Nathan

@Grumpy You certainly can't be accused of false advertising.

@Marshall Walthew As a mediocre American white male, I must confess I initially found the title of Oluo's book to be a bit eye-roll inducing. But then I thought about DJTJ and realized she may have a point.

@Puzzled Correct, although one could be nit-picky about the clue and suggest Yeoh won *for* her work in 2022, but was the winner *of* the Oscar given in 2023, thus making the clue questionably worded at best, and wrong at worst. That said, one could also suggest that anyone making such a picayune point is a pedant, and since when has anyone here ever revealed themselves to be that?

@Michael. For what it's worth, per Wikipedia: "The term 'big cat' is used by zoologists to mean any of the five living members of the genus Panthera (the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard). In non-scientific contexts, 'big cat' can also mean any member of the cat family that is considered 'big', including animals like cheetahs and cougars that taxonomically fall under the small cats."

@Nathan Meh, I must be in a cranky mood today. After reading Vaer's comment, I realized I barely even register the lightning bolt, which almost certainly meant I had also seen the slow-poke art and had simply forgotten it. So I went back in the archive, found a slow time, and sure enough, there was the snail. Then I remembered being irked the first time I saw it, but obviously not to the point I bore any longstanding emotional scars ftom it, let alone being sufficiently motivated to cancel my subscription in reaction to it. So, forgive my bloviating. I still think it would be nice if we could disable the time advisory on the "Congratulations!" page, and I still empathize with Ettagale's feeling of being kicked while s/he's down.

@SP Calling "Nerd alert!" on myself, but the character's name is Anakin Skywalker, which is sometimes shortened to Ani as a nickname.

@CrispyShot At the risk of oversimplifying, a check of the dictionary appears to answer the question. Per Merriam-webster.com: Lao: "a member of a Buddhist people living in Laos and adjacent parts of northeastern Thailand" Laotian: "a native or inhabitant of Laos; also : LAO sense 1" Going by the first definition of Laotioan, it seems fair to refer to those Hmong hailing from Laos as Laotian, the second definition notwithstanding.

@Ettagale That's a drag. Consider me righteously indignant on your behalf. I personally don't care about my time and would rather not even know it. I keep the timer turned off, and resented when NYT updated the app to shove my time in my face every time I complete a puzzle, whether I like it or not. BUT if I ever saw some type of drawing or insignia next to a poor time that I interpreted as "confirmation of my ineptitude," not only would I write to tech support demanding it be disabled, I would actually cancel my games subscription if they didn't disable it. A line must be drawn somewhere, and for me, that would be where a ferkakte app gives me grief over how long it takes me to complete a puzzle I do simply for the enjoyment of it. Sorry about your tooth. Feel better.

@Nancy I'm bemused as to whether your criticism of the drawings is a matter of subjective impression (i.e., to you they just didn't "land"), or a problem with rendering in the particular app or device (or paper) you're using. For what it's worth, I found the drawings to be crystal clear and fairly accurate - right down to the three valves on the trumpet and the bow in the crab's claw. (For reference, I'm using the NYT games app on a 10-inch Android tablet.)

@Bill Add another 'N' to that, and you have the perfect name for the sinking feeling one gets drinking red wine that hasn't aged sufficiently.

@Steve L QED

@Patrick If you can tell me who M. C. Esgher is, you may have a point.

@Bill Yes, but it was four letters.

@SP I don't know that I'm qualified to issue a ruling, but, for what it's worth, I agree with you: that is, indeed, a nit.

@Joel I had the same thought, especially since the grid showed "__AT" when I came to the clue. "If only, but no way," I concluded. That said, I was also skeptical at first that Monday's "spanner" could actually be AWAIT ANAL ORAL. So never stop dreaming!

@Joe As one who was assigned the task of plowing through spec scripts and writing briefs for the higher-ups when I was a slave...I mean, intern (ahem)...at a production company, I can confirm you're correct. I didn't pay the discrepancy much mind when doing the puzzle, but some part of my brain registered it, much like it would register a grain of sand in my sock.

@Byron I've caught a number of inconsistencies and errors made by Google AI. In my opinion, while it may be convenient, it should not be considered authoritative at the present time. That said, the Wikipedia entries for both Soundgarden and Linkin Park list alternative metal as a genre (among a number of others) associated with both bands. Thus it would seem Google AI got it right this time, and the clue is fair - although, from a purely subjective standpoint, I really don't think of the two bands as having the same style. But hey, it's a Saturday. I've seen more contorted clues than this.

@Mean Old Lady Oh, they definitely exist. I once contested a speeding ticket on the grounds the citing officer hadn't sufficiently proven his radar gun was properly calibrated. I lost handily, but watching the officer's face turn red (literally!) in outrage during cross-examination was a silver lining. The question is, what should said guns be called? I had only ever heard the terms "radar gun," and, more recently, "LIDAR gun." Thus, I grumbled a bit at seeing the entry was SPEED GUN. That said, Google AI tells me they're all correct: "A 'speed gun' is a generic term, but the specific name of the technology is often a radar gun or a LIDAR gun."

@Xword Junkie. For what it's worth, I agree with. I'll flatter myself to point out that I had enough "flexibility of mind" to understand what the constructor/editors were getting at, but I still feel the clue was clunky as written, and would have been better served with an included question mark - with the caveat that over-reliance on misdirection and question-mark clues (as this puzzle suffers from, in my opinion) tries my patience.

@Nathan Oops...I agree with *you. My kingdom for an edit button!

@Anton Literal translations don't always convey the understood meaning of a phrase in its native language. Case in point: while "I lived of art" may be the correct literal English translation of "vissi d'arte," it makes no sense. Accordingly, in the English translations of the Tosca libretto I've seen, "vissi d'arte" has always been translated to "I lived for art."

@Nathan Sigh...try be clever, end up doing it by half. Please disregard previous retort.