Well, the luck and skill that it took to make this happen – I am boggled. Making these loops work horizontally and vertically, what crazy work of trial and error, and grid design, and there are six of these things! What??? So okay, crossnerd me is blown away. This is WEI WEI impressive. I never feel like Adam’s puzzles are just showing off, though. I always feel that twinkle in his eye – he’s an entertainer, and his puzzles bring smiles to my heart. (Just look at [Deals made on the spot?] for AD SALES.) And OMG can he stick with a challenge. There were some sticky fill-in points to make my brain happy, but there were plenty of easier areas to fill in, and I’m grateful for them, so I could sit back and just admire the beauty and virtuosity pulsing in the box. It turned out to be a very sweet solve. This, then, is a how-did-you-do-it and I’m-so-glad-you-did-it, Adam. Thank you!
@Lewis WEI WEI impressive... that was good! I smell a Saturday clue in there somewhere. I was pretty pleased with myself for getting Wei Wei, although with a big asterisk of uncertainty.
@Lewis “Deals made on the spot” made my jaw drop. So clever.
What a satisfying, well-constructed puzzle! Challenging and engaging.
I'm not a constructor, but when a grid finds me asking "how do they do that?" I know I'm looking at a construction masterpiece. Today I was looking at a construction masterpiece. Bravo, Mr. Wagner! Both figuring out the gimmick and filling in the grid were a joyful ride. Thank you for your talent, skill, and dedication. They come through loud and clear. .................................. Here's David BYRNE (with the Brazilian singer Marisa Monte) dueting on Tom Jobim's "Waters of March" – <a href="https://youtu.be/US1f_XSuRAA?is=0KIOipbARlmth6cg" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/US1f_XSuRAA?is=0KIOipbARlmth6cg</a>
@sotto voce. Great song. Never heard it before. Thanks for sharing.
For some reason I'm extremely tickled by "Shaders of grey" - I let out an involuntary giggle when I got it, and I'm still giggling at it after finishing!
@Alex Was it a TEEHEEHEE!? ☺️ I really liked that one too, I kept trying to make some version of stylist fit for a bit.
Beautifully constructed tour de force of a puzzle. Loved it! One of my faves this year.
From National Lampoon's "Bored of the Rings:" As Goodgulf stepped onto the bridge the passage echoed with an ominous dribble, dribble, and a great crowd of narcs burst forth. In their midst was a towering dark shadow too terrible to describe. In its hand it held a huge black globe and on its chest was written in cruel runes, "VILLANOVA." "AIYEEEEEE!!!" shouted Legolam. "A BALLHOG!!!"
@Bruce Gosh, haven’t thought of that send-up for YEARS!
Too many proper nouns, but a clever and fun puzzle.
Well, that fell fast. What am I supposed to do tomorrow? Loved it though; I can’t imagine how you’d even start constructing something like that.
I've heard that cars in the northern hemisphere skid out of control clockwise, whereas those in the southern hemisphere do so counterclockwise due to a mysterious force known as the CARIOLIS effect. It took me about 30 minutes to figure that out, and, yup, I definitely need to start solving these crosswords earlier in the evening 😀
This was another fun one!! As soon as I saw the loops I was pretty sure I was going to like it. However, I did not realize how difficult it would be for me to spell INTERPRETIVE backwards. It ended up being pretty comical... I was fine with all the other ones but for some reason, I just was not getting that one right. I knew what it was, but I was questioning my spelling and then I would forget to go backwards... I ended up standing on my head and entering it from that PLUMJOB, I mean from that good position. Made all the difference! Har! I probably could have done an interpretive dance to express the word interpretive backwards better and faster than I was able to do in the grid. 😏 My favorite was shoot for dinner, for SPRIG at 7A. I thought that was very cute!! My least favorite was GOAPE for lose it at 100A. Someday, perhaps I'll dig deep and explore why having ape used disparagingly in the crosswords bothers me every time. I mean, I don't RAGEON or anything, but I really have no idea why.... it just seems kind of mean to the poor apes. I dislike seeing cur, as well. Both of those make me wrinkle my nose each time. Anyhow, fun having ITSME in the upper left and ISITME in the lower middle. Kinda cute! Many times I strongly suspect that indeed, ITISME... 😏
@HeathieJ As soon as I saw the loops I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it. Half right. I didn't hate it, but didn't love it, either. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. But I do have to admire the ability to be able to come up with something as convoluted as this.
@HeathieJ I growled and grumbled in the SW because I couldn’t find the crossings that would work with INTERPRETIng.
@HeathieJ I too am trying to abandon using animal metaphors for disparagement. My current halfway house is this version: "I'd call X a lousy creep but why should I disparage a perfectly ordinary insect?" And when someone calls their enemy "animals", I respond by saying: No, they're humans and have moral capacity and freedom of choice. Calling them 'animals' lets them off the hook.
O Brave New World! I say that because coincidentally I just finished Jeff Chen’s puzzle from 2016 that Adam referenced with a similar theme, and it led me to ponder how far we have come in 10 years. I was absolutely amazed by the skill and craft in Jeff’s puzzle, but this one blew that one away technically. Sure it was done with a lot of computer help (but not AI, based in Adam’s description, in case you were wondering)—but that’s not a bad thing. And as Adam stated it still took a lot of help from the crossword gods to make this work. And the rest of this puzzle was equally precise in its technique and fill. And a decent challenge for a Sunday. Sometime I find a bit of a lack of fun factor in these technical creations—but these were pretty fun themers, not to mention the fun factor of solving them, marveling at their creation, some fun entries like SMOREO and EARGASM and fun clues like those for AGEISM and ORATORY. So it’s clear that in some ways tech savvy constructors like Adam are starting to leave the rest of us in the dust. And I say, good for them. I think there will always still be a place for old school constructing—there was a charm to Jeff’s puzzle that just can’t be reproduced. And in some ways the newer crossword nerds may end up feeling like modern cruise captains, wistfully imagining early explorers sailing into unknown waters with only their sextants and rusty chronometers. But that doesn’t mean I want to take a cruise on them.
@SP I did that puzzle 10 years ago, but didn't remember it. Then, looking at it at xwordinfo.com, I could not for the life of me figure out what the trick was. Of course, not starting and re-solving it was not in the cards, so I thought maybe it would remain a mystery. Then I realized that xwordinfo.com links the Wordplay page to every puzzle (since Wordplay began). So I clicked there for the explanation. I think it's something you'd only see while you were solving. In the end, I like this one better.
@SP EARGASM …I needed that (maybe I do need that!)
@SP -- Not only were the loops incredibly incredibly constricting, but then he threw in CORIOLIS and LOOPBACK. Amazing!
@SP spoilers! ;) I'm working through the archives backwards, and am in May of 2016. I'll jump back to January to do that puzzle before I read any more of your comment.
I rarely complain, but that puzzle was a pain. Once or twice a year at most. Too many idioms, loops and obscurities. Not the type of puzzle to give very many people the satisfaction of completing it alone.
Curtis, Your personal complaint about the puzzle is noted, but I'm not sure you're in a position to say how "very many people" will do with it (alone or otherwise). I'd say most of the people who have posted here so far competed it alone. I did.
@Curtis Opinions seem split on this puzzle. I can see the cleverness of the thing. But I am among those who couldn't complete it alone. I needed fifteen cheats. And when the grid was filled, I had a heck of a time finding the error. I didn't catch that the "performances for one" was plural, and so had "solo". The crossing result, "Are you on" didn't look wrong to me. Enough people, however, are loving the thing. Tomorrow's another day, with a new (and easy) puzzling awaiting us.
@Curtis And so many things I have never heard before. Eargasm? S'moreo? David Byrne, Buck Oneil, WeiWei, mercs (in this usage), ore car (really?!) -- there's more too. And not all of those were google-able (not that I enjoy having to google answers in the first place). People complain about old, esoteric yet tried-and-true literal decades-old fill like "snee" but we throw brand-new internet slang around like everybody knows it, and that is not true. At least "snee" can be searched for.
Really frustrating puzzle today. The main theme of the answers that go in a circle I enjoyed, that was clever. TRADE DISPUTE was the giveaway for me. But so many proper nouns with bad crossings. WEIWEI crossed with OWLET and CORIOLIS. Two very specific pieces of knowledge from very specific areas, then an awkward clue where we're supposed to connect to a specific nocturnal animal. Then PILE which seems like POLE made more sense, crossed with NILE, expecting us to know where a specific plant grows, and also with ELAN which I've never heard of before. Just so many obscure proper nouns/trivia with questionable crossings made the last 10% extremely frustrating.
@Chris I'd suggest you keep ELAN in your crossword pocket. It shows up clued very similarly a pretty fair amount. It showed up food as zest a week ago and enthusiasm a week before that. You probably got them on the crosses those other times, but it is a good one to remember.
@Chris Funny, I did the same puzzle and didn't find any bad crossings. I think you hit a few things you didn't know, but I don't think much was obscure to the average NYT solver. PILEs, not poles, are specifically the things driven into the ground to support buildings, bridges, etc. Papyrus is specifically associated with ancient Egypt, so NILE can be inferred. OWLET also can be inferred based on the knowledge that owls are nocturnal. Ai WEI WEI is a well-known Chinese dissident. But your tell is ELAN. This is a crossword staple, having appeared 812 times, with the last three being within two weeks, and nine this year. It's not just crosswordese; it's a real word that people use on a regular basis. Today's clue was used for the 30th time; other common clues are [Pizazz] (35 times), [Verve] (30) and [Spirit] (15). Not knowing ELAN tells me that you are a newbie, so just have patience. I understand your frustration, but you will learn as you go, and your efficiency will improve faster and faster. It's been said that if a puzzle isn't in your wheelhouse, you have to broaden your wheelhouse. Hopefully, you'll learn ELAN and a few other things, and use them again. Good luck!
@Chris About the "awkward clue" for OWLET. Whenever a NYT xword clue has a question mark, it means there's some wordplay going on, maybe even a pun. It requires what is termed "lateral thinking" because nothing is as it seems. These are the clues you might scratch your head over, trying to figure out the answer – and when you do, they're clues that make you go "aha!" Practice makes perfect and you'll surely get the hang of it. In the meantime, read this article: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-solve-a-crossword-puzzle.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-solve-a-crossword-puzzle.html</a> It gives you the needed pointers, because NYT puzzles are really in a league of their own. And we're here to help with whatever you don't understand or don't know. Cheers! ;-)
You’ll soon be doing the Sunday puzzle with ELAN!
@Chris @Heathie @Steve @John Re Coriolis Effect: All you need is Newtonian Mechanics plus a smattering of vector algebra applied to rotating bodies.🚀👩🏼🚀 There's a story that the British used Northern Hemisphere parameters in the Falkland Islands during a WWI battle causing naval guns to miss their targets. It even was quoted in some textbooks for years. In 2022 a thorough search of primary sources proved it to be a myth.
@Chris - I let myself use Google on NYT puzzles. I don't on LA Times puzzles or those in my Milwaukee paper.
@Chris I am with you on this. I loved the theme. That was solving. The puzzle was ruined though by large amount of niche trivia (that's not solving, you know or you don't), slang and lame clues.
I enjoyed taking CORIOLIS out for a spin. It had quite an effect on me.
What is SAL Soda please? I could look it up but I have AI overload today and would love a human explanation.
@Lpr Old Arm & Hammer product. Sorta esoteric
@Lpr I had problems with that, too. I looked it up afterwards. It's actually sodium carbonate, Na2CO3 and it's hydrates (with attached water molecules). Water likes to incorporate itself in ionic structures like sodium carbonate. I'm not sure where the name "sal soda" comes from, but it could be almost anywhere. Simple salts like this are often ash left behind after burning something to completion. Humans have probably been around sodium carbonate since the invention of fire.
@Lpr It’s clues like this that drive me nuts. A 3-letter word, you have 2 of the letters, should be easy to complete, right? But then you run through the entire alphabet and nothing seems right. Sal soda?? Really? (Eventually, PLUM JOB came to me and I got it from that.) I’d also like to give a shout out to PLUTOED. Never heard that word before, but I guessed it from the clue and am instantly a fan.
@Lpr You might be more familiar with washing soda, which is the same thing as sal soda. It's great combined with laundry soap and borax for laundry stripping. If you have hard water, towels and other laundry can get stiff over time, but a soak in a combination of those three things will make them soft again.
@Lpr Dr. Bronners make a concentrate these days called Sal Suds, which I have thought was a play on sal soda.
Kinda fun. But plum job crossed by sal (soda)? What?
<a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/plum-job" target="_blank">https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/plum-job</a>
@Seth plum job I know. Never heard of ‘Sal soda’
Loved this puzzle's theme, really fun. Except it took us forever to realise it was CORIOLUS, not CARIOLUS; either O or A work as the end of 38 down. Still, this was clever and we had fun solving it. Thank you.
@Max Huh. In my puzzle, it solved to CORIOLIS. But I either have never heard of it or completely forgot, so I relied on the crosses before hearing the happy music!
@Max The answer is CORIOLIS. While both “ita” and “ito” would have worked for that cross, the correct spelling of CORIOLIS resolves the ambiguity.
I had to Google "LORNOSH" (on theory that PAL and REVERSO were correct) in order to perceive that I needed to switch to REVERSI and PAC, and then change PAC to MAC so that EARGASP became EARGASM, in order to complete the puzzle correctly. CORNISH, of course. This was a really enjoyable test. Thank you, Adam.
@twoberry I almost removed REV, because I was sure the answer was Othello. But then I vaguely recalled that Othello is just a branded variant. Reversi is definitely more apt. And also naming the game Othello seems kinda racist. When I played as a kid, I was not familiar with the Shakespeare play.
Great Sunday puzzle! Perfect level of challenge with a cool twist.
@Eli Edwards I agree. As I saw somewhere a long time ago, Sunday puzzles should be Wednesday difficult but longer. After all, It's a day to rest, relax and have fun.
Fun puzzle, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many personal nouns in a single puzzle.
Bravo to the constructor, and to the massive numbers who found this one “jolly good fun, if perhaps a bit too easy.” I’m grinning, because, yikes! What can I do but shake my head, realizing, wryly, how far I have to go, despite how far I’ve come. This one, my eyes spun around like those be-arrowed ovals in the puzzle, each and every time of the three times I returned to it. After the second time, I gave up and read the column. Again, I spun where others said “aha!” I already had the “tricky” clues, and the column’s roadmap had me spinning my wheels getting nowhere. I Checked Puzzle and got one red line, over half the puzzle still empty. So, why am I writing, let alone grinning? Because it’s a game. It’s okay to have diversity. I can be impressed that others “got it” without having to beat myself up, or denounce the puzzle makers.
Loved it. Just the right amount of challenge without being TOO frustrating. Thanks, Adam!
I know I'm usually bringing up the rear, but today I'm actually surprised to see that everyone else was able to work this one out. No complaint - I just remained puzzled and was unable to catch on to the trick. Hasta manana. ...
@Rich in Atlanta Me too. My brain's not big enough for this one.
@Rich in Atlanta I don't think everyone was able to work it out. It required some spatial rotations that would be easy or impossible, depending. I'm pretty good at spatial rotations but these were not obvious to me.
Just came to say that these kinds of themes, where the themed answers are viable entries (RAGE ON, PECTIN, UPSIDE) pleases me immensely. An impressive feat to square (squircle?) those clues in a way that flowed so nicely. A few spots gave me trouble (choreographers and fashionistas, e.g.) but were solvable on crosses. All in all, a chewy yet satisfying Sunday!
I admit it did give me a bit of a headache to try and read the theme fill, so I kind of ignored that aspect of the puzzle. I did get a kick out of seeing both David BYRNE and Twyla THARP in the puzzle. A long time ago they collaborated on a piece. Part of that was reworked as the Golden Section, performed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Group. Fans of Talking Heads will recognize the music from the Stop Making Sense film and fans of Twyla will recognize the essential THARPiness of the choreography. Fans of the Ailey dancers will recognize their awesomeness. <a href="https://vimeo.com/249090044?fl=pl&fe=sh" target="_blank">https://vimeo.com/249090044?fl=pl&fe=sh</a>
@Vaer As a fan of all three, I thank you. (My first reply seems to have dropped into the aether.)
I'll repeat my regular plea to leave the gimmicky stuff to Thursdays and not ruin a(nother) Sunday.
@Kevin Dear Sir, The first rebus appeared in 1954. There exists more than a half century of “gimmicky” puzzles in the NYT on Sundays. It would break tradition to grant you that request. Apple News has themeless Sundays. Perhaps that’d be more to your liking.
@Kevin That horse is so far out of the barn...
@Kevin I like the gimmicks–even when I'm completely foxed!–and the cleverer and twistier, the better for me. But, unless you invest in specialised game publications, this is the only widely available source for non-vanilla crosswords. As many have pointed out, there are plenty of 'plain' or 'standard' crosswords. And I don't mean this derogatorily. The New Yorker provides challenging 'standard' crosswords, including those of authors who are (or, sadly, used to be) NYT constructors. Others have referred us through this board to resources with puzzles with clues set in a demanding universe of knowledge. The weekend NYT is mostly these sort of puzzles too. But every once in a while, we get a grid or clue set with a little fizz.
I'm torn about this. The gimmick was impressively incorporated into the grid - the upper and lower halves of the themed entries generally not being gibberish was a nice touch. But then there was the clueing - I like easy-ish Sundays, but Wednesday is the difficulty level I'm looking for here, and this felt like a Monday or Tuesday. There was some misdirection in several places, but generally my only hurdles were proper names (looking at you, NE and SE corners!), which is not what I enjoy (that being said, I managed to get everything on my own, in the end). I stumbled a little by entering INTERPRETIng rather INTERPRETIVE at first (which meshed with LInger for "persist"), but that was the only place in the whole grid where I actually has to delete anything and retype entries. I suppose I ultimately prefer a Tuesday-level Sunday to a Friday- or Saturday-level one (a huge, difficult grid doesn't feel fun to me), but I would have enjoyed this more if it came with more creative clues. And now for something completely different - Lucek the Poodle demanding scritches: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/JbEogOv" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/JbEogOv</a>
@Andrzej Look who’s all about the Sundays now!
@Andrzej -- Impossible to resist scritching that, and, Lucek is definitely adding, "Oh, you could do that a little longer, please."
@Andrzej I found it quite easy relative to most Sundays, and in this case, was glad, because I was racing dinner being ready...and I beat dinner by a few minutes.
@Andrzej the Monday/Wednesday is just a sign of experience. The Sunday cluing seemed to me back when I started to be Thursday level. Nowadays…
@Andrzej I agree that the clues were a little too easy for a Sunday, but A+ for the theme with no gibberish fill when parsing the entries individually
@Andrzej OMG that dog is the best. Just the absolute best. 😆
Great puzzle overall and super impressive construction with those loops. But I must point out the most Natick-y Natick I've ever seen, crossing a co-founder of a model agency with a choreographer, both uncommon names - that takes the Natick.
I'm sure the editors expected most solvers to have heard of Twyla THARP. I did not know Ms. DeVore, but even if I didn't know either one, what letter other than H would make sense for the cross? There is no Natick here.
@Tim M I was so happy to see Tharp mentioned in the puzzle. She lives and works in NYC but is one of the most influential choreographers world-wide. Here is a feature article about her in this newspaper from last year: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/arts/dance/twyla-tharp-american-ballet-theater.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EVE.RWBc.Qr6yJ4ekNV39&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/arts/dance/twyla-tharp-american-ballet-theater.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EVE.RWBc.Qr6yJ4ekNV39&smid=url-share</a>
@Tim M I agree this is what you might call a "personal natick," given that you had never heard of either. But to fit the definition of NATICK by the columnist who coined the term (Rex Parker), the proper nouns with the unguessable cross must be obscure to _most_ solvers.
My first Sunday solve! No autocheck or nothing.
Interesting. Got the theme quickly but still had fun working out the answers. Despite it not feeling too difficult I noted I was some way over my average time at just under an hour. TEEPEE threw me as the clue was for plurals. I gather from reading some of the earlier posts that this may be a regional linguistic thing? Either way, I sat with tipis for too long as I assumed the correct spelling needed an S. Hey ho. Nice to see OSPREY, connecting with yesterday’s KITE. I’ve only seen OSPREY’s on wildlife programmes. Must be spectacular to see them IRL.
@Helen Wright You are correct. Bill in Yokohama protested this, but here in the States, "accommodations" is used for a single location, and the singular is not used in this sense at all.
@Helen Wright Yes, tepee, teepee, and tipi are all acceptable spellings. I hate it when I see a clue that refers to that particular accommodation (and, yes, we do use the singular in the US).
@Helen Wright they are quite massive and impressive! When I see them up north they are soaring high above so it's hard to see them. But in Florida they are quite common and sometimes make their giant nests on top of lights at shopping center parking lots so you'll see them perched on utility poles nearby.
Unsolicited tip for newer solvers: on Sundays (along with ever other day, but especially Sunday), don’t spend much time puzzling over any one spot until you have made your way through the entire grid. Weird little gray squares that are clearly part of some kinda funky structural theme? Noted, but ignoring until I get to a point where I *need* the theme mechanics to fill something in. Some actor’s name from Stranger Things that I certainly don’t know? Won’t even give that the slightest bit of thought unless I end up needing to infer one letter (which I didn’t in this case, as SADIE came entirely from crosses). Clues that are obviously meant to be ambiguous? I *might* plunk down a quick guess if one comes to mind, but it’s often better to wait for at least a letter or two from crosses, which will rule out most possibilities.
@Anonymous Also, re answers like SADIE Sink. Remember the answers you didn't get. SADIE has been clued to Ms. Sink (with that exact same clue) five times since 2022. At some point, you should know it. I've never watched "Stranger Things," and don't know what Ms. Sink looks like, but it was a gimme for me.
Steve, Interesting. I did all those prior puzzles but still needed the crosses for SADIE on this one. I guess it didn't sink in.
Both PhysDau and I ran aground on the same square, more or less. I knew BURJ Kalifa, so I helped her out, but we both had the Rubbernecking guy GAWPing. Too bad we didn't check with DHubby/Dad, who at least had heard of BECKS (though I must say, every little burg throughout the countryside has its own brewery, and there are *many* older than 1873.) Oh, well. By then we just wanted it to be over. This was truly a terrific idea and fun puzzle....just really long. Without a clue about the lower half of a couple of the gray "stacks" some of the entries were more STUMPifying than others. DHubs and PhysDau are still licking their wounds over the last-minute loss by Penn State and the near heart-attack with the ball in the air (Michigan and Iowa's squeaker)...this morning is a time of healing (I hope.) I will have to come back later to read Comments, etc. Before our daughter heads back home, we're playing another game of cards. I hope I beat the socks off of 'em.
@Mean Old Lady Every little burg in Germany may have its own brewery, but BECKS is sold in the US.
Took a bit longer than my usual and loved every head-scratching minute. I got confused as the ovals finally began to fall because the first one could be interpreted as "in global commerce" = TRADE and "conflict" = DISPUTE. So I tried to fit the second one into that pattern, but to my knowledge, "outdoor festivals" aren't PORTA. Looking at the clues more holistically solved the cognitive disconnect. (Is there a moral in that?) Then the cross of the brewery and the tower seemed as though it was going to be a personal natick, but having faith there must be a way into that corner, I scrabbled mental tiles for sensible fill for L___ON. After only a little scrabbling, saw that _IVE_ gave an I for JUPITER, which changed rOUt to COUP, which changed _ErKS to _ECKS. And realized I knew that beer after all.
Caitlin, that is one adorable photo. Perfect for the day.
Now, THIS was a Sunday puzzle! I loved it, Adam Wagner. Thank you. (Channeling Terry Gross by using both names of the person.).
I did not enjoy this one at all.
Well, that was challenging and interesting. Now I need a burrito. 🌯
Grateful for finally learning formal definition of "bespoke," a lovely word whose meaning I have only intuited in the past!
Bravo to the constructor for the complexity of the gimmick. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to have words spelled part forwards, part backwards that also spell other words the other way. Mind-blowing! Fun puzzle too.
I don't like crossing two proper noun names like in the top right. 'Soli' also borders on fair the use as the plural of solos is pretty arcane and it immediately rings to those with some musical background as a 'solo' for a section of the band.
@Justin Agreed re SOLI, but thus like the third time in a month it's been clued that way. The sax soli is when we trumpets get a swig of beer.
Sigh. My prose poem of last night, using TETRAD, ESPORT, MOPERS, RAGE ON, VEINTE, and PECTIN, went into the black emu hole and may not appear at this point. Was it the pectin??
the top right was a problem. Two intersecting niche names adding the vagueness for adopted vs co-opted made that rough.
@Liana Just curious - Do you mean "the top right was a problem" for you or "a problem" with the puzzle? I couldn't tell for sure so I also tried to figure out how adopted could work with 12A "Jewelers wares" - aUTGEMS. I may have brain fog today.
I believe I was the benefactor of a glitch. New Sunday PB - 7:09. No way - not even close. That said, I enjoyed the puzzle and the gimmick. Have a good day!
I play Catalogues daily and enjoyed this crossword today.
@Maeve Me too! Love Catalogues!
I love it that Adam Wagner’s idea for the puzzle came from tacos. (I don’t think I’ll ever look at a tortilla the same way again.) A mouthwatering grid indeed, Adam—this was fun to solve. Now, about this hankering for a street taco you’ve left me with at 2 am…
@Sam Lyons I don't understand...you seemed to use 'street taco' in the singular. "A street taco". Does not compute.
Very enjoyable! I was playing in dark mode and my old eyes didn’t at first notice the starting point for the loop backs which made it even more challenging.🌑
@Gregory Melahn more challenging in a good way 🤓. I prefer to play with overlays off and not reading the title (for Sunday puzzles). I turn overlays on when I’m done if I think there may be a fun animation or other markings to look at. Sadly I had forgotten to turn it off last time I did that, and I saw the ovals before going to settings to turn them off. Luckily, my eyes are old too so I didn’t see the directional arrows or starting points. More fun to figure that out for each themer. But the ovals did kind of give away the looping aspect right off the bat. Shaded squares are always shaded even with overlays off, which along with the revealers was enough info to figure out this puzzle
@Gregory Melahn I realise that this is entirely a matter of preference but what leads you (or anyone here) to prefer dark mode? I've tried it and I just don't see what the advantages are. Can someone provide a tutorial on Dark Mode?
Oh no, Big OREO has finally found me, along with another crossword favorite, Big Star Wars... Apparently, according to my Facebook ads, of which the algorithm has never before included Oreos, there are now Oreoids.... Coming soon to a crossword grid near you! Don't say I didn't warn ya! (Guess it's better than an Oreo and eel mashup... Har!)
@HeathieJ Onoreo: Yoko’s favorite cookie. Oreno: ambient cookie Orenya: go with the cookie flow Oreoboe: musical cookie Orepeeo: cookie on the fence The NYT crossword: a cookie for every taste!