Paul
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Sydney
I thought this was a great debut puzzle! I don't know much about American football (I prefer Australian Rules football), but getting the revealer in the bottom line definitely helped see what was going on with the shaded letters. Oh, and my streak hit 1000 today! :) (Under my average Thursday time too)
Nice puzzle, but 46D?? Could the constructor not choose an American family for this clue? Shouldn't the answer be STEPMUM, not MOM, for a British family?
Love to see RUN-DMC and De La Soul in today's puzzle...although both are now sadly duos. RIP Jam Master Jay and Trugoy.
I really liked the concept of this puzzle, but unfortunately the execution made it more complicated than it needed to be. What a mess.
@Juanita I thought COTT on C and Y was well constructed, to insert it three times within the puzzle.
Nice puzzle, but perhaps 39D could've included "...in dated Australian slang". <a href="https://www.suebutler.com.au/blog/2019/8/20/sheila" target="_blank">https://www.suebutler.com.au/blog/2019/8/20/sheila</a>
Very tricky one for international solvers. I'm not complaining, as I enjoy the challenge and learning about other cultures, but it was definitely over my Wednesday average.
@mnemonica Hahaha, that was my first thought too. I'm sure it was constructed well before any mention of changing it, but I'm glad they kept it in!
@RS I think in this instance "Sour fruits" would suggest multiple varieties of different fruits, not multiples of a single variety. A bag of fruit (singular) still implies multiple items in the bag.
Not my best (Thursday) time, but I did complete it in 13:42, which is kind of an anagram of 3.142, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I thought this was a great Thursday puzzle, despite other comments here. I love going in cold and "discovering" the theme myself, and was pleasantly surprised when I figured out MCCARTNEY. The rest of the *lues fell into place after that.
Great puzzle, even if was a bit quick - less than half my Thursday average, but a minute off my PB. It took a few crosses to see that 18A and 25A couldn't be anything else, which made me look back at the _italicised_ clues. Even though I'm Australian, the state codes and landmarks were very accessible and satisfying to complete. Well done to the constructors Aidan and Jacob.
@Joseph C It's a very common phrase in Australia, and in true Aussie fashion, it has been shortened to 'chockers'. e.g. "I tried doing my Christmas shopping, but the place was chockers"
I liked this one...and luckily no mention of Raygun!
A nice and easy Monday puzzle to start the work week, and like a few commenters here, a PB for me too! (less than half my Monday average).
@Annie Congratulations on your streak! What a fantastic achievement and dedication to complete with no errors every day! I reached 1000 yesterday too :)
@sotto voce Even though it starts and ends with an A, Australia is pronounced, 'Straya :)
Nice quick Friday to end the work week, for those *not* in the US. Hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving.
Very well constructed puzzle, but a bit difficult for this non-musical Aussie; Presidential pets, Midwestern Universities, brand name drugs, Texas cities, etc...all things that probably are easy for most Americans, but may not be well known outside of the US.
Congratulations on your debut Sam Berriman! Great to see an Aussie constructor here and you’ve inspired me to keep working on something worthy of submitting to the NYT.
Nice puzzle and well timed, based on the comments of those in the Northern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, I'm freezing my arse off, Down Under...so to speak.
Nice. Pretty easy concept to pick up (so to speak), if you go in cold.
I really enjoyed this puzzle! I always go in cold and try to discover the theme by myself and in this case, COURTsIDEsEATS was the clue that revealed if for me. The others came pretty quickly after that and I managed to complete it a few minutes under my Thursday average time :) Well done Dan Caprera on perfectly combining Cluedo into a crossword.
When I saw the reveal for SPEECHTOTEXT, I was trying to work out what the answers meant, not the clues. 🤦🏽♂️ EYEFUL TOWER PART E SUB CLOW DISGUISE BUTTDIAL made me look back at the clues, and not the answers. 🤣
@Sean <a href="https://dictionary.com/e/slang/bold-faced-lie" target="_blank">https://dictionary.com/e/slang/bold-faced-lie</a>/ Origin of bold-faced First recorded in 1585–95 Origin of bald-faced First recorded in 1640–50
CUZ? Can someone please explain for this Australian? CUZ means your cousin here.
I really like Thursday puzzles, and don't mind a well used rebus too. The only critique I have with today's puzzle is that it was over too quickly! 27 seconds off a PB and well under half my Thursday average :)
Nice one today. Once I understood the theme, it was a pretty quick solve. Half my average Thursday time. :)
@Seth Indeed. Straight from the manufacturers mouth: <a href="https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html" target="_blank">https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html</a>
As a sneakerhead, it was good to see the GOAT, Michael JORDAN in the crossword today. Fun fact: When Nike made the first Air Jordan sneaker, they hoped to make $3M in the first three years...today, they make that every 5 hours.
@Marcia Fidler I'm sorry to hear you are dealing with a spouse with severe dementia. I'm having the exact same problem today. I have checked every single answer multiple times, and cannot find any incorrect cells. I'm hesitant to hit "reveal" as I'm on an 1186 day streak.
Great to see INXS in there today, as yesterday (Saturday in Australia), their song Never Tear Us Apart was voted in at #1 in the Hottest Australian Songs of all time. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-26/inxs-never-tear-us-apart-hottest-100-australian-songs-all-time/105576582" target="_blank">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-26/inxs-never-tear-us-apart-hottest-100-australian-songs-all-time/105576582</a> The song is the unofficial anthem for my Australian Rules football team Port Adelaide, so it was a pity it couldn't help them defeat crosstown rivals Adelaide in the Showdown last night. A huge 133-35 loss :'( Some background on the "World's Greatest Music Democracy": <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/triple-j-new-hottest-100-australian-songs-poll-1236000674" target="_blank">https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/triple-j-new-hottest-100-australian-songs-poll-1236000674</a>/
@Eric Hougland same. Well above my Friday average, but nonetheless a fun puzzle.
Nice and easy one for a Friday and a PB to boot! Under 10 minutes (and under half my Friday average), but it would be nice to see what my previous PB was, as I didn't check it before starting today. Anyway, have a great weekend all!
@Dave S I was certain I had JODHPURS spelled incorrectly. I have never heard of the word before, nor seen it written down.
In the column, Deb says a SLAM DUNK CONTEST is “in which basketball players compete to see who can jam the ball into the basket within certain time constraints.” The contest is less about the time constraints and more about being awarded points based on style, uniqueness and difficulty of the competitors dunks.
@Steve L It was a fantastic clue, that took me way longer than it should've to understand. In Australia we call 'tags', number plates, and obviously we don't have a state code that is also a shortening of IDentification. Great misdirection, especially for international solvers.
@Mike Would Kiwis get the pun? It sounds perfectly normal in NZ English.
Cute theme, but pretty easy for a Thursday. Not a PB, but well under my average.
@Aaron Teasdale They _could be_ crossword solvers, but I am uncertain. Based on this forum, I am _certain_ that they ARE crossword solvers.
@Anushka It's WAS H/D AY, to work with 59A H-UMPTY/D-UMPTY.
I liked the puzzle, but was it Thursday level? My average is around 20 minutes, yet today's puzzle was over in a new PB of 6'25". Meanwhile, the US DST change means we get the puzzles an hour earlier in AEDT (1pm, day of), and another hour earlier when we finish DST in a few weeks (12pm), so I guess I'll have to take my lunch break earlier. :)
@Dave S Exactly the same for me! I was looking to extract AB letters from the answers, not the clues.
@Pani Korunova it appears that the phrase was well known prior to Twain. <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/28/golf-good-walk" target="_blank">https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/28/golf-good-walk</a>/
@RP I agree. I moved to Sydney over 20 years ago from Adelaide (via Melbourne for two years) and I’ve never heard anyone use GDAY MATES in a metro area. Maybe it’s a country thing…”Gladstone greeting”, perhaps?
@Steve L Spoiler alert! I will be watching the NYK v BOS game later on League Pass here in Sydney, AU, and am hoping the Knicks can beat the Celtics. Hopefully you get power back soon.
Loved the themed answers, but wasn’t crazy about a lot of the fill. I picked up on the theme on the first entry with GRAND Puba / GRAND Daddy IU and thought it was a great feat to split the last word of the themed answers into two evenly split words. Well done Mr. Chalfin.
I liked the puzzle, but I didn't like how quickly it was over :'( New PB, at almost a third of my Friday average.
@Patrick It was 1999, wasn't it??