlier this year. And.. five others before that, going back to 2018 (though his second one was in 2023). And... his first one was a Thursday, but all the rest have been Mondays or Tuesdays. ....
Nice Tuesday puzzle. Not particularly quick for me, as none of the theme answers were going to dawn on me just from the clues, but managed to work it all from the crosses. And of course my puzzle find today. A Sunday from December 1, 2019 by Patrick Merrell with the title "Actually...". All of the clues for the theme implied that they were starting with 'Actually'. A couple of clue and answer examples: "...it's an ellipse" STPETERSSQUARE "...it abuts water on only one of its four sides." RHODEISLAND "...it was predominantly German." HOLYROMANEMPIRE "...it's an American name for a German game." CHINESECHECKERS "...it's a woodwind from central Europe." ENGLISHHORN And there were a few more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/1/2019&h=108a" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=12/1/2019&h=108a</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta I loved this theme! So conversational a format and so productive a premise. Thanks for finding this.
Oh I wish I had done this puzzle before today’s Midi! Coincidence that they both referenced JR? I think not
@Deb I have definitely noticed that a lot of times there is at least one clue or answer in common between the mini or midi and the full crossword
New Tuesday record and a 500-day streak! No complaints here.
I was at some point confused myself as I had misread the clue for 72A. [French fries-to-be] as "French word" for a "fries-to-be" and confidently written "pomme" instead
@Fabian Pommes are apples in French; potatoes are pommes de terre. Sure, pommes frites are French fries, but it's a shortening. If you ask someone to "achetez-moi des pommes," you're going to wind up with fruit, not tubers.
Perfectly good grid, but clued for elementary schoolers. Can't believe this is a NYT offering, even on a Tuesday.
@Xword Junkie Yes. Xwstats.com says: 🌎 Global Stats Difficulty Very Easy Median Solve Time 4:27 Median Solver 33% faster ⚡97% of users solved faster than their Tuesday average. 84% solved much faster (>20%) than their Tuesday average. 🐢3% of users solved slower than their Tuesday average. 1% solved much slower (>20%) than their Tuesday average. And of course, these comparisons are just for the last 60 days. Imagine going back 60 months....these stats say I solved 1:46 faster than my Tuesday average, but the stats on the NYT archive, which include all my stats, say I solved 2:59 faster than my Tuesday average. And before anyone points out that I'm more experienced now, I'll counter that by the time I began solving on the NYT site, about 11 years ago, I was a 35-year solver. I was not going to improve that much moving forward.
HRPUFNSTUF???!!!! Really???? There's a kid's TV character called HRPUFNSTUF???? And you're going to build a puzzle around him/her/it???? Really???? I went to check the blog of course because I thought I was losing my everloving mind. As for the rest of the puzzle: Some of the most boring and mindless cluing I've ever seen. How can it be fun to clue in such an unimaginative, on-the-nose way? I can't fathom wanting to clue BEETS with "red root vegetables" or SCARE with "frighten", for just two examples. OTOH, I did learn that Paddington Bear's country of origin is PERU. Something I've been really dying to know my entire life. So there's that.
@Nancy I knew HR Pufnstuf immediately. Sid and Marty Kroft were awesome. Just because YOU didnt know or enjoy it doesn't mean everyone feels the same way.
a Tuesday best for me at 4:52. enjoyed this one thoroughly! we had the pufnstuf movie (1970) taped off tv from the 80s complete with commercials. we wore that movie out! I can still recite most of the ads lol
@Jess Tuesday PB for me as well (4:19), one week after setting a Tuesday PB (4:19)
For those who don’t mind wasting two minutes, the H.R. Pufnstuf theme song is pretty trippy.
@Steve Come to think of it, I don't really know what/who that is...just a name. Cartoon? Animal, vegetable, or mineral?
In a fun bit of serendipity, _Costa Rica_ makes an appearance on Costa Rican Independence Day! 🇨🇷 _Pura Vida_ (Translated at "Pure life" but kind of a catch-all in the way that _aloha_ is used in Hawaii.)
How could I not love a puzzle where I made my Tuesday P.R.?
Life goal: get some marsupial friends. :D That clue, 21A, just tickled me. Overall, a fun and breezy puzzle, nothing too esoteric, ancient or erudite. And a pop culture buffet without any Harry Potter or Star Wars that I noticed. That's a feat. Strands, Connections and the Midi all seemed easy breezy today, too.
Obi Wan and light sabers both mentioned, but otherwise agree.
HR PUFNSTUF was a puppet series that ran for one season (17 episodes) in 1969. It was later syndicated, and those 17 episodes appeared for several more years. As I was already 13 when it first ran, I never watched the show. But it was still a gimme because the ridiculous name was quite eye-catching when looking at the listings in the TV Guide (remember those?). So for me, it was a gimme, but I can imagine it might be a no-know for younger solvers. Luckily, all the crosses were super common. The same older vibe is shared by JR EWING, whose attempted assassination took place about a decade later, though even those too young to have been watching (or even not born yet) might have heard of the fictional oil baron, since it was a much bigger TV event, dragged out as a (word from the Midi) over the summer of 1980. (Apparently, in 2013, in a reboot of the original series, JR was not only shot but killed, but no one remembers that.) All this by way of saying that I can see how younger solvers might be a bit slowed down in these two places, but for older solvers, there might be some record times today.
@Steve L I'm a little too young (41) to have watched either, but I was able to infer from filling in the STUF part. For "who shot..." I knew the JR part but not the EWING.
A new record!! I think Tuesday and Monday decided to trade places this week. Wouldn’t it be funny if we got a Wednesday with the full unbridled force of a Saturday?
@Anon Totally unrelated to today’s puzzle: have you previously responded, perhaps not in the friendliest manner, to a commenter who goes by “Matt” and gives their location as “Maine”? I only ask, because I recently replied to one of their comments, and they came back with something to the effect of “Anon, I have previously asked you to not mention me or respond to my posts. Can you please do that?” I had absolutely no memory of any prior interactions with this Matt from Maine, but I initially figured I must have posted a snarky response to some comment of theirs (likely complaining about how a half-challenging weekend puzzle was “a slog”, “too clever by half”, “full of trivia and obscure clues”, etc) and never saw the response in which they requested that I block myself. However, I did find it a little strange how they contracted my chosen handle to “Anon” (only my wife and closest friends call me that), and seeing your comment under “Anon, USA” just now made me wonder if there could have been a case of mistaken identity. Anon: are you the one who offended Matt’s gentle sensibilities?
@Anonymous Shockingly -- just shockingly -- you have the same writing style as Matt from Spring Hill. I must really be interesting to have people create duplicate accounts and insult me through them!!!!!
I'm 62 so I LOVED the HR Pufnstuf and JR Ewing answers. I also own a VR headset so that gave me a kick too. This was a personal best for me for a Tuesday, after getting a personal best for a Monday yesterday. I'm on a roll this week! Fun puzzle, but I never realized there was a theme until after it was done.
@Tate 😀 Wouldn't that be cool if every single day from now on was a personal best for that day? And if that went on for weeks and weeks and weeks, everyday faster than the week before...you've become the first Glorious Grand Guru of the crossword world, all fifty of us, and you are universally loved and praised and followed? Doesn't a streak like that sound like fun? 🤫😀
Very straight-forward apart from the dragon and other names. I wasn't familiar with TOP OFF rather than top up, nor with the candy or the ant man, making the dragon even harder to get. No wordplay though. I prefer wordplay.
I really thought 19A [Madonna's "La ___ Bonita"] was going to be CASA. Like the South Park episode about the apparently real Mexican restaurant in Denver.
Some fresh fill for an early week puzzle! I found it pretty easy, but enjoyable!
Like others, I too had my fastest Tuesday solve. It was one second slower than my fastest solve ever which was on a Monday. Nice and breezy. Hadn’t thought about HR PUFNSTUF in years! Watched the Emmy’s tonight and just saw that Sid Krofft passed away this year. Sid and Marty filled my childhood with so many shows and great memories. I leave you with the opening credits song for the show… <a href="https://youtu.be/j5e9yCB-hiw?is=aI58ZvgwufqB-pNq" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/j5e9yCB-hiw?is=aI58ZvgwufqB-pNq</a>
This was far too easy, even for a Tuesday. The simplicity of the clues made it a mind-numbingly boring solve. The clue for 1A all but gives you the answer. This is what I would expect from a cheap crossword book at the grocery store checkout, not the New York Times.
Hey a PB is a PB. I'll take it! Nice way to start the day.
Ah, tis the season for Witchy Poo to make her appearance! Thanks for the ear worm! 4 star puzzle imo, would have been a 5 but for 47A starting with a vowel. Nice construction!
I grew up without Saturday morning cartoons, and had never heard of HRPUFNSTUF until I got to college, where deep conversations were held concerning all the characters and their relationships and the (supposedly extensive) sex and drug references. Still a mystery to me, but I knew the clue.
"Like things that come easily to you, or, a hint to this puzzle's theme" ARESECONDNATURE
I should add that I enjoyed this one! It hadn't occurred to me while solving, but I appreciate the constructor's effort to include clues/answers from complementary timescales. Thanks for a puzzle that considers the wide variety in what might come easily to us.
HR Puffenstuff didn’t come along until 1969. Any little kid from the “60’s remembers Ollie—Oliver J. Dragon from Kukla, Fran, and Ollie!
I ripped through this grid using only down clues in their numerical order. (-:?
poem made from words in today’s puzz a/ in the well of the heart i put a bell that rang again i think to say up up d/ to the top of the well fill! fill! with the light that a/ sees
Good puzzle with a tight and generous (six!) theme set. I finally had a PB, it had been a while. I generally don't concern myself with speed, what I want most is a good puzzle, and this was certainly that. If you're in the mood for more crosswording I just put a lighthearted puzzle on Crosshare. Hopefully it will give you at least a chuckle. I'm thinking it's maybe Tuesday- or Wednesday-level difficulty? You can find it at: crosshare.org/PeatynOaty If you like the puzzle please press 👍 and "Follow" me there on Crosshare!
@Peaty & Oaty I left you more comments on the site but I had a great time with your puzzle, very fun and funny theme and difficult construction! Keep it up!
@Peaty & Oaty I'm working on your puzzle, but in the meantime, is there a typo in this clue? 35D [Like the serpent relative to all other the animals per Genesis 3:1] Shouldn't it say: "all the other animals"?
@Peaty & Oaty Nice puzzle. At 3 a.m., I had a few lookups. I had to change the bottom spanner from THECOENBROTHERS which I had at first! (LOL)
@Peaty & Oaty Great job! I love a good quip theme.
“Close, but not quite…grrr, drat!” Definitely pufnstuf, right? No, google tells me this is correct. jrewing?? Nope, also right. It was erecr, typoed. Sometimes, I overthink it 😅
Another Tuesday that should've been a Monday.