Australia and New Zealand are no more neighbors than I am of Miami over 1000 miles south of me. Hey, Will, pick up a map.
Just like it’s annoying when someone’s trying too hard to be funny, it’s annoying when someone’s trying too hard to be clever with their puzzle.
1
@MP I agree wholeheartedly. I haven't been doing these puzzles for all that long, and having started with Mondays I have worked my way up to being reasonably comfortable with Thurs and Fridays. I get the rebus thing and the wrap the words around or skip the first letter things, but this feels like a bit much. When will we start encoding the answers as powers of primes and just entering numbers in the grids? I thought this was supposed to be "WORD" play?
Could someone explain 63 down (INS) and 70 across (ADAMS) please?
@Anu Gradiner. INS is straightforward: people in power. ADAMS would be the John and John Quincy, second and sixth presidents of the US.
2
I can't find any way to actually enter the letters in the black squares. Am I being obtuse?
@doglessinfidel
Not at all, and you aren't expected to. It's an agreed-upon convention to just imagine they're hidden in the black box.
@Leapfinger That was a nuisance for me. I'd recognize a black AD square at one end of an across clue and forget about it when working on the downs, or vice-versa. Oh, well. There's just so much you can expect from a generalized crossword app.
1
Great balls of tapioca, SB was a bear today!
Only got to QB thanks to Wen's detailed and accurate word count and a whole lot of guessing.
would have loved to see Dobro in there but I guess as a brand name (capitalized) it's excluded, but I loved the previously mentioned Jerry/Allison clip...
Ditto DOBRO.
I don't think anything congratulatory is called for here. I consider way outside the boundary of what should be put into a puzzle such "we're-so-in-the-know" smart-ass answers as ADORKABLE, ADULTING, and MANSPREAD. I worked out two-thirds of the puzzle in fairly quick time, including the trick "ad." But "NERDS ROPE" and "MEGA MAN"? Oh, for Christ's sake, come on. Grow up. Be man or woman enough to come up with adult clues and answers that are genuine wordplays, not cutesy, if-you-knew-how-very-smart-I-am, I-know-so-much-trivia fill-ins. I've worked the puzzle, mostly successfully for fifty years, and I'm disgusted by what it's become.
1
Chill out, Mary.
7
@Mary Mendell
You forgot to tell him to get off your lawn.
8
@Mary Mendell: This sounds like the kind of complaint that Will Weng started receiving as he loosened the constraints of the Margaret Ferrar regime after 1984. There's always this kind of resistance from some people when something familiar changes, especially when something they think of with reverence changes to be [shudder] fun.
I recall an era when a principal requirement for successful solving was a vocabulary of obscure "crossword words" like PROA and ARETE. Now we've got "Q preceder" defining "LGBT" when everyone is thinking "MNOP". I'd never heard of ADORKABLE, but I got great pleasure from doping it out.
I like to imagine Ms. Farrar [well, it was "Mrs. Farrar" in the NYT of her day] rolling in her grave -- laughing.
8
I totally agree with Paula. I spent a lot of time trying to find my error & also used the rebus key. Double GRR since I was working on my longest streak.
3
Annoyed with Thursday. The puzzle was fine, I got the gimmick, but I broke my streak because I used the rebus key to put in the “ads” and couldn’t tell why it wasn’t marking the puzzle done — ran out of time looking and looking for a mistake that wasn’t there. Grrrr! So much for relaxing after getting stuck late at work!
1
Well done Mr. Thackeray! I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, and, although it wasn’t a rebus one, it solved like one.
It took a bit to realize where the ADs were hiding, but then I had the lovely aha moment we all seek. I’ve always heard of top military folks referred to as the BRASS. Just learned that it is short for BRASSHATS. Other things I learned were newspeak to me, eg, ADORKABLE, ADULTING, and MANSPREAD most notably.
Remarkable puzzle, and simply perfect for a Thursday.
:-D
5
Oh boy, thank you for this. I thought I would be here at 10am congratulating myself for filling adORKABLE in an open grid, but no completed puzzle until almost midnight when I learn my error was tATs instead of HATS.
Was it Barry Ancona who posted instructions on how to respond in threads? If so, I've lost the link, and would welcome a repost. I've tried both a first respond, and a last, and am moderately confused, as sometimes they post, and sometimes they are allowed, but don't appear. Now, I'm seeing references to missing replies and missing posted permalinks. Is there somewhere I could look for instructions on how to reliably post on this comment list? Sorry to appear so helpless, but I do enjoy this group, enjoy contributing, and hope to continue. Everybody's thoughts most cordially welcome.
Gretchen,
At the moment, we're all lost, because changes (glitches or intentional) in the last day or so have thrown the comment system out of whack. At the moment, I wouldn't count on any reply going through (I'll copy this before I send it); just start a new thread referencing that to which you would otherwise be replying!
Gretchen,
When it's working properly, click the reply button on the last reply in the thread (and change or edit the @ symbol as needed to direct your comment to the right person).
(continuation of earlier post)
Many unknowns (MEGAMAN, MANSPREAD, NERDSROPE, ADULTING, KYD, BRASSHATS, EDIE, ADORKABLE, ALLAN, KAY, and SEENSAY), but got them through the crosses, and lucky guesses. BUTTLOAD!? (Tsk ...)
Perhaps the cleverest NYT puzzle I've done in my one year of solving. Certainly a new concept with black squares playing a role. Kudos Mr. Thackray!
5
Late arrival because I couldn't finish this masterpiece till late in my coffee-house stint. Then the gym, PBS News Hour, etc.
My goal last night was to finish the top half and get the theme and "tricks," if any. With UND_ at 37A, it was clear: rebus EAD for the last cell. I was concerned that EAD was not an actual word or acronym, however. (Yes, Barry, I'm aware of July 18 ...) I then inserted the same rebus at the end of 5D. These rebuses didn't work with the crosses, though. Hmmm...
I jumped ahead to the clue for the revealer. OK, so maybe AD for the black cell at the intersection of 37A and 5D! I then finished the top half with three of the special black cells.
But what was the "theme?" Pondered the clue "Popular browser extension" while trying to fall asleep until it hit me: Ad block(er)! (I had no idea if such an "extension" actually existed.) Mission accomplished and sleep followed.
Finishing the puzzle today turned out to be a slog, even though I had gotten three of the four special black cells. (By symmetry, knew that the fourth was at the extreme SW corner.) The SE was the last to fall. First, I forgot about the special black cell to the left of cell 40, so had a hard time getting ADLIBS and ADORKABLE (new to me). First ALB for 52A, then YUK, finally IDA. Final battle was the double-Natick of SEE_SA_ at 72A. Total guesses of N and Y for the missing cells yielded the happy music. Whew!
(more coming ...)
4
Very slow start for me. Working out BRASSHATS was the key. Already had EDIE, which gave me AD. Didn't even try to figure out the rest of the reveal at that point (it kind of came to me in the midst of everything else). But I had just finished being baffled by HOTHE at 48d and glanced back at that and 'got it.' Then SALAD, UNDEAD and ADLIB gave me the other locations and I was able to work out (almost) all the theme entries.
Still had a lot of work to do in other places and my dim-witted moment of the day was when I finally filled in AMS at 70a, I forgot about the AD in the block and couldn't for the life of me figure out what that was supposed to be. Finally just left it.
And I didn't end up with a successful solve, as I just couldn't work out the NW. 1d seemed to have multiple possibilities. I've heard of WEBINAR but it didn't dawn on me and MANSPREAD and NERDSROPE were complete unknowns. MEGAMAN? Maybe I've heard of it but just couldn't confirm enough crosses to work it out.
Still a clever puzzle and an enjoyable solve.
FTSUMTER will always remind me of a surprising quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, which he wrote (and/or uttered) shortly after news of that attack reached the north: "Sometimes gunpowder smells good." A reminder of one of the unfortunate (but I suspect inescapable) aspects of human nature.
5
Am I the only one to notice today's puzzle is 16 columns wide?
2
Wow, rarely miss a non standard grid, did today.
@Dr W
Sorry, why is that significant?
1
pmb: Here aretwo invisible replies on your rebus thread.
Wen
Brookline, MA1h ago
@pmb
I think Andrew is simply saying that you said definition of crossword precludes rebuses and he's saying definition of things change and listed a couple of examples and trying to persuade you that perhaps a little flexibility is in order.
You are of course entitled to say both "I don't like rebuses" and "a word puzzle with a rebus is not a crossword to me". Perfectly reasonable things to say and you don't need any of us to approve/disapprove of that.
Perhaps one day, when Will has gone completely nuts and let rebuses and proper nouns (full of rap artists) run rampant, we can have a retronym for crossword puzzles that only use words. Oh wait...
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Barry Ancona commented 1 hour ago
B
Barry Ancona
New York NY1h ago
pmb,
You don't like rebuses. Fine. But you have not shared *why* you do not like rebuses, so others will either ignore you or reply off-topic.
You did say "They break the definition of a crossword in my opinion." I trust this truth is self-evident: the editors of the NYT Crossword for more than 60 years find that rebuses fit quite well within the definition of a crossword.
You are certainly entitled to state your opinion, but simply stating it -- without providing any reasoning -- isn't going to do much.
ReplyRecommendShareFlag
Spelling Bee whizzes, thank you so much for sharing your initial letter counts, word counts, and clues!
2
Generally Mrs W and I do the puzzle separately and we rarely compare notes. Today's was a bit different -- we both got stuck at the same places ... until the "ad" issue dawned.
Our biggest discussion concerned 18A -- I had GAM for 3D (which is correct also) but she wasn't happy with my resulting SEMINAR. We kicked that around until the right fill hit -- replacing two letters and correcting 3D in the process.
Doesn't 47D apply to a role played by Robin Williams?
Postparsing can be fun:
• doesn't 50D get you into a 26A?
• isn't 31D applicable on Yom Kippur?
49D presents an interesting situation. What of those whose ethnic persuasion is Amerind or they have a deeply toned skin color?
2
...and copying and pasting the cut-off link takes you to "Page Not Found."
But we know, Deb: You didn't do it.
1
...and unless something changes, one cannot click on a posted permalink.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2018-08-30.ht...
1
Deb:
Just as the reply I posted to you on Steve's thread isn't there, but it is in the permalink:
B
Barry Ancona
New York NY8m ago
Deb,
The missing replies are not waiting for moderation, they have been accepted. They are appearing in the permalink from the thread-start post, but not elsewhere. I just posted as a new comment two replies pulled from a permalink that were not appearing elsewhere.
ReplyRecommendShare
Daryn Berger,
Here are a couple more replies re: 52A.
They were hiding in the permalink.
Wen
Brookline, MA3h ago
@Daryn Berger
And alas, as you know, Mount Ida College is no more.
ReplyRecommendShareFlag
Barry Ancona commented 2 hours ago
B
Barry Ancona
New York NY2h ago
Daryl,
I voted for PNW too, but in any case, I recall that (the late) Mount Ida College is several miles away from Boston College and thus would not "border" it. Now Natick is another matter.
ReplyRecommendShare
Loved the not-quite-rebus aspect of the puzzle but, boy, was I stuck on all those words that only young folks know. This has been another tough puzzle week with Monday being the only puzzle I solved in less than average time. Can't wait to see what Friday brings.
2
@Meg H.
I agree about this week! My Monday was also slower.
Is it bad form to realize something is up with the answers and go looking for the revealer clue? I figured SALAD had to be 11 across and went and found the revealer clue which made the trick pretty obvious.
2
Thom,
I don't know about form, but it is an excellent and totally legitimate strategy for solving crosswords!
3
@Thom
What's wrong with that? I do it all the time.
3
@deb is there an email address for support for the iOS app? There’s a big with the keyboard that I’d like to report.
Thanks!
1
@pmb Hi there! Yes, any tech issues can be reported by either hitting the Crossword Feedback button in your app, or sending an email to [email protected].
A real cranium cracker Grant...time to reloAD.
3
Interesting irony that I did this puzzle and participated in the comments today with ADBLOCK Plus running. I'm not getting any ads on my screen. But I am getting requests to disable my ad blocker.
And maybe while I'm at it, I should answer all those phone calls that say Unknown Caller or even Spam in the Caller ID display. And I should send money to a Nigerian prince.
4
I've made several replies in the last couple of hours that never made it up (but are in the permalink). I don't know if this is a site-wide problem or if I'm being targeted for some reason.
But the one comment I really wanted posted--and I tried three times, as reflected in the permalink, is that ADOPT A ROAD is definitely a thing. Just Google it with "-HIGHWAY" (to keep that word out of the results). Then hit Images. Tons of examples. Or tuns, maybe.
1
Steve,
You're not being targeted...or we both are.
@Steve L No one is being targeted. Just another glitch in the matrix.
FWIW, I checked the queue and there are no comments from you waiting for moderation.
@Deb Amlen
Where's Neo when you need him?
2
Probably a coincidence, but on the printed out version, there is an extra space between the clues for 16D and 17D. I had filled in 17D by the crosses, and the answer of course made no sense, but I thought that extra space might signify something, so I put two and two together and came up with the correct answer, though for the wrong reason.
Anyway, I loved this puzzle! I don't have a favorite day pr favorite puzzle, but I must say that I am always glad to see what happens on Thursday.
3
@Mary
"there is an extra space between the clues for 16D and 17D."
I have both the newsprint and the .pdf downloaded version and they don't show anything looking like extra space. The typography of the 16D clue took two whole lines -- was that what you were looking at?
Line spacing between clues varies by column -- so clues don't break over two columns --but is equal within each column. Clue columns 3 and 5 are more loosely spaced than 1, 2 and 4. The line spacing between clues from 3D to 17D is equal.
Today's puzzle was diabolical. I loved it.
10
Loved the reveal when I heard the victory music - cute. I thought ADIEU was an odd choice, since its AD wasn’t hidden. And to the author’s note, I’m pleased I didn’t trip up on POPUP. Overall a fun solve. Almost made me feel bad for using ADBLOCK(er) on NYT, until I remembered that I pay for this...
2
How do you enter a rebus in a black square when you solve online? My streak will be broken at 83 if I can't find a way to do this.
@Jim Hughes
You don't need to enter anything in the black squares - check for typos elsewhere!
7
Had a fortunate guess in the theme revealer, I noticed ADBLOCK fit and then the only question was which squares were themers. Was so glad to see both ADULTING and MANSPREAD, bc on the first pass those were my first guess and I was disappointed that they didn't fit. Very satisfying to go back and fill them. Loved the wit in this one as well, [Pot leaves?] is one of the funnier clues I've seen in the NYT.
2
More Spelling Bee (history):
Scott from Stockholm asked about the infamous CLOTBUR Spelling Bee - it was June 30, 2018. Comments ran both days. Old Dad and Chungclan co-coined CLOTBUR as a corollary to Natick.
I don't know how the following links will appear, but you could simply change the URL to today's wordplay by changing the 2 occurrences of "/08/" to "/06/" and remove everything including and after the ? in the URL to see the posts for that day.
https://nyti.ms/2MBJ9oi#permid=27687940
https://nyti.ms/2MEhFOY#permid=27700179
5
@Wen For the handful of vociferous complaints there (I just had to read them), there were many other voices that did not comment. However, we shall never forget (or forgive) CLOTBUR!
At least one fun, communal event came of the CLOTBUR event. Readers did coin an adjectival form of it with a special Spelling Bee meaning that we will use to shame the Bee creator if they slip that badly again!
3
@Liane
On the actual days, complaints about CLOTBUR wasn't as voluminous as afterward when we started using it like Natick. It was more of the reminiscing later and comparison (e.g. "today's pangram is clotbur-ish")
For all that, I finally went and looked it up. Turned out it's basically just burdock? Impressive leafage, roots are quite revered in Japanese and Chinese medicine and cuisine. You can apparently make beer with it too.
@Wen
Clotbur, Xanthium strumarium, is not the same as burdock, Arctium lappa, the gobo of Japanese cuisine. They're distantly related, but clotbur is toxic. We have clotbur growing all around here, but no burdock, which would be useful.
Apparently, "clotbur" is used by some to refer to burdock but it's important to distinguish these plants.
2
Second semanal complaint. I don’t like rebuses. They break the definition of a crossword in my opinion.
2
@pmb
And a newspaper by definition is on paper and only contains news...
And the OED defines presidential as "Having a bearing or demeanour befitting a president; dignified; confident. Also: appropriate to a president; stately; impressive."...
I guess it is time to ease up on our sense of definitions.
8
@Andrew
"Truth is not the truth!"
2
@Andrew I’m not sure what the point of this reply is. The comments I assume are for sharing polite feedback on the puzzles. My feedback is that I don’t like rebuses in a crossword puzzle. A word puzzle with a rhebus is not a crossword to me. Nada más
@Deb
Thank you for the 157 year-old article. I noticed in it said "no casualty yet", how little did they know what was to become the deadliest war in American history.
Separately, can something be ADORKABLE and elegant? Aren't they contradictory?
Lastly, the NYT and most other sites that provide content frown upon use of said popular browser extension. A bit of conflict of interest, no?
3
I had a buttload of fun with today’s puzzle. Looking forward to future installments by the constructor.
7
dored it!!
One of the best in years. clever, witty, different,
6
Deb, Have you ever considered adding a word search feature to the Comment Section? That way, we wouldn't have to scroll through 149 comments to find and explaination for a specific answer.
4
@Barbara
I agree with that. Yes, we could use the browser's search function, but for the long threads that requires us to click "VIEW ALL REPLIES" and for days with more comments that require us to click "READ MORE", the browser's search function is useless.
Also, the comments aren't included as part of the NYT search function, so when Scott from Stockholm asked about which day was CLOTBUR day, there is no way to use search function to look for that. I'm sure this was intentional, but a value-diminishing one if truly "The Times needs your voice." :)
Even if the comments run in a separate search engine from the articles, it would be very helpful.
5
@Wen and everybody else:
you can invoke search using cmd-F (on a Mac, I don't know what the PC equivalent is). This opens up a small search window where you enter the item you want found.
1
@Dr W
That's what I meant by "the browser's search function". It's ctrl+f on a PC. The stuff that isn't loaded already because you have to click "VIEW ALL REPLIES" and "READ MORE", they won't be found until you click on them, because they are only loaded onto the page when you click. So the search will fail to find content within those areas.
2
A fun puzzle, but impossible to complete online, as there is no way to type letters into the black squares.
@Teree
You don't type into those. You just assume that the black squares represent the letters AD and let the entries continue into them.
1
In other words, the black squares BLOCK the ADs. That is the point of the theme.
4
@Teree
And they appear when you've successfully finished.
1
Just made it to Genius in the Spelling Bee, but still missing 7 words and the pangram. I can't believe they won't accept the famous philosopher NEATCHY! ;)
8
@George
I'm at 22/105, and will quit for the day, I think so.
Big spoiler alert - But about the pangram, my folks had a record of the songs that seamen sang, and my sister and I danced to them with wild abandon. So, I knew this one! It is an anagram, so matched the recent crossword puzzle in that style.
4
@George
NEATCHY?? Hilarious!!
1
Does IDA refer to Mount Ida College (and thus B.C. refer to Boston College)?
This is for 52A
@Daryn Berger
Good thought! I like it. . . . Next time, maybe.
Try the US northwest. Fifty-four forty or fight! Look at the international border. (BTW, 54-40 failed with no fight.)
2
@Daryn Berger
British Columbia and Idaho methinks.
6
Another one where I stared at an almost completely blank grid for a long time before I figured out the trick. Once I got it I was so thoroughly absorbed in closing out the rest of the puzzle that my pot leaves got cold.
I knew something was fishy when I couldn't fit MANSPREAD into 5d or SALAD in 11A, but I didn't figure it out until I after I got the revealer. Then ADULTING clicked for me (I'm 22 so it's definitely an ongoing process) and I was able to polish up the rest of the theme entries. One minor quibble is that I'm pretty sure the official name is Adpot-a -Highway, and I've never really heard it referred to as ADOPT-A-ROAD, but that's a very minor complaint in the face of such a brilliant puzzle. Also, in retrospect, POPUP was great foreshadowing.
Unrelated to the theme, the fact that "minimalism" fits into 10d is just cruel. That was one of the very few clues I filled in right away and I didn't realize my mistake for a long time.
Really fun and clever puzzle.
8
I googled "adopt-a-road" with quotes and got 1,650,000 page results for towns all over the USA that have adopt-a-road programs, several right near me. I won't link to any today, because the emus have RUINED linking here on Wordplay. I invite adopt-a-road doubters to do a little search on their own.
5
@David Connell
Good to know! Quibble redacted.
4
David,
I see that while states and major cities seem to do "highway," smaller gov't units are going with "road." I've seen "highway" everywhere and "road" never. And I'm not sure how many of the "roads" are the highways of the clue. Like much we see here, it's legit for WXP but not IRL. IMO.
Made the mistake of putting extra letters into one square. Never did catch on to the trick today. Very clever. Props to the solvers.
2
Not only are the links no longer live, nor the longer ones shown n their entirety, now our avatars have disappeared.
Busy day in the emu cage?
3
@Deadline
But "permalink" is still grayed out for me.
@Deadline
The above reply was made on another thread, to another poster, and somehow migrated over here.
This might help with posting links: https://tinyurl.com/
Somebody else here suggested it years ago and I've used it many times, never fails. But I'm not sure what the problem is so maybe not...
The puzz - finished with errors. Three, one of which I found (had spelled KASEM with a C). For 1D I decided on BOW. That's a kind of trim, right? Resulted in BEGAMAN. Fine with me. The other one was RAWER for "pinker." Resulted in NERDSWOPE. I probably should have thought some more, but there's a break in the beastly weather and I don't keep track of streaks. Now I can go outside.
4
@Suzy M.
You're right - the links get cut off because they are too long (~73 characters?). The NYT's own Permalink (when you click Share) and other shorter URLs don't get cut off. So by using tinyurl.com, everyone can post links that won't get truncated.
2
Deb, I hope the inability to make active links is only a glitch and not a new policy of the NYT editorial board.
2
Such a fun, fresh, young puzzle today complete with my beloved rebus ... what more could I ask for?
Out of my wheelhouse but totally solvable, so definitely well made and fair.
I had fun with the parsing, too, at LEE RAT and SKI PIT. And I parsed 31D as, "I'll count backwards from 10 and, you, AT ONE SPEAK."
A rare, lighthearted Thursday which left me with a great big smile on my face. Thank you, Grant!
12
I thought that the Rebus had to work both down and across. Is that true?
That's the usual, and this does so as well.
2
FNL - go bac and take out any "ad"s that you rebused. You will find that it isn't a rebus puzzle as you were thinking of it.
3
Wow. 96 Comments already (I know I'm late)...
I tumbled to the trick early (FT SUMTER was my first entry) and pretty much danced through the puzzle until I got to the NW corner.
I've never played video games, I don't eat candy, I've been on the NYC subway only twice in my life (plenty of experience in Europe, but no annoyances to report)....Tried to LOP ...put in GAB, took it out....finally, finally tumbled to WEBINAR (I once 'attended' one) ...and the M for MEGAMAN was my last letter into the grid.
I totally do not get 70A, even though I see it is correct. I wondered if it would be explained in Deb's column, but No. ?Are there two teammates named ADAM wearing those numerals? Argh. And now there are 102 comments, so I will just hit Submit and await my enlightenment.
@Mean Old Lady POTUS #2 was Adams. POTUS #6 was Adams.
6
Finally worked my way to the bottom and see that ADAMS refers to the Presidents. I have never gotten used to calling them by numerals vs names....
3
@Mean Old Lady
FT SUMTER was my first entry as well.
Like Deb, my first thought of a hidden AD was from MANSPREAD (NYC subway version, not NJTransit). This was quickly affirmed at SALAD/ADDRESS. So getting the theme was easy and adding AD, so to speak, became my first thought whenever anything looked amiss.
For the rest of the puzzle, though, I feel as if I was trapped in a roomful of extremely young people speaking a language I don't understand. I do get that generational slang is a way of communicating with peers while excluding others (I usually think parents), but after a while it makes me feel unwelcome.
I also get that having lots of pop (and classical) culture and generational and other specialized stuff is broadening. But so much all at once? Okay, starting with a "classic" video game that I've never heard of taught me something. (Not, however, what makes it "classic"; I consider the Infocom and Zork games classics.)
And I'm guessing SEE 'N' SAY is probably known to parents, so that's a little bit of learning too.
But NERD'S ROPE? HEAL as clued? ADULTING and ADORKABLE competing for most ugh-making?
Note: Compare constructor notes here and at xwordinfo re ADULTING: "not much used academically" vs. "not much used outside millennial subculture."
Also learned T-STOPS, KYD, and ALLAN Bloom. And that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fit LAISSEZ-FAIRE into 10D.
So (hi RiA), while appreciating some of the themers, I'd have preferred a more challenging theme and less of a BUTTLOAD of insider-y stuff.
1
There are plenty of parents about, but one hopes that most were able to resist the ridiculous SEE N SAY. The lack of professionalism in the toy industry is always on display, alas, and while I believe games can be very useful (and educational), that one fails on every level.
Poorly clued!
Deadline, I forgot to say earlier that one of the expressions I'd not heard before was MANSPREAD, however it is very apt and descriptive and one of the reasons I try to fly business class for my long haul flights if possible.
4
@suejean
I'm always amused when MANSPREADing offenders justify their rudeness as necessary to their comfort because of anatomy. Yet they seem to manage quite fine sitting at desks at work or in seats at the theatre or movies or while driving their cars.
3
Did anyone else notice that the northeast corner was a bit AUST/ERE?
11
@William Shunn Indeed I did, and that before I'd figured out the theme, so for a while I kept looking for more like it.
Well, if you're in the mood to do another crossword, I have one in today's LA Times (and simultaneously in the Washington Post). Google will take you there, and you can solve it online, or there is a button if you wish to print it out.
@Lewis
I did it, Lewis, a lot of fun!
2
Google takes me to all kinds of advertising but I haven't found your puzzle yet (this despite knowing your whole name!). A link would really help!
3
@David Connell
http://games.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword/
1
Wow.
I got 4D right away, and immediately thought ‘rebus!’ Then solved further and said ‘not rebus?’
I got the basics of the theme shortly thereafter (I went hunting for the revealer — I have no patience), but that was really just the beginning.
I’m not done yet, but just filled in 38A, stared at it for about 2 minutes, and then got it.
I love this puzzle. I seriously am falling hard for it. It’s all smart and gorgeous and I don’t want things to be done yet.
7
Loved it! So many new easily gettable entries that this felt more like a Friday. I'd never heard of AD BLOCK though.
Completed in 170% of my Thursday average, but I loved this puzzle! Picked up on the missing ADs very quickly, then slogged through the neologisms. But when I went back and reviewed the entries, most was either known to me or at least on the outer edge of my consciousness. Persistence pays off! I'm already looking forward to Mr. Thackray's next puzzle.
3
Fun crossword with an obvious enough trail to figure out what is missing and generally decipher the theme. Where I struggle with puzzles like these (even after many years of crossword solving) is how to enter words in them. This one I started as a rebus, but boy did that make the cross clues confusing. The use of a black square instead to hold the needed letters was clever, but using those squares is always the last idea in my head! A good Thursday challenge for the rebus impaired!
3
Found this classic SNL clip from 1990 which unexpectedly features our ulterer-in-chief!
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment---m...
@Chungclan
Oh rats - the link failed: second try -
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment---m...
@Chungclan - within the past week, the emus multiplied our headaches and woes by cutting off all long links so as to render them useless.
Sigh.
I wonder what the job description for the emus is, exactly?
2
Yes, it's a rebus. But it was like working on two separate puzzles. The rebus, which of course I liked a lot. And all the rest of it, which I wanted to hurl across the room -- and almost did.
Starting the puzzle off with a classic video game set my teeth on edge from the get-go. (I didn't know there would shortly be another video game clue in that section.) Then there was the brand name of the candy. Then there was the educational toy. One after another -- bits of pop culture that I don't know and don't want to know. MEGAMAN. NERDS ROPE. SEENSAY. ADORKABLE. And you really can't find a better way to clue a simple word like HEAL (60A), Grant?
There are people right here on this very blog who are going to love this puzzle. That's their privilege. As for me, I thought it was Awful Beyond Description.
4
@Nancy
I suppose I fall in that category. Megaman, adulting, buttload, and yes, heal. Hands down most fun clueing this year! As a 30-something its a nice change of pace to see clues I grew up with instead of refences to actors and actresses well before my time in shows/movies I will never watch. But I suppose that’s always the impossible balance to strike for the creators.
Megaman was particularly enjoyable as we gave our boys a retro nintendo set for Christmas and they recently discovered Megaman 2 (the best one in the series).
9
As someone *not* in that category, I appreciated the change of pace, and the challenge of not knowing every entry in the puzzle (and probably not wanting to know more than the entry, as clued, for future puzzle use). Also, I wasn't aware that 1A is supposed to be a gimme for everyone.
(Does NERD ROPE come in flavors? I was thinking maybe sour grape?)
5
@Nancy - I'm 70 years old, and I thought it was a hoot. I have young friends, and was aware of ADULTING, MANSPREAD, BUTTLOAD (yes, unpleasant, that one), and ADORKABLE; I have even participated in a WEBINAR. Didn't know MEGAMAN or NERDSROPE, but there's always something. ADBLOCK, btw, is a very useful extension. I was surprised to note some folks here had never heard of it.
The one that drove me nuts was actually ADAMS. Couldn't make sense of that for quite a while.
With a good dose of pop culture and a rebus, I was expecting more ADverse comments. BUTTLOAD was new to me. Maybe I can find a way to use it--a BUTTLOAD of diapers, perhaps.
5
@Paul - a very apt application. I'm not one to disparage neologisms as a rule, but that one does rank high on the ick factor, at least for me.
1
I liked this puzzle and even figured out the trick pretty quickly thanks to MANSPREAD. However, can anyone please explain the clues for INS and ADAMS? That crossing stopped me from solving.
@William Adams refers to the two Adams presidents (the second and sixth presidents).
2
@Daniel @William And INS are insiders, as opposed to "outs".
1
@William
I took INS to be those people who are IN. In the know, in the circle, in the action, in the loop, etc. So it's helpful to know them because maybe they could get you in too.
3
Rather than ELONGATE my comment, I will simply say that this puzzle is ADORKABLE.
15
As the iPhone does not allow one to read comments by Oldest first, I have the practice of scrolling to the end and reading them while scrolling upwards. Well, this morning there was literally no end to the comments. I gave up after my thumb gave in, and decided I would have to just read from newest to oldest.
I started with a rebus ADD for ADDRESS, and when I saw SAL at 11A I thought we might be in for another corner-turning rebus puzzle. (SALAD DRESSing?)
Was completely bewildered by the clue for ADAMS. I expected to be enlightened by Deb’s column, but no mention. Fortunately there were several posts to explain it and relieve my anxiety.
Nice puzzle, Number 18!
4
Andrew, you get a pass as a Canadian for not knowing the ADAMSes. Surprised that you knew as many of the presidents as you do, going so far as to know to look up #18.
2
@Wen
Not so much that I didn't know the ADAMSes (by name, at least). More that the clue just didn't point me in that direction. Once I saw the explanation, I realized what a great clue it was. Just to tell you how far I went to try to explain it to myself, I thought: God is number 1, Adam is number 2, then Eve, Cain, Abel, and then...Adam Jr.? I don't think so, and anyway the clue would have to have been "Number 2 and Number 6".
I appreciated your SPELLING BEE thread, but unfortunately replies are not being posted. I tried twice and they are on the Permalink where there are some 13 replies. Yet only 3 replies appear on this page. Too bad.
1
@Andrew
Thanks for the hint to check the permalink for a comment that I could've sworn had more than 3 replies! I think this issue has been happening for a few days at least.
Also - I took the same tack with the ADAMSes. I was just going to accept that I must have forgotten about Adam Jr until I came to the comments. :)
SPELLING BEE:
Somehow managed to get to QB again, though it wasn't easy. A few "that's a word?!" in there.
27 words, 131 points. 1 Pangram. Bingo.
4x6, 5x13, 6x4, 7x3, 8x1
Ax1, Cx8, Ex1, Hx1, Nx3, Tx6, Yx7
Lots of Y words I don't think people need hints about the Yiddish ones. Two variant spellings of the same word, eww!
16 words ended in Y. The words beginning with Y didn't end in Y (so no YANNY, or is it LAUREL?)
If you're doing the math, that means there are two words with Y somewhere in-between.
12
@Wen Very helpful as always, thank you! Got to genius with a 6-letter T word which describes how I feel about the pangram, which I consider a baby clotbur. Am abandoning this mishegas for now.
2
Is there any chance someone can tell me which date the comment thread for CLOTBUR day was? I bet it's an absolute doozy.
@Wen
Thanks for the hints which resulted - after throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick - in the QB. (There are actually 4 words with Y in-between, but that was easy to see.)
2
Nice trick today, but I wouldn't call a WEBINAR a class. Informative sometimes, but never a class.
2
@Andrea
In a professional setting that's probably true.
But since webinar is created from web+seminar, if a seminar can sometimes be a class, then a webinar can sometimes be a class, no?
@Wen
Where I used to work we had whole curricula of WEBINARs, based on the same seminars we conducted in person at various venues.
1
@Deadline
Just wondering -- is a seminar half a nar?
2
Tough Bee! If the middle letter had been anything but Y there would have been a feast of possibilities but Yikes . . . am stuck at merely amazing. Hints welcome. I'm looking at you Wen and NC.
1
@audreylm
There are *lots* more Ys than I thought there would be, but the only E is a compound word. The only pangram is an easy-to-guess alternative spelling. There are two onomatopoeic entries which are almost, but not quite, identical, and the only reason I got the more unusual one was because of a typo...
QB = 27 / 131
3
@audreylm
Most days I'm in the same position as you, waiting and begging for @NC to post the hints. so I can finish. Only last 2 days been lucky enough to help. Feels like a team/community effort sometimes.
4
@audreylm How is it that tetany is not included as a word?
I tried to post this last night re: Helen Keller and other women involved in the founding of the ACLU, but comments were not cooperating. The linked blog contains original material you can enlarge and read. I feel close to the ACLU. The meeting to create it was held at 14 West 12th Street (building has been replaced), one block east of where I live now, and the first meeting was held at 51 West 16th Street, next next door to where I used to live. That block of West 16th Street was also the first home of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau.
https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2012/08/the-founding-of-the-american-ci...
2
P.S. I don't know why the link isn't live, but if you copy and paste...
@Barry Ancona
Apparently none of the links are live anymore.
I wonder if it makes a difference if you hit "enter" after the link. That's what activates links in email.
I was going to experiment by copying and pasting your link here twice, with and without hitting "enter." Alas, apparently only part of your link is actually showing, so I couldn't.
Nope, the emus have killed links. It's their job and dangit they are earning their paychecks.
1
A clever conceit, which I got before reading Deb’s blog. However, in my humble opinion, the clues depend too much on local and pop culture references. I don’t have rapid transit to know about commuter annoyances, I don’t eat that sort of candy, and I don’t play video games. Those clues left me, well, clueless.
2
@Barbara Prillaman
Please see the comment earlier about how the book "ADULTING" begins.
Of all the words to get stuck on. I had black TIE, then black OUT and finally black OPS. Lots of hard ones for me FTSUMPTER NERDSROPE and ADOPTAROAD being a bit out of my wheelhouse. Thanks for putting AUST in there though
3
Stick me in the pile of people that loved the double-rebus 38A.
BMOC, though, gets me every time it comes up, when will I learn? Took an age until I saw BUTTLOAD and it fell into place.
1
I'm taking this personally. Does AD blocking mean I can't comment?!
Great puzzle!
11
Don’t be absurd!
4
um..........
@Barry Ancona
Hee hee - a philological illogicality.
"Ad" serves as a substitute for more than one prepositional situation:
toward (as in ad absurdum)
but also
at
and also
up to and touching...
The position vs. movement debate is pulled into play here. Is "ad absurdum" "toward absurdity", "up to absurdity" or "in contact with absurdity"? The answer is, as my father was fond of saying, "yes."
4
Comments would not download on my iPad last night but did this morning - sigh....
My husband and I finished the puzzle last night and turned off the light. He turned it back on and said he couldn’t sleep until he figured out how 2 and 6 meant ADAMS. As I drifted off to sleep, I finally said, “The Presidents!” He had earlier cleared up my bewilderment about ATONE SPEAK - or is it, AT ONE SPEAK?
We gave both of our kids the book “Adulting” for their weddings, figuring it would complete any parenting we had missed. It starts with “News Flash - The world does not revolve around you!” and goes on to suggest you not wear your pajamas to work and that leftover pizza does not a breakfast make. Cleverly written, but with unnecessary repeated use of the “F” word.....
3
@JoHarp
AT ONE'S PEAK!
Mike R,
I'm going out on a limb here to say that I think Jo Harp knows that....
@Barry Ancona
How dare you presume to know what @JoHarp knows or doesn’t know. ;-)
1
I mit it -- I am a rebusaholic. Love them and love this one. Saw that something was up at SAL, but shelved it until I saw the UNDEad. Of course, I should've known about the AD after SAL, but I kinda convinced myself that DRESS might be correct for "speak to", as I have certainly heard the expression "dressed down". Middle line is great, especially having AD begin and end the center answer.
Apropos to have POPUP, although clued in a different sense. And there are several other OPs in the grid -- RANGETOP, NERDSROPE, ADOPTAROAD, TSTOPS, not to mention OPS itself.
Fun!
6
I forgot to mention it in my earlier comment, but my first thought when I saw 70A involved Patrick McGoohan as #6 and whoever his adversary-of-the-week was as #2. And then I realized that it's been 50 years since "The Prisoner" was first broadcast here in the U.S. I'm getting old. :)
5
Anyone else notice that Mr. Thackray put in a little subliminal AD in the puzzle himself? Straight line from 7D to 55D. Still selling NERDS ROPE!
8
Grant you are my BMOCrosswords! Breathtaking construction (ADOPTAROAD! Wow). And to the team who finalizes the clues, bravo too. There were quite a few words I'd never heard of but got it done all on my very own because the crosses were fair. The last to fall was "no. 2 and 6", brillz. Hope you got paid in nerdsrope (which is new to me and sounds repulsive). On to the Bee.
I LOVE THURSDAYS. All Thursdays, the nastier the better.
9
Lovely theme, well executed. I was a little confused at how it worked in the middle row, but I now see that the ADs are at the beginning and ends of words, not in the middle of them.
There's a mini-theme of double S (6), and there are excellent clues for ADAMS and SLALOM. Got the theme in the NE, which allowed me to fill in the reveal with just the D, which began to open things up. Yesterday I learned about Helen Keller and the ACLU, and from looking up ACLU then, I remembered it began in 1920, so that was an automatic fill in. And today I learned a new interesting morsel, this one about Peru.
This was what I will call a Big Chipper puzzle. I kept chipping and chipping away at it, with no big blocks falling in swaths, mainly because of answers out of my wheelhouse. When the final ding of success comes on a Big Chipper puzzle (as it did today), it comes with an "Aah!" and a splat of self-satisfaction that is tough to beat. Much gratitude, Grant!
8
This one was a lot of fun. Not just because of the gimmick but also because of the entries. It gave me a little more trouble than I expected. But when I got to the revealer, I got it right away because ADBLOCK is always the most popular browser extension. From there I knew exactly what the gimmick was. From there, it was easy to get MANSPREAD, UNDEAD, SALAD, ADDRESS (SALADRESS).
BUTTLOAD and ADORKABLE took a little more thinking. But what with ADORBS being a thing, ADORKABLE (though I have never seen it before) made sense.
ADOPT-A-ROAD - thanks to all the driving I did for work, especially in NYC, it was a gimme.
HOTHEAD was easy, I filled in ADAMS without understanding it until I came here.
All in all a good Thursday puzzle. Lively entries and good theme. A bit crunchy for the dentured crowd maybe (sorry, couldn't resist!).
9
@Wen
Cute, Wen. Luckily I have all my teeth, and according to my dentist in much better shape than those 20 years or more younger.
2
@suejean
I thought whether to add that last bit - thought some might take offense. But I figured folks here had a good sense of humor. My mom has all of her teeth too, she's 72. My mom's parents had dentures when they were in their 60's, so it all varies.
One last thing...LESS IS MORE! :)
1
@Wen
And I hope I never lose my sense of humor!
3
I could see it was a rebus (and I usually like rebuses), but "EAD" only worked a couple of times and even then not both across and down. I finally gave up and revealed the answers. I still didn't "get it." I guess my brain just isn't functioning well this a.m.
1
@RCM
It might help if you knew that black squares are called BLOCKS. Even without that knowledge, the ADs are "blocked" by the fact that they are in the black squares, where they can't be seen.
2
@Steve L
Black blocks?
1
I loved the trick which I didn't get until the zombie clue. I had SAL for light lunch, but just figured it was yet another unnecessary shortening of a word. It took me a while to get the last AD square, but I liked the way the 2 in the middle worked in so many directions.
Like Elke I felt my age with so many expressions I didn't know, including the reveal. I vaguely remembered ADOPT A ROAD ( although I thought it was highway) so Thursday was even trickier than usual , but I'm not complaining and will look forward to Grant's third puzzle.
3
I meant to comment that it was nice to see the ACLU again so soon with my newfound knowledge about Helen Keller.
2
Suejean,
Your vague memory is correct: it is Adopt-a-Highway, but I don't think any NGO registered the term, so there are for-profit service firms that use it, as well, as, of course, most states and even some municipalities. 38A would be an alternate generic, which I assume passes the letter if not litter test.
https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/adopt-highway
Barry , I'm pretty sure my daughter-in-law adopted a bit of a highway.
Hate rebus!
4
@Rick
You're in luck -- no rebi in today's puzzle. Just black squares doing double duty.
2
For the coders: now it says 25 but, on my Android NYT app, no comments appears.
However, if I follow the link to my comment from the email I got, and then click "all comments", I see all of them.
A secret entrance? What fun!!
1am EDT, Thursday. FYI, it says that there are 23 comments but, when I enter the comments, "no comments" appears.
Comments have gone berserk on my iPhone, anyone else seeing this phenomenon? They repeat ad infinitum.
I’m referring to the app. The website is fine.
I was surprised to see no mention of the other on-theme clues e.g. TUNE out, POPUP, SKIP IT. These were one of the things I appreciated about this Thursday.
7
Well, got the gold star but had to fight a bit for it. And I'm still not sure - what is that Dorm VIP one? I got it through crosses but can't make sense of it.
1
@Crysta Big Man On Campus = BMOC
6
@RS
As in the LP by The Kingston Trio.
Remember them?
and Elke
What a clever puzzle.
Made me feel my age. NERDSROPE, BUTTLOAD, ADORKABLE ,SEENSAY , ADULTING are not (yet) in my daily vocabulary. MANSPREAD is (unfortunately).
Re MEGAMAN- thought we stayed away from politics....
and Steve L beat me to ATONE SPEAK- I actually thought the clue was wrong.
Nice to see the ACLU again.I hope they will lots of ADS soon.
TILAPIA fish grow as fast as zucchinis.....and have as much (or as little ) flavour.
Finally how to BLOCK the ADs by the NYT which tell me to 'subscribe now' . How do they think I get those ADS??
Now to get back to SB- am 5 away from that elusive crown. This puzzle gave me a new push.
5
On the heels of yesterday's head scratcher we have another puzzle for people who like, well... Puzzles. Puzzling indeed, with plenty of tricky clues and, my favorite, the Stealth Rebus theme!
Perhaps the perfect rebus theme for rebaphobes - the rebus you can't see, yet its there, silently, invisibly doing its job. No teensy letters to pack into tiny squares. Looks just like a *regular* crossword puzzle. What's there to complain about? I guess we'll see what POPs UP.
4
Perfect rebus for rebaphobes? I love it!
Will someone explain the answer to 70 across? Thank you.
70 Across: ADAMS .... the 2nd and 6th Presidents
4
John and John Quincy.
1
This has to be my favorite puzzle this year. Really liked the clues, the rebus. It just made me happy.
9
Pretty straightforward for a Thursday. I figured out the AD quickly. After that, not very tough.
Oh, what a magnificent puzzle! Even though I got ADBLOCK fairly quickly, I then proceeded to *completely* ignore the hint that came with it, making for a *much* more interesting experience. Somewhere around UNDE(AD) the mists finally cleared, and while I am not prone to fist pumps, it seemed warranted when I finally heard the fanfare. Thank you, thank you, for making my week!
5
very clever! liked ADOPT A ROAD BEST. a key tenet of my belief system appears tonight -- LESS IS MORE!
5
Deb—We online solvers might agree with and get a kick out of the last paragraph of today's blog (before the Constructor Notes), but I wonder how the NYT bean counters feel about. It seems to set up an interesting contrast with the paper's new practice of salting the blog with appeals to us to disable our AD BLOCKs. Good luck with that.
3
@paulymath
We pay for the paper. We pay extra for the crossword. The ads are very intrusive, right in the middle of and interrupting the articles, and I used to have to stop and figure out if some of them were ads or some of them were content. The AD BLOCK stays.
4
@Steve L and paulymath
Amen to you both.
And on top of that, the new homepage now has great swaths of gray every few inches with the word "advertisement" inside them. Is this annoyance supposed to make us more willing to turn off our ADBLOCKs? Is the theory that actual ADs would be less annoying than the big blank gray things? If so, it didn't work. Yes, it causes annoyance, but no, I'm not going to subject myself to ADs just to get rid of it.
6
Cottoned to the trick at UNDE(AD), and eventually realized it worked in both directions, so that made more of the answers easier to get. A bit under my average, but longer than some of the recent Thursdays. Liked the triple across the middle.
1
@JayTee
I likewise glommed onto the trick with UNDE(AD).
While Deb got the theme from NJ Transit, my first realization came from 11A, since I figured with the starting S (Thanks, Looney Tunes!), it should be SALAD. Then came 48 down, which my first thought from the clue was (correctly) HOTHEAD. A bit of work in the SE gave me the revealer and then it was just finding the other two "blocks." All-in-all a fun puzzle, and I greatly appreciated the "gentle" cluing, at least for me, of the blocked ADs.
2
A fun one. Had to look up the historian and playwright, and ATONESPEAK just didn’t feel right, but a pretty smooth solve.
2
Anyone having trouble solving this on their iPhone? I don’t want to ruin my streak by checking my answer.
Got the happy music on an iPhone, struggle though that the puzzle was.
Solved on the iPhone no problem. The comments are another story!
1
I could have sworn that the Venerable Bede hadn't been canonized, but a few minutes of research proved me wrong. I suppose I had been reading sources from the 19th century and earlier; he became Saint Bede in 1899.
A fun Thursday! Tuesday and Wednesday's puzzles had been real stumpers for me, so I was glad that today's wasn't too tough.
3
Absolutely loved the symmetry of the theme answers! (Also absolutely hated the clue for INS.)
1
@Irene
Imagine all the comments if it had been clued as the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
1
@Steve L
Yes, I’m sure there would have been a BUTTLOAD.
5
@Andrew
Good one. Or a boatload.
1
This one had a definite post-millennial vibe to it, what with (AD)ORKABLE, WEBINAR, MEGAMAN, MANSPREAD, NERDSROPE and (AD)ULTING. A somewhat older person such as I might have a little trouble with this one, and my time was quite above my Thursday average.
Unrelated to the above, I would suggest that ATONESPEAK might also refer to the prayers that Jews around the world will be offering up in about three weeks, on Yom Kippur.
21
ATONE-SPEAK is a good one!
3
What Does “AT ONE SPEAK” Mean? I’ve Never Heard This Expression.
At first I thought BUTTLOAD was a little off. No one I know says that. I say SHIPLOAD as a bowdlerized but somewhat more sensical way of saying a word that sounds a lot like SHIPLOAD but is more closely associated with BUTTLOAD.
Maybe people do say BUTTLOAD in real life meaning "a lot of something," but I found out that it can be a literal thing. One BUTT is 108 imperial gallons, and also is the size container that holds it.
Thus, a filled container of this type could be said to carry a BUTTLOAD:
https://gizmodo.com/butt-is-an-actual-unit-of-measurement-1622427091
9
@Steve L
I've certainly heard, and maybe said, BUTTLOAD.
As for BUTT, I can only think of ... something ... a play? a book? ... where someone or other drank a BUTT of malmsley (sp?). I don't know how much that is of whatever it is, but I'm betting it's a vessel full of liquid.
Didn't look it up because Steve's reference wasn't a working link and I didn't feel like opening a new tab.
@Deadline
Just so you know, I entered the link the same way as always, and the Times system didn't convert it to an active link automatically.
When I saw that, I copied and pasted the URL into a new tab, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Another wonderful improvement.
Nice, gentle Thursday. I hope the online versions don't come with banner ads.
5
Let me D my compliments to all the others...a really clever Thursday puzzle. Didn't leave me scratching my HE as some of the other recent ones have.
19