Welcome, Ali, and congratulations on your fine DEBUT.
I tend to forget to look for themes, and that's what happened today until I got to the revealer.
Needed a few crosses for P.DIDDY because I can't (actually don't really bother to) keep up with that gentleman's frequent name changes. I don't know why he does that. "Sean Combes" is a perfectly nice, and easily remembered, name. And it doesn't sound so silly.
I hope to hear from you again soon, Ali. It was interesting to learn that you faced a challenge adapting to American-style XWD cluing. I wonder how you would fare constructing an "American-style" cryptic -- a puzzle less difficult (for a U.S. solving audience anyway) than British puzzles, and without some of the more obscure (to U.S. solving audiences) cultural references, but with the delicious cryptic cluing. (Confession: I'm a cryptic addict, but have never successfully completed one from a British publication.)
Thanks, Ali, Will, et al.
2
For those who love cryptic crosswords and don't already know it, Games Magazine ("World of Puzzles") includes several cryptic crosswords in each issue, and a couple usually have some additional twist.
Indeed, if you've not tried Games Magazine, you should! There are loads of crosswords, cryptic crosswords, and numerous variety puzzles. (Also reviews of new games, announcements of tournaments and conventions and other events and a few other regular features.)
Each issue also includes a huge (25x25?) puzzle called "The World's Most Ornery Crossword Puzzle" that, interestingly, comes with two sets of clues--easy and hard. I use the hard ones but occasionally peek at an easy clue when I'm stuck.
Snag one in the supermarket today. (& I'm not being paid to write this!)
:-c)€
3
@Floyd I love Games, but I don't often see it at the supermarket. By far the best puzzle magazine available!
@Floyd
Are cryptic crosswords in that magazine less “cryptic” than the ones in the British newspapers?
I’ve tried a couple of the British crosswords and am lucky to figure out 2 or 3 of their clues
@Rod D
Unless they've changed in the last few years (I let my subscription lapse), they're more in line with the cryptics you can find in the archives here.
1
Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post comments. It's a real pleasure reading them all. You've made me feel very welcome. Here's hoping I'll be back!
Much love from across the pond
Ali
29
Just brills, mate. Nice way to start off the week. I got so stuck on 5D and 15A that I broke down and had to peek. Hope to see another one from gila very soon.
1
Well, what have we here? A new week, a new constructor from a foreign land, and an old, familiar QB piloting his team to yet another (their 6th)) Super Bowl. Welcome Ali, sorry to hear the sad news of your Dad’s passing...Also from across the pond, here is the angelic voice of Mary Hopkin with a heartfelt ballad, “INternatIoNal.”
https://youtu.be/U54OhQHQadc
FAIRwell For Now,
Bru
Congrats, Ali G! I enjoyed your “Wordplay columnist starts to unravel today’s first-time appearance (5)”.
3
Extra points for our new constructor because he submitted a photo to XwordInfo! Now, doesn't our ALI look like he would be a fun person to know?
I am just back from a lengthy eye appointment (Come in early; stay late!) which shows I am still a near-sighted, astigmatic glaucoma suspect with abnormal optic nerves, ocular rosacea, blepharitis, a retinal freckle, macular pucker, and a minor cataract. Sheesh. At least I need not come back for a year. There has GOT to be a crossword puzzle in all of that vocabulary! ALI? Joel? David Steinberg?
I really did love the TIN FOIL HAT, but because I solved with the Downs, I missed some of the fun with the clues. Not much else to say. Plus, after the visual field test, the optic nerve tracing, retinal photos, and dilation, I am all worn out and can't see well enough to enjoy reading the Comments ....maybe later!!.
6
and Eklke
MOL,
re somebody constructing a puzzle with all the optical terminology- I suggest Dr. Bruce Haight :)
1
@MOL - no floaters? Where are your priorities?
hee hee myopic biopic
As to the photographic representation - I'm a fan of a good nose, and heh tek'a gander at that un. 'S a good button there.
(^_^)
@Mean Old Lady
I've felt some of your discomfort... Near-sighted astigmatic until mostly fixed after having cataract surgery a year and a half ago (I opted for the adjustable lenses). Also had a macular pucker, which was taken care of a bit over a year ago, which took care of most of the distortion in the middle of my field of vision.
At this point, my vision is good enough to read my phone or a newspaper most of the time without readers and distance vision is pretty good as well. It's nice to be able to go without glasses for the most part, but it still feels a little strange to go without them since I'd worn them since 3rd grade.
I do wish that the dilating meds would wear off sooner than 4-6 hours.
Ali G Indahouse!
Respek!
For a very cool American puzzle debut.
5
Welcome Ali! I enjoyed your first American-style puzzle and am looking forward to the next one. I like it when Monday presents a bit of a challenge.
Did anyone solve the Letterboxed puzzle in 2 today? I couldn't get it in less than 3 words (WIZARD - DARTBOARD - DOUBTFUL).
@Caitlin
First, a request that you please refrain from giving spoilers. There is the thread for the LETTER BOX clearly marked as such and you will see that we use first and last letters and length so as not give anything away.
Second, try entering your first and third word again, only, and see what happens. ;)
5
@Caitlin I was trying to solve it the other way around, with wizard as my second word. Which obviously didn't work, so I gave up and started doing something easy - collecting receipts for my taxes. :)
For some reason, I can no longer work the cryptic crosswords online...though I could opt to print them out instead. Though I've become fond of the acrostics, I do miss solving the cryptics from my computer. Oh, congrats on the Spelling Bee and Letter Box puzzles. Great additions!
1
@Eva
You might want to consider downloading them to Across Lite and solve on the computer that way.
Put on my TINFOILHAT and got some INSIDEINFO: "YOUAREINFORITNOW."
So I took off my tinfoil hat and decided to forgo this evening's speech. YMMV.
Welcome, Ali! I enjoyed your debut!
4
@Puzzledog
Do you mean tomorrow night's speech?
2
Yes. I'm fairly far overseas and get my days mixed up pretty frequently.
Finally coming back from the flu. It’s a terrible thing to catch. Very enjoyable Monday puzzle, and nice debut for ALI.
INSIDE INFO was a good theme. It felt familiar but not duplicated. Best example of TINFOIL HATs is in M. Night Shamalon movie, Signs. Father finds his brother and two kids in the closet huddled around a TV wearing TINFOIL HATs shaped like big Hershey kisses.
:-)
5
Great job Ali! I Couldn't even fathom creating a cryptic... when I try to solve them, I'm luck I get a single entry! This was a great debut, and I loved the interview with Ali to see how things are done "across the pond". I really enjoyed the fill, too. Very few clunkers as Deb pointed out. I also enjoyed the 15 letter themer going right across the middle of the grid. I have a feeling that we will definitely be seeing you again, Ali! As the american idiom goes, you are not a one trick pony!
6
After Friday and Saturday, for which I had to pry every letter out of hard-packed earth with ragged fingernails, and Sunday's loop-de-loopy theme, this was a refreshing start to a new week. Quick and fun.
Deb - In ski country, SKIBUMs often look for both rides in a car and on a lift. You don't see many hitchhikers anymore, but that is one exception around here.
Happy Monday, y'all!
3
My five favorite clues from last week:
1. Something divided in WWII (4)
2. Drawing that nobody wants (10)
3. Passing concern (7)
4. Group of values (7)
5. They may be raised (hmm...) (5)
ATOM
SHORT STRAW
ROAD HOG
DATA SET
BROWS
10
I eat fatty fish multiple times a week, but I can't stand and won't touch blueberries. Does this mean I have half a BRAIN?
When we eat at that famous Russian restaurant, let's hope that the BLINIS aren't PLAIN (52A). I'm hoping for caviar, thank you very much. And let's also hope that the vodka martini isn't WATERY (10D).
For "gives a tattoo too" (61A), I wanted HURTS.
Why does a "paranoiac" wear a TINFOIL HAT? Honestly, I have no idea.
There were two clues here I found clever and misleading: SKI BUM (5D) and FLU (59D). Everything else I found very EASY and very MILD.
2
Nancy,
Here's a hint...
A tin foil hat is a hat made from one or more sheets of aluminium foil, or a piece of conventional headgear lined with foil, worn in the belief or hope that it shields the brain from threats such as electromagnetic fields, mind control, and mind reading. The notion of wearing homemade headgear for such protection has become a popular stereotype and byword for paranoia, persecutory delusions, and belief in pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat
5
@Barry Ancona: Of course a TINFOILHAT does not protect against threats such as electromagnetic fields, mind control, and mind reading. For that you have to wear a colander.
22
@archaeoprof Helps to believe in his noodly goodness and talk like a pirate!
6
Nice puzzle, but a bit of a slow start for me - really needed to consider the crosses in multiple places to get it all filled in. And then no happy pencil and I had to go search for my error. AVILA didn't dawn on me from the clue, but I was sure I would recognize it with some crosses. And I would have, but I got confused between PDIDDY and Puff Daddy and ended up filling in PDADDY and never checked the crosses. Saw my error upon review.
Interesting cluster of entries with IN in them in the SW corner: BRAINFOODS, EATIN, PLAIN, BLINI, RIND and INKS.
Lastly, I searched Xword Info for answers with INFO embedded in them. Found quite a few, but the most intriguing one was...
SENTREINFORAGNU from a 1985 Saturday puzzle by Alan Arbesfeld. That appears to have been a themed puzzle and the other two theme entries were:
KNEWSCENTOFRAIN and
REIGNOFANEWCENT.
Wow.
Hope to see more from our new constructor and congratulations on your debut.
2
@Rich in Atlanta I had to go look up the references since I couldn't figure them out from seeing them. Turns out that in 1985, Saturday puzzles could be *gasp* themed!
There was no revealer, just three theme entries, and it's a homonym style theme with variations of the word RAIN (or REIGN or REIN depending on which one you want to consider the primary). Thanks Rich for my "learn something new of the day" promise fulfillment!
2
@Steve Faiella It's more than just Rain, etc.
Also SENT, SCENT and CENT
and...
KNEW, NEW and GNU.
4
@Rich in Atlanta Woah! Didn't even see those! What a great puzzle!
1
Geez, they come to our country and take all our cheap construction jobs!
Good on you, Gila!
27
@ad absurdum For you South Park fans...
"THEY TOOK OUR JERBS!!"
1
@ad absurdum,
This could be a harbinger of things to come post-Brexit.
1
I haven't had this much trouble with a Monday since...forever. OTOE and LAHTI tripped me up.
2
@Audiomagnate OTOE is one of those "learn this word if you're a crossword junkie" words. It's got lots of helpful (to constructors) vowels in it!
3
Clean puzzle with some snappy fill and a fun theme. Peppy start for the week. Good job! No more waiting for GODOT. And AURIC hitched a ride! That's as good as "Most malleable metal; produced by supernova nucleosynthesis and from collisions of neutron stars (4)"
3
A SPUD, a RIND, some BLINI and PODS with MISO, and thee...
This is a well done NYT debut, not to mention, American-style debut -- solid and clean, and excellent for a newcomer, with places of ease and places of work. This also gives a good intro to the concept of theme. And a clever clue for FLU. Thank you, Ali, for dredging AVILA out from where it's been hiding for ages, for a pleasing solve, and I love [Noodle dishes] for BRAIN FOODS!
4
Ali G., enjoyed your debut puzzle very much! I have delighted in solving Cryptic crosswords since I was 16, a long way back. The fun of NYT puzzles does lie in their mixed draw of words, a different flavour at every turn.
I shall be clicking on some of the links you've helpfully posted, Ali!
Like others, I too found it odd that GHEE wasn't on the Spelling Bee wordlist. Inside info-- I made some yesterday.
3
@Anjali
Agree on both counts. Fantastic debut puzzle.
So annoying that NAAN is always included in the SB wordlist but GHEE and RAITA are not. Come on, beekeeper, fair is fair.
PS Do you let your ghee take on any color? Is it supposed to be pale or a bit golden brown???
3
@Anjali - I see we are both home-made Ghee types! And one of my inspirations is a little book of poetry called Gitanjali, so there is a feeling of completeness there!
1
Spelling Bee!
22 words - 78 points - 1 pangram - no bingo
Cx5 Ex1 Hx8 Lx3 Wx5
4L 5L 6L 7L 8L
C 3 - 1 - 1 (5)
E 1 - - - - (1)
H 4 2 1 - 1 (8)
L 2 1 - - - (3)
W 2 2 1 - - (5)
12 5 3 0 2 (22)
Don't forget your hat and your fish. There's a shortened form of a word that surprised me.
As I make my own ghee, I was disappointed that it wasn't taken.
17
@David Connell. I see we both aren’t sleeping. You posted this during my refresh! I was also surprised at no GHEE, otherwise a pretty non controversial letter set. The pangram wasn’t a form I knew, but smushing is always my friend. (I admit to even trying PIZZAMAN yesterday, just cause).
Again, I am appreciative of these more compact bees.
6
@Liane
Frank Furillo and Joyce Davenport!
2
@Steve L
Thank you for (1) knowing what I meant and (2) admitting it. It's nice to know that someone else here cops to watching t.v.! I have eclectic viewing habits and they ain't all highbrow, folks. Still, I can solve all the puzzles and carry on a grown up conversation.
One of these days I may be forced to watch Game of Thrones just to learn the actors and character names . . . but I don't want to.
2
LETTER BOX THREAD
Quick for me today. W-D (6) D-L (8).
Noticed R A M at top of box yesterday. Funny that creator’s solution was PATRIOT TRIUMPHANTLY (especially since a 3 letter word like YOU or OAT sufficed). Guess someone is happy today.
I had PHYLUM MINATORY.
1
@Liane
Another non sleeper here...
Same solution as yours today.
Yesterday I had ALUMINA ATROPHY.
I have a bias for the minimal set although I see the charm in colorful words.
Also the same today. Jumped out at me fairly quickly.
@Liane
Yesterday I had UNIMPORTANT THINLY.
Today I am stuck and I tried to not see your solution hint.
Welcome to a Yorkshireman ( where exactly, Ali?) who came up with a delightful Monday puzzle. No problems for me today, and I can recommend visiting AVILA if you happen to be traveling in Spain.
I've tried and tried cryptic puzzles to no avail, even though I love the trickiest of theme puzzles. I've only lived in the U.K. for 41 years.
Like others, I'm looking forward to more puzzles from Ali especially Thursday ones.
6
@suejean Close to Bradford originally, but visits are now generally to to the Guiseley/Ilkley area :-)
1
PUT ALI INN lol! I’m glad they did. Thank you :)
11
Nice debut! Due to a couple of missteps it ended up taking me a bit longer than usual, but I enjoyed the theme and the clueing.
Only just re-subscribed this week, and what greets me but one of the more delightful Monday solves in my memory. Dear sir, please make more.
8
@Andy Welcome back, Andy!
1
(sigh) DNF a Monday. Just could not see OUTINFORCE and did not know LAHTI.... so sad...
and Elke
Ali G.- please note that I(we) live in British Columbia. And so I often have the opportunity to solve puzzles in the raIN FOr fun.
Yours today was an extra special treat.
5
Elke,
A rare remaining international opportunity (shared with Washington State residents west of the Cascades)...
3
and Elke
Barry,
Overnight that rain turned to snow*, both here and south of the 49th... the SKIBUMs are happy and schoolkids also. No school ! i.e. in Washington state. Canajun kids put on their toques (n.b. not "tokes" :) ) and trudged off to school.
While it was the "polar vortex" that is/was the source of so much misery in the East, here it is the "arctic outflow".
*I measured 5mm (yes ,mm ) 0.5 cm. here in the city. Single layer of snowflakes.
Suspect that P. Jackel on Cortes Island fired up his generator.
End of weather report from the NW.
"*I measured 5mm (yes ,mm ) 0.5 cm. here in the city. Single layer of snowflakes."
If that same amount fell in Seattle, look out for traffic accidents!
As a native Russian speaker, and also one who has angrily dashed off missives to Mr. Shortz about the always-loathsome inclusion of (the non-word) “paninis” in some puzzles, I was downright thrilled to see BLINI correctly clued as the plural. Thanks, Ali G (wink to Sasha Baron Cohen) for that and a delightful debut!
5
@Irene blini and blin were in the Spelling Bee a few days ago. I'd never heard of blin before, so I had to look it up. (Learn something new every day, blush)
2
@Irene
Please direct your anger to the editors of the dictionaries that list these words, or to the hordes who use them and thus leave those editors no choice. Mr. Shortz can only work with the English language he is given.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paninis
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blini
tamale.
4
Ah, but Martin, even that old descriptivist tome acknowledges that panini is already plural... More pressingly (see what I did there? Heh!), is “tamales” also incorrect??
Welcome, Ali. You put Ali in, and Jesse Owens. On this biggest of all American sports days, you included two true American sports heroes. Well done! I look forward to solving your first late-week NYT puzzle in the near future.
13
Congratulations on the debut. I grew up in England doing cryptics (yes to the Telegraph) and still prefer them, although I have been solving American grids for years now. Had to get Avila from crosses, even though I was in Madrid recently, but was pleased to be reminded of delicious blinis, which I ate in Crimea while it was still Ukrainian.
2
Congratulations on your DEBUT, Mr. Gascoigne. I thought this was a smooth, easy solve, with a simple but fun theme. I agree with you that AVILA probably should have been avoided for Monday puzzle, given its Naticky crosses with P. DIDDY and ISLE. (I grew up in SE Virginia where we have an Isle of Wight County so the latter was a gimme.)
I especially loved the selection of SKI BUM and its cluing, not only because of the wordplay in "lift" but also because "bum" can be used as a verb as in "bum a ride," which is synonymous with "get a lift."
7
Henry,
And you sit on your bum on the lift?
5
@Barry Ancona,
Even better!
4
Boring Super Bowl, fun puzzle.
15
Enjoyed today's ALIG Show...
I know STP is generally relegated to the "crosswordese" bin, but it always brings me back to grade school, where practically every boy in school had STP bumper stickers on his notebooks, bookbags, bicycle...OTOH, that was a long time ago.
7
Nice job! I look forward to Ali's later-week puzzles!
Am I just being dense? Where do I click to get the explanation for the summary clue and answer?
Liz B,
Too cryptic for me...
1
@Liz B You're not being dense. The reveal thingy I use to hide answers has gone on walkabout. Probably watching the Super Bowl.
During the meanwhile, I have typed the answer into the column.
1
Deb,
As I said earlier, too cryptic for me.
1
30A Like a Monday crossword, typically. Yes, indeed.
Clever of you to PUT ALI IN(N).
Nice debut!
9
Watermelon rinds can be pickled, though I bet most of them aren’t. :p
4
From our U.S. debut constructor's comment quoted below, I wonder if a few of the persistent critics of types of entries found in *this* puzzle might be happier with U.K puzzles.
U.K. puzzles by and large stick fairly rigidly to the dictionaries, so having access to entries like P. DIDDY and WRITE ME — and working with a much broader list of slang, neologisms and proper nouns — was good fun. For me, it was one of the principal draws of U.S. puzzles.
3
Congratulations to Ali on your debut. After looking dumbfounded at the Cryptics on the NYT site,I am fascinated to learn you found difficulty with our style of crosswords! That gives me hope as I start to get more serious about Cryptics.
Doing Puns and Anagrams, which I find enjoyable but not overly hard, didn't help me as much as expected. I shall persist -- although the garden is about to sap my puzzle time. Spring is literally erupting in Atlanta after a week of a few 20 degree nights where I had to blanket precious plants!
I always enjoy a TIN FOIL HAT reference. That's all I got for an easy peasy (for you know who), easy breezy Monday.
Go Rams!
1
@Liane. And so they went. Dull game.
2
@Liane
At least there was the half time show. Not.
1
@Andrew
I found the half time show to be more lively than the game at least. Snoozefest of game left me with insomnia at night. Halftime should have been all local -- plenty of talent and plenty lively even if half bleeped!
Highlights:
Gladys Knight singing anthem.
Chris Long, Philadelphia Eagle, winning Walter Payton award. This man donated his entirely salary to the Philadelphia public school system two years ago and is a tireless worker for education, equality and social justice. If you follow just one person on twitter (or stalk without joining as do I), Chris Long @JOEL9ONE is the man. Erudite, funny and tackles orangutan in chief with aplomb.
4
Nicotine is toxic.
It certainly is, Fact Boy, and so is the smoke itself. And the TAR. Each one is a "Toxic part of cigarettes."
12