Usually when a constructor places a colorful commonly-used phrase in a grid – one that doesn’t often show up in puzzles – it gets high praise. Which is what it deserves, because so many such phrases have simply worn out their welcome, and new ones aren’t very easy to come by. But look at what Peter did today – seven common phrases, all with dash, all so sweetly conversational … and five of them have never shown up in the Times puzzle before. The other two – I’M OVER HERE and I MISSED YOU have appeared only once before. That is not only amazing; it elevates the entire puzzle, fills it with interest. Speaking of newness, how about the theme answers acting as the clues for their clues? How cool is that? Plus, it was fun trying to guess the theme answers with as few crosses as possible. When you add color, newness and fun to the normal pleasure of filling the grid – and you did just that, Peter – created a most gratifying and splendid outing. This was fabulous, and thank you!
@Lewis Waaay back when, in a grad school biochem lab, my fellow labmates would band together daily to tackle the NYT crossword, which was new and difficult for all of us. One day, the head of our lab, who was constantly exasperated by the various ways his grad students wasted time, snarkily said that he had a friend who only tried to solve only the long theme answers without solving the crossing answers. This was met with amazement and laughter...and our boss shaking his head. These days, I look back on that story, when I manage to do it myself every once in a while, like I did today for 118-across.
Hah, that was fun! The clues for I’M A BIT CONFUSED and I HAVE NO WORDS are especially clever. Those phrases also represent how I felt before and after the theme clicked. Well done, Peter. I eagerly await your next offering ... [Armrest] I’M ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT
I got the solve in decent enough time, but I simply couldn't get a flow going on this one. I'm glad for the folks who enjoyed it, but this was a surprisingly sloggy Sunday puzzle for me. I'm always fascinated by how some constructors and I seem to be on exactly the same wavelength, and how other constructors just aren't operating at my frequency (or vice versa, in fairness).
Absolutely stellar Fri-Sat-Sun combo this weekend. Among the best I've seen all year. Very coincidentally, I learned about the concept of Isei, Nisei and Sansei in a graphic novel I finished just yesterday - They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Highly recommended read about the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2.
@Rahul Takei is a treasure!
I just love reading all your comments. I am a crossword neophyte, just becoming confident in my ability to solve the Midi every day. I appreciate the NYTimes running puzzles for all ranges of ability. Taking baby steps until I can sit at the adult table.
@PGP Children are encouraged to make mischief at the grown-up table. Andrzej from Warsaw does it all the time.
@PGP, Love reading this. Refreshing to read how you approach crosswords as a challenge to be met and grown into. I think you’ll enjoy the experience.
@PGP Practice makes perfect. Keep on solving.
I love puzzles that break crossword conventions! Thanks for the fun, Peter, and thank you -- and the editors -- for some fill clues well above a Monday level. Sunday funday indeed.
“ ” I HAVE NO CLUE which describes that state I was in about the “no words” clue for the *longest* time! Even after thinking the last bit looked Hawaiian - sheesh, nein, nyet, you got me, Peter!
A bit too grindy for me. Some of the clues are rather awkward.
Yeah, I was not a fan of this either.
@Nat Concur! Not to mention that many of the clues had multiple answers of the same length with overlapping letters. The theme was kind of fun but seemed to once again come at the expense of something else.
A grueling day, reinforcing the seal on our antique refrigerator (been in the family at least 50 years), mopping up melted ice, marveling at icebergs that had mysteriously formed on the interior walls of the fridge instead of in the freezer, measuring, sticking on tape. pulling it off, remeasuring. Still, it runs silent, freezes deep, and is the ideal appliance. I never want another one. and this was a price we were wiling to pay for a fridge far superior to anything that's made now. It has needed repair only once, a few years ago, and the repairman said if we ever wanted to sell it, to please call him. Finally it was all done, and what I really,really needed was a really fine puzzle to unwind after a really tense day—and voila, I got one. Thank you, Peter, you saved me
@dutchiris I must have misread something. You can't be using a refrigerator that's at least 50 years old!
@dutchiris Our fridge is only 25 years old, but I hope and pray it outlives me. Nothing fancy -- no ice maker, no water spout, freezer on the bottom, no double doors to open. It just goes on and on. Never had any repairs done. I hear horror stories from family and friends with 5 year old fridges that need all kinds of work, and bless my basic Amana.
@Andrew you took the word right out of my mouth.
@Andrew I'm not sure what this word is supposed to express. Difficult? No fun? ( why not?) Boring? what?
This puzzle marks 1 whole year of my NYT crossword streak! 365 days!! (and maybe counting 👀)
I’m always happy to be included. 😊 Especially when the puzzle is this good.
Loved this puzzle! Thank you, Peter! Happy Sunday, y’all!
One of these days I *gotta* learn the names of the Three Musketeers. It's not my fault--if they wanted me to remember their names they should have more common names. Like Tom, Dick, and Harry. Now *those* are reasonable names.
@Francis Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. All different lengths, so it's very easy to figure out which one to plug in.
@Francis The only one I ever remember is D’Artagnan… and he’s not one of them! (And to be honest, the reason he comes to mind is high school French class, where we had to adopt a persona from French literature or history and use that name all year. I had a crush on D’Artagnan.)
@Francis. Let’s not forget “Slumdog Millionaire”, where it Aramis whose name had to be round
Personally, my hardest Sunday solve ever! Some words I was unfamiliar with, some US trivia I had no idea of, and some tricky, obscure clues! Tool me the better part of one and a half hours - excluding breaks... 😬😬😬. Nevertheless, an excellent Sunday puzzle that challenged me immemsely! After a relatively easy week, I'll give this one a solid A! Great effort by the creator.
Glad I'm not the only one who found it tough. Not complaining, just a bit beaten up :)
Awesome, loved it! Especially liked having the word literally in my face, so the challenge is figuring out what to do with it (like the bold 'this'). Really like the 'they can make a pronounced difference', and for Esso, finally a clue that doesn't just say Canadian gas brand or other stale cluing. Great puzzle, well done!
@CB Yeah, but I still confidently dropped ESSO in there. Four letters, clue indicative of a gas brand, can’t fool me! I give points for trying, though. 😉
Meaty puzzle that rewarded persistence. An enjoyable way to start a Sunday.
Great Sunday puzzle. Took me a while, assisted by some look ups, but a fun one nonetheless. Got hung up on the lower third for a decent amount of time. Had a few crossing errors and one fill made me laugh. When 56D was filled in I thought, what's a SKIT RIP? The gray matter took about ten seconds to make it SKI TRIP for the conscious mind!
@97Bravo I looked at SKIT for a while as well before I had it filled in. I was convinced I had an error somewhere.
Wonderful challenge this week--not too easy, not impossible to solve in one sitting! First time in a few weeks. Kudos to Peter Gorman for the idea and the execution. Loved 65A especially.
@GD Most enjoyable puzzle, for me, in a while
UKRAINE + VOTED OUT = my two great wishes for their success for this year, so it was great to see them crossed in one of the finer Sunday puzzles of '26. Loved especially I HAVE NO WORDS. What an ingenious puzzle. I had UMPIRES (when they pronounce you safe or out, it makes a big difference, right?) before UMLAUT. I really resisted putting in POOL READ, since BEACH READ is what we call 'em here, 350 miles inland, and I would like to theorize that we who are landlocked call such books "beach reads" whereas those who live on the coast might be so used to the shore that they call them "pool reads." Anyway, I looked up pool reads and found a "pool read" convo on Lit Hub where one guy begins, "At no time when I’m sitting at home have I ever—like, I have four thousand books on my bookcases. At no time when I’m reading for pleasure at home am I like, “You know what, I’m gonna find me a John Grisham novel.” Never. I have to not be wearing underpants, be by a pool, and have flip flops somewhere near me, and then it is on."
@john ezra As someone who has spent time close enough the ocean to chuck whatever I was reading into the waves, I've never heard of the phrase POOL READ. Not saying it doesn't exist, just that no one sitting on my beach ever used it.
@john ezra I read a John Grisham novel once. I was three quarters of the way through and still had no idea how he was going to resolve it. I was on the edge of my seat. It turned out he had no idea of how to resolve it, either. Maybe he's past that by now. It's been a long time, and he was (is?) pretty prolific.
This was not just some gradual, windy Wednesday climb. This was a laborious Thursday ascent and I, for one, was giddy in more than one way once I had it scaled. Much tricksy cluing and sharp misdirection. Delightful pre-easened Sunday.
This is an extremely clever crossword puzzle. Kudos to the author!
I loved this one. It was quite difficult and took much longer than a usual Sunday, but it was satisfying. I only got one word wrong which in hindsight was gettable 😂 some of it was crosswordese, true, but the crosses helped, like they should in a good crossword. And today we had to use the true crossword skill of putting in an answer to see if we get the crosses or not and then backtracking. Quite fun.
I started solving as I usually do, block by block, acrosses and downs. When I saw how great the themers were, I shifted gears and tried to solve them with as few crosses as possible. I just didn't want the fun to end.
Thanks, but no thanks. This was tantamount to a themeless Sunday.
I agree that if one does not see a theme, the puzzle would be tantamount to a themeless. N.B. I saw a theme.
Like many high school German students, I had to learn the German folksong "Die Lorelei." Problem was, it isn't really a folk song. The poem was written in 1824 by the prolific poet Heinrich Heine, and the folk-songy tune I learned to sing it to was composed in 1837 by Friedrich Silcher: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CqdU-mYE8I&list=RD1CqdU-mYE8I&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CqdU-mYE8I&list=RD1CqdU-mYE8I&start_radio=1</a> But Heine's poem has been set by other composers, including Clara Schumann: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2O5MxuY70&list=RDuy2O5MxuY70&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2O5MxuY70&list=RDuy2O5MxuY70&start_radio=1</a> (Channeling a bit of the Erlkönig there, Clara?) But looking al this up on YouTube reminded me that there are songs about die Lorelei by Styx: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUmaV_gGYE&list=RDaFUmaV_gGYE&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUmaV_gGYE&list=RDaFUmaV_gGYE&start_radio=1</a> (OK, Boomer, normally I would not post a link like that, but it was shot at Blossom Music Center; for you purists, and those who prefer Dennis, here you go: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fvPeoT2z00&list=RD7fvPeoT2z00&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fvPeoT2z00&list=RD7fvPeoT2z00&start_radio=1</a> ) And by Cocteau Twins: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV_nrTH5jOc&list=RDzV_nrTH5jOc&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV_nrTH5jOc&list=RDzV_nrTH5jOc&start_radio=1</a> And I'm sure there are others. And that, my friends, is what, with her singing, the Lorelei has done!
@Bill, that was an impressive journey through the repertoire, wow!
@Bill "And I'm sure there are others." Don't know if this is about that Lorelei, but I've had the Tom Tom Club's Lorelei stuck in my head ever since filling in that clue. <a href="https://youtu.be/iPUoOulFPdo?si=1lBlYSeWOXg1WEtb" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/iPUoOulFPdo?si=1lBlYSeWOXg1WEtb</a> And of course in pop culture, there is Lauren Graham's speed talking Lorelei Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls. And her daughter, nicknamed Rory.
@Bill For completeness, here is Heine's poem in English and German. <a href="https://www.classicalpoets.org/the-lorelei-by-heinrich-heine" target="_blank">https://www.classicalpoets.org/the-lorelei-by-heinrich-heine</a>/
[Bicycle] IM TOO TIRED [Arclons] IM TUCKERED OUT [Broken lightswitch] I CANT GO ON (In case you wondered, i woke up too early… hence this nonsense!)
The first long answer I entered, very confidently, was pEpSODeNt. It took a while to realize that I would never get that corner right until I corrected it. But it was so obvious!
@Jack McCullough Yes! And sang the jingle while entering... "You'll wonder where the yellow went..."
@Jack McCullough I started with that too. But then I thought it had to be older than clued. Went and looked it up: yep, 1915.
@Jack McCullough Me too! I filled it despite thinking Pepsodent has been around longer than that. Finally backed it out then everything came together. "You'll wonder where the yellow went....."
I always like it when a puzzle gives me something to figure out, so I liked having to figure out how the typography of the clues would relate to an "I" phrase and what that "I" phrase might be. Some of the wordplay was delightful (I NEED SOME SPACE and I HAVE NO WORDS) and some was a real disappointment (I TELL YOU WHAT). What???? The ON EARTH answer was truly perplexing and didn't seem to fit the pattern at all, not being an "I" phrase. Oh, well. The puzzle provided mild diversion in a mildly amusing way. The fill was pleasantly name-free -- always a coup in such a large puzzle. The bottom line: I had a mildly enjoyable time -- and now it's time to go out into the beautiful sunshine.
@Nancy Notice the ONEARTH answer is the second half. Read 86 across first for the full phrase I'M OVER HERE ON EARTH.
fun solve thanks Peter! trying to recall if there's been a puzzle like this where a word in the theme clue was also part of the theme answer - referring to 'what' 'this' and 'here'. loved the overall good humor today bravo
This is not the first time (or the second) that theme clue words have appeared in theme answers. Perhaps one of our constructors has search software to find earlier examples.
Really enjoyed this one, but I still cannot, even with the explanation, understand the ON EARTH bit to IM OVER HERE. Anyone help?
@Mads same. I'm sitting here staring at the grid, reading the explanation, staring at the grid again... what am I missing?
@Madsf The theme of the puzzle is "tell me about yourself," so all these answers start with "I".. the clue is HERE so my answer is on earth. but it connects with "im over here" . here/over here. its just a play on the theme lol
@Mads As others have noted, I believe this was meant to refer to the placement of **the clues** for those two entries. So, “I’m over here” is really saying: “I, the clue for 86A, am above ‘Here’, the clue for 88A”. This would probably work a lot better in the paper edition…
They have cupcakes in Ireland.....
@Gareth Baird ...and they have buns in the USA. So?
Very interesting and engaging puzzle. I will admit some of the themers didn’t land for me as well as others—IMISSEDYOU in particular because that clue was pretty random. I also wasn’t as thrilled with ITELLYOUWHAT and IMOVERHERE. On the other hand I absolutely loved IHAVENOWORDS and IMABITCONFUSED, and enjoyed the theme as a whole, and I appreciate constructors taking big swings with a theme even if some of them whiff a bit. Aside from that, though, I was really pleased with the grid and the clueing as whole. It seemed pretty clean and fresh, and for once on a Sunday lately I found the challenge to be appropriate. There were a few corners I had trouble even getting a foothold in, but nothing unfair. Gotta thank George Eliot—I’m not very up on my saints but her evocation of St. Teresa of AVILA in Middlemarch has always stayed with me. I just posted another Crosshare puzzle. Heads up, this has more trivia than usual even for me and may be more suitable for a movie buff. (There's a hint in there). Also I broke or bent a few rules, so sue me! <a href="https://crosshare.org/crosswords/1RD2OumtOlPNhm8D1RDj/screen-test" target="_blank">https://crosshare.org/crosswords/1RD2OumtOlPNhm8D1RDj/screen-test</a>
SP, Did your puzzle. Will not sue you.
@SP hi SP - I did your puzzle on crosshare it's honestly a contender for a Sunday spot at the Times same idea flesh it out again and show some grown up adult film references from the glory days of film. the times is trying to get beginners to stick with the program by offering 'sanitized' puzzles. Debbie Does Dallas would probably never make it the pages in this uptight political environment. been doing the ny times puzzle since the 80's movie buff but really Scholar if your into films as deeply as film lovers are. hope the Times gives you a Sunday grid big as they can squeeze in you're great puzzle constructor
@SP I usually see a bunch of clues that I find obscure, so I concluded that I am not the audience for your puzzles. But I tried this one because you mentioned movie trivia, and I really enjoyed it and was able to finish it without lookups. So thank you!
@SP See and for me Teresa of AVILA is all about the Bernini sculpture and the Italian schoolkids who point out the tearful, awestruck adult (me) to their friends whenever I visit her in the Santa Maria della Vittoria church in Rome. It's well worth the embarrassment.
@SP Your puzzle took me almost as long as today's Sunday, but I'm not sure why. I liked it. Seems like there aren't enough potential themers for a Sunday, but maybe I'm wrong.
@SP Took me an hour but very enjoyable. I'm no movie buff (the only one I've seen is the "BABY" one, but I'd heard of all but the Bill Murray one & your crosses are kind on that one. Read the books as a child, which helped with the PETTY one.) Had to Check Word for the TMI one; and then dope slap, of course. But isn't there a typo in the clue for 68A? Or am I missing something? Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book.
Can we just keep supreme court justices' names out of the puzzle for a while? I'm so upset I had to stop the puzzle for a bit. Surely the editors know how polarizing certain issues/figures are in this country. I mean there are hundreds of famous people with the same name, why pick such a divisive person. I'm not losing my streak over this so hopefully I can calm down and continue. I am sure it is a great puzzle once I get past this.
@Lpr Spikes my blood pressure as well. But, there are *so* many triggers these days, I can't imagine reining them all in. I so very much miss the days when the name of a Supreme Court justice or any random politician in a crossword wouldn't evoke a twinge of trauma. I can't remember the movie, but it was set in early Soviet Union days. A member of the Communist Party is talking to a non-member, and the non-member said that something-or-other "wasn't political". And the member answered, "Everything is political." And I thought when I saw that, OMG that sounds horrible. It would be hellish if every single part of society was political. Fast forward fifty years...
@Lpr I've noticed that the complaints on here about removing something for being divisive are always about the right. Which is odd, because there are obviously divisive people on both sides.
Matt, You have failed to notice the complaints *from* the right.
@Lpr I sincerely hope you’re exaggerating for effect, and that merely reading that clue did not actually disrupt your personal equilibrium to the extent that you had to take a break from the puzzle…
@Lpr Especially with something as simple as AMY, there’s plenty of other ways to clue that one.
@Lpr At this stage of my life there is practically nothing that triggers me.
@Lpr Yeah, I was a bit annoyed by AMY, too. Mostly annoyed that I did easily know the answer. I'd prefer that judges weren't so controversial. But that's not today's world. The NYT crosswords have always presumed some awareness of current events, the things covered by the rest of the paper. File Amy under current events, and carry on.
I loved this. It was warm and cheerful, and not too easy, and went perfectly with my morning coffee.
A fun unexpected rabbit hole today: there are at least three six-letter BA- trees that can serve as food and water sources for elephants: bamboo, banyan, and BAOBAB.
@Katie (Of course, the correct answer to "tree that can be a source of water for thirsty elephants" is "whatever the elephant wants.")
@Katie I'm pretty open-minded about trees--Joshua-yuccas and palms and really big ferns are in--but bamboo? Nah. Not a tree. I started with ACACIA.
I *mostly* enjoyed solving this puzzle, which no doubt is the result of a lot of hard work! I scrolled down the column, so, SO hoping to see an explanation for OOO at 93A "Off work".....and just as I type this I get it. Out Of Office. Tsk. Good grief. I looked askance at LOOKY LOO, which I've never heard of, but it sounds more like what shopkeepers call people who don't buy anything; in other words, it's meant to be disparaging. But that term does not encompass "gawker," which is a different behavior and really doesn't apply to shoppers. There isn't any way to make gawkers seem nicer or harmless... The SW corner took me quite some time! And I was still puzzling about the relationship between 86 and 88A, unable to make ONE ARTH into anything else, because of the deTonator that I was sure of. So finally I just said SHOOT and left it like that, but I kept toying with it. (One ARTH --maybe when just one of the fingers on your hand is aching? ARTHritis on a nice day when it's not pesky? ARTH as shorthand for ARTHropod? Unsatisfactory nickname for ARTHur?) I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow.
@Mean Old Lady - Me ex was into officespeak -- it means Out Of Office. It doesn't necessarily mean "off work" -- in her case, it might mean on the road for work, at a client's location rather than working in her actual office.
@Mean Old Lady LOOKY LOO also refers to people who are gawking at a road accident as they drive by or other type of tragedy.
Especially liked "They can make a pronounced difference" for UMLAUTS. Found this one both clever and easy, but still managed to ruin my streak by somehow ending up with MADILYN instead of the obvious MARILYN. Oh well.
@Xword Junkie I had MADILYN for a while until I realized that 23A was I NEED SOME SPACE, not MORE SPACE... and 6D then finally made sense (UNSEAL vs. UNREAL).
That ON EARTH thing just didn’t work for me at all.
Really good and fun. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy anything these days. Some random thoughts: I thought 1D was a gem: [Short cut] >> SNIP. Brilliant! Likewise [Undercover?]. Just a whole bunch of fun answers. Hmm...Marlin Brando is from Nebraska. For some reason this strikes me as strange. As a sometime pedestrian, I'm a little disturbed by the shortening to PED...that might be taken wrong. I have to think I was within hours of completely and forever forgetting the word CORSAGE, given how difficult it was to dredge it out. I really wanted [Card game played in Dickens's "The Pickwick Papers"] to be POKER. I don't know why, I just think everything is better with poker in the scene. (All time favorite moment: the poker game in "The Sting".) I don't remember hearing of Lorelei", and Bill from Detroit has given me a great introduction at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4jnh64?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/4jnh64?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share</a> As many years as I used Sensodyne, you'd think I'd remember were the e's and the y's went.
@Francis, until the Epstein debacle, "ped" for pedestrian never bothered me. I think of all the "Peds X-ING" signs I've seen in my lifetime. But like you, it now strikes me as wrong; it's awful when so OME rotten or evil person/situation bestows a negative connotation on a perfectly innocuous word.
At least AMY crossed with TAR. Now if they could have only worked in FEATHER in another crossing
This took longer than usual, and it could have been a lot worse. There were so many places where I just put in my best guess and moved on. Had I not gotten the happy music on my final letter, I’d have been flyspecking until Monday. So, doubly pleased. A challenging puzzle and a happy ending.
Was stuck in the SW corner with tHreENOWORDS instead of IHAVENOWORDS. It all fell into place when I finally had the right words 🤪
Lots of appropriate (for me) answers in this one: ITELLYOUWHAT IDONTSAYTHISLIGHTLY IMABITCONFUSED and... IHAVENOWORDS See you tomorrow. ....
Rich, It didn't have DONTMEANNOTHIN.
I think 88A is not a theme clue/answer (as I believe the column suggests). It is merely a clue that is referenced by actual themer 86A. [Mailed. Shipped.] JUSTMYTWOCENTS
Me and my partner usually do the Monday crosswords, today we decided to go a bit crazy and attempt a Sunday. It took us almost two hours, but we got there! Good fun, though some things stumped us a bit. I, in particular, am still a little confused by the answer to 27 across. Could anyone help me understand how that relates to "send" in any way? For everything else, the solution made sense to me, once we had finally arrived at it, but this one has me genuinely flummoxed
@Nadja "you send me" is a phrase from an earlier generation, like "you thrill me." Here's a link to the Sam Cooke song: <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3VnMm53pc" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3VnMm53pc</a>
@Nadja There's an old Sam Cooke song called "You Send Me," which means you make me happy, you "elate" me...great song. It's on YouTube.
@Nadja This is a NYT crossword favorite, you'll see it again. It's akin to sending your lover over the moon. The usual citation is Sam Cooke, singing You Send Me. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3VnMm53pc" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3VnMm53pc</a>
@Nadja you're not the only one. It's a bit of a stretch imho and I am sure for many others. One of the annoying bits about crosswords for me that could easily be fixed with a better clue.