Andrew
Ottawa
I tried to find an answer for the clue “Canada?” but I came up with nothing.
Well, this puzzle was right in my wheelhouse. In fact I solved it while watching the Ottawa Senators - LA Kings game. A couple of commenters remarked that the ZAMBONI graphic was the icing on the cake. I would point out that the ZAMBONI's job is to deal with the caking on the ice!
Off Topic: Yesterday I made mention of the word CLOTBUR, an infamous pangram that traumatized an earlier generation of Spelling Bee / Wordplay commenters. When I went to read comments from that time in 2018, I was surprised to see how often my name appeared in the Wordplay comments. I also remembered that I would occasionally compose silly poems and post them in the comments, and I knew that I had written one where CLOTBUR made an appearance. Well, I found it stored in the darkest reaches of my laptop, and thought it was still quite à propos, so here it is. Sung to the tune of “My Favourite Things” ENOs and ONOs and OREO cookies ORCS, ENTS, and E-TS and ALIEN Wookies. EEK, EKE, and ECO, and AAHs, OHS and OOHs, These are a few of my favourite clues. OLE ALOHA and AVE MARIA ARIA, AREA, RIO and RIA. LEIs LEAs and LEIAs, ALEEs and ALOUs. These are a few of my favourite clues. When the NAT TICKS When the CLOT BURS When I lose my way. I simply remember my favourite clues And that's when I DOOK.
This was a brilliant puzzle! One additional note that I have not seen mentioned is that the six circled letters were each symmetrically placed in the puzzle. To have six letters, symmetrically placed that can be dropped out of the entry in both directions, still making sense of the clue, and themselves spelling DROP IT is really mind-boggling! Puzzle of the year!
For me it was one of the easier Sundays that I've solved in quite some time. Having read the title (Where'd you go), I noticed about half way through that there were no "U"s in the puzzle whatsoever. When I got to the revealer (which had the only U), it was evident what the theme was. This allowed me to start filling in the themers that I had been unable to do up to that point. It was a very creative idea, and a fun solve. Today I learned that SEXILE was a thing. I've been a professor for 40 years and never heard of it. I guess that makes me a lifelong learner. Congratulations to the constructor, and wishing you the best for the future after your sudden loss of livelihood.
I used to post quite a lot, but haven’t for quite some time now. Today something very interesting happened with my solve. I thought that I had a very early breakthrough - yet it turned out to be all for nothing. With only the T in square 18, I looked at the clue for 68D and said to myself “I know that”. It had to be “They’re Coming to Take me Away, Ha Ha!” I remembered this Number 1 song in Canada, and it fit perfectly into place, including the T at square 18. Furthermore it was by someone called Napoleon XIV. And Napoleon Bonaparte had played an important role in the music of Beethoven who also composed “Für Elise”. It all seemed to click and I really thought I was on to something here. I prided myself on guessing such an unlikely clue so early on. Well, I soon realized, when none of any crosses would work (except for ODE at 78A), that I would have to tear that idea up, and it was not until much later that I could fill in the Doors classic. To add insult to injury, I looked up “They’re Coming to Take me Away, Ha Ha!”, and it was actually from 1966, not 1967. Notwithstanding the above, this was a terrific puzzle and a very enjoyable Saturday night romp! Cheers to old Wordplay friends!
Despite a lifetime spent in academia, I have never encountered the term "intermural". (15A) Sporting activities held within the University were always termed intramural, while sports played against other institutions were termed intercollegiate. I'm not saying it is not a word - just that it is not in current use, as far as I know, north of the border.
Even though GROUNDHOG DAY repeats itself over several rows, it is really the 11th row that stands out and resonates with me. YMMV.
Absolutely brilliant puzzle! Oddly enough, my initial guess at 69A (with only OLD FAITHFUL filled in of the theme entries) was UNITED STATES. As it turns out, that was the correct geographical location, but so many AHA moments to come along the way. First of all realizing that both NORTHWEST and NORTHEAST fit (I tend to solve from top to bottom), and then discovering that SOUTHWEST and SOUTHEAST also fit. I thought I had discovered it all until I read the column and realized that the locations were all placed in their appropriate geographic location. I am in awe! Oh, and of course my favourite clue/entry was "Person living in London"/ONTARIAN. Thanks for the gimme!
I thought this puzzle was just fine and ANDY.
Maybe it’s just a sign that I’m getting old, but to me erotica and PORN are two very different things. The toughest moment for me was trying to figure out what word came after SEAL. Of course it had to be SEAL ION!
This morning my son texted me the following: if they made a sequel to Animal Farm, I know which animal Chairman Mao would be... a Zedonk! You know you’re getting old when your son starts making Dad jokes!
Well, my current streak of 1,827 days works out to exactly five years (even taking into account two leap days). It would have been even longer had I not forgotten to log on to the internet one day while on a European vacation in 2019. As for the puzzle it was a smooth solve tonight although I had to run the alphabet for _ANK at 43A. Sadly I decided to end the run at W which kind of worked for the clue.
Definitely the most difficult puzzle I’ve encountered in quite some time. I like to never look things up while solving, yet today I looked up two things to give me a little momentum. Otherwise, I would have lost an entire day. I rather enjoy wine and was really curious to know what the sediment was. LEES was a complete unknown. I also Googled colchicine to discover CROCI. I had assumed wrongly that the last letter would be an S, which was gumming up my SE corner. Lots of nasty comments today. I have been working through the early 2000s Saturdays in the archives, and there have been a number of equally impenetrable puzzles back then. I think we’ve been spoiled in recent years with much more forgiving Saturday puzzles. People need to chill and accept the fact that some puzzles will defeat them.
Well, that was a big change from Saturday. Hopefully commenters have had time to calm down. There seemed to be record numbers of angry solvers for a challenging Saturday puzzle. Those who complained that "intend" did not equate to "hope" got their preferred "mean" today. Todays puzzle reminded me of a ditty that my mother used to recite: YYUR YYUB ICUR YY4ME (Too wise you are / Too wise you be / I see you are / Too wise for me) Something to amuu the emuu...
I got held up with 20A as I had confidently entered RIOT. I will see myself out now.
Chance to attend a spiritual gathering: MYSTICAL OPPORTUNITY "You're not gonna eat that prairie oyster?" PASS THE TEST___
Quite a breezy Sunday. It took me a few theme answers before I fully grasped the theme, but a lot of the fill was quite predictable. Glad to see ALOO GOBI. I am quite partial to Indian food and this is one of the few dishes I can actually make myself. A bull or a heifer? GENDER REVEAL
I remember when I was very young my parents gave me for Christmas a pair of corduroys. I spent a Child’s Christmas in WALES.
I feel badly for those whose only goal in solving a crossword is to fill in the grid from the given clues, (often as quickly as possible), without contemplating what the title might mean or how the circled letters might relate to the theme. To me this is a significant part of the puzzle, and I don't really feel that I have solved it until I have grasped those intricacies. I realize that not everyone shares my appreciation for clever construction, but it's those Aha! moments that are the real joy of solving puzzles like this.
I understand that there are those who dislike rebus puzzles. What I don't understand is applying the term "lazy" to this feature. It is certainly not lazy of the constructor, who woiuld have a much easier time simply finding a shorter word rather than fitting a theme-specific string of letters to one square. If anything then, it is laziness on the part of the solver, who does not want the added difficulty of reasoning out an additional element in order to successfully complete the puzzle.
I liked COME OUT crossing CLOSET. I caught on to the theme early on when SKIS and CARS did not agree with the tense and case of the clue. When I realized that SKID and CARD worked better, I had CARS on the mind and thought how interesting that both CAR and CARD worked equally well. Seeing the title "Same difference" I had my AHA moment and used the theme to help solve the other circled letter clues. This puzzle was a SMASH!
I’ve always spelled it AMBIENCE so this was not NOT MY CUP OF TEE. I hesitated as to whether THEIR was really a pronoun, even though the entry seemed obvious. Fact Boy addresses this issue. I prefer coffee.
After Friday’s puzzle came dangerously close to ending my streak, and took me much longer than I would ever dare to admit, I sailed through this Saturday puzzle with very little trouble. I’ll join those who believe the puzzle orders were reversed. TIBERIUS was the middle name of Starship Enterprise Captain James Kirk, played by Montreal native William Shatner. Just a little Trekkie trivia!
Well, that one definitely passed the breakfast test, although FROG LEGS almost made me want to PTUI. A lot of negative comments today, but I for one rather enjoyed the unusual entries and challenging clues. I agree it would be tough for a non-North American.
@Mu I'm not really up on current celebrities, but it seems to me that the world is full of over hyped under talented ones. What I don't understand is why so many people pick on this particular one, who is probably more talented than most.
@Anita I agree that the ZAMBONI graphic is the icing on the cake. I'd also point out that the ZAMBONI's main task is dealing with the caking on the ice!
@Jonathan Baldwin I guess IT IS I who will have to comment that this is grammatically correct, but the opposite should correctly be NOT I. And as for pluralizing OPUS, imagine the confusion when stating that Beethoven wrote 138 opera, but only one opera.
I never dreamed it would be a Wednesday puzzle that would put an end to my 2070 puzzle streak. (Well, I found a way to keep the "streak" going, but it doesn't feel honest or right anymore...). Then on reading Wordplay, I was informed that ELPHABA, one of the impossible entries that prevented me from finishing was actually a Gimme!!! I guess I must live in a cave. The real culprit for me was only considering ABC or NBC for 28D. That prevented me from getting the very gettable ORBS, although even with TEMPE__ I didn't know the egg yolk based paint. (That must be getting to be a very costly paint these days BTW.) I have no idea what ADJ means in the context and even Google doesn't seem to help me there. That's SALATA problems in the centre of the grid! Oh well, onward and upward!
@Steve L A couple of things I would point out, and of course I am not questioning your experience and expertise in all matters crossword-related. The blinking "i" is always a factor in Sunday puzzles due to the fact that there is always a title which suggests the theme. One might neglect to notice it on another day, but I am surprised that you would not have expected it to be there on a Sunday. A classic is in no way related to its popularity at the moment of creation. Many artistic classics were flops at the time they were created and became classics by their enduring and growing reputation through the passage of time. I would argue that this is the case here. On the contrary, many number 1 songs from 60 years ago are completely forgotten now and definitely not classics. (For example the "song" I initially entered, as mentioned in an earlier comment.) According to Wikipedia, Break on Through was ranked by The Guardian in 2021 as No. 2 of all Doors songs. (I'm assuming that Light My Fire was number 1.) I think its description as a classic is well-deserved.
SETUP DIAL UP INK UP PONY UP What’s up with that? I’ll join the MAPO TOFU fan appreciation club! One of my favourite dishes and one that I like to make from time to time. I can’t say any of the other food items appealed, although my two favourite summer drinks were there - COSMO and BEER. Happy DAIS at the BARR!
JODHPURS - Finally a word to rhyme with CLOTBURS! (Comment intended for longtime Wordplay commenters.)
It seems some people were able to register a completion by leaving the holes blank. On my iPhone, this did not work and I had to fill in each of the blank squares with the word HOLE, at which point the music played. I would have preferred leaving them blank, and having just the visual image of the holes. I tried the alternate spelling WOAH for 4A but there were not enough squares.
PITCH CLOCK - What you might do when the alarm rings on your day off.
@Dan I'm not usually one to respond to nits, and I appreciate that this puzzle was not to your liking. I think, however, that you are wrong to blame the editors for a puzzle that you disliked. As for 9D and 2D being arcane, why not just say that they were not in your wheelhouse. I did not know 2D either, but I found it gettable from the crosses. 9D is in my wheelhouse and is not particularly obscure. As for the proper nouns, the theme relied upon women's names so that takes into account six of the entries. If you are referring to entries like OHIO and ITALY I don't think there is anything untoward about those. AWOL is a word in the dictionary. True it is an acronym, but so are LASER and SCUBA to name just a couple. AWOL is in very common usage. Dot EDU is an ending, but so is the part after the dot, that being EDU. This puzzle ended my streak of 2070 puzzles without any lookups. But I don't blame the editors. Just my two cents.
@Humev Classical musician here, so I know where you are coming from. Still, it's pretty hard not to be aware of Freddie Mercury/Bohemian Rhapsody. Then again, the only Dvorak that my son knows is an NHL player for the Montreal Canadiens!
@Caroline I must agree. I have read the most insipid quotes falsely attributed to Winnie-the-Pooh, Alice in Wonderland and others widely circulating on the internet.
Victor and Tracy, You HAD me at SPAMSPAMALOTALOT. (You almost lost me at the cross of ARC WELDS and WALE.) Still, great fun. I had a WALE of a time!
Still a few residual comments today concerning yesterday's puzzle which, I think it is fair to say, was not universally loved. At the behest of Puzzlemucker, I went back to solve a Sunday puzzle from October 31, 1999 with a not dissimilar theme. While the "trick" was equally hard to deduce, the clueing of the rest of the puzzle was infinitely trickier than what we were given yesterday. My feeling yesterday was that a lot of the non-theme clues were very easy in order to give solvers enough letters to the themed entries that we might deduce the theme through realizing the missing letters. Not so in 1999. If I hadn't had the heads up on the theme, I don't think I would have been able to complete it, which leads me to believe that the puzzles have become intentionally less difficult in recent years.
No underlining for me, so I spent considerable effort looking for anagrams of the capitalized clues that would explain the second part of the entries. Proud to say that I discovered COLA, SCAMS, and ACRE, (among other words), but couldn’t make anything of the remaining letters. (DRY BAR COLA was the closest I got.) Finally went to read Deb’s column and was glad I didn’t expend any more needless effort looking for anagrams that didn’t exist. I must say that I felt a bit like Alice trying to solve the riddle “How is a raven like a writing desk?” only to be eventually told that there is no answer.
@Anita Your comment encapsulates everything I wanted to say about this puzzle. Loved MANHATTAN HOOK UP and I too was left to endless flyspecking until I tried replacing the T in tIRED. I always love your comments and your sly sense of humour!
After two futile attempts to submit a short puzzle-based poem, I am attempting a third bowdlerized version, omitting capitals and potential triggers. I am doubtful this will pass either... I thought it was a passing fad Hoping things were not so bad. Tried to keep it realistic Tried to not be pessimistic. Eight years later all bets off. Now I’m feeling plain 33A. People picked with no ability Anyone’s a possibility And the endless jibber-jabber From a noted 56A* * Feel free to create your own rhyme
The NW was as tough as any quadrant I’ve ever encountered. Lots of misleads throughout- DEFER not DETER. Apple product *had* to be CIDER. Dark side of the moon? had to be MARS. Tee OFF, Tee PEE … And I’d all but forgotten about PLASMA TVs. So, in conclusion, great puzzle!
Clue was my favourite game as a kid, so SECRET PASSAGES came quickly. And one of my favourite commercials as a kid was for the Veg-o-matic. “Dial from slice to dice!” So I caught the theme early. A little bit of Thursday nostalgia. Thanks!
@Steve L Thanks for setting me straight! Being a musician, my mind went immediately to the composer, and despite having been to Germany on numerous occasions, (including Frankfurt), I had never heard of the city of Offenbach. It's always good to learn from the crossword, and no, I would never dream of trolling anyone! ACH so!
Just for fun, I typed SORO into Google and SORORAL came up before sorority and George Soros! Shows you how many NYT puzzlers must have been Googling today...
Today was a brilliant FAILLE! I know, WEIRD FLEX BUT OK... I always thought that TRILOBITES were a billion kilobytes... I was sure of MOON before MORN. I guess I don't know my Shakespeare (who, along with Dickens, Orwell and Kipling, was an incredible person). I am now left with egg NOG on my face.
@George Canniest is an anagram of the word instance
I was absolutely convinced that one of the theme entries would be tunafish related. In fact my first blind guess at 26A was CANNED TUNA. That one did not last long, but I was quite sold on TUNAFISHES instead of WNBA FINALS, as several of the crosses supported my theory. I think I must be the only person who has never heard of Mercury RETROGRADE. I had to Google it post-solve to understand what the connection was, as I only got if from the crosses. I missed the fact initially that the puzzle was by Sam Ezersky or I would have been even more excited than just the usual Thursday excitement! Great fun!
This was great fun once I figured the theme. Unfortunately my first themer was MISS IS ZIPPY, and I decided that, because of “misstated”, they would all have something to do with MIS or MISS (instead of picking up on the “state” aspect). Once I realized there were states involved I was off to the races.