Nick
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I found this to be somewhat tricky for a Tuesday. Not hard necessarily, but for me there was more thought required than a typical Tuesday. Similar to “Chris” from Boston, the crossings of HOLST, LASE and SITSKI were my final fills.
My history with the NYT crossword goes back about 6 years or so. So I’m experienced, but not a vet who reminisces about the good old days in these puzzles. So for Barry, it might have been Monday level easy but, for me (during my time solving these puzzles), it seemed to be a spot on Wednesday…. which is refreshing since the puzzles of 2026 (and perhaps a bit before) have have been easier than my 6-year average expectation.
Though I solved slightly faster than my average time, I thought this puzzle had a touch more bite than a typical Wednesday.
@Nick to everybody who contributed - thank you! After a multi-hour break, I looked again and indeed I did get that coveted gold star to extend the streak to 100! Would you believe I found my error in the first 5 seconds of re-examination? It was literally the first letter of the puzzle. I originally had uTMOST, whereas the solution was ATMOST. Both work as the solution. But the spelling of that darned Indian flour always escapes me, and uTTA sounded ‘bout right, so I just didn’t see the error. As many have noted before, a rejuvenating break often brings fresh perspective! Again, thanks’
Well, like others, I smashed my personal best for a Saturday. Unlike others, my minutes weren’t measured in single digits, though the double digit minute count did begin with a one. I don’t know how people post those 4, 5 and 6 minute times. Even on a Monday where the answers come seamlessly, I can’t read and process the questions and type my responses that quick. Maybe the fact that I’m solving on my phone has something to do with it? Anyway, my hat’s off to those capable of the feat.
@SP I dunno. I thought those were pretty good!
Too…. tough… for…. a….. Tuesday. I was literally about to call an end to my second longest ever streak when I happened “play” (as in, I won the lotto!) just the right combination of mystery letters I was stuck on, and the gold star was very (very, very, very) luckily had. Won’t bore people with the combination of letters I was stuck on in various parts of the puzzle, but a skim of the comments suggests I was not alone in my difficulties.
Now that was a Saturday! I was becoming disillusioned with my personal best streak because so many puzzles of late have been, shall we say, undemanding. But this puzzle demanded my full concentration and persistence. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when completing such a puzzle.
To preserve my personal best streak, I pushed this one right to the time limit and couldn’t get it done. In the end, it was the southwest corner that did me in, though the whole puzzle was a brutal, grind-it-out, slog. But if a streak is going to end, I guess I’m glad it’s on a puzzle that no “Aha!” moment was going to save for me. In any event, I’m proud of my 61 day no lookup and no hints streak. A few years ago I’d never have imagined achieving such results.
Monday easy. Yesterday’s puzzle should have been today’s.
That was just right for a Thursday! I didn't get the theme until ~ 95% complete, but ultimately decoding A Star is Born to read as A Star is B or N was essential to getting me the rest of the way home.
Nifty theme. Took me a while to get it but, even when I did, it still required careful thought to complete several of the themed entries. Hard Wednesday/easy(ish) Thursday for me. I liked it!
My misplaced confidence that pAniC was assuredly right led to me being stymied in the NW for a long time. A long, long time. I nearly called it quits on my decent (by my standards) 19 day streak. The aha(!) moment came when I realized, in spite of being sure an “I” was the fourth letter in 19A, that AUTOS was nonetheless the correct fill and therefore pAniC was not the sure thing I assumed it to be. HAVOC immediately followed and the NW rapidly fell into place. My middling streak lives on at 20.
Per Deb, I absolutely admired 24D. I thought it in the moment, and I’m glad to see I wasn’t alone. There have been myriad great clues over the handful of years I’ve been doing the NYT Crossword (about 7 maybe?), but this one stands out as one of my favourites.
@Nick Got it! The problem was 22D. I thought REM seemed like a good band name there but, of course, that then misspelled PEeLED on the cross (though upon cursory glance all looked good). The revelation came when I realized the Dark Horse square for DISH-O-NOR was only used across and not down. That led me to see the correct down entry as RAM-O-NES (which of course corrected the spelling of PEALED). Forehead slap! The streak lives!
Ok, this is frustrating. I’m at a 99 day streak (my longest ever) and needing the gold star for this puzzle to reach 100! To my eye, I think I have this puzzle solved. But I’m not getting the oh so coveted (particularly in this case) yellow star. Is there something special I need to do with the “roundabouts” that I am missing? I get that the across entry leading into each roundabout from the West combines with the three exits (South, East and North) of the roundabout to form answers to those respective clues (recognizing that the South, East, and North first letters are additive… i.e. the East solution includes the first letter of the South entry; and the North solution includes the first letter of both the South and East entries), and the answer to the North entry runs from bottom to top. For example, the answer to 72D is MICHELINMAN. Is there anything else I need to do? PLEASE, NO HINTS OR CLUES to the solutions as I am very strict with myself about no lookups or cheats. If it’s not something odd about how to input the roundabouts, then I’ll have to flyspeck yet again, but I’ve literally revisited every entry of the puzzle three times, with progressively more attention each time, and I simply do not see an error (admittedly this has happened a couple of times in the past and, well, there has been an error!) Thank you in advance!
Was well on my way to a Friday personal best (and probably by a significant margin) until I got modestly bogged down in the middle south of the puzzle. Never had a MOCHIDONUT and never heard of one either. AMFM, CEL and the “sloshed” of GETSLOSHED crossing that darned donut didn’t help. But ultimately it all came together and still at less than half my average time. While my personal best streak continues, my satisfaction with the accomplishment diminishes with every “too easy” puzzle that is published. I know, be careful what you wish for but, with the odd exception, there has been a very notable decline in the difficulty of these puzzles starting maybe 5 or 6 months ago (not coincidentally around the same time that my current streak began) and I, for one, would prefer stricter tests. My current streak is 66% better than my previous best from about two years ago, but I don’t think I’ve gotten 66% better. It’s a close call, but my previous streak may have been more fulfilling. I know that “Games” have become a major revenue driver for the NYT, and I suppose the thinking is that participation/revenue can be grown further via more “accessible” puzzles. But at some point the brand is diminished, and I fear that tipping point may soon be at hand.
I’m Canadian, and I know my provinces. But ALB had me hung up to the end. I got the gold star solvent by way of the cross of LOUD, and only had the “aha!” moment after the fact.
@Mick You could make that claim about any big city. But I’d disagree. The vast majority of drivers know what to do. Sadly, too many of them think rules and courtesy don’t apply to them.
Clever and chewy Sunday. I had to work for it and enjoyed doing so!
@Barry Ancona Agreed, very easy week so far. However, while not what I’d typically expect from a Thursday puzzle, Tuesday may be too far in the other direction. A Wednesday feels about right to me. P.S. I’m getting within striking range of my all time best streak (modest as it may be by some high standards here). I feel like I may be jinxing my chances with the comment I made above!
@Dave K I’m right behind you at 1791!
Good. Creative. Challenging. Fair. More Fridays and Saturdays like this please.
Fridays should offer resistance. This offered very little. Agree with Barry, good puzzle for a Wednesday.
A chewy Friday followed by a chewy Saturday. Keep it up!
Hardest puzzle in ages. Like many, INTrOACTS crossing with rATTLED is what took me down. My 147 day no lookups, no hints, no cheats streak comes to an end.
Dunno how to feel. Inventive (and difficult) theme which I admired. Challenging cluing, bordering on obscure, which I didn’t. Got it done without lookups, but it was a difficult slog. In the end, I probably lean toward admiration because this is a puzzle I will remember.
I did not PB any of Friday, Saturday or Sunday. But I am confident that this three-day Friday, Saturday and Sunday stretch was easily my quickest such stretch ever.
Proof that a puzzle doesn’t have to be particularly hard to be fun.
@Zach “One of” - so not necessarily the largest.
Ok, so I just established a new personal best streak (adhering to my very strict no lookups, cheats or hints policy) at 62. If it weren’t for a slap the forehead mistake 63 puzzles ago, my streak would stand at 81. No false modesty here, I’m proud of the streak and where I’ve come from when first taking on the challenge of NYT crossword puzzles after previously limiting myself to the far easier local newspaper puzzle here in Vancouver (for those interested, the newspaper is The Vancouver Sun). However, proud as I may be, I’m questioning the quality of the streak: the past few months of crosswords have either been easier than the typical puzzle of the previous 5 years (or so), or I’ve legitimately gotten better. I’d like to believe the latter, but suspect the former. FWIW, when my previous best of 61 ended, it was a Sam Ezersky puzzle that broke the streak. Im certain in saying there have been no puzzles as challenging as the one produced by that (notorious?) constructor, but I’d dare say the average puzzle has been easier this time round also. Thoughts?
@Barry Ancona Agreed. Seemed like a Wednesday and my time (slow as I am comparatively to you and others here) reflected this.
Agree with most posters so far - it was an easy Saturday. Very close to my PB, and about 70%(!) faster than my Saturday average. There was another extraordinarily easy Saturday 6 to 12 months ago. That and this one are true outliers.
@Matt My experience also. Apart from the PUTTEES / STUPA cross, the bottom half to 2/3 of the puzzle went quite smoothly for a Saturday. The upper 1/3 was a more typical Saturday grind for me. Nevertheless, I was successful and my streak stays alive. Edging ever closer to my personal best.
@Steve L You could be right Steve, but I suspect differently in my case. I’m not a particularly fast reader either. But I’m not perturbed by the matter, as streaks matter more to me than time, and on that front I think I do well (though not as well as you with a 4 digit solve streak to your name!) with my strict no hint/cheat/lookup policy. For me I simply enjoy the process of sifting through my memory banks for the esoteric fill that comes with late week puzzles, and advancing my own modest streak which is approaching my PB of 61 (and would currently stand at over 70 were it not for a single December mistake that was head-slappingly obvious but to which I was blind in spite of the seeming endless time I spent flying-specking the puzzle… oh well).
Not getting the gold star even though I think everything is correct. Is there anything special that must be done with the “dark horse” squares? I know the letters that should go in each of the six black squares so identified, but I have not added those letters to any of the surrounding squares thereby creating rebus(es? rebi?). For example, for 5D I have ORC(black square)EST(black square)ATE for “orchestrate”. Is this methodology correct? Please no other hints as I follow a strict no lookup/cheat/hint policy and I’m in the midst of a personal best streak (personally, I don’t consider asking how to fill/not fill the black squares to be a cheat). If my lack of a gold star has nothing to do with the completion (or lack thereof) of the black squares as I described then I shall have to go over the grid yet again - though I’ve made at least a half dozen passes already and cannot find a mistak. Thanks in advance!
@Steve L For a Tuesday, I too was flummoxed. While I solved the puzzle easily, I did so without ever deciphering the theme. I had to read Sam’s article for that “Aha!” moment. That said, had this been a Thursday or Sunday puzzle, I feel confident that the extra level of forced concentration required by such puzzles would have led me to the “Aha!” on my own. Regardless, it was clever.
My goodness, did the intersection of 59A with 60D have me flummoxed in the Southeast corner for the longest time. I was sure oWN was the correct fill for 60D, and my stubbornness clinging to that belief was my hindrance, though not undoing. Once I let go of my incorrect assumption, the corner came together and my unaided steak lives on at 54. Phew!
Not afraid to admit this theme flew WAY over my head. After reading Wordplay, I get it, but never would have without the explanation. Nonetheless, I managed to solve it while adhering to my “no lookups” personal rule.
For me, this proved very difficult. Though I muddled through in the end, the left half of the top stack of three (i.e. the NW quadrant) was an impenetrable minefield of trial and error for the longest time. The breakthrough came with CESAREANS (not sure why that took me so long to see), and then DISTRESSEDDENIM when I had the toe-hold of a confident “S” as the third letter. Though I wouldn’t say the rest fell into place “quickly”, completing the NW took but a fraction of the time I had previously spent staring at a bunch of blank squares. I would likely have given up were it not for a personal best streak that I was keen to extend. Mission accomplished…. phew!
@Red Carpet Your comment had me curious, so to the December 2014 archive I immediately went to try and find, and solve, what you were referencing. Might you have been referring to the Tuesday, December 2 puzzle? If so, I agree that the difficulty was of a “late week” puzzle by current standards, though perhaps not quite a Saturday. If you weren’t referring to December 2, and there is a harder Tuesday puzzle to be had in that calendar month then, well, wowza!
@Bill in Yokohama yes, I just posted as much. That was my error and thankfully I found it. Came close to giving up.
@Chris Same. The HOLST, LASE and SITSKI crosses were my final fills.
@Dean I’ve noticed the same thing and think you pose a good question. Might the editors be requesting the inclusion of certain answers? Or, alternatively, might they select puzzles from a “ready to be published” library of puzzles to offer these interesting cross-puzzle themes (mild pun not intended)?
Phew. For me, this proved a tough solve and I was getting nervous that my streak would end. But I managed to eke out the gold star in the end. I like a challenge, so thumbs up to this Friday puzzle from me!
I haven’t read word play nor any of the comments because I don’t want spoilers. Just want to ask, without seeking a hint, if there was a mistake in today’s crossword or more than one viable solution? I’ve double, triple and quadruple checked, and I can’t find what I think to be an error in my fill. Usually I have a pretty good idea if something may be amiss, but I’d have to say that I’m reasonably confident my fill is valid. My best ever 51 day streak (no lookups) is at stake! Yes/no?
@Matthew I just posted almost the same comment regarding 24D (before I read yours of course)!