Phil C.
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Mich
Here for the GOHAM/ESME drama
Unusual to have a themeless for Sunday, but a fun challenge. Anyone else think the face looks like the rabbit from Trix?
@Andrew Oh, I didn't catch there were no other U's. Very clever.
@Lewis At least an honorable mention for "Higher in rank?" SMELLIER
@Dan Easy to remember because it's right next to the "horse."
@abelsey Also a PB for me (1st time sub-20 min) MEEP-MEEP!!!
@Francis I think the clue was referring to the non-government meaning of "congress," but it works both ways.
@Laura Agree. This was on the easier side for me (and a Wednesday PB), but I suspect it's because I picked up on the theme immediately and was able to fill in the theme answers without crossings. But that didn't make it any less enjoyable. I am confused by the folks that come here to complain.
@SP As someone with two boys now in their 20's, I heard "Boom, Roasted" all the time! So fun to see it in the puzzle.
@AGW I knew almost none of the proper nouns this week, but was able to get enough of each with the crosses to work them out.
@K Barrett For some reason the name VaGODA sounded right, but was Naticked with aMPEI. A little odd for a Monday.
@CalGal Click on the finished puzzle, then the "info" icon. Then the link to the blog will go to that puzzle. Works for any puzzle that way (since the daily blog became a thing)
What a fun puzzle. A bit intimidating at first, but the long fills fell into place once I got just a few crossings. Even after losing a minute or so at the end with ABBR?/ETE?, I finished at less than half my Saturday average and a personal best of 16:53. Favorite clues were 1D & 26D (Styles of singing).
@Gilead Kutnick I was really into books on CD for a while in the late 2000's when I had a 1 hour commute to work each way. I would get them from the library. I "read" many of the classics during that time (Don Quixote, Moby Dick, Catch-22). Not uncommon for them to come in sets of 15 or more CDs. Good times.
@Mark Right there with you. I got NO TRUE SCOTSMAN immediately from the clue with no crossings.
This one took me a first pass with almost no fills, a few hours of sleep, and then a 30-minute slog. I ended with an INEs / sTI?E / ?AC Natick that I couldn't break without peeking at Wordplay. One of the more challenging puzzles of late for sure, but I enjoyed it in the end. I'm a relatively new crossword solver, so I appreciated the lack of crossword-ese that usually trips me up on Saturdays.
Fun puzzle that flowed pretty well once I figured out the theme. Thursday PB for me!
I like how he snuck in NYX as well (which was hinted at in the puzzle title), as well as other -AY sound answers (ARE YOU OK, NAYs, UVA, TYPE As, RDAs, CROCHET).
Fun puzzle, just a few seconds slower than my Tuesday personal best.
@Steven M. I suspect the dividing line on knowledge from the original NES games is around 55 years old (I'm 51). I sympathize with those that are older, since those 2 would be hard to get without direct knowledge of the games.
Fun puzzle. Was cruising along until that bottom left. Still about half my normal Saturday time.
Fun theme. Was able to get several of the spanners with no crossings, but the last 25% of the fill was a slog for me. More trivia than I would prefer, but I learned many new things: MEIR, ALUI, CAL, IN A TRICE, GARROTE, TONEARMS, OBIS, SCHIRRA, HALAS, AMBIT, ASWAN, RECTO we're all new to me and took almost all the crossings to get.
@Erk Insert BOOMer joke here.
So cool to see Amon-Ra St. Brown get his NYT debut, not too long after Dan Campbell. Keep 'em coming.
@Bill in Yokohama Yep, a typical modern car has about ten antennas, and none of them are rods.
@Max Abbreviation for "companies", indicating that the answer itself is an abbreviation (ISP = internet service provider)
Very excited to see Dan Campbell in a NYT puzzle. That is all.
Loved this puzzle! Got stuck at the end for quite a while with DIETpoP, SOLo, and FALSECUp.
@Steve L I got my complexes confused and started with OEDIPUSCOMPLEX, but was able to sort it out.
@Wayne C Coupe vs sedan is typically used to denote 2 vs 4 doors, while "sports car" can apply to either. I.E. a Corvette is a sports coupe and a Dodge Charger is a sports sedan. Agree that it's not the best way to describe a Corvette.
@Vaer Agree, many better options to clue him, which now also includes The Naked Gun. <a href="https://youtu.be/_8-N8IIq_8I" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/_8-N8IIq_8I</a>
@Grumpy TIL that you weren't supposed to duplicate individual words (that are part of longer answers) in a crossword grid
@Beth Having millennial kids helps!
@Sam Lyons I parsed 4D as TRUTH IS, but your way works, too.
@Steven M. If only there was some other Tuesday-appropriate way to clue ELON.
@sonnel Same Natick for me. Did a vowel run for the gold star.
@Jeff G Enter the answers such that the down answers are correct.
Fun puzzle. Can someone parse 22D? CEES for [Pair of accessories?]
@Justin Agree. In my experience, theatre kids are the least clique-y of high schoolers.
@Fact Boy You might say, what's thine is yours.
Fun puzzle and a Friday PB. Felt like I was able to get most of long entries with just a few crossings.
@Lorne Eckersley Same. I confidently entered 35A as "FLIGHT SIMULATOR" which seemed to fit perfectly with the clue, spacing and illustration. Still a super fun puzzle.
@Steven M. Same here. Except halftime of the Lions game! 🦁
@Marno Ha! I'm lactose intolerant and would buy Et Tu Milk over A2 Milk any day.
"I can make mine say OBOESHOES"
I'm a huge escape room fan and loved the theme and extra steps at the end. Also got a Sunday PB breaking the 20 min barrier. (Almost as fast as my quickest escape room exit!)
These non-English language clues always trip me up. I usually just have to get all the other crossings and hope for the best, but this time in the NW I had 1A StArT crossing with 4D rUB, which both seemed like solid answer, but I guess tHER is not a French word. Sad ending for me to a great puzzle.
@Dc 3:53 for me. PB and first time to break the 4 minute mark. The theme definitely helped.
@Justin As I understand it, very short comments will often get held up in the NYT approval process, so many commenters will pad their comments with extra lines and an emu reference. Some inside joke I was not around for. For what it's worth, the only comments I've ever had delayed were very short ones. Emu just in case
@Jim "VINY" is as good a term as any. I'm going to start using it right now. 3-Down today was a real VINY.