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Austin
Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but not by much. And I REALLY hate multi-word arbitrary phrases for answers.
While clever, it was made EXTREMELY hard to solve online in the colored rings area, since it altered the highlighting color of the squares for the selected clue. It makes a pretty grid, and enables the color-oriented puns making up the rings, but adds unwanted minutes to the solve time. NOT A FAN
@Barry Ancona It's not always about you.
Absurdly long spans of arbitrary answers. If I wanted puzzles that took forever, I would do Sudoku. Hated it.
Did anyone else put IRKS for "33A Makes angry" instead of IRES ? That cost me some time, and I question the use of the latter.
@Barry Ancona 1. I got halfway through the replies with no mention seen. 2. It was ONE part of a multi-comment post. As Kate said, why did YOU feel the need to make a comment?
When the puzzle authors send me the cash, I will take Mandarin lessons. Until they do this for everyone, Anglicized Mandarin phrases have NO PLACE in English crossword puzzles.
I had NO problem with DRILY or the others, but NERTS was a "bridge too far"! I've NEVER heard of it in 72 years, and have never seen it in print. And I used to read the Encyclopedia Britannica and dictionaries for fun as a child. Unacceptable!
I may be old, but the only French word I remember Miss Piggy saying is MOI. I can't recall a single instance where she said anything else in French. And I agree, the SPARTAN clue was bogus.
As I filled in the answer for 10D, I was saddened that Drew Schmenner has absolutely NO IDEA what "sports car" means.
Fun puzzle, but I thought of anther theme entry you might have used. The entry INTHEYEARFIVEFIVE could have been used, with the clue referencing the 1969 Zagar & Evans hit song, "In the Year 2525".
So now constructors are making up words? PAH!?!? That is only a valid answer if the clue points to Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension! If constructors are going to put random syllables as answers, then there is no point continuing to try to solve them. They should go off and marvel at their own cleverness, and leave the crosswords to those who use ACTUAL WORDS in their puzzles. I certainly don't want the NYT to continue this trend. It's bad enough the government has lost its mind, don't bring this garbage into the mix.
Am I the ONLY one who knows that 55A should be IOAN, not EVAN? EVAN is a derivation, but not the original variation.
@Michael DRINK as in "He fell in the drink."
I have an issue with "62D Bier holder." If we're supposed to interpret "bier" as having the German meaning, WHY is the rest of the clue in English? Since it has two different meanings in English and German, shouldn't the rest of the clue provide context indicating which language applies? To expect the German definition, while the rest of the clue is in English, is neither logical nor fair.
Interesting puzzle. My biggest hiccup came from assuming that 40A Trig ratio was COSIN while having only the C and the N, making ADELIE seem wrong. Once I realized the error, the SW quadrant went pretty quickly.
You need to edit the Gameplay, because the answer to 34D is SAINTED, not SAINTS.
@Dave Conductance is the opposite, or inverse, of resistance, in electrical terms. So the unit name, "mohs," is actually the unit name for resistance, "ohms," written backwards, so it's easier to remember.
"Boots and braces" was previously a descriptor for primary aspects of the "uniform" of "skinheads" in Britain, first in the Sixties, then reviving in the Eighties.
Regarding 90A "They may make you jump," if I'm not mistaken, some keyboard-based games use the UP-ARROW to make one's avatar "jump" in the game.
Less fun than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Next time, just publish a blank grid, with no black blocks. It would be easier.
Since no one else mentioned it, the answer for 19A "The "1" of 3-1-4, say" LOSS, is correct in the U.S., but in the rest of the sporting world, it would be DRAW or TIE. As for LAM, I have heard it as a verb, as in the form: "You'd better LAM it out of here," as in "go on the run."
The grapevine theme was OK, but the shaded letter "theme" was extremely lame and childish. Not a fan...
I have to be careful of a tendency to fill in the Across clues first, because I often forget to double-check the Down entries, when I fill in a large section. Which is why I didn't see the problem with HARP for 26A Complain (about), instead of CARP.
Am I the only one who started to answer 54A Bygone initials at JFK as IDL?
A fairly easy solve, but I'm very impressed by the structure. Bravo!
I never took Latin, so I may be wrong, but isn't the plural of BASSO supposed to be BASSI, and not BASSOS?
@Anthony Conductance is the opposite, or inverse, of resistance, in electrical terms. So the unit name, "mohs," is actually the unit name for resistance, "ohms," written backwards, so it's easier to remember.
@R.J. Smith In this case, SHIP is the Millennial shortened form of RELATIONSHIP, so wanting two characters to have a relationship is known as "shipping."
Interesting and fun, but I have a minor quibble regarding 12D Composition of Catullus in ancient Rome. The answer given is ODE, but I can't find ANY reference that claims his poetry included odes. Am I wrong?
I confess, I didn't see the rebus, or the overall conceit, until I read the Gameplay column. While those were extremely clever, the remainder of the puzzle is populated with relatively common clues and answers. I even set a new Thursday PB time of 11:22. Or maybe I've just been playing my crossword app too much. But still fun.
Okay puzzle, but I still think (by definition) 3D should be RACES instead of RAGES.
Am I the only one who has never heard of the phrase NESTSIN, or "nests in"? That's a new one to me.
I believe the word for congruent unconnected occurrences that you were looking for is synchronicity.
@sunny617 A kite is also a bird of prey.
@Grant But not soon enough, in "The Hitcher" remake. Still, an excellent actor, all around.
@David Reiffel Wikipedia usually works better than Google, usually, and has a more intuitive search engine. If only it took wildcard characters!
Sorry, but 1D A little bit of everything? SESAME is WRONG in SO many ways. A sesame bagel has ONLY sesame seeds, and does NOT imply "everything." Making a crossword does NOT give you a license to just MAKE UP ANSWERS!
My sole sticking point was 50A "My man!" as BRUH. Having never seen nor heard of this, I put in the MUCH MORE COMMON version "BRAH."
@Linda Jo Or you could just go to the Wikipedia page "List of shortest-reigning monarchs".
@Stephen I was also caught by CULTHEAD, as well as BOOKINGS for 41A Criminal records? instead of BOOTLEGS.
@Behind a book Actually, it was written by Paul McCartney, although their publishing agreement credits them both.
I read half the comments before my eyes started crossing, but I have NOT seen anyone explain HOW 8D "Inspiration for an essay writer" meant PROMPT. BTW, the rest of the puzzle was no winner, either.
I figured out the rebus, and filled in "!BANG", only to finish the puzzle and find out THAT was "wrong"! RIDICULOUS! Then I had 3 minutes added to my solve time to go back and edit the rebus entries. This is totally something that comes out of the south end of a northbound bull! And it STINKS!
It took a while for 50 Across, since I'm used to seeing football (soccer) team W-L records listed as win-draw (tie)-lose, which is WORLDWIDE. America, and especially American football is one of the FEW places listing the record as win-lose-draw.
To Brandon Koppy - If you like Semisonic, check out the band in their previous, expanded form, Trip Shakespeare.
@Oikofuge I first thought of Ada Lovelace, as well. I changed it when the crosses didn't fit. But they have the same number of letters. Coincidence? I think not...
@Barry AnconaIf something is renamed, its former name is "bygone."