DYT
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Minnesota
Now THAT'S a theme that's integral to the solving experience! It's also one of those themes that you can't believe someone was able to pull off for the whole puzzle! Also fun! I really enjoyed this one.
I had the whole puzzle otherwise done for about 9 minutes before I corrected "NOT I" to "NOR I." I knew that's where the error almost certainly was, but I just couldn't get past the obvious correctness of "NOT I." Crosswords really force you to confront how easy it is to cling to a mistake, even when you know darn well that it's wrong.
@ER True, but a "Hamlet"-themed puzzle might not be fun for someone who never read a Shakespeare play in their life. In 2026, is that more or less common than never having played a video game?
While everyone notes their fast solving times (sometimes with implied disapproval of the "too easy" Friday crossword), I'm going to mention my streak: 1461, which I believe is exactly four years. (365 x 4 + one Leap Day). And like many commenters, I solved it well below my average Friday time, but I enjoyed it a lot. Nice set of entries!
Started solving from the top down . . . didn't notice anything about a theme. Got to the revealer . . . entered "buries the lede" but didn't get the theme. didn't get it. Finished the puzzle and went back to reread the theme clues and revealer clue . . . Pondered it for another five minutes and finally saw it. If the theme is that divorced from the solve, at least for me, it's essentially a themeless. But I actually liked it -- good entries and clues, smooth flow. I just didn't derive any extra enjoyment from the theme.
Loved the grid and the clues. It went sort of fast for me, but I think that was just luck or being on the same wavelength as the constructor, which is a species of luck. I don't complain when they go fast, and I don't complain when they go slow. This one was lively and fun -- that's all I ask.
Appreciated the wordplay in retrospect -- didn't see it while solving. But as the great-grandchild of Swedish immigrants, I do have to point out that the puzzle omits the best one of all: Swedish rye bread. My mother, an excellent baker, spent much of the 1960's and 1970's trying to match Great Aunt Alice's rye bread (and quietly suspecting that Alice had omitted something important from the recipe she provided). Mom finally got there through considerable trial and error. It's one more thing I really miss about her every Christmas. Anyway, that's why I teared up just a little at the end of this crossword. Miss you, Mom!
Night and day. Night was the first 7-8 minutes, as I gradually filled in a fair amount of the middle and bottom, including the revealer (which initially did nothing for me). Wondering how I was ever going to figure it out. Then I happened to glance at 54 Down and 11 Down in close proximity and "DONOR CARD" just kind of leaped out at me. The lightbulb went on (yes, I am switching metaphors here), and the rest of puzzle practically filled itself in. I liked it. It did feel easy after you got the trick, but pretty tough up until that moment. The suddenness of the switch from Uhhhhh???? to Ahhhh!!! was fun.
Well above my Friday average. I can definitively state that entering -- and keeping for a long time -- SIMMER in stead of SEE RED will really mess up your NW corner. Ouch! For some bizarre reason, I also decided the "red zone" was a basketball term, and then that it was a tricky non-sports reference, with "defense" being something military. GOAL LINE STAND should have been fairly easy, but it was one of my last fill ins. I loved the puzzle, but I really labored over it. Good work out, I guess.
I loved it! Partly because of the rigorous discipline required to make EVERY SINGLE CLUE work. Whenever I see that, I have to tip my hat. But the clincher for me, which admittedly would not do much for the vast majority of solvers, is that I grew up in Moline, Illinois. Great to see the old home town get a shout out, particularly since my primary mementos of it are shirts with the letter "M" on them! It's like when were are watching Jeopardy, and the correct response is either "What is 'Hamlet'?" or "What is 'Raleigh'?" Our two dogs, Hamlet and Raleigh, always watch Jeopardy with us. Take your pleasures where you find them If they are a little goofy, so much the better.
Sometimes the ones that stump me the most annoy me, and sometimes they impress the heck out of me. This was definitely the latter. Almost double my average Friday time, and I enjoyed it enormously. I just hope Saturday isn't this hard, or I'll be at it all night.
Like many commenters, I solved it as a themeless. The animation (on the NYT's own puzzle website version) was slow and glitchy, but did appear. I always have reservations about themes that are completely divorced from the solving experience. I acknowledge the cleverness, and the work required to construct them, but it doesn't do nearly as much for me as a theme that is integral to the solve. So I admire this at some level, but it will never be on my list of favorites.
@aslev Congratulations! Don't believe the people who downplay streaks. They are fun to achieve and maintain, and they reward consistency and discipline. Doing the crossword together with your mom also sounds really fun. (Mine taught me how to cook, appreciate books, treat pets as family, and treat people nicer than they deserved, but crosswording was not her thing!)
It wasn't a near Wednesday for me! I "finished" in about average Thursday time, but then had to spend over four minutes finding mistakes and corrections before it finally clicked. I tried entering the inflated grades as rebuses (A/B, B/C etc.), but of course that didn't work. (I still think maybe it should have.) The Heineken subsidiary was a large time waster, since the vowel (U) necessary for it to cross the Boolean value was a "true" Natick for me. If only I'd been a beer-loving coder! It's never as much fun to wrestle with a puzzle you thought you had finished, but I can't blame this one on the constructors. Now that it's done, I admire the idea and the execution. Nice work!
Excellent puzzle, and memorable to me because my streak just hit 1000. I read the Oresteia trilogy for "Masterpieces of Western Literature," which I took as freshman in 1976. "Omoo" was one we read for a course on Melville and Twain. Neither of those stumped me (and both are much worth reading), but I kept thinking "stressate" was one word, not "stress ate." Very pleasantly surprised to get the happy music on the first try.
@DYT And just to be clear about my own cultural sympathies, I have never played a Mario game, and one of my dogs is named "Hamlet." But I worked my way (slowly) through this puzzle, and I think it's legit, albeit not my cup of tea.
Memory from early in the pandemic: Stuck at home; not enough to do; climbing the walls. So I decided to finally gather up all the pennies (and other loose change) in the house and take it to the bank. The bank lobby wasn't open, but the drive-thru lane was, although they weren't used to processing large amounts of coin there. It came to something over $300. I consider that my official farewell to the penny. Until today! Fun puzzle, and a fitting tribute to a great coin.
As a tea drinker, I found the proposed mix of Pekoe, peach, and Assam as horrifying as the puzzle was fun. Definitely both not my cup of tea and my cup of tea.
Deb-- Very sorry to hear about the loss of your father. My Dad passed on last June at age 96. He wasn't a crossword solver, but he loved puns, and the staff in his Memory Care unit all noticed the twinkle in his eye when he invariably corrected their grammar. I think the last time he reminded me to say "Mary and me," not "Mary and I," was Christmas 2023, when he was 95. On the other hand, my six year-old granddaughter now eagerly watches and occasionally helps me solve the crossword, Wordle, and other games when we are together. I enjoy the thought of her solving on into the 22nd century. Please make sure the NYT puzzles are still good then.
Loved it! My solve started fast, slowed way down, then sped back up, finishing just barely below my average time. But the creativity was the main thing. As soon as I saw the clue for 17 Across, I started wondering, "How daring will this get?" Just the right amount, was of course the answer. Also loved "etch" crossing "itch."
Another Themeless Thursday. I finished the puzzle (faster than average time) and stared at it, and eventually saw that Ts would make the lines with starred entries correct. Didn't even notice the actual Ts above the black squares until I came here, which makes me feel pretty dumb, since that's exactly where the revealer says they are. Impressive construction, but I never saw it until after filling everything in.
@Beth Town and Gown can refer to the local permanent residents and the students in a university town. It can suggest a rivalry or hostility between those two groups. New Haven residents and Yale students would be an example.
Themeless Thursday for me. Solved it. Stared at it. Got mad at myself for STILL not getting the theme. And then came here to read about it. Any further comment I would make would be unfair to the constructor. It's not his fault I couldn't see his theme.
@Bruce Lecture appreciated. If people my age need to learn and remember relatively well-known rap artists, then younger folks can keep Eudora Welty handy. She is not obscure at all. Also, TGel is a good shampoo. I used to use it a lot, so neither of these entries was remotely Natick-y for me.
@GaryR My wife (raised in Massachusetts) and I (from the same Midwest as you, with the same ear) have been having this argument our whole married life, meaning 43+ years. Our most frequent iteration of it rhymes with Barry-bury-berry. We do Mary-marry-merry. I say homophones!
Quick comment on the Wordplay column's reference to the old Minneapolis Lakers (which has nothing directly to do with the puzzle). There are definitely still some who remember the Lakers as a local team. They were the first NBA dynasty, winning multiple titles in the 40's and 50's. When I moved to Minnesota in 1983, the team was of course long gone, but you would still occasionally see George Mikan, their greatest star, walking through the downtown skyways in Minneapolis. Nothing to do with today's Crossword (which I greatly enjoyed, by the way), but a good memory.
@Ryan Knowledge of various Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet, is frequently helpful in the Crossword, including at least one answer from the Saturday puzzle this week.
@Will R From memory: "I've been Ayn Randed, nearly branded a Communist because I'm left-handed. That's the hand to use, well, never mind." I'm young enough that my Mom, a huge S&G fan, had to explain "left-handed" to me. It's also how I learned to pronounce Ayn Rand's name.
@SP Thanks for asking! I appreciate your "likes" as well, although I don't necessarily need to be pushed "to the very edge of my competence or a bit beyond." That's for Saturday, occasional Thursdays and Sundays and maybe a Friday now and then. The rest of the week I have a great time without too much pushing. But I want to defend the enjoyment I also derive from items on your "don't care" list: The point of a streak for me is self-discipline. I like to feel capable of organizing my life well enough to find time for the crossword every day and to stick with it until it's solved. I take satisfaction from that. (And just because no one else should -- or does -- care what my streak is: 1592 days.) I like to go fast, because I like to know that I can still do the puzzles as fast (and sometimes faster) than I did them a year ago, or five years ago, or ten years ago. My averages don't change much these days, but that means they aren't going up either. And I absolutely enjoy an ego boost. Who doesn't? I took on a tricky little puzzle that teased and stretched my brain a bit, and I solved it. Yea for me!!! Yes, in a few minutes I'll go back to stewing about the midterms or inflation or Raleigh's recovery from back surgery (he's one of our dogs). But right now, my ego has been mildly boosted. That's my take on it.
I'm with Dan on this one, NOT Dave and Andy. A bit of a struggle from start to finish. Never felt like I was on the constructor's wavelength. Nothing wrong with the puzzle -- I thought it was a tight, well-executed theme. But it was comparatively tough for me.
Double my average time, but I can't complain about any of the answers. I thought they were all legit; just hard! I do think this would have been a worthy Saturday (and my time would have been slower than my Saturday average too). Nice construction!
@Steven M. The bridge grand slam requires, first, that a player contract to take all 13 tricks and, second, successfully do so. If you contract to take 12 tricks and wind up taking all 13, for example, that is merely a small slam with an overtrick. You get a lot more points for a grand slam, but they are rarely bid, because it is seldom that you are confident about being able to take all 13 tricks, and making a small slam (with or without an overtrick) still scores very well.
I enjoyed it! Never thought I would be the first to comment, though.
@B You might want to look into The Miracle of the Marne, which some historians have called the most important land battle of the 20th Century. Then next time you're visiting the military museum at Les Invalides, you'll know why there a Renault taxi cab among the exhibits!
More than double my average Friday time, but no complaints! This was outstanding. Every nasty clue that I misinterpreted initially (an embarrassingly large number) turned out to be fair and gettable. Also, my very partial and lame excuse is that I was trying to watch the Bears-Patriots game while solving. That does slow you down. But sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the constructor. Awesome puzzle!
@GuyAy In crosswords, Chicago's public transportation system is always elevated trains, or "els." They actually have subways and street-level trains too, but in the crossword, just els.
@Steven M. I thought the exact same thing, while solving. I saw "PST" and refused to enter it for a long time for the reason you cite.
@Steve L That's why I never thought I'd be first!
@Rich Furman I came here to make the same complaint. Also, the Mississippi as a border between Minnesota and Wisconsin is much longer than between Iowa and Wisconsin. Having lived nearly all my life along the river (in Illinois and Missouri before the last 42 years in Minnesota), I definitely think of the Mississippi as a river bordering Minnesota and Wisconsin.
@Steve L But Frodo is not the ringmaster. That's his salvation. The Ring has only one master!
@Paul Congrats, Paul! As always, I'm 121 behind you on the streak.
@coloradoz I saw complaints elsewhere in the comments about the obscurity of Al Oerter, and I guess it's been a while, but he had a truly remarkable Olympic career - 4 gold medals in four separate Olympics, and in an era when track and field careers tended to be pretty short. I also appreciated the Drake Relays reference. I grew up in Moline, Illinois in the 1960's, and the Des Moines Register was our Sunday paper. The coverage of the Drake Relays (in, of course, the peach-colored Sports pages the Register ran on Sundays) was wall-to-wall.
@Liz I have a grand-daughter who is fanatical about Peppa, but the key was that I already had _EPP_ by the time I read the clue.
@Marshall Walthew Marshall=-- I would say exactly the same about my solving experience, except I would fill in the parenthetical with a different law school alma mater (30-across instead of 37-down), handily cross-referenced in the puzzle.
@Beejay Actually, our high school teams were (and are) the Moline Maroons, so they fit the theme as well!
I liked the puzzle, especially the wording on some of the trickier clues. For whatever reason, my guesses were lucky tonight, and I solved it fairly quickly for a Thursday. Then, I went back to find the theme. It didn't take too long once I was no longer trying to solve it. Also, does anyone know if 30A is a first time usage in the crossword? I don't object, but it does feel like the line is being pushed out a bit further. It works for me.
I've finished the puzzle and gotten the original acknowledgement, but now it says I'm not done. Is anyone else getting anything similar? I have kind of a long streak going and would prefer not to lose it on an NYT technical glitch.
@Steve L I'm just over 6 years behind you (1174) and very impressed. If I hadn't (a) failed to see how to fill in the answers on a non-standard puzzle, and (b) just plain forgotten to do it one day while I was still working, I could be at about 2700 by now. Hang in there and nail 10 years as an early Christmas present for yourself.
I'm not sure what the rules were for entering the rebus and being recognized as having completed the puzzle. I went through the first time just entering one letter in the box and omitting the other. (I knew what both letters were, but only entered one of them.) When that didn't work, I started entering both letters as a rebus. I did that for 3 or 4 of the rebus squares (so less than half of them), at which point the puzzle was completed and the remaining rebuses (rebi?) filled in themselves. I knew what the words were, but not what the rules were. A little bit too frustrating to love, although I admire the constructing skill required.