RobJ
Tasmania, Australia
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Tasmania, Australia
@Vaer I'm an overseas solver and this one was a breeze compared to most. There were no references to baseball or basketball or NFL! I've only recently started doing the NYT crossword, but I've been dipping into the archive a bit over the last couple of weeks. I don't consider it cheating to Google anything about batting averages or NBA coaches or other things any non-US person unlikely to ever know.
It's a bit of a stretch, but how about Hark HOTELSAFE
I confidently put in RING for "Rock band" (like a band on your finger that might hold a rock or gem) and congratulated myself and the setter for being so clever. But no.
@Dan If Dracula has (sun)light on his feet, then it would be like walking on hot coals for us.
In boring meetings I will often pick out a weird someone has said and try and write it into a palindrome. So I saw the backwards nature of the clues pretty early. But the first one I got was taps/spat and thought "ah, taps go on a COUNTER, and a spat is an argument". So therefore trams/smart was, obviously mETROCHIC. I don't know if that was a deliberate misdirect, but it was a good one. I really enjoyed this one. Nothing came easy but nothing was impossible. I really didn't get "clear stuff in a restaurant" because it's definitely jUS. And then I got the wordplay and went from hating the clue to loving it Well done!
A slow start, but I really enjoyed this one. It all came together gradually, which is just what you want. After I got NOT A LITTLE and had the NO of 25A, I thought there might be a NOT theme, so confidently put a t to give me tRAN at 27D. That threw me for a while. I also guessed LEAR early (I've seen the show, but not the play) but erased it when I figured 13A must be staRRATING. Took a while to re-correct myself. Being Australian, I didn't get Quarter back - even after I deduced it must be EAGLE, I didn't know why. But I appreciated the lack of US sporting clues. In all, a great and very satisfying puzzle, with no lookups!
Did anyone else notice the Bruce Willis double bill at 4D and 59D?
@Sebastian The Weird Al song is actually a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty". As usual, I prefer the Weird Al version!
@beljason How about this great track from "Kermit, The Swamp Years"? <a href="https://youtu.be/wdpkw3YafwA?si=B06aVphwBykq195" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wdpkw3YafwA?si=B06aVphwBykq195</a>-
I was about a third of the way down on my first pass, without realising the theme, or the date, and thought "Gee, it's a bit American". Not long after that I realised there was a theme going on. I gave myself permission to not finish this one but, as it turned out, I did! I was definitely guessing a lot of the state abbreviations, but I've watched Gary Gulman's bit enough times that I'm sure it helped.
@Jeb Jones I feel like making a copyright claim, as I came here to post pretty much EXACTLY the same experience! Overall an excellent puzzle, but those three clues have me a lot of game. So far Sunday Monday and today have had no googling for anything (which for me usually means no baseball or NFL clues that can't be solved with crosses). Let's see how I go for the rest of the week.
@Sonja Yes! I confidently put in May (before remembering this was the NYT). I also had Ivans instead of TSARS so that north west section took a while.
It's rare that being Australian actually helps, but POTOROO was a given for me and my British TV upbringing means that MEWS wasn't that hard either. But the rest of the puzzle? Woah. Also I can tell you that GOOSES means something ENTIRELY different to the Brits.
Can sometime who speaks Spanish explain 48D to me? I understand that the clue is Spanish for "Spanish, for example" and I believe ISLA translates to island, but I don't understand how Spanish is an island! I'm wondering what I'm missing (especially given no one else seems to have the same question). Overall, though, a good tricky puzzle. After my first pass I was convinced it would be a steak breaker, but after going to bed and getting up in the middle of the night the rest of it fell together with very few lookups.
@RobJ Thanks everyone! I think it was a case of Google translate being a bit TOO helpful and assuming I meant Español when I'd typed Española. "Poor little fella, he's put an extra a at the end. Let's not tell him and just translate what he must have meant"
I really enjoyed this one, for the most part. The eastern side had a lot of US specific references (which is fair enough, it's an American crossword, and I didn't realise until reading the comments that it's your independence day!) So I give myself a pass on googling US sports trivia (although I try to get them on crosses first), and this one has 3 baseball clues on that side of the puzzle! Like some others I also had squirrel for a while, and I was really impressed that the puzzle maker had crossed "takes a shot" (risks) with "order at a bar" (a shot). What a pity that was all wrong!
Chris, Same issue with the I. Having read the explanations there's no way I was going to get either of those clues on this side of the various ponds that separate us.
@Oikofuge As an Australian, I came here to use the words "completely impenetrable", and am happy to see you've beaten me to it. Thanks to the crosses, I had RUSSET POTATO as the first of the themed clues but had no idea how it related to the clue. Slowly getting a couple of the others was no help.
This one was really satisfying. I do the later week puzzles quite methodically: all the acrosses and then all the downs. By the time I'd finished the acrosses I had almost nothing filled in, and I wasn't sure about most of the ones I had. The only one I was REALLY sure about was lute for 38A (ha!) Then I went to the downs and got a few more. From there it was all about using what I'd got and fill in more and more. A fair bit of US knowledge here (which might explain some of the discrepancy in the comments about this one), but nothing that couldn't be worked through with crosses. I did have to look up NOOR though with it crossing with ROTH. Didn't help me that I had dACRE for the inlay. But yes, overall a great crossword experience!
@Ash Same! And none of them shared, so all of them misleading.
I really enjoyed NORTH! Never quite understood the hate. It's got Bruce Willis in a bunny suit, what's not to love?
@RobJ A WORD. I pick out a WORD from boring meetings. Sigh.
@Courtney Yes this is annoying. I've taken to having the last one I read forever in a separate tab and when I need to read the latest, I refresh that tab then scroll to the links.
@Larry I gave it a pass because the clue was asking for a person.
@Grant He's definitely named in the book. Read that one a bit too my kids back in the day. Everyone needs a thneed.
@Jerry At 51 I don't consider myself "young" by any definition. Mario games are something I played when I was a kid, and something I've played with my kids. While they're not as old as Shakespeare, I think they've been around long enough to be considered at least multigenerational and part of popular culture. Me, I know nothing about baseball or NFL, but accept these as part of the challenge of a crossword. I try to get them on crosses, but don't feel bad if I have to Google them. (Incidentally, the Bill Withers, Tai Chi and Greek gods clue have me no problems either.)
@Rachel Speaking as a Gen X man, your comment gave me a chuckle.
@Francis Oh I definitely accept that I'm at the older end of the gaming spectrum. But I'm just pointing out that you don't need to be "young" to be into gaming, and that they've been around for quite some time now, so even if you're not into them, you might have picked up a thing or two. (Having said that, while Jack Black voiced BOWSER in a recent film - so could be considered relatively well known - I'll admit that KOOPATROOPA is pretty niche!)
Scott As a non American I'm asking this question as a pure geographical one, and apologise in advance for any possibly offence, but isn't Texas in the southern parts of the US?
@Down_Home I've never tried making a puzzle, but it's on my to-do list. I've been thinking of (relatively straightforward) Australian themed clues/answers
@Mean Old Lady I was also selling the car for parts before going to a sleepover! Then, after I got the theme, I had PAJAMA PARTY, but didn't realise I was now selling the car for partP. That stuck me for a while.
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