SuzyQ
Teeny, tiny Rhode Island
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Teeny, tiny Rhode Island
I've been busy with tax season and while I squeeze in time for the puzzle and Wordplay, I haven't had time to read the comments here from all you "wordy" people (which I miss!) I'm posting today because not only did I enjoy the puzzle, I have reached a streak of (drum roll) 314! On Pi Day! See you in mid-April!
Loved this puzzle! I did have some trouble navigating the middle (because of the colors and highlighting of the answer boxes) but it only slowed me a little. I enjoyed the Olympic theme (I had ring instead of flag for a bit at 114A) but didn't pick up on the added import of the colors right away. I entered MAGIC (38A) but was iffy about the negativity in the clue and entered ROBIN (40A) while thinking they must have dropped Red from the name. But then, at GIANT, I figured it out! I scurried around filling out all the clues in the rings. I struggled with only one: 43D [they fly over the rainbow]. I was thinking of the military air shows Blue Angels and couldn't get that out of my head until the crosses showed me the way! Thanks to Paolo for being so patient waiting for publication of this very well constructed puzzle and thanks to the Games team for the colors!
Woah! It's "our" Lewis!! I don't always notice constructor names before I start. It was the Wordplay column that clued (pun!) me in to the fact that one of the constructors was Lewis from Asheville! I started in my usual way: a couple of passes across and down before bed. I had very few answers! College grad, PBS for two. This morning,I was back at it. I loved the clever cluing! Some of of my early guesses were actually correct: Reagan Era, Reba and refs. Plenty were wrong. Loved the journey! Thanks to both constructors!
Enjoyed the puzzle! Had Eon before ERA (44A) and really liked how different the related entries were. Although the revealer mentions grammar and others have debated Negative vs Opposite, my take is to think of film negatives (remember those?). Looking at a negative, every thing is reversed: color, direction, etc. So, I'm OK with Double Negative since both words are reversed. Thanks!
Great debut! Thanks Ginny! Loved the theme (even though I didn't catch on right away)! Once I did, lots of fun sounding out the states! Loved the clue for TYPOS! Great Sunday puzzle!
Enjoyed the puzzle! It took me a bit to see the twist. Today, I started with the down clues and sooo many dashes! I got to 55D and Rhode popped into my head (note my location for why) but it wasn't clued as small or even a U.S. State so I left it blank. (For a while!) I looked at the down clues directly above the dash clues in the grid - looking for an answer that spanned downward but nothing clicked. So, I started the across clues. I finally figured it out with TEASER/RATES. I finished just above my average for Wednesday and had plenty of fun doing it! 15A Pre-nursing homes? Was my favorite tricky clue! Thank you Mr. M for this!
Fun puzzle! I was held up for a bit at 67A as I had ATom there. Took me a while to recheck all the acrosses then downs before I saw two words that could not be correct. Before I figured out the theme, I was sure that the [senior center sting] was some sort of shot/syringe! It was fun to sound out the familiar phrases from the "incorrect" spellings! Thanks!
@Harry I saw in another comment that Hate is said once and repeated 4 times. šš
Loved the tree revealed at the end! Thanks graphics people! Based on the clues (and the date) I knew there would be a tree, but it was fun to see all the "O"s used! I enjoyed the clues! Needed to get to the column through a side door as the usual link didn't work. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to all!
@Paul I had to hunt around for an error. Mine was APtT crossing with HUt. Should be apPt and huP. Someone else mentioned they spelled magazine wrong (second a was an e) Hope you find it! Consider peeking at the answer (link in the column).
Fun puzzle! Thanks! (I probably don't post often enough to be an emu target, but) šš
Loved the puzzle! I was surprised that I had no look-ups on a Thursday (I allow myself a few on Thursday thru Sunday). I thought I had found the trick: I put SUB in 14D (not entered as a rebus). I thought the trick was to use the word in each of the three rows that crossed 14D. Since it was a down entry, I thought the "stack" was implied. Hah! It worked again with 35D! I'm so smart! š Then came 34D and 54D. Could not think of a three letter word that fit all the crosses. Low iron? Bum a cig? Went to bed without finishing the puzzle. This morning, I filled in a few empty spots and the other two answers dawned on me! I entered all 12 rebuses but no Gold Star. š Finally figured out the wordplay at 65A and got the happy music! The second letter was blank as I know very few 90's rappers. Thanks to the whole crossword gang! Happy Thanksgiving! My main contribution to the family gathering is on the stove reducing from apple pieces to applesauce (we serve it warm!)
Fun puzzle! Loved the graphics upon completion! Thank you constructors for your perseverence! 123 times!! I grew up watching Batman which probably started my obsession with crime shows!
I enjoyed this puzzle even though I had a few more look ups than I usually allow myself on a Saturday! Thanks! After doing all the puzzles I usually do (still working on the Bee), I went to the Archives. I recently started at the beginning. I try to do a couple a day. Even if reach that goal, itās gonna take me a while to catch up to when I started doing the main crossword in July 2022! Strange coincidence: today, I worked to finish the crossword from 4/7/1994. There was a clue [Temper] and I had A_N___. After todayās puzzle, I dropped ANNEAL right in! Also, thereās a clue about Apollo and it relates to NASAās program! Fun!
@Dan D Welcome! My order is puzzle, then column, then comments. If I'm having a tough time, I look at parts of the column to get me moving forward. The comments are filled with spoilers, so I wait until I finish the puzzle to read them. One thing to note is that many commenters are regulars and they have developed words, phrases and acronyms that are specific to this endeavor. I struggled to understand some posts at first! If you ask a question, many will help you out. Most regulars do the puzzle when it is first available: 10pm the night before the date of the puzzle. For Sunday and Monday puzzles, it drops at 6pm the night before. As a result, many of the comments are made before dawn of the puzzle date. Enjoy puzzling!
@Dave Rosenbaum and @Shimmer That T was my last entry. I was about to do the alphabet run in that square when my brain pulled up Taiga as a word I have missed before in Spelling Bee. That was it! Crunchy puzzle but I enjoyed it! Thanks!
Found this article on Crosswords in a PBS Masterpiece newsletter. I posted it late in the Wednesday Wordplay column, so I'm reposting on the Thursday Wordplay column. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/crossword-puzzle-trivia-surprising-facts-and-history" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/crossword-puzzle-trivia-surprising-facts-and-history</a>/ Enjoy!
Great puzzle! I usually start the puzzle before bed - giving myself 10 to 15 minutes then finish in the morning (if needed). This one hooked me in and I had to finish! I had various words here and there but skipped the theme entries. The crosses gave me some letters for those, but it wasn't until I spotted the beginning and end of 99A: Seuss and issues that I realized the palindrome theme! Even then, I thought it was just the beginning and end of the phrases. But no! The whole phrase is involved! Amazing! Thanks!
@Grant @Barry Ancona is right about what most diners are asked. We have good tap water here, so I usually go for tap. Every time I see the phrase "still water", I am reminded of my first trip to Europe in the late 1980s. Went to London to see lots of theater in a week. On the first day we were in a restaurant and I asked for water. Server: Still? Me: Huh? (Did I still want it, I thought. I only just ordered it) Server: Do you want still water? Me: Huh? (Water from a moonshine still?, I was thinking) Server: We have still or sparkling water. Which would you like? Me: Now I get it! Still please. That scene always comes to mind when I see or hear still water or still or sparkling. Enjoyed the puzzle! As a basketball fan (mainly college) I enjoyed seeing the rate quadruple double in "action" today.
I love Sno-Caps! Favorite movie candy! Enjoyed the puzzle too! I'm all in for Girl Power! Struggled with the mini today. Switched the y and i in Libya. I had trouble with the clue mentioning my home state. I think all national parks are bigger than Rhode Island! Oh well, finished with a very slow time.
@Oikofuge Fun puzzle! SW corner held me up for a bit. I could be wrong, but I thought BFF meant Best Friends Forever.
@Lewis Here is a gift article for games only subscribers to read. (Hope it works,) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/us/manny-nosowsky-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lFA.wEhD.CpAImnZueYQZ&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/us/manny-nosowsky-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lFA.wEhD.CpAImnZueYQZ&smid=url-share</a>
@Cheri My grandmother was in an Alzheimerās ward in a nursing home and every time I visited she was on a different vacation. Cruise, NYC and Cape Cod were the most common. She didnāt seem to notice the bowling alley right outside her window. She always knew me as a relative but rarely the right one. I was comforted that she was having fun on these ātripsā. Sorry for your loss, the loss of oneās mother is particularly difficult.
Fun puzzle! Like others, I started slow. Lots of clever clues and aha moments! Loved the puzzle! Thanks!
Good puzzle! Thanks to Natan! I had a few look ups (which I allow myself Thursday - Sunday), so I learned something. Some of my first guesses turned out to be right - which does *not* always happen. Loved the clues for 17A SUBWAY ADS; 22A Midday assignation NOONER; and 42A LASAGNA. 31A [Rotary Successor] = TOUCHTONE was great and brought back a fun memory! I was in 7th or 8th grade in 1972/73 timeframe (don't do the math!) and went on a school trip to the Boston Museum of Science. One of the displays was the telephone dialing systems. You dialed your phone number using the rotary dial (like we all had at home) and then you "tapped" your phone number using the telephone "pad" with square buttons that had numbers on them. Then they told you the time it took to do each one and the pad was sooooo much faster! As a teen, I had a job in a convenience store and became *very* fast on the lottery machine when people were playing the daily numbers game. Then, I somehow became an accountant (it was an accident - my accounting 101 teacher was very handsome!). The problem with a calculator is that the numbers on the buttons are the reverse of the numbers on a phone and the lottery machine has the buttons in a phone configuration with the 123 across the top. So, many years of using the lottery machine has caused me to be error prone on the calculator - still after all these years! I regularly hit a 9 instead of a 3 or vice versa. Do emus have lucky numbers?
Very fun puzzle! I was puzzled by (ha!) the second ICE but then entered them all to get my center ice. Lovely graphics! I agree with other commenters that there is something mesmerising about watching a Zamboni at work. Watching the rink turn into a smooth shiny surface one strip at a time is fascinating!
Fun puzzle! I drove a 1975 AMC Pacer for several years in the late 1970's/early 1980's!! Great visibility with all those windows, like driving in a bubble. Hated scraping them in the fall and winter, though! Thanks!
@david dell I think itās not really a crossword rebus situation - with more than one letter in a box. I solved with no extra letters by picturing (in my head) that where I saw RED in the puzzle across entries, I put STOP there instead (only in my head). GREEN and GO in the other spots. Fun puzzle!
Very much enjoyed the puzzle! When I got to the revealer, I looked back and saw the "it"s and the musical notes. Ha! Figuring that I wasn't done, I looked at the first word of those entries to see how it related to "post" and...nothing. Did I think back to Sunday's crossword where the Latin phrase Post Hoc Ergo.. was spanned across the grid? Where "post" means after (post office, post-op)? Nooo! Had to read the column to set me straight. Thanks Elie L! And thanks to Laura D!
Great puzzle! At 63A, I had aHa for bit, then aHH. Didn't change it until I'd finished with an error. Flyspecked the puzzle and that was my only error! OHH! Started the puzzle last night and made good progress in the NE. Sort of understood the theme but went to bed with lots of empty squares. This morning went a lot smoother and I fully got the theme, which helped with the other theme entries. Thanks!
@Heidi One of my Steven Wright favorites: " I used to wear glasses, but then my prescription ran out " Enjoyed the puzzle! Unlike many others, I entered the rebus of PH in all 8 boxes. Got the gold star!
@Shannon But, the down answers don't make sense with the extra letters.
@Steven M. Accessory Dwelling Unit. It's a hot topic in the suburbs. Attached or unattached living space on your residential property. Generally with a separate entrance. Sometimes called a granny flat. Fun puzzle.
Found this article on Crosswords in a PBS Masterpiece newsletter. I'll try to remember to post it again tonight after Thursday's Wordplay column is posted. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/crossword-puzzle-trivia-surprising-facts-and-history" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/crossword-puzzle-trivia-surprising-facts-and-history</a>/
@Barney Agreed! I finished and spent a minute or two trying to figure out why the grid had 4 different colors. Then I noticed that there was only one vowel used in each of those 4 sections AND a single i in the center without color. Pretty cool!
@Catherine A.M.A. is a forum (?) on Reddit where people can ask the "guest speaker" any question they want. It's called Ask Me Anything. A.M.A. I went with doc before I had any of the down words in that area.
@Harri Hope you found your error. If not, and if you use an iPhone, try List Mode. It's just to the left of the pencil icon. It shows you the clue and your answer right next to each other. It might make it easier to see an error. I learned this trick from @Eric Hougland.
Fun puzzle! I stumbled across @fter midnight when I added an extra 60 minutes to the recording of the Steven Colbert show on CBS. (I added extra time to ensure I captured all of his show after missing some of it with some event - probably football or conventions or debates - I forget). It's a fun comedy game show. Thanks to the constructor!
@Ronnie @Barry Ancona is making a sarcastic statement. He is using a phrase that has been seen in these comments over the past 10 months when the commenter doesn't like a puzzle. He is definitely kidding and not referring to the puzzle. Will Shortz is fully back next Monday as editor of the Games section after a medical leave. There was a nice article in the NYT Games Newsletter about his progress over the ten months.
@Steve Saturdays are the hardest puzzles of the week, so don't be too hard on yourself. They are usually (always?) themeless. Sometimes, themes help with a solve earlier in the week. I allow myself to look up a factual item on Thursday thru Saturday puzzles. Pick something from the Wordplay column or search the internet for an author name, etc. Keep at it! You will improve!
@SWNH Fourth month AFTER August is December (or DEC).
@Wendy @Barry A @Steve L Thanks so much for all that National Park info! I knew there was at least one smaller than the state because we have one of our own: Roger Williams National Park. Itās a long rectangular shape right next to the downtown area of the city of Providence. Itās flat and nicely landscaped. Pleasant to walk in but not a place to vacation! We get kidded about our size (see my location)!
I had rookie for Caitlin Clark. Thought I was being clever! She is a PHENOM, though! Enjoyed the puzzle! Thanks!
@Chris Struggled there too. Put a watch on the wrist!
@Andrzej Iām always amazed at how well you do on these puzzles (no matter how bad you say you did!). Iāve done a little traveling in Europe (not to Poland, yet) and many churches are named something like Our Lady in whatever language that country uses. Although it took me a beat - I did come up with Notre. (Notre Dame - Our Lady) Hope you feel better soon!
@Dan It's 3 words. As am I. Fun puzzle!
Fun puzzle!! Finished under my usual Sunday puzzle average - but had great fun doing it! Iām working through the archives and Iām in January 1995. (1/1/95 is a doozy! Fun and hard!). Iām always surprised by words that keep appearing back then and currently. MACRO for one. Loved the multiple elements of this one.
@Trish I think thatās only true once the puzzle is finished. If you havenāt finished, you should be able to edit the square. In this puzzle, I overwrote an incorrect rebus by just typing a letter to replace (my correction was just as wrong as the original entry!). Once I figured out the trick, I spotted a typo in one rebus and āopenedā the rebus and deleted and retyped a couple of characters. I play in the browser on an iPad. Fun puzzle! I, too, thought the circled boxes were going to be about pickle (the food). Or, maybe, pickleball terms.
Enjoyed the puzzle! Picked up on most of the theme answers - or at least what I assumed was the first word of the answer - fairly quickly. Struggled with ROCKET... but I got it eventually. Some of my travels helped me with a few answers. Although a tour guide told us about SISI, I heard it as Sissy. Didn't fit, so I waited for crosses. I've been to Honolulu so I eventually conjured up the correct spelling. Thanks to the constructors!
Fun puzzle! I saw the tiny Xs and thought: ooh there's going to be a lot of comments for this one! But the number of comments isn't too bad. I had a ten (10) in box 106 for a bit and thought rebus numbers! But, no. Never saw the puzzle title or notes as I forget to check the little i - even when it is blinking. Enjoyed all the wordplay!! Thanks!