I can't believe how many commenters are nit picking about this delightful puzzle. It is a masterpiece of construction, full of challenging fills, with tough letters that you can't imagine successfully crossing. Sometimes we sound like a bunch of spoiled children, and while I won't go that far with comments on this puzzle, it doesn't deserve to be dumped on to this degree. Imagination and flexibility are our strengths as solvers, and if something slowed us down because it seemed confusing, well, we solved the puzzle anyway so we should be congratulating ourselves instead of accusing the constructor and the editors of failing to make it easier for us to do it. Thank you, Kathleen Duncan. Your puzzle was fun to work and I had a lovely time figuring out what was going on. Congratulations on your debut.
@dutchiris I'm with you. I thought this was clever and I had a lot of fun with it.
@dutchiris You really "can't believe" that the commenters are nit-picking? Haven't you noticed that that's what we do around here. Personally, I have no problem both nit-picking and enjoying a puzzle. I enjoyed this puzzle, but I might pick a few nits.
@dutchiris Agreed I really liked this one - tough at times, but fun and fair. That said, it’s not hard to conceive of someone having zero knowledge of some of the theme clues, which would make this a struggle. Throw in Zayn and Stieb? I get the frustration.
I’m shocked really that so many literate folks (who are doing the New York Times crossword puzzle and presumably avid readers) have never heard the term “cozy mysteries”. That’s not a put down at all, it’s just surprising because I see signs for this all the time in bookstores and libraries not to mention book reviews. So it’s ok if you haven’t heard it, but don’t put down the puzzle saying that’s some obscure or made-up term, because it’s a very common and legitimate genre.
@SP Also called cosy mysteries because they're big in Britain, which is where I first heard of them. As with Agatha Christie, you get a puzzle, a mystery, an intriguing story, hidden rooms and long-buried family secrets, without the gore, graphic sex and swear words. Give me a cup of tea with a nice clean poison in it any old day. Or a pearl-handled revolver, provided it doesn't make a mess.
@SP Maybe they don't read GENRE fiction? It's a pity, because there are some great cozy mysteries out there. Louise Penny's novels have gotten more intense over time, but her earlier ones were pretty cozy. (Three Pines is real and I am going to live there.)
@SP I had never heard this but I guessed it, despite being very unsure that "tizzy" could mean "dither". It was the only word that fit for me. I had though comedy/mystery since I think those mysteries are just that, but didn't think an American audience would have a genre called "comy mystery". They would see red.
I was thrown off a little by the fact that the theme clues used the word 'and' but the answers were singular. I wanted plural answers to go with the plural clues.
@el The "and" simply tells us that there are two films to consider, and doesn't imply that the answer is going to be singular or plural. When given two of something to consider, it makes me want to try to find something that either connects them or that they have in common. In this case, it was find a general category that fits both films in each clue. That common connection is what the constructor wants us to come up with, so the plurality of the clue doesn't affect the answer at all. And in my opinion, listing only one movie in each clue would have made it more difficult to figure out what kind of an answer was required.
@JayTee Not saying you're wrong but I also expected the answers to be plurals because of the 'and' in the clues. That's how it's been in previous crosswords. The constructor could have written "Downton Abbey" or "Shogun" and the correct answer would still be PERIOD PIECE.
@el It’s a nit but a fair one. Using “or” would have worked perfectly well and been more grammatically correct.
@el I think it’s not “x is a y.” Rather it is “x and y together are [a genre].” (I agree that it’s awkward. I would have preferred “or”).
@el Yeah, I really don't understand why "or" wasn't used. Seems like it would cost nothing and maintain a long-standing rule of cluing. If the clue were "San Francisco and Los Angeles" I would expect "west coast cites" to be a possible answer, but not "west coast city".
@Eddie I'm new to noticing it, but count me a fan of your laconic, distinctive note of puzzling triumph
@Inchoate But Earnest I'm a bellwether! I am an exactly average crossword solver! If anyone has a tough time with 'the puzz' and they see me say 'this puzz was too hard' then they can take heart!
@Eddie He speaks! Maybe you have before and I missed it, but good to hear your “voice.”
Congratulations on your NYTXW debut, Kathleen. Reading the comments, I see 2 chief complaints. One is that the puzzle is too easy for a Thursday. True, but, not your fault. The other is that some people have gaps in their knowledge, so they had trouble solving. Also not your fault. Your theme was clever and well implemented, and you should be proud of your achievement. Of the movies in the puzzle, the only one I saw was "This is Spinal Tap", but your crosses were fair. Thank you!
@Nancy J. So, two complaints: some thought it was too easy; some thought it was too hard. I suspect some thought it was "just right", but that's not a complaint. I'd say Ms Duncan found the sweet, "Goldilocks" spot.
Well, no area in this puzzle broke open for me in a splash. Things kept holding me back. Answers I didn’t know. Answers that couldn’t be slapped down because the clues were vague. Unclued answers. A theme I didn’t fully get until well into the fill-in. Thus, I caromed around the box as my brain worked in the background, feeding me with new answers here and there, each one coming with a happy ping, right up to the finish. A very sweet Crosslandia experience. This puzzle had to be a bear to construct, keeping junky answers at bay despite six long L-shaped theme answers that greatly constrict the answer possibilities. Very impressive job on this front, whether a debut (as this is) or not. And, despite the constraints, a shining patch of beauty – the gorgeous abutting OBEISANT and VENDETTA. A stellar outing for me, for which I’m very grateful, and a most impressive debut puzzle. Brava Kathleen, and congratulations!
@Lewis I'm glad you said this. Although many people found this easy, there were enough holes in the fill for me, all over the grid, that I struggled a bit.
@Lewis I second that experience.
This isn’t a criticism because puzzles like this have a place in the cruciverbal pantheon: I thought today’s grid served as training wheels for solvers new to Thursday trickiness. I remember the first time I tackled rule-bending puzzles like this and feeling completely lost at sea. “What? How? [insert something worthy of a sailor]” On the other hand, if you’re an experienced solver (which I happen to be), you probably cotton onto the “trick” immediately, then speed through the rest because, as others have noted, the clueing was very straightforward today. I did appreciate the presence of 4 clues that require having read a book. I’ve been keeping track: They’re increasingly rare, and frequently absent altogether.
@Sam Lyons I'm with you on the books. We could also use more history, science, geography, zoology for that matter -- animals are fun! -- former presidents, justly famous historical figures, works of art. Stuff worth knowing. Sooo often answers are clued using TV or movie references when there are so many better ways. It does feel like unnecessary dumbing down.
@Sam Lyons ALACRITOUS, APOLOGUE, ARCTICA, BÊTISE, BLOGROLL, CLONK — just a small fraction of the words that the NYT crossword introduced me to in 2024. (Yes, I am keeping a list.) I’m sure your vocabulary is broader than mine, but I expect even you occasionally learn new words here.
Not the best Thursday (usually my favorite puzzle of the week). The "trick" wasn't much fun, particularly the obscure COZY MYSTERY nestled among a slew of proper names and a collection title. I prefer puzzles that leverage wordplay rather than trivia. And I prefer "tricks" that can assist the solve once they are discovered.
@Gregg COZY MYSTERY is a fairly common genre in modern lit.
Weak fill. Too many black squares. Boring theme. Crossing proper nouns with university abbreviations. 2/10
@George Me too. Cozy mystery? Please. I'm not as charitable as many of the commenters.
Maybe I'm just obtuse (if I was an angle I would be neither acute nor -- God forbid -- right) but I don't get the theme. I don't see how some of these titles are genre bending, which (so I'm told) means combining elements from two or more genres to create a hybrid genre. Like that sci-fi cowboy movie that came out a few years ago. OK, so far I get it. In this particular puzzle, it's called "mixing thematic elements or tropes," and I don't even know what that means. I mean, there is a certain subgenre of mystery that has a kind of coziness to it, but is there some genre of cozy novels I'm unaware of that an author of cozy mysteries is borrowing from? And OK, some fantasies are dark, but how is that genre bending? Are light fantasies also genre bending? What about just simple fantasies, neither light or dark, are they even fantasies then? Maybe they're cozy fantasies, not getting too negative, nor getting anyone in a tizzy. Or dither, if you'd rather. Mockumentary is better, blending elements from comedy and from documentary, two certifiable genres. All the other themers seem simply types of their genre, not really bending anything. But maybe I'm simply obtuse. Steve L., where are you to lead me to the light? Have any of you ever used agar as a thickener in your culinary endeavors? I thought it was only for lab use, but here again, obtusery thy name is John Ezra. But agar? Eww!
@john ezra Don’t overthink it. The answers are genres and are “bent” in the grid. That’s it.
@john ezra Don't know if you looked up AGAR by now, but it's a seaweed used as a substitute for gelatin in vegan cooking. Also used in other ways, too.
@john ezra: A vampire, Borat, Miss Marple, the dowager countess of Grantham, and Lady Bird all band together to try to identify a new Ed Koch type who would run for mayor. Satisfied now? 😉
@john ezra. In this puzzle it is in being entered into the grid that the genres are bent. They do not need to be themselves “bent genres”. This reading is fully consistent with the revealer clue. Indeed, in the NYT Xword world, this is the more likely take.
@john ezra I have a jar of agar powder in my kitchen cupboard. It's a powder that you mix with water to create a gel. Pretty sure I bought it when I went on a vegan cooking kick during the pandemic. Huh. I wonder how long it's supposed to last.
@john ezra "Have any of you ever used agar as a thickener in your culinary endeavors?" Indeed I have--"Vegan Cononut-lime Panna Cotta" is a go-to recipe for me, for the holier-than-thou set. Curiously, agar and gelatin, although both thickeners, need to be handle not only differently, but almost oppositely: gelatin is added at the very end, and can't be overheated lest it destroy the thickening properties. Agar, OTOH, is added at the very beginning, and needs to come to a full rolling boil for a minute or two to activate. Also, the "mouth-feel" is very different--agar lacks the "jiggliness" of gelatin.
@Beth Back in the '80s I experimented with seaweeds and macrobiotic cooking and have most definitely used agar (often called agar agar back then) in my cooking. It took some trial and error, but done it right, it can contribute to some marvelous dishes. Of course it's used in industrial food production, but so are such strange ingredients as "milk" or "wheat". Who has ever heard of those? ;-)
@john ezra A sincere answer to the agar portion of this comment - agar agar is common in southeast Asian cooking, to create gelatinous refreshing desserts that are delicious in the sweltering climate. Texturally it can be similar to the gelatin from animal bones used to make jellies, but imo may have a bit more shear or crumble when you bite into it. (Gelatin desserts also have a tendency to melt in heat, while agar agar desserts retain their shape.) <a href="https://www.thesnobbyfoodie.com/blog/healthy-easy-almond-jelly" target="_blank">https://www.thesnobbyfoodie.com/blog/healthy-easy-almond-jelly</a> Here's a dessert I grew up with, almond jelly. You can make it with either gelatin or agar agar, and we would always serve it with lychees and maybe palm seeds, and syrup from the canned fruit. It's simple and delicious and not too sweet!
I call foul...the "corners" of the genres amount to uncrossed squares. If you don't know the answer for 5D, for example, you have no way of picking up that letter from the end of 1A.
@Mike What other letter would you put at the beginning of -ANTASY?
@Mike I didn't have much difficulty coming up with the "–" entries because the crosses filled out enough of the answers to be able to extrapolate the appropriate endings. It would have been easier if I'd known more about the films. Yes, I made some assumptions that didn't work, but in the end they all got figured out.
@Mike My initial problem, not yet having seen the revealer, was that the across clues for the themers were structured "---" AND "---". Not knowing that the puzzle was looking for *a* genre, it seemed that the answers called for a plural. When I had enough crosses, I realized it was not the case but it remained confusing until I sussed the revealer (although that SW corner took me a long time to figure out!) Definitely Thursday territory...
Also I am going to pipe up as someone who is familiar with COZYMYSTERY as a genre, and therefore doesn't think that was obscure at all. I read quite a few cozies -- some get a bit too cozy, leaning into a cutesy gimmick rather than writing well, but "some books in this genre aren't good, and some are decent but not my cup of tea" describes pretty much any genre. I am also not a librarian or involved with publishing. Just a reader... who wants to defend the genre :)
@Isabeau I am in your corner. I heard this term several years ago, and discovered there are sub-genres of Cozies! I am admit being off at first because Cozy looks like a put down.
@Isabeau I think cozy mysteries are marketed primarily to women, who are voracious readers. Could be what's causing the indignation we see here about not knowing the genre. But from this (typically well-read) crowd, I'm surprised.
Puzzle creators and editors, please stand strong against those who would have you make easy puzzles to slake their fragile egos. Amen
Extras in a film are scene and not heard. (But they still have a reel-y nice time.)
@Mike They focus on the money. / / /
Mike, Better that they land a small part, than be cast aside.
@Mike Always glad to see you role out one of your offerings.
@Mike With the rise of CGI, most of them are not reel anymore.
The clueing threw me off, being Thursday I was *so* overthinking! But it was totally fetch. And Spinal Tap is a gem. It was an eleven. Congratulations on your debut, Kathleen!
@CCNY The aughts called. They want their fetch back 😁
I very much liked the BENDING genres and was thankful for the breeziness of the puzzle on a day that I can hardly MOVE, much the less think too hard. You see, I threw off my back and, as much as I'd like to tell a story of hang-gliding or bungee jumping or roller blading, or even just BENDING over to pick something up off the floor, the truth is I was merely sitting at a dinner table when something in my back twisted into a knot. The good news is it only pangs when I MOVE. :-) Congratulations on your debut and creative theme idea, Ms. Duncan, and thank you. Very nicely done!
@sotto voce Sorry to hear about your back. I know it hurts to move, but my experience has been that moving around as much as possible helps my back recover more quickly. I’m pretty sure that is what medical professionals advise now (instead of bed rest or whatever they used to advocate). I hope you feel better soon!
@sotto voce Ah, man, Sotto, I’m having sympathetic back spasms just reading this. When your back goes into serious spasm, it’s the most debilitating experience. With a limb, you can favor it, but your back is your center. Hopefully, this is just a one off. Eric’s right, but sometimes getting past the extreme pain phase takes a day or two. (And very short term serious meds.) If it continues to happen, get a good Ortho (not necessarily the first one that offers to cut you). Knowing what to do and not do as we age can make a world of difference. (e,g. If you *must* twist when you dance (but must you?) don’t lift your body—or anyone else’s!—at the same time.) Get better!
@sotto voce Here's a recipe for relief. Ingredients: Ice. Divide ice into two parts. Apply one part to your back and the other part to your whiskey. Be well.
@sotto voce I sympathize with your back problems. I've had them gradually overwhelm me the last few years. Pain that used to be intermittent is now chronic. I found that Physical Therapy was by far the best for me. But back pain is notoriously difficult to understand and to treat, so any one person's experience might not be applicable to others.
Where's my beer? It's a COOZIE MYSTERY...
I enjoyed this GENREBENDING puzzle. I wasn’t familiar with the term COZYMYSTERY, but it makes perfect sense and I’ll add it to my lexicon. My stumbles included wry instead of DRY, and mayhap instead of MAYEST, but neither held me back too long. I like the sound of mayhap better. I have a soft spot for Dave STIEB. Back in the day, when I was a regular fantasy baseball player, I had him on my team a few times, and he was a strong performer for me.
@Marshall Walthew COZY MYSTERY is new to me, too, but as soon as I started reading the Wikipedia article about it, Angela Lansbury popped into my head (not that I have seen more than about five minutes of “Murder, She Wrote”).
I liked the themers a lot, but got badly stuck on an awful lot of the short answers. Didn't know the Robert Frost collection, couldn't remember Cher's catchphrase, hadn't heard of the ZAYN or STIEB. Another hand up in surprise at solvers unfamiliar with COZY MYSTERY. In their defense, I think it's used more to describe books, not movies, and all the other themers are clearly movie genres.
Even I think 52D is too obscure. Kidding. Sort of. But can I say I'm glad Andrzej wasn't here to see it? I don't think I've ever heard of COZY MYSTERIES. I was thinking of drawing room mysteries. Now I know. Fun theme. Hot take: April is the MAYEST month. Let him who is without a makeup studio in the Pentagon cast the first loofa.
Nice debut, Kathleen! I thought the theme was clever but I got stuck in the SW corner. I had never heard of Dave STIEB even though I’m a baseball fan. I had also never heard of ETNA in that context. I’m shocked at how many in this group have never heard of cozy mysteries, given the popularity of “Murder, She Wrote,” “Diagnosis Murder,” and all the other shows that take place in small communities that make you wonder, with a murder rate that high, why does anyone live there?
@Cherry Three Pines seems like such a dangerous place!
I finally got around to reading the column, and two surprises jumped out at me. Never having used a Mac computer, and being of a certain age, I only thought of a typewriter for the return key clue. (So this is how I learn that Macs don't have an ENTER key)? And Deb says she's surprised that Apple didn't give users the ability to EDIT till 3 years ago, yet the NYT still stubbornly refuses to give us that ability in the comments section.
@Grumpy In the grand scheme of things...the NYT boards are designed to be cheap. Basically its a board with zero management. The EMUS (electronic moderators) stop anything with marginally suspect words...And they just let the board run on automatic. Many posts dont even go up timely...so the sequence of the posts doesnt matter much....other than repetition. If there was the ability to have back and forth conversations with real people...where the public posts arent "permanent" it creates the need to have many moderators...not just for the puzzle...but for every article the NYT posts. People costs money. Whereas by having this format board with all of the hassles...it enables engagement...and doesnt need touching past the EMUs.
Robert Frost must have been popular with the ladies.
@Just thinking.....I'm still laughing. Well played!
I found this to be a fun and clever puzzle, and I was quite surprised by the amount of whining in the comments. If you don't know what a COZY MYSTERY is, I suggest more frequent trips to your local independent bookstore. The first Blue Jays pitcher I thought of was Dave Stewart, but STIEB came to me when I got the B on the cross. On the other hand, there are a bunch of "too easy" comments. If I find a puzzle to be easier than expected for a given day, I view that as a little gift. Just because it was easy for me, I don't assume that it will be easy for everyone else.
This one almost got me. Stared at TI--Y for "Dither" for quite some time, unfamiliar with COZYMYSTERY and not recalling ZAYN. Eventually TIZZY came to mind, and the puzzle was solved. Lovely to see a word like OBEISANT in a grid. "69A Person with the shift after a long one of yours" for RELIEVER seemed clunky. Given the crossing with STIEB, how about "69A Non-starter?" Getting the thematic elements in symmetric locations was a nice plus. Congrats on the debut!
@Xword Junkie Had the exact same dilemma, but have never encountered dither as a noun — so really struggled there. Went back and forth on ‘tarry’ for ages, which is potentially semi-ironic.
"Obedient" fit 16A (and some of its crosses) too easily... that held me up a bit. Have to say I am not familiar with OBEISANT -- only got that when fixing the crosses. I did enjoy the theme and the useful gimmick fell quickly.
@Michael Weiland I was reminded of it recently when some people felt that certain Cabinet members being overly obeisant to their dear leader.
Nice debut Kathleen! Fun to solve and I learned a few things.
Thank you for a fun puzzle, keep creating!
A clever theme cleverly clued. Thoroughly satisfying Thursday wordplay.
This was one of those “Pretty sure I’m right so I’ll Google it just to be sure”. days. Then annoyed with myself that I spoiled the purity of the game.
@Krad been there, done that. Very frustrating.
I never know if my solve speed is due to the difficulty of the puzzle or my current frame of mind, but this one went really quickly. I found the theme to be fine, albeit not particularly challenging. I caught on almost immediately with 6A Borat and Spinal Tap because I knew they were mockumentaries, but that word wouldn't fit. The hyphen on 13D indicated the rest of the answer went there. For all y'all questioning if cozy mystery is a real genre, yes it is. I've heard of it, and I'm not even a mystery fan. Look... it even has it's own Wikipedia page: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_mystery" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_mystery</a> Now I'm in the mood for knish.
I had OBLIGING before correcting course... We're supposed to know Torontonian ballplayers? did Canada say it was okay to use their team? EL CHAPO was "home-grown"?? EEK before EWW. Cher was in "Clueless"?? Oh. Not THAT Cher. Tricky. We were "celebrated" on March 8th? Did I miss it? Apparently. Congrats to our new constructor Enjoyed the twisty turns!
@Mean Old Lady Sorry you missed your celebration. But now we're back to EWW WOMEN. Better luck next year.
@Mean Old Lady Where in the clue did it say El Chapo was "home grown"?
I had a little over 50% of the puzzle done last night and was helplessly stuck. Went back to it today and finished with ease (and I loved it!!). I think my brain was just done with all of the thinking it wanted to do for the day. Like EDKOCH... I went through all of the mayors I remember and Koch was one of them but I never thought to put Ed Koch until this morning. I even thought about Ed being too short last night. it's funny how the brain works! The theme was cool too. Add me to the list of people who hadn't heard of a COZYMYSTERY, but now I have a name for one of my favorite genres! Looking forward to more from Kathleen Duncan!
The theme was OK I guess… but I didn’t really like this one because of the fill. Especially the short answers. The grid just felt clogged with crosswordese. And only a true sports nerd like me was going to remember Dave Stieb, a good-not-great pitcher from the 1980s. If you’ve ever heard of the “guys naming dudes” meme, he is a prime example.
@Jamie come, come Steib might more accurately be described as having been "good often great" #guynamingdude
Oh boy. I know this puzzle is going to get hammered. I hope I’m wrong. The hardest part of the trick was realizing there is no actual logic to where the genre bends. I spent too much time trying to find some Easter egg, that I don’t think exists. As it relates to the bend. I feel bad for the constructor to be honest. I think this could have run in a Wednesday.
That was a toughie. I don't mind the theme, but was put off by (i) the words not being proper, when viewed in isolation, and (ii) two of the entries are singular genres, they aren't bent or melded - period piece and coming of age.
@Andy i thought that at first too, but then i realised the theme genres are literally bent so they don't need to be figuratively "bent" like in the revealer.
Congratulations on your debut, Kathleen Hudson. I enjoyed solving your puzzle, and it's not your fault it would have been more appropriate as a Wednesday puzzle.
Not a particularly interesting theme or puzzle construction to be honest. Usually when entries carry over into the corresponding perpendicular slot, the completed fill still looks like a standard crossword puzzle or at least you're given aha moments in all the entries.
I can handle either a bunch of trivia in the fill or a gimmicky theme, but not both. Especially not a school crossing a baseball player (both US) crossing a theme entry *twice*. I never stood a chance. Ditto since I haven't actually heard of quite a lot of the theme entries either, which is on me. I'm happy Deb found the clues easier than average today, but I can't say that I agree.
Congratulations on your premier, Kathleen!
Puzzle was a lot of fun, well done! Extra points for fitting in Spinal Tap!
Very frustrating and difficult puzzle if you're like me and haven't seen a single movie in the themed clues and had to rely on nothing but crossers. Oh well, better luck next Thursday for my sheltered self :) (p.s. this is not a criticism of the puzzle rather a very me problem)
@Samantha N. I haven't seen any of them, either. But I have heard of them...or read reviews...or I can figure out what they may be about.... It was the Blue Jay pitcher that had me sweating...
@Samantha N. Seeing a movie isn’t always necessary to be somewhat familiar with its subject and genre from reviews, ads, or general public references. For example, I imagine that many people who haven’t seen Downton Abbey or Shogun still know that they are historical dramas.
Fun theme from a debut constructor who I hope we hear more from, and it kept me off-balance the whole way, like a good Thursday should. A few of the titles were unfamiliar, but easy enought to suss out and come up with a plausibly bent genre. I'd dithered about that Dave Stieb vs. Steib for awhile, and had RELIEVER as BELIEVER, someone whose viewpoint had been changed after listening to a long explanation, but then I remembered that nobody changes their mind anymore about anything.
Threw in the towel at the LOIN/TIZZY/ZAYN crossings. Being fairly sure of TarrY and ANnA helped not a bit and seriously considered if a LOaN would be on offer at the butcher shop. But that's all on me as this was a terrific debut. Well done.
@John Carson I didn’t come close to giving up in that section — it helped that both ETTA and ANYA were gimmes — but those 15 or so squares around the new-to-me COZY MYSTERY took about as long as the entire rest of the puzzle.
@John Carson I guess it depends on your definition of "throw in the towel", but I had to look up the the celebs with their idiosyncratically spelled names. I'd never heard the term COZY MYSTERY before, and I only knew "Dither" as a verb, so TI__Y wasn't any help. Even after looking up the Naticky names, which gave me COZY, TIZZY still didn't make any sense. I was wondering if the clue was a typo from "Tither" (as in "Twitter has been in a tither since Elon Musk took over at the social network"), till I checked the dictionary to learn that "Dither" is also a synonymous noun. 🤷♂️
Tough one for me for a couple of reasons. Even after I figured out the trick, it took me a while to realize they weren't all going to turn the same way. And... more than a couple of completely unfamiliar answers. Had to do some look-ups. That's all on me - pretty impressive feat of construction. And... puzzle find, of course. This one was different. A Wednesday from April 17, 1996 by F. Heaney. All of the clues for the theme answers ended with ",formally." A couple of examples: "Swell, formally?" JAMESDANDY "Olympics vehicle, formally?" ROBERTSLED "Place to put money, formally?" WILLIAMFOLD "Way of cooking, formally?" ALBERTDENTE Always nice to see a different kind of trick. Here's the Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/17/1996&g=17&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/17/1996&g=17&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta Oh... and turns out there a couple of other puzzles with the same trick. One a Sunday from April 2, 1972 by Bert Kruse with the title "The King's English." Just some sample theme answers: WILLIAMBOARD ROBERTSLEDS ALVINFRESCO And there were more. Here's that Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/2/1972&g=37&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/2/1972&g=37&d=D</a> And.. the other one - just a bit different - a Sunday from January 16, 2011 by Jooh Pahk. Some theme answers in that one: YANGTZEDOODLEDANDY TOMORROWNEVADIES YALUJACKET YUKONGOHOMEAGAIN THAMESFIGHTINWORDS WEREALLINDUS...TOGETHER Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/16/2011&g=35&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/16/2011&g=35&d=A</a> ....
I loved this puzzle!! It was fresh and fun. The wordplays were ingenious and I found the "bending" to be just challenging enough, but not so hard I gave up. I hated to see it end, I wanted another one. What a glorious debut Kathleen Duncan! Please invite her again NYT. I can't wait to see what's next. Brava!!
Overheard on the quiz programme set: Zander: We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many novel themes as possible Couple 1, Elizabeth and Stephen from Wigan: DARKFANTASY? Couple 2, Donna and Bogdan from Castle Combe: COMINGOFAGE? Couple 3, Ron and Jason from Hull: MOCKUMENTARY? And couple 4, Connie and Victor from Llangranbog: PERIODPIECE? Richard: COZYMYSTERY! Zander: It's time to introduce the ETNA of Endemol, the ENOKI from Essex, he's the STALE to my MATED, it's my Pointless friend, Richard . . . . Richard? [off camera whispers, quick shot of empty chair] Z: He USEDto BEMINE Congratulations, Kathleen on your debut - with squares filled as nicely as Joyce's BattenBERG cake!
Very good puzzle, I thoroughly enjoyed it :)
Your mileage may vary, indeed! I fund today's puzzle challenging; I couldn't get a decent toehold for quite a while, and it took me a while to get the theme. But that's not a complaint. I love a challenging puzzle, and I want to be challenged, especially on Thursday. So, fine puzzle! But I can't leave it at that. There must be a nit to pick. So, here's mine: MOCKUMENTARY, DARK FANTASY, COZY MYSTERY (which was new to me, but, again, learning something new is good!) all fit in nicely into the GENRE BENDING theme. But COMING OF AGE and PERIOD PIECE (better known as "historical drama"?) are fairly straightforward GENREs, no BENDING in sight, so far as I can see. So, there's my nit. Make of it what you will. But I still enjoyed the puzzle a whole bunch. (You had me at OBEISANT.) Thanks, Kathleen Duncan. And congratulations!
@The X-Phile I was thrown a bit by what bending meant, thinking for a while it meant some sort of mash up. But then I realized that it was simply about the answer turning a corner to continue to completion. At least that is how it appeared to me.
@The X-Phile Somebody complained (last night) that all of the GENREs were "made-up words." Firstly, aren't all words made up? More importantly, somebody had to make up MOCKUMENTARY for "This is Spinal Tap." as it was the first movie of its kind.