I really didn't like the themes. I got them but still have trouble finding Californiaking for Caking something to brag about.
2
Finished the puzzle on my ipad but i got the “almost there” message. When I hit “check puzzle” i was told that the two “o”s in moo were wrong!
Sometimes I have accidentally entered the numeral "0" instead of the letter "O". Might that have happened to you?
This is the first time I have commented on the puzzle. This was essentially a Saturday puzzle. I get the theme, but some of the other clues were very obscure. I don’t know why you can’t use a simpler clue to get to ECRU.
I think part of the problem with theme is you get SouthPARK first and you get the general idea.
The next one I got was
CAliforniaKING, but I was more concentrated on the first letter. I was thinking CaliforniAKING.
This then caused me to get really confused at S...tART. I was spending forever trying to think of a common type of tart.
This would have been more Wednesday if the abbreviations weren’t different sizes and if there weren’t two clues where the last letter of the expansion wasn’t the same as the last letter of the abbreviation.
1
HAH!! This couldn't have been more recognizably a young guy thing if it had been marinated in Axe! Felt like 'Checking out a blender solo', right?* Apparently, some solvers feel Young Steinberg was NAURU'd again...
A few write-overs (intro/BASIC, brio/FRIO, ahem/ALSO, but I can't think when I had to scratch my SCALP so much over a Wednesday theme. I wrote what threw me off elsewhere, and won't pretend it needs repeating.
As far as the entries that roiled some waters go, my feeling is 'what happens in the puzzle, stays in the puzzle'. People have every right to their feelings and opinions, but I'm just grateful to be distracted from who's ordering an investigation of whom about what by whom else. Call me a solipsister if you like.
And I did like how OPEC and the OIL MESH were far from EXxONERATED.
Now let's see if we can't share APERI TgIFS.
Merci milles foies.
*TEST OSTER ONE
3
PS: Portnoy has stopped complaining.
1
I've had better trips to the dentist.
2
Tougher than the usual Wednesday but finally got it.
I was really hoping to use ‘akimbo’ somehow in 29 down just because we don’t see that fine word often enough.
2
I hate it when I finally look up the answer, and it makes no sense to me. What's the point of that? Inspiration expanded is South Park? What? And a California King creates a crust...expanded? I don't get it.
2
You’re right, you’re not getting it. Read the comments. It’s explained about ten different times in ten different ways.
4
Save you the trouble, if you haven't yet...
1. Inspiration = SPARK
2. S = SOUTH (abbreviated)
3. Conversely, SOUTH = S (expanded)
4. By substitution, SPARK = SOUTH PARK
Similarly, CA = CALIFORNIA
Therefore CAKING = CALIFORNIA KING
HAHA or THUD?
2
Saw the theme after the solve. Still thinking about some of the clues.
One note on an answer that has personal resonance for me—POWERPOSE. For several years now when my husband performs a task that either requires muscle (opening a jelly jar) or height (reaching the top shelf) I thank him for being such a "manly man" and in response he strikes the Superman pose. Fists at waist and head turned to the side. Funny for both of us.
7
And fortunately it sounds like you never have to find a way to ask him to man up!
1
Should've read Steve F's comment before I posted the same thing.
I agree 100%.
1
Okay, this comment should've been a reply to Steve Faiella from late this morning. No idea why it's at the top of the thread (in the app, on my iPad).
1
I wasn't really into this theme. Okay, I got what I was supposed to do, and I got how it worked, but the part of the "expanded" answers that did the expanding--it didn't mean anything. PRESIDENT ELECT > PRESELECT--well, okay, but IDENT is just some letters stuck in there to make it work.
To quote a recent entry, MEH.
PRES is an abbreviation for PRESIDENT.
CA is an abbreviation for CALIFORNIA.
S is an abbreviation for SOUTH.
ST is an abbreviation for STREET.
I really think that many of the negative comments are from people who didn't get the theme and didn't read enough of the comments to learn it. Otherwise, "IDENT is just some letters stuck in there to make it work" makes no sense.
I don't mean to pick on Dave S, but his comment is the most recent of many similar ones.
5
Martin, at least a dozen people said something on the order of “this puzzle didn’t make sense” or “what do the middle letters do?” And you, I, and several others all explained the theme succinctly and clearly.
I feel like I’m hearing “Laurel” and all those others are hearing “Yanny.”
2
Didn't get the abbreviation part until I read Jeff Chen, so missed the Aha!
Last letter was in the 45 square, and I had to run the alphabet to get it. Didn't know either LENOVO or VIP PASS. Also didn't know PONY KEG, and needed the K and G from the crosses.
Late getting here today, and now it's almost dinnertime. According to Jessica, it already *is* dinnertime. Gotta go open the 9 Lives!
3
I know I'm late, and I have nothing new to add, but I just wanted to register my vote with those who felt that this puzzle was not worth the effort.
Also, I am growing tired of the daily effort to push the boundaries of good taste. It seems just plain sophomoric to me. I know that we're in an era when anything goes, but I am one of the dwindling few who grew up when the motto of the NYT was: "All the News That's Fit to Print."
With that rant off my chest, I think I will go lie down and take a nap.
8
I enjoy puzzles by David Steinberg. Clever construction, witty clues, and a hip, young, edgy tone. (Sometimes over the edge—pizzaface, grow a pair, for example).
It's too bad he had to include GAH today. My pet peeve is the use of random grunts and comic book words like GAH, EEK, EWW, POW, BAM, OOF.
6
Great puzzle! (I know I'm in the minority here, considering others' comments.) I somehow successfully guessed the theme entries with a minimum of crosses, even though I didn't understand the logic behind the central fill of each. Thanks to others (Martin, Andrew, et al.) for explaining it succinctly.
New ones for me: NAURU, ATSTUD.
Was a little shocked at the answer to 6D. On a related note, at one point had A_AL for 39A. Thought my first guess was too controversial for the NYT. ;)
3
Grow A PAIR and perhaps you can be AT STUD? Funny that those two appeared in this puzzle with PALE BUMS (HA HA). For some, it apparently landed with a THUD.
4
Late getting here....basically, did the puzzle and moved on with the day. Mosquitoes to feed, you know, so I went out to weed. Ground cover beginning to resprout, so I put the hose/sprinkler on the front yard, thus summoning a huge t'storm.
Oh, the puzzle. Well, I caught on, but there was an 'odd one out' among the themers, which just seemed weird, but plainly did not bother David S nor Will. Excuse me, but is Will exhibiting some um disinhibition these days? GAH!
Oh well, on with the week.
3
couldn't believe i finished it. still had no idea what was meant by the theme
3
Whew! What a slog! Like so many others I wasn't able to synthesize the themes even after I solved them. Among some other clues PONYKEG and GAH were new to me, though I think GAH will prove very useful to me. I liked APERITIFS and CORDS.
Monday I was 8 minutes above usual and today 17 above! It's been a tough week so far but I'll be back tomorrow.
1
Today's puzzle was a great Saturday puzzle with a Thursday-esque theme on a Wednesday. It was clever, but hard for me--two minutes over my average.
1
The expanding clues were tough, and a lot of the times, I couldn't figure them out, honestly, but a good Wednesday puzzle, I think.
I have been looking forward to and enjoying working the M-T-W puzzles for 5 months but this week has been a big disappointment. Too much frustration and not enough AHA's. I needed to look up too many clues about which I had no idea at all. I understand today's "expansions" when I see the answer but had no idea how to get the "inner" word from the clue.
I'm going back out to pick the strawberries........
7
I share your frustration at this weeks puzzles. 3 in a row way over average, and more help needed from Lord Google, normally I don’t need any help to get M and Tu puzzles but not this week. I didn’t make any sense of the theme today at all, the expansions made no sense. I thought I was getting better at these easier puzzles but this week has been an eye opener for sure.
5
Carol, I'm on about the same schedule, having just started completing Ms around the first of the year. This week has been really tough! Maybe it's the sunshine diverting my attention...so foreign...Anyway, I was also stumped on the "expansion" clues. Keep plugging away and enjoy those berries!
1
Aggravating.
I'm not a superhuman puzzle solver, I'm an ordinary mortal with a pretty good vocabulary that can solve M T W puzzles, but I need two LEGITIMATE clues for each square.
I guess now I'm only a M T solver.
Plus I'm offended by "APAIR" and "BUMS".
You know, we pay for this crossword subscription, it is real money every month. I you can't give us something on a Wednesday that makes ANY SENSE AT ALL, I have to reconsider my subscription.
6
I liked the theme, but thought it could’ve been clued far more coherently. There was no tie-in with the ‘inner’ word, and therefor no way to figure out the full answer without guesswork and/or downs.
Which, to be fair, I would be doing anyway, but I like the illusion of a fighting chance!
I also call foul with the inconsistency of the ’inner’ and ‘outer’ terms. Until you had the entire thing in, it was incredibly difficult to figure out how many letters from the beginning and end went together...because they weren’t consistent, and there was no clued help.
A clever idea that could have been executed much more elegantly.
5
Margaret,
Other commenters have expanded on Deb's explanation of the theme. CA is the abbreviation for CALIFORNIA. S is the abbreviation for SOUTH, etc.
This is how the clued word and the full entry are connected.
1
That was my experience - I thought the inner word should have been something without realizing as Martin explained here and many others earlier, it's the entire first word that's abbreviated/expanded, which makes the thing completely ok and quite clever. I was just too slow to catch on. Perhaps we were just expecting such cleverness on Thursdays only. Or perhaps this foreshadows a rebus puzzle for tomorrow.
Good observation, Martin!
Deb, I haven’t seen either “Finding Dory” or “Finding Nemo” so I had no idea as to “Finding Dory” fish. But I thought the clue meant was “type” of fish. So after exhausting my limited knowledge of 4 letter fish, I cheated and checked IMDb. I learned that Dory is a blue tang fish and Nemo is a clownfish. Thus, I respectfully disagree with our constructor. Except for today’s 15A, Dory cannot be Nemo. (Am I being too literal?)
Thanks
Too literal. Nemo appeared in "Finding Dory," I presume.
1
A California king-size mattress is four inches longer but four inches narrower than what we call an Eastern king. Relos from back east discover that they have to special-order their linens. So remember that if you accept a new job in the West, buy a new bed when you get here. Unless the cost of housing dictates a smaller bed.
I wonder if David's very clever theme would have been less controversial on Thursday.
1
not worth the effort. rather silly .
5
I miss the days when puzzle themes frequently gave a winking nod in the direction of elegance and erudition. It's been a long time since I've seen a theme made up of parts of a pithy quotation, for instance, and clues that exercise our literary or historical muscles seem fewer and farther between. The current crop of constructors seem to revel in cleverness for its own sake. Today was a perfect example -- terribly clever, but points to nothing more interesting than its own cleverness. Alas!
17
Gah? Bah! Moo? Boo!
12
David found a quirk in our language -- a crazy thing you can do with it, and I'm guessing not too often -- where you can take an abbreviation, expand it to the full word, add a second word to make it a common phrase, then make a new word out of the initial abbreviation and end of the phrase. That was brilliant to come up with; it takes a special mind. And to one who loves wordplay, as I do, I found it to be so cool! I believe this puzzle should have been made just to showcase this quirk, being that crosswords are about wordplay. It was worth making and publishing.
The bread and butter of the puzzle, though, for me, filling in answers from clues, hopefully to completion, was marvelous. That's the norm for me for David's puzzles. He is a master of clue trickery, whether it's devilish wordplay, or not using wordplay, but delivering a feint that makes the answer only gettable through some brainwork or a sudden aha.
So I loved this puzzle on several levels, made by a language detective and clue master of the highest order. Excellent one, David!
8
Even with your explanation I don't get it. This took longer than usual but I don't use any outside aids so this may be my fault but I don't see the need for abbreviations. I just took the first letter or letters, the last few, and got the point. But I don't see the significance of abbreviations nor, as well, the lack of significance of the inner letters which I've come to expect from my recently begun attack on cryptics. So I assume I've really and totally missed the point. I also don't see the primary significance of South Park. What's my problem?
1
See Martin's response to Margaret Fox.
South Park is a TV show.
Clever theme, in retrospect! Didn't need it to solve the puzzle. After the relatively easy puzzles last week I knew we were due for some tougher fills this week.
This is a rare puzzle where I got about 30% done then tossed it. Reading the comments after logging in helped me feel better.
Afterwards I downloaded the solution from Deb's link and then pasted the image onto the online puzzle blank from the Wordplay page, and examined the "expanded" clues (and other stuff ) to see where got lost. Two things became apparent:
-- No way to connect the clue (those with the ?), the short and "expanded" fills -- in any meaningful sense. (This is a Wednesday, right?)
-- The crossing DOWN clues -- which would have saved me -- were obscure. (I experience easier ones in Saturday puzzles.)
FWIW.
9
I’m normally a fan of David Steinberg, but finDING a wORD wiTHIN a word is wELL, LAMe…
Dent DING
O’Hare code ORD
Not fat THIN
Addition ELL
in flight LAM
2
I thought that R was an alternative answer to 41 because IROD sells fishing clothes, and a veterinarian could also do work on a roo. I never heard of IZOD in my backwater community.
Clue said "Vet employer," not "Vet patient." Unless the ROO can pay the vet, (s)he's probably not the employer.
1
Very popular preppy brand in the 1980s, less so now. The polo shirts have a little alligator.
As themes go.. this was confusing. Perhaps 2D and 46D could have been the SPARK to work in a motif.
Fairly pointless and really joyless puzzle.
16
I think you probably missed the point, and the joy.
Toughest Wednesday in a while, for a mediocre payoff that I needed help with. Thanks to assembled WPers (especially Alan) for laying it out for me. The cluing tilted much more late-weekish. Didn't know CALIFORNIAKING was a thing.
I might've swallowed my gum when I got to 6D, if I was chewing gum. Didn't know if we would go there, but yes, we went there.
dk mentioned Trini Lopez in regard to 11D, but when it comes to "LEMON TREE" I gotta go with the original power trio--Peter, Paul & Mary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLhYghzNfII
4
CALIFORNIA KING:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ2Yd8OE9Xg
1
Thanks for the video Steve. Good song, too!
Not getting the clue for NOSES (counted at meetings?)
Got the theme eventually.
Agree that this was much harder than typical Wednesday....
2
I don't get NOSES, either.
Can anyone explain it? is it just a cute substitute for counting heads?
Counting NOSES is an idiom for taking attendance.
1
I got the theme (and the puzzle too!) but I have to say that the theme falls flat for me. My main complaint is that the letters in between the "non-expanded" part of the answer (e.g. for CAKING, the expansion is "LIFORNIA" which doesn't mean a darn thing! I would have been much more impressed had the "expansion" letters been an actual word. I'm not a constructor, and I imagine that doing so would have been a real challenge, but this made the theme fall flat for me. For me, figuring out the theme and then marveling at how clever it all fits together and works is half the fun. I didn't find this one too clever (with apologies to the constructor).
16
Steve, in case you have not read the other explanations:
CA. = CALIFORNIA
PRES. = PRESIDENT
S. = SOUTH
ST. = STREET
The theme is quite a bit cleverer than it first appears.
2
Too obscure. IMHO.
1
It moist be more clever because having read most of the comments (I'm working my way down) I totally don't get it.
1
It's a clever idea, but I can't get behind the execution of this puzzle's theme. It doesn't have the consistency or generalizability you can usually count on to carry you through the puzzle. The abbreviations used in 'expanding' the themed answers were different lengths with absolutely no commonality between them. Once I got 'California King' early on, I thought state abbreviations would be the way to go. But 'S' as an abbreviation of 'south' vs 'Pres' for 'president'? That's the kind of theme you only pick up on once you've completed all the down clues to fill in the blanks.
3
Too many ambiguous clues for a Wednesday, especially for a Wednesday when the theme seems impossible to understand. After coming to the blog, it still took a while for it to sink in. Even with the addition of a revealer (which would have aided the enjoyment immensely), the theme falls flatter than a twice-shaved flounder.
On the other hand, there's the nice sense of satisfaction having solved a tough puzzle, which usually comes only on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
3
Do you actually shave flounders?
I've never tried to shave one. Probably too slippery.
Would you eat a hairy flounder?
1
Some days it is just easier to complete the puzzle rather than figure out the (obscure) theme. Today was one of those days!
13
Gah is right. I did not get the theme till I read the comments. I got street art easily but that was no help.
2
Perfectly average, for a Saturday. I was not on Mr Steinberg's wavelength, at all. So many mistakes - I had Harley for HOTROD, egret for HERON, cocktails for APERITIFS, hands for NOSES, lady for IGGY, oar for COX, Macau for NAURU. And then the cluing. I think it took me 10 minutes to get "Match at a casino" and another 10 minutes for "Appurtenances with blinds." I'd better go get another coffee - this could be a long day.
2
I agree. This puzzle seemed impossible. Even when I got it with help from the notes I didn’t “get” it. The expanded clues seem totally random
2
I was always told that if I had to explain a joke so somebody would get it, then it wasn't a very good joke.
I filled in all the squares correctly and got the expanded part but the ST., CA., PRES. and S. abbreviations totally escaped me. Once this was explained to me, I finally "got" it and was able to admire the theme. David Steinberg is a brilliant constructor but today his brilliance made me feel like yesterday's DODO!
12
Sorry I finished (am I sorry I finished or just sorry and finished as well???) the puzzle and read almost all the comments including this abbreviation deal and still don't get it. But maybe I will when I get to the last comment.
Mickeyd, the clearest explanation is at xwordinfo.com.
There are also a couple of good explanations in earlier threads, but I don't remember who posted them. Maybe Alan J was one.
Thanks. I think I get it. I just thought there would be more. As Chen says, no WOW here. I think it seems a bit more clever when you start from the clued word, for instance, caking, and ask, how can i expand that in a way that follows some sort of rule. You get among other thinks, the answer, but the answer is unremarkable except that it is a coherent and accepted combination. Meh....
Had to step away for a few minutes, then the theme revealed itself and BAM, I suddenly appreciated it and understood why I had been baffled. I liked this puzzle and I thought it was creative and a good challenge. Thanks for the enjoyment.
As a paper solver I’m mystified by the number of people who judge themselves and these puzzles by the exact number of seconds it takes to complete them. That’s an observation, not a criticism because I guess if I solved on line I’d probably
do the same thing. But really, isn’t the point to have fun and smell the roses and simply enjoy the experience without quantifying it?
16
Isn't the point to have fun in whatever way you want? If that involves quantifying the experience, so be it.
I'm sometimes mystified by the things other people like. Other folks in my household enjoy a hobby that includes deep strategy, complicated rules, and a never-ending task of collecting/trading/organizing. It sounds like work to me, but that's why I don't do it.
4
I agree with both of you, Susan and Bess.
What a rarre treat!
(Many hobbies/activities that others find pleasurable and I just don't get. Won't mention them because MOL might organize a boycott against me.)
I enjoy seeing how quickly I can complete the weekday puzzles, but when it comes to the weekends, I get my paper delivered and really love taking my time and solving off line. We can have it both ways!
For me this was a Saturday puzzle with a complicated rather than tricky theme.
I liked the clue for APERITIF, but think it was mean that my first thought, cocktail, had the same number of letters.
TIL that NAURU is the 3rd smallest country in the world, should come in handy. (Actually I like trivia like that)
7
I, too, felt this was a little harder than the average Wednesday, yet I was only a few seconds above my average. I never knew there were three king mattresses--king, CALIFORNIA KING, and grand king. There is also a California Queen, which is the largest of the three queen sized mattresses (i.e., queen, olympic/expanded queen, and CA queen) whereas as the CA KING is the second largest of the three kings. Not to be confused with a Mississippi Queen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFhM1XZsh6o
1
You made me snort coffee out of my nose! Good one.
1
About as classic as classic rock gets.
More cowbell!
2
It was easier than Monday's for me, so my brain must be warped. After I swapped NOSES for YESES, SCALP for SCARF and BOAS for FANS it was all downhill. AWOL was my favorite solve. My mind may be warped but it's not in the gutter.
3
One of those rare instances where I worked the entire puzzle but never had the “aha!” moment when the theme became obvious. I never got the theme during the solving, and even when I read the blog afterwards, the “aha!” never materialized. I had a “meh” moment instead.
I imagine it’s like when Mr. Steinberg tells a joke that falls flat.
14
Ha. Think how you'd feel if you still don't get it.
Barbara, did you grow up in Greensboro and is/was your nickname Barbi?
Very enjoyable challenging solve, maybe a bit stiff for a Wednesday. Lots of fresh fill and TIL - Lenovo, lag, Nauru, pony keg and that Superman's power pose has a name.
Didn't fully understand the theme until I finished and then, wondering why the answers were so random, finally saw the expanded abbreviations hidden in plain view. Brilliant and very sneaky, Mr. Steinberg.
5
This was a very weird Wednesday puzzle.
10
I don't know where to start...
First, don't toy with me Master Steinberg! I have only 11 days until the wedding weekend begins and I kept thinking this must be Thursday and that I had somehow lost a day and GAH!!!
Second, this theme did not live up to the EFFORT. I saw all the extra letters in the middle of the biggies, but they apparently mean nothing! That just can't be. BAM! THUD!
Third, TIL POWER POSE. I so wanted 'arms akimbo' or the like.
TREE twice in the grid.
HAHA. I don't know if I feel better or terrible now.
9
Wait 11 days.
Then you *really* won't know how you feel.
Challenging and interesting solve for a Wednesday, but to me the theme is a real dud. Awful lot of work for not much of an Aha! moment. More like, "Oh, so that's it. Wonder if tomorrow will be a rebus?"
7
This is the worst I've ever done on any puzzle, including Saturdays. I wasn't close. Too many unknowns and ambiguities (for me) to get started. And of course the theme answers weren't going to come until you got at least one of them, which I never did.
Beyond that... Grow APAIR? Whatever. Yeah, it's a crude comment, but it doesn't really bother me. But GHETTO? A GHETTO is specifically a place where people are isolated because of their religion or race. Look up the Warsaw Ghetto, for example. When those areas are 'poor' (and they're not always, even in this country), it's because that population is intentionally economically depressed.
I looked up clue histories. Margaret Farrar knew what a GHETTO was. That started to fade a bit with Weng and Maleska (twice clued as 'slum'), but the last clue for it pre-Shortz was 'Urban area populated by a minority group.' Clueing has gone downhill since then (when Will took over).
Calling a GHETTO a 'poor area' is just a way to avoid thinking about the reality of why they came to be in the first place. I'll shut up now.
28
Don't blame the editors, Rich; they're only following changes in usage. See def. 1 vs. def. 2.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ghetto
While plenty of poor people live elsewhere, GHETTO has come to mean an urban slum.
5
No need to shut up, Rich
2
Thought the same about the meaning of ghetto, Rich.
I wonder whether the iPhone app will ever be improved. There are never more than three replies to a comment visible, and any links i the comments to other sites are completely dead. As a result, I completely missed the early discussion concerning the puzzle's theme until I checked the NYT web site.
2
I’ve just switched to reading the column and the comments on the website. GAH
Hi all,
This is the kind of thing you really need to write in about. I empathize with any issues that you have, but to get a response, please write to [email protected] and ask them to forward this to the community managers.
Leaving a comment here is perfectly fine, but it is just venting. It is unfortunately not seen by anyone who can actually fix things.
Oh, and while you're at it, tell 'em how much you love Wordplay. ;)
8
Done!
So nice I had to solve it twice: first to fill in the letters (not too much trouble) and then to understand that the "extra" letters in the themers seemed random for a good reason (as I had not initially detected). Thanks, David; I'm happy to work for a Wednesday (for a change).
NORTHSTAR (from yesterday)
3
The extra letters are not random?
No, the "extra" themer letters are not random; they spell out the abbreviations.
(What a ZOO today)
Mickey d', are you pulling someone's leg? Just so long as you don't lead HER ON.
1
Hated it. I knew I wouldn't get it when I saw David Steinberg. Read the Wordplay and I still don't like it. Way too contived for my 73 year old brain.
10
S'allright, Mary Hand. It all comes clear at 74!
1
After reading the blogs and comments, it strikes me that David Steinberg has blundered blindly into Blindauer territory today...earned himself lots and lots of comments of the "hunh? what was going on there? I don't get it" variety. Watch your back, Patrick...
I am among those who've never heard of a "California king" bed - I thought it must have been another sports team I didn't know. The aha for me was definitely delayed by the fact that the first themer filled in was that meaningless pair of words. If I'd uncovered street art first, the solve would have gone more smoothly, I guess.
(Rex Parker reported a fraction over his Friday average time and I was right there with that experience. Very hard for a Wednesday puzzle for me.)
1
Coming back to read the comments after lunch, I am really disheartened on David Steinberg's behalf. Some combination of factors has led a large number of folks to completely miss the idea even after it has been explained; and a larger number who seem to have grasped it yet reject it.
I wonder if the simple variable of 1-, 2-, and 4- letter abbreviations is at the root of the rejections or failure-to-groks? Maybe if each themer had begun with an expansion of a 2-letter abbreviation it would have been more transparent? Maybe if the expanded items had more in common? or if the unexpanded items had more in common?
The set of abbreviated terms exhibits variation beyond letter-count. Pres. is standard, but only as a title before a name (Pres. Eisenhower), it requires an initial capital. CA is common now, but is really the postal abbreviation for what was formerly "Cal." - it requires two capital letters. St. for street is only used after a name, and again requires an initial capital. S is found as both S (no period) and "S." (with capital letter and period, in addresses). So the solver's mind is asked to jump through multiple hoops with this particular set of abbreviations.
I know it took me a while to get what was going on - but it's hard for me to understand the enormous negativity this one generated today. I wasn't kidding about DS walking into Patrick Blindauer's garden. I believe the last puzzle that was received with so much meh would have been a PB joint.
2
Which is rarely a PB pipe cinch.
I can tell you exactly what led me off on the confuse-a-foot:
CALIFORNIA_KING was the first themer I filled completely, and understood I wanted to abbrev CALIFORNIA, but was slow and reluctant, since I don't see CAKING as applying only to crust.
Then went back to 16A, where I knew I wanted START in there, but unsure whether it would begin at square 16 or 17. When the crosses were all filled in, I didn'tsee the ST=STREET abbrev right away, as I was waffling between ST[REET]ART and S[TREE]TART.
I was leaning toward the STREE]TART variation, bec the TREE TART tied in so nicely with 11D.
LEMON TREE very pretty
And the LEMON flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor LEMON
Is impossible to eat.
CALIFORNIA lypso
2
Happy the trickster was striking the "Pencil POWERPOSE" this AM. Slyly change the T in ANT to a y.
Off to listen to Trini Lopez sing LEMONTREE and whittle away at a certain Pencil's nib.
Thanks David.
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I didn’t get the full theme idea until I read the constructor’s notes concerning TIN ORE and SNORE. I knew that there had to be more to it than just an arbitrary expansion of a word. It just didn’t jump out at me right away and it seems a lot of other solvers missed it as well. Alan J has explained it pretty clearly earlier in this forum.
Challenging Wednesday: BRAS before WIGS before BRAS before BOAS. Final snag was PONeKEG and heRO When heRO became GYRO it all made sense. GAH!
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I didn't get it either. Reading the column didn't enlighten me, and the constructor's comment only confused me. I knew I was missing something, because David's puzzles are never arbitrary.
But then I read your comment and looked back at the puzzle and back at the constructor's comment. And finally it clicked, albeit long after I had finished the puzzle. GAH!
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This would have been a fun little puzzle for me if not for 6D. Seeing insidious gender normative phrases like this thrown in for what I’m assuming is meant to be comic effect just made me feel disappointed and tired. So very, very tired. (And yes, I get that they are common colloquial phrases, and as such, are not out of place in a crossword. But they are problematic. As such, I think the responsible thing to do is avoid them.)
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Whenever I see clues/answers like this I look forward to finishing the puzzle and then guessing how many comments I'll read before someone freaks out over the sheer insidiousness and threatens to quit NYT crosswords for good. Personally I think we're better off flipping and owning said "offensive" text á la the Betty White (and predecessors) link; there are more important things to worry about in life, IMHO.
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Responsible thing to do is not to include the clues? Or responsible thing to do is not to complete the crossword that day if you don’t approve of the clues?
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“Poor area” as the clue for GHETTO also lands somewhere between tone deaf and offensive.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/02/us/racial-terms-that-make-you-crin...
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Looks like this is ‘Emeril’ week - things have been kicked up a notch (difficulty/solve times).
Enjoyable week so far, including today’s!
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Explain Emeril week, please?
eljay: Emeril is a TV chef. If I understand correctly, he has a tendency to tell people to "kick it up a notch" as he adds some (spicy?) ingredient or other. Usually at the top of his lungs.
I prefer "America's Test Kitchen," without the hollering or any competition or other gimmick -- just demonstrations of recipes and techniques and stuff.
BAM!!
Emeril's trademark interjection at the climactic point of a recipe.
(Noble try, Deadly!)
This was a very fun theme and exactly the kind of puzzle I like, where each answer is a punny reward for solving an area. It seems like a lot of people, including Deb, missed the full justification for the theme, though; they aren't just arbitrary insertions but expansions of common abbreviations, like ST. = STREET. Clever idea.
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I can see how super-rewarding getting each themer must have been, Kaizen, if you got the theme in full.
Alas, I'm among those who didn't. I'm so disappointed in me!
Looks like a lot of people enjoyed this puzzle. For me it was the hardest Wednesday puzzle I've ever seen.Not only the complexities of the theme got me, but also way too many of the other entries. I had to make frequent appeals to Mlle Check. I don't know why that all happened, but it did, and completing the puzzle gave me relief with little satisfaction. GAH!
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I must have stared at 28D for a full minute before my brain clicked on ("sorry, stepped out for a sec -- did I miss anything?"). THAT was a fun clue for my 10am, seriously in need of a coffee, Wednesday morning.
Theme clicked in fast enough, but not so much as to make the long ones easy.
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Enjoyable puzzle. I also needed the downs for the long acrosses. A bit chewier than the typical Wednesday, but still reasonable. A good warm up for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
How do you have POWER POSE and not mention the word akimbo?
Drunk before dinner - sounds like a whole lotta fun (not me, I'm mostly a teetotaler).
POWER POSE and EXONERATE crossing PRESIDENT ELECT. hm....
OPEN and OPEC near-repeat neighbors in the north.
Like Judy d, I wanted the word within the middle of the expansion to have been a word of its own (or the same word for all entries), and possibly in-clued-ed, but alas, no. I thought that would've made the puzzle. This way it feels a bit sloppy-ish. But that's just my gut feel.
Still a very good puzzle though. BASIC toughness, not ULTRA hard.
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I had akimbo! Then I second-guessed myself and went with hip fists.
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I kept trying to work akimbo as well. Finally the crosses gave me enough that I remembered my nephew at a younger age, in a costume, stand up and say “POWER POSE!” I guess it’s a thing? Or was?
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Deb, the main thing is the arrangement of the arms (and yes, legs can be akimbo, though much rarer). What you do with your hand (open with palm on hips, or closed in a fist with knuckles on hips) is not important.
Fun puzzle! For all about the POWER POSE, watch this great TED talk by Amy Cuddy:
https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_ar...
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Just be aware that her TED talk was based on discredited research, the NY Times even ran a story recently about the scientific community coming down hard on her.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/magazine/when-the-revolution-came-for...
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The Kid is getting a bit edgy in his old age, it seems. What ever happened to the cute little lad? 6D? 39A? But 1A crosses the line and has no place in a family newspaper puzzle. I say to all you cruciverbalists: out with your BUMS.
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Funny, Wags, because I thought the opposite re 6D and 39A -- that David was back to his old tricks again!
(And I've always thoughts BUMS was hilarious...and "grow A PAIR" to be extremely vulgar. Opinions clearly vary.)
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I am puzzled by this sensitivity in crosswords of all pieces. Now I may see why. The New York Times is definitely not a family newspaper, and even more definitely not the crossword. By the time they can even handle the mini they're certainly at an age where the words they know and use every day are definitely more offensive (to those who might be offended by such things). Grow a pair means grow a pair of brain hemispheres, right?
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This was an odd one for me. It did not seem that hard, but took much longer than usual to finish. Part of the problem was that the long entries had to be forced out with the crosses.
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I got the puzzle with no idea what was going on, and after reading the explanation twice I still don’t. It must be me.
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Maybe this will help, Alex?
SOUTH+PARK => S+PARK => SPARK (inspiration for something)
CALIFORNIA+KING => CA+KING => CAKING (forming a crust)
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I didn’t get it either, even from the column (where it isn’t actually explained in full) until I read the constructor’s notes and then inferred it. The point is that the start is an abbreviation for something, and if you expand that abbreviation you get the entry in the grid. So SPARK starts with S, and S can be short for SOUTH. Or CAKING starts with CA, and CA is short for CALIFORNIA.
Well, this was totally non-obvious to me anyway! But clever now I get it.
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I had the same experience as Gareth. I realized that the clues corresponded to a word that started with letters on the left and ended with letters on the right, but didn't get that the "letters on the left" were a standard abbreviation for the first full word in the answers. And, I'm glad to finally get that. It makes for a much more satisfying theme than just random letters inserted to change one word into two.
got theme entries okay. Thought the center section would always be a word like IDENT and TREE but apparently not. Didn't work as a theme for me. Not well defined it seems other than word within a larger word!
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Yeah, "smoke sess" is not a thing I would ever have thought of.
I made my way through the puzzle, trying to figure out what was going on with the theme entries, but didn't figure it out until I'd filled in the whole thing, and then figured out the CA . . . . KING thing. I didn't realize ALOE actually had an anti-inflammatory action. But I learned PONY KEG from a previous puzzle, and remembered it! Liked seeing EXONERATE and APERITIFS (an Aperol spritz for me, please!).
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>>Yeah, "smoke sess" is not a thing I would ever have thought of.
And I don't get it even after Googling "smoke sess."
Smoke "sesh," in David's note. Short for session.
From today's (that is, Tuesday's) papers (albeit not the NYT):
https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/getfuzzy/
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I was scratching my head over this link until I realized that one must now scroll back to May 22 in order to read the relevant cartoon.
If you try to access the link I posted now, you'll get the Wed. (or later) strip. You'll have to click backward to the Tues. 5/22 strip to see the right one.
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