I think this is the first Thursday where I figured out the “trick”!
Worst grid ever, in every respect.
20 thumbs down, don't ask me why...
1
I didn't see anyone say ADSENSE before ADSALES, so I'll contribute that.
I loved this one - so clever!
2
Bone to pick: The plural of "octopus" isn't "octopi". It's "octopuses". You could look it up.
1
@John - I love it when the word nerds go against type.
1
Needing a Q to complete pangram helped solidify final answer for me.
Clever idea, too bad it was polluted with nonsense like ‘totes’ and ‘sneaks’. I don’t THINK so.
1
A "Good For Beginners Thursday". Sorry. Maybe. I don't time myself, but it felt like Tuesday. Sorry.
Clean fill, etc., but such a simple theme/reveal, I'm sorry I expect way more. Sorry to complain.
Actually, BRAVO!!! for the cleanest fill in some time. HUZZAH!!! *.THAT!* I'm not sorry for
Still a disappointment, so sorry I keep apologizing, must be the Canadian in me. Sorry.
3
First Thursday I’ve really enjoyed in a long time. Bravo!
3
Being longtime basketball fans, jumpers was one of henpet and my first wedges, after nez and its surroundings. BTW, this one's for you, Leapy!
1
@catpet, I thought so also, and was really tickled!
As a relatively new Thursday solver--having worked my way up from M-W and sometimes skipping F&S because it takes me too long--I really loved this puzzle. It's the first time I've been delighted rather than frustrated by the Thursday twist and could appreciate the cleverness of it while working the puzzle rather than after completing it.
Onward to Friday, maybe?
9
Right there with you @Ellie Jones!
Oh, Erik Agard. You never let me down. I always find the Agard-ESQUE puzzles so much fun and this is no exception! (I'm not as familiar with Andy Kravis, but he deserves kudos for this one too.)
I CRAVE Thursday puzzles with SMART, well-executed themes so this was just TOTES up my alley.
Easily my favourite puzzle in a good, long while. Thank you!
2
I generally fear Mr. Agard, but this theme is gorgeous.
2
My favorite kind of Thursday theme—challenging to figure out, but once you get one it helps figure out the others. Unfortunately, once I had HOP and SKIP I was sure the last one had to be JUMP, so I confidently filled in. Do you know how hard it is to find a word that ends in JU?
3
@Doug
After acing my EJU I celebrated with an anju and a soju.
"til hamingju!" is Icelandic for "congratulations!" ;)
2
Since when is “-“ a clue?
It's common but isn't used every week, it means something like the answer to this one is related to the previous one. I think there is a word play article that explains it
4
“Since when?” Since it’s a Thursday!
6
Discovering the incorrect pluralization of “octopus” in today’s puzzle was infinitely more thrilling than actually solving the puzzle. Not so smug are we now, Shortz??
3
@Cate
Not so fast, Cate. Keep reading.
1
@Steve Faiella Respectfully I disrespect the notion that since "octopi" is used so commonly, Merriam-Webster has decided it's as acceptable a plural as "octopuses" or "octopodes". Marine biologists consider "octopi" inaccurate! The first line, practically, of "The Soul of an Octopus" is a warning that "octopi" is incorrect! I'm not saying that dialect can't evolve language, but this is the Times. The paper that insists on spelling it "cellphone". The paper that won't let go of courtesy titles. There are rules here.* To quote the Times itself:
"A newspaper has to have rules, the linguistic equivalent of driving on the right side of the road and stopping at red lights, to avoid chaos for readers."
*Yes I know that the only reason "octopuses" is used is because everybody got tired of having to say "octopodes" and did the very thing I'm criticizing. I know, okay? I know.
4
@Cate
“... since "octopi" is used so commonly, Merriam-Webster has decided it's as acceptable a plural as "octopuses" or "octopodes".
That’s precisely the purpose of a dictionary. To document what people say.
And by the way, marine biologists are hardly the only people who speak—and mold—English.
3
y'all should watch your "salt" level in these comments you'll get whatever being too salty gives you :)
I like to save my complaints for my commute. The puzzle is a welcome part of my day even with Kylo Ren references
4
also, i have been Uncled by my brothers and their wonderful wives 8 times!
3
What a clever puzzle! Very fun to solve. Keep dos!
2
@ Ms. Cat
That darn autocorrect! I typed “KUDOS” not the gibberish that my phone “corrected”. I need to better proofread my posts apparently.
2
@Ms. Cat - I'm asking this as a sincere question. I don't use a smart phone and one of the first things I do with new software or hardware is to turn off anything "automatic." So I have a sincere interest in this...
when a person types something into a self-correcting automated thingie and the self-correcting automated thingie changes it,
do those changes only appear after hitting send?
or only at the end of a sentence or a paragraph?
or immediately?
I've always been curious and your post finally prompted me to ask.
if Eric Agard is the guy I saw speed solving in a video, "keep dos" would be oddly accurate. I also have occasional issues with auto-correct. I sometimes think one could publish a book of poems, based on weird auto correct results.
The first time I got Queen Bee 🐝 was a delightful surprise since I didn’t even know that level existed. However it would be great if the queen bee level would be displayed after that instead of genius when you look at the puzzle again.
Do you agree? Or do you like how you only get to see it once?
8
@Laurie A. congrats!
@Laurie A. The Amazing rank is 50% of the QB rank, and Genius is 70% of QB. So you can figure out, before even getting to QB, what score is needed to get there.
@Laurie A. --
I agree. It's not an everyday achievement for me, and I'd like the screen to reflect the Queen of the Universe (I'm sorry, I meant "Queen Bee") status.
Who’s Nancy and how was I to know she’s French?
Was it a reference to the city in France? If so, can one be friends with a city?
8
@Vince
Friends who live in Nancy could be called "friends of Nancy." Like I am a resident of Durham. I gave some money to a local history museum and now am part of Friends of Durham.
5
Nancy: https://www.gocomics.com/nancy
Didn't think she was French though.
I fooled around with Nicki Minau for a bit before I nailed the jumper(s) and got the bubble part of the theme. Took me a while longer to realize I was dealing with doubled theme.
The solve went fast, but I thought this was a great piece of puzzle-making.
To answer Caitlin's question, I follow the answers when I solve. Start with 1A, and keep working across until I get some place where I can't answer. Then I go back and work downs and acrosses in what I think of as a fairly organic process until the puzzle is finished. Where I start working and how I progress through the grid really depends on where the answers open up for me.
When I can't suss the theme, I may find the revealer and solve it, but that always feels a little like cheating, for some reason.
2
@Puzzledog
"I fooled around with Nicki Minau for a bit..."
Is a wedding in the offing?
2
ColoradoZ,
Not likely if he doesn't know her name.
6
Good workout. And I decided to cross a personal Rubicon of sorts: for years I had been feeling uneasy about Googling answers during a solve. No more. After yesterday's braintwister and today's "unknowns" I decided to collect what I honestly need whenever the opportunity presents and just enjoy the solving. Easier on everybody.
So: five lookups. Good thing too. Rest fell neatly.
Quibble: 54d is TOTO, no?
Now an observation: the connectivity of different parts of this puzzle has been an object of discussion and observation -- where one section (or line stretch) is connected to another by a "jump" (and hence the theme). I propose that this is a form of topology applied to the grid and call it out. It makes the grid a bit different from others in the sense that a teacup differs from a plain glass: the teacup has a handle, the glass doesn't. This grid has four or five "handles" making the connectivity more complex. We have seen similar contortions in the past, sometimes involving both across and down fills. Final remark: kudos!
PS Rex P was almost lyrical today compared to yesterdays verbal unmentionables. De gustibus and all that.
PS to Leapy re 1A: great call!
5
@Dr W
Now that you know it's okay to do "research" (though I always start with Wikipedia instead of Google), you can go to the next step, which explains why 54D is TOTES:
https://www.internetslang.com/TOTES-meaning-definition.asp
I wonder if anyone else thought that in most countries temps in the teens would range from cool to mild rather than winter, not that it kept me from getting the answer. Our friends from the North for example. (14D)
6
@suejean Out here in Texas folks bundled up for the frigid 60°F this morning.
1
@Sam Lyons, Up to 32 degrees C here in Yorkshire, far too hot for me!
1
@suejean
Farenheit
1
The neighborhood around Dodger Stadium (40A) is Echo Park, not “Echo”.
Now I see it in the pattern of the puzzle...
3
@KnittingHiker
You might want to read the column.... note that PARK is the answer to 42A, and the theme of the puzzle is JUMPERS......
@KnittingHiker, that was part of the theme.
Can I just say that reading this comment section after solving the puzzle is as much fun as the puzzle itself? I used to google things like BAY after solving with a clue I hadn’t understood at the time, now I just come here, read the thread, and leave both knowing something new and having had a good laugh. Fellow wordniks are awesome people.
23
@Sam Lyons
Hear hear!!
4
An evil clue for 18A would have been "2000, but not 1900"
18
@Julian
Such a clue would exceed evil and approach Mephistophelian status!
6
The plural of octopus is octopuses not octopi (23 down)!
5
@rick both are acceptable plural forms for THE most amazing creatures.
6
@ Rick
One could also make a case for “octopuses” as the plural of coctopus.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-many-plurals-of-octopus-octopi-octopuses-octopodes
😀
@ Rick
I originally typed OCTOPODES, but my phone “autocorrected” me. I guess the iPhone prefers the plural “octopuses” too. 🤪
1
Fun! After I figured out leap year, everything else made sense.
2
Finally getting HOPONPOP for 41A sure messed up what seemed like a perfect 25D: JUMPERS. Left with J__N__S, I decided to google whether there was such an expression as "join up shot." There was.
This left me a mess in the middle. Finally googled "looper," for my LOO_ER. OK. A list of synonyms for 53A S_AR_ "tony" got me "swank" (no) and "sharp" (maybe). Tried "Mephistophelian" again, but nothing that fit SA__O__.
Ended up reading the column, got SATANIC for my SA__O__, and it was JUMPER after all! Finally kept my phony streak going, but the problem had been my failure to recognize that HO(ONPOP)P worked just like the other two.
3
FUN!
1
Would you say it was SMART, SNEAKY or SATANIC to start the puzzle with the 'Last STRAW'?
I think I'll save SATANIC for the 'Deep' regions, where LandOIL KAL RITZ -ian (as clued) masquerades as LandOIL KAL RITZ ESQUE.
Y'all remember LandOIL, don't you? He was an old friend to Han Solo in the StARMOIREs franchise.
Will have to come back to praise the theme, but trust me, I was all over it. Nice teamwork, gentlemen!
4
@Leapfinger
Had DANCE before STAND before STRAW.
2
@Leapfinger ESQUE was decidedly SATANIC!
3
@Robert Michael Panoff
Maybe it was my recent trip to Paris, but I started with Last TANGO.
2
BAY for American Pharoah or Citation? I got it from the crossing but don’t get it!
1
@Lisa G
Bay is the color of most horses.
"Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. "
7
@Geoff Offermann
I got it only from the crosses, too; I thought it was a couple of obscure geographic references. I guess that's what happens when your kids get too old for lullabies.
https://youtu.be/AWoPsyY8CZY
2
@Lisa G Those are names of race horses, which apparently are BAYs. Not a huge horse race fan myself, but I do like an occasion to drink a mint julep!
1
Google Maps shows the ballpark Dodger Stadium within or abutting the actual park called Elysian Park, but also located within the neighborhood (not the actual park) ECHO PARK. If you zoom into the map and click on the words ECHO PARK, Google will redline the boundaries of the neighborhood.
But here's how I know ECHO PARK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWodsUoaPVc
3
@Steve L
Written by the great and lamented Warren Zevon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeb0OI8wXN4
1
@Steve L
Elysian Park is an actual park. Echo Park is the "Los Angeles neighborhood that includes Dodger Stadium."
1
@Keta Hodgson
I believe I said that. But the neighborhood ECHO PARK also does contain a small park called ECHO PARK.
I wonder what Alexis de Toqueville would say today about our culture’s deep fascination with fictional characters like GI JOE, Kylo REN, and IRON Man? It might be quite a SERMON.
4
Clever, clever, clever. You two must be very KNOW LEDGE ABLE
4
@Amy
Now that describes bookhelves ....
2
The puzzle itself is most clever, but some of the clues just suck! For example, Unwavering => IRON... and the n-dashes (19, 42, and 65 A); elipses (...) would at least have made some sense.
@SteveG
An IRON will is pretty unwavering.
2
...and en-dashes are NYT XWP style cluing for a continued answer.
3
@Barry Ancona
IMHO em-dashes look better.
@Leapy, my humbLE FINGER APologies.
11
Laszlo,
Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
3
@Laszlo, I knew that you would quickly realize how GERMANE the Frenche were to the Russianes at that point in History.
Today, I must admire your FINGERing as positively OistrakhESQUE.
As always, a pleasure.
5
@Leapfinger
First read and DOOKed as GERMAN E.
2
I got the theme trick when I got “year” from the crossings and the clue didn’t fit—until it suddenly did. Fun one!
3
OCTOPI has made two consecutive appearances in NYT puzzle offerings, yesterday’s Spelling Bee and today’s crossword. According to my son, a HS Latinist, this is an incorrect pluralization, as octopus is of Greek, not Latin, origin and should be pluralized as OCTOPUSES—probably not as convenient as fill for crossword constructors!
8
@Kate
M-W allows both octopuses and octopi, the later being "hypercorrect," as you state. Since people say it, it's accepted by lexicographers as English and crossword constructors are free to use it at will.
Interestingly, the actual Greek plural, octopodes, is not accepted by most dictionaries, including M-W.
I had some wonderful octopus in Greece last year, once I recognized Χταπόδι on menus. Ancient Greek used ὀκτώπους, which makes more sense, but there's no accounting for what actual speakers of a language will do to it over time, is there?
12
What a marvelous puzzle! I had to sit back when done so I could marvel at the tricks involved and the seeming ease in which these two whiz kids put it together.
Wow. Not one trick but two. Not one surprise but two. We got our money's worth today!
Thank you, Erik and Andy, for this Thursday's TORRENT of talent.
7
ERA for ADA.
Retired from SKI PATROL after 20 years. Best volunteer experience ever. Best T Shirt: “I freeze my ass to save yours.”
Thanks E&A
14
Sort of in-between “Solved” and “Completed” today.
I HATE RAP! So MINAJ required “research”.
The clue at 13A is both opaque and dense. Unfathomable! Had to read Caitlins WoW.
A STUDENT was too clever for me until I read Caitlin’s words.
35A? Who is Nancy? I have to ass-u-me she is of French derivation.
All the rest were “reasonable” - - except for the first and third words in the theme rows - the theme being beyond my pay grade.
Maybe another year or two of solving experience will provide me with the skills to succeed with a puzzle like this.
Pretty sure Nancy is a city in France. While looking that up, I found this: The motto of the city is Non inultus premor, Latin for "I'm not touched with impunity"
9
Mid America,
Thanks for the information. I was immediately reminded of a certain former special counsel …
@ Mid America
That’s an awesome motto and I’m stealing it for my personal one (my husband has taken to throwing slippers at me every time I say BEER ME; luckily he’s got bad aim when he’s laughing).
1
A very, very clever gimmick that I only was able to see -- and appreciate-- after I'd finished solving the entire puzzle. If only I'd seen it earlier I wouldn't have suffered so much. And why did I suffer? Once again, it was the pop culture we always get from Erik Agard -- ABETted by Andy Kravis. The rappers and the thrillers and the downloads and the streaming devices and the albums. Yecchhh. Too bad, because the theme was original and praiseworthy.
Re 23D: OCTOPI are "aquarium attractions"?? Attractive to whom? Not to me. Maybe to other OCTOPI.
How I wish this puzzle hadn't been marred by the constructors' seeming fixation on the sort of stuff you find on gadgets and screens. It could have been really great. Sigh.
1
@Nancy
Oh, but they are wonderful creatures--so intelligent, and they can flash different colors and 'textures' on their skins in amazing designs (camouflage)...I once found a tiny, tiny one on the beach--it fit over the tip of my little finger--and it was incredibly dear. I hope it lived after I put it back into the water.
14
@Nancy
Very interesting, clever and short lived cephalopods. Amazing to see in the wild. Spent about 10 minutes watching a pair mate on a reef in Maui some years ago. Fascinating creatures!
9
@Mean Old Lady -- Beneath the fearsome nom de blog with which you've saddled yourself, I think I can ESPY a truly kind heart and a truly sensitive soul.
7
I always have a little anxiety when I see Erik Agard's name on a puzzle, but I found this one doable and thoroughly enjoyable.
2
I was the opposite of Caitlin. I got the theme/trick almost immediately. I found the rest of the puzzle more difficult than the theme/trick. It was definitely an enjoyable puzzle, and a bit on the easier side for a Thursday.
2
Good puzzle. But the ADA is a 1970s law, not a 1990s law. That threw me.
2
@gtbyrne
94-142 was the mid-70's law,(access to a free public education for students with disabilities) but the ADA (accessibility in broader application) was passed in the '90s. Our two offspring needed no special education, but they did need assistive devices and accessibility measures in order to attend public school and achieve their potential. Even with the law it was a struggle to get accommodations (such as moving a class downstairs or administering a spelling test orally)...which is sad.
6
@Mean Old Lady also ADA applied to private employers, making it illegal to discriminate against disabled individuals and requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
3
@Xwordgirl
Yes--I did not want to get too detailed, ( but I worry about the attempts to hamstring the law because it still matters a lot to PhysicsDaughter.)
1
Clever theme. It took me quite a while to catch on and then catch on again. Bottom line - I didn't do terribly well on this one. End of 3 day streak, but I doubt I was going to get Friday anyway.
Was acquainted with a number of graduates of Philips EXETER when I was in college, whom we commonly referred to as 'preppies.' They didn't mingle much with the rest of us.
Took me a long time to figure out BAY at 6d. Only got it after it was clear that BOBTAILNAG wasn't going to fit.
8
@Rich in Atlanta
Doo-dah. Doo-dah.
8
Even after solving the puzzle AND reading Caitlin's explanation, this is how I feel. Appropriately, it also involves circles.
https://youtu.be/3VS9kJ0iQUQ
2
After what seemed like an eternity staring at the filled-in grid, the penny finally dropped.
Ironically, it was one of my faster Thursdays.
Also, belatedly, R.I.P., RIP.
Hmm...interesting. I was rather hoping for one of the more iconic Dr. Seuss books; once he got on the serious phonics and then the preachy eco-kick, the imaginative quirkiness was much toned down. _If I Ran the Circus_ (and the _Zoo_) along with _McElligot's Pool_ and _Horton Hatches an Egg_ remain my favorites of his...
Oh, the puzzle. Interesting...I did not realize I 'knew' ECHO PARK. LOOPER? Tried DUCHESS and Last STAND before correcting myself. Started entering DEVILISH before I ran out of room and had to reconsider. NOKIA is Finnish, is it? Who knew?
On with the show...
2
@Mean Old Lady
My being a techie geek, NOKIA was a gimme for me. OTOH, MINAJ (huh?). I must be living in a parallel universe.
NOKIA is Finnish, is it? Who knew?
NOKIA singlehandedly took down the entire Finnish economy in the financial disruption of 2008. For some reason, I remembered that. Barring any specifics. of course.
A fun puzzle! took me a while to realize something odd was going on. At first i thought the words 'skip', 'hop', 'leap' were missing entirely. Then the cleverness revealed itself.
Note that every year divisible by 4 is a leap year, except those divisible by 100. There is one exception I just learned - if a '100' year is also divisible by 400, then it is still a leap year. So the year 2000 was a leap year, but the year 2100 will not be.
3
@Laurie A.
Two possible responses:
(Humor): Could you repeat that, and slower this time?
(Gallows humor(?)): “2100 will not be [a LEAP YEAR.]” The way we’re going, 2100 might not be a YEAR [for humans anyway].
Or my first thought — Wow, thanks, I had no idea!
4
It's really simple:
All multiples of 400 are leap years.
All other multiples of 100 are common years.
All other multiples of 4 are leap years.
All other years are common years.
What could be easier than that? [wink]
In the old Julian calendar (once Anno Domini came into use), it was:
All mulitples of 4 were leap years.
All other years were common years.
3
@Puzzlemucker
This has been posted before in relation to "slower this time" but worth repeating.
https://youtu.be/piPz1prPrzs
1
I like how SO-SO and 50-50 are similar in meaning and appearance.
4
@Aidoch Ross
50-50? :) back when I was grading C was 70-80. ;)
2
@Robert Michael Panoff - comme ci - comme ca, excuse the cedilla, could be construed as comme C.
Always love it when a theme has multiple levels, and when it's not been done to death before. Today's puzzle hits both marks - not surprising given the pair of constructors who created it for us.
I actually solved only seeing half of the theme. I got what the circled letters were up to, but didn't see the bigger payoff until after I had finished.
This is normally how I solve (for speed - and to see if I can grok the theme without spending too much time thinking about it), and the grid was built well (i.e. Natick free) so that solvers of all stripes could be successful. Kudos to Erik, Andy, and Will's team!
5
@Steve Faiella
Same here with the circles of vexation. Even after solving the puzzle and reading Caitlin's explanation, it took so long for the penny to drop that I felt like this guy.
https://youtu.be/3VS9kJ0iQUQ
Also, R.I.P., RIP.
1
@Roger
Great movie!
RIP RIP
1
Originally had Turkey's other 'I' neighbor for 59d, but eventually IRAn from that. Not arabESQUE for this puzzle, it seems.
1
@Mike R
So did I -- with IENNE for 71A which fit. Took me a while to "get " it.
The theme didn't hold me up for a second, but I too fell prey at first to the middle left, starting with ERA instead of ADA and wedging in ERIS, never thinking it right, before I finally backed out of the trap I set for myself.
AAH, when decades merge in one's mind, date references are not so helpful!
1
The NW corner with AS I AM beside WILL.I.AM, crossing MINAJ, should appeal to TEENS.
I had ERA before ADA which gave me EROS before ARES (I thought he might have wisely carried a shield in his pocket), and OCHO before ECHO.
A timely thought: One small SKIP for TOWN; one giant LEAP for YEAR.
13
@Andrew
Shouldn't that be, "One small SKIP for (a) TOWN..."?
4
@Alan J
...I’ll leave that for posterity to debate!
2
@Andrew
Eros was a god of the Greeks, not TROJANS.
1
As we do for Spelling Bee and Letter Boxed, maybe for Thursdays we can institute a single thread rule for “Too Clever” commenters.
Seriously.
1
Sorry, woke up before I woke up. I retract the snark. People have a right to feel any way they want about a puzzle and post about it anywhere they choose. Sorry for jumping the snark.
14
Is there a way to have a puzzle I solve on my phone count toward my streak? Thanks.
As long as you’re logged into your account, solving on phones or tablets, whether in the app or browser, should count toward keeping your streak going.
3
@JayTee
Logged in using app always counts for me. Today I had to solve on phone because our internet went out. When the internet came back, I went online with my "real" browser and it was gold and counted.
Did the puzzle this morning. Pretty crunchy. Liked the presence of the less common letters - J, V, X, Z and Q.
Got the gimmick when APP appeared, and went to the NW and filled in MOBILE. Had YEAR in the middle, saw the LEAP YEAR.
I don't remember HOP ON POP - I read my kids Dr. Seuss books, but that one was not particularly memorable - at least not when it comes to using in the crossword.
The N in TOWN was my last letter, and I was a little surprise when I solved the puzzle. I'd forgotten the theme gimmick and was trying to figure out how TOWN relates to its clue.
-ESQUE - always brings to mind ZOLAESQUE.
Never heard of ECHO PARK - had OCHO first and thought it was plausible. Had PASS before SO-SO. Had EEO before ADA and was trying to figure out how EROS carried a shield and the bow and arrow? Had BBQS before RIBS. Thought it was gong to be IN INK but TV MOVIE eventually led me to IN PEN.
Liked the differently clued TEENS.
It was a lot of fun. SO, SO (that is, TOTES) SMART.
6
@Wen
My solving experience nearly ECHOed yours, except in the end this one was too convoluted for my little brain. Tricky Thursdays give me fits! I luffed (which is not allowed), said aargh (which is), did not reach arhat (which I finally looked up yesterday)… And now I'll stop bee-rating myself and go back to the page where I'm a genius.
1
@Wen
Calle OCHO (8th Street) is a well-known Cuban section of Miami, so you probably were thinking of that.
Same idea, wrong coast!
1
@caitlin -- I saw how you inserted that theme-echoing "vault" into your review.
The theme idea is brilliant. I wanted to know which of the constructors thought of it and how it came to him, but no constructor notes, alas (can one of you chime in here?). And the theme, as it was yesterday, is super tight, IMO. Try to come up with another theme answer that would work in this puzzle, and if you succeed, please report on it here!
Not to mention that each theme answer yields a double aha. Sheesh! To which you layer a jank-lite grid and some lovely answers like OR IS IT, TORRENT, GERMANE, and ARMOIRE. I would have liked the cluing to be a touch tougher -- I'm guessing Will lightened it because of the complicated theme.
And I loved the Puzzle Palindrome, with the metal word and seaweed word.
A quality solve and a quality piece of work. Thank you for this, gentlemen.
8
Second time this week I’ve been troubled by my French friend(s). I was going to gripe about how was I to know Nancy’s nationality, but reading the comments I now see Nancy is a city? I got it, but didn’t understand it, and now that I do, still don’t like it.
Also have a gripe with 17A - I know a “mobile” is a cellphone, but still don’t get how it’s an iPhone download.
My displeasure with Thursdays continues!
@Bill in Yokohama
Hi. Re MOBILE. Do you get that you're supposed to LEAP over YEAR to get the APP for MOBILE APP?
4
@Bill in Yokohama
The iPhone download is a MOBILE APP. This is one of the “trick” theme clues.
2
Bill,
Non-English answers have a signal to that effect in the clue. On a Monday, the clue might have been "French friends." Later in the week you get less obvious signals, just as you get less obvious clues.
2
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Catchy phrase today: B-H (9) H-R (5).
Yesterday I had a variation of the given solution. Mine was WEIGHTING GAMBLES.
2
@Liane my solution for today also. Yesterday I had WHITING-GAMBLES. I was surprised they accepted whiting. It’s an old laundry product as far as I know.
@TPB boy was i wrong. It’s a fish. I guess I was thinking of blueing. Talk about stumbling to a solution!
1
@Liane
I needed the hint today, thanks.
Tumbled to the 13 yesterday using SHAWM. New word for me — sort of a predecessor to the oboe.
Like some others, I was surprised when the happy music sounded. I was sure I had some mistakes. And the theme bounced, nay, hurdled, nay, vaulted, right over my head. Caitlin's column to the rescue! Fun, crunchy, and clever puzzle today.
8
@Ann
I was trying to think of another verb to add to your excellent list. I finally came up with catapulted.
1
@vaer
Flipped works too.
Love my Thursdays! I got half of the theme straight away with LEAP YEAR and HOP ON POP, but not the whole thing until SKI PATROL. I've never heard of ECHO PARK, and had guessed at Soho for the L.A. neighborhood which really messed up that little section. So after getting 62A I had another look at the first two theme answers and eventually got there.
My favorite non theme clue was the one for INDEX @50A. I was hoping someone else would ask about 53A which I don't get.
Terrific theme today.
3
@suejean
"Tony" as in posh: "A tony restaurant on the avenue."
2
Thanks, Ann. I've never heard that before.
2
Having read 101 comments at this point I'm feeling quite chuffed that I got the whole theme as quickly as I did. It beats reading how easy a puzzle was that I really struggled with. ( with which I really struggled)
4
In answer to Caitlins’s query I solve on Thursdays in the same pattern as any other day, first all the acrosses and then all the downs. And then delve into the most populated sections. The theme for this puzzle revealed itself much earlier than most Thursdays because last time I looked, 2019 was definitely a YEAR. So I immediately knew I’d have to conscript the circled clues to get to the LEAP. Usually the bafflement stage lasts far longer. Loved this puzzle, clever and fun.
3
@AudreyLM
Always love to hear how people solve! I solve much like you, except I do downs first and then acrosses, thinking that themers are usually across, and doing downs first gives some hints via crosses.
3
I do the same, all the acrosses and then all the downs, but then I just keep repeating that pattern rather than delving into a populated area. I like that idea too, but I also find that the second pass, after having done the opposite direction, lets me solve a lot more that I was not certain about the first time around.
2
Always happy when I finally understand the connection between the daily crossword and the "gimme" picture, but today it covered both GIJOE and DIORAMA so it was an especially good day.
6
SPELLING BEE
22 words, 100 points, 1 perfect pangram
4 5 6 7 8 9 Tot
C 2 - - - - - 2
E - - 1 - - 1 2
F 6 4 5 1 - - 16
U - - 1 1 - - 2
51
Feculence! Not commentary, just a missing word.
4
@x. Thanks for the grid. Helped me find the last two words. This may be earliest I’ve ever gotten QB.
Thank you for grid! Here is another form of it.
2 C Words: 1-CL, 1-CU
2 E Words: 1-EF, 1-EY
16 F Words: 4-FE, 7-FL,5-FU
2 U Words: 2-UN
17
I was at a Dodger's game last month and my son said we were in the Elysian Park neighborhood. Do I need to correct him? Or is Chavez Ravine in 2 neighborhoods?
2
@ColoradoZ
I try to keep the correcting of my adult children to a minimum, so they keep inviting me to ball games and the like. But maybe you & your son could visit Elysian Fields to see a parade in New Orleans or head to a Seattle brewpub for some Elysian craft beer. I think there's an Elysian, Pa., too, but I don't know what there is to do there.
1
@ColoradoZ
Oh, and I believe that Dodgers stadium in in Elysian Park, and next to Echo Park, but a southern Californian can correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe your son?
3
Most of Elysian Park *is* a park; there are only about 2500 residents in the "neighborhood" of that name. Echo Park, which abuts it, is an actual neighborhood of 43,000+ residents.
2
The theme was too clever for me. Without this column I never would have solved it.
6
@Kevin Davis, I agree -- too clever by half.
2
OCTOPI ...really??? Let’s try the New Oxford Dictionary of English: “... that many people mistakenly create the erroneous form OCTOPI, formed according to rules for Latin plurals.” Chambers is blunter: “OCTOPI is wrong”. Keepers of aquaria, as professionals in the field of ichthyology, would use the form OCTOPUSES or if particularly pedantic OCTOPODES (Greek) (The same problem arises in Australia with Platypuses, correct, against Platypi, the same error.)
24
@Patrick Jordan
I am pleased there were no REBI in today's puzzle
8
Thank you, came here to say this!
3
@Patrick, Sam,
What they said.
3
and Elke
That I found this puzzle " problematic is an understatement " until I got to Caitlin's column. At least something today that makes sense.
Thanks for the fun.
7
@Robert
I, too, was unable to exonerate this theme.
4
Once I figured out the theme, I couldn’t wait to come here to see just how Caitlin would explain it. Kudos to her for articulating the arcane in an entirely concrete way! I’m almost more impressed with that than I was with the puzzle.
Now awaiting Fact Boy with an expected takedown of OCTOPI!
7
Great puzzle!
Anyone else confused (or could explain) about 35A? Feeling lost there...
@Margaret Fox
Nancy as in a city on France — AMIS as in plural for ‘friend’ in French.
@Margaret Fox, think of the city of Nancy in France instead of a person...
beljason,
Ah. Thank you!
Tricksy! Good Thursday twisted fun.
2
- - -
5
I'm glad to see business is picking up at The Times. Yesterday it was just ADSALE, today it's ADSALES.
10
@Barry Ancona
And as recently as July 16, it was only print media that had AD SALES
1
ColoradoZ,
But this was not the first non-print clue, last year it was a "Website revenue source." But I'm from the old days, when nobody sold "ads;" print sold "space" and broadcast sold "time."
2
@Barry Ancona always thought they made more from data sales these days
1
That was semi-tough, but fun. The heart always sinks a little when I see clues that consist only of -.
But I think I'm starting to understand the Agardian mind somewhat. (Lol)
I know they got JUMP into the puzzle in the hint, but too bad the themers couldn't have been a HOP, SKIP and a JUMP.
And leave it to these guys to have IRAQ with its difficult-to-cross Q instead of IRAn as their Turkish neighbor. It was the one thing I had to fix to get the happy music.
And of course there's a song. My Iraq/Iran mix-up reminded me of the intro to this Stevie Wonder song.
https://youtu.be/zywDiFdxopU
7
@vaer
Love thst song! I didn't have to open the link to hear it - it cam flooding into my head as soon as I read your comment!
1
@Ann eeesh, typos. Excuse me!
For once, a theme that I enjoyed. Bravo.
I will question the product placement (NOKIA, iPhone, GIJOE, Google, ROKU),
ephemeral pop culture (CSI cyber, Kylo REN, Nicki MINAJ, KAL Penn, LOOPER),
and forced phrases (ORISIT, ASIAM, ITSOK).
Good to see SOMA and ARES. More like those, please.
Liked the cluing for 48D TARPS.
@Al in Pittsburgh
Just wondering when does something stop being ephemeral? Kal Penn has been acting for 20 years or so and fairly well-known for at least the last 10 and the Star Wars universe, of which Kylo Ren is a part, has been around since 1977. No argument about the ephemerality of CSI Cyber.
6
@vaer
Two fun facts about KAL Penn: 1) his full stage name is essentially his given first name — he Anglicized his name from KALpen Suresh Modi to see if he’d get more acting work; 2) in 2009, he temporarily left acting and his role on House to work in the Obama White House, and was co-chair of Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. According to Wiki, he does not care for his stage name and uses his given name in IRL. (This was all news to me).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal_Penn
8
@Al in Pittsburgh
It was indeed an enjoyable theme. I don't mind the pop culture references, ephemeral or not, even if I often have to look them up - I just call it 'research' :)
4
On vacation in Yooper country, so I’ve been solving, but not posting. Thought this one was a fun puzzle, but it started off giving me a bit of a scare when I started the line for the first theme answer. There didn’t seem to be enough room for the answers, and there were only two clues but room for three answers. The crosses solved my quandary as I realized that the first clue was split between the first and third spots, and the circles combined with the second spot for the other answer.
Picking up on that helped get the other theme lines/answers, and none of the other clues gave me much trouble. No speed records, as I’m using my iDevices rather than the desktop, but still well below my average.
I had a couple of near Naticks, but guessed well! I finished quicker than usual for a Thursday but it didn’t feel like I was going very quickly while doing it. I think the LEAP, HOP, and SKIP/ JUMPER theme was so cleverly developed as the three horizontal lines answered two clues. Kudos to our wonderful constructors!
:-D
4
@Just Carol
Perhaps a “near Natick” should be termed a “Boston”.
4
Andrew,
Too well known. Maybe Framingham.
5
I like the alliterativeness of near Natick.
2
I thought this was a terrificly clever puzzle, but, of course, I got it easily. Had it been a couple of years ago, with less experience, I probably would have hated it! I do always expect a good, tough puzzle from these two.
4
Of course... ;)
Fastest Thursday ever at under 9 minutes. Very fun puzzle and it took a while to get the theme. But the rest of the clues helped a lot. I was surprised to see how quickly I solved it; it seemed like I was bogged down for a little bit.
2
I guess that Hop On Pop is a classic in the sense that it's old (1963) but would anyone (over the age of four) name this as a favorite?
3
@PaulSFO Yup.
7
@PaulSFO
Definitely.
4
@PaulSFO
The clue (on Thursday morning) reads “Classic ...” - not “Favorite ...”.
I’m WAY over the age of four - - and I’ve never heard of this book.
Worthy of Tricky Thursday, with an enthusiastic thumbs way up from me. Very crunchy, but doable in the end.
I couldn't find the clip on YouTube, so I'll just tell it. In one episode of Designing Women, the women invited the construction workers next door to come in and see what their business was all about, to try to gain their respect and cut down the offensive catcalling as they walking by every day. Part of the event was a drawing for an ARMOIRE, to which purpose they put a sign on the reception desk, "FREE ARMOIRE." Eventually one of the men asked, "Who's Armoire?" One of the women answered, "It's not a who, it's piece of furniture we're giving away." To which the man said, "Oh, I thought it was some guy you were trying to get out of jail."
11
@ Alan J
Oh that made me laugh... I still have an old Free Tibet T-shirt somewhere from a college rally a looong time ago. I now want one that reads Free Armoire.
2
@Sam Lyons
Free Tibet tee must mean you went to University of Colorado😁
2
@ ColoradoZ But a stone’s throw away, but a stone’s throw away. It looks like all of us Rockies dwellers must have been wanting to free fellow people living at high altitudes :D
3
90s kid? For most of the puzzle I felt more like C-worthy.
Loved it. Seems pretty tame now that I look at the filled grid, but it looked downright OCTOPI-ESQUE during the solve, until LEAP came to the rescue. A friend in need . . . Thanks LEAPy.
7
I was really surprised when I typed in a letter and suddenly got the "Solved" screen--I was still feeling somewhat at sea and thought I had some more messy areas to fix. I had been trying really hard to parse the theme entries and had finally figured it out--mostly--but was still trying to figure out if (for example) MOBI-P or EC-ARK were supposed to make anything. Having SKI be the first part (far west side) didn't help me any with that rabbit hole. At least I had sussed out the LEAP YEAR/MOBILE APP trickery.
The library at Phillips EXETER Academy is an amazing building by Louis Kahn, and according to Wikipedia, is the largest secondary school library in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Exeter_Academy_Library
3
I also finished without figuring out the theme first and after really hesitating to fill in the last square because ONPOP (without the HOP), TOWN as a verb, etc. made no sense. Got the “solve credit” anyway and only then delved into the circled letters and got the aha! moment. It’s late, I’m tired, and for some reason I love to ignore circled letters unless I can’t solve otherwise...
2
That was a really fun puzzle!!
3
uncled?
3
My thoughts, in rapid succession:
1. "un-cled? what does it mean to be not cled?"
2. "oh, uncled, because it can't stand on its own and the clue it's linked to is its uncle."
3. "or it's a typo for unclued."
2
Type O. (Caitlin has pumped out 13 columns in a row, including for the Acrostic. Uncled happens.)
10
@BasoMas
Oh sorry for the typo, I meant Uncle!
Too many crossword puzzle posts this month!
:-)
3
clever! got HOP ON POP first which gave the game away! IT'S OK!
5
tricky! Took me a bit to catch on to the gimmick. i was trying to work in the dreaded rebus at first.
great puzzle!
1
@Patrick
Congrats on 548!
1