Dardanus
Westchester
I never — never — finish a Saturday puzzle without checking this column. This one I did without that, going to the internet for the Ozlem answer, which is so obscure I don’t consider it cheating. And, even better, I beat my very high average for a Saturday puzzle. All you geniuses can whine all you want, but I appreciate a doable Saturday. Thanks.
@EastCoaster Sorry, folks, but you should lighten up. No one is shouting these words at women on the street. It’s a puzzle, not an etiquette quiz.
Sorry. No fun at all. I still don’t understand whether I need to use the rebus key in order for the online puzzle to work.
I’m completely confused. Are we supposed to turn the clues in the puzzle? It won’t work for me, and I haven’t heard the happy music yet.
No idea why, but this is the second night in a row where I finished the puzzle without coming to this column for hints. Maybe, after 10 years or so, I’m getting decent at this? In any event, a fun puzzle.
The link to the completed crossword is to Thursday’s puzzle, not to today.
@ nrk. Thanks but I’m giving up. I’ve spent far too much time going over the whole grid and can’t find anything wrong. Bust my streak. But I have better things to do than worry about these stupid puzzles.
@Bea I knew Alan Paton because I read “Cry the Beloved Country” in high school and it made a big impression.
This was one of the VERY few puzzles for which the music came on when I didn’t expect it. I almost always have to go over my answers, but not this time. Clever puzzle.
@Paul Thanks, but it’s not worth the time. For the first time ever, in many years of solving these puzzles, I used the disclosure button. Kills my streak, but I’ll get over it.
Easier than I expected. I was surprised to hear the happy music. Now I can go to bed early!
This puzzle gets nothing from me. Another case in which I spend more time trying to figure out how to enter the double letter squares than I do solving. I’m about to give up. To hell with it.
@Evan. Hmm. You favor light reading?
What does Short A have to do with black heart? Really? Is this simply obscurity for the sake of obscurity?
This is the first Friday puzzle I’ve finished without coming to this column. I expected to see lots of comments complaining that it’s too simple but don’t see any. Maybe the usual complainers (whiners) are taking the day off, which would be fine with me.
@Nobody’s Fool I usually would agree with you, but this one came together pretty quickly for me. And rebuses (rebi?) usually slow me down.
@Liz B. In an episode of Black Sails taking place around 1715 a captain referred to the reigning monarch as George the First. It annoyed (and annoys) me no end that writers about historical eras cannot get the terminology right. I guess I’m being pedantic, but I don’t care.
I was completely lost after the first pass-through and, contrary to my personal rule, looked at this commentary. Once I saw the trick about rebuses around the edge I was able to fill it in with relatively little trouble. Please don’t do this again.
@Fact Boy Glass (of Glass-Steagall fame, for you bank lawyers out there) was from Virginia, not New York.
@Paul Thanks. I know how rebuses work. In this case the first letter of the answer isn’t the letter entered into the square, so the usual method doesn’t seem to work. Can someone help?
@Steve L Or Q, which by itself is reason enough to resist this tendency.
I now have set up the rebases without a slash and got no music, then inserted a slash and still got no music. I sweat everything else is good. What am I missing?
@Jonathan I love mushrooms and pepperoni on pizza. Several times I’ve been with a group who gag when I order it then try it and agree it’s really good.
@Yukon Bruce A flap is another word for argument, fight and such. To-do is the same. At least that’s how I define them. Others might have more nuanced analogies.
I would have gone wild if you hadn’t added the shading, especially because I’ve never heard of box braids.
@Steve L. As a former rider I had riding pants but always thought jodhpurs were a special form of riding pants. The thigh portion was flared out to the side in the pictures I’ve seen. I’m no expert so someone who knows what they’re talking about might chime in here in case I’m wrong.
@Marshall Walthew. I haven’t read the novel but have seen the movie a few times now and think it’s great.
@Red Carpet. I stayed in the Hotel Euler in Basel, Switzerland eons ago because it’s so close tp the Bank for International Settlements. What other country would name a hotel for a mathematician? That’s the only reason I knew the answer.
@Paul “Imaret” was the only answer I got on my first pass. A few others then came along, but I was really flummoxed by the whole thing. Tried a rebus or two but they went nowhere. Frankly, not much fun.
@Dave K. They both went to Yale, whose students etc. are commonly referred to as Eli’s. The founder was Eli Yale.
Even if I could see the circles (which I cannot on my iPad), I probably would not get the other two answers. I see “whetimes” but can’t figure out which other answers need to be looped in, and have no clue about the third. Thus, not a very satisfying puzzle.
@Michael I have never before found that leaving a square blank was acceptable. I put XX in the southeast corner and filled in the other circled squares with real letters and was amazed when I deleted the XX and found that it solved.
I almost never solve a Friday puzzle without checking this column but did it on this one. Probably a sign that it’s too easy for a Friday, but I’m definitely not complaining. I expected “titled” one to be a commoner who’s ennobled but was surprised to see homeowner work. I had fun with it.
@Sara W. I had “arachnids” to start and finally had to give it up when “bingo” could not be ignored.
Have I lost my mind? 17A has one space too many for OPEN MARRIAGES.
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