Mimi
Caddo Lake, East TX
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Caddo Lake, East TX
@Alan Parker It's called a rebus, and it's an excellent crossword puzzle. Are you new here? We are a community who can help.
Not one, not two, but THREE Naticks in one puzzle. So much for the Times “strict rules” about creating. Too many names of vague “celebrities” is a cheap way to fill a puzzle, and I’m tired of it, because it makes for a frustrating solve. Also… AWOL and MIA are two completely different designations for a missing person, and to clue them as synonyms is offensive to any family with a loved one who is Missing in Action. It’s too bad, because the theme (and all the related phrases) was a good one a could have been a very satisfying and fun solve, if one didn’t have to keep going through the entire alphabet on more than one or two squares.
Complete and clever fun! Kudos to Nathan Hasegawa. Can't wait for another.
Loved, loved, LOVED it! So clever, and a fun Sunday solve! Perfect timing for this one. Thank you, Brandon, for a magnificent puzzle.
I loved this puzzle. At first I was completely frustrated and stymied. Then I saw the letter in the crossing of 21D and 25A next to the solitary circle and I had my ‘aha’ moment. Then it became a fun solve. THIS is why Thursdays are my favorite solving day. Thank you, Kareem Ayas. Don’t listen to any nay-sayers. This was very clever.
Loved the puzzle. Fun solve. Just a tiny little note to @DebAmlen ... in your commentary, you mention the answer to 13D as "PLAYDOUGH", when, in fact, the real name of it (and the correct answer to the clue) is "PLAYDOH", although in real life there is a hyphen. Thanks for all your work. Sorry to be such a pedant, but I kind of had the feeling you might want to know.
Also for solving purposes, as I was solving this on my laptop keyboard, which has a dedicated numeric pad, the "alt-key" sequence for Φ is 'alt+232' and it accepted that. Actually, it was easier for me to visualize the answers that required you to double up on the I-O combinations, like 'ding dong ditch". If you're not familiar with alt-characters, you hold down the 'alt' key while typing a 3- or 4-letter sequence and then let go of the alt key... But you must have a dedicated number pad - it will not work with the numbers across the top row of your keyboard. Super fun puzzle today! Thank you Dylan Schiff!
I totally loved the answer to the very misleading 6-down. Usually on Thursdays, I run through the clues and put in my "known good" answers first, then try to work out the rest of the puzzle on second and third passes. Well, today, I absolutely "knew" 6-down was "Nassau", because it says it right there in the song. But none of the acrosses would fit. Once I conceded that perhaps NASSAU was wrong, I was able to work out all of the crossings and to find SI(DE)ONE. Also loved the Roman numeral clue at 42A. Very tricky and fun. My 'aha' moment came with JOH(NH)A(NC)OCK, which was as clever as the day is long! Brilliant! Thank you to David J. Kahn for a very, very fun solve this morning! Mr. Kahn... I wish for you that both sides of your pillow be cool.
Add me to the list of fans who loved this puzzle! Didn’t even realize there were so many proper names (which usually irks me) because of all the delicious crossings. And… the absolute BEST clue I think I’ve ever seen (and solved) was 27-D’s “vessel”! Being hockey fan, this was such sweet shade. lol
Great puzzle. Fun solve and lots of fun clues. Thursdays are my favorite, and I’m always confused, annoyed, challenged, pleased, and satisfied (in that order) when solving rebuses! Love it.
@Jake Agree. I had "ah me", then changed to "oh my" then just let it go and solved it with the crosses. It still didn't sit well.
@Barry Ancona Maybe he's referring to the SE corner, with SHILOH, OLETA, MISSM, and CAROUSEL all proper nouns jammed in there... with the last across clue being the revealer and included a rebus? Toughie! I struggled in that corner, too, until I had eliminated all but one COLONY, which clearly belonged here, giving me the "NY" that I was missing, which gave me the across and helped to fit in the downs in that corner. Although I had to guess random vowels for OLETA, I thought this puzzle was one of my most fun solves in a very long time. Once I knew what I was looking for, I had fun trying to fit all of the two-letter states in as rebuses. Loved the Roman numeral answer to 42-across! Thank you, David J. Kahn, for a very fun brain workout.
@Ben H. Amen! haha, you're a riot and obviously a true Red Sox fan, just by the way you said they had to "counter" (a.k.a. cancel out) the A-Rod clue. Also wished the A.L. MVP was Big "PAPI". Good times... Go Sox!
Cute puzzle and fun solve. Quite a range of trivia. I love that this is a Dad and daughter team... I miss my Dad so very much. We used to solve puzzles together too. My only (teensy) little complaints about this puzzle were the clue for the answer at 25A and the answer for the clue at 43A. Something in my core wouldn't let me put "LOST TO" for "Didn't beat" because if that is the answer, then the clue, I believe, should have been "Wasn't beat BY", as it specifies an opponent. And 43A, "Alas". I've heard "Oh, my" and "Ah, me", and "woe is me", but never "OH ME". Maybe I'm just being pedantic. Anyway, thanks to this team for an enjoyable Saturday solve. Loved the center stack.
@Mean Old Lady So nice to hear that! My husband and I did the same 5 years ago... came for a vacation and fell in love with the flora and fauna. The bayou, the cypress trees, the deer, the egrets... So much nature. We loved it so much we just packed up and moved here for good!
@R.J. Smith Yes, agree. When a puzzle is constructed with over 25 entries being either foreign language, proper (capitalized) words, archaic, slang, and acronyms/initialisms, in order to make the puzzle’s vague theme “work”, there is a lot to dislike.
Although this isn't related to the main puzzle, there is no comments section for the "Midi", so if it's okay with the powers that be, I'm going to leave my comment here. I just wanted to give a ton of thanks to Ian Livingood for the hysterically funny and clever clue to 2-Down in today's Midi. I chuckled for an absurdly long time over it, mostly thinking that it would probably fly under many solver's radar (and maybe the Eds.?).
Forgot to mention: Absolutely loved the clue for "ANDY". I can never see that name again without thinking how it's a combination of the same word in two different languages. And after reading the constructor notes, I REALLY wish they had used Dad's original idea for "RUSHJOBS". That would have made me laugh right out loud once solved.
Gah. 24+ nonsense, foreign, abbreviation, and proper name words in this puzzle. Although it was a quick solve with cute themers, it felt like just a lot of cheap filler today.
@Jo Yes, it was interesting, and forced me to look for other possible answers... especially with the [Bill's partner] answer crossing. I'm still confused. Even in the NYT own "rules for creating a crossword" it says you can never use the same word more than once in a puzzle. Oh, well. You're not supposed to cross two proper names in a down/across either, but that happens all the time now as well.
@Alex I agree. It says explicitly in the NYT rules for crossword creation that proper names should NEVER cross. This whole puzzle felt like a cheat to me, with all the proper names (and so many were vague unknowns), and the nice long spans were too easy, more of a Monday level. Meh. I’m not a fan.
@Mu Yes, you're right. It's yesterday's puzzle. Sigh.
Is it just me, or is there no link to the comments on the phone app version of today's puzzle. Had to go back to the laptop to find the comments section.
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