Jim
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Carrboro NC
Starting to read the comments. This SO vs SOL controversy is really, really, really, really, really, really, really tiresome. Use whichever works for the crossword and move on.
@B It may just be you, but I am curious why you consider the theme under developed. I disagree because 1. All the theme answers are recognizable phrases. 2. All the theme answers contain a metal. 3. Removing the metal leaves the answer to the clue. 4. The revealer is a well known phrase that also tells you how to get to the clue answer. How much more can one develop this theme?
@Candice Thursday (and sometimes other days) tricks are here to stay. You have a decision to make .
@B I don't know what your graph of averages looks like, but mine indicates that they are nailing the increasing difficulty by day of the week pretty well. It's darn near a straight line increase.
@Andrzej Why be so negative? Way to kill my enjoyment of reading the comments. I would think there would be a feeling of accomplishment in barely completing the puzzle without lookups. Accomplishing should bring enjoyment.
@Dave K. What needs to stop is inferring that constructors are lazy. If you can produce a portfolio of your published puzzles that show where you have not had to occasionally resort to old crossword standbys, then you can judge.
@BJ 47 recommendations (currently) for a comment that bashes such an inspired theme? Oh the humanity! (Since this is my third comment in a short period, I may need to add some emu-rejection prevention insurance. So that is why these words are here.) P.S. Perhaps there are a few veterans among the recommenders, but for the rest, I hope someday you will appreciate a puzzle like this.
@Jake G What would happen if everyone indulged themselves this way? First off you seem to imply that he is doing something wrong which is just wrong. To answer your Mom's question: we'd end up with a few more clever puns ( like we often do now) and another few stretchy ones (like we often do now) and probably a bunch of poor quality ones. Luckily people who comment here have the good taste not submit the poor quality ones. I think you are the first and hopefully the only one to ask.
@Allen Your comment did not resonate with me at all. I thought the theme completely worked .
@Weak I've been known to go after a good ribeye.
@Kathleen It's what is played at shotgun weddings. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_wedding" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_wedding</a>
Took 20% longer to complete this one. Just call me a Man of Consonant Sorrow. (Emus? Are you out there? Hope not.)
@Eric Hougland I heard that Simon and Garfunkel teamed up with Croce to compose the song “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme in a Bottle”. Bad, bad emu brown.
@Chris None of your comments ring true to me. Every crossword has unknowns. I finished the puzzle in 27% less time than average so obscure clues or not, I got through it pretty quickly.
Sam found the theme tea-rrifc. I think if this puzzle was a cat, it'd be the pekoe the litter.
@KC Wow, project much? Do not read any further because I am just spewing words so that the emus will hopefully deem this comment meets the length criterion. I told you not to read any further. See, emus? See what you cause by not letting shorter comments fly? You've wasted the time of many loyal NYT subscribers who went ahead and read this far anyway. I hope you are happy. You're probably feeling clever and superior, and it's not entertaining or fun for anybody else.
I hope "octopi" never appears in another puzzle so we don't have to read the same complaining comments every time. I swear, when I first read the comments last night, over 50% of them complained about the spelling, which does exist, and has appeared as a crossword answer god knows how many times.
Solved in 23% less time than average. HEARTTRANSPLANT was the first answer to clue me to the theme. [stepping up on my soapbox] A lot of folks point out, as I do, the relative difficulty of the day's puzzle. Some like to phrase that perception as a complaint ("too easy/hard for a [insert day of the week]". I think despite the editors best efforts you will frequently have puzzles that fall out of range of a given day's average. Given the diversity of solvers. It is not surprising that folks relative solving difficulty is all over the place. It is fun to see how one's solving difficulty stacks up against the rest of the solvers, but to complain about it seems like wasted effort. It is the nature of the beast for it to be that way. Even if the NYT suddenly has the resources to increase the number of puzzle testers to help gauge what day of the week a puzzle should fall, I would imagine the results would not be much different. Enjoy the puzzle one is given, and if it seems harder than average, know that it won't be long before an easier than average puzzle comes along.
When someone stole his mineral rights it took a lode off his mine.
Although there is a good showing of those who thought today's puzzle was easier than average, I am comforted that there is also a good representation of those in the other camp. My time was 30% longer than average. Took a while to gain a foothold, but getting my first theme answer got things rolling a bit faster. I like the theme, and had heard of, but not read, all of the books.
@Laurie I thought it deserved an A.
For awhile had TEMPuRA, but then thought batter of it. Prost!
If I hear someone use the word lazy again in the comments in referring to the constructor, I will scream. If I were king, anyone who used lazy in reference to the constructor would be banned from commenting for one month. Are constructors forced to use answers that may not seem ideal in service to the rest of the puzzle? Yes. Do they work hard to avoid it? Yes. IMO , I found splat to be Friday level and funny.
@Steve L Or...understand that misleading clues are part of late week puzzles, accept and no longer be bothered by it, and just be prepared to have a different mindset when trying to come up with an answer for a misleading clue. It is not going to happen overnight, though.
@Mike I am going to disavowel any knowledge of having read this thread.
@Briana Some people feel strongly about having rebus puzzles on any day. And continue to let us know over and over and over and over and… It gets to be tiresome as rebuses are a normal part of the NYT crossword experience.
I liked the theme and was able to fill the puzzle fairly quickly, but I knew there was going to be problems. There were too many unknowns crossing unknowns and too little patience from me to guess my way out of this one.
I can see why the constructor says this puzzle is his favorite. It is pretty ingenious. The north west corner had me stumped for a while. I had no luck haphazardly guessing the three or four letter letters in that area that I was unsure about, so I went about it systematically after that failed. First I was able to figure out that the name Norm had to be the answer for that particular clue so then I went about trying to figure out the lead in to sexual, and when the B fit I knew I was about done. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a puzzle that has a quotation that spans several answers. At first, I thought that alone was the theme, but then the revealer mentioned eight cells within the puzzle and I suspected that those might be rebuses. To tie the quotation to the rebus answers was ingenious and a bonus theme. I really love this puzzle.
For God's sakes people, can't you just accept that you don't know everything and move on? If you must, tell the world you have never heard of it (I know I do occasionally), but please don't assume that the clue is wrong.
@Eric Try ignoring the things you don’t understand at first, in this case the dashes, and just fill in as much of the puzzle as you can. More than likely the theme will eventually reveal itself — kind of an indirect clue.
@T Since you are a relative newbie, I will inform you that the more the haters come out to comment on Thursday, the better the Thursday puzzle. Will cover the deal about emus later.
I was scrolling through the comments in new-to-old order, got about halfway through them before I had had enough. Too many people venting their anger and hostility over the leisurely pasttime of solving, or attempting to solve, crossword puzzles. Seems like many are not having fun and I wonder why they continue.
(This is an edited version of a comment that the emus have blocked (twice)) I came away with this thought from Sunday's comments (regarding BOCCI/BOCCe and similar objections): If you think that because you've never heard of it that it does not exist, then you are creating an obstacle for yourself in completing the crosswords and setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment.
@jp inframan Have a nice life.
And just to be clear, I think it is perfectly fine to say you have never heard of something because that is just a statement of fact. But to infer from that that no one else has heard of something is flawed logic.
"Bird with a lot of stuffing?" It was joke. A play on words. You know, like you put stuffing in a turkey, or as some people like to do, call the turkey a bird. When you are making a joke or using humorous wordplay you are allowed some leeway. Larry Bird did some stuffing. Do we need to argue whether or not he did a *lot* of stuffing? Why do people go out of their way to nitpick the puzzle? Stop being so negative and just enjoy a humorous clue.
@Andrew So is a mho, but I guess you could not resist.
@Adina I get that LAWNTOOL may not be the perfect answer for the clue, but it is completely in the fairway for a Saturday puzzle.
@Eddie Hey everybody, Eddie done did this puzz! There will be a little celebration in the break room this afternoon. Hope you can make it.
@Tim In LA Not my experience at all. I thought the amount of cleverness was fine. Tired phrases like "too clever by half" do not translate into pleasure for this reader.
TIL, and most likely will forget, Dorothy's last name. If I only had a brain.
(This was originally slated as a reply to someone's complaint about ALEKEG, but I thought I give it its own thread.) I'll say this again (and probably again and again). Pretty much every day there is a crossword answer I've never heard of, but am able to fill it in either because the answer has a shred of reasonableness (such as ALEKEG) or it just seems to be the most likely answer given all the pieces of the puzzle. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if this crossword is the only place this specific string of letters has ever been in print. Just accept that you have never heard of it, and that whether or not it is in use somewhere is immaterial. Sure would cut down on a lot of comments.
@Richard Ciotti Some people prefer to complain rather than do their homework. I have never heard of the term strugglebus, but you could have looked it up before concluding that the constructor(s) made it up. I come across things in the crosswords all the time that I have never heard of. That is what makes them challenging.
@George You need to explain why the gimmick was poorly executed or stop making such statements.
Slightly (7%) faster than average. Raise a hand if you never heard of box social. (I have now, after looking it up) I lost my smart phone. Turns out, someone found it, but they could not contact me because I had no phone. They turned it over to the police, who brought it to my house. Needless to say, it was the best CELL RECEPTION ever.
If I might offer some unsolicited advice that may have been helpful today and going forward. Don't consider a rebus until it hits you over the head. In other words, pretend rebuses do not exist until they have to in order to solve the puzzle. It may take getting burned a few times before this makes sense.
The real tricks for this Thursday puzzle were GONG instead of sONG, ADORE instead of AmORE, and DLIST instead of BLIST. Such deviousness could start a row. But the intended theme was pretty good even if it did seem strange at first. Despite spending almost half my time flyspecking, I still finished around 10% under my average time.
I was starting to turn into a basket case before I hatched the theme. It'll take a while to get ova this one; my brain is totally scrambled.
@Comet If that isn’ t a mess with TEXAS then I don’t know what is.