I had to come here to make sure that VAPE and TESLA are considered words.
@Susanne
The instructions tell us that words will be employed in filling in the blanks of this puzzle and, sure, Tesla is a word but there is a host of other "words" out there, proper nouns, e.g. persons and place names, that could serve to fill in the blanks and we could have several solutions to any such puzzle.
Caitlin, I've never tried a puzzle like this! What a treat!
Without your notes I'd be lost, but bit by bit I am getting the answers, in pencil, first. I've done half of it, and am delighted to get more. It's great to have this puzzle, since after finishing the Saturday crossword hours ago, I have another challenge.
2
First I’ve heard of an “antipope,” but it makes more sense than an “antepode.” Fun puzzle!
1
Sorry, I meant “antelode” (to pair with “antipode”)
1
Both Split Decisions and Hex Nuts played a bit more challenging today as compared to the Saturday puzzle which filled in almost too readily.
1
Caitlin, Split Decisions grow on you!
This one was particularly chewy with potential pairings. The usual entree is to nail the shorter word pairings. There weren't any 3-letter words this week but a lot of 4-letter and 5-letter pairs that could have numerous "solves". But, only one solve fits the crossing. Particularly diabolical: _OO/EA_ and _OO/EE_; _OL/EN_, _IV/AT_.
SPOILER:
More animals-related -- SPRAT and PHYLUM.
1
Jerrold --
The glitch you mention from Thursday evening has given you a new and different puzzle! I just checked the Crosswords page, and the A Little Variety posted for March 24th agrees with the printed newspaper (Sunday NYT Magazine) delivered to my door this morning.
It's a Hex Nuts by Patrick Berry.
@Madeline Gunther But that Hex Nuts was the "middle" puzzle for March 17, at least online. On Thursday evening, March 14, when I clicked on the "middle" puzzle, THAT was the one that came up.
2
@Madeline Gunther Coming to think of it, the Times must have made a mistake and put the Hex Nuts up there a week early.
TO CAITLIN: Is there anything that you can tell us about this?
1
For Starters is one of my favorite “middle” puzzles.
[SPOILER ALERT]
On Thursday evening, there was a weird glitch going on. If you clicked on the “A Little Variety” for March 24, the old one from March 17 would come up instead.
And, vice versa!
Anyway, my only absolute gimmes were the two geographical answers, PANAMA and NEVADA.
I thought the god of sleep was Morpheus, but it obviously
did not fit.
The puzzle yielded itself more slowly than it frequently does with For Starters, but at least there wasn’t anything that I had to search for.
1