Jake
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@SP Pretty sure you are incorrect about this, Doctor. Hemoglobin is red whether oxygenated or not (darker when not). It appears blue, but isn't. I've known this for five minutes.
All right, Crossword editors, I'll read "Things Fall Apart!"
As the father of two boys who play D&D, I object to the term “nerd speak,” which feels like an engrained cultural bullying. D&D requires creative, social interaction that is quite vulnerable (and remarkable). I don’t want them being shamed as “nerds” for enjoying meeting with friends and engaging in such a wonderful activity.
@Tim Okay, glad to see this, I thought I'd gone crazy. Looks like maybe they added it to the movie version, which I'd blissfully forgotten existed. As perfect a kids' book as has ever been written.
17A is a reference to a dog sled, right? As in the Iditarod. My memory is shot, so I learned Arhat for the first time again today. Enlightenment is apparently a long way off for me. I liked the sad little story of PASSER, WIDE OPEN, and I MISSED. Mush!
@Jim in Forest Hills I think you're still not getting the theme. The answers are "Allied" and "NewAger." AllINeed took the N E ("Any Takers") from Wager, creating new words that don't fit the clue. Challenging, but really fun, I thought.
@Paul I don't disagree, but are you sure you weren't 125A when you wrote this comment?
@Joe P Yes. Then I went back deep into the archives and had a very different experience. They were significantly harder in the 90s, for example. So if it turns out you and I are immortal, there will be plenty of puzzles to keep us busy.
@david dell If you're going to say there are "so many clever ways to suggest ABA as an answer," you are, I believe, morally obligated to give us just one example. This educated (but not rarified!) solver is eager to hear it.
@Aaron Go back further and I think you'd agree they get even harder. BUT it's also true that puzzle construction has improved a lot, and some of the older, harder puzzles are more difficult because they are clunkier (there are obviously more tools available now, so not the fault of the constructors).
@Alyson I had a doctor's appointment and only missed the first class of the day, which was music. I didn't cut class, I swear! I have a doctor's note. it was an "excused absense."
@GR I don’t think any of the objectors sliced it up into “a star is b or n” and then thought, “that can’t be it, b and n aren’t words!” So I find their complaints a bit disingenuous. The NYT puts out an extremely high quality puzzle every day. If they have to stretch a few things to keep it fresh and engaging, I say please do!
Somehow I've failed to win innumerable Blackjack hands with 21. The dealers seem to think that if they also have 21 it's a tie. As if! Next time they try this, I'll whip out my completed 6/4/24 Xwrd.
@ChiaviDeBasso No one is suggesting a pundit has ever been referred to that way. I don't think you got the theme. Think of it as, "An authority that begins with the letter P." Pundit. Or, "A hole that begins with the letter M." Mouth. Etc...
@D Not giving us a lot of examples here to respond to. I thought this puzzle was pretty great. And yes, making it "harder" is part of the point, right? Should the goal be to make it as easy as possible? Was there a better clue for ZORK that you'd like to suggest?
@Susan K I watched the show and I still had no idea what the answer was. I know it can get in your head that you're at a disadvantage, and that alone can be problematic--but it's best to not get hung up on answers you'll never get without crosses.
@katie I'm concerned about the grandmas and grandpas who try to earn cool points with their grandkids this weekend and end up embarrassing themselves.
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen Well I read it correctly but can never remember which is words and which is insects, so I had a weird pool of possible fills for that one.
@Steve L Steve, I'm jealous that you've never seen Nathan For You and now get to watch it for the first time.
GIGI always makes me think of Maurice Chevalier, and thinking of Maurice Chevalier always reminds me that for decades I was under the mistaken impression that he was a fascist/nazi sympathizer in WWII. The truth is far more complicated and interesting.
Jean Renoir, the little boy with the curly hair in his father's paintings, grew up to be the greater artist of the two.
@Gabriel Blinds are often used as an alternative to antes for games like Hold 'Em. The point is to get some money in the pot before cards are dealt. They can also both be used, but that's mostly just in tournament play.
@Once a Marine Because they’ve gotten easier. I’ve been digging into the archives and those old Saturday puzzles, to quote David Sedaris, require a mind that can bend spoons.
@A B Church They don't reflect the typos that fat fingers produce, nor are they intended to. It's an alternate way of interpreting the words "fat fingers," or a "hint" to solving the puzzle's theme, as the revealer suggests.
@Frankie B Do to a T. And the pumps are located on an island at the gas station, far away from the shores of the mainland Food Mart.
Problem One I thought meant the first question of the test. Or the main reason why "this might be a bad idea."
@Barry Ancona I'd much rather read a repeated question than read a repeated question AND a response to the repeated question that the question has already been asked. Of course those reading this might say...
Only gripe today - and it's a big one - is I can think of two far more fun and fitting three letter words to put before DREAM for 13D! But I guess the "breakfast table rule" allows for prompting images of being chased by an axe wielding psychopath and not images that might make us blush. I do wonder, though, if there was a draft of this that crossed SEX DREAM with X RATED.
@Vaer These days I always think of this beautiful, haunting song by Asaf Avidan that was featured in the show "Dark" when I see the name ARIADNE: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiL9ItjmHRw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiL9ItjmHRw</a>
@Calhouri Oh that's why they say that! I always thought it was just... I guess I never thought about it.
@Bill They also don't go up if the pitcher gives up one run in a full inning but has an ERA over 9.00. Of course, "Do I!" isn't an enthusiastic assent if it's said sarcastically. There are always exceptions...
Really fun theme! A little easy once you figured it out, but still a pleasure to solve. Would’ve made great time if not for entering “SnOKE SCREEN” which, once there, may as well have been invisible on my phone. Anyone else have “CommiE” first for 46D?
@Grant It's a word I've heard a thousand times, maybe because I live in LA, where the cineastes need to differentiate from the movie buffs (and vice versa) for professional reasons.
@Eva H. God it's funny going back into the archives and seeing your comments. Keep it up, Eva!
@Ian Why would you put an N or a T? You could make a case that an A shouldn't work either, because it reads ugly, but I don't get this quibble at all.
I know it's been 45 years now, but I was disturbed to have John Lennon's auctioned off body parts referred to so flippantly. After looking it up I see the story of the tooth isn't so macabre, but it still left me unsettled. And sad.
@Anne Loose definition of cinephile.
@Matt Sorry, Matt, but this is completely absurd. Dislogging a raspberry/blackberry seed stuck between your molars with the back tip of a flosser is without question the #1 pleasure in life.
@Jacqui J Reminds me that I was contacted by UCLA Health for a study on habitual marijuana use, and had meant to participate, but couldn't motivate to respond.
Anyone who had read the book "Careless People" about Facebook will be repulsed by the mention of 12D. Maybe next time find a clue for the answer "I VOTE MO" ("Campaign slogan for ex Congressman Udall?") and give us a feel good Andy Samberg clue for 12D.
@Steve L Nah, after tens of thousands of hours of watching baseball on television (a few of those hours in 1986 made them all worthwhile), I’ve only heard “peg” used in reference to hitting someone with the ball. I held off on filling it on Thursday until the very end, when it was clearly the only option. To me it’s a case where an obscure definition was dug up to make a clue work, which happens frequently and is just part of doing the crossword—they can’t all be perfect!
@Joe Hmm. Make sure your ABLY isn’t iBLY, you’re STIMMING isn’t STeMMING, and your SERA isn’t SaRA? Which, oddly enough, is advice my grandma used to always give.
Wow, surprised at all the complaints. I thought this was one of the most fun thursday puzzles in a while. Each themed answer required just the right number of letters in place to solve and make sense of the question. Very very satisfying.
@Jack McCullough Maybe you're thinking of former SuperSonics all-star Shawn Kemp. Steve Kerr - a great head coach and the recipient of many Michael Jordan created open threes - has also led an interesting life. Among other things, his father was assassinated in '84 in Beirut while serving as president of the American University there.
@Sheram Did you have trouble getting the clue, or is it the rule break itself that bothers you? It didn't even cross my mind that anyone would have an issue with "cineaste."
@Eden Crossword puzzles are generally for snobbish sorts, and not the "average" person (I guess). Constructing a crossword is likely a satisfying accomplishment, so sure, there's ego involved. The same can be said about all kinds of things I find great pleasure in, or get meaning from. The only thing I don't understand is why you'd single out this specific puzzle, and constructor, for your criticism.
@EmceeAmethyst Obviously now we all have to try and guess! Is it “Leon?”
@David Johnson I had naB, BOOMnbuSTED, WARMFancIES, and ZEst for a while, which gave me the world famous conductor: “bnAWs Seija” (no relation, apparently) for a while. Somehow I sensed something was amiss….
@Skeptical1 I really liked the theme as once you catch on it helps you solve a challenging puzzle (without it ever being easy). Very fun.
@Steve L Well, one super bowl really. He got hurt and Jeff Hostetler won the second one.