Chris
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Utah
@Cat Lady Margaret We do indeed live in our own time zone. Set the clock to the same time as Denver, then turn it back about 50 years!
A frequent theme in this forum is the relative difficulty of a puzzle for a particular day. The discussions are generally goldilocksish--too hard, too easy, or just right. Individual perceptions are, of course, welcome, but we might also acknowledge that solvers come with a wide variety (possibly normal curve) of solving skills and abilities. The senior guard members have decades of experience solving NYT puzzles. They've seen everything and are quite skilled. Newer solvers (I've been at it for about 3 years) are not as skilled. A puzzle that an experienced solver might find "too easy" is likely rather difficult for a less-experienced person. I know it's much too much to ask of the editors, but as membership continues to grow, they might consider novice, intermediate, and expert modes to satisfy a larger swath of solvers. That said, as soon as I read a comment about a puzzle's difficulty, I scroll on. It's an opinion (everyone has one like other anatomical features) that doesn't add value to my experience. I peruse the posts that contain interesting anecdotes, alternative clues/answers, explanations, and other ideas that enhance my experience. Post as you feel fit, but let's all take a moment to wonder if we're contributing or merely spouting. IMHO
Nice grid today. Smooth solve with a witty theme and clever fill. I've been thinking about the Shortz vs. Fagliano editing conversation. I also wish Mr. Shortz a speedy recovery. The thing is, Will is 72 yo while Joel is 32. They are two generations apart and so it is obvious that they will have different editing sensibilities. Also think of their different exposures to world events. Will was born when Truman was president; Joel when HW Bush was in office. Shortz was 37 when the WWW was born in 1989; Fagliano was -3. Then there are the "police actions" and wars prior to 1992. And so on. I miss Will's wit and wisdom and welcome Joel's new and different perspective on the zeitgeist that finds its way into the NYT Crossword community.
+1 on the mention of HEDY LAMARR. Her work resulted in the WiFi and Bluetooth connections that I can't live without.
I suppose it is the case that people engage with the NYT Crosswords for a number of reasons. Some are after the streak, others to set time records. I guess that some just enjoy the passtime while others are intrigued by the wordplay. No one reason is superior to any other. I'm reminded of the Stupid Human Tricks quote from David Letterman, "This is only an exhibition. This is not a competition. No wagering, please."
@Adam Apparently not. Although in this case, the rebus is quite simple and central to the theme, not a gimmick to make the puzzle more opaque.
Sam, I feel your pain. Obscure names that were likely lookups for the constructor are my least favorite feature of NYT puzzles. Alas, I've come to accept them as a part of the game AND THEREFORE, I don't consider an occasional lookup cheating. Today's crosses gave up Ms. Świątek's given name fairly easily, although that is not always the case. And I really dislike it when the two obscurities cross leaving a natick.
@Rachel I'm with you on this. QUIETQUITTING is a result of poor management and, particularly, a lack of clear expectations. It's very rare that someone gets up in the morning with the intention of being mediocre. The modern workplace that allows autonomy, is passionate about mastery, and instills purpose in their employees will thrive. The old industrial revolution madate of obedience and efficiency doesn't work any more.
@Ms. Billie M. Spaight LMGTFY <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour</a>
I'm only about half-way finished and already I'm a bit tired of the silly gimmick. I enjoy challenges, but I find contrivances annoying. IMHO
@Natdegu In ancient Egypt, cats were considered sacred protectors of their owners and servants of Bastet. They were often mummified and buried with their owners to assure their ongoing companionship and protection of their owners in the afterlife.
@Kaila The Palastine/Israel conflict that has been going on for over a hundread (some argue centuries) is tragic and has been devastating to the cause of peace. I feel sad that it has now spilled onto our little corner of cyberspace.
@Dick Yates Check your periodic table. Iodine (I, element 53) is the heaviest of the nutritional minerals and is a non-metalic solid until melted into a violet liquid. It is then mixed with other things to stabilize it and make it ingestible.
@James Low It actually depends on who you are, where you're from, and whose book you are reading. Spelling of spoken (or in this case sung) language is often arbitrary and is subject to regional or even generational differences. We all know SOL as a regular occurance in the NYT puzzles. But SO is also acceptable as the fifth tone.
I'm on team 'this was a bit challenging for a Tuesday.' Started last night and had to put it away to finish this morning. Crosses filled in the proper nouns. Had 4 flyspecs at the end. All that said, it felt good to finish.
Super fresh grid! I loved the theme and the fill seemed particularly sparkly for me this morning. Excellent start to what I hope is a streak of wins for Ms. Bowers!
@Ben Barton It's just an unfortunate bit of glue in an otherwise well-crafted grid. We often run into arcane or rare spellings and usages. I'm pretty sure both the authors and the editors struggle to avoid these, but sometimes the game is not worth the candle, and the gluey bit ends up in the puzzle. One of my favorite Burl Ives ditties is "Watch the donut, not the hole!"
@David My wife works in pre-school. One day, the teacher hauled out the old record player and a vinyl LP. One of the children looked at the album and asked, "Teacher! What happened to your CD!" Some of us even still have a few 8-tracks in storage...
@The X-Phile Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!
@Nancy In my book, FYI means "For Your Information" and indicates something that doesn't require any action. THRASHER refers to the sk8er word for agressively riding.
Seems like you either zoned in on this grid or you didn't. Once I got 17A the rest fell in place for me. The Don't Mess with Texas slogan made me smile. I'm never a fan of crossing names and got stuck on SANRIa crossing with LEa until I finally looked up Hello Kitty.
Took me forever to understand the theme. I started getting it at HEADSTO and COCKNEY but it was still a stretch. I also struggled with some of the fill and agree with the previous post about the difference between ANOS and años. That said, overall a clever device for a Thursday.
@Big0veralls Let me AI that for you: "Saturnine" describes a gloomy, sullen, or surly disposition, or a cold and slow-moving mood. The word comes from the Roman god Saturn, who was associated with melancholy and sluggishness, and from the planet Saturn, which was historically linked to a somber disposition.
@Mu I actually find it rather new-school with its variant spellings and current references.
@LJADZ Yep. Lots of proper nouns, but all solvable with the crosses.
@Jess I can't see what you mean. THRE(ESC)OMPANY is the correct spelling with the rebus in the center.
@Lisa The clue is misleading. The University of LUND was founded in 1666 on the location of a Franciscan studium generale that was established in 1425 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_University" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_University</a>). The universities in Uppsala and Copenhagen have founding dates in 1477 and 1479 respectively. Founding dates in the 15th century can be difficult to validate as the competition to be the "first" was often more important than historical accuracy. The NE corner must have been problematic for both the author and editors. Associating AURA with holistic medicine is a far stretch; Absolute UNIT became a meme 6 years ago and is nowhere near lolcats in terms of popularity. But it is a NYT Friday crossword, so the guardrails are widened a bit.
@Bill Ditto. Thanks for doing the research and sharing the findings. I always appreciate the linguistic oddities of some grids.
@Steve L You are a valued long-time contributer here. I generally enjoy reading your commentary on, and explanations of the grids. I rarely enjoy reading your commentaries on yourself or your prowess. I'm glad that you usually focus on the former. IMHO.
PB for me today and less than half my average for a Friday. I think it was a combination of being slightly easier than most Fridays and I vibed with the constructor.
@Trish Personal Bests (PB), time to complete, and streaks are all measured and reported, giving them a sense of importance. And those are all objective and quantifiable. Whether or not a solver enjoys the puzzle is subjective (clearly evident in this group) and neither quantifiable nor reported. Leaderboards are a fact of the modern connected world, for good or evil. And I also found today's puzzle delightful and rather easy.
Tied my PB today. I luvz me Wednesday grids! Clever theme that came to me with THREEWISEMEN.
Solved it using SOUTHWEST and stayed confused until I read Wordplay. I never expect a rhebus on Sunday (supposed to be Wednesday difficulty?). As others, I found much of the grid to be overly contrived and full of crosswordese. Seems to be a case of shoehorning a theme. Still, it's a clever puzzle for cruciverbalists, but not so much for us advanced intermediates.
@Mean Old Lady Antes are small amounts that everyone on a poker table pays to play a hand. Blinds are unit bets by two players at a poker table (usually some version of Hold-em) that rotate around the table. Tournaments typically use blinds to steadily increase the stakes over time.
@CCNY NAZCAN was also unknown to me. That's why they call it a crossword! Not cross as in angry, but cross as in aha!
@CCNY 1, 3, and 4 all seem quite reasonable/fair to me. 2 is a stretch. OER (usually o'er) is a contraction for over and is sometimes used poetically to solve problems with meter by using a single syllable to represent a two-syllable word. Clue should have been "Over, in verse" or a fill-in-the-blank "...__ the hills we go!" 5 is archaic and clearly a constructor's gluey lookup. I don't mind some glue for fill if the grid is particularly clever. This one would most likely be solved with crosses or lookups (also possibly a natick depending on the cross).
@Nancy I also started with OUR instead of AGO, but AGENTK settled the argument. I also loved the wordplay in this grid!
@Linda Jo This one was easy. The one on diacritics was a bear.
@Josephine DEMO is shorthand for demographic. I didn't care for the clueing on this one because it didn't indicate the shortened version. It isn't exacly an abbreviation because it's acceptable lingo in the polling and advertising world, but neverltheless, a stretch in my book.
@Susan K My favorite pharmacist is Dr. Swallow.
@msk Glad we didn't find a BAE in this one.
Have to wonder how many of us here understood the reference to the PIE root for sheep? Proto Indo-European
@ad absurdum Crosses, my friend. Crosses. But I see what you did there ;)
@Mean Old Lady Takis is a competitor of Doritos. Although, I don't think that anyone would ever refer to a single chip as a TAKI.
@Yabanci Yep. I started my internet career in the late 80s using command-line connections and seach engines. AOL was actually a late-comer, although I suppose it was a necessary step to get out of the university computer lab.
@Foster LMGTFY Slippery elm, also known as red elm, gray elm, soft elm, moose elm, and Indian elm is the species ulmus rubra and is native to North America. (Thanks Wikipedia).
@archaeoprof I like what you did there!
@Rich in Atlanta One of my favs is MSG (the venue, not the chemical).
@Hope Levav And HANNUKAH is not one of the usual transliterations of חֲנֻכָּה Kept me qvetching for much too long.
Fairly easy solve but had to rely on crosses for the ARCANe glue.