Kristin
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San Francisco
My 11-year-old son was looking over my shoulder and told me the answer to 3-down was IOUS (duh, mom [*eye-roll*]). I argued with him that a Wednesday puzzle wouldn’t have something that obvious & erased it once he left the room. Oops. re-entered it with the crosses 10 minutes later.
Had a moment when I thought Curiosity & Perseverance must have been the names of 2 ancient Greek LOVERS 🤦♀️
@B I used the index & middle to figure out the other 4, so my experience with the theme was very different than yours! And I thought it was a great puzzle!
Fun puzzle! Interesting to see 2 different takes on wormhole between this & Dylan Schiff’s puzzle from last year!
@Kristin Although I suppose one could argue it’s not really a mnemonic if I have to look up the mnemonic 😬
@Mike I thought I saw on some forum that they get ~150 submissions per week. So at 7 puzzles published per week, that’s ~4.7%. But defer to those who have more accurate sources!
@B it’s not for a one-off puzzle; I’ve seen it in multiple puzzles over the past year!
@Isabeau I had the same issue
@Andrzej I took 2 months off and found renewed enjoyment upon my return (and the comments section seemed less acerbic as well)!
@Beth in Greenbelt must be regional - sure rhymes with sir for me! (Raised in Wisconsin, now live in California)
@Cat Lady Margaret BEAR THE LION - a hibernating beast with an identity crisis HOSPITAL WAR - doctors and nurses duke it out IMMINENT ANGER - reaching boiling point
@Mean Old Lady origami got me as well, despite a conversation in my head about “Why would a Japanese word have a Greek origin?”
Loved this! ARTSY FARTSY was particularly fun spread over 2 intersecting clues. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have a Roman numerals mnemonic (I Value Xylophones Like Cows Do Milk) saved on the “Crossword Stuff” page in my Notes app for quick reference, because I only use X, V, and I enough in real life and for whatever reason can’t keep the others in order in my brain. Referred to it today to finish the NW quadrant 😄.
@Stephen I went through & checked all my acrosses & downs 3 times before giving up & checking puzzle to reveal the incorrect C for N. CCO was a military acronym when I googled it, so it never occurred to me that SCARF was incorrect!
Spent way too long looking for a mistake, then decided to take out the rebus answers and realized a whole new layer to the puzzle - fantastic!
@Barry Ancona I solved Haiku before I had figured out the die/pip theme, so I also thought “illustrated here” referred to the puzzle as a whole. I feel like I’ve seen that phrasing for themes in the past.
5D is a bit of a stretch… that’s not a standard function of the spleen except during fetal development and in disease states, so doesn’t make sense for a Monday puzzle!
@DIVAS IVLIVS I took [can be “dominant”] to mean “can be inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion”
It seems odd to have HI in 23-across that’s not part of the theme, doesn’t it? Found this on the tougher side for a Monday, but figured out the theme from 56-across, which helped!
@Andrzej If a musical was 1/3 ads, would that make it better or worse for you?
@Jake G Yeah, that really annoys me, too! I used to love popping back and forth between the comments and the puzzle to see what clues people were referring to. Extra cumbersome to go find the article on the Times app to be able to do that.
Thought this puzzle was cute, but then loved it on a whole new level after Sam pointed out the bent truths all stem from lies - brilliant!
Congratulations - fun puzzle! (And I’m all about competitions with one’s spouse! 😂)
Thursday PB for me; fun, breezy puzzle (agree with others that it could have been appropriate earlier in the week as well). Loved the GOAT clue!
Happy birthday! Great present for you and for us!
@Nancy J. I agree! It always makes me sad when I see the constructor’s favorite clues that were edited - often I like the originals better :)
Had trouble with SAPID as I’d a) never heard it, and b) was sure 53A was bINS. Got CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE immediately, though had them reversed in the across/down positions so ripped them out then got to re-enter them later in a forehead slap moment.
@Jonathan Baldwin Agree! I thought 66A really deflated what was otherwise a cute puzzle.
@Steve L Oh, love that thought!
@abelsey Agree… I had no issue with the puzzle per se, but the fact that every time I wanted to think about an across clue when I was on the right half the grid I had to click on the clue on the L drove me nuts! I realize this is how it’s often written for this type of clue spanning multiple entries, but it would have been so much more pleasant if they could have re-written the clue stem in the second half clues as well!
@Hafidh I also had AREWEAnitem for way too long!
@Crevecoeur My error that took me forever to find was ARaPAS - the crossing acronym was unknown to me, so wasn’t helpful in figuring out it should have been an E.
@HeathieJ I did the exact same thing 😄
@Ellen Agree - seems like change for the sake of change, rather than for betterment!
@tricia Thank you - good to know!
@Barry Ancona Might be if the Saybrook Strip at “The Game” every year counts…
@Andrzej And yet you rail against musical theater??
@NYC Traveler The dictionary is under “more” in the lower left-hand corner on the app. As mentioned above, it seems to use the NASPA dictionary.
[Oversee the underworld, in Valley Speak?] Did this puzzle with my 14-year-old son, so I had to explain Valley Speak to him, but after he got it, he loved it! 😄
@Marie I had DARKmatter for most of my solving time as well, and when I couldn’t make heads or tails out of the SE corner I finally removed it, and everything then fell into place.
@Amy I second the Smitten Kitchen gingerbread yule log - a yearly favorite for us! (And meet’s Deb’s easy to roll request.)
@David I was sure it was income, until I put in EGGWHITES. Then I was convinced it was effect. Finally removed it when I couldn’t get any downs from that.
@Francis DeBernardo Right! How else do you have clean clothes to wear to work on Monday?
@Cat Lady Margaret Just did it after reading your comment - what a great puzzle!
@Laura It became outdated as soon as I learned what it meant.
@Ash I had all those as well! 😄
@Steven M. Interesting article, and congratulations on all fronts! 😊
@YooperJake I also had OUST initially and thought it was very clever! What better way to “clean house” than to OUST the president, for instance? 😄
@Nora It is what it is… ;) Found the difficulty mostly on par with current Thursdays, though the last square was a Natick for me. Loved the trick once I finally (very late in the puzzle) figured it out!