Bill
Minnesota
I didn’t know Bush senior and Carter both had perms. The formal Bush and the humble Carter, who would have guessed. And then of course I rethunk it. Had a good laugh.
Took a bit of time but I got it. Nice play on words in some of the clues. After about 5 years of solving, I can say it’s finally become rare that I need to look anything up to solve a puzzle, even on the tough days. I’ve come a long way since those first weeks of solving when I’d never get a Thursday-Sunday puzzle without look ups. So if you are new at this, just keep plugging away.
This was under my Saturday average. Anytime I can get wed-sat with no look ups is a good week for me. If you are new at this, stick with it. The more you do the smarter you feel. I’m still in awe of frequent commentators here who pull off these puzzles in a quarter the time it takes me, but then I remember I get more fun time than they do. Fun puzzle.
Challenging Saturday for me, but got it with no look-ups. A nice diversion from the news, but feeling like the world is turning upside down for real, and I’m ready to march.
Used to be not long ago I could never come close to solving a Sunday puzzle. Now it’s just how fast can I do it. So if you are new and still struggling, hang in there.
@Chris. Yeah, me too. I too had TAT and TIRED, took forever to find the pesky error.
I coach the Southwest High School math team, and we won the Minneapolis district last week, so going to the state tourney next month, go SW!
Started slow, but suddenly came together. I’m getting better at these.
My dad just passed last year. So sorry Deb. But we are still living, and so wanted you to know I let out a loud Whoop! that scared my wife (don’t ever do that again!) when I finished this puzzle with no look ups. Perfect puzzle level for me, so crafty, thanks!
Just a really good puzzle. Challenging for me, but got it no lookups.
Very satisfying crossword. Loved “Takes in the trash”!
@Amy. And to all, appreciate the love and support!
@Ken W. No biggy. The first letter I tried was “t” because it sounded perfectly Italian. Never heard of TAIO, learned something. The rest of the puzzle was nice and clean, good Thursday trick.
@Jon. No one cares, it’s true. I’m at 362, 3 more for a year. Do I quit today, in 3 days, in 3000 days? But I get it, or I wouldn’t admit I know my own streak. So if it means anything, I’ll say I care. Keep your own count, we’ll ignore the miss. It was an easy Tuesday for gosh sakes. In solidarity, I’ll skip tomorrow. Okay, maybe not.
Really fun. My first word, STATE, for Chihuahua, e.g. Then EWE, then RANLOW, which I got with nothing but a W. Built around that. Got it pretty quickly for me for a Saturday. Couldn’t get much of a foothold yesterday, this one made up for it.
@DocP Makes me think of the silly human trap where people fly a lot just for the frequent flyer status, where you get unbelievable perks like getting on the plane 2 minutes sooner (so you can be cramped even longer) and getting 2 more inches in leg room (okay, some people are long, so glad I’m not for plane’s sake). I’m sure someone has done a master’s thesis in psychology (or marketing) on “how humans get trapped in manufactured (and meaningless) status symbols”.
@john ezra. Laughing very hard, thanks.
Too much complaining. Yeah, NYT can do better, but the puzzle was quite solvable without the underlined letters, and I don’t think the underlines would have helped me solve it any faster. They were just a very clever addition to discover after the fact. Nice puzzle!
Not my fastest Wednesday, but close. STRIPPOKER? YEAHNO. Well …….
I dated a woman in Toronto years ago, and she said “have a bird”. A bird? I said “ you mean a cow?” And she laughed and asked how anyone could possibly have a cow! Any Canadians want to chime in?
Very enjoyable and clever puzzle. Who didn’t laugh at TURTLESHELL?
My fastest Thursday ever! Very fun. Laughed at INATUB!
My favorite in a long time. So many audible “ohs” or “hah”s coming from me. Hard but doable. Fell together nicely, very fun.
Got it, no lookups, so satisfying.
Just very happy I got this one without lookups, though it took a while.
Quick Thursday, but fun and new.
@Steve L. The K in Nikki my last correction. Voila.
Very clever the way this was constructed, with those long entries. Clues were good too.
Took me 45 minutes to find my mistake, BELLE, not BELLA. Ugh.
TRANSAM made me smile. I remember some of the rich kids who drove Transams to high school. They were beautiful. 6.6L it said on the hood. Sitting next to CJ5’s with lift kits, giant mud tires, and KC lights. I drove a big mercury station wagon to school sometimes. Don’t laugh, it had a very beefy 390cu engine.
@Francis. More roundabouts please.
@Kris T. I was waiting for this. I moved to Minnesota 27 years ago, after living all over the country. Only in Minnesota is it Duck Duck Gray Duck. It’s wrong, of course. There is much ado about it here when young kids get weird looks from non minnesotans when they utter duck duck gray duck instead of duck duck goose. The NYT will surely get an earful on this one.
@p j fin. Under 10 is my goal for Mondays.
That was a slog, but did it no look ups! One little letter at a time, clues made you think outside the BOXfish.
@Heidi. I was tempted to learn quite a bit today, but after a terribly long slog, was able to avoid it. (And I mean long). Odd to be proud of not learning at all.
@replay An HVAC crossword indeed.
I got it, no look ups, but a bear. A fun one. Took forever. I pulled OPAH out of my memory somewhere, kept it going. Top left area took the longest.
NE Corner was a where I flounced a while.
I couldn’t get it without “cheating”, but just a really good puzzle. Learned a lot. How had I never heard of Busby?
Okay, duck duck goose is correct. Just going to say that Minnesotans are wrong on this one. I’m not from here, but gray duck just isn’t right. Also, it’s bag, not “bague” that rhymes with vague. I’ve lived here 25 years, and I still can’t stop hearing the accent. Ok Minnesotans, punch me down.
Took me 20 minutes to change IDA/IVA to ADA/AVA, grrrr.
@Bill in Yokohama. I read we have 6 million years before it won’t totally cover the sun, so we have a lot of eclipses to look forward to.
@Clare. I wish I had thought of this rule when my son was younger. Great rule! But we didn’t need the rule after all - he told stories non stop, even on 10-16 mile hikes. Great puzzle!
So many misdirects! But I got it finally! That was a work out for me.
@Andy. That’s okay, I’ve never heard of a layette, and I’m a US dad.
Very enjoyable puzzle, one of my favorites in a long time. Challenging for me, but with a few bursts of progress got it. Had si si puede, Spanish not so good. But Esme made more sense. On the same wavelength with constructor.
Surprised when I put a B in there for RABE and got the gold star. Perfect difficulty for me for a Friday. Came in big chunks.
@LBG. I’d give you 10 likes if I could. Very funny effort.