Elena
St. Louis, USA
58
Comments
0.763
Avg Sentiment
46
Positive
6
Neutral
6
Negative
St. Louis, USA
I have no one to tell this to so I’m telling you all: I went to a crossword competition at my local library today and I won :)
@Steve L Maybe now it’s the misinformation toll road, since there’s a lot of BS and it all costs money to access
Today is my birthday! And I’m from St. Louis! On my 21st birthday, I took off work and went up the 15A just for fun. It’s brilliant up there. As a kid, I imagined careening down it like a slide. Now, I love being able to spot it from just about anywhere in the city. And bonus - it reminds me of my birthday! I love sharing food and tasty treats with my friends and family, too. Especially today. Thanks for a fun puzzle, Matthew!
A very satisfying Friday. I’m slowly but steadily improving on the long, wordplay-y answers!
How about [Nonsense that is black and white, but not gray?] = ZEBRASTRIPE Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch. How often do people say tripe? Anyway, I loved this puzzle dearly :) When I got to TURTLESHELL, I went “aww poor guy!” out loud.
Loved the gaming Puzz Pair of SOFA and FARM. When I saw FARM’s clue, I thought the answer might be “grind” (as in grinding out gaming achievements) which put me in a little rebus paranoia. As did the “fitting” revealer - I love when Sean mentions something in the column that also happened to me during the game. At the beginning of my crossword journey, Thursdays really SAPped me. I’ve only recently begun doing them again and, okay yes, they’re great. There’s an art to the wordplay, misdirection, and crazy themes. No longer does a rebus or a letter substitution make me say IMSAD!
@Cathy King Just because a song is about a sexual experience with a woman doesn’t mean that it’s demeaning to that woman. You don’t have to like the song, but there is no disrespectful language in it.
It’s a little ironic that yesterday I made a comment about how the internet is full of misinformation and today the crossword has multiple references to AI. The universe laughs.
This was my first Thursday puzzle 😅 2 hours 9 minutes and proud!
Loved this, Adrianne! It’s always so fun when you and the crossword maker are on the same page. Speaking of page, “page extension” kinda fits the theme, but it’s pretty niche. It’s the local name of a highway in St. Louis, but it’s also a type of webpage customization. I’ll think of this puzzle next time I’m on the Page Extension!
I’ve been playing a lot of travle and globle, so thankfully I knew NIGERIA borders Chad and Benin. If you want to sharpen your geography skills, I highly recommend playing! And there’s lots of other fun -le games. Anyway, I liked this puzzle. Berry, bury fun!
It’s cute how [People attracted to any gender, for short] is PAN, and the theme is centered around BY (“bi”). Dunno if it was on purpose but I like it.
I recognized Zhou’s name before solving, so I looked up her XwordInfo profile. Lo and behold, her crossword-publishing career lines up with my crossword-solving timeline. Down to her first published Monday was the first Monday I solved with no hints or checks! Not to mention, she’s made some of my favorites (that up/down Wednesday, IYKYK). Here’s to hoping you hit for the cycle Zhou, and maybe I’ll hit for the cycle of solving (not a thing) and actually go for a Saturday (perhaps it’ll be yours).
@Chris Well, it does say it’s a homophobic hint in the revealer. I think the homophone works better as “berry’s the lead” as in berry is the lead, rather than “berries the lead”. But I’m nitpicky.
Sam, you’re not alone! I too didn’t know that a record could mean a single song. I was very curious how Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was going to fit into 16 spaces and how it related to BANGs.
@Joe I was wondering if the people who pronounced bury like furry had a harder time solving! Love to see how you tried to logic out the theme, isn’t it funny the way our brains decide on a pattern if we don’t have the tools to find the correct one?
Similar to Sam and other solvers, I also got silly on 7D. But mine was PopfART, as in a very made-up term for pop art. Delightful.
@Matt Agreed! It’s been so fun to see puzzlemakers cater to a wider variety of audiences lately.
IFEAR I had you “ate” at 56D for the longest, ALAS the tRUTH is I still FEEl this puzzle was a PEARL!
This was my best Tuesday time ever and yesterday was my best Monday. What a rush! Excited for Wednesday. P.S. Loved the NIALL Horan reference, what a throwback.
I still don’t get 56A and 116A, can anyone explain?
@Jamie people under 25 use it mostly! :)
Fun theme, but crossing actor last names (14A/15D) is always a natick for me, and a HOHUM natick at that.
Lovely puzzle, and I was so happy to see a St. Louis reference (13D). If only the Cards could make me as happy!
I adore this theme!! One of my favorites recently.
Loved this puzzle, Nate. It’s so satisfying to watch all the answers cascade like dominoes. I’m wishing you many more joys in the future.
Loved the reveal of the theme. Hope to see you in an elusive Tuesday puzzle, Kareem!
Really grateful for some juicy modern answers like PENTATONIX, VANDERPUMPRULES, and of course VRHEADSET
VERY delightful puzzle theme, though i wish there was at least one song from the past 10 years 😅. Old songs well, i do not know.
The midi theme was so brilliant! I have no idea how constructors come up with ideas like that. Or how they find multiple words that fit the theme! Pretty neat.
@fiona me too! i’ve been doing crosswords for about 7 months now and sometimes I’m so frustrated because so many cultural references are so before my time! and i can’t memorize them all! so it ends up like this crossword, where i get everything except 3ish naticks and it breaks a Tuesday streak.
I appreciate the shoutout Mr. Bergman, and I can confirm - CUT A RUG crossing a 60s song and a 50s movie was definitely painful for my Gen Z brain! This hobby sure is hard when you’re not the intended audience. Ah, at least we have Lara Raj in yesterday’s midi.
Loved all the word play both in the theme and in the fill! Nothing more satisfying than slowly filling in a puzzle that you know is within your grasp if you just think it out.
Funnily enough, I also got the answer to 9A from a kids’ show, but for me it was Penguins of Madagascar! I wonder if there’s a lot of LEMUR-based childhood characters or we just found the two needles in the haystack?
@HeathieJ Oo what game do you play? I’ll check it out for the same reasons!
@Sean McGowan I know right?! Lucky to be part of such a celebratory community.
@Peaty & Oaty Thanks! Not me. Shoutout to the other Elena, both having fun with puzzles!
@john ezra What are the Griddies? Or was that comment ALL IN FUN? When I looked it up, I found NADA.
@Nora Thanks, I’ll check that one out! Seems especially challenging to guess based off of just the outline.
@deborah Same!! I’m so grateful I won’t be blinded any time I exit a puzzle, lol. Now I just need them to tone down the bright yellow NYT Games title screen whenever you open the app.
Great puzzle! Agreed, Q’s are so fun to fill in!
@Mean Old Lady You did read it right! I grew up in the Spotify era of music. I never had any vinyls, and I assumed they were all full albums because that’s the only kind of vinyl I’ve ever seen a modern artist sell. You learn something new every day!
@sotto voce Thank you! I can tell, everyone is so supportive!
@MStock I will! I’m sure STL loves you back!
@Bruce Ah it makes me feel validated that that expression was several generations ago! Some pain and some gain as per usual!
@Andrzej Thank you, that actually brings me back to reality. Streaks are just a way for NYT to keep engagement; it’s not a meaningful expression of my progress with crosswords because each one is unique. I need to remember that like a mantra when I get frustrated 😁 Regarding look ups, I usually guess and use the check button for words/letters until I get the answer or enough letters to figure out the answer. Though maybe googling will help me retain the information better? I’ll have to experiment, thanks.
@Mean Old Lady Fear and delight, that’s everything I want in a crossword!
@kkseattle I believe this will eventually be true 😅 I’m enjoying working my way up by practicing lots of Fridays in the archive.
@Barry Ancona Thank you!