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The real question we need to be asking ourselves in these uncertain times is - is a WRAP in fact a sandwich? What defines a sandwich was part of an unnecessarily long but very entertaining debate with my family. It was never resolved. Is a sandwich just something between two bread-like products? How do we define "between" and how do we define a "bread-like" product? Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is a quesadilla a sandwich? Is a pita pocket a sandwich? I would say no. Same with the wrap. How do you all fall on the sandwich/not sandwich spectrum?
@CCed WHO'S A GOOD BOY was my favorite of the grid. I'm away of vacation right now, otherwise I would have said it to my dog immediately. As someone who enjoys the speedrunning community, it was fun to see that in a puzzle. And everyone likes a good SPIT TAKE, right? Thanks for a great Friday puzzle, Brandon!
Kindness and Questions Thread Hello, Crossword Friends! I thought I’d start this little experiment — a thread specifically for friendly discussion. Whether you want to share what you enjoyed about today’s puzzle, ask about a clue/theme that stumped you, or just chat about something nice that happened to you today, this is meant to be a space for kindness and curiosity. I happen to be partial to fun factoids, so bring those too if you have them! This thread isn’t meant as a statement on the rest of the comments section — just a little pocket of positivity for anyone who wants it. I hope you all have had a great day and have a great tomorrow and a fun solve!
Kindness and Questions Thread Hello, Crossword Friends! Experiment Day 2 — a thread specifically for friendly discussion. Whether you want to share what you enjoyed about today’s puzzle, ask about a clue/theme that stumped you, or just chat about something nice that happened to you today, this is meant to be a space for kindness and curiosity. I happen to be partial to fun factoids, so bring those too if you have them! This thread isn’t meant as a statement on the rest of the comments section — just a little pocket of positivity for anyone who wants it. I hope you all have had a great day and have a great tomorrow and a fun solve!
When I finally understood the Grumpy companion clue, I couldn't help but chuckle. I got the crosses to get it and could not figure out how the clue and answer were related for a bit! Good clue.
I turned off the timer on the crossword settings today and I think that was the nicest solve for me in a while. I'm sure that feature is probably well known here. I've never really been one for speed solving, but I would see the time tick up and I felt like I had to go faster nonetheless. I'd go to the hints sooner. I'd get frustrated if my Sunday took me longer than usual. I wouldn't even pause to sip my tea or think about my day without exiting the game. I never really noticed that it had changed the way I play so much. Anyway, this was a wonderful puzzle! It took me a minute in the NW to figure out what I needed to do. Very clever.
Totally missed the theme, but very much enjoyed the fill! I was having a feeling of deja vu between the answers on Sunday's and Monday's, but I think it was just because of EASE and NOD(S). It's a pretty flimsy connection considering how common those words are. BUT it did make me think about another common word, ERA. Which has appeared in the NYT crossword 1,582 times since it started! Between Feb 1942 and Nov 1993 - 844 times. After that - 738 times. Much more than EASE and NOD(S) I totally get why. Just thought it was interesting and thought I'd share in case anyone else would think it was interesting, too.
This might be one of my favorite puzzles in a while. So many of the entries made me smile Thanks, Greg!
Since we're talking about songs... This in no way describes the puzzle, but it is the first song I thought of when I got the shake theme and had POLAROIDPICTURE. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw</a> Skip to 1:00 for the actual music Skip to 4:00 for Shake it like a Polaroid picture! Fun puzzle! Thanks for making me think of this song.
When your parents pair their wedding announcement with an absolutely lovely and loving crossword on the Times, you're destined to be a great constructor! It's a great solo debut. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next :)
@Robco It does seem prudent to stay away from TESLA the company these days. Other clues for it have been about been the unit teslas. Which measures unit of magnetic flux density. Since it would be hard to justify pluralizing Tesla as a name, I would definitely have preferred seeing that. I suppose clueing it about the car makes it easier for the player, but it also bothers a lot of people to see that name.
I liked this puzzle despite not seeing the theme until after I finished the solve. That's probably just because Monday is the one day I try to be speedy. Fun fill! I'll never not like a puzzle that includes Idina Menzel. After seeing her in Wicked on Broadway she became my first celebrity crush :)
@Tamal It's based on an ad campain, no someone's personal opinion.
Yesterday's musical comments section has gotten me thinking about music in crosswords now apparently. Thanks TOTALECLIPSE (of the heart). Not mad to have that stuck in my head. I ended with a few weird words in the east. Some crosses were just plain wrong, but others just didn't make sense with 29D. I know nothing about lures. REOTTERTAILS sure didn't look right. Left it anyway, because maybe? It slowed me down quite a bit. I really enjoyed the theme on this one! Lots of fune fill too. Solid Wednesday.
More shaking music. Any Florence and the Machine fans out there? <a href="https://youtu.be/WbN0nX61rIs?si=uZbX6DjFlzbaYerw" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/WbN0nX61rIs?si=uZbX6DjFlzbaYerw</a>
@Heidi I actually consider a bowl of cereal to be a gazpacho with roasted grain added to elevate the dish by enhancing its flavor and texture.
The anger in the comments is strongggg today.
It's seems a bit harsh to say to you don't like David P. Williams, even if you dislike his puzzles. Has he personally offended you in some way?
@CCed ICE MILK sounded vaguely familiar, but not because I have seen it anywhere. Apparently, in 1994, the FDA decided to let ice milk be labeled as low-fat ice cream. So, I guess bye-bye ice milk in the US (but not really). I really like the theme today. Very clever and just the right amount of tricky for a Sunday, in my opinion. The clue for SPEED SKATER was great! Today was lovely, almost warm enough to enjoy an ICE MILK. Before I know it, it'll be time for PEACH PITS getting tossed aside after enjoying juicy summer peaches.
Very fun puzzle. I didn't know JODHPURS. The letters I was ending up with for the crosses made me question all of them. Even when I was pretty confident about them. What an oddly spelled word when you look it in pieces. I thought this can't be DHPU, surely?
@Christine Language has been constantly evolving since it's conception. I have never understood why people are so perturbed by a change of usage or the absence of certain words. I'm not saying that you are, but it does seem like an interesting thing that happens. I imagine that has always happened. I think the evolution of language is really quite interesting. It reflects changes over time. Whether it is by a misunderstanding of the original usage or a shift in the lexicon caused by a cultural shift, I think it is very fun to explore. It certainly isn't the first or last time something like this has happened. That's such a cool part of etymological history. Honestly, your comment was a nice way to reflect on these kind of changes. I like to think that a change in language reflects a change in how people see the world. That may not be true, but language seems to affect how we view the world. To me at least.
I am never sure why, but some Fridays the puns just come to me quickly. Not most Fridays. But this Friday they did! Maybe I was just on the same wavelength as the constructor. Maybe some Fridays I'm just a bit sharper in the morning than others!
Fun solve today! I think it aligned well with brain space so it went pretty smoothly. Those always feel nice. Although it took me longer than I care to say to parse NOWISER. Something about it just look so weird to me. Finally got there. Aha! Still looks weird though, haha.
@Lpr I like a lot of the discussions that go on in other parts of the comments section! I just thought it might be nice to have a specific thread that is only for a nice little chat. Some days, I just want a spot to go that is away from the complaints or the commentary. It's not always clear where that is. I thought others may like that, too. Kindness and questions probably sounds like a harsher about the other sections than it should. I think I'll just call it "Nice Little Chat" thread moving forward.
Nice Little Chat! Thread Hello, Crossword Friends! Experiment Day 3 — a thread specifically for friendly discussion. Whether you want to share what you enjoyed about today’s puzzle, ask about a clue/theme that stumped you, or just chat about something nice that happened to you today, this is a place for that. I happen to be partial to fun factoids, so bring those too if you have them! I hope you all have had a great day and have a great tomorrow and a fun solve!
@SuzyQ There are 43 national parks of the 63 that are smaller than Rhode Island in acres, actually! (Assuming I counted correctly) I didn't know that until I looked it up. I was surprised by some that are smaller than Rhode Island. Particularly Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
I quite liked that theme! I had never heard of impaneling though. Learn something new every day :)
@Red Carpet I think that would make sense, but I quite like the way it is now. The answer to "What do I do with you?" would be the pompom saying "I'm shook" to describe what to do with it.
@Vaer and @sotto voice @Vaer Rooster tail is definitely way more plausible than reotter. I should have seen that error instead of just letting it be! It looks like there is a fishing lure called a rooster tail. I like you're version better though @sotte vocce
@Francis I had definitely never seen it spelled that way until Elissa Slotkin was elected. It helped that the first M name that came to mind for me was Melissa.
@Steve L ... I would like to point out that you could just ignore the nitpickers. Instead of trying to mock them out of existence.
@kkseattle I'm not sure how I sounded "triggered" in my comment. I was just offering an alternative way to clue TESLAS that didn't reference the company TESLA. But, okay, let me fetch my blinders.
@Tamal Would you be this put off if the clue was "Just do it sloganeer" for NIKE? They are both based on well-known ad campaigns. I don't think that makes them ineligible for use in a crossword. I happen to disagree with you, but that's okay. I just thought I'd put in my two cents about why I believe it is valid. I hope that you had an enjoyable time with the rest of the puzzle! I certainly have my gripes some days.
@Andrew Aw, you beat me to the punch!
I don't really get the theme... can someone explain it to me?
Slow solve for me today. For whatever reason, I got more stuck today than Friday and Saturday from last week. It took me a hot minute to get the theme. It was harder for me than most Tuesdays. I liked the challenge though! I may be alone in the slow uptake.
In the app, when I click on the links to scroll down to theme or tricky clues, it redirects me to the main NYT page. I am assuming I'm not the only one this is happening to, because that would be really weird. I just wanted to verify. Anyway, fun puzzle today!
@Vaer The Debra Messing bit in Bros might be my favorite cameo of all time.
@Jane Wheelaghan A double negative sometimes does end up being a positive. It is not not a thing.
@NH If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask. I don't know why your question made me think of that Harry Potter quote. But you can know. It's cream cheese. I think it's Yiddish, but when it comes to bagels, to me, it's always cream cheese.
@Pani Korunova I'll have to check out the flute album. I hadn't heard about it.
After all the solarECLIPSE comments, I feel quite lucky that I got to ITZA before that down. I think I would've ended up in that same trap.
Did anyone else think about the Janelle Monet song "I Like That" at 45A? It's still stuck in my head 10 hours after my solve...
@Matthew I like both the show and the book quite a bit. I saw the show first and read the book after. I think it's a stretch to say that the show is really based on the book, even though it technically is. Other than it's Elphaba and Galinda and it's about their back stories, it's so dramatically different. You couldn't really turn the book into a musical that anyone would want to watch, though.
@CCed This was a fun Saturday! B AND BS made a bit sad, but only because I have to check out in two hours and go back to the real world. There's a really good chippy here though. Going there before heading home will be a nice little ! on the trip. And I'll be able to tell the pupper "Who's a good boy!" soon! I thought AMNESIAC was quite clever. 26A and 29A hit my weak spot. I need put some of those kind of movies back into my rotation eventually. I've been on a long "feel good and silly" movie streak. Different kind of enjoyment. I had never heard of AGE MATE before, but now I know :)
@Spatial K Glad I wasn't the only one to see that! My brain would not even consider other options.
@SP I got really caught up thinking the pirate one would be both eyes or both feet or both legs.
@Graphic <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Finder" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Finder</a>
@Bob T. Holy moly! I'd use a less cheesy word if NYT would let me. That is amazing. Thank you for sharing. I love it.