The Whip
South Jersey
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South Jersey
Am I noticing correctly that this is the first daily puzzle edited by Joel Fagliano, not Will? Many of us have heard that Will has been recovering from an illness, but this is a first. Two things: 1) @Will: your legion of fans are pulling for your speedy recovery; 2) @Joel: Congrats and thanks for holding the editorial banner high!
Like so much else in today's NYT, I just wanted this puzzle to be over.
Wonderful to see Will back in the saddle, but let's not forget that the entire team of editors, from Joel to the many others, were groomed and trained by Will over multiple years. So in a way, he never left. Kudos to the ENTIRE puzzle team, and welcome back, Will.
I'll take Adrian's smooth themeless flow over last Sunday's tortured Art Heist anytime. Today's really did flow nicely, with no obscure names, gluey bits, or cutesy clues. I accept the occasional "easy" puzzle as one of those gifts like a work meeting ending 30 minutes early: you finish fast and get a half hour back. When you're my age, you take it.
Today my NYTXW streak reached 3,650. Not exactly a celestial decade — leap years would like a word — but close enough for a milestone. Ten years of quiet mornings, clever misdirections, tiny triumphs, daily digital gold stars, and the ritual of filling a blank grid only to do it all over again the next day. My deepest thanks to Will and his amazing editorial team, the hundreds of constructors, and the oft-unsung tech team that keeps the app from exploding whenever a constructor decides the grid should resemble a flamingo performing modern dance. Crosswords are a daily reminder that persistence pays off. Onward to 3,651!
My NY's NYTXW Resolution: If I don't quite get the theme during my solve (like today's), don't get mad at the puzzle; use it as an opportunity to expand and learn a little something (which I did). Here's to a great coming year of solving!
Right on TARGET!
I suppose pencil sharpeners are still around—for old people like me. A funny pencil story: I was at a sushi restaurant recently where they hand out little ordering pads and pencils so you can write down what you want. In the next booth, a boy of about five had been put in charge of the order, and he was taking the responsibility very seriously. Someone decided they wanted one more piece of ahi tuna, but the boy had already written “1.” His eyes started to fill with tears. His dad said, “Don’t worry—just erase the 1 and write a 2.” The boy stared at him. “Huh? How do I do that?” “With the other end of the pencil,” his dad said. “Look.” The boy watched, completely mesmerized, as the mark disappeared. Then he brushed away the little rubber crumbs and whispered, “Whoa. Cool.” I only wish I could have seen his face the first time he met a pencil sharpener.
Who else for 10A started by slapping in USSR? That's why I love crosswords--they make you stop and think, even on a Tuesday!
Some may say too easy. I say with all that's going on in the rest of the NYT, I welcome the smooth sailing of this friction-free solve from Rich and Jeff!
@BD Congrats, BD, and just remember crossword streaks are easy: they are simply solving one day at a time. Today happens to be my 66th birthday and my streak is 3191. I second your thanks to the NYTXW team, creators and community. Back at it tomorrow, BD and friends--a day at a time!
Come for the smooth fill. Stay for the clever clueing! Pure R&R!
great puzzle, Daniel--you rocked it, man!
@HeathieJ Touché. We NYT puzzle people are an impossible group of cats to herd. I went to the Met Opera a couple of weeks back and, before the lights went down, I saw the person in front of me toiling away on the Spelling Bee. I chatted her up, having gotten to Genius myself not an hour before, and within about a minute we were disagreeing on whether to use the same starter word every day, or try a new one each day (I am in the latter group). As the curtain rose, all I could do was marvel at the diversity of opinions, styles, and approaches found in the NYT puzzle community!
With the midterms putting my brain through the wringer, this lighter Saturday puzzle was a welcome reprieve. Enough mental gymnastics to earn my vote, with the fun factor winning by a landslide!
@Julia I'm at 3,060 and couldn't agree more!
so yes, that's... TO GET HER.
@Evan Very cool! Today's was 3487 for me, but lest it sound like a gloat, as you know it's just a number that translates to "a day at a time." In contrast, I was not a fan of yesterday's, but found today's an absolute delight, with a ton of mini-AHA moments and gentle misdirects. Great advice, Evan!
For anyone who thinks the Apple assistant is a Digital know-it-all, just google "Larry David Siri scene." Sticking my neck out here, but what a fun puzzle!
The Mittens clue was a great diversion. Felt like the constructor was pawing with me!
@Andrzej Put it this way: my first answer, having only the first and last letters, was CARKEY. Having spent many winters in Minnesota, I've done my share of fumbling with car keys while wearing mittens!
TWO rapper clues in the same puzzle is at least one too many.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT... Super smooth and fun puzzle, despite the DIRTBAGs SICKOs, SOBs, RATs, STDS, and other things that make you say EWW. On the other hand, OREO PIE balances it all out! Nice one, Jack!
@Nancy Yes of course! Our convo started with SB but migrated to Wordle. My theory (unproven) is that in the pre-Times Wordle, the daily word was auto-chosen from a full list of 5-letter words (thereby making the daily word selection completely random), but that since the NYT acquired it, there is an editorial hand in selecting "choice" words to challenge players. By going from random to curated word selection, it reduces the odds of success for users of seed words comprised of the most common letters (ADIEU, etc.), and improves the odds for those of us who include less-common letters in our seed word. Just a theory!
A real PITA--as it were.
@BR Sounds like a perfect Metropolitan Diary moment! It makes me think: the NEWS section of the paper divides us; the GAMES section brings us together.
@Geoff Offermann What a fantastic feat--congrats!! I am nowhere near that number of historical puzzles solved, though I do love diving into the archive and, depending on my degree-of-difficulty mood, picking a "day" and clicking in. And there is nothing more delicious than discovering an old Patrick Berry or Merl Reagle or Robyn Weintraub that I haven't done. It's like a Wayback Machine for NYTXW Mr. Peabodies! Nothing left to do but continue streaking into the future!
Nice debut, though not a fan of 61D crossing 65A.
@Jim Nice--quite the effete! (sorry--just a 60D to 42D)
@Ed Not saying I didn't get it, I just consider it inelegant to clue two crossing words both as proper names, especially when 61D is a perfectly good word in Italian (not to mention Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Corsican, Aragonese, Esperanto, and even Maori [meaning life, health, alive, or well, depending on the context]). As for not being a regular, my streak is 3,848 as of this "hour." Cheers!
@Dana Scully Amazing--congrats!! According to ChatGPT, a solving rate of 15 minutes per puzzle, working continuously 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, would take almost 18 weeks. Time well spent, I'd say!
@Jasmine over 2 years--nice work!!
Nice job, Garrett, it looks like you succeeded TOGETHER!
Smart puzzle! Much better than the others, or... CRANIUM DELTOIDS CAESURA
@Matthew Such a cool Maori place name! Now can you name the only pop song that has the name "Aotearoa" in the lyrics? Here's a clue inspired by today's puzzle: ANDREA JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE DORIA
@CaptainQuahog I for one do not lack "chops," as my XW streak as of today may demonstrate: 3,320. Aye aye, Captain?
@Steve L Fair enough, Steve! Odd it is, and perhaps odd I am--which puts me squarely in the majority of NYTXW puzzlers.
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