Don H
Rural Virginia
I laughed out loud, not at a clever clue, though there were many. But my guffaw was at my own expense. I stared at 12D for a good half minute, wondering what on earth an EAR NEST was. Waxy buildup? Precursor to a bird brain? The mark of a good puzzle is even when I get it right, I get it wrong.
This is what I want out of the Sunday Crossword. Sunday is my favorite crossword day to take a lazy, long time with it, in no hurry to finish (and mild disappointment when it is complete -- what else will I do today that is as relaxing, creative and amusing all at the same time? Today's puzzle suited my strengths. Hey, I've lived through all those error messages and somehow still like my computers! And now I know that the next time I run into a gorilla, we have something in common to discuss besides loincloth trends.
@Mean Old Lady The listener in my house is Sam, the African Grey parrot. He heard and learned the word "Alexa". I will leave to your imagination the problems that have followed.
Unlike other commenters, I am not sad that this puzzle failed to provide Halloween related content. I was, however, disappointed that OREO did not appear for a third consecutive day, we had to put up with ORCA instead, its close cousin and hottest competitor for the most-used NYT solve word trophy. Hats off to GIRLSCOUTTROOPS for taking on today's cookie challenge. I strove mightily to fit DOUBLESTUFFOREO into those squares but, alas, it was not to be. But tomorrow is another day, and I'll even be placated by a HYDROX.
I have to join the haters on this one. The last straw for me was "Certain miniature vehicle, informally" leading us to RCCAR. I found no enjoyable puns, no clever wordplay, just a whack of obscure proper nouns, including RENATO, a character that even Wikipedia mentions only in passing. And this, after Connections sent me to the dictionary today for 4 of its 16 words. Maybe I'm in a grumpy mood, or maybe I'm just an ICEHOLE.
Got it, no help from Google, didn't balk at the rebusses (rebi?) Since Thursday is usually my least favorite crossword day, I just strode in here to SINg a happy song, albeit sans a shampoo bottle.
Just another lazy Saturday morning for me -- but, then again, I'm retired, and every day is Saturday. So I was just sitting around, sucking on coca leaves, listening to my MF Doom albums (as usual) and thinking what a fine lyricist he is. Haven't counted, but I'll bet he's penned MMMDCCCLXXXVIII great songs by now. 28D threw me off my game, as my first-pass fill was JOHNHENRY and thought that sorority pledges dreaded MID DAY, as lunch can be so stressful when one is young. Other than those, everything worked themselves out, although I wondered why NEEDNT is a "quaint" contraction, it seems like all the others to me.
For an easy opening step, regardless of the day you're playing, do what I do: find OREO first. It's as regular as OKRA and SSN, although today the latter was in the clue, not the answer. Now, some days OREO is also hiding in the clue, which brings us to HYDROX , a fill provider when an X is needed. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.
I never do well with Thursdays which means I often hate Thursdays. But today I caught the trick and got a gold star. Yes, I'm posting this just to congratulate myself. I almost lost it with 11D -- where's the X? But a typo was my mistake, and when it went away, the X slipped right in Yay me.
Attention to puzzle play metrics is a personal choice; we all find our fun in different ways. But I just don't understand why anyone would want to finish this excellent, joyous puzzle as rapidly as possible. It's like going to a fine restaurant and devouring the entree in three minutes flat, and then boasting about it. That's not what the chef had in mind. I turned off my timer long ago, and enjoyed savoring both my morning coffee and these hilarious clues in a long, luxurious lazy Sunday manner. I'll let Frank explain it, he does a better job: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuANCcsODq0" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuANCcsODq0</a>
Mr. Aaronson: I enjoyed your constructor notes. Where I live, seeing celebrities while on a walk is extremely unlikely, unless XI JINPING decides to take up crabbing. Also, not too many fashion models go out on the docks for some reason. I've often wondered if B-list stars clip and save crosswords when their names first appear as a clue. I would!
Maybe the morning coffee kicked harder than usual, but I felt very smart while working this puzzle, and was therefore having lots of fun. Part of a belt? Buckle didn't fit, but I had a few letters from the fill, and then -- Aha! Another puzzle from recent days had taken me to Wikipedia to get schooled on the Kuiper Belt, a more distant cousin of those pesky ASTEROIDs. Carpe Diem and SEIZETHEDAY let me in on the parenthetical "French 16" part of the clue, so I scooted back up and proudly typed in DOSANDDONTS, cashing in at last on high school language classes. So, it was one of those rare mornings when everything clicked. Maybe tomorrow I'll even survive the dreaded Thursday experience; à demain matin.
My first run through had the much, much better answer to the clue "It may bring out the kid in you": GOATMILK. If I were Don Draper, I could turn that catch phrase into $$$millions for the world's goat farmers. Call me if you need help with YOUR ad campaign.
Great puzzle, some very enjoyable clues.
Technical nit: it would have been helpful if, when 73A was selected, the seven italicised clues had been highlighted (as things like this usually are). Finding the italicized clues meant putting on the reading glasses. But I loved this puzzle! A perfect Sunday experience and the theme, once discovered, was a delightful aid to the sneaky 7. Mic drop!
This puzzle, I loved. It hit me at just the right moment and in just the right way. I was so smart. I knew the Gloria Gaynor song and inked it in. Marley and Clapton? Only one possible song, and it fit, and I was so proud of myself. The Who? First I thought of Pinball Wizard -- too short -- but then the right answer popped. And then, none of the crosses fit. Impossible words. So, I thought I'd better take a closer look at the bottom right theme clue, which stumped me at first. But my neighbor has a dog named Yoda (yes, he's that ugly), and next came a guffaw, followed by edits to my musical brilliance with the Yoda-esque word arrangement. After that, the rest of the puzzle flew by. Really, truly fun. Actually, sort of easy for a Wednesday once the theme was decoded. But I give the author an OBIE, an ESPY and a standing ovation for bravery.
I groaned aloud (with appreciation) when I solved 14 across (Frank account), enough to startle my dog. The answer is true both generically -- I thought "yeah, that fits" -- and more so for the specific person, Frank. But before my brain used the proper noun as a surname I was trying to think of what five-letter word could be used as the title of a Frank Sinatra biography. A bit far afield.
A near-first for me: the revealer helped me solve the theme entries. It's far more common that I struggle through a puzzle until it is complete, and only then see the cleverness that glued them together. And then I read that Ms. Cohen submitted her first puzzle at age 9. I'm about 60 years older than that and still haven't the courage to face the icy stare of Will Shortz with my own submission. Also, the "#1 spot in London?" ! Blimey!
@Barry Ancona. "are you very new to the crossword?" is a bit snobbish, don't you think? This is a puzzle that plays fast and loose. PLUM when PLUMB is correct, and OKRAS is an occasional plural, usually left as OKRA. I don't think inexperience was as much of a factor as was the drive to spell words correctly.
@Anthony Napoli I saw that BUDICE would fit, but as a former shop owner, I knew it was still widely available. So, what then? The fun Belizean beer BELIKIN almost fits, BUDDRY has six characters but the crosses won't jibe... so much time spent on what turned out to be a careless error on the part of the cluemaker and the puzzle editor. Color me grumpy.
@Mike To keep your bear strong, don't soak it for 7 days, because, as we all know, 7 days makes one weak.
Re the 51A giggles: as we examine our The New Normal attitudes we can keep in mind that its is not uncommon to see adult toys touted on Amazon and staff-tested (ahem) by NYT journalists in Wirecutter reviews. The birds and bees have expanded their repertoire.
@Andrzej, et. al.: uBlock Origin is appearing in the comments section now as often as OREO does in the puzzles. As such, NYT is probably generating more business for uBlock than it is gaining family subscriptions.
One thing you can be sure of when a puzzle author makes his debut: they will read every single comment. So, Hi, chad! Your job, which you say you love, reminds me of the Cheers episode when Norm finally gets the gig of his dreams: beer taster at a brewery. In case you've never seen it: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgouWHo4RhU" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgouWHo4RhU</a>
@elysia Back when I lived in Canada, I heard someone sair Fair Dinkum. So now, the whole puzzle's ruined, eh?
@Bill A very American friend of mine (upon learning that Canadians say ZED, not ZEE) once ask if they referred to the blues band as Zed Zed Top. I took it as a rhetorical question.
I admit it, I woke up in a crabby mood, and this puzzle did not help. I didn't like it. The first thing I thought was off was the odd Editor's Note: "Once the puzzle is complete, the circled letters, when read from left to right, will spell a punny two-word phrase." If one must explain a joke, it is never funny, or punny. And circled letters are just not one of my favorite things to find in a puzzle anyway. Topping them with tree-name rebuses failed to turn my opinion toward the better. I am not a fan of 96A. Birdspeak is Twitter, not Chitter (nor X, for that matter). Ta-Ta See Ya crossing with Yes Yes is cheap fill, as is OOH for Fancy That, and I'm not happy that Erica Wright thought it would be clever to re-spell her given name with sound-alike syllables (did I say I woke up grumpy?). 17D was clever clueing, so I'm not totally without compliments. But do we set any of our timers to OVEN? No, we set our oven timer to minutes or hours. Sunday is my favorite crossword solving day. Big, meaty puzzles that usually feel more special than Fir Yew, a punny, two-word phrase that tickled the constructor's fancy way more than mine.
I'd barely begun solving this puzzle when my entire region lost all internet service. So all hopes of Googling "Father of Transcendentalism" and other online cheating were dashed. But I did better than I thought I would, and finding all of the theme answers unaided was a lot of fun. I groaned when I realized why DAIRYFARM fit the clue.
I usually dread Thursday, it just seems that the trickery is more essential that the solving. But today, after removing a couple fruits, I was actually smiling and could fill in LEMON to finish 59A. A few clues were a bit much: I've not before encountered GAMIN or the West African Financial Center, but I slogged on through.
@BR, Poor Tony Soprano. He wonders "____ ______ ever be acceptable attire? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1vGSdNVRko" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1vGSdNVRko</a>
@JohnWM Breakfast cereals of my youth: Lucky Charms Sugar Smacks Count Chocula How could my dear mother have ever thought these could comprise a nutritious breakfast? Now shaddup and pass me a Frosted Pop Tart.
Note to Sam (<a href="mailto:sam.corbin@nytimes.com">sam.corbin@nytimes.com</a>): I believe the term hop skip and jump was the common name for the Olympic event we now call the Triple Jump. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_jump" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_jump</a> You Learn Something Every Day Department: I now know that a rhea is a kangaroo-like animal. I previously only knew of Rhea Perlman, who is probably grateful that her parents named her as they did (although Kangaroo Perlman would be a great show business name). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Perlman" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Perlman</a> Kismet Department: first thing this morning I put a huge, meaty ham bone into a slow cooker with pre-soaked split peas, then found pea soup to be a clue/answer in both Connections and the Crossword. I must be doing something right. <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019881-split-pea-soup?unlocked_article_code=1.5U8.vXh7.6hcs_gypWYRu&smid=share-url" target="_blank">https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019881-split-pea-soup?unlocked_article_code=1.5U8.vXh7.6hcs_gypWYRu&smid=share-url</a>
@Linda Jo Possibly. You look simile to someone I know.
@Mike R While we're all busy displaying our senility, allow me to add "this program was recorded before a live studio audience" to the fray. Possible conclusions abound: 1. They tried it first before a dead audience, but the actors complained about the odor, 2. They are doing an unconvincing job of denying a laugh track sweetener, 3. The studio is ALIVE. Run! 4. The program was recorded before a live studio audience left the building (with or without Elvis).
@Terry I would only add that the constructor doesn't choose the day. Any cross words (see what I did there?) about the low difficulty of the puzzle should be directed at the NYT Games team, not Kevin. He was shortz-changed.
Vehicle in which it's often legal to drink alcohol: UBER, TAXI (probably not, but if you tip the driver...) SLED (Run the entire Iditarod without a flask? Unthinkable!) DISC (Those aliens driving saucers are a menace) TRAM (Maybe...) ZZZZ (Theme! Zero of these answers were correct.)
I enjoyed this puzzle. I lost a lot of time when, on my first pass, I confidently filled in BOSTONCREAMPIE for 113A. I also thought 71D might be BMS, but no...
Unfortunately for me, MICKEYMOUSE has the same number of letters as TONYORLANDO, so I lost a lot of time to a self-made red herring.
When you see a puzzle maker struggle to fit in TORNTENDON, you know that they must have recently experienced such a (painful!) event, and couldn't get it out of their mind. Also, off topic, what was the deal with the colored squares in today's Mini? Several shades, and I couldn't see any reason for them.
@M. Biggen I went looking for a puzzle made by a constructor named Art Heist. The morning coffee must not be working.
My first answer for 14A, "Drive around the office?" was UNITEDWAY, and while it didn't fit quite as well as WORKETHIC I maintain that it was a fine answer. YEESH.
Saint Ringo? No, I'm not ready for that. My stars, what a bad omen. I lost a lot of time thinking that the 49 Down movie was ALI. Good puzzle.
@Nancy I can say with certainty that all of us did not know you don't drive, as this was news to me. Nor did I possess the knowledge that you struggle with GMail icons. Perhaps I was the sole outlier on both of these points. Now that I'm up to speed, consider for a moment the amazing factoid that there are 2 billion GMail users. That's about a quarter of the world's population*. It is hard to think of any other invention that has enjoyed such a degree of acceptance. But maybe everyone but me knew that, too. * <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population" target="_blank">https://www.worldometers.info/world-population</a>/
@Andrzej You and I live thousands of miles apart, and yet both of our dogs have a red Kong toy. Funny how the world works.
@Mean Old Lady Roughly 150 years ago, when I was a radio disk jockey, we'd note the intro and outro times of the songs we aired. If the intro -- the instrumental before the lyrics began -- was 14 seconds, we'd have that much time to say incredibly witty things and not tred atop the singer. The outro was also important, as if it was a fade, we could cut the song short and start the commercial break early. Timing was everything.
@Mishlev This is why we need a downvote button next to the Recommend button. When chronic complainers take over the comments section, they'd see that their comments are getting tiresome.
I like this puzzle, and actually laughed out loud, twice. But one clue that stumper me still leave me wondering: 47 Across is clued with "Bud", and answer is MAC. I was looking for an answer that was a pre-flowering growth or maybe a beer or a pal. What is a MAC -- what am I missing?
Two thoughts, the first for columnist Deb A, who writes: "When you see a single letter as a clue, such as [H], the answer will usually be a letter in the Greek alphabet." Okay, that's news to me. Why not use the more familiar cluing, something like "H, in Athens"? Solvers who aren't familiar with very, very, very seldom-used convention will be in on the trick. Second, when the answer is an abbreviation, isn't the clue to also have an abbreviation within, or a parenthetical (abbrev)? For 29D, having already spotted a rebus or two, and it being Thursday and all, I penciled in "BEL" for the square, which left me in a hole when the crossing word could almost, but not quite use those three letters as its solve. Rules are NOT meant to be broken, but maybe I just (16 across).
@B, thanks for the PSA about the missing OREO. Those USERS who stayed up LATE, like MARY and MIA, or GOTUP early, like ELISE were pEAVED that this EPIC HEX had gone BEYONDPARODY this past week. PASSITON.
@KRB I saw your user name, ms-read it, thought it was KREB -- and thought, what a great day this must be for KREB in Oregon!