RIch Garella
Philadelphia
94
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0.095
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48
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Philadelphia
@Ιασων The clue said “veggie,” not “vegetable.” Therefore CUKE, not “cucumber.“ Many crossword answers are not found in the dictionary. Totally fair cluing.
I too immediately filled 33A with ELOPE. But soon realized it made 10D into something … unlikely to say the least.
I am quite certain that the clue for 114D is incorrect. Should it not be “formerly concerned”?
Not more than half an hour before I ventured into this puzzle, in the course of burrowing down some Internet rabbit hole, did I happen to read the Wikipedia entry on former Rep Katie Porter. Why am I telling you this? It happens that she attended Grace Hopper College (formerly Calhoun College, after John C. Calhoun, an ardent defender of slavery) at Yale University. That rabbit hole paid off.
I came here for what I knew would be a long and detailed discussion. But I’m surprised, nay, disappointed that I seem to be the first to point out the en dash is no mere elongated hyphen, but rather a proud and independent mark of punctuation with its own purpose, character, and story to tell. It is no more an elongated hyphen than it is an elevated underscore, a vertically challenged bullet, or a pivoted, abbreviated virgule. Have some respect!
This puzzle should’ve been published in March. It came in like a lion and went out like a lamb, even if that lamb gave a couple of sharp kicks on its way. I’ve come to think of it as a good quality when a puzzle seems as if it will be the one to defeat me, and then everything falls into place. For me at least, a great puzzle has clueing that demands a balance of logic and knowledge. It forces you to rely on the crosses, which is what makes it a crossword and not a trivia test. Yes, it was easier than Fridays (I finished in less than half my Saturday average), but I’m not complaining. Great puzzle!
For the second time in a fortnight, asps are unfairly maligned! Called “vile” (see June 2) and now described as “nasties.” First they came for the asps, and I did not speak out—because I was not an asp…
@Ken W. I filled in MEARA pretty early. But misread the clue, looking for the other half of the comedy duo (instead of the first name of the same half). Stiller just wouldn’t wedge in there. TENREC is what made me realize my mistake.
@AL: Barry offered some facts and asked a reasonable question. I didn’t see any hostility.
@Hi hi I’m thinking that colloquially it’s called Baja … Baja, Mexico. It works with a comma.
Tough but fair puzzle. Happy new year everyone! Buckle up, this is going to be a rough one.
@Tom S. — Arepas may be the most famously typical Colombian food. There are plenty of restaurants around in the US that advertise arepas prominently in their signage. I thought it was fair.
Beautifully constructed puzzle that somehow turned out to be my Sunday PB. I’m no salad expert, nor any kind of chef, but the ingredients fell right into place. Could have been a Philly thing, or a fill-y thing, or both.
@Spmm I am still bitter about Spelling Bee rejecting “vomitoria” months ago. And I’m going to stay bitter. Until the end, I suppose.
@Shrike I came here for this. Finally I think I spotted a genuine, indisputable cluing error. (Looking forward to the disputes.)
@J Walker If a TV SET somewhere can be said to be hanging on a wall, well, that’s good enough in a Saturday puzzle. (I got it…but only thanks to crosses.)
I have no complaints about the puzzle itself. Nicely designed, with some clever and entertaining clueing. But I solved it in 1/3 of my Saturday average, so for me it fell almost exactly halfway between a Tuesday and a Wednesday puzzle. As others have pointed out, it seems the NYT is greatly reducing the barrier to entry. But it will pay the price in loss of loyalty. There’s a reason that top ski areas include black diamond runs, even though many of their customers will never master them.
This has to be it. Kudos to the editors or (tech team?) for this attention to detail! btw, as pointless as a 'gender reveal' is, a gender reveal that isn't a reveal is even more pointless. I mean, just don't have one. What a self-indulgent, desperately attention-seeking society we've created. There, I yelled at a cloud. Almost done for the day!
Crossword solver’s snacks in Ancient Rome: TAMALAE
Props for “Subjects of some European fishing bans”! The NYT puzzle may have nearly completed a complete catalogue of human knowledge about EELS. But I am always hoping for more.
@Kate J Or Lakenvelders, which is Dutch for Oreo cow, and also how I will refer to the cookies from now on.
@Mr Dave Well, you might… <a href="https://www.napaonline.com/accessories/smittybilt-vaulted-glove-box/2b0be5c2" target="_blank">https://www.napaonline.com/accessories/smittybilt-vaulted-glove-box/2b0be5c2</a>
So far, it looks like an unusually big divide between those who found this unusually hard and those who found it unusually easy. I was so on the constructor’s wavelength I felt like I had become psychic. Just over half my Saturday average, and less than half the time yesterday‘s puzzle took me. Nicely clued.
@Phil B Erelong = before long ANON = soon
I was on pace until I went SPLAT in the SE corner. I was ALL IN on JERSEY SnaPS, not on the FENCE. Just couldn’t UNSEE it! Excellent puzzle — though I remain baffled by 48D (PROM).
These tree uprooting machines (“tree spades”) are typically used for relocating entire trees rather than for removing stumps. <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/lists/7-mighty-machines-for-moving-trees-without-killing-them" target="_blank">https://interestingengineering.com/lists/7-mighty-machines-for-moving-trees-without-killing-them</a> You can find some amazing videos of the largest such machines in action.
Hayley Mills in the original Parent Trap — my first crush, when a crush was just a mysterious fascination.
Anybody else prematurely congratulate themself after filling 97A with CHRISTMASCARDS? A perfect fit, and the cross with 85D FRIDA confirmed it for me. Woulda been a PB, I’m pretty sure!
For 31A I stuck with SiGuRRos for way too long out of pure misplaced pride. Such a nice fit. But maybe they were more in the 2000s rather than the 1990s. And likely didn’t have songs with those same names.
@Chris @MB et al The problem is there’s no standard way to measure coastlines. The measured length varies according to the level of detail used in measuring. Maine, with its “jagged” coast, can beat Florida, with its relatively “smooth“ coast, if the units of measurement are small enough, but comes up short if they are big enough. I’m guessing Alaska has to be number one in any case, but number two probably can’t be known in any absolute sense. For more, see <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox</a>
@Nick I’d never heard of it — but if it was rap and it was a hit in 2022, then surely it was a 2022 rap hit.
@DocP and @CB Right there with you. Dec 15, 2024, a dark day indeed. Or a blue day anyway.
@Elaine Wilson - I had that problem, and eventually had to give up and reveal. The issue was not filling in the rebuses wrong as I suspected (well, hoped). I had PLaT crossing CHaPIN. I mean, Harry could have titled one of his songs that way. Or am I a Φlistine?
@Joe What? Certainly there a downside. They take up a small amount of space, each one having a small chance of pushing a word to the next line, sometimes pushing the line to the next page, occasionally forcing the addition of an extra page. Yes, it is rare, but consider the vastness of millions and billions of books and magazines, brochures, pamphlets, and instruction manuals. Not to mention, in this modern age, countless electronic publications using incrementally more bits and bytes. Like so many ticks, these tiny but voracious parasites drain away our precious and limited resources, even if imperceptibly. We may never know how much they have weakened us, how badly they have enfeebled our already weary and wounded world.
@Tim I don’t understand your complaint. The first clue given is for the entire trick answer. So ORC on its own doesn’t make sense. This helps us find where the trick is and figure it out. If ORC on its own made sense, there wouldn’t really be a trick at all.
This one seemed really tough. But somehow I beat my Saturday average by 20%. Therefore, I deem it a great puzzle.
@SP This is not a suitable forum for our hate. Sorry to disappoint.
I’m done and only four comments are in! A record for me!
@Arcturus The Green Bay Packers team has an owner: Green Bay Packers, Inc., a nonprofit publicly held corporation with more than 500,000 shareholders. See <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers,_Inc" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers,_Inc</a>.
@Andrzej My theory (made with no look-ups) is that concession in English means exactly the same thing as its Polish equivalent. Something is conceded: the right to operate a business in a specified context. So one would find “concession stands” in, say, a baseball stadium. And if it’s a concession stand, then surely whatever it is selling must be “concessions.” I did say no look-ups!
@Alexis I think it is because “blade“ is, as you say, “literally what rowers call the oars,” whereas most people would say the blade is just the end that goes in the water, not the whole oar. It’s the calling part that calls for the quotation marks — though I’m guessing they might have been omitted had this been a Friday or Saturday puzzle.
Deliciously difficult Friday. For me, the northwest was by far the hardest part and accounted for most of my 40% longer-than-average time. Probably because I outsmarted myself putting GREGG for “old hand at shorthand,” remembering a little book called Gregg Shorthand that was on the shelf in my childhood home. And even then, it was an old book.
@i w Didn’t you come here for a puzzle?
And earlier today I actually uttered the word INSPO, in an otherwise normal conversation, for what I’m pretty sure was the first and only time in my life. I felt a twinge of shame.
I shall refrain from complaining about the unfortunate perpetuation of “bold” as a face type for lies. However, I will question the superfluous “(male or female)” in the clue for 21A. The implication seems to be that we might forget that sprinters come in both varieties. Or is it meant to help us exclude sprinters named Szewinska who identify as other than male or female? None come to mind — but I don’t follow the sport closely, so maybe it’s just me. Aside from that one little nit, a very nicely clued puzzle indeed.
@Scott The owner is Green Bay Packers, Inc.
@Rosyglasses Are you suggesting that a TV network can be “deadnamed“?
The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
@Andrzej It was originally “organization chart” but “org chart” is so dominant and so widespread as to no longer be considered an abbreviation.
@Victoria — The question mark does not indicate that a clue is part of the theme trick. It just means you have to interpret the clue/answer in an unexpected way. Usually it's a play on words.