Deb, I never think to myself I could make a crossword puzzle because I could never make a clue such as layer; hen. these all too vague clues make me nuts and I would never put something like this in a puzzle and so I would never be able to complete a crossword puzzle construction. I have enough misery in my life just trying to solve them.
On the subject of 29A, I absolutely must share my newly discovered favorite video on the internet. My friends, this is "Amore:" https://youtu.be/8PVal8Fy7CM
2
I enjoyed this puzzle although found it much easier than most Thursdays not necessarily a bad thing. There was definitely a lot to love in the fills ! But I have never heard of CHILLAX before. CHILLAX???? Where is it from? Who uses it? Thanks!
1
@Lin Kaatz Chary It’s a mashup of chill out and relax. Kind of old school now, it popped up just after the millennial.
1
I was really hoping the answer to 35A was TROPHYWIFI.
7
This puzzle was so much fun, with many witty and amusing misdirections. Congratulations on a brilliant debut, Barbara Lin.
Meet each other HALFWAY - I like that.
4
I don't usually read these columns, but I enjoyed this puzzle and its clever theme much more than usual. Welcome to a very exclusive club, Ms. Lin!
7
I put tap for SAP and got the plural wrong for CORONAE. Initially I though CLIP was trot.i wanted chill out or calm down, but the answer was CHILLAX. I thought tears were silent, but they’re also SALINE.
2
@Kevin Davis Thanks. I also found that corner difficult.
Nice debut Barbara - enjoyed that one (especially for a Thursday!)
4
I lost my streak with 'bean' instead of BRAN for something with fiber. that left me with 'haem' and I wondered if it was referring to heme and pernicious anemia.... oh well. I guess the lesson is don't over think it. even on a Thursday.
5
From one Barbara to another:
Sufficiently complex to be enjoyable but not painfully frustrating.
Thanks!
Did not know
CHILLAX
LAILA
EPS
it was the inhabitants of VERSAILLES that needed freeing! Good for you, Harry and Meghan. So much unhappiness in Princess Margaret's life. Nothing like living in Idlib of course.
Got all but 4 spaces on my own, good for me.
I find Fridays easier than Thursdays, perhaps because many of the answers are phrases. also, my dyslexia makes it difficult for me to read vertically, certainly a handicap here!
sometimes what makes an easy or difficult puzzle relates to whether or not you and the puzzle maker share a similar fund of knowledge, culture, syntax and phraseology. All Barbaras are in their 50s and 60s. It's one of few names that has not been recycled from the 1940s and 1950s. Lots of overlap, and a lack of more diverse content were in my favor.
4
@Barbara Katz - you've led me down a little side path for sure! My godmother and other relatives are Barbaras, so I started with a knee-jerk, "That's not an unusual name!" Then I thought of all the children (pre-school through high school) that I've taught in the past 35 years, and, sure enough, not a single Barbara comes to mind except among their parents! My great-aunts were Isabel and Matilda, which seemed like very musty old-fashioned names when I was young, yet I've taught dozens of students with those names! Even my grandmother's Veronica / Vera has popped up regularly.
5
@David Connell Sort of on the same track. Had a man do some drywall work at our house this afternoon. His name was Horace. I had a great-uncle named Horace and... those are the only two people I have ever met with that name.
I'm guessing you didn't have kids in your classes with that name.
1
My wife reports no Barbara students in 30 years of K-12. No Horaces either.
For 2018, the number of births with name Barbara is 285, which represents 0.015 percent of total female births in 2018.
Horace is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth beginning with 2000.
Source:
https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi
2
Not bad for a Thursday puzzle.
1
@MG
Are you speaking New Yorkese?
not bad = good
3
It would have been nice to have an indication that 41D was a bit of a slang word, but that's a minor quibble. And, in fairness, perhaps "chillax" is more standard than I think it is. I live in a small town and I'm not all that hip. 😊
B.C.,
Quotes in the clue signal that the answer should also be a spoken expression; that *was* the indication that the answer might be less than formal.
1
Also, "Simmer down!" is a bit informal...
2
I smiled when I got my first theme answer (FREE VERSAILLES) and seeing how it worked helped me with the others. Nice bite on the cluing. A most enjoyable solve and a promising debut. Please come forth with more, Barbara, and thank you for this!
But I saw your hidden message, your urging for the SENATE, that is, the Ernsts, Youngs, WARRENS, et. seq., to STUN the world, SIDE with justice, and LOCK UP enough AYE votes to boot the SHAM who is IN OUT. Shame on you for getting so political in a puzzle!
34
@Lewis, Hope the emus won’t object to this tidbit: I read in the news that a person in the SENATE (not Ernst or Young) was seen doing a crossword! Was it the seven seas from yesterday? Or maybe a saved-up Saturday Stumper that I’ve heard some of you do? I’m just not sure how to feel about the whole thing...
5
@Margaret
My display shows (at 2:25 PM EST) that your reply posted 5 hours ago, while the comment you were replying to (by Lewis) posted 2 minutes ago.
Only at the NYT!
Steve,
I think Lewis' post reposted from 5+ hours ago; not likely to get 20 reco's in 5 minutes in the middle of the afternoon.
Felt doomed after nothing but AMORE, HEN, ARK, CPA, and TWA first time through the crosses. (Had AXIS too for a while but decided it was misleading me and erased it.) Got enough downs in the bottom half to come up with FREEVERSAILLES and an idea of the theme, but after nearly and hour the top was still empty except for GIveme?SINAI (not enough of a clue because I mispronounce as "sin eye") so I turned to the column. OCULAR let me fill in the NW, ALGEBRA gave me the NE. BIKO wasn't enough for the top center; I still needed GIMME and ALFA to get everything filled in except _ENiTE and _REtES in the SE before I quit for the night.
This morning I researched toy story, found out it had dinosaurs, so I was allowed to do SENATE after all, even though I can't connect it with the clue, and CHILLAX seems very weird.
The record keeper thinks I am back up to five Fridays in a row, but not so!
2
Five "Fridays"? Big clue as to why I am starting to have so much trouble with crosswords!
1
@kilaueabart - CHILL + RELAX = CHILLAX. U.S. Senate members include Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Todd Young (R-Indiana).
3
Well, this one was definitely not my wheelhouse. Here's the list of the carnage ...
58A: (google ey.com)
7D: EYEDROP
21D: ACID
41D: CHILLIT
49D: LITRE
1
Very enjoyable, and a fast time for me, as I see it was for some others. That’s not cause for complaint as far as I’m concerned. It’s great to see a new constructor, so congratulations, Barbara Lin! I got a kick out of all the themers, and got the idea early on, with bow ties. When “wears a bow tie” didn’t fit I knew there had to be some Thursday fun, and soon saw the light. Last area to fall for me was SE. Great misdirection on the Ernst and Young clue, as I think many of us were thinking of the company and not two senators. I am among those who didn’t easily think of CHILLAX, and I’ll admit I looked at a few comments to get it. And that led to TREXES, which had also stumped me, even though I’m quite familiar with all the Toy Story characters. Thanks again for a Thursday morning mental workout.
3
Very nice puzzle. It began smoothlyish, chugging through the NE, SE, SW with very definite resistance, but that left just the NW. Alas, once again got all jammed up in the (as ever) northwest. Did not know in-out doors were a thing, was stuck on vision-related words beginning with OPT, forgot that tricep is not triceps, so is informal, and did not think of what one may do to the boat, like forever, so just had rapt, hen, and carp for way too long. Then finally (a) rest, and then Sonora dawned, which led to a quick completion after that. But all's well that ends well! Had kind of thought ocular specifically referred to the eye and not to vision per se, but that's not the case. Look forward to learning what glamping is and why it's yurtesque. Very nice misdirection throughout. Admit I'm not sure I see how "itching to be challenged" connects with "Gimme a Sinai" — but expect to find out soon.
1
Haven't figured out from this page why "Gimme a Sinai" or "Gimme a sign" is related to "itching for a challenge," so I wonder if some kind soul would explain that to me. (But just looked up glamping, which I'd never heard before, to learn that it means glamorous camping. Hmm, to me that means staying at a luxury hotel and going on day hikes.)
1
polymath,
SINAI ... Mideast diplomat ... challenge?
@polymath maybe a reference to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Crisis and related wars over the sinai peninsula?
1
All those in favor of good optometrists say eye.
(But if you prefer horses, vote neigh.)
11
@Mike
Oy!
3
@Andrew - perhaps you are unaware of the appropriateness of your comment, in light of Inc. / Ltd. : Oy is a Finnish version of the same abbreviation at the end of a company name, as in
Nokia Oy.
7
@David Connell
You’re right. I was unaware of its not inappropriateness!
3
Double congratulations, Barbara, both on your NYT debut and on your POW from Jefff. When both achievements are in the same puzzle, there's some sort of geometric achievement there.
The theme was kinda relaxed for a Thursday, but it worked very well for me. Took a bit for me to get from GIVE ME to GIMME, but I was glad when I was finally able to fit the entry into the allotted spaces.
NW was the most difficult area for me. I didn't know this meaning of UNICORN. (Or, as I said in an earlier reply, many other meanings.) Don't know my Mexican states or their locations, and IN/OUT sent me around in circles.
EMIRATE took longer than it should have because I was so unhappy that ERITREA didn't fit. (Not that I knew where ERITREA is.)
I liked seeing YURT, just because it's such a fun word.
Good to see OCULAR and EYE EXAM in the same puzzle. Also a reminder to make an appointment.
Altogether a satisfying, and impressive, puzzle. Welcome to the constructors' stable, Barbara. We'll be expecting a lot of you in your future contributions.
6
Yeah, I don’t know about this one. Lots of puns, the lowest form of humor. Some challenging clues and a few fun ones, but some frustrating nits to pick.
ESS is not a Scrabble tile.
TMC is basic cable, not premium, last I checked.
CHILLAX? Really? It could have at least been clues as slang.
@Mike
TMC is The Movie Channel, a companion channel to Showtime, not TCM, Turner Classic Movies. This gets a lot of people first time they see it.
5
"ESS is not a Scrabble tile."
Mike,
It is in a crossword puzzle, and double letter score in one with a phonetic theme.
8
Mike, chillax *was* clued as slanguage, by the idiomatic phrase "Simmer down!"
3
This is a well-constructed puzzle, and it was a smooth solve for me, although I got hung up in the dumbest way on 53D. Even though I know of the existence of TEA GARDENS, I couldn’t summon TEA. I don’t think that TEA garden is comparable to TEA party in usage. A small nit but wondering if I’m missing something?
@Kate I’m not completely sure if I understand your question, but I think you may be overthinking the clue. The only link the clue means to imply between TEA garden & TEA party is the word TEA.
2
@Kate Well, there are garden parties, so maybe there could be a TEA garden party:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAHR7_VZdRw
..
1
@Rich in Atlanta why not?! And nice to hear Ricky Nelson:-).
1
I got IRKED when I didn't hear the happy music. Who knew you could get tripped up by good old IRE and its family. Really fun puzzle.
1
@Sophia Leahy
Understandable, but IRK means "annoy", IRE "anger."
IRK is clued with "miff," "annoy," "bu," "needle," and the like.
IRE is clued with "angers," "steams," "ticks off," "provokes," and the like.
It's a small difference, but it's not really a MAUNA LOA/KEA thing.
Hope this helps.
1
@Steve L Thank you for the distinction. Sloppy on my part; and stubbornness that I couldn't see my error for far too many seconds! I have stumbled on LOA/KEA before I've had enough coffee.
I found this very easy--a little too easy for Thursday. I finished in about half my usual Thursday time. This is not a slam against the puzzle! It's just not twisty (or sadistic?) enough for Thursday.
3
@Adina You read my thoughts exactly. I prefer something more substantial in the trick department on Thursday. This had a Monday/Tuesday level of difficulty.
@Tony S ,
I'd call it a Wednesday. Tuesday at the earliest.
3
AYE, this was a very enjoyable Thursday puzzle. Congratulations on a great debut!
:-D
8
T REX vs. TREX: the latter is a brand of composite lumber for outside decking or benches.
1
I didn't understand the play on words in the Theme answers until I came here. The revealer I thought was that they all ended in the AYE sound, which they do. My big error was I had HBO and Hi Speed Wifi so that corner was a mess for me. I also had trouble with Ernst and Young since I know them as tax attorneys. For Toy Story, I thought about Andy, Woody, Jesse, Mr. Potato Head and Buzz but nothing worked with Chill It!, which seemed wrong but nothing else fit. I am familiar with Chillax because I have Millenial sons and we joked about this word around 10 years ago. However I have never heard it used as an imperative. I don't think it's used that way, you would not order someone to Chillax. It's more like: What's up? I'm chillaxin. Let's just Chillax tonight. I was able took get 85% without help which is good for me for a Thursday puzzle.
3
@CALPURNIA ,
CHILLAX, dude! That's totally an imperative!
Sorry, couldn't resist. *grin*
9
@Adina
Totally agree it's an imperative. I would never say it out loud to anyone anymore (if I ever did), except ironically. Otherwise I'd be branded a clueless old goat. But I think it in my head at people all the time.
2
@vaer I guess if you say so I just have never heard it used like that and I've heard it used a lot. They say Chill Out more commonly. What I take away from this is: when in trouble, plug in an X.
Enjoyed this consistently interesting puzzle very much. Made me work. Never would have guessed that this is a debut. Got slowed down at 49D when I wrote in LITre, which is how they spell it elsewhere on the planet.
9
I kept wanting to fill my silo with some kind of grain. I felt naïve and a little sad when it turned out to be full of ICBMs. I always associate BMs with bowel movements. I suppose that would really teach Kim Jong-un a lesson, should we ever need to use weapons containing *that* type of BM.
8
@OboeSteph - you could always take BM figuratively to mean bombastic (see what I did there) utterances in general, or more specifically of maniacal heads of state that spew outrageous claims and antagonistic rhetoric.
So ICBM simply becomes those utterances directed at other countries on other continents.
2
@OboeSteph
Ah! That explains why my old IBM computer never worked very well!
2
I saw this Silo clue recently in an archived puzzle I did, but that answer was Atlas or Trident or A bomb or something so I was stumped because I don't know the names of all the Icbm weapons. Sad that these silos even exist.
That's a terrific debut. Congrats Barbara. I wish I could say my debut NYT puzzle (I've only made a few and not in a long time) was this polished. Didn't feel like a first-timer's work at all. Keep 'em coming!
13
@ethan f. -- Terrific point about this puzzle coming across as the work of a veteran. But don't pooh-pooh your debut, Ethan. Just for fun, I took a look at it (2/11/04), and it's clean as a whistle!
3
I'm on the run today but just had to pop in to congratulate Barbara on her most bodacious debut! Once I got what was going on I just smiled -- no beamed -- through the rest of the solve. Very different. Very original. Very, very much fun!
Brava, Barbara!
5
Loved the theme and struggled mightily with the cluing. I found it very hard and would not have finished without cheating.
What was glamping? It rang a faint bell. Some part of me knew it was a recent coinage and that I wouldn't find it in my very ancient Webster's. So I Googled it. After which I still had to figure out where one actually glamps.
I also had to cheat on Odysseus's dog ARGOS.
I was wondering why you would want to meet someone in a HALLWAY, but I caught myself early enough and wrote in HALFWAY.
I had the EE in EYE EXAM and it took me forever to see it. It was sort of DOOK-y and I wanted some sort of SLEEP answer.
I see this is a debut puzzle. It's a witty and challenging one and congrats are in order.
3
@Nancy
You can glamp near Yosemite. My grand daughter did the interior design on these tents for the company involved
https://autocamp.com/guides/location/yosemite/
3
@coloradoz -- My type of camping!! Absolutely!! Were you to check out my blog profile on Rex Parker, you'd see why. Those facilities look more comfortable and cushy than some hotels I've stayed in.
If anyone shares my feelings about camping, you might want to check out the YouTube video "Jews Don't Camp". (The version with the berries). It's hilarious.
3
My older daughter lived in a YURT four summers at Frost Valley YMCA Farm Camp. Not glamping.
4
I did not know the AX of CHILLAX, and am not familiar with Toy Story, so that cross was where I was stuck, but overall it was a good time! Another fun Thursday! Thank you, NYT, Deb, and Barbara!
3
@Mary
Same here!
At 70 , I always delighted to dredge up answers like CHILLAX from who knows where. I've seen several Toy Story movies but had no idea what a TREX was until it was parsed in the comments.
2
Ay yai yai!
Part way through sorting this theme out, I got quite confused with the Mideast diplomat's request. I had A SINAI, but I was thinking that the base phrase must have used the word assign, in keeping with a diplomatic assignment. Furthermore, I wasn't sure whether diplomats would be posted to the SINAI, not being a country per se, and while GIMME is a crossword familiar word, it doesn't sound very diplomatic in government circles, (domestic leaders notwithstanding).
I came up with an interesting variation on the 35A clue/entry, one which evokes the not unmissed comedian Henny Youngman, (Hi Kids!).
"Here! Connect to the internet."
TAKE MY WIFI
8
@Andrew
..please!
5
@Andrew Or the Bible, "thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wifi."
6
@Sophia Leahy
Interestingly enough -- this is indeed contemporary. When I log in after turning on the laptop the local area network lists come up and show my nearest nabe's wifi call letters. Hm!
1
YO!! An excellent Thursday contribution - - and a debut yet! A thoroughly (almost) enjoyable puzzle.
The theme was “gettable” and helped with a couple of the theme answers. Very clever and imaginative.
Loved the clue about “x-factor”! But - - what’s “informal” about TRICEP? Is there a “formal” version of the word?
The “almost” above comes because of CHILLAX - - which I take to be a modern slang corruption/conjunction of “chill” and “relax”. This one falls in my category of “Made-up Words”.
I know. I know. “They were all made up at one time.” And, “If you check (dictionary of choice) or Google, you’ll find blah, blah, blah.” I don’t CARE! This is a pointless, useless, non-contributing made-up word - - the type to which I object. And I don’t blame the constructor so much as the dolts who “legitimized” this alleged “word” in the first place. BLECHHH.
(If you’re not sure how I feel about this - - - - I really can’t help you.)
7
@PeterW
Not to engage in pettifoggery, and kudos for attempting to proactively deflate the pro-language case (when in doubt, I always go with “Blah, blah, blah” to characterize the other side’s argument), but calling a word “made-up” is akin to calling PeterW “PeterW.” It almost makes me believe that you have some deep-seated slanger.
8
@PeterW
"BLECHHH"
Who made that one up?!
@PeterW The correct name fo the muscle is TRICEPs brachii, often shortened to TRICEPs.
I think of TRICEP not as an informal term, but an erroneous one. My saying this will, of course, inspire the Dunning-Kruger set to jump all over me, explaining ins a very condescending manner how I just don't understand how crosswords work.
But, in spite of the inevitable onslaught from the D-K set, I thought your question merited a response.
4
PB with a time more normally achieved on Mondays or easier Tuesdays. The clueing was straightforward, with minimal pop culture or sporting entries. However I’m not generally keen on these types of themes and this was no exception: clever construction maybe, but no use to me as the solver.
One quibble: isn’t a YURT a sight on a glamping site?
3
@Alan Hunter Mongolians prefer "GEHR” to YURT, BTW. The former of their own language.
@Alan Hunter I understand that one often stays in yurts with modern conveniences when "glamping;" therefore, a yurt is a possible glamping site, although one might catch a glimpse of one as well, depending on where one was glamping....
1
SteveG,
Thanks for that bit of information; I'll use it when speaking Mongolian.
one of the most enjoyable Thursday puzzles I've worked on. good job madam constructor! hope to see more from you.
3
Very clever, fun puzzle and theme! A welcome change from last Thursday (Oy!). This is play on words (and phonetics) done right! My first solve for the theme was the one concerning Messrs. Nye and Herman, which I got before I even got to the revealer. Cause I mean... they both ROCK THE BOWTIE! Then once I got the revealer, some of the other themed clues started to fill in, like THE GOOD WIFI. But then I was like “who calls it that?!” And then it hit me when I realized there was another similar play on words in my first theme solve and from there on out it was smooth sailing.
This one had me smiling the whole way through, until HEN finally stumped me. I originally had CORONAS as the cross (because yesterday’s ANTENAS was originally ANTENAE for me, till I realized we were going with English plural instead of Latin, so then this time I thought I was being smart and going the other way... Oh, Latin...). But the Home Shopping Network (HSN) didn’t make much sense as an answer to “Layer” so I changed to cross to the Latin plural to get the correct answer, which only made sense in as far as it was at least an actual word. Then I read Deb’s clarification (thanks as always, Deb!) and went “Oooooh! Good one... you got me!” Just a funny reminder of how strange and wonderful the English language is that you can read one word in different ways (and sometimes even completely different pronunciations) to mean different things.
7
Here, with a nod to [13A] SONORA, is a theme song for the puzzle (in the chorus):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5RC3BJ2PMo
2
@Barry Ancona
Barry, you beat me to it! I thought instead of just AYE for the reveal, AYE AYE AYE clued as the chorus of Cielito Lindo would have been fun. I'll be singing it the rest of the day!
3
@Johanna
But the chorus of Cielito Lindo is "Ay, ay, ay, ay."
AYE is not a Spanish word.
1
Steve,
Phonetic puzzle, phonetic comments. Aye?
3
It’s gratifying to work through a puzzle like this with only a few easy fill-in clues (LTD, ARK, ASTI, RAPT), spend half an hour trying to rewrite a clue you are uncertain of (RARAAVIS) and then finally cede only to discover you could have shot PAR if you’d paid more attention to airport codes.
What’s the Stockholm Airport code anyway?
I thought it was a good solid “crunchy” debut and if it wasn’t for LGA and ILE I’d be waking up a bit happier. It’s interesting how constructors utilize misdirection (56-Across is a good one) and ensure a synonym (OWN or GET for example) will erroneously fit, much like 12-Down.
Clues like CARP, SONORA, ICBM, EMIRATE and CORONAE were solid Thursday fill and it is to the puzzle designer’s credit that she included a handful of slightly skewed staples to trip over.
Can’t wait for the rest of the weekend!
6
Very clever theme and a nice puzzle.
Caught on fairly early, knowing that VERSAILLES had to be part of 50a. Just took a couple of confirming crosses to figure out where. The rest was still a good, stiff workout for me, but managed to chip my way through it, except for..
...the NW corner. And as I look at it now, I just can't figure out why. UNICORN as clued was an unknown to me, but everything else looks quite doable. I blanked on a couple of straightforward obvious answers and I guess I just went all cross-eyed or something. It happens.
Looking forward to more from this constructor. I have a feeling she's going to become a regular.
9
Strained (in a couple of ways) but still promising (in many.)
1
Ernst and Young is a CPA firm, not located in the SENATE but in various cities, including (D)ENver
1
@coloradoz
voters in Iowa and Indiana will disagree
11
@Peter S
I am a native Iowan and I know of the hog castrator Joni Ernst. My comment was not a lack of knowledge that there are two senators by that name but as a CPA I fell for the misdirection of the clue and thought of the accounting firm
5
@coloradoz
Absent a STUNning F(RE)E(VERSA)I(L)LES, neither Ernst nor Young is likely to vote AYE.
(I agree with Lewis — this puzzle has more to say about current political events than meets the EYE).
4
I just got it!
9
not a favorite puzzle. Thought the theme entries were a little awkward and strained.
some new and interesting fill made this one work for me.
Congratulations on making the Times! Look forward to your next one
4
Could someone explain how LGA is a JFK substitute? I keep thinking there must be some connection but I'm not seeing it.
International Air Transport Association codes for New York airports. LaGuardia Airport is LGA, John F Kennedy Airport is JFK.
6
@Terri
JFK = Kennedy Airport in NYC....LGA = LaGuadia Airport, also in NYC....
2
As a native of New Jersey, my first impulse was to type EWR for Newark Airport. When my husband and I went on our honeymoon (a long, long time ago), a United Airlines strike forced us to switch airlines at the last minute, and so we had to leave from LGA instead of EWR.
Congratulations on your first published puzzle. I really enjoyed this one — so much that this is my first time to comment. The “free Versailles” clue was the AHA moment for me, but my favorite one is your favorite: “rock the bow tie.” I am a huge Peewee Herman fan! Also, a lover of SCIENCE!
11
Well that was fun, huh kids?!!
5
I really enjoyed the theme entries. Congratulations and thank you, Ms. Lin.
Bi the way, I also enjoyed Deb's subtly risque allusion to the various meanings of unicorn.
6
@ad absurdum
I wasn't sure about the clue or Deb's reference, so I Googled.
I chased the UNICORN down not just a rabbit hole, but a whole rabbit WARREN.
I've always loved UNICORNs. Now I'm not so sure, since there seem to be so many meanings and so much chance of being misunderstood.
3
Got the puzzle entries ok but dont get its point. Could someone explain further please? What do the main entries Freeversailles? Rocksthebowrie? Goodwifi? have in common or even in uncommon relationship?
@Skeptical1
The addition of the long I sound to set phrases. Free verse, rocks the boat, good wife.
1
@Skeptical1
It's actually The Good Wife (a popular TV show).
@Skeptical1 You see, there's this column that explains these things ...
25
Very impressive debut. I didn’t catch on until VERSAILLES and the reveal . the ayes have it for this fun Thursday puzzle.
Back to the tennis.
5
Fall asleep at 8pm, awake at 4am, solve puzzle..... what next queried Tom quizzically?
Ply for HEN and squeal instead of LOCKUP resulted in a 7 minute and 34 second delay per NYT puz app central.
As others have written a well thought out puzzle and thankfully rebus free.
Friends in Vermont had a YURT on Lake Champlain. One can often see it in ads for said Yurt. It was very comfortable. Glamp worthy.
Well the day ahead brings an investigation into potential medical fraud. Imagine, if you will, getting a Botox injection to address wrinkles and your physician filing a claim suggesting migraines that do not exist.... tsk tsk. There is an x factor for you. Book’em Danno.
Thanks Barbara
4
@dk re: Botox. Not surprised
@dk
Interesting case! I'm not surprised, though. Ah, the early '80's, when my salary was $10,000 but the job came with free BC/BS that paid for any tx for any dx!
1
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Jan 23rd 2020
(1)
E - P (6), P - Y (10)
(2)
E - S (6), S - Y (7) ... 13!
(3)
W - P (7), P - Y (7)
YESTERDAY:
SHIRK KNOWLEDGE (NYT)
3
@Mari yesterday also
SIDESHOW WRINKLING
2
@Mari also, Jan 23:
W - P (7), P - N (7)
Probably similar to your third one.
I loved this puzzle! It was entertaining on so many levels. The cluing was uniformly creative, from 11D (Something with an "x" factor) to 36D (How you might meet someone) to the double entendre of 42D (Something for an artist to have on hand). Almost every clue produced a smile (including "yurt", which I have to admit always makes me smile, as it doesn't seem like it's really a word 😊). And who doesn't love harking back to "That's Amore"?
I knew something was going on with each theme entry ending in "AYE", but didn't fully appreciate the theme until reading Deb's column - another level of fun! Thanks to Ms. Lin for a great start to my day!
6
@SPB I agree with you about the creative cluing! ALGEBRA was at the forefront of my brain since my daughter is learning it, and what a great way to clue it. I also enjoyed the clues for ALFA, HEN, OSTRICH, PALETTE, PEA... and so many others. I normally dislike spelled-out letters, like ESS, but I appreciated the way it was clued today. It was nice to see ETA in reference to something other than flight, for a bit of variety. TIL YURT. That is a funny word! I hope I'll remember it. I bet that won't be the last time I see it!
4
SPELLING BEE GRID
Jan 23rd 2020
N A B G L O T
WORDS: 53, POINTS: 229, PANGRAMS: 1, BINGO
Starting Letters-Frequencies:
A x 5
B x 13
G x 7
L x 7
N x 10
O x 3
T x 8
Word Lengths -Frequencies:
4L x 20
5L x 11
6L x 12
7L x 6
8L x 3
9L x 1
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 9 Tot
A 2 1 2 - - - 5
B 3 3 4 3 - - 13
G 4 1 1 1 - - 7
L 3 1 2 - 1 - 7
N 4 2 1 2 - 1 10
O 1 - 2 - - - 3
T 3 3 - - 2 - 8
Tot 20 11 12 6 3 1 53
(Y-Axis: Starting Letters, X-Axis: Word Lengths, X/Y Co-ordinates: Frequency/Number of Words for that letter and length)
62
@Mari I’m stuck at 48 words 201 points. I have the pangram but will check your grid to see what I’m missing.
I eat a lot more NATTO than that L6 fruit. And still no LANTANA. We have a ton of it. It's great drought-resistant ground cover. And it's deer-proof. Unlike CANNAs, which we canna grow.
21
@Kevin Davis
Stuck at 51 words - 213 points
Missing N9 and N7 (got the geometric one).
5
Great debut Barbara, So many puzzles favor knowledge of the arts and literature that I hope you can construct a puzzle that favors engineers and baffles the eggheads.
5
Wow, a maiden voyage on a Thursday with only a few choppy waves for me. Congratulations, Barbara Lin for an enjoyable challenge.
I loved the variety of the theme answers. My hang up was 35D. I kept trying to make HBO then SHO work before I glanced at Deb's column and did the face palm for MAMAS -- one of whom we remembered just this last week with an answer was the last name of Cass.
5
Like Deb, I worried about another phonetic Thursday theme. Her "Please don't hurt me" link, to the 500+ comments last week (a record?), makes for fun encore reading -- if you're masochistic or are waiting for Spelling Bee to post.
4
At first this puzzle did mystify
Answers, alas, my brain could not supply.
Then the theme became clear and I had to retry
And suddenly the solving began to fly by!
Not quite my best time, just missed that bull's eye,
But the SE corner I cannot decry
As chillax was oft said at my junior high.
Great debut, had a blast!
9
At first this puzzle did mystify
Answers, alas, my brain could not supply.
Then the theme became clear and I had to retry
And suddenly the solving began to fly by!
Not quite my best time, just missed that bull's eye,
But the SE corner I cannot decry
As chillax was oft said at my junior high.
Great debut, had a blast!
12
Fun puzzle, clever theme, personal best Thursday time, which I will happily take even though it comes on a “less thorny than usual for a Thursday” puzzle.
1
As an optometrist, I loved today’s puzzle. Make sure to get your OCULAR health checked at your EYE EXAM, and don’t store your contacts in SALINE! (It doesn’t have any disinfectants.)
14
Question on Spelling Bee - Why is dogfight a word, but foodfight is not?
13
@Sonya
Most dictionaries consider it the phrase, "food fight."
https://tinyurl.com/wxk7hcm
1
@Sonya
For the same reason LONGBALL isn't.
1
I have to say how much I wanted Foofight to be accepted...
(^-^)
4
On the positive side-- The Ernst and Young clue.
On the negative side-- CHILLA? crossed with TRE?ES
Random typing, whether in the crossword puzzle or the Spelling Bee, is rarely satisfying.
2
@RAH
I think that was a fair crossing. "Chillax" might be something for the younger solvers, but even us dinosaurs should know about T. rex toys.
19
@RAH thanks to "Modern Family" reruns, I heard CHILLAX just the other night, but the lovable T Rex from Toy Story was a useful check. What a fun and clever puzzle, and a great debut!
1
@Martin
I think the problem with TREXES is the parsing. It may look to some more like artificial wood boards for decks than dinosaurs.
It is, in a work, a DOOK.
3
Debut?! Boggles the mind. Congratulations on an excellent and entertaining puzzle.
14
"...it is not unreasonable..."? Does that makes it reasonable? C'mon, Deb, you're a professional writer and cruciverbalist.
Great puzzle, though.
@Jokdok - Consider the difference between "not negative" and "positive".
The love between them did not go unspoken.
The love between them was spoken.
This sentence is not meaningless.
This sentence is meaningful.
Eating pineapple on pizza is not unusual.
Eating pineapple on pizza is usual.
10
@David Connell
How about "Eating pineapple on pizza is gross"?
10
@David Connell
It's not unusual to be loved by anyone.
https://youtu.be/tGRZBa4cKWA
6
I found it to be very tricky! I stumbled around quite a bit. I really wanted SIMON and Garfunkel to be in the puzzle so I stuck with that for a while. Also I had SQUEAL for brakes. Took me quite a while more than my average but it was fun! I didn't want it to end. 🙂
7
I tried OATES before MAMAS, and SQUEAL as well...so at least you were in the right decade.
1
Love the clue at 58A.
5
Gimme a Sinai? Gimme THE Sinai, maybe. Even that doesn’t quite fit the clue, to me. You can challenge a claim, but Gimme the Sinai is a demand, not a claim.
A shame, because it’s pretty solid otherwise. The good WiFi is weak but a stretch I’ll accept to fit the theme. Rock the bow tie is neat; ditto Free Versailles.
1
But “give me a sign” is a phrase one hears sometimes. “Give me the sign” not so much.
18
@Dave S But what does either phrase have to do with a challenge?
1
mirv,
How about the answer's SINAI being a challenge for the "Mideast diplomat" in the clue?
AYE had a little bit of trepidation when my first scan of the NW yielded only a couple of entries I was sure of, but gradually the empty squares began to fill in as I worked through the puzzle. The first two themers emerged almost simultaneously, and that helped a tiny bit with the last two.
It took a little bit of time to recognize the puns in the themes, but they added more enjoyment to the solve.
Very nice debut; I'm looking forward to seeing more from Ms Lin.
3
My first successful Thursday puzzle!! I’m pretty new to crosswords, and the challenge hooked me, but the people in this community, so smart and witty, keep me coming back.
40
I do not think that “tricep” is a word.
3
@mccall70115 you answered my question. I wondered why TRICEP was informal. I always think of TRIS and BIS as informal. But, since triceps is the proper form, tricep is informal.
1
@Geoffrey It seems "informal" can cover a multitude of sins.
fun! and it took me about 60% of my average thursday time, about which i’m not complaining, because i tend to loathe thursdays.
i do find it funny that the last one to fall for me was UNICORN, given that i live in SF, the origin of that particular coinage. a sign, i think, of how much i can’t stand tech biz jargon and try to block it out of my mind!
4
Very enjoyable puzzle. Highly soluble for a Thursday.
7
Great Thursday! Congrats on your debut, Barbara! I cottoned on to the theme with BOW TIE and VERSAILLES, but I’m embarrassed to admit it took coming here to grok ROCK THE BOat and THE GOOD WIFe. 🤦🏻♀️
I think that earns the puzzle extra marks for cleverness!
7
Barbara Lin, you sound like a fun person! Looking forward to more of your play. Enjoyed the puzzle. Just the right balance of push + pull!
17
Note to Mari on the 1/22 Letter Boxed: in addition to
S - K (5), K - E (9)
...also
S - W (8), W - G (9)
Hearty congratulations, Barbara, and thanks for a fun solve. We look forward to many more.
16
Steven Biko, remembered in song by
Sweet Honey in the Rock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G4gFxOO4lU
11
And by Tom Paxton —
https://youtu.be/Rsfutb0s5Rg
2
@David Connell
....and by Peter Gabriel
10
@Mark in both English and German!
3
Super fast. Less than a minute behind my Thursday best. The cross of CHILLAX and TREXES probably cost me a new PB.
3
Ah, “Layer”. Good one! NW seemed impenetrable. Was 90% harder up there for me than the rest of the puzzle. All of it good stuff. Whole puzzle had a goofy elegance. Like a UNICORN or FREE VERSAILLES.
15
Love the Constructor’s Note and seems like an appropriate time to give a shout out to Deb’s excellent interview of Jeff Chen in the most recent “Who Made My Puzzle?” on the Wordplay home page.
3
This one was pretty straightforward after the last two Thursdays. Nice one, right on my average. I wonder if the people that complained about JOURNEYMAN will complain about all the phonetic answers in this one?
@Steve don’t think so. the problem last week wasn’t just the phonetic answers. this puzzle was much more well constructed and clued.
1
@Steve I must admit I am a bit of a weirdo, so part of me feels a tiny bit disappointed when a Thursday puzzle is too straightforward. I did enjoy this puzzle though, despite it being less convoluted than some Thursdays. The theme answers were great, especially ROCK THE BOWTIE, which was pretty fantastic.
5
oh and also! this puzzle kindly tells us which one are the themed entries while last week’s didn’t. that was one of my other frustrations with last week.
Oh, no! Now, we're in for another round of THAT'S A MORAY puns and verses!
10
@Steve L
I'll refer to previously posted. . . 'nuf said!
2
Congrats on your debut, Bar-Bar-Bar Bar-Bar-bara Lin!
19