Peaty n Oaty
RELOing
251
Comments
0.569
Avg Sentiment
145
Positive
88
Neutral
18
Negative
RELOing
Really fun, clever-but-not-too-cute puzzle. Recently someone mentioned solver satisfaction vs. constructor vanity. I thought this one was long on solver satisfaction and short on constructor vanity. IMO it should always be that way.
It was over too soon! (That's a compliment, not a complaint)
More RAPACIOUS and CONFABULATE for us please!
@Darren WADR, I think of it as a constructor and editors who want to show solvers how smart THEY (the solvers) are. I am SO up for that.
What's not to like? Tidy Monday with a clever twist in the theme.
MAS-TER-PIECE No, that's not an exaggeration IMO. Tremendously fun and satisfying solve. It lurched along and then gained momentum as it fell square by square, answer by answer, section by section. The way a good themeless should. Elegant grid. I'm guessing the editors are due a lot of credit for the way the clues created a "tense build-up" of a solve. Note: I'm up in years yet the answers that would tend to be in a younger solver's wheelhouse as opposed to mine didn't do me in. I was able to get them from the crosses; again, good cluing.
Tight theme set, good enough fill, I had a good time at the crosswords. HAVOC was a good 1-Across, an interesting looking and evocative word.
We had zero familiarity with: The abbreviation RCCARS (we looked it up afterwards and much to our surprise, yes, it is a "thing") GARGANTUA AMAZEBALLS MORIA OBELI MOIL TILSIT Island of a Thousand Temples Under the Volcano Shirin Ebadi Rabelais Durin Daugava River Pearl Jam's debut album name Unit equal to one weber per square meter Sewerage (described that way) Yet we persisted and got the ⭐️ that we have come to so obsessively and unreasonably crave. And it was enormously satisfying regardless of the gold star. It took about an hour and twenty minutes, almost double our usual Saturday time. Yes, we live under a rock, don't get out much, etc. But now that's true just a touch less so. If we can do it you can too. P.S. That esoterica in the clues can help you, but if it's not helping you, you should just ignore it. Do not let it intimidate you.
And one of those puzzles that by the end had us feeling smarter than we probably are. Who could complain about that?
What's not to like? Nothing! I had a great time today at the crosswords. Any mention of King Lear reminds me of my wonderful Lit 101 professor who used it to teach Shakespeare. I thought I was only in the class to satisfy a degree requirement, but she imparted an appreciation for that play and literature in general that is still with me 40+ years later.
I rate it solidly Good. It held my interest longer than a lot of Sundays because I figured I needed to get through the outer "box" to get to the inner box. I'm having a little difficulty getting from RESERVATION to STAY. I sorta see it but not really. Something to do with reserving a stay in a hotel or motel? I'm sure there's a good explanation, I just don't know what it is.
A good crossword puzzle is a good crossword puzzle and a thing to be grateful for regardless of the day of the week. And these are always good crossword puzzles in the sense of high quality. I do enjoy some more than others, and very, very rarely I might be tempted to call one "bad". But in the end I always land on at least "good enough". IMO. (This one was WAY better than good enough.)
Can we really be the first to mention FAKING crossing BREAKUPSEX?
As I SITWITH it it's growing on me. A little. I am content with it. I liked seeing Apu's last name. That's something, isn't it? I did gold star it without assistance so whatever you might say about my assessment, it's not sour grapes. It took me about an extra 10 minutes but I don't care much about solve time. Actually I like spending extra time if the process is enjoyable and the end result is satisfying. Very Thursday-ish.
Good all the way around. The side-by side vertical themers create "extra" crosses for each other. I think of that as impressive construction that doesn't just flatter the constructor, it also creates value for the solver. I especially liked: THEDOLDRUMS [Character in "Monsters, Inc."]/COMMA
Cute Monday theme! DIRNDL crossing DOUGIE was a tough cross for a Monday for this Boomer but I survived it. 🙂
And if we started every puzzle with a thought of chocolate Labs that would be good with me.
@Patrick J. Comment of the week, at least
Two really tight, clever, fun puzzles in a row. I feel a little like Roger Ebert: "I loved my time at the movies." Make that "with this puzzle" and those are my feelings exactly.
We had a blast with this as per usual. The content wasn't really in our wheelhouse but as we circled and circled and zigged and zagged the momentum gathered until the thing seemed to bloom like a flower right in front of us. Goodness we love crosswords!
We are puzzled by BITEME. We were raised to not bite, not crossword puzzle constructors, nobody
My solve was clunky (but successful) so I was left with an impression of the puzzle as clunky. But a lot of that's on me, I've had a difficult time lately moving between literal and lateral thinking. Ultimately it was a high-quality and fair puzzle and that's what I'm looking for.
A really good puzzle. A good puzzle is a good puzzle, which ever day of the week it is. Couldn't wait to plunk down ODIE for the cartoon dog but it wasn't meant to be. And PEANUTS evoked Snoopy, another cartoon dog favorite. I was impressed that none of the fill seemed forced, given the seven rebus squares that required a certain shape. Thanks to everyone who solved the puzzle I put on Crosshare yesterday. It means a lot to me! And of course it's still there, <a href="https://crosshare.org/PeatynOaty" target="_blank">https://crosshare.org/PeatynOaty</a>
Being a plodding solver (something like an hour and fifteen minutes for this one) has its advantages. I thoroughly enjoyed this. My gold star was in question from the moment I read the 1-Across clue to the moments when I backspaced over an X and hit R to get EROTIC, after 15 minutes of flyspecking (I think that's an accurate use of the lingo?). In between I appreciated the construction and cluing, got the satisfaction that comes from sticking-to-it, and learned a little. Note the absolute minimum of glue and crosswordese in the grid. ETS, EBB, OPS and that's about it? MES maybe? No OREO's or ERA's or EON's? No "made up words"? In a wide open grid like this? That's an accomplishment. One to savor!
@Sam FWIW a suggestion - Scan the Comments and click "Recommend" on the ones you agree with, ignore the others. That does wonders for my outlook on the whole matter.
I finally glommed completely onto the gimmick about 3/4 of the way through and that allowed me to fill in my last few problem areas. I think you could say that's the way it's supposed to be. So very clever.
🎯 Nothing here for Peaty to latch onto. They don't get much better than this.
In a bit of a twist we found ourselves running the alphabet on a clue - after we already had the answer - to get DIALOG. Or DIALOGUE if you wish - it's your puzzle, in this case you get to decide how much theme inconsistency you'll abide. Interesting looking word which made for an interesting clue. We had a good time at the crosswords today.
So much unfamiliarity for us but it slowly came together. We'd like to think that means it was well-clued. Much appreciation here.
Haven't read the other Comments yet. I'm guessing this is going to torque a bunch of folks and make a few very happy. A fair amount of names, long names and sports names at that. Crosses, people, crosses. To say it was stretchy would be a huge understatement, at least for Fridays of late. MASH instead of MALT got me over the top. And running the vowels in TICHA crossing MII. Naticky there? Yes. But also gettable with a little reasoning? Yes. Interesting about the electric sitar, had no idea that such a thing ever existed, but it's not that surprising OTOH. Leave it to Stevie Wonder, right? Lots of top notch wordplay and misdirection: Setting for an uphill climb (appreciated no ending ?, it being Friday, not Saturday, notwithstanding) Lightning conductor? Jazz aficionado, e.g., (again, appreciated no ?) Unprofessional letters? Screen capture? Org. that might do some spring cleaning? Love, love, love all that wordplay and misdirection. An enthusiastic thumbs up overall.
Wow, that was really good. The grid was starting to light up all over until it wasn't in the SE. Then a lot of wheel spinning until aha! LOGARITHM. And then BP___ was going to work after all! I love when a seemingly intractably Sheldon Cooper-ish clue like "Inverse of an exponential function" yields a relatively benign answer like LOGARITHM. That answer should be in any high school graduate's wheelhouse, whether they could define it with the clue or not. (Not that there's anything wrong with not being a high school graduate! So odd that I feel compelled to say that.) That speaks to one of the things I learned that transformed my later-in-the-week solving: Don't be intimidated by the clues! (Half of me really digs the t-shirt one of the constructors is wearing in her photo at xwordinfo.com. <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/29/2026&h=6D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/29/2026&h=6D</a>)
Satisfying Thursday puzzle. I especially liked "One might feature rivers and bluffs"/POKERGAME. HYENACUB strikes me as next-level fill, particularly in that long Down slot.
@Nancy I agree with you about CONVO being ugh. However with heavily themed puzzles like this one something has to give in order for the grid to fill around the theme. Note the placement of CONVO, across one of those stacks of side-by-side themers. My guess is the grid became very inflexible in those areas. I'd like to believe that in this instance CONVO was a "necessary evil". We certainly got a puzzle with a good theme today, in terms of both quality and quantity.
MAS-TER-PIECE i enjoyed everything about this puzzle, from laying eyes on the grid to dropping in the last letter. Not too easy, only a few gimmes, but a lot of clue/answer combinations that clicked the second or third time around. Brilliant piece of work by both the constructor and editors.
Amazing puzzle about an amazing album by an amazing artist. I think I'll just leave it at that. I just posted another puzzle on Crosshare: <a href="https://crosshare.org/PeatynOaty" target="_blank">https://crosshare.org/PeatynOaty</a>. It's a lively themeless with easy-ish clueing. Give it a whirl!
I really enjoyed this solve, felt like my hunches were connecting. THEBEEB, forexample. Liked [It's in the eye of the beholder]/RETINA. Lastly two of my favorite words are frangipane (almond cream, cited in one of this puzzle's clues) and frangipani (a type of flowering plant).
I enjoyed that theme a lot - I like when the theme is a narrative, however brief it might be. It's very evocative - we are able to imagine ourselves as a part of that "conversation", indeed many of us have been a part of such a conversation.
Banging great puzzle today! Bringing some energy on a Tuesday. So much of life is timing, enough said about that. And thanks for the Pink Pony Club earworm now on repeat in my brain.
Really liked CAESURA. It was totally new to me so thanks to the constructor and editors for being accommodating with the crosses. I looked up the pronunciation and was pleasantly surprised.I was expecting something like say-zer-a but it's more like suh-zhur-a(?). Feel free to correct me. Seems like it would make a lovely, "poetic" girl's name, but I don't remember ever seeing it used for that.
Yes, we do see what you did there. Fun while it lasted. Two nouns signing off.
@Sarah We like your parenthetical comments above, they strike us as appropriate and funny in a good way. Sometimes the simplest questions are the best, maybe a little reminiscent of Occam's Razor that was cited in the puzzle not too long ago. The puzzle wasn't really what we were wanting either, but it was OK. And obviously we're swimming upstream, people overall are gushing about it. That's OK with us also. (And of course "Why not?" could be seen as just as appropriate and simple. But not as funny, in our opinion)
Per XW Stats this is our "Fastest Constructor" but the fun thing is we always feel challenged by his puzzles. We particularly liked "Success in another's field, say"/ROADWIN. It is a wonderful thing to have these puzzles to enjoy every day.
Another favorite teacher used to say, " 'O, that way madness lies' and boy, we are headed right for it." Seems so appropriate right now.
@SP Thanks for asking! Peaty & Oaty are the crossword versions of Petey (Little Rascals dog) and Odie (Garfield dog). All four (Petey, Odie, peaty and oaty) make appearances in the puzzle from time to time. PEATY and OATY are pretty weak fill IMO (but I understand they are "necessary" now and then), so that's me having a little fun with that situation. I get a lot of amusement from the name as a whole, but I'm not sure anyone else does. Perhaps more importantly, I've found my comments are a lot less grumpy, condescending, etc when I assume the persona of two friendly, relentlessly-positive in the case of Odie, cartoon/children's TV show dogs. Regarding the "we", it seemed only fitting because there are two of them. I only yesterday decided to give it up because it is too weird for even me. And that's saying something. RELO is also a riff on a crosswordese word that shows up from time to time.
@Sean McGowan Thanks for jumping in! It's obvious to me it could have gone either way so endlessly arguing about it is pointless. Suggestion: go to the Reader Picks, vote Team O or Team Hole using the Recommend buttons, and move on.
@Mean Old Lady I can't recommend "Coco" highly enough. There's even a mean old lady in it. It's tempting to say more but I don't want to spoil it for you or any others that might read this.
Good enough. The drawings were fun for a while, after that I was just soldiering on. Kind of a typical Sunday, most of them seem long to me. Much prefer 15x15's. ILDIVO crossing MILO was il naticko for me but the L came without too much trouble.
Really admire: 1. Where to be above all the drama? / OPERABOX - Simple, highly-accessible wordplay clue combined with a solid Scrabble-y answer. This combination is a cut above and suited to any day of the week. It borders on elegant. 2. Silent type / MIME - No "?" at the end of the clue helped to make this shine. It needed to function as a "quiet" whole and it did.
FWIW: 1. The constructor's photo at xwordinfo (<a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Author/Zachary_David_Levy" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Author/Zachary_David_Levy</a>) is hilarious! It's so good I don't even care if it's "real" or not. 2. There wasn't a "Q" in the puzzle this week. The last Q was last Thursday, in the "Dark Energy" puzzle. I don't really know how common/uncommon that is. I am pretty sure that it is more common than it used to be, owing the pervasiveness of computerized fill. Same would apply to the other Scrabble-y letters. No value judgments here, just an observation. 3. A certain rock band's abbreviated name/chess rating system hasn't appeared in the puzzle yet this year. If that holds through the end of the year - actually it is still early - it would break a streak that goes back to 1994. I miss seeing the band name as an answer from time-to time, they've been a favorite of mine for a looong time.