fionatimes

@David Johnson If you know Gorey's work at all, this just sounds like something he would write. I'd never heard of that piece but guessed his name.

@Rahul I learned a night time prayer as a 5 year old with the phrase "lead us not into eggs aisle." Being very visual, I imagined an open air market with vegetables, fruits, and eggs. Not sure why I wasn't supposed to go there.

@Mike Pip pip hooray to you!

@Cat Lady Margaret Are they bird dogs?

@lucky13 In music, no, but in general, yes. A person can orchestrate something other than music.

@Andrzej Weeping willows can be very wide trees, both above ground and in the root zone. There are not extremely tall. They are not recommended for yard planting because of their wide growth pattern.

@Barry Ancona I had the same reaction to this clue. Nurses do triage first, especially in ERs. We all know this. But I entered the answer because my expectations are low sometimes.

@Francis Canola refers to "Canadian oil", but it is a marketing term not usually capitalized. BTW, it is IIRC mostly or fully an oil sometimes called rapeseed oil, "rape" or "rabe" being old words for turnip. So you can see why they had to rename this oil. O, Canada, we love you!.

@Andrzej "Danish" is a type of pastry dough that has heavy cream in it, making it messy to work with but giving it flaky. Bear claws can use danish dough, so they are a specific type of danish with almonds.

@Eric Hougland I love Oxford commas. If your mother is Mary I would have no commas in that sentence, or leave her name out. I think too many put a comma in before a name. "I had dinner with my mother Mary" is clear.

@dutchiris I think you have broken some kind of pun density record. Congratulations.

@M But Hoosier was easily guessed from the crosses, and the team still exists. It is not 70s. As a long time puzzler, I rarely feel good about reveals that are not funny or clever. It is just a game. For others I am not sure of, I like it when I feel I might remember one the next time it comes up.

@SP A letter bank is what the hive letters in Spelling Bee are. The challenge is often that you have to repeat letters to get more words from the bank.

@Alex Barry I'm happier when I see an arachnid/spider like the Daddy because I can identify it easily. It is the possible recluses and widows that make me wish I could memorize the differences. This thread reminds me of a great commercial, possibly only aired on streaming channels, featuring someone using slow Internet to look up the spider in the room with them, then trying desperately to connect to Poison Control.

@CCed I never thought of pluralizing the word hegira, but it makes sense as there are different ones. Two interesting ones are the Ethiopian Hegira and Joni Mitchell's album.

@JM Agreed. The time is ripe just means it is a great time to do something. Ripe doesn't necessarily have anything to do with odor.

@Francis This ROYGBIV does describe the color spectrum. As one trained in graphics and cartography, I cannot see leaving any out. Indigo is navy blue with very little red in it (though indigo dyes can make other colors). "Violet" here is not just the red-purple color, it can mean invisible ultraviolet. "Red" is not just the primary color, it can mean invisible infrared. So OYGBI is the visible spectrum.

@Francis "catholic" is also a word in itself that means universal or broad.

@Striker Though a cat fan, I just found out about this breed this year on the interwebs. There is a doctor who has what she calls Balinese cats because her husband is somewhat allergic to cats. The cats are fluffy but apparently selected for a lower production of the main cat-made allergen.

@coloradoz I believe tuxedos made it into the Gameplay column or its picture this year. When I got this answer I had two reactions: told my tuxedo cat Maya she made it into the NYT xword; and hoped they would put a tuxedo cat in the column again.

@Gareth Gorey was a strange American artist and author who focused on disturbing content. His art is I believe still featured on PBS's Mystery! series. It is mostly black and white parlor scenes from the early 20th or Victorian days. Apparently, ladies fainted a lot and the sky was always scary looking.

@Francis Sort of right. Bread and Roses was the name of an important strike/rally in Lawrence MA. The labor events back then, especially if run by the IWW (Wobblies), had participants and speakers from dozens of cultures. They probably did get boisterous.

@Chris I would not be expecting an acronym word to be the answer, as that is a little like using the same word in the clue and the answer.

@DIWill Many times the software will let you enter only the first letter of a rebus to get credit. I don't like not being able to see rebuses so I rarely use this feature.

@Dave If you were following U.S. election-fraud dramas, which I do not recommend, you would know Fulton County is in Georgia and its county seat is Atlanta.

@Elbridge Gerry Not really. I move quickly and am completely comfortable moving to the next clue if I cannot get one.

@Hazel F I read LOTR when I was 14. I got harassed by a usually polite aunt for bringing it to some holiday gathering (where adult were probably watching TV). I could not put it down. But I found it stressful and somewhat scary; how ever would our hero save the world?

@Matthew Orajel is a brand, maybe just U.S. that protects the inside of your mouth from mouth acids. I used it once when I had burned my mouth with a bit of food. I think there is also a gel that adds some numbing meds, I would assume for tooth or gum problems.

@bb It means dialog, which I tend to spell dialogue.

@Andrzej NoDoz is a caffeine pill sold over the counter in the U.S. IIRC, each pill has the caffeine of 2-3 cups of strong coffee.

@Andre I noticed that too. Mailboxes are not often on porches either anymore. If the USPS lets you use a door slot, that could be on the porch. Before I got my little house, the seller had to put a box on a post right near the sidewalk.

@Cat Lady Margaret I miss the NYT novelty puzzles that did this, sort of. I think it was called Spiral. I also like vowel-less puzzles and the clueless puzzle. Those went away for us merely digital subscribers.

@CCed I am fostering a cat who happens to be a sweet little dude. I seem to only have female pet cats. So now I get to say this a lot, probably a few times times a day.

@Dave H As a former map expert, I concur. Pan around, zoom in. You can sort of do both in some software, but they are different actions.

@Robco AC units condense moisture from inside air and have to drip that somewhere else. Some of the moisture dries inside the unit. The water dripping on the ground might end up back in the air outside your apartment. Dehumidifcation is an endless battle.

@MWC Using a tool such as ChatGPT is barely AI. There are many ways to select word patterns, all using selects and general expressions. Some people can do this with special software, some with Web sites (such as Litscape), and some with programming languages and word lists. ChatGPT is just helping those who want to save some time. Real AI can learn, guess, and almost think like a human. It might be trained to create a mediocre crossword from just a theme and a grid. IMHO, that would be cheating using AI.

@Valerie That sounds like a recipe I made called Rooster's Beak (Pico de Gallo). Lots of salsas get called Pico de Gallo, but this one really does look beak-like (the chile or paprika tints the white jicama pieces).

@Lewis [Lot's wife] I'm Still Standing

@Francis "Cava" is on Spanish champagne labels but I thought it was an adjective, not the type of wine. TIL for me. The Iota clue refers literally to the three (Greek) I symbole.

@Andrzej It is the middle of many work weeks, which end with TGIF (thank God it's Friday). Some also start with Manic Monday.

@dutchiris I prefer cheating on Crossword with Wordle quickies.