Pat-a-pon
Europe
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Europe
I must say this is the most fun I've had with a Wednesday puzzle in ages! I'm a Slav in Europe so none of this "difficult for a non-American today" nonsense applies today! The difficult part really is in the bottom right: I had problems with FIRST MATE (I've never read Moby Dick, but I've learned to type AHAB whenever the NYT crossword asks for a captain---Much like it's always an OREO when it's about cookies!) and I'm unfamiliar with the INDIANA HOOSIERs, and it sure doesn't help I prefer to count HEADS instead of NOSES. Plus the obvious 47D which the Wordplay columnist already notes as difficult. All in all, very enjoyable week so far. Looking forward to a big bad rebus tomorrow (meaning a spectacular no-solve from me, haha). Kudos to Daniel for pulling off a truly fun theme today!
I've never understood rebii and just when I think I might be getting the gist of it, somebody throws a TAJAMRT at me.
@Pamela I rebuse to solve them!
@jp inframan JP, I'm having difficulties making out your connection between AI and today's crossword. I find riffle shuffling quite satisfying to watch and do, though I will admit I'm not very good at it, unlike AI, which I find deeply unsatisfying.
@Pat-a-pon I'm also hugely disappointed by 16A and 73A both being GOOFOFFS--I don't think I've ever solved a NYT puzzle with two identical answers to two identical hints. The fact that it wasn't revealed in Wordplay is also strange, as all 5 other theme clues are answered there. Huh. 69D is also an obscurity that left me hunting for a while; I was more than sure Bill's partner was the co-titular TED. "Bill and Coo" is a 1948 film that doesn't seem all that well known or popular, at least judging by the brevity of the Wikipedia stub and IMDb's 5.6/10 rating. All's well that ends well, I suppose, but there have been better days than this. Namely, the two puzzles directly preceding Wednesday were fabulous!
@K Call me a nonsense kid, then, because the online crapola and juvenilia is right up my alley. No clue about any of these sports (Bears belong in forests, not in NFC, which, to my knowledge, is the tech behind Apple Pay), and I'm sorry we weren't all alive and watching when Queen Noor took the throne.
@lucky13 a lot of it comes down to whether or not you can afford to spend entire days in training. Most of us with a 9-5 cannot devote this much time and money solely to this endeavor, and I imagine it's even less likely for blue collar workers to be able to find the time and money required. The training schedule is very intensive, packed to the brim, with recovery and nutrition optimized down to the minutes and calories. There are no poor people competing in ironman events.
@Rory this is how the rest of the world feels almost every week, hah! I've never watched rugby or baseball and yet I trudge through the crosswords. Printing out my half-finished puzzle to get some help from my coworkers during lunch break tends to help.
@Laurie I'm wondering how this could EVER be a norm when the hour hand is physically smaller, haha
Interesting choice of clues to reveal in the column. I'm stumped by cocktails, Hawaiian dances, and a book author. I'm sure there were trickier clues today than those revealed!?
Having only ever heard the name Jack Reacher (could've been a real person for all I knew!) and learning now that Tom Cruise apparently played the character, the D hints I already filled in led me to "HIS BEST". This works surprisingly well if you don't know enough pop culture to recognize the mistakes in "Paul HESCAL", the band "The BARS", or Disney's "ENDOR" (MESCAL/CARS/ANDOR) -- At least this last one is an actual location in Star Wars, plus it *sounds* like and-or!
@John lawn is /lɔn/ or /lɑn/ and Lon is /lˈɑːn/. I can't tell the difference as a non-native, but in my mother tongue the latter two pronunciations would be the same for all intents and purposes, though I'm sure a linguist would be willing to argue about the semantics. I fail to see your point about dog/log though; It would be pretty tough to argue that /dɔɡ/ or /dɑɡ/ does not rhyme with /lɔɡ/ or /lɑɡ/.
Perplexed by the combination of 10D, 16E, and 19E. Having never heard of TAEkwondo BOxing, Tori AMOS, and the deity ENOS, the fact I thought 10A was a bit of a joke and so answered with SOCK did me absolutely no favors! Other than these two letters, a nice puzzle. All the nay-sayers can stick to Friday, which I will gladly continue to (attempt to) solve in Easy Mode :)
@Elbridge Gerry Hats off, really. I got BOOLEAN ALGEBRA (my job is with digital logic, I felt represented with this clue), and INDIANA HOOSIER was the last thing I filled in, haha!
@Francis I didn't think there was a theme until I read the article, and by then I was wondering what a "pep" rally was (being unfamiliar with the term emery board or emery paper--I know nail files and sandpaper!); or if either I or the app were having a stroke at HRPUFNSTUF.
@lioncitysolver I don't share the sentiment but I think expressing it like this is incredibly clever. Kudos!
@Eel w-r-ster-sh-r. Wusstersher.
@Sue S The first time I really checked the comment section after submitting a comment was sometime last week, when I noticed the same. I suppose NYT thinks there's only so much constructive discussion to be had over a puzzle, and they block it off after 48 (or maybe 72?) hours.
I've read the article, I've gone through the comments. I seem to be the only one confused by what a "RING BOTTLE" is? Something about "treating the square as the object itself"? Huh?
@Commenter to "clear" something is to "bus" it? I've never heard of this. Much like DAMs hold water and have little to do with lords or sires (NB: Anyone else think everything horse related has a bunch of made up terms to ostracize the plebeians? Much like anything ship or tennis related.), the plural of bass ought to be basses (like cellos!), etc. It's hard when it's challenging. It's frustrating when the words are factoids, archaisms, names, and jargon. I liked where the theme wanted to go, but it felt forced. Smart = chic, therefore add retro?
@miniMeissner Yeah musically this makes no sense. I'd have thought the "they" in the clue mandated the answer be plural. Judging by how frequently CELLI is put into these puzzles, I'd say that's the explanation. But what do I know. Certainly not enough about buses/busi.
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