Chungclan

I was moved to sadness by the included quotations today. First because all the speakers were murdered for their words and actions in hopes of a better world, and second because we seem to have lost this level of discourse and optimism for humanity. What have gained: AI generated cruel jokes, golden statues, and a UFC arena constructed on the grounds of the White House. Not our finest hour by a long shot.

Wow. Now that was a Friday! Other than some sports trivia that even my sports-obsessed husband didn't know, I thought every clue was tough but gettable. I always enjoy a puzzle where the first pass makes it feel impossible, but bit by bit I can get a foothold here and there, and after several more passes, I'm rewarded with the happy music. Great puzzle!

A perfect Earth Day puzzle.

My husband’s longstanding mondegreen: the Rolling Stones’ “I never smelled your pizza burning”. It was many years before he learned the actual words to Beast of Burden.

Terrific Sunday from Eric Agard! Love the inclusion of Afroman's hit from 2000. More recently, he became famous again after police mistakenly searched his home. He turned the incident into a hilarious and scathing music video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xxK5yyecRo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xxK5yyecRo</a>

I want to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to the fabulous, witty, and omniscient Deb Amlen, who leaves us way too soon to pursue her greater adventures in retirement. You have been a constant and steadying voice to this beloved forum, and while I know your catchphrase is "It wasn't me!", I beg to differ: it very much was you, and you will be greatly missed.

Loved this tricky Friday, filled with misdirects and stuff I just plain didn't know, like GOT is short for a book by George RR Martin, Minecraft has a protagonist named Steve, the meaning of a SKULL emoji, and that much of Azerbaijan's population is SHIA. Made for a tough but fun solve. Favorite clue: Hunks of plastic. And love the video from Deb. Very impressive debut. Hope to see more from this talented constructor.

There used to be a Twitter account called "Is Oreo in today's crossword?", but I think it's been deleted. Sad, because today is the day of all days for Oreos in the NYT.

Fun and challenging Friday. Extra points for pairing "don't be evil" with "mere mortal." Food for thought from two talented and photogenic constructors. Well done. PS Love the crossword printed tank top, Ms. Sinclair!

Haven't done the puzzle yet, but wanted to share this hilarious clip from the Twitterverse, for all us West Wing fans! From @LemonLymancom 25 years ago, Leo McGarry got in a fight with the New York Times crossword editor about how to spell “Gaddafi” or “Qadaffi". <a href="https://x.com/LemonLymancom/status/1837838507600998688" target="_blank">https://x.com/LemonLymancom/status/1837838507600998688</a>

Hand up for “Coach” TIMWALZ. (too soon, I guess) A nefarious and chewy puzzle. I’m surprised at the frequent negative comments. All’s fair in love and Saturdays. Bravo, Sam!

How did I miss yesterday’s return of Will Shortz? A banner day. Wonderful to have him back and kudos to his fabulous team that filled in so well in his absence.

Terrific puzzle with a brilliant twist at the end. I confidently filled in LIE for 26 across, but when I realize that 26 down started with an F, I changed it to FIG. Cover story, get it? Finally got the happy music when I realized that a bell lap must be the last lap of a race. Thanks for the fun ride!

When I was 20, I went to Teaneck NJ with a college friend. She had to stop by her aunt's house, since her uncle had recently died. I still remember the wall of photos documenting an amazing baseball career, and hearing the stories of my friend's beloved uncle, Elston Howard. A die-hard Pirates fan, I had only vaguely heard of Mr. Howard, but I knew immediately I was in the home of one of the greats of baseball.

Favorite clue of the year: Outspoken parenting critic, maybe Took me back to those shocking days when I was informed of my incompetence frequently. Mark Twain said it best: “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

I, too, laughed at ONE MAN BAND. Great clue, and it evoked the amazing almost-centagenarian Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Haven't seen it? Here it is: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OwnBuPbMqc" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OwnBuPbMqc</a> Fun and fabulous Friday - now on to the weekend!

OMG OMG OMG! What brilliant construction and wonderful animation. Thought this was much tougher than a usual Monday, but the downs were a breeze and the payoff well worth it. Thanks for pushing the envelope on my expectations.

Tricky, tricky Thursday. Well done, Mr. Brody. Every time I hear the word "toke", I think of this song, introduced by none other than Lawrence Welk as a "modern spiritual." I guess if you are Rastafari, maybe! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKslYBMycHM" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKslYBMycHM</a>

Another incredible puzzle from Erik Agard, who has the knack of creating puzzles that seem impossible at first glance and then magically solve with help from the crosses, including a few gimmes like 49 D, and a bit of imagination to find the unexpected answer in the wordplay (31D was the last to fall...). I am always grateful for the new (to me) cultural references Erik brings, esp. Dean Spade in this one. Love that I can enjoy solving a crossword and learn new things at the same time. Many thanks.

Thank you, editors, for the shaded squares. Would have been downright diabolical without them.

Great puzzle. Love the multi-layered solve provided by the wormholes and space theme. Congrats, Mr. Ayas. If I had $1,000,000, I'd buy you a K Car, a nice reliant automobile.

Congratulations on an excellent debut! Loved the revealer. Looking forward to seeing many more puzzles from you.

OMG! So so hard. Luckily, I'm from Pittsburgh, so US STEEL was an early foothold. Then slowly slowly the answers were revealed. Had EMO METAL before ALT METAL, SCARFING before SNARFING, and it turns out I had no idea how to spell KIBOSH. I love that I can learn new words as I solve (ZEITGEISTY, CHESSBOXER, EBOY) and that ukes are made of ACACIA. A perfect Saturday. Well done, gentlemen.

One of the most brilliantly constructed puzzles in recent memory, illustrating a positive and impressive theme. Well done.

You had me at Nikki Giovanni.

Great puzzle and outstanding comments section today. You guys are all hilarious, and well-deserving of the lovely praise bestowed by our own Deb Amlen in the Morning Newsletter from today: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/briefing/new-york-times-games-community.html?fbclid=IwAR3v9IQiU41um9EY1RRcfLh0NzZ-BomJS-zLHT8TlmDc6uTLJ-RxriA9CFM" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/briefing/new-york-times-games-community.html?fbclid=IwAR3v9IQiU41um9EY1RRcfLh0NzZ-BomJS-zLHT8TlmDc6uTLJ-RxriA9CFM</a>

Great Wednesday puzzle, and as the youngest of three sisters, the theme was a home run for me. Shout out to the inclusion of the excellent Crying in H Mart, the 2021 memoir by Michelle Zauner. A heartbreaker of a book and a window into the collective trauma of first generation Korean Americans. Zauner is also the founder and lead singer of Japanese Breakfast, an indie pop band formed in 2013. And if you think they are too obscure, they were nominated for two Grammys and were the musical guest on the SNL finale in 2022. See <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/japanese-breakfast-snl-performance-video-1235074090" target="_blank">https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/japanese-breakfast-snl-performance-video-1235074090</a>/

@deb amlen Thank you for the many years of laughs. Some of my favorites include tales of the extremely spunky terrier, adventures in fermentation, and not letting the accusers bring you down ("It wasn't me", after all!) Enjoy your new adventures and keep us posted on what you're up to. We know it will be a worthwhile read! PS Lovely tribute to you from this puzzle's constructors.

Fresh and fun Saturday, lots to love here. And regarding our esteemed constructor's comment, I still dial a phone, even though that feature disappeared decades ago...

Congratulations to Harrison on a fabulous solo debut! A terrific puzzle with smooth fill and creative theme answers. Well done.

Loved this tricky, tricky puzzle but loved Deb's punful comments even more, including: 'Hence the Wordplay motto: “No solver left behind.”'

For those wrestling with the rebus, see Caitlin's clarifier in today's column: For solving purposes, any one of the following combinations should work for the Φ in the rebus position: PHI, I/O, O/I, IO, OI, PHI/IO, IO/PHI, I or O. I used PHI as a rebus and it worked perfectly. Smooth solve except for CONTES, MUNROE, and SO(PHI)STS, but the crosses were merciful. I can see why it took Mr. Schiff 8 months to complete this tour-de-force with reb(i), grid art, and an unexpected switcheroo! Well done.

Love is lovelier when it fits neatly into these boxes! Thanks for a fantastic Valentine's treat. PS Admire the inclusion of respect as part of the love letters. A key element many of us forget in the height of passion and romance.

Congrats on a fantastic debut! Like others, I am surprised by the number of commenters who are not familiar with the original. On of my all time favorites. NYT puzzles can open you up to new realms, if you are willing...

Thank you for sharing your story, Mr Chalfant. Therapy is indeed a godsend in times of trouble, and I am so glad you found relief. And loved today's puzzle, btw, including the Pixar revealer!

Congrats to Barbara and Lewis on a fun and fresh Saturday. So many great crunchy long entries, it's hard to pick a favorite, but I loved the nefariously clued BENDY STRAW, BONSAI TREE, and NUCLEAR PACT, plus the nod to TITO PUENTE. Well done, you two!

Terrific (if not quite terrifying) Wednesday. Sailed through until I was derailed, like so many others, by the darn SOLAR ECLIPSE. I knew ALM was wrong, but had to walk away and return with fresh eyes to see ATM. Then a couple more tweaks and the happy music played! Thanks for a much needed respite from the insanity of the world right now.

Next level Thursday trickery with the number spelled out as a rebus in the across answer being squared and completing the down entry. Wow. Mind-blowing. Also, thanks so much to the constructor for honoring Maryam Mirzakhani in his comment. A brilliant mind lost to us much too soon.

There was a lot to chew on in this one - never heard of Froffles, but it wasn't hard to guess it indicated frozen waffles, and an excellent bit of trivia that Gmail and Islam have the same approximate number of participants. Congratulations on a smashing success after two decades (!) of trying. Most impressive.

Congrats on an easy-breezy debut! Loved the fresh and fun fill, esp. the "yoohoo" crossing "boohoo" and "voodoo" over those nasty "inner demons". I'm still trying to guess what college our dear constructor is graduating from (there are 3 in the puzzle), but other than that, a quick solve on a snowy Friday.

Came here to complain about THALAMI, but said to meself, "No, BE GENTLE" and I LET IT GO. Tough and mostly amusing Saturday. Thanks for the ride, Mr. Ezersky.

What a fun Tuesday from these sparkling collaborators! TIL what an "ad hominem fallacy" is, and how it's pronounced differently in different parts of the world. Love our global contributors - they bring a fresh perspective and I always learn something.