Lorelski
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The NYT blesses us with 365 crossword puzzles a year (not counting the minis). It makes me wonder why people complain in the Comments section when they don't like one of them. If you're disappointed with the occasional puzzle, I suggest you just wait until tomorrow, or seek out an additional crossword source.
Glad I was able to solve this puzzle without having to sit through Wicked.
A fantastic debut—full of sly humor and clues that celebrate idioms and have multiple possibilities for answers. I relish simple clues like "Get down" which fill my mind with everything from alighting to dancing to ducks...then lead to something completely different. I'm old enough to be relieved there were no references to rappers or the Marvel Universe, but am patting myself on the back for guessing TROLL nearly off the bat. As an oldie to a newbie, all I can say is, You're in the groove, Jackson.
I really liked this puzzle, and yet, a panda is not a bear.
Call me shallow, but any puzzle that challenges me and that I can complete is a good puzzle. That includes this one.
@SP I'm an iguana and I approve this message.
I don't think of unmown lawns as EYESOREs. Manicured lawns are hard for me to look at now that I've been educated on how landscaping, particularly growing and maintaining lawns, is such a detriment to our natural environment.
I have issues with AMUCK.
@Nick, brilliant prediction regarding getting snarky replies: As someone who thought this was one of the best puzzles in a long time, I'm thinking you might want to consider seeking out the TV Guide crossword puzzles from now on. (Not sure they still exist, but they were a bit, ahem, easier.) Keep those amusing comments coming! They make me feel so superior, and god knows I need that!
I was overwhelmed with nostalgia while completing this puzzle: TOR and EWER as answers in the same puzzle??? In this day and age??? Hello, my old friends! (Say, have you seen ITER or ADIT lately?) On a different level, STONER used to be pretty common in everyday parlance. That and "pothead" seem to have disappeared and been replaced with... what?
@B, thanks! For tonight at least, I’d rather be wrong and amused than right and unbearable.
OATES is not so much a mate of Hall anymore—professionally or as a friend. Great puzzle, BTW.
@D I guess that makes me a critic.
Question: If people hate rebus puzzles so much, why do they tackle them? Can't they just skip them?
@D I hope you feel better soon.
@Steve L, I count myself lucky that I don't know these details so well that I get frustrated by slight/perceived imperfections.
@Francis Not Vitruvia, but Vitruvius—an ancient Roman architect whose writings inspired Leonardo da Vinci to draw the Vitruvian Man. (I learned this from watching Jeopardy! this week.)
@Andrzej TCBY = The Country's Best Yogurt (frozen yogurt franchise). PEE is the spelling of the letter "P"; CUE is the spelling of the letter "Q". LMNOP then Q.
@Stephen Let me guess one that you didn't have to look up: SNERD. That's the first one I got.
@Mike Interesting how people interpret these terms. For me a few = 4 or 5 (probably because of they start with "f," and several = anywhere from 6 to 9 (with "seve"n being near the middle of that group. To me "several" has too many syllables to stand for a mere 3 items.
@Lpr Funny, that's just the type I like. I was pretty sure I was going to have to cheat, but I eventually clawed my way through it. Whew! That's a good feeling. Great clues do it for me.
There's a complaint today about entering rebuses in puzzles. I'm sure this won't solve all rebus problems, but here's one thing that minimized my annoyance in this department: on my laptop, hitting the "esc" button allows me to type a rebus in a square.
@Henry Su, I'm also a bit weary of OREOs. I wouldn't mind seeing a Hydrox or two.
@Lou Scheffer, they grow here in the Chicago area. My sister in Dexter, MI, has been growing them. She is frankly rather sick of the fruit. If you have any ideas of what to do with a bountiful harvest of pawpaws, please pass them on!
@Cliff Shaw, that's it. Let it all out.
@HeathieJ Not Vitruvia, but Vitruvius—an ancient Roman architect whose writings inspired Leonardo da Vinci to draw the Vitruvian Man. (I learned this from watching Jeopardy! this week.)
@Rahul, thanks for the update! I consider myself duly schooled.
Now I know that TOO is an adverb. But I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that.
@Rachel While we're at it, this reminds me of how I have to clarify my interlocutor's meaning when they say "next Friday." I think this is the first time I've used the term "interlocutor." Feels strange, but I think NYT readers will appreciate it.
@SP Thanks for bringing up your theory of relativity!
Just piping up to complain about the 6-down clue: Shortening for a city that omits "onto" I ordinarily appreciate clues that require a bit of interpretation but for me this went a bit too far. Other than that, the world is a perfect place... isn't it?
@Michael Weiland, you’re half right: I was thinking of pandas with a little koala clinging to my useles—I mean eucalyptus brain. :-)
@Katie A possum with spikes? That's my kind of cute!
@JayTee, yeah, I would much rather keyboard than work my way up to the Rebus button. Old school, I guess. I had to find out about the "esc" option by trial and error. It would be nice if the NYT informed us of this option by adding a few words near the Rebus button.
@HeathieJ Thanks. Good explanation. :-)
@Teresa, thanks! I did not know that about Mickey. I'll file that away for Jeopardy!
@Steve L, so it was 16D for you? ;-)
@SK If the answer has "GO" or "STOP" in it, you substitute that word with "GREEN" or "RED," respectively. So the answer to 18 across is COMESTOPASS (comes to pass) but instead you write COMEREDASS.
@Lynn, perhaps by "too far" I meant too far beyond my associative capabilities at the time. "Shortening" threw me, as I've never seen that in a crossword clue before pertaining to abbreviating words. Omitting "onto" had me thinking it was a city name with a preposition excised (such as turning Aix-en-Provence into Aix or Aix-Provence). I realize it's just a minor situational grumble, though. I get testy when I can't quite understand the phrasing of an "answer" on the Jeopardy! board and this clue rankled me in a similar way. My dad was a Rochester native. His parents are buried in a cemetery near a Walmart there. Say hi to my Babcia and Djiadzia if you drive by!
@Jake G, yes to this. I always imagined that puzzle builders aspired toward having one instance where the same clue would be used for more than one answer.
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