Great puzzle. Loved it. I seldom look to see who authored the puzzle (shame on me cuz I know there’s an art to it) but this time I could tell there was a really unique mind behind it, had to look it up. I was soo stumped and then it clicked. Very rewarding payoff for persevering with the puzzle. I kind of feel like a bear in the zoo who just discovered his log was stuffed with peanut butter! That’s weird—I know. Just—Thank you.
7
We get the NYT puzzles in syndication, so I'm late to this one compared to most commenters, but had to weigh in. This was one of my absolute favorite puzzles in a long time. Thank you, Daniel!!
3
i loved it and i love you
4
Got behind this week and just finished this one. I had the puzzle “Almost there” and walked back through every clue to check for typos. Can’t find any, it’s late, and finally gave in to “Check Puzzle” Apparently for 70 across, I had —D-WN at some point, changed my keyboard to numbers and put 4, 8, and then blithely continued with 0 (zero) for the “O”. D’oh!
1
Great puzzle. Terrible crossword.
1
That was clever. Don't ever do it again.
15
LOL
1
Not allowing the numeral 1 in the top right corner for ACTI was inconsistent with the other theme answers
1
Boo. No numbers allowed in a crossword puzzle.
3
I thought it was forbidden to use numerals in a cross*word* puzzle! Therefore, I used ONE, TU, FOR, and ATE (rebuses) for the numeric cells. I think this was at least as valid a solve as the numeric one, yet I didn't receive my gold star. No fair!
4
No gold star because 1A would have been incorrect as ONETUDOWN instead of 12DOWN (etc.)
1
No, because addresses are often read as individual numbers for clarity. It was a Thursday so rebuses should have been allowed.
2
Obscure and not fun.
7
I liked it - I expect a curve ball on a Thursday - but my wife had a legitimate observation, I thought - if you're going to make the answer to the "Waiting for Godot" clue be ACT1, doesn't the pope have to be PIUS 12?
I think all the number for syllable switching was OK, because it was consistent, but having a typical Roman numeral be an Arabic number somewhere, but remain a Roman numeral somewhere else, ain't kosher.
2
Actually, having ACT1 in there drove me a bit nuts and was one of the things I worked hard to try to eliminate, as I felt it wasn’t consistent with the other digit-as-syllable entries; but I never found anything else that could work. Wasn’t super keen on VIED4 either since the 4 is a separate word. As Vonnegut would say, so it goes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2
This was puzzle was a good time. Like Deb, I found myself cursing its constructor aloud when the pattern became clear. A classic Capt. Kirk "Kaaaaaahn!" scenario.
3
An utter pile of dreck. Keep it to crossWORD puzzles.
Also, why not have an "about the puzzle" piece to read BEFORE the solver starts, one that at least explains what the hell is going on in the puzzle without actually giving away answers the way these descriptions always do.
Lots of room for improvement!
4
Sorry, thought this was just a sIlly puzzle. Do not look forward to any more from Mr. Mauer
4
Great puzzle, but there ought to be a system for accepting equivalent "special" squares (i.e. rebuses, numerals, punctuation marks). Whether you use "4", "for", or "fore" here, you are going to break at least one spelling and yet you've clearly solved the puzzle in the puzzle. To sit there with a basically solved puzzle and have to redo all the special squares to match an arbitrary phonetic representation is not puzzle solving-- it's just boring. Constructing a system of equivalences (on a per-puzzle basis) shouldn't be that difficult.
7
Loved it but tried all possible combos of spelling and rebuses and number 1 and one, but gave up without trying any other actual numerals. Funny, just the day before I was wondering if anyone ever used numerals in crosswords and decided no, that was clearly against the rules. I loved it anyway, even without winning my gold star on the app.
2
In Murder On The Orient Express, Albert Finney as Hercule Perot asks, "Has it occurred to anyone that there are too many clues in this room?" That's how I felt about this puzzle. In the effort to be clever, which it was, and unique, that too, all the joy was drained out of it for me. I always appreciate when anyone attempts to make any kind of puzzle but I do reserve the right to not be a fan of that particular effort.
3
Rather startled at how many people seem angry at this puzzle! Since I use the iPhone app and didn't have any problems entering the numerals—I can see how that would be frustrating for those who did—I was free to just enjoy it as a clever and surprising gimmick, which I did.
4
Still a lot of cross words being spoken. Source of negativity seems to be either broken rules of crosswordese, inability of electronic apps to handle numerals, lack of sensitivity to the fact that an answer of 12 can never be made from a rebus of ONE and TWO. (Or 44 as a rebus of FOUR FOUR, etc.), or perhaps the most likely reason for frustration: ruined streaks...
Congratulations to Dan for creating such a stir on only his second accepted puzzle! I think that we can agree that solvers fall clearly into one of two camps, so succinctly and clearly articulated in Robert's post and Viv's reply:
1. Worst. Ever
2. Best. Ever
7
one-two hours later, checking in to see how folks on the east coast made it through the storm. Are our airport strandees still stranded? In Durham the big story is that the public child care service, I mean the public schools, are closed again tomorrow since no secondary roads were ever touched (since it ALWAYS melts, why waste money on snow removal equipment) and nothing melted. Parents are scrambling to find coverage for the kids so they can go to work. Maybe they can stay home and work crossword puzzles with their kids!
2
Wow. I came back from Seattle to a genuine brouhaha.
This strikes me as a bit of a Rorschach test for radical fringe solvers. We're the ones who say, "just repeat the clues???" That was my initial reaction. I thought I found an error with the first one. I too would have expected a clue in the cross-ref and not the literal entry.
But I must say that, once again, the method in Will's madness became clear. (It always does.) This is a Thursday for solvers who don't normally finish tricky Thursdays. Every comment of the, "I finally got this brilliant theme ... so satisfying" form is worth ten gripes from us jaded old solvers wanting more challenge. Hearing from solvers who did find this challenging and satisfying makes this a very successful crossword in my book. Congratulations to them and here's to hoping that they become the next round of jaded Thursday solvers.
11
Your implication is that finding this to be a clever and satisfying puzzle is an indication of being normally a second-rate Thursday crossword solver. As one who has been solving daily crosswords for some time, and with a particular fondness for the Thursday version, I feel somewhat slighted for appreciating the craft of construction and the challenge that this puzzle offered. I have been solving Sunday crosswords since the 1970's, and I regularly breeze through Thursdays. (Friday and Saturday is another story for me however...). Perhaps I am overly sensitive, but I felt a slight tone of condescension in your post that I find unjustified.
3
Andrew,
Martin suggested that "jaded" and "radical fringe" solvers would not like this puzzle. That may be true. I've been doing crosswords for a while too, and I don't feel jaded or radical fringe.
Andrew,
No reason to feel second-rate for enjoying this crossword. Just not jaded. I was speaking for myself and other commenters who felt that quoting the entries in clues made for an unsatisfying solve. Radical fringe is not first-rate. It's radical fringe. I realized that only today.
I tackled this puzzle spoiler-free except for being wary that Thursday puzzles will break some rules. I found solving it to be fun and rewarding. Kudos on a memorable challenge.
5
Fun puzzle. The use of forwarding addresses was something I have not seen in a Crossword before. And the mix of numbers and letters reminded me a little of the art of deciphering license plate phrases.
I am now 4 4 4 4 the year!
14
"4 4 4 4 the year!" - that's brilliant. Took me ten seconds to read it through to understand what you did there.
5
Of all the comments playing off of the numeral conceit, this one is by far the gr8est.
3
Very very nice, GregM. That was 1 4 the books, and done on 1/4 of the year.
(Is anyone ever tempted to make a play on your surname?)
1
Some puzzles are fun, challenging, educational, etc. This one was NOT. Don't like a wild goose chase and a waste of time. Did not like this puzzle. Seems some did
Just not me....
I'm a fairly new subscriber but found this to be one of the most fun and challenging puzzles yet. Great job, Daniel! VIED4 and INM8 clued me in to what was going on, but it took a while to figure out whether to go with, for example, TU-TORED, TWO-TORED, or 2-TORED. After triple-checking all my other entries, I finally went with Sherlock Holmes' famous line: "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
5
Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of today’s puzzle. The theme clue didn’t make sense and the number/word rules were applied inconsistently. That said, I appreciate the creativity and the effort that must have gone into it.
3
After casually dabbling in the NYTimes crossword over the past year or so, I made a resolution to try the puzzle every day this year. Thus, I’m a longtime lurker, but new commenter!
This puzzle was difficult for a beginner solver like me. I figured out something was going on halfway through the puzzle but thought it was a rebus. Once I consulted Wordplay and learned numbers were involved, I started getting a few more answers. I still had to check the puzzle to finish.
Overall, it proved an interesting challenge and has only strengthened my resolution to keep solving!
5
OMG! It took all day to do this puzzle - coming back to it over and over as the day progressed. Got stuck on spelling the numbers Rebus-style. And finally, had to take a hint. But what fun, I enjoyed tearing out my hair.
2
A “cute” puzzle that is not a crossWORD. As you may have guessed, I strongly disliked this one, eveN after reading the blog and getting the TRICKS.
I decided to comment in case we're going for a record! My version of Across Lite didn't support numbers, but somebody suggested downloading a newer version. Tried it, still nope. I don't keep track of streaks (or solving time) so I don't really care. The puzz: I had fun with it, while feeling that the gimmick was applied rather inconsistently. Or else I just don't get it. Anyhow, if you're reading this in Higganum and have a snow plow, please reply.
5
I spelled out the numbers using the rebus function and couldn't solve this puzzle using the app. Then, I find out you have to type in numbers instead. Typing numbers into a crossword puzzle? Are you nucking futs???
5
For all the solvers who had their streaks interrupted, I sympathize. Thursday puzzles seem to be designed to anger (semi) ADHD folks, (like me,) All I can say to you is that the stats are very weird, and seem to continue your streak sometimes, and sometimes not, daily. Sometimes my streak shows the way I fondly think it should be, sometimes not. Also the percent solved varies in strange ways. Hang in there. As always, my kudos to the constructor, my diss to Will Shortz and all his avatars. Echoing others, I am amazed at the number of comments and felt compelled to add mine, though it’s late in the day.
2
First off, thank u so much for your thoughtful post. I couldn’t have solved the puzzle without In this age of post-colonial, post-structuralist awrenesss, I like to think I am able to enjoy, as much as anyone, a bit of clever “subversion” at the hands of a puzzle master. Even and especially when I am ten target. What annoys me in this case, however, is the inability to solve the puzzle (especially if—like naive me—one is convinced that some alphabetic rebus is the ticket) without resorting to a blog such as this. No offense.
I took the rebus route—already a built in subversive mechanism (forgive the oxymoron) as I tried spelling out the numerals, and then sticking to the alphabetic homophone (e.g., “won”; “ate”; “for”; and “to/too.” All, of course, leaving me bereft of the Pavlovian reward of the addictive victory tone from the mobile app.
I would propose that, in this case (rare, I would agree), the integrity of the “sport” is subverted (rather than the ego of the solver). Here the puzzle master employs a “technique” that amounts to a somewhat impish (dare I say “adolescent”?) cheap shot, rather than a truly clever and thus altogether excusable coup de grace. Perhaps it’s my bruised ego that feels compels to put things this way, but I honestly think it’s my love of crosswords.
Perhaps I read your blog too hastily and missed a veiled hint in the puzzle that numerals were acceptable. If so, I retract everything I said. If not, I have to cry “foul.”
3
I'm wondering what the record number of Wordplay comments for a weekday puzzle is. . .
Well, there was the Patrick Blindauer puzzle from 2014 (https://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/change-of-heart/), which yielded 365 comments. Then there was the 2016 April Fool's puzzle by Peter Gordon, which yielded 301 comments (https://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/a-message-to-our-loyal-fans/). Then, of course, Mr. Blindauer evoked quite a bit of commentary in this Sunday puzzle (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2017-07-02.html).
So we're not quite there, but we're up there.
5
This... is crazy. Thanks everyone for chiming in (including those who hated it)!
5
Deb, your link for the July 2nd 2017 Wordplay post accidentally included the right parenthesis. That'll learn ya to mix links and parentheses.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2017-07-02.html
That was my streak ender (at 272). I've since maintained at 186, so I can literally count the number of days from that streak ruining event.
2
Absolutely hated this one.
Have noticed lately we've had a cadre of solvers complaining about the casual/ wrong use of the rebus term in Crosswordland. So it amusing to my D'MeaNOR that a nice straightorward numerical rebus finds so many would-be ENTERERS of little multi-letters. I was uncertain in the NW, caught on in the NE, and thought it an admirably constructed way to have us chase our tails. Just sorry that 56 DOWN couldn't be ****. I hope that all is going well in the MAC ARENA (to Knight).
Had a tendency to want ORSINi and confused the Hawaiian Palace with G&S IOLANTHe at first, but enjoyed OSTINATO as an obstinately gorgeous word.
Not sure whether this will PRES AGE a new ERA of rebellious rebi, but I enjoyed this opportunity to meet myself coming corners. Maybe it'S WORN DOWN, but thanks, Mr. Mauer for the combination of 12DOWN and XII ACROSS. Wonderful!
4
Hi Leapy.
I have suggested calling the XWP rebus a "squish." What has been wildly amusing today was finding an actual old-time non-XWP-modified REBUS...and seeing everybody go nuts because "it wasn't a rebus."
1
Hi, BarryA! Erm... I thought that was the point of my opening para, , but never mind. ;D
I'm not mad for 'squish'. Too 'moist'.
I would have liked this one better if my app gave me the option of typing numbers. Since my onscreen keyboard only offered letters, I first used rebuses for "four," etc., and when that didn't work I switched to "for" and "tu" (despite the quandary that posed for "eight"). Then I gave up and checked Wordplay, which led me to switch to my computer.
That much technical confusion reduced the enjoyment of catching on to the theme. But the basic idea was clever. and fun
4
I love when a NYT crossword puzzle makes me laugh out loud as soon as I figure out the theme, and this certainly did that. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks!
4
For some reason AcrossLite rejects "1" in 10 across (ACT1). Mr. Happy Pencil showed only when "1" was changed to "0".
In all my decades of doing the NYT crossword, I have never seen numbers used in a rebus.
Good to know they maybe used going forward.
Did not enjoy. Ruined my streak as I had to ask for checks and reveals.
1
Ditto. Ruined my streak too, impossible to place a number in a square.
Here's one of many puzzles using numerals:
https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=11/1/1970&g=100&d=D
2
Deb Amlen commented elsewhere, apparently they can un-break your streak if you were hosed by software.
My favorite puzzle in at least a year, and it's my birthday!
I love puzzles with rebuses, with numerals, that are meta or self-referential, that break common crossword rules, yet remain fun and balanced. It took me a while to switch away from rebuses and put in the numerals instead, but I was smiling as I put the numerals in because I knew that would solve it.
4
Happy Birthday 2 U!!
3
Happy birthday, glad you enjoyed!
1
Neat puzzle. Once you catch on to the gimmick it breaks open, but that took me awhile. Fairly easy clues, but Deb is right. If you're going to this devious, a few assured answers that aren't working are required for signal what's up.
But it's going to look unsolved in my stats forever because it won't admit it's been solved (and it has; made an extremely careful check). This has happened before but it usually blows over with a few returns to the puzzle or a letter removed and returned. Not this one, which will apparently ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston.
3
Did you use numerals (1, 2) or words using the "rebus" function? Mine recognized as solved as soon as I changed words to numerals.
3
You got it, or the principle. It wasn't words for the numerical answers. (How could that have been done?) It was that I'd used the Roman numeral for ACTI (of waiting for Godot), early on, before the theme emerged. This puzzle expected Arabic numerals throughout. I think this is a minor glitch. Aren't acts of a play, like popes, commonly numbered with Roman numerals (57A)?
First time comment on a puzzle for me ... because I really enjoyed it.
Thanks!
5
Welcome! If you haven't commented b4, it's gr8 to have you here!
4
What Robert said.
3
suejean, shouldn't you have said, "me2!" or could you not bring yourself to do that?
1
This one was too tough, but I have to give credit to the author for such a fiendish Thursday. Figured some kind of hijinx was up with the Prisoner/Inmate clue, but I just couldn't crack it.
1
214 comments as I sign in! Good thing I took a snow day, to give me time to read them all.
Wasn't crazy about this one. Largely worked from the middle outwards, but I resisted entering answers that were given as clues because that seems so far removed from the standard rules of puzzling. Once I got over that, it somehow felt unsatisfying. Solving on paper, I didn't have the problem with numbers vs. letters--I can enter anything I want and call it correct. And I didn't think the theme was worth excusing some very clumsy fill, like ENTERER, REANNEX, and LATENED. I did complete it, in reasonably average Thursday time, just because I hate not finishing.
Nothing personal intended by today's music clip, it's just that "Return To Sender" by Elvis Presley seems to fit the revealer so well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU5xxh5UX4U
4
I thought LATENED quite wonderful, as in "The hour LATENED". Downright Gothic...
6
Glad someone else liked LATENED. I get why folks found REANNEX and ENTERER lame (because frankly they *are* pretty lame), but I think LATENED is rather poetic. Though your comment makes me wish I’d thought of a more evocative clue... “Approached the witching hour” maybe?
Nah. 'Dusk' is witchy enough. Besides, you don't want to get overly poetic when you have TARENTINO and WALRUSES in the grid.
It strikes me as particularly odd that so many posters complain about using numerals to designate speech sounds / letter combinations (2 for "tu", 4 for "for") when that is precisely, exactly, historically the way numerals are used in (non-crossworld) REBUS puzzles in the first place!
I C U R YY 4 ME
3
The issue is that on the new yorker crossword app, you cannot enter numbers, only letters.
1
DavidC, that's only the po (half the poem):
YY UR, YY I C
I C U R YY 4 ME
Grade 4, if I remember correctly ;D
William Steig's "C D C?" has a favourite of mine: an African explorer facing some natives over a pile of bones and tusks, with the caption
V F E-10 D L-F-N
https://books.google.com/books/about/C_D_C.html?id=AT7yCAAAQBAJ&prin...
1
I once wrote an entire answer on a philosophy 101 test AT NOTRE DAME in this style to explain essence (S-NN) and esse (S-A) and being (B-N) in insects (N-6).
C D B.
D B S A B-Z B.
Y S D B A B-Z B?
F U F-L-U-8 D S-NN F D B, F D B S S-A, D B S B-N.
4 S N D S-NN F A B 2 B A B-Z B.
A B S 1 F D N-6 2 F D S-NN 2 B B-Z.
S Y D B S A B-Z B.
(sometimes the S is "IS" and sometimes it is "has". . . context . . .)
I got C-Me as a grade.
4
Enjoyed the puzzle. I was a little frustrated about the use of numerals. But only because they appear so rarely that I didn't think to try them. I was convinced I must have made a mistake somewhere else in the puzzle. I feel just about as frustrated when squares have Rebus answers (but I'm become more used to those (I only started doing crosswords eight months ago)). I am not suggesting Mr. Mauer should not have used the numerals. Rather I think I'd like to see more puzzles incorporate them. Very creative puzzle. Thanks.
This puzzle brightened our very snowy day at work! It was very satisfying to finally figure out why we were having so much trouble getting these clues! Challenging but highly entertaining and different!
1
BTW, I'm having trouble staying signed in today. They keep asking me to subscribe or to sign in. Anyone else?
I can't stay logged into the comments from my ios phone. But I can from computer/browser. Not sure why there is a difference.
A good reminder of why I quit doing Thursday puzzles for many years. Ugh.
3
For me it was a good reminder of why I still do them after quitting Monday-Wednesday. Different strokes for different folks, I guess; it's a good thing there are enough days in the week for all of us!
1
Wow, I just read all the comments .... these in themselves establish Daniel's puzzle as a huge success at testing our minds and sparking today's lively discourse. The crossword community is abuzz!
Personally, I loved it. I also loved hearing about Daniel's original version as opposed to Will's edit. And guess what else I learned? Will can't win whatever he does. If he'd left it alone people would complain it's too obtuse. But since they know what he did they're mad he tampered with it. Oy vey!
Thank you, Daniel, your cre8tivity is much appreci8ed! Bravo!
6
I was put off by the fact that you simply had to copy the clues into the grid verbatim (although in a different answer). The fact that I knew that this was Shortz's decision didn't make me feel that way; it just let me know who to blame and who to absolve.
I'd also like to add that I didn't think it was a bad puzzle otherwise...just the copying of clues as answers ruined what was otherwise a cute gimmick and a decent puzzle.
1
Many thanks! Completely agree re: the editing. I can easily see reasons to go either way with it. One of the things I liked about the specific way the cluing was modified was that this way, you don't know at the outset that the four entries in the corners are "special" in any way -- you only know that the four "[answer found elsewhere]" entries are special. In my original version, those four corner clues were starred (and frankly I think it would have been WAY too tricky if they hadn't been).
Of course I don't know which way is genuinely better, and it's not as if anyone can try it both ways and make a meaningful judgment. Either way, I'm good with the final result!
3
200 comments! Howie would have been really pleased.
I forgot to mention how much I agreed with Hemingway's quote. ( although I didn't know it)
2
Suejean, you beat me to it. Exactly what I was about to write - about Howie, I mean.
1
I loved your Best - ever comment
1
OK, at the risk of outing myself as a crossword community interloper... who is Howie?
I am surprised by the number of negative comments. Mr Mauer came up with a clever theme and as much as I stumbled I acknowledge the sheer brilliance of his SCHEMA. Just as Grayson laid the rules for how today would transpire for over 80 million people, Mr Mauer deserves accolades for how a much smaller sub-population dealt with his.
2
For those who think that this could have worked equally well with letters instead of numerals, there is no way that you will get 12DOWN when the answer starts with ONE. You will only get ONETWODOWN which makes no sense whatsoever. I still do not comprehend those who dismiss the ingenuity of this puzzle. I still say it was brilliant.
As a classical musician, I am ashamed to say that I got stuck early on for writing in G MAJOR for 67 across, mixing up Dvorak's 7th and 8th symphonies.
6
2 clever by 1/2
2
Have to agree with David from Buffalo. This was bogus. It could have been elegant with all letters or if the numbers had worked both ways. But what's the logic of 2tored? It would have been far more cleaver if the 2-down answer had started with "two" or the rebus "tu" worked with 1 across. Make up your own rules but design something that rings true.
3
ONE-TU does not equal 12, however.
Play it as it lays.
1
Lies.
Hated it. Solved it, but still hated it.
2
Whoops, you misspelled h8ed.
1
Hated it. Ready for Thursdays to be hard, but this went in too many directions. It was the kind of puzzle when even when I got it, i.e. filled in the blanks, I didn't GET it. This type of puzzle is no fun to solve and just makes me cranky. IMHO.
3
I don't understand the SSRS answer to Historical Group of 15, for short. What is this? Thank you!
3
Soviet Socialist Republics. Took me a little while to figure that out.
3
This is the trickiest puzzle I’ve ever solved! I caught on fairly early that something wacky was going on when I guessed at “onesies” and “tutored,” but I thought there were letters that needed to dangle off the border of the puzzle. I also noticed SEACOW as the answer to my indecipherable stab at a word in the SE where I had “fadown” and knew that wasn’t any sort of ocean animal. I kept trying to work out what the dangling letters could have in common. I caught on that the unknown squares were pointing to the spot of the answer and thought that letters were somehow indicating a spot on a grid. It was thrilling to finally get it.
I’ve been doing the crossword daily for about six months now. At first I could only solve Mondays and Tuesdays. About a month ago I solved my first puzzle with a rebus, and here and there I started to solve ones with tricky themes.
I started allowing myself to look up answers to proper nouns I don’t know after reading comments that others do some lookups (as well as the NYT crossword solving article). I had to let go of the worry that that’s cheating by telling myself “my puzzle, my rules,” and this has made the puzzles even more enjoyable because I’ve been sticking with them until they’re done and am on a 27-day streak.
This puzzle was a blast and a great way to spend a leisurely snow day in Connecticut during this monster storm. Stay safe everyone!
14
Wow, I love the variations everybody's bringing to this puzzle, Marcy. And it was perfectly possible the extra letters *should* have been written outside the grid -- I've done that more than once. Congrats on having such a steep learning curve!
2
Welcome, Marcy. I look forward to more comments.
2
Awesome! Reading all the comments has made for a fun snowed-in Friday for me, as well. Glad you enjoyed.
1
I’ve been doing the NYT xword for 5months- can it continue to be so much fun forever? Had to read the blog to crack the trick - delightful! Also loved the Hill workers, sens and ants! My 22year old son now joins me- very complementary knowledge base across ages!
4
Good for you, Laura, and welcome! I call on my kids for help as well.
2
Welcome, Laura. It's been fun for many years for me, so keep on with it and the blog.
1
Hey, Deb, does the Crossword Cruise sail west for these two and others already "over there"?
2
All the digits but for "2" could be replaced with three-letter rebuses (FOR, ATE) that are words and correctly complete the crosses in one direction, and punnily provide a clue designation in the other. I was rocketing along, sure that I had the solution, until the cell for "2" wouldn't accept "TU" (or, as a misspelling, "TOO" or "TWO"), and my solution was therefore wrong.
I'm not happy. I suppose I overthought the solution, when just using digits would have sufficed, but... I dunno, just doesn't feel right.
4
Ric,
I put both the missing letters (for the words) and the numerals (for the trick) and my sheet of paper did not object in the least! It happily accepted both! I even considered using another color of pen for the theme entries, but satisfied myself with making the letters bolder, and my pen didn't balk--probably would have been fine with the purple pen, too.
Feel free to try this! No extra charge!
1
Where is the rhyme or reason with the number clues on the mobile app? First I spelled all of the numbers out as reuses (ONE, TWO, FOUR, EIGHT), then as parts of the words (TU, FOR, ATE). Either way, the app said the puzzle wasn't complete. When I put the numerals in, it worked. If it's going to say solved with numerals, shouldn't it also say solved when the names of the numerals are spelled out?
5
I was confused by that too. So I went to xwordinfo.com to see what they had as the full solution, which was the numerals.
It is not solved if you write (for example) ONETUDOWN for 1A because the answer would need to be TWELVEDOWN. The only way that this works is to have 12DOWN for 1A. Same goes for all similar entries.
1
one of most clever puzzles in decades. always wondered why puzzle cre8tors never used numbers b4. s2pendous fun puzzle. well, back to ba6.
6
They have. These are all the rebus puzzles in the history of the NYT crossword.
Some of them are numbers.
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Rebus
1
Something to leave somewhere other than this page. I guess wholesale mispronunciation of a number is an "occasional rulebreaker."
1
Would someone please explain why the answer to “U.S. 1?” was PRES ?
3
I was confused at first too, but I think the idea is that the #1 person in the US is the PRESident.
2
Let’s say U. S. 1 might be the highest ranking official in the U. S. government, but let’s not say he is the #1 person in the U. S.
1
I think he might say he was!
2
I don't recall ever using numerals in a puzzle so I was stuck about ate vs eight. Despite that, it was a clever puzzle.
1
If you want a Sunday brain Placement Puzzle, August 28, 2005. It's in the archive.
1
First, I'm stuck at JFK in this bomb cyclone...and then the crossword screws me over! Worst day of 2018, so far....
I got the whole puzzle, but I put in rebus letters and spelled out one, tu, for, and ate. I mean, isn't this thing about words?! I never guessed it would be numbers and couldn't find my error. There were no errors, but alas, my streak is over anyway :(
1
Same here.
Same here also did the rebus.
When does the streak end? Just try entering 1,4,2,8 in the squares. That should work. Unless you did a reveal or check.
This was actually not hard for me to figure out, but took a while solving online to figure out what went in the special squares. I tried the rebus "words" and gave up on that. I had no idea you could actually put a numeral in a square! Now I know.
3
U.S. 1? Jefferson Davis Highway? Boston Post Road? Dollar Bill with Washington? Susan B Anthony or Sacagawea dollar coin?
U.S. Grant?
I'm doped up a bit from cardiology so that's my excuse. I think I read all the comments so far, but I may have missed it: Why is "U.S. 1?" PRES?
Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my "DOH"!
4
Yeah, I didn't get it either. Was thinking some dim connection to George Washington, but that makes no sense.
1
Not to start a firestorm -- and it's certainly not my opinion -- but I took it to mean the president is citizen one or "first citizen." Or something.
Please don't hurt me... ;-)
1
some dim, dim sum. . . ha ha ha
2
I'm in the "enjoyed it" camp. I'm also in the "would have preferred the pre-diluted version" camp, so that it wasn't a matter of simply copying the given clue into the cross-referenced location. Still, I liked it a lot. It is a true-to-form Tricky Thursday puzzle.
My sympathies to those having technical obstacles to finishing successfully. This often happens with Tricky Thurday puzzles when the constructor's CR8tivity outstrips the software's capability on one platform or another.
Before I deciphered the theme, I tried DANCE FAD in 13D where "18 ACROSS" appears. But that didn't last long. (Neither did 18 ACROSS for that matter.)
Dear Will, please keep the Tricky Thursdays coming. And let them lean harder from time to time, as long as there's a fair path to solving them.
4
Like oil and water, words & #'s are not invariably complementary...Today I kept visualizing a game of charades; a player yanking away on an earlobe transmitting a 'sounds like' signal to teammates. Wordplay my eye! 'Twas more akin to wordwork. How does that age old cliche go? All work and no play makes for an incomplete grid. I can draw a parallel between this NYT XWP & the START UP CRE8d by Daniel a few mos. ago. With as many distractions as a 1,000 piece woodcut, this puzzle wasn't beholding to the sophomore jinx superstition it too being a smash hit. Those four 'answer found elsewhere' clues served my solve heartily, as they enabled me to get a tenuous grip. Glibly ALLOWED IN by Daniel, my effort still had to deal all of the inherent switcheroos. I was tormented a few DUOS, like the totally unheard of and unknown terms, OSTIVANO and IOLANI. That 1-2 punch slowed me to the MAX and had me working from the outside in, not one of my go-to approaches. So there I was, coping with a downer fueled by the fact that I had the puzzle's perimeter completely framed out but working a tougher than Chinese Algebra inner space. Like the blanket of frozen precip that is still being driven ACROSS the Central Jersey landscape, this puzzle was challengingly elegant...Thanks to all those that 16a'd the cliffhanger...This is an 'ELL of a ballad from Sir Elton that opens (listen for it) with a soothing 60a, "Where To Now St. Peter?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLYUfrD8Nbw
TENderly,
Bru
3
This puzzle has many of us banging our heads against the wall. Ironic that the constructor's last name, Mauer, means "wall" in German...
3
Oh, and yes, I enjoyed the test posed by this very puzzling puzzle.
1
An ell is not a pipe. It's a fitting.
2
Worst. Ever.
6
Best. Ever.
14
Never say Ever.
2
Well, well. This was certainly interesting. Had me thinking about manatees and wondering how they were doing in Florida these days. I got the first twist with TENCENTS, but didn't catch the need for numbers until the very end. Still managed in pretty average time. I didn't have any issues with the fill, and learned that there were 15 SSRs. Nice.
"Answer" versus "clue" had me confused initially but otherwise enjoyable. I always appreciate the hard work and creativity...Xwords don't get much better than this.
3
As soon as I finished the puzzle I knew to make some popcorn before heading into the comments here.
12
I "solved" this puzzle but treated the squares where the numerals appeared as a rebus. The solution was not graded as correct unless numerals were used. Seems as if it should have been correct to write "one" instead of "1". That was annoying.
20
The number 2 can stand for the words "to," "too," "two," or the letters "tu." But none of those can stand for each other. Only entering the numbers works in both directions in all cases. "One" for "1" was the exception.
1
In the Across Lite version numerals are counted as wrong and the spelled out words are correct... "one" correct... "1" wrong. Would be nice if there could be some consistency across versions.
How would you explain the answer to 1A as ONETWODOWN then?
Uh oh. 129 comments? Did "Eric Trump" somehow make it into the crossword again!?
I liked this puzzle. Clever theme, but at the cost of a few duds: ORSINO WEIN SSRS. Like others, while grasping the theme, I had difficulty guessing what exactly should go in the space (two, 2, tu). Overall, however, an enjoyable Thursday.
5
Delightful theme and grid. But... ENTERER? LATENED? SENS? Tsk, tsk.
4
Even later to the party than usual!
First, let me say how deeply sad and depressing it is to see all of the paving on what used to be lovely grassy grounds surrounding IOLANI Palace.... Where was the National Register of Historic sites when we needed it?
Oh, the puzzle. Well, this one certainly put one through her paces! INM(ate/8) first clued me in, and then I could not help noticing the SEA COW right in front of my nose (having already noticed the impossible - - D--N line-up of blanks and letters.
The oddest, or most difficult, part was understanding that one of the tricky bits did not cross itself as the other themers did. So, Daniel Mauer, are you the Editor's Pet that you got away with that?
Very unique and enjoyable.
I finally got to last week's Saturday Stumper as well.
So I am feeling smug, at least for the nonce.
1
It's not completely paved, MOL... the gazebo area to the right and the whole area to the left of the drive looking out from the front door is all beautiful "sward," as we xworders might say. This November however was my first trip to Honolulu, and I don't know what I might have missed.
2
Fellow CatPerson, we lived there when Hawaii was still a Territory of the United States--the late 50's. Statehood ceremonies were held on the grounds, complete with a 50-gun salute. It was very lovely and thrilling to witness the parades and flag-raising.... and I am sure there are even more changes (all of the pineapple and cane fields, for instance,) but my Girl Scout camp is still there on Oahu! And I am sure Hanauma Bay is still stunning. Sigh.
Apropos of nothing: my father once cracked open a fortune cookie where the fortune had been misprinted so the second line was missing. It read:
THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED
...He held onto it for years, wonder if he still has it...
When I finished the puzzle last night I saw that there were 19 comments posted already. And today, the comments piled on quick and thick like the snow is accumulating from this winter storm Grayson.
I am very easygoing on the puzzles. All of the gimmicky stuff that Will has allowed I've been ok with - except the one which I wasn't able to solve because of technical issues (July 2nd 2017). There is a bit of appreciation for the devious minds who are able to come up with the gimmick, and then there is appreciation for execution and solving experience.
I started this puzzle entering rebus for ONE and TU. But halfway through, I changed them over to numbers when I realized there were DOWN and ACROSS after them. I don't think there's ambiguity re: numbers and rebus. People who've come to expect and can accept rebus puzzles - I think it's ok to expand beyond the one type of gimmick into others. The bulk of the puzzle is still crossing of words.
I liked this puzzle. The only thing I didn't like which some people have commented on is I didn't like copying the clues into the answer grid. I think the constructor's original idea would've been better, though it would certainly have been harder.
On the other hand, people solving on different devices and not knowing how to enter numbers...I sympathize. How to tell people "this is how you enter numbers into a grid" without giving away you have to do it for this puzzle...that's also difficult.
3
The byzantine lattice of eponymous clues combined with occasional numerals is at least deducible. But...Ostinato? Orsino? Really?
1
Different strokes . . . OSTINATO was one of my first gimmes.
1
What Nobis Miserere said-- ORSINO was easy for me, and with a few letters so was OSTINATO. But other puzzles, other words, have stumped me completely. Different wheelhouses.
1
And Orsino was one of my firsts - and in my view Twelfth Night one of the best musical cross gender romantic comedies.
https://youtu.be/QUNnBcCyMEQ
1
Strange indeed but oddly mesmerizing. I caught on to the fact that rebus work was involved fairly soon but, of course, went with letters instead of numbers. It was my check-in with Deb that clued me in. Back I went and somewhat suspiciously substituted numbers and -- ta da!
Well, that gives us one more thing to take into consideration in the future. I'm okay with that. Memorable puzzle, Dan.
3
I was a bit under the weather last night, so I didn't get to the puzzle until a few minutes ago, and, after solving, found 120 comments! I'm in the "enjoyed it" camp, with no great insights to add. Perhaps I was actually the first to comment on this puzzle (as Judy D alluded to last night), with my comment on the Wednesday puzzle:
A Wednesday puzzle that was was easier than the Tuesday puzzle that was easier than the Monday puzzle. Will Thursday solve itself?
2
How, how are you supposed to enter the rebus clues on iOS????? I enter them as numbers, as the first letters of the number ("O" for "One", etc.), I use the rebus key and write out the word - nothing seems to register the correct answer as far as the iPhone is concerned.
All my answers are otherwise correct. It is beyond irritating to have an a correct puzzle not be recognized because of a stupid inputting problem.
On the phone tapping the More button brings up the number keys. On the iPad there is a 123 button.
2
There is a quaint old solution, which I personally recommend for ThFSatSun.... pen and print-out. (I prefer to print from AcrossLite vs PDF or the NYT puzzle screen.)
It will restore the joy of solving, one hopes.
I love it when solvers help each other out. :)
Also, Jeffrey, if you need a handy clip 'n save for this, please check out https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/crosswords/yes-you-can-write-more-tha...
1
2 clever by 1/2
7
Today is one of the reasons Thursday is my favorite XWP day. I was a little surprised ("little" meaning "not shocked") at all the negativity from other solvers. 2D caused me to suspect a rebus, or mutation thereof, but then I distracted myself from that correct thought by thinking of USDIME for 1A, which gave a nice ST beginning to 2D (since STEVIE was a clear gimme). It wasn't until 58D caught my eye that the gimmick dawned. It was fun looking for the matching answers.
3
Loved it- so clever!
Took me a while to figure out why I was incorrect- was using first letter of number's word instead of number itself
I was getting pretty frustrated - Like many others, once I caught onto the theme, I typed in letters for the numbers. My first try I typed in letters that made the crosses real words "Tu-tored" "for-ward", "cre-ate", assuming that we were supposed to read "tu" "for", "ate" phonetically for the numbers. "Close, but something's wrong" error. Then I thought, maybe spell out the numbers, and let the crosses be the phonetics: "Two-tored", "Four-ward". Same result.
Finally, I remembered reading that rebuses could be numerals or special characters as well as multiple letters, so tried out the numerals. Still no win. :-( At that point, I gave up, read the "wordplay" article, and learned that numerals were supposed to work.
Ultimately, I found one wrong letter elsewhere in the grid, nothing to do with the theme. So close!
I thought it was a nice twist for a Thursday puzzle.
2
I went through exactly the same process. Not sure I’d have had the patience if I hadn’t been anxious to preserve my streak. I think the Turing machine that tells us when we’ve solved the puzzle should have accepted rebus boxes with the numbers spelled out. TWO-TORED, etc.
2
In my original comment, I was so preoccupied with numbers and rebuses etc, I forgot to mention the "Waiting for Godot" clue. I always thought the messenger never appeared, so I spent some time trying to figure out what part of NEVER to rebus.
Godot never arrives, but there is a boy who delivers the message “Mr. Godot told me to tell you he won’t come this evening, but surely to-morrow.” In ACT 1.
1
Thank you N.P. - I realized my mistake as soon as I had hit submit.
Taking my eyes off the window just to say that I love Thursday tricky puzzles and today was no exception. Only when I got back to the NW did the ONE TWO punch make sense. I had a mistake at 10D with AER instead of ACR and that made CRE8 the last to fall. And boy did my head hurt by then.
The highlight of our somewhat ill-fated river cruise was WIEN, where I did not say 9 to WINE.
2
I glanced through the comments and was surprised to see so many negatives. I thought this was an absolutely ingenious puzzle, and reading that it was Dan's second puzzle left me awestruck!
I am somewhat "puzzled" by solvers who insist on following rules so rigidly. I love the challenge of puzzles that stretch the boundaries as I feel that this one did. Yes I started in the NW by thinking "OK, it's a rebus". But when nothing worked for me it forced me to think "outside the box" which I assumed to be something solvers like to do.
I thought it all tied together beautifully, and found the level of the challenge to be most satisfying!
14
Many thanks! Worth noting re: the "second puzzle" thing: you're omitting all the ones that got rejected! :)
3
Will, please note: I really, really want Charles M. Deber to make more puzzles. Just for me, if necessary.
I agree this was unique and fun.
4
I finally finished this devious puzzle! I profess not to care about streaks, but I had managed a streak of 31 and did not want to break it. I got the trick in the south with SEACOW and worked my way slowly around the grid entering the sound alikes as rubrics and got the at least one error message. Then I tried spelling out the numbers as rubrics - same result. Next attempt was to enter the figures - still at least one error. Finally, after reading the comments I tried entering the figures as rubrics and got the happy music. Very frustrating, but I did enjoy the challenge.
1
What do angels aid? STARTUP? I don't get it.
Angels are early investors, prior to venture capital firms.
1
Okay, thanks. I apparently have something else incorrect in the puzzle then.
1
Having rules, and then celebrating breaking them? I am certain I take the puzzles too seriously, just as I am certain that others do. I enjoy difficult puzzles, but this was too forced to be fun. I used the rebus to spell things out. It worked. Except it didn’t. That’s wrong.
7
The rebus has to work in both directions. One-Tu doesn't work in the across answer. 1-2 does. No rule broken.
5
Then the number should work in both directions also. 2TORED doesn't work. Et tu?
1
How would you say "2tored"? I can't imagine it coming out wrong.
A tutor who tutored the flute
Tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to the tutor,
"Is it harder to toot, or
to tutor two tooters to toot?"
5
I really enjoyed this puzzle. The “aha” moment came for me with MACARENA. Like others, I had first filled in the numerals in spelled out rebus form, and was told I was “almost there but had at least one error”. Frustrating! After checking everything carefully, I remembered last week’s “Up the Ante” puzzle where the rebus rules seemed to be broken. (Are there any rebus rules?) I decided to try breaking another rule and replaced the rebus words with numerals. Success!
1
Yeah, but no.
1
I DID it, albeit with Google’s help on some of the names, as usual.
Having mastered Daniel Mauer’s masterpiece of misdirection, naughtily inserting numerals in the grid and having clues that double as entries, I can announce that I am finally cured of my theme-blindness.
NEV ERA gain will I WINE about not making SENS OVA theme
12
Kudos, just kudos, Amitaim, to your late end. Wonderful!
More should ACC SEED to your (L)AB SENS of ACC REAM OWN E.
1
Challenging but enjoyable. It didn't start to come together until SEACOW. ENTERER made me moan a bit.
4
I agree.....Ouch for ENTERER. and REANNEX...but then, how else to make the puzzle work, so... in the end, it was D MINOR complaint for me.
Much fun, but I have to admit this puzzle made me a little dizzy.
1
I got the gimmick with VIED4 and INM8 making 48DOWN. A great AHA moment! I couldn't put in the numbers, so left it blank. I don't bother with streaks, so didn't mind, but I have sympathy with those who do.
I love this kind of trickery so look forward to Thursdays, and this certainly didn't disappoint.
As for the discussion of whether Will should have changed what Daniel originally intended, I tend to agree with whichever argument I read last. I do that a lot. In any event I certainly look forward to more from Daniel.
14
"I tend to agree with whichever argument I read last."
I completely agree. At least for the moment.
12
LOL, Rich.
3
I got it at the same spot, suejean, plus ORSINO was a gimme since I just saw Twelfth Night! Different and enjoyable!
1
I seem to be in the minority here, but numbers are generally not in crosswords, so I don't consider it "clever" to include them. As someone else said, you could be so clever with emojis and diacritics as well.
I also finally figured out that in Android the numbers appear on the keyboard when you use the rebus function. You technically enter a rebus of one character.
I'd rather be challenged on Thursday with a puzzle that makes me think about how I use language, not about how I use my keyboard.
16
I and many others would rather be challenged with a puzzle that makes me think. This was one of those puzzles.
8
Agreed. Rebus answers should work here, not numbers, especially in the app.
(Otherwise, a little on the easy side for a Thursday.)
1
Emojis!! What a great idea!
Insidiously delicious! This should become a classic.
I have not read any other comments. I don't know the reactions of others, not that it matters. When it "clicked," oh, wow!
15
I've been solving crosswords daily for more than 50 years and I've never seen this idea. Very clever. I got the gist in the lower right corner with "sea cow." From then on it was a piece of cake.
Loved it! Thanks Daniel Mauer.
16
Hated it. Numerals have no place in crosswords.
17
Weird, but enjoyable. I wasn't getting anywhere until I got to the SE, where I had plenty of gimmes (starting with Pius XII, who was a pope of considerable note). I was looking at 70a and then glanced over at 48d and realized I had SEACO filled in. A long pause and then it dawned on me. I filled in the number squares with the words as rebuses (e.g. FOUR / EIGHT) and AL accepted that as correct. Only other stall after than was at 12d. All of the others crossed the referenced clues and I expected the same. Had to work out most of the crosses and then remembered that I'd seen TENCENTS somewhere and went and found it.
Interesting to read the constructor's comments, as I was thinking programming once the trick dawned on me. I am a bit surprised that no one has mentioned ALAN Turing as sort of a bonus answer. I used to know how a Turing machine worked; some of that is lost in fading memory, but it does seem to me that there is a connection to that concept. Feel free to let me know how wrong I am; maybe I'm completely mis-remembering.
Oh, in the midst of my solve I was a bit down-hearted to realize that the WIEN / OSTINATO cross (the 'N' as it turned out), was going to be a complete guess and thus I had a good chance of failing. I narrowed it down to two likely letters and picked the wrong one. Ah, well.
3
Rich, same here with WIEN/OSTINATO!
It amazes me people are mad about ENTERER and LATENED but okay with that.
I decided on an R, but was considering an N (I forget why I rejected it) and a T -- "ostintato" sounds kinda Italian, and aren't "recurring melodic phrases" in operas, and aren't operas often Italian???
But after twisting my head around everything else in this puzzle, I forgive myself for not knowing WIEN.
And I forgive the tough crossing, because sometimes you need one to make a great puzzle.
WHAT a fun solve! I got the numerals immediately. For the other parts, I kept grasping the concept, then losing it again and having to wrap my brain around it all over.
And isn't that what puzzles are all about -- torturing our brains for the fun of it?
3
So, another benefit of driving around Europe--knowing the spellings that citizens actually use for their cities, states, countries..... and enjoying the joke when the manufacturer of Vicks VapoRub printed labels with "Wicks" on them, and everyone twisted their mouths around and pronounced it .....WICKS!
1
Not wrong at all! While there’s nothing a like a pointer “built in” to a Turing machine, so to speak, one could certainly be programmed to use something just like them. In fact, there is literally no computer program ever written — excluding those designed to run on a quantum computer or some other theoretical machines — that a Turing machine couldn’t duplicate. That’s a little oversimplified (things like input and output are separate issues, for example) but that’s the gist of it.
1
Loved it
3
Now for a meta comment: 7:30 am in the east and I come here and find *78* comments already. How focused are we? Not a mention of the weather?
HAS ANYONE LOOKED OUT A WINDOW? IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! No cars moving, everything covered in snow, and we (in Durham, NC) weren't even supposed to get anything except flurries. A "coupla" inches at least! Ah, we're a strange lot, we are!
STAY WARM. STAY SAFE. STAY WEIRD!
11
Just checked in here a little before 10:00 am EST and saw 110 comments! Sounds like you got more in Durham than we did in the DC area. It wasn't much (maybe an inch), but it was enough to close all the public schools for the day.
1
Wow! One of the best Thursday in a long while. Go the theme early, but the numerals really threw me.
6
Having been one of the first to comment last night, I'm back to comment on the comments.
The point of my original comment was that we got a weasel deal when Shortz diluted the original concept, which was just to shift where to enter the answer to four of the clues to another place in the grid. (You can find it easily by sorting by Oldest and looking for the second comment, not counting replies to the first one.) What Shortz did was take all the clue-and-answer pairs originally written (for example, one could have been Clue--"A dime", Answer-"TEN CENTS"), and replaced the clue with the answer itself. So you see the clue TEN CENTS and simply copy TEN CENTS somewhere else (i.e. not that answer) in the grid.
But I guess you all figured out how to do that. What I'm surprised at is that so many of you are OK with copying the clue verbatim, rather than putting a plausible answer, just like you do any other time.
For me, this is a deal-breaker. There's this other blog, which I read but don't comment on, where a lot more of the commenters agree with me. I'm wondering whether they're more experienced solvers, and that is why there's more outrage there than here.
Sometimes, I rant about a theme when I miss an additional component. That's not the case today. And to make things worse, the constructor said that his original puzzle did have distinct clues and answers, and that Shortz diluted it because he thought it would be too hard.
What a pity!
10
IMO this made it more challenging than if they had put in conventional clues like "a dime" for "ten cents", because I wasn't expecting the actual answers to be in the clues. It took another mental step to realize that's what was happening.
10
I loved this puzzle. Very thoughtful.
3
Beware what you wish for! This was my 1st crossword with numerals filling while I was prematurely congratulating myself with filling in what I thought were rebus. So "FOR" for 4, "ATE" for 8 and so on :-(
Gary Larson would love it..
http://www.armoton.com/farside/larson080.html
5
coming to the comments sections after a unique puzzle like this one is a treat!!!
there are the purists who are outraged, the people that loved the quirkiness and the usual crowd who say, "this one was really easy for me".
4
ugh, i left out the poor souls whose online app didnt grade the puzzle correctly. I can totally relate to this as it always seems to happen to me on rebus puzzles but, for some reason, this one went through first time. i don't have a streak anywhere near 80 going (!) but i certainly feel for that person.
1
Puzzles are like books - meant to be enjoyed on paper.
2
And opinions are like . . . A puzzle constructed to be impossible on the Times app is poorly done.
1
I love how out-of-the-box this puzzle is. It felt like it was created in a LAB. I did have two big ahas while solving -- figuring out that numerals went in certain squares, and seeing that theme answers duplicated clues. The latter helped me fill in ALLOWEDIN when all I had was the N. When the puzzle was finally filled in it felt like I just finished putting together a jigsaw puzzle -- something I don't ever remember feeling before after a solve, and testament to how unique this puzzle is. I simultaneously thought, "Wow! That was ingenious," and "This must have been hell to construct." File this puzzle under "memorable".
I liked CRE8 crossing CREATINE, the anagrams WINE and WIEN, and the clue for ARF. I felt plenty satisfied upon completion.
Big salute to you for this one, Daniel!
7
Standing ovation for this one (except then I'd have to get up...). One of my favorites! Thank you!
7
I resent that I got the puzzle completely correct, but the keyboard on my phone for the puzzle does not have numbers, so I used the rebus function. So I had to "check puzzle" where I found that all my rebus squares were "wrong," thus breaking a streak of almost 80 straight solved puzzles. I think I should be given credit for a correctly solved puzzle.
12
Precisely. Of course, I know you’re allowed to put in numbers. In my perhaps limited experience, I don’t recall ever having to do this. So, I used the rebus and spelled out FOR and ATE, etc. Which works. So, why should my streak have to start over. There are larger problems in the world, but I use crosswords to ameliorate, not add to them.
Hi Thomas and all who experienced this issue,
If you feel as though you solved the puzzle correctly but we’re not given credit, drop a note to [email protected] and tell them. In cases where there was a technical glitch but you solved correctly, scores and streaks can be adjusted.
2
I loved this one. Really vexing but solvable. Thank you!
6
We had it filled in, but it didn't make sense, so I try something seemingly at random and *poof*, the sexy jingle and a gold star, leaving me pleased but perplexed. As I said to my lovely co-solver, "This is a bad sign - we've now done enough puzzles that we're starting to think like constructors."
1
I had such fun solving this one, I'm here commenting for the first time to share some virtual applause! Granted, I only say that because I figured out the clever twist. If I hadn't, I'd be cursing down and across. But instead, hehe, well done!
17
I had no idea numerals were allowed. But hey, they’re characters right, and it’s your puzzle so you can change the rules whenever. I guess it beats sports and opera trivia.
What’s next? Umlauts? Emoji?
12
Cottoned onto the trick fairly early—after stewing about whether to use numerals or words—when 1A was complete (with the numerals) and realized that TENCENTS fit in 12D. After that it was pretty simple for the "answer found elsewhere" clues, although I had to use crossings and references to get some of the unfamiliars.
That was too painful for words (2Painful 4Words?)! I thoroughly enjoy CRE8ive, outside the box thinking, but this was, as noted earlier, diabolical. ‘Reclaim’ B4 REANNEX, ‘2by2/twos’ B4 DUOS, ‘hunt’ B4 4AGE, and ‘ENTERER’, really?
I am 257 days into an accidental quest to achieve a year-long NYT crossword streak, and today nearly ended it... Neither travel nor illness; holidays nor injury have stymied my progress... What started as a personal challenge to achieve a one week streak became two weeks, a month, ninety days, six months....and on I go... Surely I’m not the first to attempt this... so this trifecta of spoilers, cross-references, and numerals will not defeat me with just, er, 108 days to go!
5
Had great fun with this one, despite that (because?) it fell in to place almost too quickly. With the super easy crossing, I already had INM_ for 58 down and my brain went straight to 8 instead of a rebus ATE. With that prompt, VIED4 fell right away, and voila, 48DOWN and SEACOW were basically already filled in.
Ok, I admit that I didn't have any idea what key that symphony was in, but if Deb's "How to solve NYT crosswords" tutorial doesn't have a discussion on immediately filling in _M__OR any time you see the word "key", it should.
Now that I've read the constructor's note, I can't help but think his original idea about providing a clue instead of the verbatim answer would have been an extra bonus. Then again, I see other commenters were frustrated, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1
I thought the puzzle was brilliant. Yes, it took a long time to determine what the Thursday "trick" was going to be, and after that it was straight-forward, but determining the "trick" is usually a part of a Thursday puzzle.
A lot of effort went into creating this. It was a very good balance of creator effort and solving ingenuity!
13
I think that Daniel Mauer was right that the forwarded answers should have had actual clues, e.g. "granted access" for allowed in. It was somehow deflating to have the full answer handed to you. We're not children here.
9
Agreed. I thought one of the cardinal rules of crosswords is that no answer can appear in any of the puzzle’s clues. I finished the puzzle but kept thinking I must have missed something. “So... the answers are just the cross-referenced clues?” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It’s Thursday, so things can sometimes get a little, um, complicated.
The situation is quite simple. Constructors and editors do a lot of work, including determining the intended contents of the finished grid and providing hints for discovering the grid’s content. Important point - THEY make the rules. As a solver, my challenge is to use the hints to find the rules for filling in the grid. If I can do that, I win a prize of smug satisfaction.
I really love it when the “usual rules” might not apply. It just increases the “puzzlement factor” which can amplify the usual amount of fun and satisfaction. So I am not one bit disturbed that some of today’s hints were, in the end, answers. Or that I had to figure out where they really went. Or that some of the entries included numbers. These are nice twists which really livened things up for me.
So thanks, Mr. Mauer, for a very enjoyable and puzzling puzzle!
17
Right?! I love when I realize that something different is going on and I have to puzzle out what exactly that something is!
6
H8ed it.
7
Was anyone else bothered by the ENTERER/LATENED cross?
22
I mean, are those even proper words? Maybe they’d have been less cringey if they were clued better. But I can’t think of any clues that could salvage these answers.
5
Agreed. I can handle a puzzle that contains questionable words, but then to throw numerals into the mix, with no heads up (at least in the app), feels like the writer and editor are just working to be obtuse. I work puzzles to be informed. I learned nothing working this morning's puzzle.
4
Yes, I was. I don’t think I’ve seen those words even in a crossword puzzle ever, That with the numeral trick just made this one an unpleasant chore. I agree with Jim in DC: I don’t think I even learned how to do an obscure puzzle today, let alone anything else about the words in it.
1
The puzzle was enjoyable and filled up pretty quickly after I saw the pattern, however, I was not happy to see that the squares required putting in actual numbers. My answers were correct but l used letters for the missing parts of the words.
5
The numbers were a new thing for me. So new, in fact, that it cost me my streak because I couldn't find the error I was sure wasn't in my rebus. Oh, well. Only a puzzle, right?
12
I hate cross-referenced clues as much as any red-blooded NYTXWP solver does, but this case was different. It was easy to see that they all were of a type, and once one was solved the rest fell into place. Result: I enjoyed the puzzle.
2
Yeah ... no. Funny how this numerical puzzle shows up after a new iOS and iPhone have been released.
I had to turn my iPhone off and on, verify my solve at Rex Parker, spell check a handful of *correct* entries and reset my WiFi before my solution was accepted, more than 20 minutes over my average.
Seems a bit redundant.
1
No matter how I restarted, checked for updates, cleared the puzzle, etc., my iPad Across Lite would only recognize the first letter of the spelled out numeral: e.g. T, but not TWO, TU, or 2. A waste of time trying to get the software to cooperate and no bug smashing satisfaction at the end of it.
1
and Elke
SOS- I am worried that men in white LAB coats will come for me to be treated by Freud's colleagues from WIEN ( and I hope they bring WINE ).
I'm all CROSS ID, and in a CRISIS , but not ready to be an INM8 and will not CRE8 a scene , even though my head is swimming . FYI- no ANTS are crawling.
Will Deb or WS provide a 4FORWARDING ADDRESS for medical bills accumulated as a result of doing this puzzle ?
Will try to clear my head with Dvorak's No.7 in D MINOR ( and the cure-all :chocolate ).
5
Hi all, constructor here. Have to admit I’m enjoying the (very) broad range of responses — infinitely more fun to read than “I thought it was fine.” If nothing else, I feel like I was successful at doing something a little different. I’ll pop in again later, happy to answer any questions. Cheers!
39
My comment was overly brief as I’m in an airport rushing about. This was a brilliant puzzle. Once solved, it was incredibly satisfying. Some trick puzzles leave me irritated but this one had me grinning and enjoying the thought that went into driving me pleasantly crazy. Thanks. Do more, SVP!
1
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. Thank you!
1
I absolutely loved the puzzle... EXCEPT for the change that Will made! As soon as I realized the answer to Macarena was MACARENA, I thought "What?! Why did they do that?" There was absolutely no need for it and frankly, it kind of ruined the puzzle for me. And I never say that.
I couldn't wait to come to the comments and see what other people thought, because I knew I wouldn't be alone on that. I was very happy to see that you originally clued it as it should have been done. But very, very disappointed that it was changed. Obviously Will is a genius and usually has impeccable instincts regarding the puzzles, but I guess even the master can screw it up once in a while.
Anyway... thanks for a great, very Thursday puzzle! Make more please.
2
Love, love, loved it!!! More, please!
4
Loved it! Very cool!
4
YIKES. Painful for me. I too had a hard time figuring out where clue A/answer B things were supposed to go.
After all this, you list Computer scientist Turing as a tricky clue? Really??
25
LOLed at this
4
TIL that my pronunciation of "forward" is nonstandard. I first thought that 4WARDINGADDRESS was a sloppy forced entry, because hey, no one says "four-ward." It's always "foe-ward," right? Wrong, which I discovered by checking several dictionary pronunciation keys. It's not a question of my native "r-less" dialect, since as Bill Labov demonstrated years ago, we middle-class New Yorkers notoriously leave droppable r's in and out depending on the speech situation. I NEVER pronounce the first r in "forward" under any circumstances.
Anyone else like this, or is it my weird one-off idiolect?
Just make sure you brush up on your enuncuations before going on Jeopardy! Gangster vs gangsta. Just sayin’.
4
You’re definitely not alone. After moving to New York, it was one of the curious things I noticed among some people who grew up around NYC (but not all). If you listen to Broadway, where actors Enunciate Their Words When Singing, you’ll hear it notably from Jane Krakowski and Idina Menzel, for example.
You’re not crazy. I grew up in the New York area and until I was about 12, I thought that spatula was spatular, rhyming with bachelor. I just assumed it had an R at the end and that New Yorkers were dropping that R. But I’d still stay forward is 4 ward and not foe-ward :)
On my Samsung phone the Crossword app does not have numbers on the keyboard. I solved the puzzle and got the "trick" quite easily, but the app would not recognize my rebus answers!
1
But there is no rebus.
1
I had the same problem. Without numerals on the app's keyboard, a rebus was the only way to fill in those squares correctly. Not accepting was a significant oversight in the mobile version.
It took some experimenting, but if you go into the rebus entry, you should be able to access your regular keyboard and enter numbers that will be recognized by the app.
1
Too simplistic for my tastes. Copying clues into the grid is not enough chalkenge.
I see what was attempted, but felt it got watered down too much. It took a lot of the fun out of it for me.
10
Apparently, the constructor had clues in the "Forwarded" answers, not the answers themselves. Will watered it down. It definitely made it easier to solve. Perhaps just a little too easy, like you said.
4
...and I totally resonate with Mr Mauer's comment on pointers. I kept thinking the same thing as I worked through it. What fun! Many thanks.
1
Truly a wonderful puzzle! I really didn't want it to end. Very clever mechanism! I stared in disbelief after I tried the first numero-hominem! Bring it!
5
Glad you enjoyed!
1
Diabolical and fun!
5
My head hurts.
5
I would not have thought to use numerals rather than rebuses without looking at the post. Really? Otherwise I solved the whole thing, which would be satisfying if ONE, TU, FOR etc. had been accepted.
22
Yep.
2
This is what happened to me. I got the whole thing right all the way through using letters for the numerals. I knew I had solved it perfectly, went through it a half-dozen times. Only when I came here to the blog did I see that "text-message speech" is now a thing in crossword puzzles.
Not at all my favorite puzzle, I must say.
2
Been seeing versions of this comment a few times... I figured people would initially think rebus rather than numeral, but rebuses make no sense as part of the "forwarding" answers. 12DOWN means something; ONE TU DOWN is nonsensical.
Separately: I'm a little disappointed that apparently some software has had trouble with those entries, but (as a software developer myself) I feel I'm on solid ground to blame that one on the software :)
7
Definitely a mental workout, as I find it very difficult to follow cross-referenced clues like this from place A to place B to place C. I did manage to figure them all out eventually. Started out with rebus ONE and TU but changed them to numerals when I got to FOR and ATE.
I do usually enjoy it when puzzles have numerals or unexpected symbols in them, but not so much with the cross-references!
1
The puzzle took a little over my average Thursday solve time, with a little under my Thursday "wow" factor, due to the elements identified by Steve L a few moments ago.
But the ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads on this website, they take away any feelings I have for or against the puzzle. Did I mention that there are a ton of Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads on the NYT website? And that the publishers seem much more interested in selling ADS than in providing an enjoyable experience for paying subscribers? Maybe I failed to indicate that the ADVERTISEMENTS are overwhelming on this website. Or perhaps I just haven't decided to be interested in stuff I HAVE NO INTEREST IN whatsoever. On the other hand, why should the online experience be any different from the experience of reading the actual print version. Or "how I learned to love the ads..."
On with your commerce, ye captains of industry!
5
Let me see if I have this straight, David: you don't like the ads?
I agree, but I've learned to tune them out and skip past them.
There are these things called ad blockers.... I don't see any ads.
Oh, and the puzzle? Meh.
1
Advertisers will be happy, maybe, when their messages appear on every single blade of grass.
1
I was writing in numerous as words using rebus function. Then, after reading blog, I realized I needed to put in numerals.
5
Tricky, but fun to solve!
1
I thought it was fun! Will be interesting to see where folks fall on this one...
4
All I can say is, "Wow!" Thanks for making me feel like a genius for solving this one so quickly. You've made my day!
3
The answer to the question "How many SSRs made up the Soviet Union?" depends on when you ask it. The actual number varies from fourteen to sixteen, the latter number holding true during the existence of the Karelian and Tannu Tuvan SSRs. At the time of its dissolution, the Soviet Union consisted of only fourteen SSRs. One of the constituent republics, now dba "Russia," had been, ever since the foundation of the USSR, an, or rather the, SFSR (Soviet Federated Socialist Republic).
4
Well thank goodness you posted this becaue I had no idea what this answer meant.
I had the puzzle “right” but didnt get I had to use actual numbers and not the rebus version like for and ate. Oh well, it is a clever puzzle, I just think 4 or for should be right.
3
And this is the one thing I learned today. Thank you for the explanation. I also got the answer because I’d gotten all the down clues, but I still couldn’t figure out what it meant. There are too many SSRS’s out there.
I got this, and finished it, and admired that it was clever, appreciated the decent fill, but didn't enjoy it much...Like Deb said, too many cross references (and they were unusually confusing) and numerals in a puzzle grid will never be my favorite.
@JLin -- acrosslite recognized my solution as correct, so I'm not sure what might have happened to you...
3
I’d rather have the clues forwarded as the setter intended instead of the answers as Will did it. I do the puzzle on my iPhone so I had to do a Check Puzzle since it didn’t like ONE TU DOWN.
Numbers, huh? Spoiled my streak!
9
I agree, it would have been mo’ bettah with the forwarded answers clued instead of given.
4
clever idea but once you cottoned on to the trick there were lots of automatic typing in of answers: copying the clue from elsewhere and then copying the numerical address. Thus it was quite easy as has been typical all week. Thursday does "fill in itself!" LOL
8
“Will felt it would be a little too difficult to make that large a mental leap in solving, so it was changed to what you see now.”
Will was wrong. Very wrong. For example, the answer for “ten cents” would be “one dime”. But that didn’t work. The answer to “sea cow” should be “manatee”. But that also didn’t work.
We were directed to answer a clue in a different place, but we were supposed to just copy the clue? Huh???
It reminded me of the puzzle from a while back which deliberately had 10–or maybe it was 11–mistakes built into it. In that one, the answer “cat” was clued as “cat”. But it was part of the theme of intentional mistakes. Others included skipping a clue, adding a clue which had no place in the grid, using an answer twice, and a mispelling (sic—I think that was the answer.)
But this puzzle was not supposed to be about mistakes, so it’s an epic fail to me.
10
I was stuck for a long time trying to make "manatee" work.
1
Puzzles with answers that Acrosslite doesn't recognize as correct shouldn't be published. Pure and simple.
It worked for me on a Windows 7 PC. Acrosslite displayed "You have successfully completed ..."
2
I didn't have any trouble with Across Lite. I typed in the appropriate numbers and got Mr Happy Pencil at the end.
3
Sounds like JLin might have an old version of AL. Support for numbers was added in version 2, years ago.
1