Kevin
Omaha
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Omaha
It took me only ten years, but all of the sudden I'm cruising through many Fridays and Saturdays without lookups. Loved it! Congrats on a great debut.
Who knew feather bars weren't a thing? I guess I need to get out more.
It went pretty smoothly after I reluctantly concluded BANANA wasn't a certain slip-on.
It is the best of days, it is the worst of days. I couldn't wait to come here to let everyone, including Kyle Perkins, know how much I enjoyed solving his debut - maybe my favorite ever - only to find out our friend Deb Amlen is retiring. I enjoy waking up and solving these puzzles but reading Deb's thoughtful commentary and heartfelt encouragement afterwards is the icing on the cake, and a great way to start the day. I can't imagine anyone filling your shoes. I'm going to resist my first instinct and not beg you to stay, because I'm sure you're making the right move. Your retirement plan sounds perfect. Best wishes and thanks for obvious effort you put into every single column over the years. You will be missed.
Today - after a decade of crossword solving - I learned that NEE is homophone of NAY and not KNEE.
@Teresa It's the tendency for things to remain in the state they're in, so you're half right.
My mother used the term RIGAMAROLE so frequently that it was the first word that popped into my head after reading the clue with an empty grid. The rest of the puzzle was a PLEASANT SURPRISE.
@Tom S.STAN SMITH qualifies as sports trivia.
Another impossible Friday followed by an easy Saturday.
@Jim I haven't seen it either and this one cost me ten minutes. ELSA is the new EMU.
I figured out the gimmick early on but put an ORANGE where a MANGO belonged. After fixing that I finished up within seconds of my Thursday average. Very sweet solo debut!
@The X-Phile I had no idea Gandhi did standup.
@Francis We Strava-addicted cyclists have a similar saying, "All KOMs (fastest time ever on particular stretch of road) are wind assisted." A helpful breeze doesn't mean you're not really King of the Mountain.
@MP Rogers That had to have been a coincidence, given the timing.
@Tim My first entry was ONENIL.
@FJC It would be BUTTINSKY and wouldn't fit. I know because I tried it.
@Daily-Solver My experience with this puzzle was uncannily close to yours. I'm so glad I resisted the temptation to cheat because it was such a satisfying solve.
I am now a Stella fan. I usually miss or ignore the theme but this one leapt out at me and I filled them all in right away, allowing me to almost halve my average time.
I left the M in ESME and GOHAM blank until I finished the puzzle, intending to run the alphabet on it, but entered M first on a whim, and the music played!
I thought it was as good as Tuesday was bad, which means it was absolutely fantastic. I used the rebus tool to enter both "grades" which slowed me up, but in hindsight I realize that didn't really make a while lot of sense.
According to the Discogs database, RAMA LAMA DING DONG was originally released as LAMA RAMA DING DONG but the error was soon corrected. The original version with the misspelling commands a premium and Discogs considers it the Master Release as it came first.
@Patrick J. Anything is Googleable, but that's throwing in the towel.
The TESCO section slowed me down for a bit. Maybe the Brits who come here to complain about too many Americanisms in an American crossword puzzle will be temporarily placated.
I was genuinely shocked when changing FIX to FIT completed the puzzle (how's that for a humble brag?). If someone brought up the term MERCYBUCKETS in casual conversation, the next words out of my mouth would be IGOTTARUN.
@Liz Nine years for me. I gave up after staring at an almost blank grid for twenty mimutes, ten of which I wasted on the anagram of an NFL player I've never heard of.
@Sammy I had OOPS and stuck with it because it made sense and was actually one word. Silly me.
@Antony OMG you're right! Heads should roll!
@Moira I grew up in Chicago and visit as often as possible and I got it right away. I know there's only one EL, but two ELs make an ELS.
@Sebastian Don't feel bad. It was quick for me as well and I still don't get the theme!
I caught on to the gimmick rather early with PING PONG but didn't hear the music until I realized PISH POSH wasn't working.
@MB It didn't make much sense to me either, but maybe PLY a trade, CARRY ON a trade?
That was fun but I STRETCH (with my Chiweenie) right after I STIR but before I GET UP.
@Wspd It was a triple DOH! for me. Sorry, I meant GAH.
@Nora I discovered Willa Cather after seeing O Pioneers! discussed in this column soon after moving to OMAHA. There's a library named after her nearby and now I'm thinking it would be fun to visit and check out (literally) one her lesser known books there. Do you have a recommendation?
@Canoe-er The clue generated an image of Tinker Bell and her pals looking out the windows of a bus flying through the nighttime sky before being rejected. When the crosses forced me to enter BUS I began to think I might be losing it. I finished high school and went to college in Pittsburgh so the reveal in the column stimulated a real memory of Peter Pan buses that I had somehow forgotten about - quite the mental journey for such a short word! I thought it was well clued and just the right depth for a Wednesday.
I was close to finishing at around 12 minutes, took a break to make some coffee and when I came back my time was back at 00:00. It was a quick solve, but not under three minutes!
This was possibly the most enjoyable crossword puzzle I've ever had the pleasure to solve. Kudos to the creators.
@Francis It's also what @Teresa said it is, i.e. the tendency of an object at rest to remain at rest.
@Andrzej In Telluride Colorado, we had one, CBS, and it didn't come in to well.
@Call Me Al After I figured it out I felt silly for convincing myself that a CUT of sugar was a real thing.
I had PONZA crossing with ADOPT and was sure both were right.
I figured out the trick quite early and tore through the surprisingly straightforward (for a Thursday) clues. As I was finishing up I was worried about how the missing letters should be filled in but then the music played and they filled themselves in. The result was a Thursday completed in half my average time, which isn't a bad thing.
I figured out the trick almost immediately and breezed through the rest. I would have broken my Thursday record if I hadn't entered ANGEL instead of A. I don't get it. BRAINA et al make no sense.
Wonderful puzzle but why are the mods ignoring all these vulgar personal attacks?
@Ziggy NEE is used in crossword puzzles almost as frequently as EMU and OREO. It because means maiden name.
@Fat Dragon We call them WASHes in the high desert of Colorado, and I'm not familiar with WADI. I got WASH on my first pass and not whole lot more.
I got CIS CEL and WASHER after twenty minutes. Maybe crosswords aren't my thing after all.