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Greensboro NC
So my gold star streak hit 2000 today. Not much by David Connell and Steve L standards, but a milestone for me. It would have been longer except for some heart surgery five and a half years ago, which means the operation must have been a success. A good cup of coffee, a cat in my lap and a fine Friday puzzle to solve, always my favorite. Who could ask for more?
I was relieved that so many people found this as difficult as I did. I finally finished clean, but well over my average. I was totally stumped about halfway through when I realized that Nicolas was not one of the cOEn brothers and that the equator (ECUADOR) is the part of the earth that is farthest from the center. With those two breakthroughs the puzzle fell like a bunch of dominoes. Funny how that works out every now and then. Speaking of workouts, thanks for this one, Mr Slonecker.
For a brief moment this morning I thought it was Tuesday, and the last few days were just a bad dream. Then I realized it really was Friday and I was a victim of wishful thinking. Oh well, nice puzzle anyhow.
@Marshall Walthew I went to high school with Pete Maravich in Raleigh, and he was a unicorn even then. 6’4” and 150 lbs, he would end pre game warm up sessions by making right and left handed hook shots from the top of the key. Some things you never forget.
The reason that I don’t enjoy Sunday puzzles as much as the T-F-S group, besides my short attention span, is the amount of fill a Sunday puzzle seems to require to make the themes work. This Sunday felt different to me. The theme answers all brought a smile to my face, and the fill was equally enjoyable. I second previous comments praising the effort that Mr. Kugelman put into this one and thank him for that effort. I worked for me.
@Mike I solved my first NYT puzzle about ten years ago with my brother in law on a visit. I always wanted to try a Times puzzle, but I did not know that Saturday was the hardest day, and our combined effort complete with Googling endlessly came to a success only 2 1/2 hours later. Now I am thoroughly hooked on both the routine of the daily puzzle, and the Wordplay column, where I have never known a time without Deb. So I wanted to say something profound to her to express my best wishes for her retirement and my sadness for the prospect of no longer seeing her byline on the column. Fortunately, you did it for me, better than I could ever hope to. Thanks.
I came here thinking that all the comments soul be of the “too easy” variety. There are some of those, but not nearly as many as I expected. As for me, my time was less than half my Friday average, and only a minute from my Tuesday number. I guess I was just tuned into the constructor’s wavelength, or maybe I am more brillianter than I think. Yeah, that must be it. Thanks for a fun puzzle.
@Sam Lyons I don’t disagree with your calling a natick on that crossing as I believe all naticks are personal, revealing what you know or don’t know in certain areas. I am interested, however, when folks connect their unfamiliarity with Harry Potter to be related to their not having children. I have never had children, yet I have read the books, enjoyed the movies and even listened to the audiobooks during my morning walks because I so much enjoyed the writing, hue plot and the character development. On the other hand I tried to read LOTR and couldn’t get past the first hundred pages, and never watched a single episode of GOT. I have no explanation for that, it’s just interesting to me.
@Adina Our boy Kato weighs in at 15 lbs and sounds like he’s wearing combat boots when he runs around the house at 3am. We use the expression ONLITTLECATFEET for him constantly, but not in his presence, as he is not partial to sarcasm. A good weekend for me, coming in at just over 50% of my average on both days. Not gloating, just praising the constructors for such excellent puzzles! 😁
I was well on my way to agreeing with the “too easy for a Saturday” crowd until I got stumped at the middle bottom. Keeping waterPOWER and selfiePHOTO for way too long shoved me into over average time. Moral of the story: don’t get too attached to answers, even if they seem to be perfect. Especially the long ones.
@Francis I remember being in my twenties when I moved to San Francisco in 1977. I was showing off my apartment to a new friend who started laughing when we got to the bedroom. I had hung a large print on the wall over the bed and she suggested that I move it to another wall lest I get conked on the head in my sleep when, not if, the next earthquake hit. Really good advice.
@Tom Sometimes the theme helps you solve the puzzle and sometimes it doesn’t. But if you finish the puzzle and still don’t get the theme, then you haven’t solved the puzzle, or so I’ve always thought. It is what makes Thursdays fun/maddening/frustrating. Choose one, two, or all the above.
Being a good Tar Heel fan, and not being familiar with USHES, I naturally filled in 9 down as dooKIES. I don’t understand. It was just so obvious.
Once again, Robyn Weintraub shows that there are more adjectives to describe a puzzle than “easy” and “hard”. For me, a very important measure is the number of smiles you experience in a solve. Such as figuring out an answer like BABYGROOT as opposed to torturing out a response to ”Pepin the Short’s ex-wife’s maiden name”. I managed to solve this in a respectable time, but loved every minute of it. Thanks again, Robyn. Hurry back.
@Darren I can understand that you did not enjoy this puzzle, but if you read any of the comments you surely would have noticed that a lot of people, myself included, enjoyed it quite a bit. There are a lot of puzzles that I find difficult, but it never occurs to emerge to launch a personal attack on the constructor because of that. Save your hatred for more important things than a crossword puzzle.
Kato, the resident housecat who helps me with my morning crossword, was pleased to see his name in the New York Times this morning. He enjoyed it almost as much as watching Carolina send Dook back up the road to Durham with an L last night. A good win and a good puzzle. Thanks to Mr. Grinberg for the latter.
I read the clue for 47 across, and, looking at Kato sitting in my lap, began to enter cAT, before bursting into laughter and correcting myself. Kato, as usual, was unamused. Thanks to the constructor for providing us with a reminder of Toni Morrison’s brilliance. It is much appreciated.
@Heidi I have a routine of walking in the mornings. When someone asks me how long it takes me to complete my walk, I respond with "I don't go too fast, but i go pretty far". I'm always disappointed when they don't get the reference.
@Helen Wright It probably helps to be an American of a certain age to have Buddy Ebsen as a gimme answer. The Beverly Hillbillies was a number one TV program in the sixties, and also spawned a spin-off, Petticoat Junction. Ebsen started out as a dancer in the twenties and transitioned to a popular TV star at the end of his long career, with roles as varied as a private eye and Davy Crockett’s sidekick, in addition to the Arkansas hayseed who found oil on his property.
@Steven M. As I read this lengthy thread, I am reminded of Joey’s statement that a comment made by another “Friends” cast member was a “moo” point. When questioned, he explained that it was not worth discussing, like a cow’s opinion.
I started with pounds for 1a and pickle for 1d and thought, well this is going to be easy for a Saturday. It was, but not until I cleared up the mess in the NW corner. The long answers in the middle came fast and resulted in me finishing at less than half my average time. I, like many others, am waiting to see if Will will return, or is just on hiatus. Wishing him the best of outcomes either way.
@CCNY Let me know when you find out where to call, please. I’ve had the lyrics to “Along Comes Mary” banging around in my brain for, oh, 50 or 60 years now, and I’d like to clear them out to make room for something more useful. Like the expiration date on my credit card so I don’t have to look for my wallet when I want to buy something online. Also, the location of my wallet.thanks.
I thought I was off to an all time great start when I got REVERSEENGINEER without the help of a single cross, and then nailed the gimme right under it which I was sure was winwinsituation. When the crosses indicated that at least one of them was wrong I came back down to earth, but I finished well below my Friday average. Still I enjoyed that brief moment and the delusions of adequacy that accompanied it. Oh well…
@Rich in Atlanta I read through all the comments this morning to see if anyone would remember Winky Dink, as it was one of those childhood memories that resides in a dusty old trunk upstairs. Sue enough, the last comment (so far) was the one I was looking for. Thanks Rich, for letting me know that the population of Geezerhood is at least two!
@M. Biggen After ten years of solving online, and seventy years of reading books, I accept that there are still answers in the puzzle that I just don’t know and I’ll have to get them from the crosses. When the first commenter said that not knowing this clue was a result of either not reading or not paying attention, I did not take it personally because, well, that’s just who he is. But when the second commenter says that I also have to live under a rock not to know this particular answer, I have to join with Andrzej in saying it just isn’t so.
I really enjoyed the last couple of days. Themeless puzzles are my favorite and yesterday’s was a classic. Today’s was also a lot of fun and rhe clueing must have been right in my wheelhouse as I got my first PB in quite a while with a time a minute and a half faster than my Wednesday time this week. Thanks for the fun!
Coincidentally, I just finished a Josh Knapp Saturday from 11/24/2012, It also used MESA and AMBLEd as answers, which may have helped me slightly with today’s solve, but with different cluing. My time was slower on the archived puzzle, but I found them both to be enjoyable challenges.
@AJ First paragraph-Good point Second paragraph-Good question Third paragraph-Good grief
@jennie Not to be confused with the state pen, which is something altogether different.
@dutchiris I once saw a license plate in California that read ISUZU. The plate holder read “you hit me”. I had to take my mind off the road for a sec to get it, but I smiled when I did.
I had a tough time with the middle since I have never used a Mac, or Snapchat, was only familiar with the spelling of GESTe, and could not dredge up BLOVIATES with all those holes. Sometimes all the gaps in your knowledge converge in one area. On the other hand, since KATO is also the name of the cat sitting in my lap as I did this puzzle, I got a freebie there. So I guess it evens out.
I really liked this one. Got practically nothing on the first pass other than a good feel for the clueing, which gave me some hope. MERCYBUCKETS was a lucky guess with very little to go on, but it opened up the middle for me. From there I was able to get the corners and the gold star. Proper names were no help, as NILES, LOLA and RONNIE might as well live on the SOMALI Peninsula as far as I knew. I held on to drIpPy. For way too long. It didnt seem right but I was pretty sure that STRIPY needed an e. That was my last holdout and I finished enough under my average to feel good about myself, which is all you can ask for a Saturday puzzle. Go Heels!
I saw the clue for 1D and confidently entered Pound, figuring the reference was to Paula Poundstone and I had a rebus to figure out. When I finally saw the error of my ways, the rest of the puzzle flowed fairly easily, but was a lot of fun. Thanks to Katie Hoody for ax good start to the morning.
@Eric Hougland He is also remembered here in Greensboro, his birthplace, where a popular hotel carries his name. An earlier downtown hotel was also named after him and, if my memory serves, a major street used to be named O Henry Boulevard. Needless to say, that clue was a gimme for me.
@Eric Hougland On the other hand, I have had my aorta replaced, but they kept the valves and reused them. Together we probably have one good heart and a lot of replacement parts.
Fun puzzle, and I enjoyed both the clueing and the theme. I had to correct one answer. For the “Fellow Down Under” clue, I confidently entered MAtt, congratulating myself for my cleverness in figuring that that out, but was wrong. Again.
@SBK I believe that it refers to something that looks like a one word answer that is really two words, as in DO OK. Of course, to those of us with ties to the UNC Tae Heels, it refers to that university eight miles away.
@Cat Lady Margaret I think of it as a sentence. No time off for good behavior, no parole.
@Francis In an earlier life I worked in a little bank in a toney community where my customers included William Shockley and Tennessee Ernie Ford. I often thought to myself that such an unlikely pairing could only happen in California.
What a great puzzle! Took me 27% longer than my average, but I enjoyed every chewy minute of it. I nearly lost it trying to search all the old trunks in the dusty attic of my mind to remember MARYJANES; when I did it opened up that whole side for me. In addition to the great misdirections, the almost total lack of fill made every section a little victory. Thanks Katie, I knew it would be a good one when I saw your name, and you outdid yourself.
This puzzle was true evidence of YMMV. i filled in the SE first, but had a devil of a time with the NW, where I started. I was surprised to see how many common four letter Scandinavian first names there are, NILS, Lars Olaf, Olaf, Sven. I’m sure there are more if I dug deeper. What killed my time was the seemingly endless flyspecking before I realized that the early Kia was not an a RIa, and that STOKES worked better than STaKES for the cross. Did I say that I got the SE first? Only kinda, sorta I guess. YMMV
This started out very slow for me with nothing clicking for the first dozen or so clues. Then I got a toe hold and eventually felt like I found a mental link with the constructor and finished in just under average time. I loved the wordplay and the clever use of the theme and never felt that this was a slog. Especially nice after the beating I took from Saturday’s puzzle. Thanks to Mr. Kugelman and thanks to Michigan State for again helping the Tar Heels advance another week in March.
A question for all the long time solvers who used to solve on paper, as well as those who still do. When you complete a puzzle, do you then go to the answer key to determine whether you have filled in each space correctly? If not how do you know that you completed it accurately. Forgive me if this question has been asked and answered multiple times, but I am a regular reader of the column and comments and have never seen it. Just curious.
I tried sex for 6a and was quite proud of myself, only to do better when I got some help later. I had a lot of fun with this puzzle and want to thank the constructor for the experience. Let’s see how this plays with the emus!
After reading the comments so far it seems that the most hangups were with the CLEF/LAYOFF and TAIGA/TAJIK crosses. I won’t refer to them using the N word, lest I become a victim of a pile on. My personal bugaboo was the OASIS/ALA cross. I know Dave Brubeck but not the titles of his works, and neither Oasis or Wonderwall tickle a music memory. My point is that this was sticky for a lot of reasons for different people and very enjoyable for a Tuesday for this particular person.
Got the overlays, got the theme and got the puzzle, all except for the last square in the NE corner. I was not familiar with this particular flavor of equine, and did not know the nickname for Hollywood, despite living in CA for fifteen years. So I was left with running the alphabet and finally got the answer with Z. Never had that happen before, but if you live long enough, I guess.
@Marshall Walthew I loved the 5th Dimension, Marilyn McCoo, and the song you referenced. But I remember thinking that if she was only frying one egg for the guy, she shouldn’t be surprised that he left.
@Andrzej I believe I like the Polish posters better. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you Robyn. I don’t know if you’re the best, but you’re certainly my favorite!
@Edward As an overage ex-altar boy, I remember it as “Dominus vobis cum”, and the response as “Et cum spiritu tuo”. Which would predate “and also with you”. If my memory serves me correctly.