This felt like a Monday or a Tuesday, in that I was quickly finished; however, I didn't get the theme until I read your column. I was guided by Zeus, I guess. Thanks for the fun!
I had some confusion in the top left section because I used COLIC instead of CROUP.
4
I’m new to the NYT crossword, maybe 5 months. This was by far my fastest Wednesday, and as other solvers have noted, felt more like a Tuesday or Monday. Anaphora was only solved by the crosses. I enjoyed the hidden camouflaged animals after completing the puzzle. Quite nice.
6
Welcome, @CaryB!
As to be expected from David, a jolly romp.
I didn't think about a theme at all until I got to the revealer, and then it took a while to start spotting the hidden animals. I didn't immediately see that the animals were themselves creatures who used CAMOUFLAGE, so it was a double treat.
Like others, my first thoughts went to anagrams or something similar, because of the CAMEL and LEO the LINE at row 3. Then there was a perfectly straightforward PUSS at row 5.
Suddenly the CHAMELEON winked at me, and I started thinking more along David's lines. Still, at first I saw only the INSECT part of row 11. But that was more owing to my ignorance of entomology than anything else. But I did rememeber, and see the CAMOUFLAGEd LEAF before I came to the column.
I've heard of ANAPHORA, but it took a long time to call it up. The other problem up there was trying to remember the name of the sportswear manufacturer. I kept thinking of LACROSSE.
One minor, easily corrected, misstep: TIE TACK before CLIP.
I didn't know COCO either, but was struck that [he???] shared a puzzle with TOTO.
Thanks to all. That was fun.
4
@Deadline - Coco (the movie) stars a young boy named Miguel while the title character is his great-grandmother COCO.
Here's the touching scene near the end of the film where he reaches through the mists of time by singing to her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgmgZmTMxms
The wild dog that adopts Miguel and gets him through all his adventures in the film is named Dante, but he _is_ a XOLO (the national breed of Mexico). And Miguel's big hit song is Un POCO LOCO.
3
Surprised to see how many of the rank and file here were confused between rows and columns.
3
@Al in Pittsburgh
Ya caught me! I made a similar, slightly snarky remark in reply to a comment that had been posted earlier, but before I had read the newer comments.
1
Nice puzzle.
I have a question on my statistics. Is there a way to reset the number of puzzles solved to zero? I prefer not to know.
@Esmerelda I don't know if it can be kept at zero, but you can ask by sending an email to customer care at [email protected].
Couldn't 43D also be lie in since 54D could also be Galilei? I understand why lie in would be considered incorrect since you don't lie in a mattress but you use a mattress as a bed, and you can lie in bed.
@Rob
I think you answered your own question. You LIE ON a bed, but you LIE ON a mattress.
and Elke
What I appreciated about the "hidden" elements is that each segment making up the "creature" was a stand-alone word on its own. That took some doing.
1
I had a hard time spelling the word "Camouflage" affecting some of my down answers - especially Pauline (the name I am not familiar with - but trying to guess) - I did get some of my across answers (in row 3) using the word "Camouflage"
1
Here's what the word DAB dredges up from this old geezer's brain:
Brylcreem ad
https://youtu.be/o6F4GtyRfto
Things have certainly changed, eh?
7
I'm somewhat curious about the commenters who are saying that they didn't think there was a theme until they got to Deb's column. Isn't the clue " 'Trick' used by creatures found in rows 3,5,11 and 13" a strong indicator that there's a theme to look for?
2
Steve,
From the comments I've read, it depends what you mean by "get" the theme. Quite a few people read the revealer clue but "solved" the puzzle without seeing the creatures.
5
@Steve Faiella
The puzzle is solvable without it, that’s all. I was making coffee and returning messages while solving this morning, popping back into the app while on hold. My mind wasn’t fully on it. I didn’t get the full flavor of the puzzle till I read WP later and subsequently looked at the grid again. Sometimes the full joy of the solve falls casualty to weekday morning distractions, that’s all.
8
@Steve Faiella
#stoptheshaming
;-)
8
A little too easy for a Wednesday. Felt more like a Tuesday.
3
@Queenie Yes! It could have even been Monday. I deliberately go slowly on Wednesdays so that my statistics graphic is stepped consistently.
This is only something I could admit to a forum like this. That I care so much about my crossword step. But Wednesdays are too easy.
2
@Twigger
Very interesting. So you curate your “step”? I would make fun of you (in a supportive way, of course), but I’m nerding out on this site, as well. Personally, I would love to have an inverse curve: rocking the Sat, but struggling on Mon cause I don’t know who JENNIFERLOPEZ is...
4
Really enjoyed this one, and finished it fairly quickly, but couldn’t see the theme answers until I read Deb’s column. Very clever! I wasn’t sure about DAB, and had DAP for a time, but appreciated the link to the photo. I’ve seen my 7-year-old grandson do that, but didn’t know what it was called. I won’t tell him it’s passé though. I think he’ll figure that out on his own.
5
Best news I’ve heard all day, that the DAB is not as fab as it once was; thanks for that Deb. I associate the word with this: 🍺...Not atypically, today’s was pretty darned tough. It was fair but HARD; as expected considering the source...I would like to share with the group the winner of my daily ‘corner of quandary award’. It was the brain bending NW!...A soothing ballad is all I can ADD to the mix(up.) “One Day” I’ll get the knack for solving these NYT XXP; just not today. This is Gary MOORE procuring my blues.
https://youtu.be/cjXmTN_Bqt0
FIN,
5
If I didn't post a bird pun, I'd have many EGRETS.
(I'm probably ROBin that from somewhere.)
11
@Mike
I hope this isn’t your swan song.
2
@Mike
They weren't too hard to swallow.
3
Ah, that Steinberg quality, once again demonstrating that this hobby/addiction of ours is an art as well as a science. Thank you, David.
Every now and again I present a post-puzzle puzzle, and so...
Following the puzzle's theme (across and down) will elicit several commonly used initialisms often found as crossword answers. One of them, backwards, spells a noun that is an answer very often found in grids as well. What is the first letter of the famous name often found in the clues for this noun?
(Answer to come later this afternoon.)
2
@Lewis
Well, for me the puzzle of understanding the instructions was the first step! I finally think that I understood, and I will venture "C" as an answer.
1
@Andrew -- Right on the mark! By following the theme, which is finding camouflaged words, that is, where the word starts on one side of the black square and ends on the other, there are several initialisms, such as PSA, NGO, UPS, APR and REI. PSA backwards is ASP, and the famous person often in the clue for ASP is CLEOPATRA, so the correct answer, which you got, is C.
1
@Lewis
Oh, my goodness, Lewis! You’re like a docent in the art museum, wringing far more meaning (and interest) from a piece than many of us initially see!
Thank you!
Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but like yesterday's puzzle, this one did not do much for me. I"m not fond of clues like "Girl in a bonnet" for lass, when any girl is a lass. And the punch lines (3,5,11,13) did not have any effect during the solve, which would have made it interesting.
@polymath
The bonnet is a hint to the across-the-pond usage, not meant to be literally. If it were, and the clue had been, “A girl in a boot,” it would invoke morbid imagery.
1
@Sam Lyons
But I think the issue is whether “bonnet” conjures an image of Scotland. I don’t think it does. I think someone was thinking “bonny lass” and just changed a few letters, thinking the Caledonian connection was still there. It isn’t.
3
@Steve L
I agree it doesn’t, but that’s why I think it’s a brilliant play on our instinctive word associations. Any girl could be pictured in a “bonnet:” a lass, a maid, a gal. Our mind is subconsciously steered toward the British or Scottish vernacular, however, because with the popularization of Britishisms in the age of internet (and the streaming of British, Scottish, and Welsh TV), Americans are fascinated with words like bonnet, swizzle sticks, amongst, etc.
True story: The battery on my SUV died earlier this year. The dealership dispatched a tow truck from a company they don’t normally use and the driver struggled with popping the hood for a bit. I didn’t know how to either, so he pulled out his phone to google it and, dropping his Texas accent, he offered, “These bloody British bonnets,” in the best Received Pronunciation I’ve heard in these parts. Then he grinned and winked at me. “You should buy American, miss.”
The cute sense of humor of my tow truck driver aside, it makes my teeth hurt when my very American students take to incorporating “amongst” into their everyday speech in an attempt to sound more educated.
3
Anybody else having difficulty with the puzzles on NYT online? Just on my iPad! They work on my phone!?
I’m having problems accessing the spelling bee, word box, etc. on my iPad when I use the newspaper app. Can still access crossword through the crossword app. This started after most recent upgrade to newspaper app.
See my comments in an earlier thread re the NYT newspaper app. Short version: don’t use it for crosswords. Use the Crossword app for the puzzle and the browser (Safari) for Wordplay.
TL;DR - don't use apps
Pretty quick Wednesday - just a tick longer than my average Tuesday.
That said, what a fun puzzle! I loved the theme, and it was well-executed. As someone else has noted, I loved seeing OPUS below OCTOPUS.
Regarding OPUS - while it is, indeed, a numbered composition, numbered compositions can also be be the opposite! Perhaps most famously, Beethoven's bagatelle "Fur Elise" is officially listed as WoO 59, or Werke ohne Opuszahl (work without opus number) 59.
3
Yet another beauty by David Steinberg. Even with CAMOUFLAGE staring me in the face, I didn't see the animals hiding in plain sight. When they did emerge, my surprise was a delighted aha and my admiration for David's gift went off the charts.
P(LEA-(FIN)-(SECT)ION = brilliant!!!
I LOVED it!
2
Re: the photo
Wouldn't a LEOPARD born in The Netherlands be Dutch rather than Sri Lankan?
1
@Andrew
He’s Sri Lankan-Dutch. It’s like being Texan-American. Or French-Canadian.
2
@Sam Lyons - there's no such thing as Texan-American, you are either one or the other.
4
@David Connell
I see your tongue is as firmly planted in your cheek this morning as mine. [big smile]
...And here I was thinking how uncharacteristically tame the puzzle was! The clues were not tricky (well, I know it's Wednesday, but David Steinberg, after all) and I did not pick up on the hidden animals (Thanks, Deb!)
The column gave me an enjoyable Aha Moment.
On with the (wet, stormy) day!
3
I can only access the crossword puzzle through NYT.com
I have not been able to access the crossword puzzles through the NYT app for the last two days. I rebooted my Ipad and also deleted and restored the app to no avail. The message says “we’re sorry but we seem to be having technical difficulties....”
@Karen Walker
The NYT newspaper app or the NYT Crossword app?
Having the same problem. Can’t get letter box or spelling bee on my iPad!They work on my phone though!
@Steve L the NYT newspaper app. I can access the crossword on the app on my phone but not on my Ipad.
Very smooth and subtle this one, opening up into increasing complexity and enjoyment, not unlike like a good wine or scotch. Speaking of which, is it too early?
5
archaeoprof,
I believe the expression is "It's after 5 pm somewhere."
3
@archaeoprof
Depending on what courses you have to teach today, it could be either a help or a hindrance!
3
@Barry Ancona here's a link to the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPCjC543llU
4
A very definite “Solve” (not “Completion”) - and in about HALF of my average. Would have been a new PB - - except for the following gaffs.
GOLF BAG, EXCUSE ME, and DA VINCI - - my only excuse for the latter being that I am reading his biography at the moment and it seems like every discovery in history - short of the Higgs Boson - was his.
And I’ve seen CAMOFLAGE (apparently) mis-spelled so often that the correct spelling escaped me all together - and the only PAULINE I’ve ever heard of was in “Perils of _____”
TIL ANAPHORA and ELISION (except I sorta knew this one).
TIDNTL (today I didn’t need to learn) E ONLINE - but I did.
Fortunately I’m starting to get used to being blown away by the imagination and ingenuity of our constructors. Otherwise I would be regaining consciousness on the other side of room right about now.
The theme TOTALLY escaped me because I would have called the relevant rows by their initial numbers in the puzzle, i.e. 17, 23, 45, and 54. I figured the clue was referring to COLUMNS 3, 5, 11 and 13 - - and finding anything hiding on those letters was decidedly unrewarding.
3
@PeterW
Let me join the club here -- I found APE in 13D . COATI in 3D and LION in 11D ....
@PeterW
Add me to those confused by the definition of "rows" in the clue to 35A!
@Ron
Tomorrow's lesson will be "rank" and "file."
Any puzzle that honors us mollusks (especially in the theme) is peachy-keen with me.
6
Steinberg is truly an artist. Nothing is more mentally satisfying to me than zipping through one of his daily puzzles while charmed by the wit, ingenuity and erudition of the clues.
3
Animals that use CAMOUFLAGE are CAMOUFLAGED in this puzzle. What an inspired idea and how gorgeously executed! While this is quite possibly the easiest Steinberg puzzle I've ever done, I do believe, if memory serves (and in my case memory doesn't always serve) that this is my favorite DS puzzle ever. The cleverest and the most original. Once I had CHAMELEON, I could scarcely wait to see what the other animals would be. But I behaved myself and filled the puzzle in in orderly fashion.
I must go to Jeff Chen and see if he made this his POW. I'm pretty sure I would -- though I haven't seen all the other candidates yet. Really nifty.
3
Jeff Chen did make this his POW. I'm glad he did.
1
With GAMER as an answer, if the clue for PAULINE had been "Mario's love", it would have been a nice juxtaposition. "I know of Mario's PAULINE because my kids were arcade GAMERs"
@ColoradoZ
The editors take pains not to have too many clues from the same arena, especially if that area would be difficult for certain demographics. I knew Kael but would have had to get Mario's love from the crosses, as would you have if you hadn't had the luck of happenstance. (My kids weren't into video games.)
@Steve L
I am sure you are correct re: most people wouldn't know Mario's love. However, I'm not sure a movie critic whose last review was almost thirty years ago isn't as obscure.
I'm not sure two clues from the same arena is too many.
1
@ColoradoZ
It might be a New York thing. She was quite well-known.
4
I really enjoyed the theme and was doubly happy to find a camel in the chameleon and an opus below the octopus.
3
More cute kitty and cub pictures in the column are eye candy for me. Three in a week! Purr.
The puzzle? A surprisingly fast effort for a Steinberg, also continuing this week’s trend.
2
Very enjoyable puzzle. Seemed pretty tough when I started but ended up a bit on the easy side for a Wednesday. I really like it when getting the theme is integral to the solve, and this one certainly was. ANAPHORA and BECHAMEL were both in the category of things I kinda, sorta know so was pleased to correctly work them both out.
One oddity for me. I usually read through all the across clues first, but today I started working both ways early on. After I was done I realized that I had never even read the clues for LPGA and TOTO - both of which would have been immediate gimmes.
And lastly, inspired by 2d (I swear this is true): Many years ago I worked in a plant nursery in Florida. One afternoon me and a couple other guys were getting pretty scratched up working on trimming some potted palms with particularly thorny stems. After a while I stood up, sighed and said "With fronds like these, who needs ANEMONES?"
15
I've always found it pretty easy to spot chameleons. They are definitely neat creatures, with their independently moving eyes. But in terms of their alleged camouflage, I'll believe it when I see it.
2
Gary (in the U.K.?),
Have you observed chameleons in their natural habitat?
Chameleons are adapted for climbing and visual hunting. They live in warm habitats that range from rain forest to desert conditions, with various species occurring in Africa, Madagascar, southern Europe, and across southern Asia as far as Sri Lanka. They also have been introduced to Hawaii, California, and Florida, and often are kept as household pets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chameleon
2
A smooth BÉCHAMEL is tough to make and spell, bemoaned Tom balefully.
Thanks David
3
At first, the LEO PARD was invisible. But eventually he was spotted.
30
@Mike R
And upon spotting him, I exclaimed to my husband joyfully: “Look, it’s LEO, PARD!”
3
Fun puzzle. Interesting to see all the DALI creations at his museum in St Petersburg, Florida!
1
I briefly wondered if there was a little more to the theme when I saw OPUS below the hidden OCTOPUS. No such luck. I’m surprised so many did not get the theme because we were explicitly told that there were creatures in specific rows. Even though I saw INSECT at first in row 11, it seemed insufficient as it did not use all of the entries of the row. LEAF INSECT quickly put that concern to rest.
4
LETTER BOXED
J-M(10), M-E(4)
2
@Mari
Found the same quickly, after being shut out yesterday.
1
@Mari
Me too.
No 13 yet, sort of a surprise with 5 vowels at hand.
1
@Mari
Yes, this one was easy for me (at last).
1
I can't imagine not trying to figure out the theme after reading the intriguing clue. I also wasted a bit of time looking at the columns rather than the rows, but not much. I didn't get the LEAF part of LEAF INSECT, and thought that was the least interesting of the theme answers, but it is probably the best. I think it was deliberately slightly easy for a Wednesday so we could concentrate on the really clever theme, and agree with Jeff's POW.
8
Another CAMOUFLAGEd creature that appears in this puzzle driving a brown delivery truck is the UPS APE. A rare sighting indeed.
5
SPELLING BEE
38 words, 149 points, 1 pangram, bingo
4 5 6 7 8 11 Tot
B 5 2 1 - - 1 9
C 2 5 2 2 1 - 12
E - - 2 1 - - 3
L 7 2 - - - - 9
N 1 2 - - - - 3
O 1 - - - - - 1
V 1 - - - - - 1
49
@x one slang word that’s a shortening of the whole word, a couple Spanish words, one Irish word, a couple words in the list with 2 letter prefixes to make new words.
7
@x Thanks for the Grid x. The Panagram was the last word I got today - not due to the of the Bee Keeper!
1
@Mari That should have read: not due to the (Panagram) of the Bee Keeper. Forgot that adding angled brackets messes up Javascript!
7
Quick but, like others, I wish the theme was highlighted. I forgot about 35a’s clue as I worked through the puzzle. I remembered only after I was done and read Deb’s column.
Public service announcement here: If you learned about DABbing through Deb’s column, please don’t do it. If you take that as a challenge, try not to do it in public unironically. It is really out of style and you will embarrass yourself and those around you. You’re welcome. 😉
5
@Pani Korunova
I would have been embarrassed to do it - - - EVER!!
3
@Pani Korunova
But if they were highlighted, they wouldn't be camouflaged! :-)
4
@Steve Faiella
That’s a big DUH to me 🤦🏾♀️!!
I don't understand how solvers can say they didn't get the theme until they read Deb's column when one of the clues, 35 across, delineates the theme. There is no missing it.
10
@Peter Jackel
I suppose that's true. In my case, I filled in all the letters, including the revealer without finding the camouflaged animals hidden in the rows. I did have an idea that there would be words hidden in those rows, so in that sense I "got" the theme.
After finishing the puzzle, I started to read the column, then remembered I had never found the hidden words. So I went back and hunted for and found them, except for LEAF INSECT, which was not coming to me. After reading the column, I finally knew all four theme answers and at that point, I would say I fully understood the theme.
2
@Peter Jackel
I was so spent from having solved the puzzle in 1 minute and 33 seconds that I didn’t have the mental strength to look.
10
@Peter Jackel solvers who try to finish ASAP don’t have time to count rows and look for camouflaged creatures. Happily, being retired, I’m in no rush!
1
The camouflaged animal in PLEA FIN SECTION is a LEAF INSECT. Leaf insects, some times called walking leaves, look like leaves and that is their camouflage.
10
I wonder if leaf insects turn colors in the autumn.
4
I was feeling all good about myself until I read that everyone thought it was easy. But I also realized I don’t know how to spell or pronounce stuff.
I have never written the word CAMOUFLAGE before tonight. I didn’t realize there was a U. I spend probably 25 weekends a year at the coast and have seen a million, what I thought were called anenomes (ANEMONES)...
5
Understandable about CAMOUFLAGE maybe because of the slang short form "camo". Never heard of anyone wearing "camou"
2
@Joe
I think that’s the short form in France!😜
2
I really do think that the theme was wasted - perhaps boxes or numbered rows would have helped. Counting down to row 11 or 13 was not very satisfying. While it was easy enough to find the theme entries after the fact (including LEAF INSECT – Deb, get editing!), it's just not much fun if they don't contribute to the solving experience – and truly wasting the considerable effort the constructor put into it.
Perhaps another Shortzfall?
Well I should go lie on my bed now, but sadly I have no-one to lay with.
4
Quick but fun, and a clever theme. The only cross that I found myself really guessing on was PAULINE/CREEL, as I'd not heard of either, but figured that the intersection could either be an A or an O. Re: ANAPHORA, I'd initially thought of anaphore, but convinced myself that that couldn't be right because that's a system for communication with flags (actually semaphore).
1
The obvious DALI at 1A should have been enough to make me realize I was doing a Tuesday instead of a Wednesday puzzle. But that corner turned out to be the part that was like a Wednesday puzzle, with DAB (Deb's picture leaves me still in the dark), BECHAMEL and LACOSTE, two more things way outside my bailiwick. When I was told I had an error somewhere, I had to look up "pechamel," and Yahoo!'s kindly correction saved the day.
@kilaueabart
Interesting how everyone is so different. You don’t mention ANAPHORA hanging you up, which to me was by far the hardest part of that corner. LACOSTE and DAB were gimmies. Hope you haven’t been a victim of PG&E PSPS.
2
@Newbie
I had iNAPHORA from the crosses, not by the clue. I figured it had to be ANAPHORA, a familiar word that I may never have known the meaning of. I'm always astonished to find out people all know those other things I've never heard of.
Worse, I sat down to do the Wednesday morning puzzle, then half-way through remembered it was Tuesday night, and thus it must be the Tuesday puzzle. Scary!
@Newbie
I had iNAPHORA from the crosses, not by the clue. I figured it had to be ANAPHORA, a familiar word that I may never have known the meaning of. I'm always astonished to find out people all know those other things I've never heard of.
Worse, I sat down to do the Wednesday morning puzzle, then half-way through remembered it was Tuesday night, and thus it must be the Tuesday puzzle. Scary!
I've been in a good PG&E place, but I wonder how many streaks were broken.
Either I’m getting better, or this week is particularly easy. Set my all time best on all 3 days this week! This one was particularly fun with those hidden animals, and they definitely helped me solve the bottom.
3
What happens when you’re advised that your comment was approved, but it doesn’t show up? The link takes me to Comments, but my message isn’t there - either in the thread I responded to, or at the top. Takes some of the fun out of it, not to mention being unable to share my own two cents. Oh well, I did enjoy the puzzle!
@Rosalita
Not sure if this your problem, but as I was advised yesterday, don’t read comments using the nyt app. Only the first three replies appear. Use a browser.
1
@Newbie - Oh. New info. Thx. just found it, doing that. There was a box that said "show all replies" after the first few and there was my post. TIL.
2
@Rosalita
Let me add (since I made the comment to Newbie yesterday) that it's easy to find the Wordplay column on a browser if you save the puzzle hub page ( https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords ) into your favorites. Then you can click on "Read about today's puzzle on Wordplay" just below the daily puzzle icon.
It's better than bookmarking the Wordplay home page, because you don't have to scroll down past the featured articles that you weren't going to read anyway to get to the current day's column.
2
and Elke
Yea- a David Steinberg.
Was a bit easier than expected. Since 35A told me that creatures were hiding in rows 3,5 ,11 and 13 and the revealer told us that they use CAMOUFLAGE it went quickly.
Made me think of plant flowers that use mimicry to attract (rather than hide from ) pollinators:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimicry_in_plants
Especially orchids have some interesting "devices".
Some CZECHS I know have experienced several changes in their history: born in CZECHoslovakia, which became Hungary, then USSR, now part Slovakia and Ukraine. Talk about CAMOUFLAGE.
Interesting combo :GOES STAG, DADS -being diaper changers and infants with CROUP...
Tricky puzzle to pull off, David- nice job.
Now to look at that recipe for BECHAMEL with olive oil.
2
I think this was a real gem.
The fact that the four camouflaged animals all engage in crypsis in some way made it a stunnning set of themers. They were so well hidden that I think many solvers will have missed them until either reading up about the puzzle or just tackling the filled-out grid in an effort to understand the meaning of the revealer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypsis
--
Galileo indeed observed Saturn's rings, but didn't have a good enough telescope to interpret them as rings. To him they were "ears" that, surprisingly came and went over time (due to the plane of Saturn varying in relation to the place of Earth). That variation along with his observation of the Galilean moons introduced a wrinkle into the previously secure cosmos with Earth at the center.
--
I wonder if hired dancers at celebrations use camouflage, too? Hora Pros, I mean.
16
I only had to look up 2 things: Colombian PESO & PAULINE Kael. The rest I knew or got from crosses. I had to correct history muse Cleo to CLIO when I finished, Pretty quick otherwise.
2
@Kevin Davis
Four-letter Latin American currency is going to be PESO most of the time.
CREEL for fishing basket (to help get PAULINE through crosses) is worth remembering. Friendly letters lead to frequent appearances, with only one way to clue it. CLIO is the four-letter muse, and also an advertising award. Good to put in your back pocket as well.
2
Quickest Wednesday ever. Also quickest David Steinberg puzzle as well, I'm pretty sure. As did others, I missed the theme until I read Deb's column.
I remember some of the things I learned in a rhetoric course many years ago, but tricolon came to me before ANAPHORA. Ah well.
🙂
3
Starbucks specifically does *not* sell decaf coffee at night, so this is a misinformed clue, though I'm sure that it did not lead anyone the wrong way.
I have tried at several and they, as policy, stop making decaf coffee sometime in the early evening. Either they just don't get the concept of decaf coffee, or they have done more market research than I have. ;)
4
@PaulSFO
Hence the entry of DECAF Americanos into my life.
2
@Vaer Ah, yup. I like decaf coffee, and even decaf espresso, but I just don't like the taste of americanos, decaf or otherwise.
It's too bad, because Starbucks seem to be open later than Peets, my usual go to place, but then they don't have what I want to drink. ;)
Has Peets made it to Brooklyn? Or Philz? Philz is the first place I ever heard of which did hand pours.* It started in one portion of a bodega in the SF Mission District, but now it's a small chain.
* Someday there will be a big statue at the Wharton School of someone hand-pouring a cup. That will be to honor the genius who finally figured out how to make a cup of coffee cost more than $5!
2
@PaulSFO Here, in the homeland of Starbucks, it is getting difficult to find a Starbucks that is open past 7pm.
1
All well and good but you don’t LIE ON a mattress - you LAY ON a mattress...
@Emily Bertsche
Present tense (as clued) “lie on,” past tense “lay on.”
4
@Emily Bertsche
Lie is the present tense of the verb that means to recline, and lay is the past tense. So I lie on a mattress every night is correct.
Lay in the present requires an object: I lay the book on the table.
Lie/lay is a tricky one to remember.
16
@Hildy Johnson
Well put. “Used, as a mattress” would have been a tricky clue.
3
This was a new word for me, this ANAPHORA. This was a new and curious word, but it crossed in easily. This was such a new and challenging word, that I had to go look it up. This was such a new and powerful word, that I might just take for a spin someday.
(Hey, Deb, I saw what you did with the photo...or, I didn't see what you did? Or saw what you didn't do? Or...hmm. Anyway, I caught on, I think.)
6
@Alan J
Well...I swear there wasn't a photo when I wrote my comment. And now there is. I thought you had "camouflaged" the photo altogether. So...never mind!
@Alan J - I thought your comment referred to the "spotted cats photo every other day" pattern!
2
Please tell me I wasn't the only one searching in vain for hidden words in the vertical rows (which I guess are called columns).
6
@Wags
You’re not the only one. I forgot puzzle lingo. Wish I hadn’t. Would’ve been more fun to search before reading Deb’s reveal of CHAMELON. Still was a satisfying Aha!
1
When librarians catalogue a book, they write a description of it with standardized terminology used in all English-speaking countries. In cataloguing terminology, “pages” means sheets of paper printed on both sides; “leaves∏” means sheets of paper printed on one side only. So the answer to “Leaves at the library?” when answered by PAGES is no.
2
@Fact Boy
Yet "Overleaf is used in books and magazines to say that something is on the other side of the page you are reading," according to at least one dictionary.
2
You might also have mentioned the verb "to leaf," meaning to turn a page. My comment was prompted by the phrase "at the library." I have been employed by a county, the federal government, and a nonprofit at one library or another and have catalogued a few thousand books and other publications in my time, so I instinctively recoil at the conflation of "pages" and "leaves." Sorry, can't help myself.
1
@Fact Boy
Did it ever occur to you that in addition to the technical definitions, there might also be everyday non-technical definitions?
My eighth-grade math teacher taught me that a line was something that extended forever in two directions, but no one ever said they were standing at the supermarket in a line segment.
6
Very quick for me, too. Forgot to look for themers until I came to Wordplay, woops! They definitely enhance the fun. (Back to baseball. Nats are alive by one run at this writing!)
2
@Ann
On to Game 7!
1
@Ann those of us who watch sports in real time or who record to watch later would appreciate not running into spoilers. thanks for understanding.
@Laurence of Bessarabia
I’d say that I’m much more at fault than Ann on that score, and I apologize for the blunder. I am a little confused by the first clause of your first sentence, but it could just be my early morning denseness.
This puzzle was so easy I didn’t realize it even had a theme. But it’s always satisfying to solve a Wednesday puzzle as easily as a Monday or Tuesday, so I’m NOT complaining!
7
I love the inclusion of ANAPHORA at 15A. It caused great consternation on the Spelling Bee just a few days ago.
4
For some reason that seemed easier than expected. I know it's just a Wednesday after all, but my time is actually better than yesterday's.
The theme - I didn't get it until I started reading the Deb's write up and saw the first one. Then I went and found the others easily enough. I don't think it would have helped with the solve, but I can't tell. I thought at first it was animals whose name was hidden in there, somewhat scrambled, when I looked at line 3. Because there was beChAMEL. And E!ONLINE has the letters for LION in slightly different order. But that wasn't it.
Had COLIC before CROUP. GOLF BAG before PRO SHOP.
Was thinking Latvians, Slovenes, before the Z came along on 9D which made it obviously CZECHS. ANAPHORA appearing a few days after it appeared in the Spelling Bee. Did I mention I don't believe in coincidence?
And by the way, that STAG is not CAMOUFLAGEd at all. Neither is that EGRET. After seeing the letters for LION, I see them all over the place.
The puzzle was fun, but I didn't get the theme early enough to thoroughly enjoy it.
2
Very cool theme.
Very fast solve (for me).
So, for me, Thursday-like deviousness (theme) combined with Tuesday-like difficulty, camouflaging a very enjoyable Wednesday puzzle.
(True confession: I didn’t get the theme until I read Deb’s reveal. Does that make this a “Complete” rather than a “Solve” if I apply PeterW’s formula?)
2
What did the wildebeest say when it’s predator jumped on him?
LEOPARDONME!
14
I typed its. Really. The Times app changed it to it’s.
8
@Mr. Mark I believe you! :)
1
I especially liked OCTOPUS. Well, and CHAMELEON, too. LEAF INSECT felt like it was a little bit more generic name, outside the group of specific critters. But I don't know what other name I would give an insect that looks like a leaf.
It was interesting seeing ANAPHORA here, after its recent appearance in the Spelling Bee.
I tried GOLF BAG before PRO SHOP and COLIC before CROUP, but neither of those lasted long.
Very entertaining!
8
@Liz B , I was chuffed to put in ANAPHORA instantly, thanks to the Bee.
3
@Liz B
Some species of LEAF HOPPER do a pretty good job of "hiding in plain sight"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jean_hort/2426331127
but I think the king of insect camouflage is the WALKING STICK
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/walkingsticks-stick-insects
2
There are 300 species of octopus and only 50 of leaf insect, so if anything is unspecific, it’s octopus!
4
Now THIS was a really interestingly designed puzzle.
5
I think "Leaf Insect" is the camouflaged creature in row 11.
16
@Scott Fritz
You’re right. David’s notes about the puzzle at Xwordinfo.com back you up:
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/30/2019
@Scott Fritz - yes, explicitly stated in the Constructor Notes.
2
@Wen
Missed the Constructor Notes right there below Deb’s column, in plain view, clearly visible, not even trying to hide. (Jeff gave this a POW!, which I kind of expected because he loves ingenious construction and this was that, even if the solve was more of a Tuesday than a Wednesday in terms of difficulty).
2
Crocodile, not alligator. René Lacoste’s nickname was the Crocodile.
2
@Steve L
Le Croc....