I have a quibble with the accuracy of 27-Across, "Wyoming town that's home to the Buffalo Bill Museum"
I actually spent a part of my Sunday the 21st having a wonderful time at the Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave -- in Golden, Colorado. So "the" in the clue really should have been "a".
[Apologies to the author and/or @BarryA if this duplicates an existing observation]
Crossing FLIPPHONES with BUTTDIALED is truly a marvel of calisthenic communication, but running headlong into a cross of Marie ANTOINETTE and TETE A TETE crosses the border from grizzly to gristly. This may be knit-picking, but Madame Defarge phoned to remind that the Place de la Révolution initiated a lot of very STILL LIFE on some CLASSeS.
So who knew that POLA Negri married Jacob RIIS?
I didn't think there's anything Gross about Somers when I Fall all over myself to net the solve, so BELIE up to the bar, boys. Next round's on me.
1
https://goo.gl/images/MK6BJg
STILL LIFE: TETE A TETE with Marie ANTOINETTE
1
Modern invitation to hook up was the 7D clue in my electronic version so NETFLIXANDCHILL did not seem to be the appropriate answer. I got enough of the Across clues to back into it and then went to the commentary to see the backstory. Something on the order of Modern Day Cheap Date, or similar, was in the commentary and made full sense. Was the clue different in my electronic version last night?
@DebP
The clue and entry you saw were both quite correct.
Got hung up for the longest time because I could only see HADTO Dred HASTO to but then I guessed LAC and everything started falling. Fun Saturday.
I just saw Will Shortz in a commercial for Indiana University during their football game with Penn State! Yesterday Eric Agard blew me away on Jeopardy, today I see Mr. Shortz! Very exciting to see these puzzle genius’s.
Today’s puzzle ate my lunch, as often happens on the weekend.
I loved FLIPPHONES and still have one from the late 90’s. Don’t use it, just hate to dispose of it. Best thing about one—can’t BUTTDIAL when it’s closed!
NETFLIX AND CHILL is an interesting form of invitation.
The word MANLY always makes me think of my husband striking the Superman pose after doing some lifting for me, or even jar opening. I always thank him for being such a MANLY man.
Good mental workout, guys. Thanks!
:-)
2
Clue 21 Across: Israeli PM between Netanyahu and Sharon. Correct answer: Ehud Olmert. Answer required in puzzle: Ehud Barak.
Really?
Bibi was P.M. some time ago, then Barak, then Sharon, then Olmert, then Bibi again. I almost jumped to the same conclusion before I looked it up and went "oh yeah..."
I am pretty sure they did their research.
3
Off on a new streak of one!
As usual, found this Saturday puzzle easier than Friday's (understatement!). The NW fell pretty quickly and I had a few gimmes: SPA, WOOS, IDLES, and OPIE (a favorite). Also some lucky guesses: BARAK (initially with a "c"), SHIRAZ (helped to have the R), GNAWAT, CEDAR, TAROT, and TORTES. Thanks to my wife for the last half of NETFLIXANDCHILL!
Slowed down by first having MAser, BARAc, BESeT, RApON, REtORT, TTfn, "alp" instead of LAC, cARHOpS instead of WARHOL (!?), and AHOYradio (!?).
As others have noted, many very clever clues. Favorite entry: BUTTDIALED/ Kudos Messrs. Gross and Somers!
3
Aside from the connection with CODY, Wyoming, the photo of the museum grizzly baring his fangs at Prince Albert might have been better suited to yesterday’s offering. Maybe just my experience, but I found that one to be a genuine bear, an Ursa Major of a puzzle, whereas today’s was challenging but doable, even fun to solve. As usual, the post-1990s stuff (FLIPPHONES, BUTTDIALED, NETFLIXANDCHILL) took some serious head-scratching, but the rest of the fill was sufficiently familiar that I was able to finish in reasonable time and in one go. To my shame, I missed the cleverly clued LIMA. Occasional late-week reversals like this add variety and zest to the solving experience.
1
@susgraham
Thanks for your help. My L count agrees with yours: 11 “L” words, 3 5-letter “L” words.
1
I have to say that I found this one of the most difficult Saturdays ever. I made multiple stabs, gouges and deep cuts to try to make it into BITE SIZED easy-to-solve pieces. The NE hung me up forever. I thought I had a toehold with PERES and SHIRAZ. When that didn’t work out I went to RABIN and MALBEC. At some point I even tried ABBAS and MALBEC (talk about being on the wrong side of history!) This was only because I was convinced that stupefy had to be AMAZE. Finally BARAK came to me out of nowhere and it was back to SHIRAZ. I couldn’t fit in BEGIN or MERLOT but I still spent much time AREEL my wheels, (so to speak). I’ll take five-letter Mideast leaders for $100, Alex... No make that six-letter reds for $1000.
As a child I received a copy of Winnie Ille Pu from my grandfather, a Classics professor. I also received a copy of Alice per Speculum Transitus which I still have somewhere. As Caesar might have said, I CAME, I saw, I put in the bookshelf because I don’t read Latin.
10
I too found this one incredibly hard. I would never, ever have come up with NETFLIX AND CHILL without reading Caitlin's column.
1
Teaching all day; I'm with those who object to calling the FBI a Spy grp. Yet I really liked "Caesarean section," "Dead ringers," and "Guiding light" as clues.
1
Late to the party, but I had an appointment (in the garden, where it is time to pull up the one variety of arugula before it reseeds, yank out the failing pepper plants, clip the old bloom stalks, and (as always) weed. Friends dropped by and boom--it's mid-afternoon and all I have to show for it is a successful solve for both the NYT and The Saturday Stumper--all in one sitting! Genius + on the Wee Bee--47 and 247, which will have to do. I just don't think I have it in me to press on with a list this long!
I love NETFLIX, my distraction from the boredom of treadmill-walking, and my means of catching up with all of the missed television shows. (I have watched all 17 seasons of 'The West Wing,' which I had never seen! The new season of 'Madame Secretary' is much better-written, but I have to admit I mostly watch to snicker over Tea Leoni's wardrobe malfunctions. Oh, that poor woman! within seconds of starting a scene, her shirt-tail is out, her blouse and neckline are in disarray, her hair has wilted, and she looks like she was dressed with a hayrake.
Oh, the puzzle. Congrats, Ben and James! This was a cool debut even if it was too easy for a Saturday!
6
Thanks, Caitlin, for providing the link to Alexander Lenard, the translator of Winnie the Pooh into Latin, which directed me to his amazing bio and whimsical appearance on, "To Tell the Truth." While I love doing the NYT crosswords and acrostic puzzles as soon as they are published, I especially appreciate all the enriching connections you provide in Wordplay, illuminating those in the puzzles themselves. What fun!
3
I never heard NETFLIX AND CHILL before, and hope I never do again. But then I don't use Grindr (or, for that matter, any other dating or hook-up sites).
Started quickly in NW, which practically filled itself in, as did its next-door neighbor. But then I was stuck with NETsomething and misread TETEsomething for TELEsomething and stalled out. NE was really tough, but I eventually saw TETE-A-TETE and got outa there. Thank you, CEDAR.
But it was similar in the south, with SE filling in easily and SW being a bear. GREAT ONES before ODDS messed me up until I got BUTT DIALED, and started to get over the insult to my FLIP PHONE.
Besides NETFLIXetc., my only other no-know was HOTH.
Loved seeing BESOT and BELIE. Nice words. Actually, there was a lot to like here, but I did emerge feeling as if I'd spent my time surrounded by teenagers. But I did learn some youth slang, albeit mostly in the clues.
Overall, a fine debut, and I welcome our young newbies to the constructors' stable. I'll be looking for more of your collaborations. But please, no more NETFLIX AND CHILL-type stuff. It has such an ugly feel!
4
I loved the mix of this puzzle. It’s fun to see new phrases and cluing that are familiar to my or my son’s generation alongside entries that are more classic. More people should do crosswords and this, in my humble opinion, helps make that happen.
4
@Sarah
Pajamas??
1
This puzzle was too easy for a Saturday but fun nonetheless. I particularly enjoyed the crossing of "buttdialed" and "flipphones" because it's impossible to butt dial a flip phone!
3
Lovely puzzle, though it was tough for me, even with Google’s help. At least, no “reveals” were needed, which is more than I can say for yesterday’s killer.
While I had more gimmes than usual, e.g. ANTOINETTE, BARAK, INTIFADA, PTOLEMY, I had many unknowns as well, e.g. ARGO, OPIE, HOTH, NETFLIX AND CHILL and the incompatible pair (Thank you, Caitlin): BUTT DIAL and FLIP PHONE.
A false guess, SEMAPHORE, persisted for a long time before it was replaced by AHOY THERE, which drew my broadest smile.
2
Amitai,
I hope our USN veterans (and other seafarers) will appreciate your false guess. I also wonder how many of them consider AHOY THERE more of a communication in port from civilians.
SEMAPHORE, eh?
Hard to BEATle that.
Here's some HELP!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help!
@Amitai Halevi
I had SEMAPHORE, too, which signaled trouble for that corner of the puzzle until I finally thought "aha", AHOYTHERE.
So, if your solving itch still needs some scratching, there's a puzzle today made by moi in the LAT...
8
@Lewis Fun! Enjoyed it! Tres bien, vous!
1
By the way, I would just like to send out a special thank you to those of you who jumped onto the comments last night as soon as Jeopardy was over to post the results!
Some of us like to go out for dinner on Friday nights and maybe socialize a little bit, and were planning to watch a DVR'd version of the show later on.
It was a pleasure watching the show knowing in advance how it turned out.
Steve,
Should I explain that your comment is FERRIC?
@Barry Ancona
If you’re going to go the chemistry route, I’d say it depends on the DENSITY of the items in question.
Is there a litmus test for that?
Maybe singing "Rho rho rho your boat...?"
1
A wonderful Saturday puzzle, full of intriguing clues and devoid of esoterica. My hand is also up for BUTTDIALED; a great clue. NETFLIXANDCHILL was a stretch, maybe, but with a bit of work, it fell in place. Thanks for the fun.
One who BUTT DIALED typically initiated a call, so "Ended a call?" was really a great PHONE FLIP.
1
Actual lol at BUTT DIALED.
The Bee, omigawd.
Giving up at 55 / 280.
So much going on there...
One who BUTT DIALED typically initiated a call, so "Ended a call?" Was really a great PHONE FLIP.
2
Spelling Bee: QB is 60 words for 297 points, 1 Pangram
A - 8 (3-4L, 2-5L, 1-6L, 2-7L)
B - 14 (3-4L, 3-5L, 1-6L, 1-7L, 5-8L, 1-9L)
C - 13 (1-4L, 5-5L, 2-6L, 1-7L, 3-8L, 1-9L)
I - 1 (1-5L)
L - 11 (5-4L, 3-5L, 2-6L, 1-9L)
N - 2 (1-4L, 1-6L)
R - 11 (5-4L, 2-5L, 1-6L, 1-7L, 1-8L, 1-10L)
5
@susgraham. I curse myself for not quitting after Genius. The slog to QB was more annoying than fun.
1
@Liane
I'm somewhere around 280 and may come back to it later tonight. After a certain point, it just feels like less of a treasure hunt and more of a death march.
@Adrienne
The singular pancake took me 20 minutes of Wen-style monkey work at the typewriter - not sure if it was worth it, but I did make it to QB.
Indeed a slog. We need to form a voting bloc and demand a word limit. Interested to hear others' opinion of the optimal SB word count.
1
Congrats on the debut to the constructors. I did find it a bit easy for a Saturday, but, being themeless, I guess the only other day would be Friday and I would have felt the same.
I resisted FBI because I think of that organization as more law enforcement, but my husband (who actually might know this) said it does engage in domestic spying particularly with regard to terrorism, so I think that is enough to satisfy the cluing.
What fun to see Erik on Jeopardy! I am relieved that the outgoing champ got his 5 days in because I really like him -- he is both smart and gracious. Like Mooretep earlier, I was shocked that Erik missed the 'keystone' clue in the Daily Double. It seemed like the kind of wordplay he might tap for a crossword clue.
Happy weekend to all!
1
I'm going to go out on a limb and suppose that people who had a problem with FBI as spy group are not black, gay, socialist, or otherwise, um, un-American. Or if they are - they're not into history.
8
@David Connell
And very recent history at that.
I just don't associate the FBI with spy, not that they don't do "spying". Spy, to me is more about dealing with another country. Again, not that it's exclusive to that. Domestic surveillance, undercover operations, of organizations, criminal or otherwise, I don't think of as "spy"ing. I don't think that has to do with history. FBI is not primarily known for spying/espionage, whereas CIA is. So I do take some issue with the clue, understanding that it's not strictly wrong.
@Deadline - Their headquarters building is still named for J. Edgar Hoover. Nuff said.
Forget taking down statues of Robt. E. Lee, how about taking that name off of anything.
I took under an hour but over a night. I couldn't climb that wide central staircase until rested, and then I practically bounded up.
A sticking point: is metonymy fair? Tired in the evening, I rejected TAROT out of hand; the King of Cups is a card, not a game. Bold in the morning, I tried it anyway.
2
Terrific puzzle. As I cruised through the NW (AHOY THERE), I thought it wouldn't be challenging enough, but that changed quickly. Such great clues for PARTNER (34A); WILL (35A); INMATE (12D); and, I suppose, BUTT DIALED (26D) -- though I still don't know how or why that's done, exactly. Some thoughts:
I guess NETFLIX AND CHILL (7D) is the replacement phrase for yesteryear's "Come up and see my etchings". How unromantic! Who WOOS that way? Why, I might run in the opposite direction.
Hey, constructors -- you guys are such pessimists. GREAT ODDS (36A) can work for you just as well as against you.
I have never met a MACHO man who I thought was especially MANLY (5D). To me, it's all bluster. A truly MANLY man doesn't need any bluster. Right, gals?
A fun puzzle.
6
@Nancy - Thanks, Nancy! When I saw the clue for 7D, I left it for last really hoping that the two guys who wrote the puzzle were going to enlighten us with a new respectful and romantic way to attract a date. NETFLIX AND CHILL isn’t the worst, but not what I was hoping for.
Perhaps a challenge to future constructors?
For late week puzzles, a gender-neutral clue for MANLY could be "Iowa town north of Ames."
1
Nancy, love your posts. Keep ‘em coming!
Seemed easy for a Saturday. In my wheelhouse, I guess, with INTIFADA, BARAK, and the Latin pronoun ILLE. And of course NEUROTIC, which hits especially close to home.
2
I had
sHOrTwavE for
AHOYTHERE
It worked for a while.
Really solid puzzle. Nothing not to like.
But maybe really a Wednesday? (About 30 seconds off my Saturday record. And I slowed down to savor it a bit toward the end.)
1
@mjengling
And I had BOGART for Joint tenant?
Louche, moi?
@K Barrett
Keep it to yourself?
Flip phones, aka clam shells, are very much alive. I prefer my simple, uncomplicated clam shell phone over those fancy microcomputers inhabiting many folks' pockets these days. I don't do much phoning. I mainly carry it in case of emergencies. I sometimes go months between phone calls. Texting holds no interest for me. And if I want something from the internet, I'll use my computer. So the economy and simplicity of a clam shell phone makes perfect sense.
It did come in handy last week during the power outage. I could keep track of the time. (Though I kept it turned off most of the time to preserve the charge.)
I was going to include a joke, but it was in doubtful taste, involving an armless man who rang church bells by running into them with his face, ("His face rings a bell") until he falls to his death. Then his armless twin brother takes the same job and suffers the same fate. ("He's a dead ringer for the other guy.") So never mind, I better not tell it.
15
@Alan J
Good thing you didn't tell that joke of questionable taste. I would have felt very offended by it. Good thing you didn't.
Alan, I have to remember to use my pay as you go "mobile" every six months or I'll lose the money on it.
@suejean
Everything Alan said. (About the phone, that is, not the joke.)
I doubt I use my mobile phone more than twice a year. (I'd feel differently, I think, if I had young children, but I don't.)
Had a couple of look ups to keep my streak alive - Barak ; Argo - but loved Tete-a -Tete crossing with Rat-a-Tat - that kept me drumming along in this punny puzzle .
Kept thinking COCCYX would work for TAIL , and wanted ACT ii or something like that for Caesarean section - but the actual answers were so much more fun
1
For "Head case, so to speak" I confidently wrote in cranium but it didn't fit. NEUROTIC popped into my cranium next. Nice answer.
That plus many other fresh answers and lots of clever clues made this a fun Saturday solve.
Thank you, Ben and James, and congratulations on your debut!
@Johanna I initially had esoteric.
Woes for WOOS, explaining why NETFLIXANDCHILL is not in my vocabulary.
Liked the mini gangland theme. Sad many know the colors of CRIPs and Blood, but not what it is like to be a Jet.
Thanks Ben and James.
Why do I feel like ice cream......
1
...or a wine cooler?
(Ah, the old days, when the gym was neutral territory.)
NETFLIX AND CHILL—It’s not necessary to even take her to dinner anymore?
1
@Steve L Unfortunately, NETFLIXPIZZAANDCHILL was too big for the grid...
2
@Steve L Now I'm sorry I canceled Netflix.
2
Paul, you can always just CHILL.
Nice to have a long gimme near the beginning of a Saturday puzzle with ANTOINETTE, and I never mind a full bodied SHIRAZ. Unfortunately I began to get frustrated by so many unknown long answers, and TIL I learned several, whether or not I remember any is another matter.
In addition to the popular clue for INMATE, I also liked the one on the other side of SHIRAZ, Guiding light for POLARIS.
1
The FBI isn't a spy group, even if a portion of the FBI does counter-espionage.
12
Do I recall or am I imagining a relatively recent similar clue and entry that provoked a similar response? Or do I not have a need to know?
@PaulSFO
Hello? Remember j Edgar Hoover?
4
Susan - A-MEN.
This was too fun! So many “a-has” and was able to solve with no help. More please!
4
This is my kind of a Saturday! Loved it. Had to come back several times and endure a few moments of pleasant despair till a series of light bulbs went off. So satisfying. Never give up, peoples! If I can do it without lookups so can you.
Re: the mini. Although I left NYC many years ago I do return frequently for work and to see family. How did I totally miss the memo that the Triborough is now the RFK Bridge? I may be too old to integrate that.
And the Bee--a fun one. I am stalled at amazing but shall persist. Amazing how easily I forget the most common words.
2
Audrey,
I've been here all along and the memo was ten years ago, but I still call the bridge the Triborough. I do call the East River Drive "the FDR," but that name change took place three years before I was born.
2
@Barry Ancona
They took all the bridges and tunnels with usefully descriptive names and named them after dead or retired politicians. The Queensboro Bridge became the Ed Koch; the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel became the Hugh Carey; the Tappan Zee became the Mario Cuomo (although it's a different structure) and worst of all, the Triboro became the RFK.
As a Democrat, I am not at all assuaged by the fact that all these politicians were Democrats as well.
At least they didn't misspell any of those names (I'm looking at you, Verraz(z)ano) and wait fifty years to fix them.
@Steve L The day then rename the midtown tunnel for Trump will mark my last visit.
Fun puzzle today - nice work.
2
I disagree with Caitlin... the NW fell in under 2 minutes for me. In general it was a pretty easy Saturday because the clueing was mostly straightforward. For "full-bodied red" I was trying to fit in CASTRO or similar, for example, but it really was just a wine clue.
"Dead ringers" is a great clue for FLIPPHONES, though.
Also AHOYTHERE is a good reply after you've BUTTDIALED someone. I'm inspired to bring that phrase back.
4
Dan,
I don't think you disagree with Caitlin about the NW; I think you are reporting different solving experiences.
(There is enough actual disagreement here.)
Caitlin said she found NW and SE more difficult than their corner counterparts. For me it was just the opposite (and I'm not beintg disagreeable Barry, just stating my experience).
I wanted CLARET for the [Full-bodied red], but I couldn't think of a Greek letter that had a C in the middle.
1
@Barry Ancona
Barry, did you disagree with my disagreement?!
Grew up in a small town in Ohio 35 miles east of Lima, so fun to see it in the puzzle, although lima beans are not my favorite legume. Good puzzle, good clues, but fairly easy for a Sat.
2
This is why I do crosswords.
Looking at the grid, the answers are not dull, but they're not, in general, jumping out to impress.
And yet... and yet... the cluing! Clues that make you smile or even laugh. Clues like locked doors requiring cleverness to open. Clues like those for MANTA, ALE, I CAME, FLIP PHONES, BUTT DIALED, TUXEDOS, PARTNER, and INMATE.
And at completion the feeling of That Was One Huge Blast.
Bingo, boys! Please bring more!
20
Erik did a wonderful job on Jeopardy! It felt almost like watcjing a friend.
6
@Linda Grant
Yes he did and was glad to see him "eke" out the victory.
However, his Daily Double answer to Keystone being Oklahoma and not Pennsylvania?
Really?
4
@Mooretep - as a native Pennsylvanian, I was disappointed that he missed that - but then I remembered he's from Maryland...
@Linda Grant Earlier in the day I told my wife that Erik was going to win easily. Having won the ACPT I knew he could handle the pressure. I too was surprised he missed that Daily Double.
1
Clever, clever, clever. My favorite clue was Joint Tenant--INMATE.
5
NETFLIX AND CHILL. Excellent. Just what I plan on doing tonight (the literal, not euphemistic meaning—get your minds out of the gutter!)
1
@Sarah N
"euphemistic meaning?" Sorry, I'm a "senior citizen."
Ron, try Googling NETFLIX AND CHILL. That’s what I did and lots comes up.
@Andrew
Thanks. Google -- of course!
I had to look up "PM between Netanyahu and Sharon"
Is this clue wrong? Barak was before Sharon by my googling. Is there a different measure? We're they famously in a pic together?
6
Between not before. It’s Peres
@Adelaide
This did make the puzzle rather unsolvable, except to simply refuse the right answer.
Apologies from the constructors?
The clue is, in fact, correct – Netanyahu has served as PM of Israel twice! He was also PM in the late 90s, preceding BARAK, who was followed by Sharon. (The PM between Sharon and Netanyahu's second term was a different Ehud, Ehud Olmert.)
5
You thought this grid was “a riot,” yet the fill for 1A is a gang involved in human trafficking (child sex trafficking), among many another horrors. I am terminating my NYT Crossword subscription. I don’t know what is wrong with you folks, but this is not normal.
“The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States. With an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members in 2008, they have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes.”
What a riot.
3
By most accounts the two greatest mass-murderers in history were Mao and Stalin. Stalin has been an answer 73 times. Mao - 289 times (5 times this year). Number 3 on the list has evidently been banned in the Shortz era, but he did appear 15 times prior to 1985.
Way down the list at #7 is Pol Pot. He just killed 2 or 3 million people. He's only been in a couple of puzzles, but most recently in 2015.
But that was all a long time ago and far away, at least for most of us. Three houses down from where I sit lives a lady from Cambodia. She survived the Cambodian genocide. Not all of her family did.
But CRIPS - yeah, that's way over the line.
3
@Rich in Atlanta
Pol Pot only had a small country to work with, compared with Russia, China and most of Europe.
Genghis Khan is surely sad to read these posts.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Challenging and FUN!
2
Was going to grouse about AREEL and AREI, then saw the constructors didn't love those, either. Nothing else to do here but say nice puzzle and move on with my life.
1
OMG! "VHS and Freaking Out?" That elicited a hearty chuckle (and may yet for days) and I had to raise a glass to whomever came up with that for the answer key. Cheers!
4
@Sasha
I noticed it and didn't get it. At least entirely. I figure it's a reference to NETFLIX AND CHILL.
The puzzle was satisfactory (although I don't know what is "dead" about a flip phone), but the word "adorbs" sounds like a 25 year old female. Is it in fact in side use?
1
@Backup
My FLIP PHONE is decidedly not dead. It works just fine, thank you, and does everything I want it to do -- which is mostly calling someone to say I'm late because my bus is stuck in traffic.
I know that someday I'll have to get a smartphone because it will be the only way I can get a cab, but until then I'll hold out and not pay all that extra money for features I don't want and won't use.
I saw something on TV a few months ago to the effect that someone is working on a smartphone that folds up. I hope that exists before I have to give in. And I still won't use it rudely, by yapping (or worse, texting) in a restaurant or while walking down the sidewalk.
Grrrrrumpf!
3
P.S. to Backup:
I'd put the "adorbs" user about a decade or more younger. Don't know the gender though.
@Deadline
I was forced to get a cell phone (of any kind) about five years ago by my wife, who was concerned that I needed one for "emergencies." She got me an iPhone and I confess to being a convert now.
1
Tough one, but rewarding. Many passes with barely a toehold. Thank goodness for SPA, WOOS, ARGO, HOTH, OPIE, ANTOINETTE and CEDAR. Looking back, some of them should have been easier, such as TYPES, IDLES, WARHOLS, but weren't. I knew I was looking for RENT-A-COP but had trouble coming up with it for a while.
Still, some fantastic entries - NETFLIX AND CHILL, BUTT-DIALED, AHOY THERE, FLIP PHONES, TETE A TETE, BITE SIZED.
Guesses that paid off - CODY, LAC, GNAW AT.
Had NEUROSIS for too long. LASER before MANTA. And the rest, I hadn't enough of a clue to even have wrong guesses before the right answers.
FBI, Spy grp? And SOAKED for Gouged? I have never heard of SOAKED used this way, though a bit of Googling shows that it is used this way.
So annoyed that my local Boston TV station that shows Jeopardy had the regular Friday Patrots football show on instead of Jeopardy. I missed Erik's appearance! But it seems he won so I'll see him on Monday.
3
@Wen
That's sacrilege, even when a puzzler isn't one of the contestants!
Complain!
1
I enjoyed this after struggling on Thursday and Friday. And after finishing it, my sick sense of humor noticed ANTOINETTE crossing with her missing TETE(-A-TETE).
23
Congrats on this joint debut! I like the cluing for 12D!
FWIW, NETLIXANDCHILL is common on Grindr. Not sure about other “dating” apps. Not that I would know about these things.
5
This was really three puzzle for me. The upper left, very easy, zipped right through. Lower right, harder. Middle swath, got the ends but could not break the middle. All in all an excellent debut for Ben and James. Loved the BUTT DIALED clue.
5
@Wags I thought this was going to be a fast Saturday after I breezed through the NW. I slogged through the rest until I hit a dead end in the SW, which took me as long as the rest of the puzzle.
@Wags
Ditto BUTTDIALED!
Challenging puzzle. I had A PLAN -- Do it in BITE-SIZED chunks!
7
A perfectly pleasant Friday puzzle from the constructor pair to balance the Saturday puzzles on Thursday and Friday.
I'm not sure TUXEDOS PARTNER with NEXFLIX AND CHILL.
Do NEUROTIC lawyers also make TORTES?
10
@Barry Ancona They may not make TORTES, but they probably deal with Torts...
1
@Steve Faiella
I think that's what he meant.
@Barry Ancona it was Choice B Barry. Calm down.
Seemed to be a lot of fresh fill. Nice puzzle.
2
"...E.E. Milne’s classic little bear book..."
Caitlin,
That's A.A. Milne...
4
@Barry Ancona
Thank you! Fixed!
(One of the columns very few short cummings.)
4