Calypso
Texas
if ROAM/ROVE is in a crossword, I am certain to choose the wrong one every time
A dairy farm can also be a (cow) tipping point!
Somehow I convinced myself that [Royal adversary] was TWIN because of king and queen bed size and completely missed the baseball reference
I didn’t enjoy this one. The theme was too niche and not even required for solving the grid. I expected more fun from a Sunday puzzle.
Much to my chagrin both ABEL/BASES and CAIN/ACIDS fit at 38-down and 41-across with no other letters filled in and I wasn’t sure of either pair! What a brilliant piece of construction if intended or a very fun coincidence if by accident
As someone with a RARE DISEASE, that was fun(?) to see and I knew the answer almost immediately
Very fun puzzle! Even the more obscure clues fit all my niches/generation today so I breezed through it
I kept trying to figure out if "Xing" was a Chinese app or social media site I hadn't heard of -- only at the very end did I clock it as X-ing or crossing
I listened to the Wicked soundtrack while solving this morning so Oz really through me off! I didn't catch the very important period in the clue
@Michael I always leave that first letter blank because I've spent too much time online and never know if it's going to be IMED, DMED, or PMED
@Bruce I believe it's "Get thee to a nunnery" but there is "Hie thee hither" in Macbeth!
@Andrew F I feel like that clue is wrong, though. Taylor's fanbase is largely in their 20s and 30s too
@Joe P I had LOON instead of SWAN so mine solved to OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW at first
@Zachary CROWING is a noun, too. See: gerunds
@Barry Ancona I didn’t need to look it up, and no TIRADES here, just noting an error in the blog
@Wspd 90s kid here, grew up on Ricearoni, so not really obscure
I’ve never heard of hair being “teased up” just “teased”
@Jerry “ I often wonder how many young people find solace in solving a good crossword puzzle.” What an exceptionally weird take
I tried to put "TOYATATHON" for the [beginning of Taurus season] :D
very rude for CORPORATE SPIES to fit in 48A (without the rebus)
@Oikofuge Laura Ingalls Wilder's books were an integral part of my childhood and I still got caught off guard by "the" prairie!
PRELL is a little before my time so I thought of PERT for the green shampoo bottle! Alas, a letter short it is, as YODA would say.
Not me confidently typing FREUDIAN SLIPS for the revealer clue...
The “tricky clue” for 38D [Philippics] doesn’t actually include the answer?
I felt real fancy with COTERIES for party people, only for it to be much simpler
I'm proud of myself today for getting the "SANTA SUIT" pun with very few crosses. Also, I find it very hard to believe "PLAY ACTION" is a compelling enough phrase to warrant a duplicate word
The real "bending" in this puzzle that's frustrating is the *medium* bending...it seems like the constructor couldn't decide between books and film when setting the puzzle theme.
@J.K. Yes, I think "oppa" is more recognizable going back to Gangnam Style and now the more recent popularity of K-Pop and K-Dramas
@Dakota oh please. I am 35 and was able to fill the whole puzzle easily despite having no idea the two top names
"TEC" is also used in the comics world, as shorthand for "Detective Comics" in which Batman stars :)
I understand the complaints about ESPIAL but I didn't even notice it because it filled in easily from the crosses...
I've never in my life heard PAREN but an otherwise fun puzzle. I believe we've had RE[STAR]EA recently so that's what tipped me off and assured me I wasn't crazy for thinking M*A*S*H was the most viewed television episode
@Elon Miss Marple is hardly obscure but I agree with the rest of the muddiness!
@Mean Old Lady I went to school in the 90s/2000s and we had normal calculators in elementary school and then in high school some classes used scientific calculators that had displays like the one in the puzzle. However I do have vivid memories of passing detailed notes back and forth in geometry class using the graphing calculators you mentioned!
Oof I didn’t like this puzzle at all. FAUX NAÏF was a stretch, PIT STAINS was gross, and now we have to know lyrics from random rappers?
@The X-Phile even within the context of the Big 12, there are also the ASU (Arizona State) Wildcats
@The X-Phile from Merriam Webster: US slang : a dim-witted, silly, or foolish person —often used in a joking or friendly way
@SBK I saw "shoot" first and thought the theme would be plants! I was a tad disappointed because it would be a fun spring puzzle
I thought TANGENT crossing with GENT was a little lazy and uninspired
@Ernest it's Chinese name, so spelled separately -- Li Po. Also known as Li Bai
@Cal Gal The puzzle grid is shaped like a face? And it’s “open” indicating it doesn’t have a theme unlike most Sundays
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