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Wha?
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Wha?
This was fiendishly tricky; I dare say it’s even trickier than a rebus puzzle. I used to think I couldn’t solve Thursday puzzles without Autocheck, but after successfully tacking this unassisted, I think the training wheels are finally coming off! Look, ma, no hands!
I really liked this puzzle and I generally dislike rebuses. I knew it was DOUBLEsomething and when it clicked with the SW corner I then went hunting for the rest. Lots of fun for my birthday solve with no lookups! Thank you very much!
Oh wow, it is my birthday today! Made my day to stumble onto that clue. Thanks!!!
That was brutal yet fair for a Saturday, since the sky’s the limit for today’s difficulty, I guess. I did, however, attain my best streak of 10. I read somewhere in these pages long ago that your puzzle is yours to solve in whichever way you’d like. After over a thousand of puzzles solved on Autocheck, I’ve finally thrown off the training wheels to go unaided. I kinda see the whole autocheck period as the part in the story arc in a movie where the character goes through an intense period of training and failing before (hopefully) triumphing. There still will be failures along the way to be sure; today was one of those days that came very close to failure with my finger hovering over the life ring on many occasions. But, it worked out and the time was brutal on the average. Then again, I feign NONCHALANCE at that stat these days. The solve is the prize, right? That’s what I’m telling myself. P.S. minor quibble: isn’t INSULATION already plural? That threw me off for a bit. ~*
@Barry Ancona So… not a lot?
What a fun, fun puzzle! I really loved the cleaver theme and how the constructors made it work out so beautifully.
For some reason, I could not decipher what an ECORESORT was. ECORE SORT? ECOR ESORT? And somehow, when I entered the last letter elsewhere, I got the completion music, much to my surprise. Then I came here and understood it be ECO RESORT. *smh…
@JNLA *sits in his mother’s basement listening to Def Leppard on the tape deck on repeat, drinking Stroh’s.
Oooooooo! Was this cutesy? Perhaps. Gimmicky? Maybe, if it offends your quest for crossword chastity. Was it fun though? Absolutely. I thought it was diabolical at first but when I saw how it all worked I was all in with admiration for the constructor. Kudos for constructing something fun for something that’s supposed to be fun.
To all the SPARKPLUG quibblers, I offer these words of wisdom from the inimitable Bruce Springsteen: “You can’t start a fire without a spark.” 🔥 And I don’t think he meant just Hemis.
Like I’m sure others did, i had “keep trying’…” with SPIDEYSENSE” upon completion. For some reason, OYLESS made sense to me, like”Oy, I have to mark this down in order to move it!” Mind, oy could be substituted for aiya or drats or any other exclamation of dismay.
I can’t imagine why I couldn’t get BLOVIATES, especially in these times… Inured, perhaps?
Fun puzzle and I liked the punny nature of the names though a couple made me groan 😩. I do think that 12D could be clued a little clearer. The peninsula in question is MALAYSIA and encompasses parts of Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia, also formerly known as MALAYA (under various versions) until 1963. Perhaps the clue might have offered a little more clarity as Malaya to denote the country, though not other uses, have fallen into obscurity. It would be like calling Myanmar BURMA or Beijing PEKING without acknowledging the historical change. Perhaps the editors should have caught this. Otherwise, I really liked the puzzle. 👍🏽
I loved it. The BLOCK thing in the midst of it all was like a delightful key change in a song with a great melody. Sweet!
This was a tough one for me. Thursdays always seem to be. I was stuck with little progress until I got USE THE FORCE. It then fell quickly into place. Coincidence, it is not, herh hih hee.
Loved the puzzle! Especially since it included PENANG! Who’da thought that would show up? Named after the areca catechu or the PINANG tree. So cool!
@Rich in Atlanta I’ve never heard of that. UP would usually denote UP by seven or whatever number. Weird cluing.
My first ever unassisted Sunday and it was a romp with one of my fastest Su times ever. Great puzzle lol!
I really liked this puzzle, then again I like all puzzles that I get… Slightly puzzling moment was when somehow I used WARY for alert and LONG JOHNNY SILVER somehow seemed plausible as a very informal way to address the Treasure Island villain. 🤔 I corrected myself before ttoooo…
@Patricia Henry it’s funny how different people view different puzzles as easy or hard. Friday was really easy for me while this was really tough. Thursdays, for some reason, are the worst for me.
@Grant. I remember when I first played rugby at boarding school when I was already a teenager, being at a disadvantage to the other kids who already knew the game well. When I did score, someone remarked, “Nice try!”, I whipped around and asked “What do you mean? Didn’t I score?” It was then explained to me the finer points of rugby scoring, and of the game itself. I had no idea what I was doing on the field.
@Michael. I gotta ask, respectfully, of course: “Wouldn’t any crossword puzzle be difficult for dyslexics?”
@Greg Obscure, you say. Tao Te Ching, anyone? The foundation of much of Chinese philosophy that has influenced Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, as well as many other philosophies? It’s like saying Plato was some obscure Greek thinker.
I really liked this theme and the backstory behind it too, but big bonus for the mention of Lin Ching Hsia aka Bridget Lin. That took me down some serious Wikipedia rabbit holes that wended through many memory lanes. Especially on a Father’s Day, where I reminisced about going to late night movies with my now departed parents to see Ms. Lin and her leading men projected large on the screens.
Congratulations on graduating HS and constructing this puzzle for NYT. My daughter will be attending OSU Honors College this fall in Biochem and Molecular Biology. Have fun at SDSU. Your parents must be very proud!
Even tho I eventually figured the classic knights warning, for some reason I thought it was HERE COMES RAIN for the longest time.
@CCNY et a Tom Waits is a boss! I love Downtown Train from Rain Dogs which also includes the song Singapore, which was part of MALAYA/MALAYSIA until 1965. 😄 Another fun fact about Rain Dogs is that the man pictured on the album cover isn’t Tom. Remarkable likeness though.
And scrolling further down, I see Rahul’s had this covered. Good on ya. Wanted to say this before Barry opined.
Two things: 1) Mr Leach seems to like his SUSHI. I count 3 sushi related clues. Perhaps today's image should've been of SUSHI? 2) I can't believe I didn't get BARBACOA on the first try. And the best BARBACOA? South Philly Barbacoa of course! You can check out the chef Cristina Martinez's story on Chef's Table, or better yet, get down there to try it if you haven't already.
Hands up if any one else thought yesterday’s was a lot tougher than today’s? Somehow I was on the same wavelength as the constructor. Made for a satisfying birthday solve!
It was certainly looking very iffy for me there for a while but like others I persisted and got my first ever 7 streak. Fun puzzle, especially BELL LAP. Now on to 8…
@all who commented: Thanks for all of the kind words and amens! I’d promised myself that if I got to 10 in a row, I’d write something about it. To be sure, I have nothing against Autocheck, if that’s what’s fun for you, you do you. After all, I did it for over a thousand of them! Maybe it got a little boring actually, and doing it without it has made it so much more fun.
@Byron ULTA would be obscure to you as a Canadian since apparently they have no stores there; OTOWN even more so to anyone not even remotely in that part of the USA, which includes me. I’d no idea 🤷. But, HEP over HIP, that might be your age speaking 😀
I was so thrown when I had DOWN for two of the rebuses and then encountered the UP clue whereupon I changed all my rebuses only then to encounter the DOWN clue wherein then I finally got the theme. Great puzzle, like yesterday’s but then I’m only commenting on today’s.
I think the answer RIOT mischaracterizes the clue “civil uprising” as a definition. Some uprisings can descend into riots though not all riots are uprisings. They may be civil unrest, characterized by disorganized, wanton destructive behavior. I see uprisings as protests against the establishment and those can be peaceful or otherwise. Disappointing cluing.
@Ernest great work and congrats on the first puzzle. I personally really enjoyed it. Don’t mind the haters as they gonna hate.
@Jane Wheelaghan if you’re as old as you say you are, then you might remember the Raleigh Chopper bicycles that were popular in the UK (I’m assuming you’re in London, UK}. These were made in response to the Schwinn Stingrays. The high-backed BANANA SEAT was a prominent feature. I remember these fondly from my youth. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Chopper" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Chopper</a>
@Oikofuge. Simply put, in tennis, if your opponent is at the net to volley, i.e. to hit the ball before it bounces, you may elect to LOB the ball over his/her head in order to thwart their intentions. Your opponent, in turn, may have anticipated this and may run back to position for a SMASH HIT, which is like an overhead shot, generally.
Like yesterday, quite breezy until the SW corner, and then it got a little crunchy. Getting the CBC show helped a lot but it was the chain name that clicked it together quickly in the end. Great puzzle that made me feel a little chuffed! Thanks!
I actually got the hang of the theme early, helped by COMMITTEE and then HAMM and OCCAM. It was a fun tussle and the clues were not that tricky.
@Bill Well, that was pretty strong. About this “trend” tho not of the government bit. I’ve seen PAH on numerous occasions, most notably and often in the translated Astérix books. Chill, it’s only a crossword puzzle. Save your ire for real fires.
OK, poll for those in the know: MARMITE or Bovril? I’ve always been a Bovril person myself. The alternative has always been a bit too… yeasty. Bovril and butter sarnies…mmm.
@Tony. Neither. Just squarely in the middle.
@Toni. Not so. Condensed milk would be frozen solid in the icy liquid. It would be NUTSO to stir.
@A Wasn't that such a treat? Happy B'day to you too!
@Steve L haha “This is Us” numbers … smh. Perhaps that’s why…