Read the clue for 1 across as the Greek pastry. Misread 35A as another word for 5D (CARLOTS). And, it took a few trys to get 4Ds letters in the right order. The little gray cells kicked in, enjoyed a laugh at my expense, then off to the races.
Not sure about the Dope:ASS combo then again NOSHADE came in the crosses. Perhaps we could argue about illin, intoned Tom insidiously.
Frost on the ground this AM. Need to ratchet up my house hunting. Natchez MS is my target city for the winter months with Grand Lake Stream Maine as my summer spot. Wish me luck.
Thanks David
Like Viv, had TEETH instead of KNEES in braces, but also had models assembled on a RUNWAY instead of CARLOTS, 'See ya' as LATER instead of ADIOS, and 'Not forward' as AFT instead of SHY. All of which seemed reasonable, but which combined to make that quadrant a HOT MESS that had to wait till the end to utilize all the encroachments I could muster to provide some direction. Resulted in the best Steinway I've toughed out in ages.
Harking back: I'm happy to PRALINE on Yom Kippur since in general I PAD PROtuberances with extra BIO MASS.
I did like how DEAR SIR OR MADAM crossed the OTHER WOMAN almost as much as finding the STAR'S TRUCK at the end of the CARLOTS.
Thank you, Mr Steinberg. As always, a pleasure!
"Monthly travelers"? Come on! Equal time for men's inner workings!
Very nicely paid out and well-clued. A pleasure.
To me, this is a perfect Saturday. On a first pass I had none with confidence. I guessed APRIL, figured OPTSOUT, and worked everything else as connectors from there. And what is amazing is that with a few exceptions (NONCE), they were all known and easily-gettable with a letter or two. Kudos on OVA and TOE. Brilliant cluing.
1
I access the XWP on an iPhone via my NYT subscription. But now the link I had set to the puzzle has disappeared, and I’ve had a devilish time finding it. Does anyone have a suggestion for quick access? I’ve tried entering “Today’s Puzzle” in the NYT search field, with no results.
I do the puzzle on my iPhone using the NYT crossword app. No link required. If you google nytimes in Safari you should be presented with a hit that links to nytimes.com/crossword. I find it appears second after I type nyt, but your results may differ.
@DavidMeyers Thanks David, but your method brought me to a page which wanted me to buy a subscription that I already have.
Has anyone heard from Leapy since the hurricane?
Deadline,
Leapy posted during and has posted since. I don't recall any of our NC folk reporting serious problems.
Eat your heart out, "Casablanca." "HOME ALONE" has now been declared a "classic."
The mind reels.
As does the stomach.
Some of the same missteps as others: LATER, AFT, TEETH. It was YELL that killed AFT and gave me SHY, which gave me HOLA and corrected LATER to ADIOS. This helped a lot in NW and knocked my TEETH out.
Had to guess the W at the crossing of unknowns ODWALLA and WE OWN IT.
I've never heard HOT MESS used with respect (or, I guess, disrespect) to a person. More a situation, or a work product, or a party.
Although I'm not sure I've even seen an ad for an iPAD PRO, the "tablet" clue for an entry beginning with I put me on the right path.
Still working on getting my computer to my liking. Some of it is a HOT MESS. And I learned yesterday from the nice customer service person that Norton Antispam is not compatible with Windows 10/Outlook. Major bummer.
2
Steinberg is the best (Hi David!). His grids make you feel stupid when you start and smart when you finish. His cluing is always a little different, his entries stylish and solid.
My toehold came with APRIL - not from knowledge but from testing the only two months that have five letters and seeing OPTSOUT as being a reasonable cross.
Like others, I at first read BAKLAVA, a favorite treat, and first entered TEETH at 1D, freezing that corner for a long time.
I ended up needing help for WEOWNIT which gave me the W for ODWALLA which I had never heard of.
With all that, I finished in my usual Saturday time, and with a smile.
5
So definitely not alone when it came to SKIMASK. The NW corner was a fine mess for a while. Did a double take at NONCE as it’s also a not very nice British slang word which I thought couldn’t possibly be in the puzzle but was, so sat there with N-NC- for some time.
Favourite clue was Gang members.
TSP snuck in again but I don’t think any recipes will be calling for approx. 5 millilitres any time soon!
I had several missteps before ferreting out the correct answers.
Ski mask, then KNIT hat, before KNITCAP, which doesn’t really fit the clue. Perhaps tam rather than balaclava.
SEAweed before SEAMOSS, care before YELL, anOTHERman before OTHERWOMAN, pitoven before TANDOOR, brittle before PRALINE. There were others...
It’s like I was working a completely different puzzle.
Ahh, Mr. Steinberg you ate my lunch again. Kudos.
:-/
2
Anyone else feel a balaclava is not fully described by “knit cap”? As the most common version covers much of the face, that answer seems overly simplistic, and that left me wasting about 5 minutes trying to fill the NW corner. But overall, I really enjoyed this puzzle, and the fault is surely my own.
6
@Rin F, I don't know about that, but I was stumped because I misread the clue as "Baklava, for one." :-D
Same. I think of a “cap” as covering just the top of the head, not the ears and neck.
Rin F,
Earlier posters agreed that KNIT CAP did not fit the *definition* of Balaclava. But this is a Saturday puzzle and it is a *clue.*
I forgot to mention earlier: who knew that elk were in a gang?
2
@Johanna Elk, the relative of deer, aren't. Elks, the old guys in a club, are.
@Andrea
There are generally two accepted collective nouns for elk: herd and gang.
@Michael O
Yikes! Missing commas, and wanted to add something immediately after hitting the submit button.
There are, generally, two accepted collective nouns for elk: herd and gang.
A funny thought: I wonder how someone in the FBOE would feel about being referred to as gang member.
I like this one. In particular because it didn't have any celebrity names.
NOTE TO MR. SHORTZ: please prohibit constructors from using crossing pop names. If some random Kardashian appears in a vertical or horizontal clue, I have a reasonably good chance of puzzling it out, as long as the Kardashian isn't crossed by a Perry.
4
I had no idea there were Spelling Bee comments in here too. TIL there is a Queen Bee level. I really wish the max number of points was disclosed.
Obviously I've never gotten to QB or I'd have discovered it. At least I know that I will never sit there looking for words that don't exist. But somehow, I doubt I will ever reach that point.
2
Genius is 70% of QB, so divide the Genius point level by 7 and multiply by 10. Today's was an easy example. Genius was 70 points and QB was 100.
You can click on progress bar at any point to see what Genius is.
@LarryB
The exact same thing happened to me. I'd been doing SB for about a month, happily stopping when I reached "Genius". Then I began to notice the comments about QB, and now I am officially obsessed.
PS I get to Genius on my own but almost always need help for QB. Word counts and hints graciously provided by the Wordplay community usually get me there.
2
Shed a tear with me for in our neighborhood, RITE AID is no longer a competitor of Walgreens. . . Walgreens bought the Rite Aid, promised to keep jobs and convert the store to a Walgreens, and then shut it on short notice without so much as helping anyone get a new position. I "knew" the answer was RITEAID even though in our part of Durham, it is't.
On a positive note, today is National Coffee Day, and if you belong to Krispy Kreme's rewards program, you get free coffee and a donut!
4
@Robert Michael Panoff
In my nabe, Walgreens just bought the DuaneReade and raised the prices.
But their pharmacists are very helpful.
Deadline,
Just? Walgreens bought Duane Reade in 2010.
I liked this one a lot. Took forever to break into it, mainly because I started off with ski mask and was deflated when emerald isle not only didn't fit but also had too few letters.
But the rest came gradually but steadily (though I protest that a balaclava is NOT a cap) until all I had left was 20A, Support. I tried to settle on ENforCE, which led me to believe in SPArK (ignoring private doubts) and despair of finding the rhetorical concept. Finally I ran the alphabet and felt stupid when I got to H.
That's my idea of fun, I guess--despair followed by near-success and smacking my forehead!
4
Got ODWALLA and WEOWNIT off the crosses, but the NW corner beat me. KNITCAP, SEAMOSS and NONCE (?) was too much for this solver.
Was I the only person picturing a baroque keyboard instrument made with phyllo dough and honey?
2
yes
3
@Paul Stoddard
no, you aren't the only one! I had "dessert" before "knitcap"
David, you are mean.
1
I wouldn't change a thing in this crunchy but fair and very entertaining puzzle other than the place where I almost needed to cheat but didn't: the WE OWN IT/ODWALLA cross. That was not so fair, and for me, it was complicated by the fact that I had to guess at the missing letter in BI-MASS. BIOMASS sounded like something natural and fuel-ish, so I guessed at the "I", and I guessed right. Even though I have no idea what a BIOMASS is, exactly. I also guessed at WE OWN IT from WE--NIT.
Other than that, a very clean puzzle, based much more on wordplay than arcane trivia. The NW was impossible for me at the outset, and I actually entered the puzzle at the OTHER WOMAN (39A!), confirmed by ROT and UGH. Struggled pretty much everywhere and enjoyed it a lot.
2
To begin with: what a nice and different diagram. Being a Steinberg fan, I approached this with both glee and angst. But, as usual, the bottom filled first and the rest fell into place in 21 minutes. Even NOSHADE, a total unknown to me, surrendered to the crosses. The clue for STARSTRUCK was amusingly deceiving. We're all too serious, sometimes.
I started solving last night well past my usual bed time, but was pleased to get the very first clue immediately: a balaclava is a Greek DESSERT ;-)
After a dream-free 7 hours, a few more brain cells weighed in on this delightful (aka, I was able to solve it) puzzle, although I STEERed wrong in the bottom center, being unfamiliar with the TED prize.
Afterwards, I googled to see if Magritte had ever created Woman Wearing Baklava, or possibly Man Eating Balaclava, but no such luck :-)
8
NW corner really knocked me to my KNEES. Overconfidently wrote in "teeth" for 1A, but when I finally said ADIOS to that idea, in a NONCE the whole corner filled in. Splendid Saturday!
Enterin and Echelon sound like characters from Harry Potter.
2
Today's WEE-BEE was notable for pointing to (by not accepting) several words that now appear to be Britishisms, including TITCH, TITCHY, CHITTY. It also suggests that ALL known elements, AND their primary adjectival forms, no matter how rare, are allowed. And of course we shall never see ICHTHYIC or even TRYPTIC. But nice to see that little birdie back on this RYDER cup weekend.
22 words/100 points/1 pangram
6xC, 1xH, 3xI, 6xP, 5xT, 1xY, 0xR.
7x4, 7x5, 6x6, 1x7, 1x8
3
@NICE CUPPA Only my second time reaching Queen Bee without any hints, even with the few tricky entries. Patting myself on the back! Yesterday after much effort, I was stumped only by LARBOARD. Do modern-day sailors still use that term?
I’m at 18/73 without the pangram and in the pit of despair regarding further progress. Surprised that pyritic was not accepted.
@Donna
Congrats! A nice short one today, a few tricky entries, but no slangy exclamations. Quality stuff.
My dictionary lists LARBOARD as "Archaic", so I would guess not.
No shade and the emerald isle got me.
1
Good puzzle. Tough but satisfying.
I got the SW corner first and ISLE popped out. I knew EMERALD was short some letters for 4D but adding THE fixed that. YELL and OTHERWOMAN came next and helped with the middle.
NW came last. I knew what a balaclava was but was getting stuck on KNIT.
Anyway lots of fun clues.
I was stuck for a long time in NW because of 23 across, where I wrote BAO (my MIL is in town and we steamed a batch of banh bao) and 1 down, where I wrote TEETH (one teen in my house finished her orthodontist visits and, the same week, the other had her first appointment).
This is my first comment (having read this blog for a year). I am impressed by how kind the regulars are.
11
@Louisa T
Welcome! and please come back often.
are you into the Spelling Bee puzzles, too?
3
@Louisa, why not become a regular too?
Thank you! I finally found the Wee Bee after wondering about the comments. I have yet to achieve QB status, but have been enjoying the puzzle with my kids, so that feels like a win.
1
Wee Bee does not permit THRIP. Hope one flies up your nose, Sam!
I think I'm a word short for QB, but whether I get back to the puzzle today is questionable. (Guest has just departed, so a bit more free time today, but rather more laundry, etc.)
This puzzle was a Fail for me, thanks to the NW corner. I thought (red) CARPETS for 5D and could not let it go, so even though I had 1,3, and 4 Down filled in correctly, I could not close the deal. ADIEU instead of ADIOS (and HOLA should have saved me) and then NON?? and ECHELON were viciously clued. (I disagree that those were even acceptable clues, in fact.) Sigh. Five incorrect letters. Ya got me, David!
I missed seeing the Comments for the past few days. Hope everyone is hanging in there!
5
Although a very common error, the singular is also "thrips."
4
@Mean Old Lady - Thrip is a back-formation from the proper singular word "thrips". There is (lexically) no such thing as a thrip. One is a thrips, 10,000 are thrips.
Anybody who deals with them should also know - they never travel alone. Like aphids. And ladybugs. And ants. And mice. And spiders. And anything else in your kitchen, garden, or basement.
Like pease in a pod...
1
@Mean Old Lady
You are probably missing the adjectival form of a rare metallic element.
2
Reminds me of a favorite parlor game question:
Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?
@mjengling
and a science/math version: which weighs more, an ounce of lead or an ounce of gold (a 'normal' ounce equates to 28.35 gms, but a troy ounce is 31.1 gms). . . .
1
@Robert Michael Panoff
True!
But a pound Avoirdupois (feathers) is 16 of those lighter ounces, and a pound Troy (gold) is just 12 of those slightly heavier ounces.
So the answer to the question I posed is:
A pound of feathers (7000 grains or ~454 grams) is HEAVIER than a pound ( 5760 grains or ~373 grams) of gold.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_weight
@mjengling
yuppa! They all make great units "critical thinking" problems for kids!
Alternate clue for 14A:
Refreshment to accompany a snack?
For some unknown reason I kept trying to read "balaclava" as "baklava" (maybe new bifocals are called for?). Mostly blank after the first pass, but I chipped away and finished a bit under my average.
I've found that my subconscious brain often solves the puzzle better than my not very reliable conscious one. I'm curious if, like me, anyone else works on a puzzle for a while, puts it away, then comes back to it with answers somehow magically being now clearly obvious? This happens frequently, as it used to with particularly knotty programming problems. Just wondering...
5
@LWK
Absolutely. I think your brain gets "anchored" on seeing a certain pattern, and benefits from a "reset" if that pattern is not leading to a solution.
2
LWK,
Others have mentioned this periodically, but at the moment I can't remember which posters or when. Maybe if I come back to it later...
2
@LWK Absolutely. Sometimes I am completely stuck, put it down, and come back to it later, at which point a new answer leaps out at me, opening up the rest.
I sit here bruised and bloodied from battling this beast of a puzzle. But what a glorious battle it was!
So many things that threw me at first. I thought a balaclava was either a Greek dessert or instrument. I had STARryeyed before STARSTRUCK. Like others, runwayS for CARLOTS and so on. Phew!
Little by little I got a wiggly TOEhold here and there. Thank goodness for THE EMERALD ISLE. And TROY OUNCE (I'm kidding!)
This was a true Saturday challenge, thank you very much, Mr. Steinberg!
2
What a workout! loved it.
I had KNITHAT instead of KNITCAP, so CARLOTS became HARLOTS, and I was vaguely offended on behalf of runway models.
5
@Dan
On top of that, a BALACLAVA is NOT actually a cap at all, and the ones we used in the coldest of NE Ohio winters were silk. They cover the head and neck, with enough material that the lower part can be either under the chin or up over the nose and mouth. A KNIT CAP is usually worn on top of the balaclava.
4
Nice, challenging puzzle for me. Right (AID?) in my sweetspot.
Layers of trouble in NW:
Started 1A with DESSERT because I misread it as "Baklava".
Also, had "H__M_SS" for SEAMOSS at one point
only to have HOTMESS show up in SE. ( Braces on "teetH".)
Very, very fun.
SPELLING BEE
Is think we need a special term for a pangram spoiler...
1
@Andrew
Maybe today's pangram. Similar to how CLOTBUR and NATICK came to be.
2
Spelling Bee with no "triptych"!
@Ann Young As Roseanne Rosannadanna would say "Never mind." (Must have spelled it wrong when I first put it in.)
1
Yeah, I would urge people not to rush to post "what? no XXXX?" type comments. We've had many a spoiler posted like this. Unless, if you're MOL and posting about botanical words SB doesn't accept.
1
@Wen Thanks--and yes, I just posted about the missing pest: THRIP
Ann Young, tsk ..... We know you didn't mean to, but a lot of people come here before going on to do the Mini and Wee Bee puzzles,
1
I think Caitlin started a fun little mini-game by referencing 'the Wordplay yacht.' I like to think of Wordplay as a live entity with thoughts and feelings and keys and credit cards and friends. Wordplay house band? The Roots. And so on.
1
I started well with some lucky guesses in the NE, SPY, YODEL, and I was pretty sure of SPINNAKER. I also got THE EMERALD ISLE fairly early. However all the "modern lingo" answers had me completely fooled, not very guessable IMO. I wondered of Balaclava was gong to have something to do with the Battle. NW was the last to fall. All in all a lot more to like than dislike.
1
Worst puzzle in a while.
nonce? really?
no shade? any one ever use that?
a steer for a charger?
almost every modern sail has three corners... better clue is a downwind sail.
and finally, you CANT USE A SNORKEL WITH GOGGLES. You need a mask that covers your nose. You cannot breath through a snorkel with goggles without getting water in your nose.
4
@weinie
You didn't mention TER prize. You must have found that one pretty lame...
(BTW I like your handle!)
1
"A snorkeler who remains at the surface can use swimmer's goggles which do not enclose the nose."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snorkeling#Diving_mask
@Barry Ancona
Glad to see you Googled goggles!
2
Not too tricky for a Saturday puzzle, though I did get one sqaure wrong. Anyone else think of a raging bull with 47D Charger? I guess the answer wasn't STEER. I suppose it makes sense, they are somewhat more docile than their non-castrated brothers.
@Joseph A raging bull would be a great clue for CHARGER or vice versa. In this case, charger made a terrific misdirect for a knight's STEED.
Well beyond my solving prowess, even with Google’s assistance. Lots of wrong guesses e.g.:
IED before SPY, RUNWAYS before CARLOTS, PATOIS before PATHOS, HIYA before HOLA, BRUSH and GORSE before COPSE, etc...
There were even some good guesses erased and reentered: e.g. DAY, STEED,
TIL: NO SHADE and HOT MESS, not to mention WE OWN IT, RITE AID and PENN’S..
3
@Amitai Halevi
Worse yet, I had CARPETS for the models (Project Runway style) and ended up with NW corner in a HOT MESS. sob!
I had a most difficult time in the northwest because I refused to let go of "runways" as the answer to 5D, "Where models are assembled?"
Oh, well.
1
Caitlin writes: "Also, did I miss something or are we looking at a grid with no names?"
William Penn might not agree.
(There were no entries *clued as* people's names. In addition to TED, that would cover Doris DAY, Karl ROVE, Lloyd PRICE, Duncan IDAHO, etc.)
2
Nice 'Dune' reference!
3
Started with SKIMASK for balaclava, then COVERUP, then aaages later (it was my last square), KNIT CAP! Didn’t help that NONCE is slang for ‘silly’, here—the xword definition is new to me.
Also, this Vietnamese person overthought the banh ___ clue and put in BEO and KEP before the obvious choice TET. And didn’t fill in THE EMERALD ISLE for ages, even though I had ‘emerald isle’ in my head, because I just assumed it was clearly wrong due to lack of letters.
Good challenge.
1
@Sarah N. hand up,for Beo and Kep at first.
I got absolutely stuck in the upper left and ended up using google to help me move forward. I put in "banh [space]" and then looked at the suggested completions of the phrase. The only one I knew was banh mi, which is not a cake at all (and only two letter). So I clicked on the likely answers to see if they were cakes: "banh xeo", "banh beo" and "banh tet". Unhelpfully, they all had an e in the center, which was the one letter I knew. But on the other hand, they all looked delicious. I think I have some new foods to try!
This went like many of David's puzzles for me. Lots of white after an opening look, then, somehow, patches and swaths of fill-in. I think it works like this: There are many vague clues that make me hesitate to fill in, but, as it turns out, the answers to those clues seem obvious with one or two letters filled in. Then there are just enough gimmes to purchase precious real estate, and from those fill-ins, more obvious answers pop into view, which beget more such answers, right to the end.
I literally started small, with TSP. From that came TIRES, then RITEAID, then YODEL, and the NE fell, followed in the same manner by the SE, SW, and NW. People complain about cross-referencing, but it sure helped me here, as HOLA begat ADIOS, and SLOTS rendered CASINOS.
Most impressive of all: After 297 references to the Asian holiday, we finally have a new clue for TET! And that clue for IHOP is signature Steinberg. David often has switching-letter clues.
The playful cluing (TROY OUNCE, SPY, STAR STRUCK, SILENCE, OVA) and aha-filled solve made for a sparkling spirited spate of splendor. It's plain to see a lot of work went into this, and it produced a cross-work of beauty.
9
@Lewis Everything you said, Lewis!
And a fun Bee (up to Genius, anyway).
On to the Acrostic!!
1
@Lewis
My Y chromosome started a deep growl that turned into a mighty groan when I finally got OVA!!
2
@Lewis
My experience was very similar to yours. At first glance, lots of blanks. The SE corner fell first--SARIS and CHIANTI were my toehold, then SLOTS drew me into CASINOS, and a few more words let THE EMERALD ISLE appear. HOLA pointed to ADIOS, and the NW filled in. Then DEAR SIR OR MADAM gave me an entry into the NE. YODEL was the last to fall, leaving the puzzle echoing nicely in my mind. I solved in 14:18, 8 minutes faster than my Saturday average.
NONCE is new to me! Challenging puzzle.
1
It was good to see a David Steinberg puzzle. Like yesterday, I figured there will be some pop culture outside my wheelhouse, but after a shaky start, it went pretty quickly. I too thought Walgreens and Rite Aid were no longer competitors. I guess that wasn't a prescription for success.
I couldn't finish the NW. It didn't help that, when I saw balaclava, I pictured a keffiyeh.
5
@PaulSFO
I kept thinking of a honey and walnut confection so put in "dessert"! (baclava...doh...dough)
1
For QB status today, you will need 22 words for 100 points. There is 1 pangram and no bingo.
C x 6
H x 1
I x 3
P x 6
T x 5
Y x 1
4L x 7
5L x 7
6L x 6
7L x 1
8L x 1
The last word to fall for me was such a "little" word. No real CLOTBUR today, though knowledge of an elemental adjective would be helpful. Overall, a straightforward SB.
7
@Michael O
I had an advantage on the elemental adjective, living in Sweden ;)
The last one I got had me scratching my head...
@Michael O
That elemental word is an odd-looking and delightful one.
What is a bingo?
1
@Bill
Bingo simply means there’s at least one word starting with each of the letters in the “hive.”
I really, really wanted the model assembly location at 5D to be RUNWAYS. The NW corner was my downfall for this, and other reasons. For example, with my granddaughter recently getting braces on her TEETH, that looked like the best possible answer for 1D. And I confidently filled in LATER for 6D. I'm not too familiar with Philadelphia landmarks, so 7D was a mystery, and I kept trying to get SKIMASK to work at 1A.
I finally had to look up Philadelphia Landings to get PENNS, and after getting HOLA at 35A, I realized 5D was ADIOS. Finally, the rest of the pieces fell into place.
One of the harder puzzles lately, for me. But, I did appreciate a lot of the fun clues. In particular, 19A, 44A, and 11D.
And 25D - I "knew" of course, that 'Not forward' in three letters had to be "AFT". Nope; I BOTCHed that one, as well.
4
Hand up for wanting RUNWAYS for much too long.
7
@David
Hand up for LATER, AFT, and TEETH, plus wanting RUNWAYS.
Catwalk fit too.
I guessed CARLOTS later but struggled to get the crosses right.
I should have used a dictionary or thesaurus to find ECHELON.
I take chlorella regularly but have not heard of SEAMOSS.
woolcap and then feltcap but I did not think of KNITCAP.
I felt like a HOTMESS . The start of the puzzle went quickly but fell apart in the NW. I live to try another day.
Softer Saturday followed a Frustrating Friday (as a vegetarian Tuna Steak came late to me)...
solve time less than Thursday.
Enjoyable puzzle - liked the Tandoor and Sari crossing from my homeland.
Anyone else remember the Beatles’ Paperback writer when putting in DEARSIRORMADAM?
1
Xwordsolver,
The fewer commas the better, but I would have liked one more in your post. I was about to point out that Friday's TUNA [Steak] would be pescatarian, not vegetarian, when I realized you were describing yourself, not the food!
1
@Xwordsolver
"Anyone else remember the Beatles’ Paperback writer when putting in DEARSIRORMADAM?"
Haven't been able to get it out of my head since filling in 16D last night!
1
This one was hard but fun, and more than makes up for the super-easy Tuesday puzzle. The Northwest corner just about killed me (Sea Moss? Echelon?) but I somehow pushed through.
5
Sorry, I meant to say that it was Thursday that was super-easy.
Excellent puzzle. Challenging, but not too difficult. No names, only one abbreviation. Three letter fill-ins at a minimum. Excellent clues.
Congrats to David Steinberg for a fine puzzle.
1
Hmm. Just like yesterday, I didn’t find this easy at all. Slower than average for me and very little after my first Across pass. As usual, though, persistence paid off. Oh, like yesterday I was watching the teevee while working on it.
I did very much enjoy the puzzle though.
1
Speaking of bank robberies! I confidently put “ski mask” in for 1A and was chagrined when I had to promptly get rid of it upon starting the down clues.
6
Great grid and puzzle. I don't know about anyone else, but if I see David Steinberg's name and it's a Friday or Saturday, I gird myself for a tough puzzle with great crossings/long entries and fiendish cluing. Even if Will eventually change some clues, I'm sure many of the original clues will shine through. I was also particularly ready for modern lingo. Therefore, I was not surpriced at all about IPAD PRO, NOSHADE, etc.
I was going to going to say something about RITE AID having been acquired by Walgreens, but didn't realize the merger was called off. Makes the clue particularly poignant.
I knew of SPINNAKER because when I was young, there was a SPINNAKER software that made educational games and software.
The juxtapositions of the entries in those stacks makes for interesting reading. A KNITCAP provides NO SHADE. BIOMASS fueled TANDOOR leads to a HOT MESS
Like others, I appreciate many of the great clues - for SPY, OVA, KNIT CAP,
Turned out to be a bit on the easy side. I'm not sure if it's because I was mentally ready for a David Steinberg puzzle or what. 5 minutes slower than my best and 1/3 of my Saturday average time.
9
Goodness! Does that mean you have a 5-min Sat best?? Impressive!!
@Irene
Heavens no! I still haven't been able to complete Mondays in less than 5 minutes - I can't read the clues that quickly.
My Saturday best is nowhere near that fast. I wish I'm able to solve a Saturday that quickly. Having said that, I'm fairly sure there are quite a number of people here who can do Saturdays in about 5 minutes.
1
@Irene
I don’t think a 5-minute best follows from those two statements. Say for example Wen’s Saturday average is 3 hours. Then this took 1 hour with a best of 55 minutes. Lots of numbers work.
When did Will accept this puzzle? Walgreens no longer competes with RITEAID--it owns it.
1
See 40D.
1
I thought the same, but double checked. Not true (anymore).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_Aid#Sale_of_stores_to_Walgreens
5
DUANE READE as "Walgreens competitor" would have dated the puzzle...
Seemed easy for a Saturday. NOSHADE was a new one for me, but then I’m pretty much illiterate in modern lingo.
2
Loved the grid shape and clueing today. Had ANOTHER MAN instead of OTHER WOMAN at first, so the T misled me with BAT instead of CUE. Fortunately I finally saw SPINNAKER, a word appropriated for a tech use at my workplace along with several other nautical terms. I figured a spinnaker might be a sail and turns out I was right!
My favorite clue was SPY, followed by IHOP.
1
Tough. Best word play I’ve seen in a while, not a lot of crosswordese. Lewis from Asheville could make his top 5 of the week from this puzzle alone.
1
always STARSTRUCK as I do a David Steinberg puzzle. did corner by corner, with the NE last to fall. RITE AID was a big help. ingenious clueing of SPY as invasive plant. Not ivy as I first thought! ADIOS to all.
3
I had wireTAP for the longest time, really led me astray in the NE quadrant.
1